UKFF Silver Anniversary! (massive asterisk)

[tiger_rick]

43 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

he added me on MSN

Bloody hell, those were the days. Used to spend hours on MSN chatting to Lawz, Guts and loads of people who were into tape trading. Used to tell my missus was having an affair so she didn't know I was talking to men about wrestling.

[Browser Brady]

@Moo , approx how much annually are the running costs if you don’t mind me asking ?

[FLips]

8 minutes ago, Browser Brady said:

@Moo , approx how much annually are the running costs if you don’t mind me asking ?

I’ve always been keen to know this too as whenever I donate I worry it might be a drop in the ocean.

[Jazzy G]

I remember being introduced to this place by @air_raid, presumably when we went to that TNA show at the MEN. I've been at the same venue and show as other 'Keffers but have only ever been anywhere with Raiders. 

@FLipshelped me through lockdown. I'll always be grateful for that little streaming community we had at that time. 

I've also had some lovely wholesome interactions with loads of you chaps and chappettes. You're great people, even if you do have weied toilet habits. 

This place is fabulous. If any Blackburn based Keffers are free and we can find the time I'll gladly meet somewhere for a brew. Drop me a line. 

[LaGoosh]

3 hours ago, tiger_rick said:

Bloody hell, those were the days. Used to spend hours on MSN chatting to Lawz, Guts and loads of people who were into tape trading. Used to tell my missus was having an affair so she didn't know I was talking to men about wrestling.

I found out ages after the fact that Guts was flatmates with my brother for several years which blew my mind - world's colliding! I never met him though.

Edited Monday at 07:41 PM by LaGoosh

[Olly1984]

Pretty sure I first heard of the forum in 2006,think it was when(whispers) 1PW first started up. Became a constant part of my daily life from there. Lurked for years till signing up but had so many laughs and great wrestling conversations with a great bunch of like minded folk. Pretty sure I used to see @cobystag at the 1PW shows all the time. Love the Gold thread and can't tell you how many times I'm snorted with laughter on the way to work😂😂. Also shout out to @Richie Freebird and his death match thread and reviews, always a brilliant read. 

[Joe Blog]

Like many I lurked for a while. I would say it was probably 2009/10 that I first started visiting daily. Signed up in 2015 according to this. It’s genuinely mad how much of a constant this place has been in my life.

Graduation, first house, marriage, children, divorce, finally starting my dream career. This place has been there for it all. It feels like a weird secluded universe that the ‘real world’ can never take from me. 
 

I hand on heart have been moved by so many of the people and their stories on here and likewise have felt supporter and seen by so many of you. It’s has and will remain an absolute pleasure to spend another lifetime with you all. 

[Moo]

3 hours ago, FLips said:

I’ve always been keen to know this too as whenever I donate I worry it might be a drop in the ocean.

About 250-300 USD per year. It's changing a bit as hosting costs are going up & down as things like RAM & CPUs are constrained - but the last 6 months or so the hosting is about 15 EUR per month, which is very cheap. I've moved us a few times to keep these costs under control. Software licensing for Invision is another $40 USD per 6 months. I want to get us off Invision because they're just rent seeking at this point and it's not worth it.

Our donations aren't regular but we have enough in the coffers to keep us going for another year or so. If we get off of Invision, it will be closer to 150 per year - the variable cost is hosting and with AI driving up the cost of storage, RAM, CPU etc I would expect this will be volatile for a while.

[Big Bully Busick]

This is the only place worth while to talk or read about wrestling 

 

Other forums are horrible 

 

I don't post often but visit pretty much every day 

 

 

[Chili]

2 minutes ago, Big Bully Busick said:

This is the only place worth while to talk or read about wrestling 

 

Other forums are horrible 

 

I don't post often but visit pretty much every day 

 

 

This pretty much. I mooch at a few other places but I wouldn't sign up for them, zero interest. It's genuinely the quality and internal personality of the posters on here that I like, if anything because pretty much almost everyone doesn't take this shit that seriously, it's almost an on topic pub chat, but all about wrestling and full of wrestling fans, so the pub reeks, but it's my local and I really wouldn't enjoy anywhere else.

[Big Bully Busick]

2 minutes ago, Chili said:

This pretty much. I mooch at a few other places but I wouldn't sign up for them, zero interest. It's genuinely the quality and internal personality of the posters on here that I like, if anything because pretty much almost everyone doesn't take this shit that seriously, it's almost an on topic pub chat, but all about wrestling and full of wrestling fans, so the pub reeks, but it's my local and I really wouldn't enjoy anywhere else.

 

 

100 per cent 

 

I can't be arsed reading forums and other social media telling me a wrestler was buried because they lost a match in under 10 minutes 

 

 

[Dr. Alan Grant]

In the same boat as Big Bully Busick, I barely post these days but I’m on here every day reading. Joined in 2018, but lurked in the darkness for probably 4 or 5 years prior to that, most likely after the old Empire forums came to an end. 

It’s genuinely unsettling when the board goes down for days at a time, not knowing if it’s finally bit the bullet.

