Full time for Shoot - after 40 years magazine is axed due to falling sales

It was once a staple for young football fans everywhere, but after 40 years Shoot magazine is being axed because of poor sales.

For teenage boys who rushed to collect the magazine and with it 'Shoot's League Ladders' – the card sheet detailing the Football League tables that helped fans keep track of their teams - the closure marks the end of an era.

The publication, which first launched in 1969, was the most popular football magazine in the country until the late 1990s with stars such as Kevin Keegan and Bryan Robson penning articles for it.

Falling sales and the rising popularity of arch rival Match prompted Shoot's relaunch as a monthly  in 2001.

But this March it switched back to a weekly format in a bid to beat Kick!, Match and the BBC's Match of the Day magazine, which also launched that month.

However insiders say that Shoot struggled with the fierce competition and that the product was becoming increasingly comic like, offering less news and insight than its competitors.

It was also felt that the £1.80 cover price was too high, particularly as Match costs 99p.

'It is with great regret that we have had to make this decision,' said Paul Williams, the managing director of IPC Inspire, which owns Shoot.

'We are of course in consultation with the six permanent staff directly affected by the proposal, and every effort will be made to find alternative jobs if this becomes necessary.'

The company is in talks to sell the Shoot trademark to Pedigree Books, which publishes the Christmas annual and a range of Shoot seasonal activity books and annuals.

Williams added: "We're obviously very sorry to cease publication of Shoot from the end of this month. We know that readers have a great affection for the magazine."

In its 1990s heyday Shoot sold nearly 120,000 copies a week but by last year that figure had dropped to just 33,830 a month.

Vintage copies of the magazine are now being sold on auctions sites for as little as £3.

But once production shuts down at the end of the month it is expected that early editions will become collectors items.

Match now dominates the children's football magazine market, recording a monthly circulation of 113,049 in 2007.

Kick! sold 62,290 in the same period but figures are not available for Match of the Day magazine.

A previous incarnation of the magazine, targeted at adults, closed in May 2001 after five years when the BBC temporarily lost the rights to Premier League football highlights.

The Match of the Day name was later used by the corporation for a one-off magazine linked to the 2006 World Cup.