To many people 'double-u, double-u, double-u, dot' may sound like technological gobbledegook, to others it's access to a whole new world. The Yellow Dragon gets his board out, and surfs the world wide web.
Where once there were fanzines, now football supporters turn to the Internet and the Worldwide web for information about events surrounding their favourite teams. Even here in the League of Wales, it is becoming a more regular event for fans to 'log-on' and find out what is happening around the League and the clubs.
Internet web pages have many advantages over fanzines, not least of which is their own flexibility and adaptability. Whereas a paper fanzine is written, and remains as it is, a web page can provide up-to-date information on events on a day-to-day basis, allowing interested people all over the world to receive League of Wales results, match reports and viewpoints within minutes of them being written - a far cry from either sending them by air-mail, or ringing people for results.
One of the clubs in the vanguard of this are Aberystwyth Town, who have numerous 'web-sites' in operation. Perhaps advantaged by being a university town (students appear to have better access to the Internet), Aberystwyth has four sites which can be accessed. All of these contain different information, reflecting the differing interests of supporters and those who actually go to the trouble of creating the pages. One, for example, is primarily article based, while another deals in providing up-to-date information. Another is more concerned with events surrounding the club. They all have a role to play, and are informative in whichever they specialise. The sites are easy to read, and, unlike many clubs, they take on the personality of the writers. This comes across well in the writing, which is often biased, and gives a true feeling of support for the club, rather than being a bland mass of statistics.
Another club with several sites are Porthmadog, although the original web pages has certainly been surpassed by the second. Featuring an up-to-date news section, and even a focus on former Porthmadog players, the success of their page can be highlighted by the inter-continental interest which people have in Porthmadog, who have recently had many shares bought in the club by Americans fascinated by Wales and the Welsh! A wholly bilingual production, the Porthmadog page is very readable in both languages. This is also the focus point of the Welsh football mailing list, where discussions are held on all aspects of the round-balled game in Wales.
One of the more professional pages is edited by Carmarthen Town. The page is far more official in tone than many others, featuring match reports which appear in papers', rather than giving a supporters' perspective, and extracts from the matchday programme. They do go some way to counter this, though, by printing 'Shouts from the Shed', where supporters are given a chance to have their say. Also interesting are the articles by 'outsiders', which also appear in the programme. By outsiders, I mean people connected with football, but not neccessarily with Carmarthen Town F.C itself. These provide a balanced view to the page.
Rhyl are another club with regularly updated 'website'. Their 'Virtual Vue', a play on the name of their ground, Belle Vue, is their second site, although the first one closed down sometime in the past. The new site features regular matchday information, as well as providing all the usual pen-pictures and paraphenalia promoting the club. Matches are promoted, as is the website for the Rhyl Journal, theit local newspaper.
Another club with a webpage are Total Network Solutions (nee Llansantffraid). Of course, this is hardly a surprise considering the computing section of the parent company. T.N.S seem to have hit upon some novel ideas in their site, not least advertising trials for the club's sides (there's was one last month if anyone's interested!). Match reports are provided by local newspapers.
Rhayader also have a webpage, with regularly updated fixtures and results pages. Their site has a rather idiosyncratic tone, with its' author providing pen pictures of the kitchen staff! They also make use of the many icons which can be found on the webpage editors, including what looks to be a sheep playing 'keepy-uppy'!
Barry fans may remember Bangor City advertising their web-page when we played them at Farrar Road last September. Their page, entitled 'Electric Blue', features pen-pictures, and fixture-lists for both their male and female sides.
Also useful for those surfing the web would be Eric the Red's page covering the Welsh international side. Featuring regular updates on the players as well as the national team itself, the site is also good for its' links (where you can jump to pages without having to type in the full address) page. This features links to pages on all of the above-mentioned Welsh clubs, as well as links to Welsh music pages and Glamorgan County Cricket Club.
Alongside his international page, there is also a 'League of Wales' directory, which is loosely based on the Official League of Wales Directory (a natty paper publication with Darren Ryan on the front cover). This features basic information on all twenty League of Wales clubs, including their previous LoW records, their squads and directions by rail, road and bus to their grounds.
A League of Wales results page is also maintained, featuring results from throughout the season and an up-to-date league table and goalscoring charts from the league. Also provided are a full list of fixtures in the Welsh Cup this season, and the tables of the Cymru Alliance and the three CC Sports League divisions.
A very useful website is provided by the North Wales Newpapers, whose sports pages often print newspaper reports on League of Wales matches. This can provide very interesting reading, especially on matches at which you attended. Was the writer really watching the same game as you were?! Especially good are the daily Flintshire Evening Leader and the Chronicle, which although a weekly paper, covers all of the sides in the North West Wales area.
Supporters reading this may notice a surprising omission in the review above. With the Internet becoming the technology of today, not tomorrow, it is surprising that there is no Barry Town page on the World Wide Web. Long term readers of the programme may recall that when an article of this ilk was printed in the programme a few years ago, discussing fanzines, Barry suddenly had two a few months later! Perhaps if the gauntlet is thrown down here, then maybe Barry Town will soon have a website as well. If anyone has any interest in setting up a site or specialist knowledge regarding the Internet then perhaps they might be interested in contacting the club, and setting up a site!
See you when you're surfing!
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This page maintained by the Yellow Dragon, 1998.
This material first published in the Barry Town A.F.C Matchday Magazine, v Caersws,
L.o.W, 21st February, 1998
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