[Archived] BRFCS - The end of an era and the start of a new one

[Glenn]

This is one of the toughest posts we've ever had to write, but after over a decade of being the custodians of BRFCS.com, it's time for us to stand aside and hand over the reins to somebody with more time and, more importantly, fresh ideas and enthusiasm. When we temporarily took on the management of the site when the site founder Lee Grooby took up a position with the club, I don't think either us of envisaged we'd still be involved a decade later.

For much of that time we believe the site has been something people could be proud of for having a strong community and a reputation for doing the right thing. The health of the site has often mirrored the fortunes of the club and in recent years our resolve has been tested to the full. Given that the site during that time spiralled down to the point where a few good old-timers were fighting against a tide of anger, misinformation, mistrust and apathy, we did give consideration to accepting one of the very generous offers we've had to buy the site off us. But as we inherited the site as a not-for-profit community project, it felt important to us that even if we couldn't dedicate our own time and efforts to it any more, we should stay true to its original aims and hand everything over to somebody we could trust to continue running it with the same aims in mind.

It's therefore our very great pleasure (and with more than a little relief) to hand over the running of the site to Wen Y Hu, who hopefully you'll all know has acted as site editor for several years and has hosted and produced most of our podcasts (which now number over 80 and get a staggering number of listeners every episode). Whilst Wen will be bringing in his own team, we sincerely hope as many of the people who have helped us over recent years offer their services to him.

It wouldn't be right if we didn't say a few Thank Yous at this point, but that's a much harder task than you'd imagine as so many people have helped make the site what it is and no matter how long of a post we make and how long we deliberate over it, we're bound to miss some people. So if we've missed you out, it's not because we didn't appreciate the work you did, it's because we're getting on a bit and our combined memories aren't what they were.

Obviously, as we've been reminded from time to time, we weren't responsible for the genesis of the site or its initial popularity — that was all down to Lee Grooby. When Lee left to work for the club, we, along with Paul, as the longest-serving mods, agreed to continue his work, inheriting some of his team (including Brownie, JonnyH and Ricky) and soon building our own, including den and SouthAussieRover in the backroom and Alan75 looking after the news.

Very soon after we took over, we realised the Internet advertising bubble had broken and with the collapse of the Total Football advertising network, we were left with an unsustainable business model and had to go to the fans for money to keep things going. We were amazed by the response and people didn't just donate, many even set up direct debits and it was at this point we realised we didn't just have a popular website on our hands, we had a real community. Thankfully, some astute cost-cutting and a better advertising strategy meant we were soon back in the black.

As the Internet grew, the new forums grew massively in popularity and our moderation team soon grew to include Flopsy, Yawnsie, modes98, CornwallRover and DudeAbides and, more recently, trueblue, Tom M, El Tombro, HemelRover and dazmaz. cn174 was with us from the start, initially doing the web design (taking over from tchocky in the early days) and then also contributing to the backroom discussions, as did Modi (aka Beta Ray Bill) for a while. As the site grew, and we outgrew normal commercial webhosting and had to start managing our own server infrastructure, Biddy came on board to manage that. More recently Biddy has also been responsible for the server migration, not to mention the brilliant Member Map and 92 Tracker. cn174 deserves mention for her work on the site skins, avatars and gifs as does perthblue02 for doing all the T-shirt designs and helping out with site graphics. AndyNeil (aka FernhurstRover) also deserves our thanks for doing the accounts for the last few years.

One of the more under-appreciated projects we did was the history section written by FourLaneBlue and cn174, along with additions by John Howarth, which is still an unparallelled online resource of Rovers' history. Other great projects from this era include den's "Greatest Ever Team" (which can now be found in Messageboard Gold) and the match reports of IHTD, Macky and especially Scotty.

A few years later Wen offered to help collate the transfer window news (back in the days of Alan Nixon's "nicko's 11 O'Clockers") and in no time, with Kamy's assistance, had taken on the management of the news and content side of the site and was producing the podcasts.

