About The Eccentric Magazine

The Roots

It is very tempting to claim that a club founded in the 1780s must have had a club magazine of equal antiquity - all the more so because there was an Eccentric Magazine, written chiefly by James Caulfield and published between 1812 and 1820, first by G. Smeeton and afterwards by J. Arnett. Tempting, but untrue. We claim no descent from it.

The story of our magazine begins rather more recently, and rather more convivially, at the Eccentric Club Christmas Dinner of 1968, when the club President, Sir James Miller, observed in his speech that it was high time the eccentrics had a house magazine. Until then, the club had produced only the occasional one-off — a commemorative programme, a charity fundraiser. This time, the ambition was stated plainly: to create an even closer link between the member and the club.

Sam Morley and the First Series

Sam Morley, a member, a company director in electrical services, a keen golfer and an occasional contributor to the golfing press and to Punch, volunteered to put it together. Apart from writing, he had no publishing experience whatsoever.

Nevertheless, in September 1969, the first issue of The Eccentric appeared. It ran to 26 pages and looked, it must be admitted, a little amateurish. Sam very quickly got the hang of it. Professional journalists, artists and publishers joined him; advertisers followed; and The Eccentric became a much-loved fixture of club life.

The Second Series

In 1977, Sam handed the editorial chair to the BBC television producer Richard Afton, assisted by Eric Frais, who changed the size and format and produced altogether more sophisticated issues — 96 pages, and no shortage of advertisements from members and friends of the club. Sam, for his part, went on to publish five books about his golfing adventures.

Production halted with the club's closure in the 1980s.

The Revival

The revived club resumed the magazine in 2010, returning to the original A5 format and settling at 56 pages.

The Third Series continued the tradition: club news, articles by members, historical material, and the advertisements of associated businesses and individuals. We have tried throughout to keep the same style and feel, mixing modern features with more traditional ones — the balance being, we hope, roughly the balance of the Club itself.

Between June and December 2013, while the printed magazine was temporarily suspended, a member volunteered to produce a monthly online newsletter called The Howler. Entirely different in style, it proved an invaluable source of current news and remains a fine record of club life in those years.

The 2020 issue was well overdue. With a great deal of news and, sadly, far too many obituaries, it appeared as a combined Nos. 3 and 4 — and marked the publication's 50th anniversary.

And Then, Six Years

In 2020, we began planning the next issue. Before we quite knew what had happened, six years had gone by. This is, we recognise, an extremely Eccentric way to run a magazine, and we have resolved to do something about it.

From July 2026, The Eccentric goes online.

The reasoning is not complicated. An online edition can be updated as often as there is something worth saying, rather than as often as we manage to summon a printer. It reaches members wherever in the world they happen to have wandered. And it means that six years can never again elapse between issues without somebody noticing.

How to Read It

The Eccentric will be published in tiers:

1. Members of the Eccentric Club — free and complete access to everything, as is only right.
2. Members of the public — a limited selection of articles, freely available.
3. Premium subscribers — certain additional material, including selections from the archive.

Readership

The Eccentric is read by members of the Eccentric Club and other clubs in London, England, Scotland, Ireland, the United States, and South Africa; it occasionally finds its way to clubs further afield. It reaches a distinctive readership—particularly in its interests and pursuits, and well-defined in income and standing - and presents, accordingly, an unusually well-focused audience for our authors, contributors and advertisers.

Practical Matters

Some back issues from previous years may still be available from the Club Secretary.

Members also have access to scanned PDF editions of many past issues, going back to the 1960s.

Enquiries about advertising and sponsorship are always welcome — provided, of course, that whatever is advertised is of genuine relevance to our members and readers. We hope very much to continue attracting advertisers. Many more, in fact.

Nil Nisi Bonum