CONFRIMATION of the CONFIMRED

[Mr Angry]

What about Off at Eleven (OAE)? I vaguely remember that, but not what format it took.

I first signed up to this portal when it was a shade of pale blue and lots of cascading messages down the page like a Windows Explorer tree, with titles of "X" then "Re: X" then "Re: Re: X" then "Re: Re: Re: X" etc

OAE rings a bell but also can't remember the format

Here is what the website looked like back in 2002.

Have a look around the site makes for interesting reading.
https://web.archive.org/web/20020402075 ... ls.org:80/

You’ll notice the royalmail mailing list too on the homepage

Wow - that WAS a blast from the past; wierd seeing stuff posted by yourself 22 Years ago.



What was noticeable was that the tone of the interactions on the forums were considerably less agressive towards each other than today; a sign of the times I guess.......

[Green]

OAE rings a bell but also can't remember the format

Here is what the website looked like back in 2002.

Have a look around the site makes for interesting reading.
https://web.archive.org/web/20020402075 ... ls.org:80/

You’ll notice the royalmail mailing list too on the homepage

Wow - that WAS a blast from the past; wierd seeing stuff posted by yourself 22 Years ago.



What was noticeable was that the tone of the interactions on the forums were considerably less agressive towards each other than today; a sign of the times I guess.......

Yes and no. Remember Royal Yanks site? He had a section devoted to calling out and mocking members of this portal.

[South Coast Royal]

OAE rings a bell but also can't remember the format

Here is what the website looked like back in 2002.

Have a look around the site makes for interesting reading.
https://web.archive.org/web/20020402075 ... ls.org:80/

You’ll notice the royalmail mailing list too on the homepage

Wow - that WAS a blast from the past; wierd seeing stuff posted by yourself 22 Years ago.



What was noticeable was that the tone of the interactions on the forums were considerably less agressive towards each other than today; a sign of the times I guess.......

Apart from Spacey being his normal unfriendly and undiplomatic self when responding to a Brighton fan and referring to them as "gayboys"

I tried clicking onto 2 topics that I posted, one of which asked the question of whether we would ever make it to the Premier League, but the content wouldn't come up-would have been a good read to see how fans felt at that time some 4 years before it happened.

[Forbury Lion]

Yup. Royalmail was great for its time. Graham published one of my posts as a match report and people were truly impressed - "you're on the internet!"

We had a crackdown at the place I was working back then on external emails after some of the sales force were found receiving pornographic emails, We had to sign a policy which said we would be sacked if we received such material, I pointed out the flaw in this to my manager (also the HR head who wrote the policy) that anyone could go home tonight and email her in some adult material and according to this policy she would be sacked even though she did not want to receive it. Think the penny dropped.
Anyway, We all panicked about being on the Royalmail list but then the IT Head who was a Luton fan replied to our messages saying don't worry, that's allowed.... was slightly creepy as we didn't cc him on any emails, guess he could read everyones emails then.

There used to be one guy on there, Colin I think who was irritating.

Was it Colin Hunt?

Sounds familiar, or at least sounds very much like a word some used to describe him.

[Forbury Lion]

What was noticeable was that the tone of the interactions on the forums were considerably less agressive towards each other than today; a sign of the times I guess.......

I was just thinking the same thing, even on the older forum things were generally civil, even though you didn't have to register to post and could type in whatever username you wanted - as demonstrated when loads of SpaceCruiser variants posted that one time.

[From Despair To Where?]

I don't know whether it was more civil back then or people are just more prepared to call shit out now. That Spacey "gaylord" comment being a case in point. I think if someone posted that now, plenty would tell him to fcuk off with the homophobia. I also remember SROT being an obnoxious bunch of pcunts when they wanted to be and rendering this place unreadable at times.

[Snowflake Royal]

I don't know whether it was more civil back then or people are just more prepared to call shit out now. That Spacey "gaylord" comment being a case in point. I think if someone posted that now, plenty would tell him to fcuk off with the homophobia. I also remember SROT being an obnoxious bunch of pcunts when they wanted to be and rendering this place unreadable at times.

