WML History
While the history of the Watford Mailing List
(WML) is not as long as our glorious Golden Boys, it has a colourful
past and an exciting future.
In August 7th 1994 (in Internet terms the prehistoric era), Gary
Smith, a Watford fan living in South Africa, posted a message on a
news list trying to contact fellow fans and WML was born. In the
early days, messages were sent to the person who kept a list of
emails and then forwarded them out to all members, a slow process
and where the name list-owner came from.
In April 1995, Tim Brennen, who was based at the University of
Tromsų in Norway, took over this task and “borrowing” some of the
resources at the University, automated the list in November. A year
later the list had grown to over 200 members.
In November 1996, feeling that the burden of having to deal with
over 300 ranting Watford fans was too much, Tim created Watford
Advisory Group (WAG) to help him manage technical and
content-related issues. Initially, membership of WAG was composed of
long-standing listees whom Tim trusted, two of whom continue to
serve on WAG to this day!
Eventually, in November 1997, Tim decided to pass the technical
aspects of the list over to Leo Mindel who set
up wfc.net as a site
to host WML, moving it from Tromsų to servers in Orlando, Florida.
Tim stepped into the background and Leo took over as list-owner and
figurehead. By this point, WML had grown to 450 subscribers.
With the sudden growth in the Internet, WML also saw a large
increase in interest. WML was featured on 3 Counties Radio, in the
Watford Observer and even in the match programme.
Membership swelled to around 1,000 in 1999 and, while WAG believed
that this resulted from their brilliant running of WML, it may
possibly have been connected with the fact that GT took Watford into
the premiership. This was a halcyon time for WML with many of the
most memorable members joining. That said, it as was not all a bed
of roses (supporting Watford never is). As with all fledgling
supporters groups, WML clashed a few times with the club and a few
of the original members left as the size grew and the dynamics
changed.
By 2002, Leo was finding the responsibility of list-ownership too
time-consuming and stepped down from fronting WML. Although he
continued to host the list, day-to-day responsibility for its smooth
running was passed over to a small group of long time members of WAG
in July of that year. Mark Main emerged as the most prominent member
of this group and became de facto list-owner. Mark gave up this role
in May 2003, although he and Leo remained in the background to
oversee technical issues. Meanwhile, members of WAG co-ordinated the
list’s day-to-day management.
In June 2005, the server that had run the list for eight years
finally gave up the ghost and WML ceased to function for three
weeks. To restore service to the list, Jon Sinclair – a
long-standing member of WAG - moved WML to its current set-up as a
Yahoo! Group and took over as list-owner, supported and advised by
WAG.
The list has had its share of controversies and disputes over the
years, including over how it should be run, but has always survived
and has become a long-standing feature of Watford FC support,
reflecting the opinions of regular match-goers and exiled Horns
alike. A number of smaller groups have spun out of WML over the
years including the successful WIFC football team and the ever
growing
New England Watford Fan Club. WML has also forged strong
connections with Watford fanzines, including the lamented
Blind, Stupid and
Desperate, and played a role in the formation of the
Watford Supporters Trust. As with the number of season ticket
holders, the number of subscribers to WML has always fluctuated as
old members leave and new members join - with the
current number hovering around 775. However, the debate remains as lively as ever.