On one of our threads over the weekend - Wembley Overload I think - we had a flying visit from a certain M. Preston. He called himself a l`lurker`, but I think that was because he had heard the term used on here. I think the term could be a bit off-putting, and I propose we use something more welcoming like `ditherers`(sp) or `newbies`, I don`t know what, but something less threatening. Any suggestions?

And in the mean time, oh hesitant ones, come on in, the waters lovely, the natives friendly, so take the plunge and tell us something about yourselves! (:o)

-- Anonymous, May 30, 2000

Answers

I wonder how you do a little 'graphic' of sticking your tongue out at someone! No seriously.....on the old Communicata BBS we used to have a thread in the way you suggest.......we should really start one here....now just to start.....who did you say you were!

-- Anonymous, May 30, 2000

Been lurking since the days of Les Ferdinand and TIWY, which unfortunately it wasn't. Toon born but thoroughly Americanized by now. Get back every now and again to visit relatives but haven't seen a match live since the early eighties. Old enough now to have seen White, Eastham, and Allchurch in the flesh as a kid.

I never post because I don't figure I have anything particularly worthwhile to say, but I enjoy all of you.

I do have a question for those of you knowledgable in these things. Which, if any, of the various rags carrying news about the Toon is the most reliable regarding transfer speculation?

-- Anonymous, May 30, 2000

Sh!t I always post and yet have nothing constructive to say.

Tre ;)

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2000

Hi Southpaw! You haven`t posted because you don`t think you have anything constructive to say?! Have you seen some of the postings on here?! (:o)

Pleased to meet you - and I can think of loads of threads where your opinion would make a very valid contribution! There are lots of BBsers who don`t get to see any live matches. Do you listen to the matches live on the webcasts? Great fun! Whereabouts in the US are you? (:o)

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2000

Hi Southpaw,

Don't think your gonna take my title of "The person with the least constructive comments" cos your not!! I don't care who you think you are ;))

God I remember TIWY :((((( we all really believed it as well.....I'm off to top myself :(

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2000

ITK,

tongue sticking out = :-p
or,
:-P

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2000

Southpaw,
You sound like you might be the answer to a madman's prayer. You dropped the name of one of my all-time favourite United players - Lenny White. The beesknees as far as I'm concerned.

And Ivor Allchurch was one half of that marvellous Snitchy and Snatchy double act - the other half being Keith Kettleborough.

Eyes misting over now - have to go. -)

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2000

Southpaw,
Unless someone else can think of one, it seems to me that none of rags is reliable with regard to transfer information. They're really not much different to us on here - they hear some tittle-tattle and build a story around it and see what reaction they get from the powers-that-be.
One really irritating trait of the two local daily rags The Journal and The Evening Chronicel (affectionately known as the Ronnie, or the Ronnie Gill) - under the same ownership - is that one will print a rumour story, and the other then fills another column rubbishing the initial story.
I think you have to scan them all and look for common threads. Fortunately, most of the rumours are reported on here - SO, I actually reckon this may be the most informed place of all!
Keep posting - the more views we get the merrier.

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2000

I've been lurking - definitely lurking, not anything as nice as dithering - since before the old BBS had passwords. I've posted a few times on this bb but could never find the threads when I went back to look for replies.

TIWY brings back many memories. Dreams of JDT, Ketsbaia and Hamilton taking the Premiership by storm. Almost amusing now... almost.

I'm from the NE but came down to university in London. I arrived in 1991 and stayed - more out of lethargy than anything else - to become an academic.

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2000

Si,

I certainly remember you :))

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2000

I remember lurking for a few months on the former bbs before plucking up the courage to post. Jonno was kind enough to respond. If you ever want to know who to blame for all the unadulterated sh*te I've been spouting on here ever since, then Jonno's your man :-)

Seriously, give it a go, it doesn't stay scary for long.

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2000

I've been lurking all day. Not got anything to say :-((

Still... in 2 hrs time I'll be setting off for Tyneside. Might even bump into some of you folk!

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2000

Howay man Geordie....you've been way too quiet lately....what's up with ya?