I think there's a few factors contributing.

Last decade has been shit football and otherwise, so people are shorter tempered.
The forum has been going for ages, so there are long established clashes, enmities and dislikes. So there's more playing the man not the ball.

Both spring to mind as factors. But you've got some other good points there.

[Brogue]

I don't know whether it was more civil back then or people are just more prepared to call shit out now. That Spacey "gaylord" comment being a case in point. I think if someone posted that now, plenty would tell him to fcuk off with the homophobia. I also remember SROT being an obnoxious bunch of pcunts when they wanted to be and rendering this place unreadable at times.

I think there's a few factors contributing.

Last decade has been shit football and otherwise, so people are shorter tempered.
The forum has been going for ages, so there are long established clashes, enmities and dislikes. So there's more playing the man not the ball.

Both spring to mind as factors. But you've got some other good points there.

No mods removing the nasty posts no mods dealing with the dicks on the board.


Football has changed so much over the last 10 years everyone believes they are an expert as they have every piece of football information at their finger tips. People double down and are prepared to die on a hill for their opinion.

When we had more traffic on the board a lot of the stuff used to get buried as soon as a topic fell on to page two it was forgotten about. Now we have mega thread and stuff stays visible for longer making it seems more widespread than it actually is.

[morganb]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... ckout=true

Chiron Sports Said to Make Site Visit for Reading Football Deal

A consortium backed by Chiron Sports Group visited Reading FC on Friday, as the investor group zeroes in on a deal to buy the embattled English football club from Chinese real estate executive Dai Yongge, according to people familiar with the matter.

Chiron’s Leo Rifkind met Friday with executives of the third-division club to discuss a potential deal, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. He was joined by a representative for one of Chiron’s partners in the deal, a US West Coast investor who’s actively involved in US major league sports ownership, according to the people.

Representatives for Chiron and Reading FC declined to comment.

Last week, Reading FC confirmed that Dai had committed to a letter of intent with a potential purchaser of the club and was entering a period of exclusive negotiations. It didn’t name the suitor.

Reading FC ranks 18th in EFL League 1, the third division of English football, just above the last four spots that would see the team relegated to the lower league. It has been docked 18 points for breaking football’s financial rules under Dai’s ownership, contributing to its demotion into England’s third tier.

[Armadillo Roadkill]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-06/chiron-sports-said-to-make-site-visit-for-reading-football-deal?embedded-checkout=true

Chiron Sports Said to Make Site Visit for Reading Football Deal

A consortium backed by Chiron Sports Group visited Reading FC on Friday, as the investor group zeroes in on a deal to buy the embattled English football club from Chinese real estate executive Dai Yongge, according to people familiar with the matter.

Chiron’s Leo Rifkind met Friday with executives of the third-division club to discuss a potential deal, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. He was joined by a representative for one of Chiron’s partners in the deal, a US West Coast investor who’s actively involved in US major league sports ownership, according to the people.

Representatives for Chiron and Reading FC declined to comment.

Last week, Reading FC confirmed that Dai had committed to a letter of intent with a potential purchaser of the club and was entering a period of exclusive negotiations. It didn’t name the suitor.

Reading FC ranks 18th in EFL League 1, the third division of English football, just above the last four spots that would see the team relegated to the lower league. It has been docked 18 points for breaking football’s financial rules under Dai’s ownership, contributing to its demotion into England’s third tier.

asking not to be identified because the information is private

Bloomberg then identifies.

Still, this sounds like reliable information from a recognised source, even if we all hoped things might be a bit further along by now.

[Snowflake Royal]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-06/chiron-sports-said-to-make-site-visit-for-reading-football-deal?embedded-checkout=true

Chiron Sports Said to Make Site Visit for Reading Football Deal

A consortium backed by Chiron Sports Group visited Reading FC on Friday, as the investor group zeroes in on a deal to buy the embattled English football club from Chinese real estate executive Dai Yongge, according to people familiar with the matter.

