Sotonians turns one

[pap]

We’re one year old, people.

It feels like a significant milestone, although it doesn’t seem like we’ve already had a year. Time files when you’re having fun, I guess.

I’d like to thank everyone for their contributions, be it posts or votes. As most people know, I still keep an eye on most of the other Saints sites, and while we may lack quantity in terms of signups, we’ve been witness to some absolute quality posts and threads in the short time here.

Everyone has been acknowledged over the course of the year, but I would like to put out a special mention to Tokyo, who was instrumental in getting this place known about in the early days, and hasn’t posted much recently on account of a beef we had. We kept it off the site, but even so, the man deserves acknowledgement. I miss his posts.

For all the Tory-leaning posts that Bear is trying to tickle us with in the political threads, I can’t thank him enough for the solidarity he displayed in the early days, completely culling his TSW presence to concentrate on here. I neither expected nor wanted that, but I’m very humbled that this legend thought this empty place worth so much of his time.

Also couldn’t have maintained an even keel without bletch. Again, much of what we discuss is not on the forum, but he’s helped when I’ve had a difficult decision to make and crucially, he’s brave enough to be candid with me when I’ve stepped over the mark. He is definitely the stable mum to my unpredictable, infrequently amusing dad act.

Bucks and Lou can be called responsible for starting the drinking culture of this forum, actually borrowed from their attempts over at TSW. Before this place even existed, there were a core of people who thought it might not be a bad idea to actually meet with people that you converse with so often, and while they were both derided and protected on TSW, their ideas have completely taken hold here and profoundly shaped the nature of interactions on this place. People are friendly to each other because one year later, a lot of us are actually friends.

Goatboy has also been a huge part of the off-Sotonians socialising efforts, designed and made badges for us, which became the site logo… We use it on all of our Twitter images (that get reposted here), and he’s got some smart ideas about things we do in the future. Or at least they seem like good ideas when we’re three sheets to the wind in the South Western

I feel shit singling people out, so I’d like to give a brief bit of appreciation to all. This will follow, but while the acknowledgements roll in, I’ll end this post and say thanks again.

[saintbletch]

Thanks pap!

We could have done it without you! (sic)

x

[Polski_Filip]

Fvck you.

Fvck this place.

Not ONE mention for us humble overseas drifters?

No Ladyboy comments in your vote of thanks, no beef about your FlyBe trip getting delayed? And not ONE mention of unpaid bills.

Pah, well I can see we are totally unloved, I’m off to play with myself on the beach this afternoon then.

Happy Birthday you Gits

[pap]

Originally posted by @Dubai_Phil

Fvck you.

Fvck this place.

Not ONE mention for us humble overseas drifters?

No Ladyboy comments in your vote of thanks, no beef about your FlyBe trip getting delayed? And not ONE mention of unpaid bills.

Pah, well I can see we are totally unloved, I’m off to play with myself on the beach this afternoon then

Happy Birthday you Gits

I said the individual shout outs will follow. Everyone that posted is getting a mention. Hang tight.

[lifeintheslowlane]

Being a perpetual optimist and a light-hearted soul I was made quickly to feel at home here.

It’s refreshing to visit a Saint’s site that isn’t ridden with that oh too familiar bleek wrist-slitting input after a Saint’s loss…not that there’s been too much opportunity for that in recent years. I know everybody loves Saints but it’s not a blinkered love that takes presidence over the really important things in life…like family, beer and music and aircooled VWs.

I don’t get involved with politics or religion or contentious issues of the day in the forum. I have my opinions but like to keep my own council as I’ve realised over the years, no matter how strong my convictions, I’m not going to change yours.

So many thanks Pap for the invention…it’s FUN.

[Bucks]

Love this place. Love the threads. Love the posters.

That’s all to say really, except for one big question for the future, which needs some deep thought and collective inspiration now that the first anniversary is upon us:

What type of cake are we having at the birthday party tonight?

[Sfcsim]

Love it, just love it!

I joined a year ago on the 18th… took me 3 days to find out about the place and now visit and read almost everyday.

