SLOB CITY ROVERS (Daily Star, 1995)

Back in the mid-1990s I was a regular contributor to the monthly humour comics Spit! and C'Mon Ref, created by Graham Hey and Chris Whitehead. The comics emerged as part of the popularity of Viz when many publishers tried to ride the same wave. Some titles were very poor, but I always felt that Spit! and C'Mon Ref! comics held their own and were genuinely funny. 

One of the strips I did was Whitley Baywatch for Spit! comic; a spoof of Baywatch but with two potbellied slobs who only signed up as lifeguards so they could look out for "fit birds". I drew it but Graham Hey provided the scripts and they were always amusing; a bit like On The Buses at the seaside. 

Then Graham and Chris started up the football mag/comic C'Mon Ref!, the characters from Whitley Baywatch became Whitley Baywatch Wanderers, the most unfit football players ever, with the club sponsored by Alf's Chippy. Later, the editors struck a deal with the Daily Star to produce a comedy football section every Tuesday for the paper entitled Bite Yer Legs. The four page section featured photos and text plus a few strips including one by me. Whitley Baywatch Wanderers was retitled Slob City Rovers.

I scripted and drew Slob City Rovers for the Star and really enjoyed it. For some reason it was dropped after four weeks or so. I don't think I ever knew why. Perhaps budget cuts? Anyway, for your entertainment (I hope) here's three of those Slob City Rovers strips. These were published in the Daily Star on 21st March, 28th March, and 4th April 1995. (Click on images to see them full size.)

You won't find any mention of Slob City Rovers in Paul Hudson's A to Z of British Newspaper Strips unfortunately, nor my Norma Snockers strip that ran in the Sunday Sport for 69 weeks in the '90s. (Yes, I chose to end Norma with that number of strips.) I guess they were just too obscure to be included, but for a short time it was fun to be published in newspapers (even ones with their reputations). 

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