Chiron’s Leo Rifkind met Friday with executives of the third-division club to discuss a potential deal, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. He was joined by a representative for one of Chiron’s partners in the deal, a US West Coast investor who’s actively involved in US major league sports ownership, according to the people.

Representatives for Chiron and Reading FC declined to comment.

Last week, Reading FC confirmed that Dai had committed to a letter of intent with a potential purchaser of the club and was entering a period of exclusive negotiations. It didn’t name the suitor.

Reading FC ranks 18th in EFL League 1, the third division of English football, just above the last four spots that would see the team relegated to the lower league. It has been docked 18 points for breaking football’s financial rules under Dai’s ownership, contributing to its demotion into England’s third tier.

asking not to be identified because the information is private

Bloomberg then identifies.

Still, this sounds like reliable information from a recognised source, even if we all hoped things might be a bit further along by now.

That article feels like it's been lazily translated or written by someone who has ENglish as a second language.

I'm assuming the 'people' referred to here are the source of the info, and don't want to be identified because they're giving information that is confidential. While the partners of Chiron are not explicitly named but sounds a lot like those Vikings chaps?

[WestYorksRoyal]

Leo Rikfind does know his name is all over companies house for the charge over Bearwood, right? He us a qualified lawyer after all. But still good he's being discrete.

Worth keeping an eye on the directors' box today? Potential buyers in the house has been a lucky charm a few times this season. Bolton, Derby and Cambridge spring to mind.

[ayjaydee]

I don't know whether it was more civil back then or people are just more prepared to call shit out now. That Spacey "gaylord" comment being a case in point. I think if someone posted that now, plenty would tell him to fcuk off with the homophobia. I also remember SROT being an obnoxious bunch of pcunts when they wanted to be and rendering this place unreadable at times.

My recollection is that it was (with the obvious exceptions above) much more of a "fans" forum with sensible exchanges about away day locations and meeting places - would never have visited the Bradford Arms without HNA! There was a lot more lift sharing to away games, spaces in cars would be filled with randoms, I recall getting a lift to Middlesbrough with someone i had not met before as my usual crowd were not going.
There was also a lot more "in real life" stuff going on from Schards arranging matches with away fans, played at Rabsons with post match drinks in the Engineers, to HNA v Burbs matches, BBQ,PAP etc.

'Twas nice to reminisce for a while.

[Lower West]

Leo Rikfind does know his name is all over companies house for the charge over Bearwood, right? He us a qualified lawyer after all. But still good he's being discrete.

Just business. Whatever the outcome they'll make money. Bet there's a significant interest rate on the money being lent to the club to keep it a float as a backstop.

[bcubed]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-06/chiron-sports-said-to-make-site-visit-for-reading-football-deal?embedded-checkout=true

Chiron Sports Said to Make Site Visit for Reading Football Deal

A consortium backed by Chiron Sports Group visited Reading FC on Friday, as the investor group zeroes in on a deal to buy the embattled English football club from Chinese real estate executive Dai Yongge, according to people familiar with the matter.

Chiron’s Leo Rifkind met Friday with executives of the third-division club to discuss a potential deal, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. He was joined by a representative for one of Chiron’s partners in the deal, a US West Coast investor who’s actively involved in US major league sports ownership, according to the people.

Representatives for Chiron and Reading FC declined to comment.

Last week, Reading FC confirmed that Dai had committed to a letter of intent with a potential purchaser of the club and was entering a period of exclusive negotiations. It didn’t name the suitor.

Reading FC ranks 18th in EFL League 1, the third division of English football, just above the last four spots that would see the team relegated to the lower league. It has been docked 18 points for breaking football’s financial rules under Dai’s ownership, contributing to its demotion into England’s third tier.

Old division 3

[Cureton's Volley]

What about Off at Eleven (OAE)? I vaguely remember that, but not what format it took.