Sotonians.com has become part/way of my everyday life and to think a year ago, it just was not even there for me…wow congrates young PAP!!!

[Rallyboy]

It has a good feel to the place.

A bit short on racists and homophobes and slightly too many sandal-wearers, but in general the FC Athletico Pap squad has a good balance.

It’s hard to believe that it is a year since the mad beardy scientist harnessed the electrical storm through the Liver Bird and gave his monster life.

May it stumble on through the foggy graveyards of the internet for many more seasons.

[Sadoldgit]

Happy anniversary to all. This place is an oasis of calm and thoughfulness (mostly) and makes a wecome chance from the cut and thrust of TSW where, sadly, the mods have lost control and unpleasantness reigns unchallenged. I agree with what was said earlier, the Saints stuff is important but there are plenty of other things in life to appreciate (including naked nuns) and the balance here is spot on. Long may it continue.

[Goatboy]

Without Sotonians and Tube Galore Mrs G would have got fed up with me months ago.

Pap is like a techno-Relate counsellor.

[pap]

**74eddie ** - just one post bro, not good enough. Extremely funny and active on social media. Will need to give him a poke.

**anal1 ** - genuinely thought this was a dodgy signup at first. Nice bloke. Analyst.

argon - a.k.a. ant - cheers for all the beer appearances dude. We may appear cross when you occassionally don’t make it, but we’re just jealous really. Mainly focused on sporting matters and making the rest of us look fucking ancient at beers.

**Arthurhucksake ** - A fish we caught from the UI. Doesn’t get half the shite he catches over there. He should visit us more often. Potential skate mate.

**Avenue Saint ** - Signed up. Posted twice. Seems like nice fella from what I recall on TSW.

**Barry Sanchez ** - Self-proclaimed legend. I am reluctantly inclined to agree, although not in the way he thinks. Bazza does a lot for this forum. He says a lot of things people take issue with (which generates traffic) but doesn’t get upset when people have a go at him. The flipside is he’ll rarely apologise for anything he’s said. The closest thing we have to a “troll”, but even then, not that close and often bloody amusing.

**Bathsaint ** - Doesn’t post the volume that others do, but does post some interesting stuff. I’ve loved his input in the Labour thread.

**Bearsy ** - largely covered above, but our imp, our jester, our ongoing mystery. The amount of speculation at the pubs at what Bear really is (ranging from James Bond supervillain to Villa fan) should have his ears burning before every match.

beavis - From the early days. Thirteen posts in total, but started a decent discussion on our starting XI.

**Big Stu ** - Joined. Posted once. Top bloke that a few of us know in real life, but has a young family.

**Bill Gate’s oven glove ** - Posted a few times. Think he asked for a username change which we never got around to. Soz mate, more than happy to sort a change for you.

**Block 5 ** - main contribution was to moan about spam emails, but was enough of a gentlemen to thank us when we sorted him out.

**bTripz ** - The artist formerly known as Big Bad Bob, and also suffers a name change whenever bletch is one one of those moods. We’ve had chats over beers, and without divulging owt from those chats, I’ve a great deal of respect for the man and his priorities.

**Bucks ** - Mentioned above in nuff detail.

Burp - Sci-fi shows would refer to Burp as a recurring character, not front and centre all the time but welcome when he turns up. Think Barclay from TNG. He is a ninja when it comes to introducing himself in pubs.

**Captain Scarlet ** - another early signup. Posts as Joe Kirkup on TSW, said he liked the place. Presumably captured by Mysterons.

**captaintim ** - Signed up in the early days, and has been back recently, submitting “Lasagne” as name for West Yorkshire Police’s horse.

**Cascadia Saint ** - A strong early poster, but fell away after the first couple of months.

**CB Saint ** - What would we do without CB? Sensible, I’m guessing right leaning dude, that keeps me honest when I might have been a bit sensational. An important voice.

**Chertsey Saint ** - Our Shy Tory, another important voice to balance out some of the leftwingers. Doesn’t handle himself as calmly as CB does. Gets pissed off with us occasionally, but I don’t blame him, and he comes back. Top bloke in real life, so don’t read too much into any of the sparring you see here.

