Rivals Dancing On The Grave

It’s been over a week now and just this morning I remembered that Rivals.net had died. I read the national news online daily but haven’t seen anything in the media about it, to be honest I haven’t been looking and it got the meekest of mentions on MO, by me, on MillwallOnline.co.uk that day. So did anyone care? any obituaries in the Sundays?

I started receiving excitable emails in the afternoon of 2nd July from the head honcho on vitalfootball.co.uk, the network MO moved to two summers ago when I visited Russia, lovely girl, wasn’t to be, he was proclaiming the passing of Rivals.net and that cheers and opportunity should fill the air, I was quite happy myself as I hate the buggers but there’s a small part of me that finds it all a little bit sad and I’ll tell you why.

Back in the late nineties I was a fledgling football supporter, not even really football, just Millwall. I’d found myself following the Lions in 1998 and a few months later would set up a page to offer fixtures and stuff on the net and there it began, MillwallOnline.co.uk although not to be regged and named so until late 1999. That Christmas every football website received an email from Chrysalis, the radio and publishing group with a suggestion of a new collaboration to serve the fans and of course the advertising industry.

There was a financial incentive to sign up and get your contracts back quick, having deliberated and been advised about totalfootball.co.uk which back then was a mismatch of uncoordinated football fansites that wasn’t really working, another company coming along to fail just like them didn’t seem such a great idea but with me struggling to maintain a site, the idea of a network working and being good for the fans and thinking money would be nice, I stuck a registered delivery stamp on a contract and celebrated getting the incentive whack, £500 I think or half that.

There it began, December 1999, Mr Dan Davies, Editor in Chief, who’s never ending use of the word “Squire” would entertain me no end began assembling the biggest most promising sports network in Europe, the biggest and the best and everyone believed in the network and the personnel behind the venture were strong and they had money, well they didn’t, the company did. Not easy to have money with the dot com bust on top but they had a bit to spend.

Rivals.net would encompass football, all the leagues of the UK, cycling, tennis, golf, F1 and more and we even started integrating France at one point, God knows why but it was a .net so possible and fan sites came pouring in to take their positions. The move would take months and the network wouldn’t officially launch until the summer of 2000. Months were spent uploading content to the Chrysalis servers from our own, duplicating content inbetween, linking, adding new content, taking new fans on board, adding a message board, never really did have one before joining the network and generally preparing for what was to come.

Success, the network launches to rave reviews with those who decided not to take their site to Rivals either wishing us luck or saying “they only took the money, **** them.” I took both, nice to give fans back more and I had big plans, with money I could do stuff, offer more features spend more time, take more people on board, dreams but then dreams all start somewhere and end… can you sense the undertone? I wasn’t the only one, at least another 150 people were relying on this being a success, not relying, could move off again but doing well obviously a nice wish after all the effort.

We had a big meeting in London, over Earls Court / Kensington way, can’t quite recall, I can see the station now, I took a taxi from New Cross and was late, and apparantly, according to hmmm, what’s his name? Derek (I’ll namecheck surname later) according to he (ended up at 442 magazine), he knew who I was in an instant, looked, walked (no not like a neanderthal, I know who’s reading this) and behaved like Millwall… still made for conversation, he said I thought I was going to chuck the chair and not sit on it. Charming.

The drinks were on Rivals, Chrysalis, there was much excitement, books and material handed out, mugs and mousemats, lectures made, funny, I’m sitting here puffing away – yes smoking again, will stop in a few weeks – and I have a Rivals mug here, filled with cigarettes, I’ll take a picture later, it really sums up the death of Rivals or me haha. We headed off to the pub after, I recall speaking to Pompey and a few others, descended into talk about hooligans, what else to talk about?!?

Back in the pub across the road, already drunk, we spent our own money and got drunk again, I didn’t stay long and headed back to New Cross to probably have another drink. Rivals had launched, everyone was happy’ish, I was never happy, always wanted more, the money was ok, we did articles, tried and did get the traffic up, ranking well with abc, went along with management ideas, the early days were good, then the dot com bust came along and people had cuts in the traffic wedge, things got renegotiated/told until one point the most busiest traffic sports website in Europe was to be sold.

Uh oh, to… those arses at Teamtalk, the buggers we ripped the mick out of continually for their inept reporting and yes their ripping off of our news articles, maybe not mine but others… they were to buy Rivals.net from Chrysalis, might have been around 2002/03, the teamtalk group, 365, oh what fun that was to be. Not only that but a writer/ex editor? for the Guardian headed it all up, who had recently slated Millwall fans in a completely fabricated article about a clash with Manchester City – yes that one, I still call him a liar as will many Millwall who can remember because we rarely forget.

