www.dafts.co.uk
www.darlotrust.co.uk
www.grangetowncardiff.co.uk
As webmaster I've tried to keep "me" out as much as possible. But here's the bit you're supposed to do and just in case you were wondering:
DAFTS (July 2001 -) www.dafts.co.uk
Thanks for viewing the site (s) - www.dafts.co.uk started in July 2001 - a first proper attempt after a HTML course and a cursory flick through the 582-page (gulp!) Dreamweaver manual. I've tried to keep it simple in the three years since - none of this Flash stuff, despite having Flash (and an even bigger manual). I'm always open to suggestions and contributions and thanks for those who give me comments. Many thanks to Ted Blair for the regular supply of excellent photos, from the touchline (and occasionally the pub). From the feedback we get (and the downloads...) it's obvious they're much appreciated. The DAFTS away guide is a tried and tested formula, based on real fans going to real matches, and usually sampling some real ales. "How do we do it?" some ask."Practice," we reply. The Darlo match programme has for the last few seasons cottoned on and so our guide makes an appearence there. Our Darlo guide, especially the pubs, is also exhaustively researched. Thanks also to Lance Ireland, the Black Country Bard for his idiocyncratic Harbo Darlo newsletters from the heart of the Midlands. Which brings me onto a shared Birmingham connection...
Everyone's got a reason for following Darlo, and sometimes they're quite odd, especially with no obvious connection to the town. Darlington FC have given me some pleasure - and no little pain over the years, but have become an addiction. Whether it's the ground, the fans (developing something between wartime spirit and a stoical resignation) or simply a liking for the underdog, I'm not quite sure.
That particular underdog has occasionally run around bushy-tailed, but has spent most of its days dozing in its basket or cocking its leg at yours truly and hundreds of others. It's been under threat of being put down on more than one occasion but is biting back again.
I was born in Birmingham and brought up the right way, an Aston Villa fan (see family pics below). At the age of seven, my father carelessly left a copy of The Sunday Times lying around and I noticed Darlington, bottom of the league. It was love born of pity. I studiously followed their progress as they battled against re-election with the likes of Hartlepools and Workington for what must have been most of my childhood. Then along came Alan Walsh. A near-mythical figure - a Darlington player who scored goals. My first Darlington game was when I was a student in South Wales. Newport County on an Easter Monday, appropriately it was a 3-0 defeat.
I kept in touch with some occasional "local" matches, but it was nothing serious. Then combined with growing frustration at top-level football, weekends free from work and a first visit to Feethams, I gradually became hooked. Those two or three matches a season rapidly became eight or nine. And then 19 or 20. You then realise you're taking days off work to go to Brighton on a Tuesday night and are also an expert on railway timetables. Specialist subject - Last Train Times from Hereford (Midweek).
Thanks to a long suffering and equally understanding partner, I still manage too many games and spend too much money each season. She's luckily football (if not Darlo) mad, despite being from rugby's heartlands.
Darlington Supporters' Trust, (November 2001-) www.darlotrust.co.uk
I got involved with the Supporters' Trust from its outset in September 2001, and have been managing the website for it since. It's fairly similar to the DAFTS site in concept, with the same principle of bright but not too large photos to give it a visual impact. Some dislike white on black, but I detest websites with miniscule font sizes and lots of tricks and floating menus, but zero content and archives of frankly moribund material. I've had a major cull of content to tidy things a little. Kevin Luff of The Tinshed has kindly given me a redesign template, which when time allows, I will apply.
GrangetownCardiff, (March 2004 -)
www.grangetowncardiff.co.uk
Relatively recent - a community website for my own area, in conjunction with Grangetown Community Concern, a group I'm involved in. Semi-officially launched in March 2004. What I could do with, is some help with the content and someone who fancies turning a hand to local history and old photos. I'd like eventually to set up a portal for a network of local pages which people/local business could create/input themselves.
Steve Duffy, Updated October 2006
Other assorted links:
I could list dozens of favourite links, so here are a few random, in no order of preference:
MUSICIANS:
MISC:
Tom Ovans
Martin Stephenson
Marcus Miller
A Guy Called Gerald
George Duke
Herbie Hancock
Joe Sample
Brian Wilson
Cassandra Wilson
Erykah Badu
The Fall
The Nightingales
Primal Scream
Joe Zawinul
Waterson Carthy
Dick Gaughan
Martin Simpson
June Tabor
Elvis Costello
TV Cream
BBCi Search
Heroes & Villains.net
HMV Online
Bromsgrove Rovers FC
Grange Quins
Yell