Some of the things the site has been responsible for have been the "real life" events we've been involved in, including two rounds of international Fans vs Fans games (home and away against both Turkish side Genclerbirligi and Red Bull Salzburg of Austria) which wouldn't have happened without an army of helpers — from people like Baris, Orcan and Max from the other clubs to those who helped deal with the press, did radio interviews, ferried people around and even put them up as guests in their houses and of course those who turned up, supported and played. These games also involved us in our first real dealings with the club, who were brilliant, both at helping us liaise with the other clubs' fans and always pointing us in the right direction. We really couldn't have achieved half of what we did with these events without great people, not just the names you'd recognise like John Williams and Tom Finn, but also lesser known, but equally hardworking, people like Greg Coar, Lyndsey Talbot and Simon Williams.

More recently, BRFCS has continued to put on events, including an excellent sportsman's dinner organised brilliantly by Gary "thenonda" McAuliffe and an army of helpers on the night, with Simon Garner as a speaker and some excellent MCing by Mark Woodward as his film character Tash McDermott. Also, our taking on the Raising of the Coffin ceremony, when it became apparent the long-time organisers in Bamber Bridge weren't going to get permission, was supported by dozens of volunteers who helped on the day and wouldn't have been possible at all without the very, very hard work of Dawn and Ste F (EwoodDawn and bob fleming to most of you) and Ozz, who as well as organising all the helpers had to manage a mountain of legal red tape.

Of course, as fun as the events are, the lifeblood of the site has been the content, which all of you contribute to, be it through the forums, the match previews so many of you have done, Parsonblue's brilliant match reports, Eddie's matchday reports, Wen and Kamy's excellent podcasts backed up by regulars such as Eddie and Paul, J*B's early work with the podcasts and then his help with Anna for BRFCS TV, bob fleming's comical monthly reviews — in fact everyone who has even taken a second to come up with something original and hit send. We did consider doing a shout out to notable posters over the years, but this post is already too long.

We first talked to Wen about taking over some time ago (the delay in it happening was all down to us) and he has some fantastic things in the pipeline. But we'd also like to see that this dawn of a new era in BRFCS history is a launchpad for those who have drifted away from the site (especially the forums) over recent years to get involved again. This really matters to us more than anything, so the best way anyone can say goodbye to us and "Thank You" is to actually get involved with the new BRFCS.

Here's to the next 10 years!

COYB

Glenn and Ste

[philipl]

Glen and Ste, many thanks for all the magnificent work you have put in - a true labour of love! Wen Y Hu, good luck and wishing you every success. You have a hard act to follow!

[Simon Says]

I am one of the disappeared, and rarely post on here now, but wanted to pass on my gratitude and appreciation. Great work Glen and Ste.

Wish you well.

[Tom]

Good luck guys and good luck to Wen

Thanks for everything

[thenodrog]

Shock news! Is it cos BPF is back?

Good luck to the pair of you. And good luck too to wen y hu.

I guess its a case of 'The king is dead, long live the king'.

*special thanks to Glenn for putting up with everything I threw at him over the years. 'Over and above the call of duty' I suggest.

[Ricky]

As mentioned above, I first became a moderator on here during Lee's days. I carried it on through my university days and then into my working life. It's outlasted any job I've had and also outlasted an engagement and a hairline. I'll be sad to say goodbye but it's the right time for me to go. I spoke to Glenn some time ago and felt that it was the right time for me to step aside as well.

I don't think people ever understand how much work goes on behind the scenes. I don't think anyone will ever understand what Glenn and Ste have actually put into this. For their hard work and dedication I commend them, without them we would not have had this community.

[Lurid Coat]

Thanks for making this place the best Rovers forum online, and good luck to the new staff! I hope you guys will still find time to post on the forum now and then!

[thenodrog]

As mentioned above, I first became a moderator on here during Lee's days. I carried it on through my university days and then into my working life. It's outlasted any job I've had and also outlasted an engagement and a hairline. I'll be sad to say goodbye but it's the right time for me to go. I spoke to Glenn some time ago and felt that it was the right time for me to step aside as well.

I don't think people ever understand how much work goes on behind the scenes. I don't think anyone will ever understand what Glenn and Ste have actually put into this. For their hard work and dedication I commend them, without them we would not have had this community.

Crikey..... Is there a virus going around? Et tu Ricky?

Mods are like refs..... You don't notice the best ones.

[Mercer]

You guys deserve a big vote of thanks as do the others who work behind the scenes.

These type of 'projects' inevitably prove to be very time consuming and can be fraught with difficulties.