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2000

Hey Pit Bill, Keith Kettleborough and wor Ivor??!!Nivver.
Pull yersel together man.
The gleaming pates (blinding under the lights) belonged to Jim Iley (unstoppable shot past Hopkinson to clinch promotion) and Keith K..
Bliddy lot of follically challenged players at NUFC over the years.? Why?

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2000

STOP THIS THREAD NOW!

>>>>>TIWY brings back many memories. Dreams of JDT, Ketsbaia and Hamilton taking the Premiership by storm. Almost amusing now... almost.

We are not amused ... The TIWY phrase is a banned expression on the BBS because it causes too much humiliation for it's author. Whatever happened to him? I can't for the life of me remember who it was. (-;

And it also seems as if I am responsible for Softie's output. Perhaps I'd have done you all a favour if I had remained a lurker myself ... (-;

Yes Kettleborough and Iley were paired as United's balding midfield powerhouses. Well it was somethinghouses - I can't quite remember. I certainly recall the Iley toe-poke which secured the promotion in 64- 65. Allchurch never appeared in the same team as either. I did see one or two games with Allchurch at the start of my own United career. A class player. I also saw Leek but I was too young to appreciate the fact.

The first keeper I recall was Dave Hollins (brother of John who made a name for himself at Chelsea). The first strikers I remember are Barry Thomas and the legendary Ron McGarry, surely one of the greatest "characters" the game has ever seen.

Barry Thomas was included in the greatest misprint I have ever read in the "Football Pink". The quote went "Barry Thomas blasted the ball through a crowd of red shits into the net". Marvellous stuff. Perhaps it wasn't a misprint! (-;

Peanuts - tanner a bag!

Nostalgia, as they say, is not what it used to be.

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2000

Keith Kettleborough, what a name to conjure with!

We used to reckon that his head was triangular, seeing as how when he attempted a header the ball would invariable shoot off in one of three radically different but entirely unpredictable directions. But he was what was fondly known in those days as a 'cultured' inside forward - that is, he could pass it a bit.

I can still remember both the goals that clinched promotion in 1965, though I didn't see either at the time, on account of the entire Leazes end leaping up as the ball neared the goal and blotting out the pitch...and also the sky, the rest of the ground, and everything else except for frenzied Leazes-enders. The first was a Willie Penman header from a Stan Anderson free kick - Penman was stooping so far down to head it he was nearly flat on the ground at the time.

Speaking as resident follicularly challenged bald git (well Screacher's trying hard but I've got a head start, boom boom), I don't think we've had more than our fair share over the years. Mind I did once feel moved to observe to a guy behind me who had just called Ketsbaia a "stupid bald Georgian f*cker" that whilst Kets is undeniably Georgian, arguably stupid (at least sometimes) and probably a f*cker to boot, the other term might just be construed as offensively hairist. He looked at me in complete consternation for several seconds before bursting out laughing, and then spent the rest of the half patting me on the back and chuckling. Given the size of him, it was just as well he saw the funny side.

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2000

Hey Jonno, Dave Hollins brings back the memories as well!

I could never understand why Joe Harvey always seemed to prefer Gordon Marshall, who although bigger always appeared more prone to drop the ball at exactly the wrong moment. Must have been on account of hime being better than Yashin, eh?

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2000

The promotion clincher in 64/65 is rather fuzzy, although mention of Willie Penman's header strikes a chord. The game that really sticks in my mind was the home victory over Bolton, who were our big promotion rivals, towards the end of the season - Easter Monday I think.
The Welsh Dragon, Wyn (the Leap) Davies, was playing for them and was absolutely awsome in the air. He was causing all kinds of problems for our defence, especially from corners, and it just seemed a matter of time before he put one in.
Well he didn't because John McGrath nailed him and he had to go off limping badly. Bolton just weren't the same without him and we went on to win, 2-1 if I remember correctly.
Wyn the Leap stuck in my mind from then on, and I was really thrilled when we finally signed him. He went on to form a devastating partnership with Bryan (Pop) Robson that was largely responsible for our Fairs (now UEFA) Cup victory. Wyn was without question the finest CF in the air I've ever seen, although unfortunately, he wasn't very good on the deck. However, he created panic in the Euorpean defences of those days, that just couldn't handle him, and he created lots of chances and goals for Robson and co.

