Student Till I Graduate

Current Issue

• Belfield Bowl, A Guided Tour. • Tony McDonnell – a tribute • FAI Deserve Praise? • Toilets of the League Part I • 2007 Season Reviews • Friendly Reviews • And all the usual match reports, quotes, lookalikes and assorted other stuff.

The current issue covers the Derry and Sligo games. The next issue isn’t out for aaaaages, so we’re confident that our income in the mean time, combined with the expected prize money from reaching the group stages of the fanzine champions and assorted fanzines with high readership league will cover our printing expenses. We’re not bankrupt, honest.

Sample Issues

Download Issue 1 of STIG [pdf]. Yes, the first ever issue, from before we figured out how to typeset correctly, effortlessly mock the FAI or write everything the night before we're due to go to print. Highlights include the guest column with Bono, the famous Swaninho hat photo and our very first deathmatch.

Download Issue 32 of STIG [pdf]. The famous end of 2003 issue when Mark Rooney’s mum successfully rigged the New Player of the Year award, the Great Judas series ended with the title of Grand High Judas awarded and a rare apology as we scuff the toe of our collective shoe in the dirt and admitt that we robbed Shels of a couple of points the previous week.

You can also view many previous articles in our articles section.

About STIG

STIG is our fanzine, written by the fans, for the fans (and anyone else with a sense of humour). You can get it from us at the games, by post if you’re willing to send us money, or in our online shop when we eventually set it up. At a mere €1, it’s as good a laugh as seeing Shels nearly go under without the fixture uncertainty.

STIG was created by a small group of UCD fans while drunk on the back of a bus in Galway. None of them remembers why they were there, who the others were, or how they were holding onto the back of a bus while drunk, but we’re sticking to the story until we invent a better one.

It is, so far as our scanty research tells us, the most prolific fanzine the League of Ireland has ever seen. The current issue is our sixty-fourth. Second place is the Cork fanzine Four-five-one, who stopped at a paltry forty-six, and we beat them to that by over a year.

Reviews of Stig

From Down to the River to Play, the Finn Harps fanzine

"...Something of a hidden treasure..."

This is a cracking little fanzine. At first glance, it seems a little flimsy. However STIG, apart from having possible [sic] THE best fanzine title in the land has some quality content, and even if the editorial team only have to print about 5 copies to satisfy the demand from UCD’s home support, they do it very well. We got sent 9 of these recently, and were amazed to realise that they are probably the longest running Irish fanzine, with an amazing 27 issues under their belts as of early July 2003. We also thoroughly enjoyed reading them, as they are laugh out loud funny in places. STIG could be accused of being formulaic, with the first copy we got looking very much like the latest. However they can be forgiven for space fillers such as "student cult topic quizzes" on things like Father Ted and Star Trek, and old rope Sporting Quotes being a regular feature. They’re students after all, laziness and all that.

The regular centrepiece is a celebrity death match, played out in stick men, and featuring some top sporting and political satire. STIG contains a perfect mix of traditional funnies, clever piss takes, bizarre features (such as monthly Celebrity Guest columnists ranging from George Bush to Andy Myler and the intermittent Barry Ryan Playstation Game review) as well as general rambling and occasional interviews (some real, some imaginary, some we weren’t sure).

Possibly it’s the witty studenty sense of humour which makes STIG something of a hidden treasure, as well as the way editorials and match reports often descend into the bemused ranting of die hard frustrated fans producing some hilarious gems. We suppose its [sic] hard to take yourself too seriously when you support UCD. Definitely worth going to Belfield for, possibly the only thing about UCD worthy of staying in the Premier Division.

OVERALL RATING: 8/10

Disclaimer: The authors take no responsibility for any damage to your vehicle while reading Stig. May contain traces of nuts and bend the laws of space and time.