Moving on… I wish I had done, there began the most miserable period of the MillwallOnline.co.uk site, for me anyway, I never stopped moaning, we was promised this that and the other and instead we got this, that and Trevor, oh dear Trevor, lovely man, in charge of everything but in control of naff all operating out of South Africa, South Africa I ask you, who dreamt that location up?

I spent the next several years arguing over everything, mainly about income and network growth and how it should be done and how it wasn’t, yes instead of getting on with websites and selling domain names for thousands I thought it best to lend my time to a Millwall fansite and try to make the dream of 1999 a success, I forgot to mention the previous management team quickly went their own way after the takeover, they got out when we all should. Dan Davies ended up on a minibus to Russia for Charity, did you make it?

Fast forward as these are bad memories and I wasted far too much time watching that mid term network go from great and best, award winning material to middle of the ground, no future, no aspirations and run into the ground so that teamtalk / 365 could pick up all the traffic. The final straw came in with rumours the network was going to be bought by Sky, a lot were excited, I was far from excited. No change there then.

Sky, the end of the road, the nobody else can buy this network after and make it better, the biggest corporation in sports is about to give a flying f about Millwall and Scunthorpe, no Sir I don’t think so. I shouted a lot at Rivals, made no dent but worked myself up a lot, I made no impact but I was a pain, I was a little fly that buzzed who thought his opinion accounted but no one gave a…  so not recalling what quite happened as it’s easier that way, I got the tintac from Rivals and resigned at the same time. Take it how you like however  it was already known dozens of sites were leaving I didn’t find out until late on, wasn’t invited until late on.

I lead a quiet life…

I didn’t do much on MillwallOnline articles wise for years, point blank refused to and had another fan, Alex willingly assisting before he picked up the contract at VitalFootball after figuring out he could have more money, some money, not sure I ever gave him any, last I heard the talented wannabe journo ended up at the SLP. I’d also like to thank Neil Richardson for his work early on with match reports.

When I left, 2007? I was in the middle of being in love with a Russian and heading out there – love… what do I know about love – just mucking it up again as well I think, back on me jack – I needed some more money so took the decision to move to VitalFootball, thanks to Alex that was made possible 65/35 and while I get carried away writing about my feelings and myself, I have every thank you and appreciation in the world to those fans, around 90% to 98% who moved from Rivals to Vital with MO, I respect them for sticking by the community and most importantly each other but I guess that’s what Millwall have always done. Thank you. Just a shame I was a bit of an idiot while handling certain issues.

I lost all my content, nothing new there, I’m always losing my websites, was an headache to move it all over and they claimed they couldn’t back it up. So all anew on VitalFootball ready for the start of the 2007/08 season, I’d moved to Romania three months previous as well, still here, as you know. Meanwhile another fan had moved into the Rivals Millwall horseshoe not knowing of their fate. And that’s where my story ends with Rivals, we began with a dream that got sold to a bunch of bystanders who didn’t want the same thing as most of us, some got on with it, I didn’t, was I wrong?

It’s a sad, sad story that on 2nd July 2009 Rivals.net was finally shut down, maybe not for good, possibly to be rebranded, I do not know the ins and outs but for almost a decade that network was a part of millions of sports fans lives on a daily and weekly basis and many a journo at the nationals made their copy from it but after Chrysalis the management just weren’t up to the task the originals were, despite the cash flow issues, I’m still adamant that it could have made money and should have done.

Rivals.net may have officially died a week ago and maybe it will return but to me it died a few years after it began. I’d love to name all 92 original football sites, the golf, F1 and other sport fansites and the people behind them, the fans and the management team in at the beginning but I can’t remember them off by heart, they were fun times and we had dreams. I’m sorry for the publishers that got sacked by Sky recently, you’ll survive but it always was the end when they took over.

Rivals.net RIP – I won’t dance on your grave as you may come back, but that’s the only reason. The dream died a long time ago but like most things, when everything goes tits up, it’s the fans that remain after the directors and money goes elsewhere and hopefully MillwallOnline.co.uk and every other fansite will continue to survive through the years with the fanbase that utilises and appreciates the effort each and every one of them makes when skiving off of work several hours a day at the office desk to make a fansite, funny, irreverent, by the fans and for the fans. I love you all, someone really should write about the death of Rivals.net in the nationals, even make a programme for the telly.  As aside from my personal interest tale, the origins from Rivals.com and the ideals should be covered properly. Get Sky to produce it…

Perhaps the death was covered; http://www.nma.co.uk/sky-gives-rivalsnet-football-community-the-boot/3002064.article and another personal view point; http://www.clubfanzine.com/leeds/v2.showNews.php?id=25454

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