Net in the Prog

Swans and the Internet

The article that appeared in the Barry Town programme on Tuesday 30/9/97 is reproduced here.

In last Saturday's programme, I promised you a sample of the correspondence received as a result of our link-up on the Internet. This a message received from Jay Humphreys in Florida:

JACK OUTPOST 3275 - Gainesville, Florida While my level of passion for the Swans may not be much less than those loyal Jacks hurling their chants and epithets down to the pitch from the raucous North Bank, the settings in which we avidly anticipate another win could not be more different. While the Vetch and its occupants are subjected to cool sunlight, driving rains, or freezing ice and snow, the weather at my venue is delightfully monotonous---dazzling sunlight, a tropical breeze rattling through the palms and a ready supply of Jamaican Red Stripe beer close at hand. But despite the disparity in locales, Gary Martin's internet homepage brings the latest Swans' results to me so promptly that at the same moment Jacks are celebrating or grieving in Swanseas' pubs, I am sharing their emotions on a somewhat smaller scale while baking in the Florida sun..

For me, this ability to keep tabs on the Swans from 4,000 miles away is an incredible gift presented to the clubs' followers by devoted webmasters like Gary, Anthill Boy, Stephen Roberts, and Anthony Thomas. In fact, it was through the internet that I was able to contact Swansea City FC and arrange a trial for my son. I got to meet the team's former owner up close and personal (an opportunity I'm sure many Jacks would have wanted to share with me) and, of course, the several conversations I had with Jan Molby, Alan Curtis, Billy Ayre, and Ron Walton were unforgettable. Best of all, a three-week visit to Swansea gave me plenty of time to wander about the Vetch soaking up the atmosphere in such huge doses that a year after my departure, the match reports combined with my vivid memories of Swansea make me really feel that I was there during the match.

Although the leap in technology that puts the Swans at my fingertips is nothing short of incredible, I'm convinced that the creators of the SCFC internet pages are pioneers who have barely scratched the surface of what will eventually be available to football fans via the internet. But no matter what the future brings on the pitch, the unpaid labours of these cyber-fans will insure the Swans will undoubtedly remain in the Premier League of footballing cyberspace.

In the meantime, give a thought to me the next time you're hoisting a pint to celebrate a Swans' victory and...by the way, could you please pass the sunscreen?

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