HE JOKED about being the only City fan who could look Luke Oliver in the eye.

But Mike Harrison never thought he would emulate the club’s former beanpole defender by rupturing an Achilles tendon.

Like Oliver five years ago, Harrison’s injury has effectively ruled him out for the season – from racing around the Valley Parade stands with copies of the City Gent.

Yet the supporter who always stands out from the crowd at an imposing 6ft 8in insists the country’s longest-serving fanzine won’t be taking a backward step during his slow recovery.

Harrison, the Gent editor since 2004, is still amazed at the long-running popularity of a magazine first published in the fanzine boom of the 1980s.

Sales remain consistent with each issue – even if he does find himself having to explain to some under-30s what it actually is.

Current City players Jake Reeves and Dominic Poleon were completely nonplussed when Harrison gave them the lowdown recently of a publication now up to number 211.

Harrison said: “We understand that you can get information instantly, whether it’s good or bad, on your mobile or laptop, so this is a different type of thing.

“But as long as we’ve got enough City fans who want to buy the magazine and want to write for it, then we’ll keep going.

“It’s a shame there aren’t many fanzines still going. But we get 800 printed and sell most of them – at the moment we’re down to the last 100 of the current issue.

“Sometimes there will be a bigger issue like the 200th this year, about the fire or when Stuart (McCall) resigned.

“But it’s a pretty decent number and we’ve got an average subscriber base of around 200, which is great.

“One silver lining about being off is that I’ve totally caught up with subscribers and envelopes and even done the accounts for last year, which I normally leave to the last minute!”

City Gent have also donated a pair of season-tickets for homeless charity Centrepoint, as well as sponsoring two players in the club’s youth team.

Harrison said: “Everybody that buys a single magazine is contributing towards that. As long as we can make a small profit, then we can channel it back into the football club.”

A plug on Channel 5’s Saturday night Goal Rush programme brought the City Gent into the national spotlight recently. Presenter Colin Murray waved a copy and spoke glowingly about its contents.

“My Twitter and Facebook went mad that night,” laughed Harrison. “People seemed really proud that City Gent got mentioned.

“But Bradford City fans will latch on to anything which shows us in a good light and we always try and be positive in our support.”

It is seven weeks since Harrison did the injury – while playing keepy-uppy in the post room at work. He faces at least another six with his right leg in a protective boot.

He said: “It’s surprising how many people, now they know, come up to me and say they’ve done their Achilles in the past. Someone even showed me their scar.

“Having never done anything worse than sprain my ankle a couple of times, I never realised it was quite so common.

“But they all tell you it’s the worst injury ever and it takes you ages to recover. Hearing that makes me feel so much better!

“I’ve been to the physio this week and he was poking and prodding but there’s no strength there. My right calf is half the size of the left one.

“Even when I do get back to being proper weight-bearing and some sort of normality, it will take absolutely ages to recover.

“The big problem is that I cannot scoot around the ground like I normally do.

“So I’m really relying on (City Gent writer) John Watmough, who has been fantastic and sold far more than he normally does – and he’s older than me.”

The injury has revived the old jokes about being Oliver’s older brother. Harrison did get to meet the centre half during his time at Valley Parade, bumping into him after being summoned by an angry Peter Taylor.

Harrison recalled: “Taylor rang up to moan about me slagging him off in the paper. I pointed out it wasn’t me but went to see him.

“I just happened to see Luke at the ground and we had our picture taken. I’m actually slightly taller than him by about an inch!”

The next issue of City Gent will be available at the Charlton home game on October 21.