- North Stand Chat
Infobox_Company
company_name = North Stand Chat
company_
key_people = Bozza, Lord Bracknell
foundation = 1996
homepage = [http://www.northstandchat.biz/ North Stand Chat]North Stand Chat is an
Internet Forum for fans ofBrighton & Hove Albion which is an English football team based inBrighton . They play atWithdean Stadium and are currently playing in theFootball League One . The forum takes its name from a stand at the club's previous home, theGoldstone Ground inHove , which was the club's home from 1902 until 1997 when it was demolished to make way for a shopping centre.North Stand Chat started off as a
mailing list . It became a fully fledged internet forum in 1996 as part of the Seagulls Server (which can still be viewed via theInternet Archive [http://web.archive.org/web/19970722113110/homepages.enterprise.net/gjc] )The poor management of the club by the board (
Greg Stanley , Bill Archer andDavid Bellotti ) at this time caused great concern amongst the fans and North Stand Chat became a popular place to meet online for fans to discuss different tactics and actions. Events such as theMansfield Town boycott, the march on Bill Archer's house andFans United were all organised through North Stand Chat. Contacts were made meaning that things could be organised away from match days, at pretty short notice.The board was a great help to the club in organising events to ensure that permission was given to build their new home at
Falmer Stadium .Following the
World Trade Center attacks on11 September 2001 forum members came together to form the Robert Eaton Memorial Fund in memory of forum member Robert Eaton who died in the attacks. The fund raises money to provide kit and funding to children's football teams both inNew York andSussex .The board currently has over 6,000 members, following a heavy cull of unused accounts, and over 2,400,000 posted messages. The most users ever online was 556 on
31 December 2006 . A collaboration with the club's management means that fans' queries, on pretty much any issue, are posted through the "Ask the Club" forum on the board.Fans of other teams, such as
Cardiff City ,Leeds United , Spurs andWest Ham United as well as rivals Crystal Palace regularly post messages on the forum, and new users are always welcome.The site, and its predecessors, have appeared in a number of newspapers, including "
The Times ", generally being quoted as a source for a rumour, and the initial Seagulls Server site appeared in the book "Build a Bonfire: How Football Fans United to Save Brighton & Hove Albion". References to activity on the board and liberal use of internet handles from it occurs on the "fans phone in" onBBC Southern Counties Radio .In June 2007 the site was updated to use the latest version of vBulletin, v3.6.7
External links
* [http://www.northstandchat.biz/ North Stand Chat]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.