**Chez ** - Needs no introduction. Hoped he’d provide a bit more football chat. His input would be welcome.

**Complete Bollocks Fry ** - Signed up as Big Barry Busick to solely to wind us up and gloat about his victory. Was renamed to Complete Bollocks Fry. His account is still active, and I’m happy to change it back. I’d just like him to log in just once using that moniker

**convict colony ** - Signed up in Dec and had a burst of activity through January. Reminded everyone about Rodgers’ “I have no sympathy” comments back in the day. The head vampire of a lot of LOLs for that.

**Coxford_lou ** - given top props above, but the first female poster to join the site. Been quieter than we’d all like since the US trip, but still makes it to beers.

**Cynicalsaint ** - posted a few times in the early days.

[pap]

**Darrel ** - my baby bro. Has one post, which was like getting blood out of a stone.

**Dave_of_Clausentum ** - ostensibly the dreaded DoC of UI infamy. This character has had Ilingsworth close to shutting the UI down completely. I’m er, not as nice as Nick. Small bit of messery, but quickly addressed in public.

**dexter ** -Lets Be Drinking’s pal from North of the Border, who turned up to the Arsenal away fixture.

**Dubai_Phil - ** our man in Dubai, which makes it all the more remarkable that he’s managed a meetup. Golfing expert, sci fi and fantasy fan and provides so much context to much of the news we hear about the ME.

**ericofarabia ** - Phil’s mate and late joiner. Started the same thread both here and on the UI. At first, I felt like he’d been behind our backs, but to be fair, it was an interesting experiment. Known on most Saints sites. Glad he considers us worthy of his time.

**Ex-Trader ** - Possibly has comment of the season if we win today. That result will mean we finish above Liverpool for the first time. Like, ever.

**Fatso ** - Great voice to have here. Brave enough to be direct with people he doesn’t agree with, especially me, he has performed great work for this site, even if he’d have trouble admitting it. We couldn’t all blindly agree with each other. Fatso was one of the first not to.

**Firead ** - just one post. He likes the green away kit.

**Flahute ** - Most know him from his other guises on the 'net. We had to try a couple of times to get him interested, but glad to have him here. Like Fatso, not afraid to be direct, but tends to call people cunts more. I’ve always had respect for the way he deals with anyone trying to push that button.

**Fowllyd ** - Superb on political threads. Makes his points without insulting people and often takes discussions in some very interesting directions. Has also performed fine butlering service in the past, slpping (along with his boss) to abysmal standards lately. I’m hoping the sheer effort of this piece will shame them

Furball - Again, needs no introduction. Presently off football forums due to his handling of recent events. He provided some excellent posts in his time here, arguably some of the best. He unquestionably produced the worst. From my perspective, the door remains open, and FWIW, I don’t think anyone on this site would have an issue with it. That’s the sort of place this is, something I wish he’d bear in mind before guessing, wrongly, what must lie in our dark hearts. Lost it as soon as Corbyn became a viable thing, really.

[pap]

Gay Abandon didn’t start life in this site with that name. He started with something else, didn’t like it, and gave the choice of new username to the Sotonians floor. Gay Abandon was born. Now most know who GA is, and most know that he had a hard time off the nobs on TSW, for no good reason. GA is a great example of how the site’s styles and personnel differ, and has been a hugely welcome returner instead of an occasional target for bored trolls. Love his irreverance. Huge respect for sticking the GA thing out as wel.

**Glasgow_Saint ** No introduction. One post. Don’t actually know if is him.

**Goatboy ** - described loads in post #1, but should mention that he drives most of the footy side of this site.

**gr8saint ** - another member joined via bletch’s five a side route. Famously hardy and up for it.

**Halo Stickman ** - Huge poster in the early days. We’ve not seen him since March. Started some brilliant threads (check out Why are we here?) and has always been very nice on here to people. Would be great to get Halo out for beers. Would probably help convince him that some of us (me) aren’t as angry as he thinks.

hoofinruth - Always had huge respect for Ruth in her btf form, stoicly standing her ground in the middle of what could be some fucking patronising discussion. Always contributing to our political threads.

hypochondriac - There’s a lot of debate about whether this is the same poster from TSW. I reckon it is. Most of the forum reckon it isn’t. If the hypo’s are one and the same, can he please bung a small post up on TSW indicating so? There’s a linguist who might not be feeling as cunning Whoever our hypo is, he seems nicer than their one.

