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When I joined this forum some years ago, over three years in fact, I determined that my stay would be a terminable one and that for reasons of sanity... and actually entering employment... I would not post forever, and instead retire after 10,000 posts. And therefore today – coincidentally 1,000 days (well OK, I hung on since it seemed more appropriate than 997...) and of course 10,000 posts since I joined, according to the forum counter – the time has come to hang up my keyboard for the last time. Although I will no longer post, PMs will continue to reach my E-mail should anyone wish.
I realise this is a long post, and a self-indulgent one, for which I apologise: but heck it's my last one, and I hope some of you may read it and find its observations pertinent. As I have been regularly accused of dealing in excess melodrama and hype, I felt it would be best to end in that manner... even if some of what follows is to an extent tongue-in-cheek
...I joined P&B following the demise of the BBC's FansForum, on the recommendation of certain members of that venerable and illustrious establishment who had flitted over before its dissolution. This was at a time when, being as it is around 4 years ago now, I had just left school and come to university: and found myself in an environment where few of my friends and acquaintances had an interest in football, let alone Scottish domestic football. FansForum and subsequently P&B therefore provided a welcome vehicle to quench my thirst for footballing discussion, debate and banter... albeit also provided a constant distraction while attempting to work on the computer!! My knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the game – from grassroots football to the elite levels – has been greatly enhanced by this forum; or more accurately, by its membership. Which I am very glad of.
I suppose I have become known on the P&B for several things. A strong advocacy of a pyramid system in Scottish football; a passionate proponent of evolutionary and sensible reform, but a vociferous opponent of unworkable and unrealistic revolution; a pragmatist; someone with a deep knowledge of the law, legislation and rules of football and a rigid defender of them; a good understanding of the non-league sphere; a student of the history of the beautiful game, particularly statistical; and a believer in the inherent goodness, wonder and potential of the world's paramount sport. I hope that over these past 1,000 days and 10,000 posts I have put this across in a constructive and contributory manner.
I've also had the pleasure of sharing these forums with many decent, upstanding, knowledgeable and passionate supporters – too many to list. But I would like to make special mention of Div and his mods (for running the site so thoroughly and adequately); Cmontheloknow (for his expertise and knowledge); Skyline Drifter (for the same); Galabankie (for investing that faith in 2007); and finally WJR, a decent hardworking man and a patriotic proponent (and one of only a couple of "P&Bers" I've ever met in the real world), who sadly passed away shortly before Christmas. I have neglected many others, for which I apologise.
P&B has assumed a position in the popular conscience of the game in Scotland, as evidenced it its regular column in The Scotsman; its popular radio program; its regular quotation in phone-ins and broadcast media; and the ability of its members to break transfer stories, expose rumours, and identify possible rule breaches and so on which might otherwise have been missed. It has become a powerful, if at times benign, player in the game in this country. And I can vouch from personal experience, that if people think the big-player-brokers in Scottish football don't read the P&B: they are much mistaken.
It was also I, HibeeJibee, who in mid-2007 proposed the division of the Highland League sub-forum into independent sub-forums for Highland, East of Scotland, South of Scotland and Junior football. These sub-forums now number some 6,000 topics and almost 100,000 posts, and have become the primary locations on the world-wide-web for these leagues' fan-focused discussion and debate.
Finally, but still significantly, P&B was also a factor in my being able to enter football which would previously have seemed unlikely and unattainable.
It is also comforting to know that views on the game and its organisation can strike a chord with the sport's major stakeholders - the fans - and P&B does this. You should all appreciate the many debates and discussions, on so many varied topics, found here. It mightn't necessarily last forever. Enjoy it.
It has always struck me how much Scottish football concerns itself with its structure, with reform and adequacy and redundancy, with rules and regulations, tribalism and history, off-field matters large and small. Contrast this with England, where the league and cup structures have barely changed in 100 years. This has always been the case in Scottish football, of course, ever since the days of the Victorian pioneers; and it has continued ever since. P&B is a melting pot for all of this, and much more: but at its core has always been the appreciation and discussion of the football on the park. This is, of course, exactly as it should be.
I'm a great one for meaningful and poignant quotes, but struggled to think of a relevant one to finish on. However I have settled on the well-known words of a personal hero of mine: the great and famous Scottish writer, politician and patriot Alexander Fletcher of Saltoun (1653-1716). I feel they encapsulate very aptly my views on Scottish football and its future direction and potential.
"I knew a wise man once, so full of St Christopher's sentiments: that he believed if a man should be permitted to make all the ballads, he need not care who makes the laws of a nation. And we find that most of the ancient legislators thought they could not well reform the matters of the city without the help of a lyric, or perhaps of a dramatic poet. Let me make the songs of a nation, and give me the making of a people's song – and I care not who makes its laws".
Farewell
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This post has been edited by HibeeJibee: 15 January 2010 - 00:01
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Farewell and to quote the late Dave Allen " May your God go with you"
