By the book
Words: Robert Bugter
Images: Han Balk
Publishing a print fanzine in 2025 — does that even make sense anymore?
Everything lives online.
Social media swallows up each thought before the ink can even dry.
Match-day programmes are being cut from club budgets across the Netherlands, and as for fanzines, many disappeared along with standing in grounds.
Yet, last season, De Graafschap supporters suddenly brought print back from the dead in Doetinchem.
©Han Balk/ Terrace Edition. Uit het Boekje seller. Deventer.
And this year, in Deventer, another fanzine has popped up.
Uit het Boekje — “By the Book” — has been resurrected.
Let’s rewind about twenty-five years, to 1999. Two Go Ahead Eagles supporters came up with the idea of making their own fanzine, inspired by Ajax, Feyenoord, Sparta, and NAC — clubs that already had already put pen to page.
They wanted to bring that raw, tangible football writing to Deventer.
Dozens of English fanzines were bought from cult shop Sportspages for inspiration… and then nothing happened.
©Han Balk/ Terrace Edition. Uit het Boekje. #31.
For those wondering what a fanzine actually is, Wikipedia sums it up nicely: “A fanzine is a magazine produced by fans, for fans.”
The first issue in 1999 was a battle. By the deadline, the two-man team had managed to scrape together twelve pages — quite an achievement back then.
One of them didn’t even own a computer. Articles were handwritten on scraps of paper, then frantically typed out elsewhere before time ran out.
Grammar didn’t always survive the chaos, but that wasn’t the point. It was about creating.
Just before printing, they still needed a name. Since the fanzine would mostly be sold at away games, they wanted “Uit” (“Away”) in the title.
©Han Balk/ Terrace Edition. Uit het Boekje. Athens article.
Someone mentioned the phrase “Uit het Boekje” — a Dutch football term used for a perfectly executed goal.
It clicked immediately.
Then came the real work: turning words into physical copies. With an old PC, a scanner, and a stubborn printer that constantly jammed, frustration filled the room.
At one point, the paper went in upside down. Tempers flared in a 90’s version of first world problems. Hours later — and with the printer cooling off between bursts — they finally stapled the last copy together.
The next day, at an away match in Veendam, all 75 copies sold out. That first edition is now a true collector’s item.
©Han Balk/ Terrace Edition. Uit het Boekje.
Fast forward 26 years. A fanzine might seem like a relic, but the passion hasn’t faded. This time, things are easier — proper equipment, professional printing, and even home match sales.
Earlier this year, they released a 64-page issue, the biggest ever.
It’s not about nostalgia for its own sake. It’s about bringing a piece of football culture back into today’s world.
Making something you can hold, cradle with laughter and grip when reading something that pisses you off.
Maybe rose tinted glasses will be replaced with high-tech Meta goggles.
But back then, we had fanzines — and maybe, just maybe, the terraces could use a few more of them again.
©Han Balk/ Terrace Edition. Uit het Boekje seller. Deventer.
Uit het Boekje is available to buy on Vetkampstraat at De Adelaarshorst and at Go Ahead Eagles away matches.
You can find them on X: @uithetboekje
Robert is on X @worp79 and on insta: @rbrtbgtr
Han is on X and Instagram: @hanbalk. You can find him on Bluesky: @hanbalk.bsky.social
