When I started to get really into watching football all I wanted to do was talk with people about it. At school I was surrounded by West Ham, Manchester United, Tottenham and Arsenal fans. When they asked me who I supported and I told them they would reply “yeah but who is your real club?”.
My Dad was a fan but there is only so much football I could talk to him about it. I’d fire up the old PC at home and search Southend United on Yahoo search engine. I remember Shrimpers.net and as you can see from Cricko’s pictures I was on the first SZ forum talking about Martyn Booty, who I was a big fan of
. I have been on the forum since the beginning and have flirted with other forums that have been created Southend United related. People have tried to rival SZ and it just doesn’t work. This place is just something else. It’s the first thing I look at when I wake up and the last thing before I go to bed. I don’t want to miss anything new, the latest rumour or these days the latest Stan update.
Social media has made it harder for places like this to be a popular outlet. The new generation of football fans want short sharp information. They don’t want to read an in-depth match report with ratings. They want to see a goal and put stupid tag lines like ‘limbs’ and ‘scenes’. Social media is great but nothing beats a good conversation/argument/disagreement on a forum. One where you will 9 times out 10 have good interaction with other fans rather than dogs abuse you often get on social media.
This forum has been part of my life for 21 years! I have met some great people on here and great friends. Some still posting, some no longer with us, some watching in the distance and others no longer on here. Chelsea away was a great day when I met up with a load of SZ people in a pub (which I got us thrown out of
) we had a great day and a great curry afterwards. There have been many great meet up, away trips and even a couple of appearances for SZFC. I sit in the South Upper with two SZ posters who I enjoy chewing the fat with before or after the game. Makes my trips to Roots Hall even better especially when my mate can’t come and I’m on my own.
I haven’t always got along with everyone and I’m sure I’m not everyone’s cup of tea, but that is life you’re not always going to get along with everyone. The one thing we do share on this forum (apart from those weirdos from up the A12 and Jonny Stokes
) we all share our love for Southend United and want success. It’s been **** the past 3+ years and hopefully things will improve and we will be able to move into our 22nd year much better off than we were at the start of our 21st.
I’ve been a mod for many years now and I hope to be involved with the running of the site for the next 21 years.
Thank you to everyone who helps to make these forums great!