**Iniquitas ** - A few posts in the early days, particularly on game related stuff. Top bloke that has just got a new job. Actually right-leaning too.

**Intiniki ** - Considering what a hard sell Sotonians was for intiniki, she’s gone on to become one of our best all around posters. Managed to convince her that she could just post photos if she wanted, but has gone on to do loads more.

**Jack Schitt ** - Not been here long, but has made a big impact in the time he’s been here. Gotta say, I have a hair-trigger paranoia response, particularly in relation to this place any _why _people might be signing up. I did think JS could have been on a wind-up or worse, so I was very slow to engage in his arguments. However, while I think we can all agree that JS does deal with controversial ideas, he also takes more care with them than I ever managed on TSW. Welcome addition to the site.

**JBoy ** - back here a little while ago. Mostly fighting the good fight over at TSW with his one-liners. Makes the beers sometimes, lovely fella, but gets spiker the less words he uses, What a fucking skill

**jet sounds ** - Posted loads on the music threads in the early days. Has been back this year, which I was pleased to see.

**JusticeMike ** - He came, he signed up, told us that the moderation in certain other places wasn’t all that, then disappeared. Probably had a black bag whacked over his head before being bundled into a car by the Fiver Mountain Secret Police.

[pap]

Kingdom Come - hasn’t posted that much over here yet, but his cynicism fits in nicely.

**Korruptor ** - Weighed in on games a lot. Will hopefully see more of him when he gets clear of what he’s doing. He may also be a reason to bump the solidarity thread. He’s got a game hitting PC and consoles soon.

**KRG ** has really taken on the responsibility of being right on. Don’t mean that in a pejorative sense. I’m relieved, because if he says it first, I don’t have to. For the most part, he also makes his arguments well and what you get, especially after meeting the fella, is a sense of someone that genuinely gives a fuck as opposed to someone just making out like they do. Great entertainment value with Barry, too.

**Lakepipe ** is strongly suspected of being connected to Brewdog. Nearly all his content is in that one thread.

**Lets B Drinking ** has made top efforts to get to beers, despite a busy schedule. One of our most fervent Saints fans. And he can quote me on that. Or can he?

**lifeintheslowlane ** - Has been here since the very early days and throughout. Great contributor, particularly on Saints and music knowledge. Lovely to his fellow posters too.

**Llwybr Cyhoeddus ** - five posts. Not enough info for a bio, sadly.

**LP Blower ** - Only six posts, but some good quality stuff. Would like to see more.

**madpurplecow ** - A mate from school. She’d be decent if she posted more than the once, like.

**Mangobean ** - Constantly holding the bullhorns aloft while bletch is trying to drown everyone in folk. The standard bearer for heavy metal & rock music on this place.

**Matthew Le God ** - In terms of getting the bastard to sign up, the hardest yet. Has managed ten posts so far, which is much unlike MLG.

**Minsk ** - known from other places. Six posts here. Always liked his perspective elsewhere. Would be good to get him back on.

**Morris Chutney - Lawyer ** When he joined, I was worried that he was an actual lawyer. Bear had been serialising his spoof Katarina story. Decent taste in films. Sparred with the Kraken a bit.

**Mrjalfrezi ** - another TSW poster that landed, made a small splash and didn’t come back. Last seen in july. Probably needs a reminder.

**Nobby Plumbs ** - not seen him for a bit. Nobby is old-fashioned on a lot of issues, but is brave enough to voice his opinions on what is a left-leaning forum. Another Tory, and another welcome voice.

