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Beginners Guide to the Messageboard

By BrianC
March 8 2006

The messageboard here is by far the busiest section of the site, To the newcomer it can appear somewhat daunting. This guide is aimed at those of you who are new to this site or have thus far felt too reticent to make your views known on the board.

Who runs/owns the site?

This site is owned and run by a number of London Irish supporters on a cooperative basis. The current editors are Brian Campbell, Graeme Griffiths, Bill Newton, Michael Williams, Sam Browne and Tjobbe Andrews. (BrianC, Griff, bisach, MickeyMouse, SamB_LI and Tjobbe)

Individual email contact details:
BrianC@londonirish.org
Griff@londonirish.org
bisach@londonirish.org

If you wish to send articles, reports, comments etc to all of us, then please use the general email address...

editors@londonirish.org

What are the origins?

The first London Irish messageboard that this author is aware of was on a site started by Catherine Sweeney in the days when the club was still at Sunbury, the 98/99 season. That site, in the glory days of the dot.com boom, then moved to the Rivals network who at the time were keen to attract sites from various sports. Subsequently it was evicted, along with all the other rugby and formula one sites, in April 2002. It spent a short time on Sportnetwork before moving on. The Craic is now one of three independent supporters sites, the others can be found via 'London Irish Links' on the left hand side of this site. Some of the regulars on this site, myself included, go back to the first messageboard, most have joined in the last four years, during the ‘Madstad Era’. The birth date of this site can be set at that when it's name was chosen, 10th August 2002, at the Henley 7's.

What are the rules?

We generally do not permit advertising, that aside there are basically none, we’re pretty well a self-policing bunch. Over the years the messageboards have served as a tourist guide, a merchandising emporium, a place to discuss politics, religion, nationality, drinking, the distance from Bangor to Donaghadee, etc. From time to time we even talk about either London Irish or Rugby. As the site is ‘unofficial’ it is not unknown for the club to come under criticism, this is also welcomed, much as we love our club we are entitled to let them know when we feel we are being let down by them. We do, from time to time, disagree with each other, there is nothing wrong with that, indeed healthy discussion has always been a part of the game. When this happens please try to keep the disagreement civil and things in perspective. Whatever we may feel at the time, there are a lot more important things in life than this messageboard or or beloved club.

Whilst we will do everything in our powers to avoid it, very, very occasionally a message or a thread may need to be deleted. Such occasions could be when someone attempts to discuss personal life of a player, official of the club or fellow member of the LI family. If a post is deemed as libelous it may have to be deleted to avoid us/Sportnetwork from being sued. To put things into context, spam aside, we probably delete about one post a year of the many thousands we have. If you wish to publicise something but are unsure if we would consider it advertising please mail the editors beforehand for clarification.

One thing that all posters should be aware of is that the site is read by the players and the administrators of the club as well as by supporters of other clubs. By it’s very definition the forum is an open medium. Just as you may not like some of what others have posted, the same may be true in return. Please try to be aware of peoples feelings.

Why don’t I understand what you are saying?

This is quite understandable. Not only do we usually spout out the most inane drivel, we have also over the years we have built up a collection of nicknames and expressions. These are ever changing, hang around a while and you’ll start to pick things up. Don’t ever be afraid to ask if there is something you don’t understand, nobody will bite your head off.

By the time you read this it could well be out of date, but to help you here are some of the most common terms in current use….

AG - stands for Arthur Guinness and refers to his black nectar. slurp

The Craic (Pronounced ‘crack’) – An Irish word with no direct translation in English. Means partying, enjoying the company of others, having a good time and a fair amount more. This is a particular speciality of London Irish and it’s supporters. One messageboard post in June 2003 said this......

"I am reliably informed by an elder statesman of London Irish that "Craic" is an acronym as follows;

Ceol(Music)
Rince(Dance)
Amhrain(Songs)
Inis Scealta(Storytelling)
Cainte(Gossip)

A Gobshoite – One who posts on the board, so named because the posting is often just that.

The Gobshoite League – This is the link at the top of the board pointing to ‘Top 10 Authors’. Basically this lists who has posted and how many times.

The Cowshed – North Stand Bar, if you’ve ever been there you’ll understand the name, sometimes prefaced with ‘post modernist’.

Eastiebeastie – One who watches matches from the East Stand.

The Madstad – Our home, the Madejski Stadium, sometimes also called the MadJet, rarely by it’s real name.

JC’s – The Jazz Café at the Madstad, renamed in honour of Jarrod Cunningham.

Fishing/Baiting/Trolling – A practice enjoyed by some, deplored by others, whereby attempts are made to wind up denizens of other messageboards.

The Reading Four – The supporters from the Reading area who have joined us since our move to the Madstad. They now run into the thousands but have been called this since a club official, when questioned after our move to Reading about the loss of support from the SW London area, answered ‘For every one we lose could pick up 3 or 4 from the Thames Valley.’

The Usual Suspects - Generic term for those of us who have got to know and meet with some but by no means all of each other.


Who are we?

The regulars in this pub are a pretty mixed bag, from students to pensioners, from secretaries to solicitors. Some of us have got to know each other through the various messageboards and meet regularly at away games, the Swan, the Madstad or at social events.
In the Summer of 2003 we ran a series entitled 'Meet the Family' this will give you an idea about some of us.


So now that you know something about us, don’t be afraid to pop onto the messageboard and say hello. Before you can post you will need to register.

If you visit the MB there's a link at the top of the message list that says "Log In" (or you can hit the "Login >>" button at the top right) it'll take you here.

Once there you can hit the "Not Registered? Click here to register now." link which will actually allow you to put in your details. You'll need to use a valid email address (check your typing) so it can send you a confirmation to allow you to activate your account.

It costs nothing and you don't even have to be honest about who you are. We all had to start at one time, however comfortable with the medium and each other we now appear.

London Irish is A State of Mind, as you can see from Meet the Family you don’t have to be Irish or have any Irish connection to be a part of it.

Consider yourself invited in for a pint of the black stuff or whatever you’d prefer. Now, what’s the Craic?

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