[Football] When Saturday Comes and NSC

[Leekbrookgull]

I've got an almost complete run of WSC - just missing a few early copies. The stack is almost as tall as me.

Catfish,like me then ! Did you take up on the offer years ago on the lifetime price deal ? I feel guilty now as face value price is what almost £4 and i pay £17 a year. Don't read every article but this months editorial sits well with me.

 

[chaileyjem]

In the absence of an online link or a simple scan, can I just ask if the article at all references the previous incarnation of NSC that included, amongst other things, the messy battle for Falmer and the passionate arguments leading up to the immoral and illegal invasion of Iraq?

No mention of Iraq THPP . Some references to its presence through the "war years".

 

[Ernest]

I went in Smiths and read it, not worth WASTING £4 on it especially as it was written by Barber's pet LAPDOG

 

[Questions]

I've got an almost complete run of WSC - just missing a few early copies. The stack is almost as tall as me.

Your porn mags were taller than me I heard.

 

[Norman Potting]

i wrote the piece but out of courtesy to WSC who want to shift copies of their quite good mag, can't share it here. Available in all good newsagents. And some bad ones. etc. Subscription via
https://shop.wsc.co.uk/wsc.html

I will bring my copy to the Huddersfield game and you can all borrow it

 

[sully]

PS: Its the new April edition. Its gone out to subscribers but it might not be in all newsagents yet.

Darn it. Just went into Smiths at the airport for my in flight entertainment and they still have March on sale.

 

[catfish]

Catfish,like me then ! Did you take up on the offer years ago on the lifetime price deal ? I feel guilty now as face value price is what almost £4 and i pay £17 a year. Don't read every article but this months editorial sits well with me.

I didn't take the lifetime deal but when I took out my subscription about 25 years ago they had an offer on all available back issues which I did take up.

 

[LlcoolJ]

Good heads up. Will keep an eye out for it.

 

[ozzygull]

Bought it, good read. The only thing I would say is the NSC is not only interesting to men. As a female poster I do feel like a voyeur sometimes in to the mind of men. I try to avoid being bothered by misogynistic views, and genuinely comforted by the support that the contributors on this board give to each other, it really is fantastic. What is great my options aren’t judged based on my gender because people don’t know, it is just liked or disliked based on the contents.

 

[jimhigham]

I've got an almost complete run of WSC - just missing a few early copies. The stack is almost as tall as me.

Wise man. I've subscribed since 1991, as soon as I started getting a regular pay cheque and bought it on and off a bit before that but never kept them. Bit late to start now.

 

[chaileyjem]

Bought it, good read. The only thing I would say is the NSC is not only interesting to men. As a female poster I do feel like a voyeur sometimes in to the mind of men. I try to avoid being bothered by misogynistic views, and genuinely comforted by the support that the contributors on this board give to each other, it really is fantastic. What is great my options aren’t judged based on my gender because people don’t know, it is just liked or disliked based on the contents.

Agreed. It’s a great supportive community regardless of who are you are and most choose to be anonymous anyway. I might have been a bit too blunt with the male, middle aged point although I’m still guessing that users skew heavily male and 45+

 

[ozzygull]

Agreed. It’s a great supportive community regardless of who are you are and most choose to be anonymous anyway. I might have been a bit too blunt with the male, middle aged point although I’m still guessing that users skew heavily male and 45+

Of course that is what I assume as well, unless people have a username that give their age or gender away how do you know. It was a good article.

 

[Stato]

'I haven't bought WSC in years, but bought this one today. Excellent article from Chaileyjem.

Current events leave some of us 45pluses feeling a bit smug that we never did join Facebook. Yes social media has it's attractions, but Twitter and Facebook? To quote LastSummer on NSC and in the article: 'They ain't Brighton'.

 

[Bolton va va]

I've got the no1 & no3 editions of WSC, in a " been in a box in the attic for years " condition.

Does anyone know if they have any value ?

 

[chaileyjem]

New edition is out now . So for those who missed it here's my article from April mag in full. hope i captured it.
Thanks again to those who I quoted from. And thanks again to NSC. Despite being quite annoying on it from time to time (that Dale Stephens thread especially and oh - transfer deadline time) i do love it. Its a fine supportive space and ta to Bozza , amongst the many others , for keeping it going and looking after the old thing. .