**Numptyboi ** is an interesting ol’ puzzle. Occasionally toilet-focussed (his submission for the Yorkshire Police Horse is King Ali Shitknuckle). He contributes most in the musical threads, but can be found all over.

**Ohio Saint ** - Boob-obssessed, a little bit racy and a little bit incompatible with some of the right on flavour at the time. Never really handled that as well as I liked. We’ve not seen Ohio since October last year, but on the plus side, we haven’t had to see the frightening avatar either.

**old ottery ** - Logged over 100 posts here, but we haven’t seen him since August. Top bloke, and a lot smarter than his posting style would suggest. We need to get him back.

**OzSaintDave ** - A very early poster that was around for about 6 days ten days after we started.

[pap]

**Paul Smenis ** - seven posts. Joined early on. We last saw him in Feb.

**Peahead ** - joined up largely to insult people, mostly me. Seven posts in total. I suspect a UI poster trying his luck and not getting the required bites. His last comment was that we were taking the site too seriously and that I was a scouse twerp. Fair.

**PhillipineSaint ** - PhilippineSaint is your international man of cultural inappropriateness. He spents his time at home being waited on hand on foot. The flipside is a bastard of a commute, amusingly described here. Likes his cricket, and is a big contributor to sports threads in general.

**Plastic ** wasn’t around that long. Posted on the meta threads. It was Barry’s Omega Seamaster Aqua Terramaster thread that did for him. Cherts was being “Tory” about motors. Or Clarkson, at least.

**Polaroid ** Joined. Posted for six minutes, then forgot about us.

Positivepete is a recent joiner, most active in the New Old Labour antisemitism discussion. That produced some good debate. Hoping he gets a bit more involved.

**prickly ** seems like a decent poster. I’ve liked what I’ve seen so far. I’m not sure anyone has wished “eternal genital warts” on a broadcaster before. Not only did he do that, his target was Sky

**Rallyboy ** is one of our best writers. Makes his point. Doesn’t take forever to do so, and if often very funny into the bargain. Amazed we were able to sign him. Thrilled to see him posting stuff off that fucking mad thread over there/

**Redslo ** is a blogger who has accounts on most Saints forums. Usually, he’s just letting us know about his new blog posts, but was more involved in other discussions in the early days.

**revolution ** has always seemed alright in other places I’ve seen him post. Like so many signups though, a few posts, mostly in The Other Place thread, a general pattern.

**RoswellSaint ** was supposed to meet us for beers at the Spurs game. He didn’t turn up, but hasn’t really posted since. It’s not a problem, dude. Get back here.

**rust-cohle ** Brought in from bletch’s secret stash of mates. Interesting character. Great debut. Questionable stamina.

**sadoldgit ** Our traveller between worlds. sadoldgit, SOG, or soggy is a multi-forumer, spending as much time on TSW as he does here. He gets tons of grief over there, very little here. His main mission seems to be to get to make TSW hypo admit he is Sotonians hypo.

**Saffasaint ** - One post wonder, but keen to stress that he’s only living in SA, not from there.

**Saintbychoice ** - Not posted a great deal, but looks like a promising addition to the place. Maybe I just have a blindspot for Galaxy Quest fans.

**SaintZamboni ** - Busiest in October 2015. We haven’t seen him since December 2015. Mostly a football contributor. FFS, come back - that’s what we need most!

Sfcsim - responsible for the Southampton Past & Present Pictures thread, and boundlessly enthusiastic at times. Another nipper we’ve known since way back. Needs to get along to the game. Contributed far too much at this point not to meet his fellow Sotonians.

**Sickness is in us all ** - Last seen after starting a thread about turnkey websites, which ended up getting locked. We’ve not seen him since. If he returns, would like to see some more passionate stuff about Prince, etc, and slightly less spamming.

[pap]

**Smiler ** - initially famed for being the 100th user to sign up (before we started deleting spam accounts), but more recently, brave enough to voice what could have been an unpopular opinion in the middle of a mob, resulting in the locking of that Furball’s return thread. Fair play - was needed in retrospect. Hope the response will convince to tell us we’re out of order if we need it again.

