YTFC Forum

darren · Joined: 28 Dec 2005 Posts: 334 Location: Yeovil, Somerset

As you may be aware, I recently sent a letter to Mr Fry concerning his comments in the Western Daily Press last week.

Here is the content of the letter. Please note, I have edited certain sections, as it did contain club sensitive material:

Dear Mr Fry,

I note the comments reportedly made by you about forums such as YTFC Forum in the Western Daily Press earlier this week.

In the article, you were quoted as stating that you would be looking to close down ‘libellous’ internet supporters’ forums. I would be interested to hear which forums you consider ‘libellous’, or any particular posts on these forums. My company runs a number of internet forums in addition to ytfcforum.co.uk, my experiences in this field and the legal advice I have taken indicate the powers available to you in this matter are at best, limited.

I have asked on a couple of occasions in the past for the club to contact me so that I may establish a working relationship. To date, no contact has been received. In fact, it was only this week when I called the club to give my views on the Western Daily Press article that I finally got to speak to Mr Hopper.

I would like to point out at least one incident in which both forums (the green room and YTFC Forum) have assisted the club.

********************************EDITED*********************

At the same time, the club director in question was offered the telephone number of one of the moderators of YTFC Forum so that he could be contacted if the club were unhappy about any content on the forum. Although the number was taken, the moderator has never been contacted.

Bearing in mind that Mr Hopper has been given my contact details on at least two occasions, a club director has been given contact details for a moderator, and the registrant details for ytfcforum.co.uk can be easily found on the internet (giving my contact details), I am puzzled and dismayed that the club has decided to make threats of legal action through the press, rather than contact me or the moderators directly.

Regarding the content of posts made, YTFC Forum is not responsible for the views of the members using the forum. However, the moderators and I have been quick to remove anything we consider libellous or anything that may be ‘over the top’. As an example, a post was made about Bradley Thomas’s love life in a post earlier this week. After noticing this post, I removed the content and left a statement that the post in question may be considered libellous.

However, what we will not remove is posts that may be considered ‘negative’ towards the club without good reason. After the club’s recent poor run in the league, there is an understandable amount of negative feeling. Some are questioning Steve Thompson’s team selections; some are questioning the standard of certain players. Some are questioning why it is so difficult to attract players from anything higher than the conference. This is expected. My forum is a fan’s forum, and the content found on it is similar to what can be found on thousands of other fan’s forums all over the world. Football is a very passionate game, and fans can be very angry or full of joy for their team. In fact, you only need look at high profile teams in the Premiership to find negativity even when the team is doing well. If an organisation cannot survive criticism, then there is clearly a problem.

I would strongly suggest that YTFC changes it’s stance towards external fan’s organisations such as my own. Both forums represent the views of a considerable number of YTFC fans, both good and bad. We take a neutral stance much of the time, on the occasions where my own feelings are made known on the forums, it is clear that they are my views alone. We feel we operate in the interests of YTFC, as the moderators and I are fans of the club.

Although I found the press article a little insulting I would be happy to give the club another opportunity to establish a working relationship with my forum. If the club wish to pursue this avenue, I would be happy to discuss this.

Yours sincerely,

Darren Mallinson
Managing Director, ICT Support Ltd
Owners of YTFC Forum (www.ytfcforum.co.uk)