After careful consideration, I have decided to retire and hang up my web pages at the end of this current 2004-05 season.

Five seasons ago, having played our football on a Sunday, we were unable to learn of other teams' scores until the following Saturday in the Sports Mail - that was a week to wait and even then the Sports Mail results service was sketchy at best. A ‘results service website’ was the answer (I thought). I wrote to Keith Pinder at the HBSFL outlining my plans and reasons for developing a website, i purchased the domain name www.hbsfl.co.uk, and I set about designing the website. I always envisaged that the HBSFL would be a big part of the site and that hbsfl.co.uk would indeed become the official site - after all, as well as providing a basic results service for us all, we were also promoting boys football in and around the Hull area.

I had lots of plans and lots of ideas - results, league tables, match reports, player profiles, goalscorers etc. - hbsfl officials - competitions - U9s and U10s mini football - I could find no other website like it. Within days of its launch, I was receiving emails by the dozens providing me with the very information I needed to update the site - that included emails from enthusiastic team managers/coaches who also happened to be HBSFL committee members. It was an exciting time and I was committed to the project.

The only cloud on the horizon was that I'd not received a reply from Keith Pinder or anyone else at the HBSFL, so I wrote again. This time I did get a reply - I've still got it - it was all negative, the HBSFL were not interested and they were in consultation with the East Riding FA about the 'legality' of my website - what's all that about? The rest is history as they say - the HBSFL have always made it clear that they neither acknowledge nor support the site, despite the obvious interest of the many team managers/coaches, players and parents who were by this time regularly contributing information. Indeed, some of the sections such as 'Players Wanted', 'Teams Wanted', 'Latest News' and even goalscorer names were included at their request. For those without internet access 5 years ago, I had arranged with the Sports Editor of the Hull Daily Mail to provide results for publication in the Tuesday edition - ie only 2 days after the game. The Hull Daily Mail and myself worked together on the format I needed to send to the Editor in order that he could print them in a particular format. It was all arranged and then the HBSFL stepped in to prevent it happening. I had also arranged to have mutual reciprocal links on my website to the 'Hull Mens Sunday League website'. Within weeks, I got an email instructing me to remove the link.

A season later, the HBSFL decided to subscribe to the FA website and build their own 'official' website. It was a disaster, with missing or incorrect information, lots of missing links and extremely difficult to navigate. I continued to work long hours on my site and continued to receive many emails of positive comments and ideas. As the site became more and more popular, I started receiving emails from around the country, even the world. Many of the emails were 'official business' asking to advertise, organise competitions etc. - they obviously thought we were the official site - but rather than just discard them, I always forwarded the emails to Keith Pinder. Only once can I ever remember getting an acknowledgement email from him.

I tried a few more times to work with the HBSFL but they consistently replied saying they would NEVER work with me, not now or in the future - but never any reasons! The HBSFL committee members who were originally enthusiastic and sending me information like everyone else, were now suddenly conspicuous by their absence. The HBSFL disciplined and threatened to fine teams who contributed information to my website - how sad is that?

I've always worked long hours on the site but I'm finding it increasingly more difficult to do so, for two main reasons.Firstly, I simply have other things to do which are just not getting done and secondly the HBSFL new website is much improved, more informative, much easier to navigate and best of all it is updated very quickly after matches on a Sunday. Coupled with that, the Hotshots pullout in the Hull Daily Mail offers, I think, excellent coverage – that’s all I ever set out to do. Because I'm not privvy to league decisions such as docking teams points, void games, double points games at the end of the season etc. I find it very difficult if not impossible to keep fully up to date - so what's the point!

In summing up, I am still disappointed that the HBSFL discarded the project from the outset, at a time when there was nothing else like it. We could have developed it together, received advertising revenue etc. I hope their website will be developed further - there's nothing worse than a website that is not updated - and I hope it includes goalscorers next season as this is the area I get a lot of emails about. I would like to say a thank-you to Steve Page who without exception (unlike Keith Pinder) has always had the curteousy to reply to any email I have sent him. He has always taken my suggestions and proposals to the HBSFL meetings and has always informed me of their decisions.

Finally, a big big thank-you to everyone who has made the website the success that it has been for the past 5 seasons.Without your contributions, I clearly couldn't have maintained the site. We've all been enthusiastic together and I still like to think of it as OUR community website. In the words of somebody famous (was it Tom Hanks in that Apollo film?) - Gentlemen (and Ladies), it's been a pleasure!

Good Luck to everyone in the future !