I first signed up to this portal when it was a shade of pale blue and lots of cascading messages down the page like a Windows Explorer tree, with titles of "X" then "Re: X" then "Re: Re: X" then "Re: Re: Re: X" etc

OAE rings a bell but also can't remember the format

It was rivals.net

They had a forum for every team, but some were more active than others. You could go and post on any other teams' board with the same login for OAE, so it was a constant battle royale between wind up merchants, trolls, wanna be Tommy Robinsons asking where to find trouble, and people who wanted player ratings and a place to moan about the price of stagnant pint of Courage Best.

The Stoke and QPR lot were particularly sensitive on there iirc.

[Brogue]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-06/chiron-sports-said-to-make-site-visit-for-reading-football-deal?embedded-checkout=true

asking not to be identified because the information is private

Bloomberg then identifies.

Still, this sounds like reliable information from a recognised source, even if we all hoped things might be a bit further along by now.

That article feels like it's been lazily translated or written by someone who has ENglish as a second language.

I'm assuming the 'people' referred to here are the source of the info, and don't want to be identified because they're giving information that is confidential. While the partners of Chiron are not explicitly named but sounds a lot like those Vikings chaps?

Yeah Rumours on Twitter that Huang Kad has been advising Bloomberg

[Mr Angry]

I don't know whether it was more civil back then or people are just more prepared to call shit out now. That Spacey "gaylord" comment being a case in point. I think if someone posted that now, plenty would tell him to fcuk off with the homophobia. I also remember SROT being an obnoxious bunch of pcunts when they wanted to be and rendering this place unreadable at times.

My recollection is that it was (with the obvious exceptions above) much more of a "fans" forum with sensible exchanges about away day locations and meeting places - would never have visited the Bradford Arms without HNA! There was a lot more lift sharing to away games, spaces in cars would be filled with randoms, I recall getting a lift to Middlesbrough with someone i had not met before as my usual crowd were not going.
There was also a lot more "in real life" stuff going on from Schards arranging matches with away fans, played at Rabsons with post match drinks in the Engineers, to HNA v Burbs matches, BBQ,PAP etc.

'Twas nice to reminisce for a while.

Some genuinely happy days there Ayjaydee - even though I tore my achilles playing against the QPR fans in one of those matches!!!

[ayjaydee]

I don't know whether it was more civil back then or people are just more prepared to call shit out now. That Spacey "gaylord" comment being a case in point. I think if someone posted that now, plenty would tell him to fcuk off with the homophobia. I also remember SROT being an obnoxious bunch of pcunts when they wanted to be and rendering this place unreadable at times.

My recollection is that it was (with the obvious exceptions above) much more of a "fans" forum with sensible exchanges about away day locations and meeting places - would never have visited the Bradford Arms without HNA! There was a lot more lift sharing to away games, spaces in cars would be filled with randoms, I recall getting a lift to Middlesbrough with someone i had not met before as my usual crowd were not going.
There was also a lot more "in real life" stuff going on from Schards arranging matches with away fans, played at Rabsons with post match drinks in the Engineers, to HNA v Burbs matches, BBQ,PAP etc.

'Twas nice to reminisce for a while.

Some genuinely happy days there Ayjaydee - even though I tore my achilles playing against the QPR fans in one of those matches!!!

Indeed, not sure we would get away with shouting “fine arse” out of the car windows to any semi attractive female these days! Different times.

[Crusader Royal]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-06/chiron-sports-said-to-make-site-visit-for-reading-football-deal?embedded-checkout=true

asking not to be identified because the information is private

Bloomberg then identifies.

Still, this sounds like reliable information from a recognised source, even if we all hoped things might be a bit further along by now.

That article feels like it's been lazily translated or written by someone who has ENglish as a second language.

I'm assuming the 'people' referred to here are the source of the info, and don't want to be identified because they're giving information that is confidential. While the partners of Chiron are not explicitly named but sounds a lot like those Vikings chaps?

The Vikings are Minnesota right ? Does that count as West Coast ?
If they are referring to the owners then it still doesn’t fit as the Vikings owners are New Yorkers aren’t they ?