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2000

Thanks to all of you for the welcome. It's much appreciated and I will post from time to time now that I've discovered it can be done without being devoured by the regulars. Sadly that's not the case everywhere. Sorry about the TIWY memories. You know, at the time it seemed like it could be!

Galaxy - I'm in Olympia, Washington, which is about sixty miles south of Seattle. Actually, the home town of one Kasey Keller, late of Leicester City and now somewhere in Spain. Definitely a football starved area at the moment, with not even a MSL team nearby. Luckily, an excellent cable system lets me see football on a fairly regular basis on TV. And yes, I do listen to the web casts whenever Jupiter is aligned with Mars and the Solar Flares aren't too active! Is it just me or is the fellow who does the webcasts absolutely terrible?

Clarky - thanks for the info on the local rags. I had more or less deduced the same from reading them but thought one might be slightly more reliable than the other.

Again, thanks to all of you for the kind words. Coming on here after a match isn't quite the same as being in the Strawberry, but it's not bad!

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2000

Southpaw - it`s great that you feel that you can post on here now. I was thrilled to latch onto this crowd after having found most other football sites unfriendly and abusive, but I warn you, this place is addictive!

Shame you in a football free zone. I think the nearest BBser to you must be Pete in Canada - I know he flew up to Seattle to watch one of the big games this year. You`ll come across him on here, and I`m sure he will come up with some suggestions of where you can watch matches.

Yes indeed, we have had some terrible commentators on the webcast! But we are lucky enough to have ITK on here, who does a running commentary on the matchday thread whenever he can. (:o)

-- Anonymous, June 01, 2000

True,
I bow to your vastly inferior ignorance :-)))) - the owld memory aint what it was. I knew it was a couple of follically challenged geezers.

And what about Gordon Hughes ? A star if ever there was one. Fastest thing on two legs, but that might have been an illusion because he was only about three feet six high. I remember him giving (I think) Bill Foulkes a real run around in just about his first game. That was before manure were any better than anybody else.

Happy days eh ? Naah, not really.

-- Anonymous, June 01, 2000

Clarky - hi, we're talking about the same game here!

I remember it being Easter weekend, although not the exact day. Big John (Big bad John) McGrath certainly nailed Wyn the Leap, as I recall it somewhere out by the junction of halfway line and sideline, a very unusual place to find a centre half in those days! Willie Penman got the first, bending to head in Stan Anderson's free kick, Jim Iley toe-poked in the second (I don't remember it as a classic goal myself, although one of the most important at SJP). I don't remember Bolton scoring, but somebody with the Stats book (Jonno?) could confirm the final score.

The final match of the season which confirmed us as old Div 2 Champions was a drab 0-0 against Man City I think - no comparison with the excitement of that Easter promotion clincher - or then again with the 4-3 defeat by Man City a few years later that gave them the League title, Lee, Summerbee, Bell and all.

I'll get me Zimmer frame...

-- Anonymous, June 01, 2000

Welcome Southpaw, us auldies will soon be able to field a full team on here,just require Floridean and Prur Ani to resurface and the teams picked, (Jonno the wee un of the pack of course). You mention Len White, also my all time great UNITED player, I was so distraught about not not attending his funeral, gee whiz what a player, Keith Kettleborough was discussed on here a few months ago if I remember correctly (idea that Macbeth was involved), something happened, Last one Gordon Hughes, open the gates 10 mins to go , and he would hurtle oot. heeds doon , arse up.

-- Anonymous, June 01, 2000

Bill,
Just compare the crap that comes in on the Pit Bill handle with the crap that used to come in on the Pru handle, and you need look no further. So you're still at least one short for the BBS Owld Gadgy Eleven. -)

-- Anonymous, June 01, 2000

I can confirm that the score vs Bolton was 2-0 to win promotion. That last game against Man City was really dire. I think we had been expecting a lap of honour but it seemed they were ashamed to come out.

Nice to be on the fringes now of selection for Buff's Auldies team. I've been in the Juniors for far too long ...

-- Anonymous, June 01, 2000

Dr Si .. you dont know a Paul Murray by a freak of nature do ya ?

-- Anonymous, June 01, 2000

Ignore that last comment if you hadnt already .. sorry for interrupting the nostalgia thread ; - )

-- Anonymous, June 01, 2000