I don’t want to name specific people lest their heads get too big, but there’s quite a few on here who’s posts are always fun to read and their enthusiasm for the wrasslin’ makes me wish mine (for the current product at least) wasn’t at death’s door. 

And I do so like seeing pictures of people’s pets.

[RedTwoster]

9 hours ago, Moo said:

Our donations aren't regular but we have enough in the coffers to keep us going for another year or so.

Popped through a donation via your email address since the donation link isn’t working.

Seeing the costs involved though, I really just wanted to publicly say thanks for keeping this place going. As you’ll have seen from this thread the forum means a lot to so many of us, and shamefully I hadn’t realised or considered that it all came down to the efforts and dedication of one person. So yeah, I’m enormously grateful and I’m pretty certain I’m not alone in feeling that way.

[Wretch]

16 hours ago, LaGoosh said:

I think everyone was enemies with that guy at some point. He was weirdly over the top hostile and if you disagreed with his opinion he would really take it personally to an insane degree. Though oddly enough he added me on MSN and was completely chill and easy to talk to on there.

Eh, we were young and all posted a lot of rubbish stuff. I had loads of pointless arguments back in the day. I'm sure I'd die of cringe seeing dumb posts and arguments I made 15 years ago.

I'm sure this played a part in him pissing off, never to return. Imagine the levels of cringe and embarrassment you'd feel when you remember that you told someone to kill themselves once because of a disagreement over an album. Moreso when you're now (or was) writing extensively about mental health. Fuck off.

Last mention of him, promise.

[Accident Prone]

I joined in November 2012 but I was a lurker for years before that. I was a regular on other forums but I still had an intimidating first few years. Getting scolded for using the term "move set", defending Kyle O'Reilly vs Davey Richards GIFs, making the case for the indie scene needing more WRESTLING on its shows (I still stand by all these opinions, stubbornly yet rightfully). Then I got swept up in the community and the personalities and the people and their stories, by God their stories, and it became more than just another wrestling forum. Its a place for advice, for warmth, for comfort, for passing the time gleefully.

I don't get to post much these days, due to work. When I started posting here I was a retail worker at Staples, had been living with my girlfriend at the time for 6 months after dating for a year, and I would post whilst bored in the in-house tech repair centre. In 2014 I left Staples for an office job and my posting greatly increased. In 2015 I was on here asking for advice about engagement rings, advice that I followed and was successful with. In 2018 I was in here asking for advice on wedding planning and then subsequently ranting about the wedding planning (we went through four chefs and three wedding planners if I recall correctly because the venue kept overhauling its staff, meaning we had to start from scratch every single time). 2020-2022 was a forum whirlwind due to working from home! So many hours lovingly wasted on this place. 

And all that is without posting about all the wrestling I was watching at the time! Fucking hell, this is a WRESTLING forum, I always forget that when I log in these days. I've always seen the UKFF as a pro-Fed stronghold, so it was always delightful during my 2010's all-singing, all-dancing wrestling pomp to get into some back-and-forth with the regulars (and I'm still stubbornly and rightfully correct). All the joys of breaking down the PPVs, the telly, the past, the present, the live reports, the untimely and timely deaths, the fun retrospectives and think pieces. It doesn't get said enough because Off-Topic became the true artisans resort, but On-Topic was, for the most part, equally as well thought out and fun to be around.

In 2021, I had a son and there went my posting at home. In 2022 I got promoted and there went my posting at work. In 2026 I gave up wrestling for a year (cheeky plug to my article detailing that choice here, if you fancy it), and there went my browsing of On-Topic. I only found about this thread from the Paido Tory corner. So in the last five years I've gone back into mainly a lurker, only posting in Off-Topic when I get precious WFH days, like today. I still read up on Off-Topic when I can, but the joy of being an active part of this community is rare. And thats what this place is, at the heart and arse of it, a community. Seeing all the usernames gradually grow into adults with careers, homes, other pastimes other than wrestling, partners, children, fame, infamy, adult problems, adult advice, the unfortunate passing away of forum members, this is it, the human life cycle contained in a fucking wrestling forum.

I am so tied to this place that I don't think a day goes by where some UKFF in-joke or reference doesn't pop into my life. Every time I go past a Bensons For Beds I laugh, I can't help it. In fact I ear marked something I saw on Sunday that reminded me of here so that I can post it in the "Things That Remind You Of The UKFF" thread at some point. It's in my blood, they'll need to write "UKFF" on the bag when I donate. I've gone from lurking and single to going through half a life cycle on here; childless to father, single to husband, fully flexible to fucked-my-back-completely. I could go back through my post history and piece together most of my 20s and 30s. I'll live that in my will for my kids to go through.

You're all fantastic, even the one poster that I have blocked I'm sure is a lovely person in real life when he isn't shouting abuse at the wrestlers at live shows. Even the wrong'uns, I hope your're smiling today in your jail cells and smelly mattresses.

And I am still stubborn, and ultimately, correct. Here's to another 25 years.