Shoot turns 50!

In case you didn’t know, Shoot – The Voice of Football – celebrates its 50th birthday today (August 16, 2019). 

To celebrate our golden anniversary, we look back at some big milestones and iconic covers from over the past half century.

TIMELINE:   

1969: The first ever Shoot magazine is published by IPC Media on August 13th. The debut edition featured the famous League Ladders, ‘You Are The Ref’ comic strip and a guest column penned by England’s World Cup winning captain Bobby Moore.

1970: The first Shoot Annual (1971) was published back in 1970. Bobby Moore was again main the cover star.

1975: Shoot’s weekly edition was firmly established as the UK’s most popular football magazine. England internationals Kevin Keegan, Jimmy Greaves and Alan Ball were just three stars to have joined the team as guest writers.

1986: During the 80s Shoot had exclusive inside access to the England camp at both the 1982 and 1986 World Cups via captain Bryan Robson’s guest column.

1994: Shoot celebrates its 25th birthday with a special silver anniversary edition.

1996: The weekly features and interviews with the best players in the UK, including stars such as Alan Shearer, Ryan Giggs and Paul Gascoigne, saw sales of Shoot magazine peak at 120,000 copies per week.

1999: Pedigree Group Ltd – the UK’s market leader in Annuals – became the publisher of the Shoot Annual. The first cover featured 90s heroes such as David Beckham, Alan Shearer and Dennis Bergkamp.

2001: Like a footballer’s hairstyle, times change and Shoot magazine moved from a weekly to a monthly edition.

2008: Pedigree Group Ltd became the new brand owners of Shoot.

2010: Shoot became the first printed football title in the UK to release an online magazine and app.

Present day: Little Brother Books publish the UK’s Leading Football Annual plus a number of special editions. There’s also a website which is updated daily with news and features.

Other Famous Guest Writers: Billy Bremner, Charlie Nicholas, Kenny Dalglish, Joe Cole, John Terry, Danny Mills. (if you don’t know some of these names try asking an older family member)

ICONIC COVERS: 

1960s: August 13, 1969 – Shoot magazine launches with Bobby Moore as the cover star.

1970s: The Shoot Annual makes its debut. Bobby Moore (right) again makes the cover along with fellow 1966 World Cup winner Alan Ball (top left).

1980s: England star Bryan Robson – nicknamed ‘Captain Marvel’ – is the main man (right) on the 1983 Annual.

1990s: Then Blackburn Rovers and England striker Alan Shearer (middle) is joined by Manchester United magician Eric Cantona (bottom right) on the 1996 Annual.

2000s: Wayne Rooney (right), Steven Gerrard (top left) and Cesc Fabregas (bottom left) are selected for the first 2009 Shoot Annual.

2010s: Presented wonderfully by cover star Harry Kane (middle left) – the 2017 edition offered a different style but the same action-packed features. Marcus Rashford (centre), Jamie Vardy (left), Peter Cech (middle right) and Adam Lallana (right) make up the squad alongside the Tottenham and England superstar.

Celebrate the voice of football’s goal-den anniversary with ’50 Years of Shoot!’ – available now on carltonbooks.co.uk.

Socials:
Twitter: @_shootfootball
Facebook:  @TheVoiceOfFootball