HotelEnders began life in September 2004 after the final issue of What A Load Of Cobblers (WALOC). With the invention of internet message boards, fans no longer had to wait until a paper based publication to air their views. A new breed of football fan would simply log on, say their opinion and await their responses.
However, it was just as difficult to take the pc into the toilet with you and read these musings whilst...well you know!!! The paper based publication was still required.
Many fans banded around ideas of starting a new fanzine but two fans, Mark Kennedy and Rik Line met up whilst playing for the Cobblers Fans Team and discussed the birth of HotelEnders.
The name was derived from the Northampton Town's old home terrace from their days at the County Ground. Fans would gather on the Hotel End to cheer their team on. Since the club relocated to Sixfields, the Hotel End had since disappeared to the great football ground in the sky but the name was re-born on the front of an A5 publication.
The publication was launched on 23rd September 2004 prior to the home fixture v Bristol Rovers. Initially 280 copies were printed on two inkjet printers and it was an absolute nightmare with paper everywhere and cartridges disappearing at a rate of knots. Around 80 copies were copied at a local copy store and HotelEnders hit Sixfields for the first time.
It was an instant hit as all 280 disappeared like hot cakes. WALOC finished at the end of the 2003/04 season and its absense was clearly missed.
