Happy Not-Actually 20th Birthday UKFF

[JNLister]

So UKFF is sort of 20 today. It's actually a bit older as it began some time in 1999-2000 when several boards merged under what I believe was called Wrestling UK Fan Forum.

20 years ago today is when the database was last reset/recreated/relaunched and everyone had to reregister. From a purely technical perspective, that's an impressive task in that things like user accounts and post counts have been tracked for two decades, though older posts have to be deleted every so often to avoid a complete crash.

Per the member list (https://ukff.com/search/?type=core_members), people who signed up (or rather recreated their account) on day one were:

• Moo
• Five Alive
• Junkman
• Bad News
• Mackem Man
• LCJ
• Van Dammer
• Gossy
• Pabster

 

I was a day two-er along with several others who are still around. By the end of 2001 there were still fewer than 90 members. A few of those were/went on to be involved in wrestling including:

• Dean Ayass & Linus (who commentated together on Revival on Talk Sport and Bravo a few months later)
• Majik
• Patrick 'MadMan' Kelly (not at all sure, but I think he was Keith 'Ruffneck' Colwill)
• Jon Farrer
• Mark Sloan
• Mark Dallas 
• The Middleman (wrestler/promoter Lee Butler)
• CracktonMOJ (ring announcer)
   

Meanwhile, the only people who've topped 20,000 posts are IandrewDiceClay, Egg Shen and wandshogun09, though I can't remember if that excludes off-topic posts these days.

Thoughts, memories, etc?

[Keith Houchen]

September 4th 2004 is when business really picked up. 

[Phil Jones]

The Shitarse 50. Say no more.

[dopper]

I reckon the changeover must have happened late in the evening because looking at the full list on that link, loads of people - myself included - re-registered on the 18th.

It's nice to see that a fair few are still here 20 years on too. ?

[DavidB6937]

Considering I've never met anyone off here, and I probably don't know many on social media etc, it's incredible how much time I've spent on here over the years and just how much I've enjoyed it. Not only the laughs but the amount of stuff I've learnt about wrestling and its history, some opinions that are always worth listening to, and more recently the Off Topic stuff just being so helpful and supportive. I know it's been said before but many have grown up with this message board and to think of where I was when it started vs now being sat here eagerly awaiting a third child any time now.. it's fucking mental really.

But beyond all that mushy shit, for me it'll always be about Gangrel and his crisps, and CHEESE ON really.

[mim731]

We never did find out what company had a red, blue and black four sided ring and let that guy's girlfriend have "moves" done on her. The greatest unsolved mystery in UKFF history. 

I only joined in 08/09 (I think) having lurked for a while, but this place has been pretty much an ever present in the since time. Happy birthday UKFF! 

 

 

[BrodyGraham]

I wasn't here as early as that. October of 2002 until March 2008 as grim17 initially and then came back a few years ago, once everyone had settled into early middle age.

When I was first on here, I also used to hang out a lot at Extreme Central in Manchester, so seeing Keith Colwill mentioned is a proper blast from the past!

[Chili]

The bloke asking about a mysterious wrestling show his missus was at, as mentioned before is fascinating. 

Oh, Surf Graffiti. 

[The Gaffer]

Happy birthday to the forum that Single Handedly Killed British Wrestling. 

[FUM]

I've never been an every day type of poster but I often come here to read views on shows etc. as it's an interesting insight even if I haven't replied on it.

For all every one is a miserable bastard, the place is rarely not interesting reading.

[Just Some Guy]

Lurked for many years before signing up, and only did so because it felt creepy to be eavesdropping on your conversations!

Always been an interesting place and so kind and caring these days.

Here's to the next 20 years

[cdm316]

Day two'er for me. Never post any more but I still visit most days. I'm glad the forum is still going although it's depressing to think it took on it's current guise 20 years ago. 

[LCJ]

Interesting post. Time flies. I’m clearly a pro wrestling fan for life still being here after twenty years.

[Frankie Crisp]

I signed up on September 11th, five years after those lads did what they did. It also means that if this place lasts another twenty, I’ll be sixty two years old and still frequenting a wrestling forum.

[Fog Dude]

Found the forum sometime in late 2002. It was a relief to discover probably the first wrestling message board of news site that wasn't dominated by Yanks. There's a clue in the name here, to be fair. Lurked for a while and then signed up in April 2003. I'm in a different house and living with a different parent now, but still in the same town with the same sibling.

Mercifully for the rest of you, I think I went over a decade without making a post in On Topic at one point. From the list at the top of the thread, I remember NewportMOJ's 8-bit GIF avatar whenever I go and do leg-stretching exercises of an evening up on the sea front. It was still a novelty to see a profile pic move in those days!

Plus, you know, it's been great to see how this place has not just been less toxic than it used to be these last few years, but also how it's actually much more pleasant than most other corners of the internet. So, yeah, happy anniversary and cheers to 20 more years, I suppose...