Nick Turner introduces a new occasional column about life at the web face....
If Wembley fever is leaving you with a sense of deja-vu, why not try logging into Carlisle United on the Internet? Since the Blues last flirted with glory, several excellent sites have sprung up dedicated to United - so much so, you'll even be able to watch the Wembley commentary live on the Internet.
My computer tried to tell me last night that there were 1,302,482 pages in the World Wide Web which referred to Carlisle United, but since the first of these was the United Methodist Church on the Internet you can see how it is prone to exaggerate. In fact there is a handful of websites devoted to the Blues along with a string of other more general sites which give United information.
By far the best site is Carlisle United On-line (http://www.cufconline.org.uk/) which is well-designed and full of all the information any fan could want. There are match reports, pictures, transcripts of interviews, results and an impressive archive of United statistics going back to 1904. This archive can be searched by player, club and season so if you want to know how many times Carlisle United beat Accrington Stanley here's where you find out.
The site also boasts live commentary links for those of you unable to escape your computer screens to get to Wembley (http://www.cufconline.org.uk/cufclive.htm) The amazing thing about sites like this is the amount of work that has been put in by fans for a site that has only been visited 9000 times since last June.
Reeves is Offside Again (http://www.kynson.org.uk/RIOA/) is another site definitely worth a visit, it is more of a fanzine with the site divided up into monthly issues and sections such as the lookalikes, Blues songbook and the hilarious Rod Thomas' Diary.
Another fanzine which has made it onto the Internet is Olga the Fox (http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/olgathefox) which is visually the best site and concentrates on player interviews.
There is also a site to promote the plans for the museum of football at Brunton Park (http://nbs5.unn.ac.uk/football/News3.htm). Although it has some good pictures it is not regularly updated.
Seen a good site or got something to say? Contact Nick Turner on ndturner@msn.com
In Nick's article he missed out the first of the Carlisle United websites, the one run by Phil Jones. I include it here for completeness. For all links, visit my CUFC Resources page.
Nick Turner has given his permission for the publication of this article and has also said that "I think we may be doing a fuller article on Blues web sites in the News & Star in the near future".
| RIOA Index |
Fans | Email the webmaster |