>>>>>>>>

A few weeks after Christmas, a Brighton fan who uses the pseudonym; “Last Summer”, posted to the web forum; North Stand Chat (NSC). One of the 50 new discussions started on there by fans every day, and one of hundreds of posts he’d contributed himself over the last decade, he felt the need to preface it; “Apologies for the Mumsnet type thread” He calmly explained he was “hurting like hell” and wanted help from fellow users having split up with his wife after 14 years. He added “…there’s loads of advice and stuff online that I could Google – but they ain’t Brighton”.

And he was right. Through the evening and the next few days, dozens of men, and it was all men, took the opportunity to publish at length, and in many private messages to “Last Summer” about how they’d coped after going through a divorce.

Some posters, as you’d expect, shared practical financial advice, tips on maintaining relationships with their kids, and how to avoid conflict with your ex partner. But most, perhaps encouraged by the support that was forthcoming and the friendly environment, were confident enough to share intimate and honest details about how they felt and their mental health then and now.

Eventually "Last Summer" came back online to thank the contributors to the thread - “I really appreciate you giving your time to assist a bloke you've never even met before!”

Online football forums seemingly had their day a decade ago. The BBC’s now forgotten 606, a spin off from the weekly radio show, was at one point the biggest football website in the UK. It provided millions with their first introduction to the universal chatroom tropes; text fuelled delusion mostly, half full/half empty attitudes, a relentless and often hilarious baiting of rivals and enemies, and terrible transfer rumours. But over time the firm grip of abuse, legal threats and apathy killed most of them off.

Gradually fans migrated to the more powerful yet sanitised tools of Facebook to organise protests and amplify dissent. Humour but more often anger, this time directed personally at naive players, found a new home on Twitter. The more mundane; sack the manager rants, cheap tech inside and outside grounds and YouTube’s reach meant that the swearfests of Fan TV and vLogs attracted younger fans.

Brighton too has a thriving fan powered media ecosystem of podcasts, blogs and zines.
Yet North Stand Chat is still standing. A largely text based forum - its still part of the daily online routine for thousands of, mostly older now, .Albion fans. Its authenticity helps; it emerged out of the fanzine culture and pre-broadband email lists of the late 90s, and many of the veteran posters and admins were a constant presence throughout the Seagulls “war years”.

Its also well run. Lifelong Albion fan Darren Mckay has been in charge for 15 years. Known to NSC users as “Bozza” - he organises a group of volunteer moderators who strive to keep it safe and free from legal interference.

Well trafficked websites are expensive to maintain and NSC racks up thousands per year in hosting costs which it funds through minimal non intrusive advertising. Any profits go to a range of Albion charities

But what makes NSC is of course its users; Lawyers, police officers, teachers, car mechanics, plumbers and even a football finance academic make up some of the day jobs. Brighton and Hove Albion CEO ; Paul Barber , can’t quite be persuaded to register on the site, but is prone to writing numerous 1000 word emails in response to any manner of issues about ticketing, transport and transfers raised by fans on NSC, that then end up being published in full for all to read. Their frequent arrival and patient deconstructing of arguments is met with typical NSC humour; the use of the tag #BarberOut to describe any minor petty issue with the club. But Barber acknowledges the role NSC gives him as a platform to communicate directly with fans.

In short its still there because its a site thats become vital to Albion fans, what affects them and increasingly these days its the worries of middle age; diets, depression and sadly paying generous tribute to NSC users who’ve passed away, rather than merely a forum about football or Brighton and Hove Albion.

Journalist and NSC regular ; Nick Szczepanik sums it up;

“It's the go-to resource for everything. If I want to know what the roads are like before setting off on a journey, I'll check NSC rather than the AA website, because if there's a hold-up between Lancing and Worthing, NSC will tell me exactly where, how long it's been going on, alternative routes, whose fault it is and whether the underlying cause is Corbyn, Brexit, or Palace”

Last Summer's “FAO Divorced of NSC” thread eventually faded away off the front page of the site, replaced by the more mundane discussions about buying treadmill machines, sharing what you’re drinking on a Friday night and even the odd row about Chris Hughton’s defensive tactics. One of the last users to post, reflecting on the depth and quality of advice and painful anecdotes shared to help the recently divorced user, urged him to stay positive.

“You’d be surprised by the love you get from unexpected places” he posted.

 

[sully]

Thanks for sharing. I never did get round to buying a copy. Good read.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

Nice job [MENTION=24867]chaileyjem[/MENTION] – sums up this place perfectly.