Good luck and enjoy your 'freedom'.

[chris_h]

As an exile who misses the club very much I have to say a big thanks. I get up early for work and the first thing that I do on getting up is log on here.

Good luck to those moving on and good luck to Wen Y Hu.

[ABBEY]

Good luck to everyone and thanks.

[Brainfreeze]

Thanks for all your efforts over the years in running this site Glenn and Ste. It's been a pleasure to read the goings on here on the BRFCS forum as part of my daily routine for the past 13/14 years! My only regret is that I haven't contributed more as a poster, so I will take it on myself to become more of a regular contributor under the new stewardship of Wen Y Hu and hopefully help to continue the fine traditions of this site that you have helped to grow and develop over the years into what it is now...a place that gives Blackburn Rovers fans the world over a much needed voice. Cheers dudes and good luck Wen Y Hu!

[47er]

Thanks for everything and hope to read your posts.

PS. Don't get banned!

[ABBEY]

If you've not been banned your not a true brfcs poster .

[Makey11]

Good luck guys, thanks for everything.

[Paul]

But as we inherited the site as a not-for-profit community project, it felt important to us that even if we couldn't dedicate our own time and efforts to it any more, we should stay true to its original aims and hand everything over to somebody we could trust to continue running it with the same aims in mind.

and those are the two most important words in Glenn's post.

BRFCS created a community, a continuing one, perhaps best exemplified by the current "Areas in Blackburn" thread. BRISA grew out of BRFCS, in part the Rovers Trust grew from BRFCS in that the site brought together people who might otherwise have never, certainly in my case, known each other.

I've made many friends I would not have met without the site, which for me will be a lasting benefit of this community.

These are Glenn and Ste's achievements for which they have my thanks. Bill Shankly said "Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that." What I think he meant was it gives people a sense of community - if so he was right.

[Blackburn Ender]

Heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Glenn & SteB and all who have worked on brfcs.

It's the only messageboard in any sphere of life I actually read out there on t'internet.

Good luck to Wen Y Hu going forward.

We need a positive, engaged Rovers community to continue the resistance to the Rao family nightmare.

[stuwilky]

As mentioned above, I first became a moderator on here during Lee's days. I carried it on through my university days and then into my working life. It's outlasted any job I've had and also outlasted an engagement and a hairline. I'll be sad to say goodbye but it's the right time for me to go. I spoke to Glenn some time ago and felt that it was the right time for me to step aside as well.

I don't think people ever understand how much work goes on behind the scenes. I don't think anyone will ever understand what Glenn and Ste have actually put into this. For their hard work and dedication I commend them, without them we would not have had this community.

And a couple of pairs of GHD's as well Ricky?!

Genuine thanks from me to Glenn and Ste for the last few years - made some good mates (you two included) through this site.

As Drog said "The King is Dead, long live the king"

Best of luck to Wen and the rest of the team!

[Al]

Thanks Glenn and Ste for the many years of enjoyment I have had on here. I trust that this is not finally the end and that you will still post on here from time to time. Good luck and all the best.

Alan.

[bringdunnback]

Well done and good luck guys, you really have developed a fantastic message-board for Rovers fans.

[den]

My thanks to Glenn and SteB also. I only ever got an inkling of the work they put in to keep this site running, but believe me it was a considerable responsibility. Thanks also to Ricky. You three will feel an enormous amount of elation at being free of the shackles of BRFCS.Com - enjoy yourselves guys, you should be proud of what you have done over the years.

[ABBEY]

Free of Ricky = elation hahahahahahaha

[den]

Free of Ricky = elation hahahahahahaha

Be careful Abbey. They can really say what they think now

[The Gull]

You guys have done a brilliant job and at times gone far, far beyond anyone would expect, especially when things have got personal. You, like the other moderators, have kept a few people away from court appearances as well!

The site detriorated around the same time as the Raos took over and I know you found that difficult, but with the new faces, which include Wen, you have got the site back towards somethng like it should be, the rest is down to us posters although I am infrequent at best.

Enjoy your spare time!

[Tom]

I really hope the guys packing it in still find time to post at least now and then, they will be greatly missed if not.

The 'good' news for everyone I'm sure is I am sticking around either as I am or in a plain old member capacity