Smirking_Saint - of TSW fame. Wasn’t really around that long, managing eleven posts.

**SO5 4BW ** - A regular attendee at the drinking events, and one half of the “dare not speak it’s name” badge, SO5 prefers to do his talking down the pub. A mere 137 posts in all this time, but a huge part of the matchday experience.

**Spudders ** - Not seen since Feb. Very funny when he’s about. Provided a load of ideas for development in the early days, likes his tech, and should get his arse back here for a refresher.

St Bangkok Famous on the UI, One post wonder here.

**StickyWhiteDovePiss ** - almost certainly joined up to take the mick. Instrumental in setting the precedent for how we dealt with wind-ups. He’s not banned or owt, but hasn’t tried a similar windup again. Still, how many other football forums have a favourite T-Girls thread, locked or not.

**suewhistle ** was someone I thought would join in the first couple of weeks. As it was, it took bletch’s five a side shenanigans to get her signed up. Lovely person, and again, was impressed with the way she’d stick up for herself in male-dominated TSW.

SuperMikey , or formally called Super Michael. Hasn’t posted as much as I might have expected, but his political stuff has been very good this year and he contributes across all areas of the site.

**Sussexsaint ** has always been a fine and regular contributor, but has been revelatory in recent weeks, especially in the context of the junior doctors dispute. Just don’t treat him like a priest or copper

**SW5 SAINT ** One post.

**TedMaul ** Our creature of the night (TedMaul is our most nocturnal poster), Ted takes a while to get to know, but pitches in with a lot of left-field resources or opinions… Recognised for a love and knowledge of film.

**The Kraken ** hasn’t clocked up many Sotonians post for a man of his repute, which is a shame. Excellent poster when on form, which is most of the time.

TheCholulaKid has been here since the very early days and continues to post. If pushed, I’d have to say he has driven music content more than anything else, but he’s posted a fuckload of else too.

**Tokyo-Saint ** has been given a big mention in post #1,

**trousers ** took a while to get here, and posted twice in 5 months. Would love to see him over here more often. He is the heartbeat of sites he chooses to contribute to…

**Twiggy ** active in June of July of last year. We’ve not seen him since, Described this place as “TMS on steroids”

**unionhotel ** hasn’t contributed since July. As most will know, he’s my dad. As most don’t know, he tends to turn up when he likes, without warning. I haven’t spoken directly to him for a bit. He may or may not post again, but even if he doesn’t, I’d be willing to bet his contribution is remembered for a long time. I knew what he meant. You guys didn’t. Big credit to him for providing an explanation and to site members for hearing him out. Hope he posts again, as he is a funny old bastard.

Viktor.Boskovic popped in, said hello but contributes to other footy forums. Two posts.

**Whelk ** probably won’t be back, even though he’s a decent poster. Presently filling a vacuum at TSW. Not quite sure which vacuum that is, but I reckon the content over here would suit him better.

**Won Ton ** is our final mention. Hasn’t posted much, but has recently started posting again.

[Goatboy]

dexter is Letsbe’s scottish mate who we met at Arsenal away. All that way for a 0-0 draw.

[pap]

Apologies if I got any of that wrong, or didn’t big you up enough.

Can’t promise I’ll do similar next year. I can say that I’ve done it once, though

Some thoughts after doing all of that. First, it’s quite clear that we’ve already got a shitload of members that we’d like to see more of. Many of those people are going to have been here during the site’s infancy, when there wasn’t a great deal to look at.

I’m quite sure that sufficiently reminded, many of those we got in the early days that come back will stay for longer. I’m nipping over to the UI and hitting social networks, but if anyone fancies posting a reminder on The Other Place, could be handy.

[Sadoldgit]

Great breakdown Pap and yes, I will die happy when I finally get to the bottom of the Hypo conundrum! Agree about Furball. Although implicated in Furballgate I was sorry to see him go and hope he returns at some point. I learnt a lot from many of his posts but clearly things got a bit weird in the end.

[pap]

Thanks for the clarification. Updated.