The Kickback Diaries - A History of Jambos Kickback

[Danny Wilde]

Ha, great summary Geoff !

 

A few snippets from those early days...I was "Gorgie Boy" right at the start.

 

Its hard to prove now, but I genuinely believe that Kickback was one of the first fans forums of its type anywhere. There was just so little out there at that time for other clubs.

 

I first remember Kickback during 1995/96. It was a smaller internet world then, you only had access through work (in my case at Sun Micro at that time) or university. It was much more of a chat room type thing, with rambling threads. There was more than 1 infestation of uni students using it in labs or tutorials, typing little more than "Coo-ee, I can see you Dave" or "Amanda Jones is a ride" (that kind of stuff).

 

But momentum gathered. The board matured and cleaned up. And we organised 20 of us to pay ?25 to do a 500 Club donation. All done on trust - cash and cheques (no paypal then). Geoff K I remember from then. But we had a variety of people who donated for no apparent reason that I could recall - including an American guy from Georgia or Texas (can't remember) who was just in love with the name of the club and its early dance-hall connection. Others may remember him ? [i intend to rummage about tomorrow in the attic, I may still have a hard-copy of that list of 20 people]

 

Its true there was a definite Kickback identity even early on, at a time when there wasn't a great (if any) official Hearts website. To illustrate, we took a vote on how we should be named on the 500 Club Board ... and we used what was *then* the domain name for Kickback, which was heartsfc.co.uk (I don't think that was owned by the club, perhaps by Scott Wilson though) Kickback was just the name of the forum, not a domain name in its own right at that time. In retrospect we made a mistake in not plumping for "Kickback".

 

To further illustrate how early this still was in the internet age, we had to get Jim Rigby twice to correct the domain name that went up on the 500 board - and the club still got it wrong (you can see the mistake if you look at it in the stadium). Domain names were still weird and wonderful stuff and the sign-writer screwed up again.

 

I was a regular for years as Gorgie Boy (the original one). Then latterly Drew Busby. Then I kicked it into touch for a long time. I've been back as Danny Wilde off and on. And I've seen more "Celebrity Hearts fan" threads than anyone should ever have to see. But I count myself as one of the handful of early adopters, even if these days I'm happy to leave it to the next generation of JKB'rs !

 

My memories of KB over the years: -

 

• The beginning (cue Hovis music)
   
  I was one of the original intrepid members of KB back in the day when Scott Wilson developed the website for the club. These were the days of the net being rolled out. I was at Uni so took advantage of the free net access (which wasn't very cheap back then and dial-up was the only route). These were the days of newsgroups after all and rudimentary Times New Roman type everywhere. Frames for pages were still to be developed!
   
  It was great and I was hooked immediately. Spending time in the Heriot-Watt computer rooms browsing KB was time well spent. In the early days, it was football, football, football as well. Hobos were ritually abused and chased away. Good times!
• The growth
   
  As PC access grew, the membership grew, to the extent that KB members came together to buy a 500 club membership, under Drew Busby's (Gorgie Boy as was) steam (still on the boards as www.heartsfc.co.uk in the Gorgie Stand). It also led to some newcomers who didn't get 'netiquette'. One of my personal favourites was WILLIAM.AULD, THE SHOUTER. EVERY POST WAS IN CAPS. It also led to overseas Jambos finding a home. Timothy Pitt moved to Jakarta and immediately became Jakarta Jambo. Lynn appeared as well from Japan. It led to the birth of the online chat room on a Saturday afternoon UK time, with Kenny Sargent producing text commentary in the chat room as part of his Saturday 'duties' (Kenny also wrote the match reports for the official website). I also started writing match reports for the NIT website.
   
  Another development was "Hearts News" posting on the board. This gave team news on a Friday afternoon as well as an accurate summary of JJ's press conferences. It wasn't just now that the media spun negative stories about HMFC from what was actually said.
   
  The first real KB fallings out occurred at this time as it began to be felt in the 1996-97 season that a trophy was as far away as ever. Some people began to call for JJ's head!
• The hiatus
   
  I left Uni in 1997 and didn't get the internet till I moved to Dunfermline in June 1998. How I spent a year without KB I don't know (and what a season to miss)
• The flag debates
   
  The flag debates really started to kick-off around this time because the 1998-99 season saw the club represent the players' nationalities on the flagpoles. You can imagine the debates when Andy Kirk and Alan Maybury signed....
• H.A.T.E.
   
  Everything started to go terribly wrong in 1998-99 and after the debacle at Dens when we went bottom in March, a few of us met in the Sample Room one night to discuss a HATE campaign against Robinson (Hearts Against The Establishment). It was the first time the net was used to try and organise a protest. Of course, the club signed Darren Jackson and Kevin James and with Mickey returning from injury, the protest died a death!!
• The Kickback meeting
   
  Post SMG investment, massive losses and underachievement on the pitch, the board was filled with criticism. To the extent that the club invited 4 reps from KB, nominated from the board, to attend a meeting with the club. I've no idea if the transcript is still in cyberspace anywhere, but it was enlightening for all parties and I believe it helped to form the idea of the roadshows that occurred in the early noughties.
• The new board
   
  The first board was a classic. It would invariably crash on a Thursday night and half the threads would disappear. The subsequent boards, up to Kickback III, were a result of outgrowing bandwidth. In hindsight, given the blowing of the SMG money, it is a surprise the club funded KB at all, although all the staff were reading it every day!
   
  The latter board seemed to harden the 'factions' though. There was the 'UJ Brigade', the 'PC Brigade', people who loved the Federation, people who hated the Federation, all sorts (in truth, a bit like JKB now ). It led to all sorts of cyberscraps and it was at this point a lot of oldies 'bowed out'.
• The mods
  I was against mods because I was all for freedom of speech. In truth, they were always needed, with hindsight. The 'Kickback 6' story is classic. The clean-up of flag debates gave everyone breathing space.
• The plants
   
  KB went into meltdown and offline on certain occasions. Examples included the 6-2 debacle, selling Colin Cameron etc. You can imagine the reaction after the news that Tynecastle was being sold! Suddenly, we had new members 'bruce' and 'judge', proponents of the Murrayfield move. Their appearance would lead to ritual abuse, but the points they made were easily shot down as well. KB became a key vehicle for dissent....
• The closure
   
  The shut down was amazing. There was no warning - the board was gone! What to do? Well, jambos.net became home for a while but I don't think Lawrence Broadie could cope with us KBers. He went and got a job with the club!
• The great return
   
  Godsa got the board back. Cyber-relief was heard everywhere!
• "Where's the money gone?"
   
  The Godsa/Pete fall-out was quite concerning. To this day, I still have no idea how it was all sorted. Godsa was banned from the board, reappeared, was banned again. In fact, for a while, he was as much of a boomerang as none!!
• Irvine Jambo (see above)
• The new management team
   
  Thank God! Without them, we would never have the board we have today. Cheers guys!!

Edited June 2, 2012 by Danny Wilde

[Chad Sexington]

I'm pretty sure someone made it up, Acey or Picard maybe, but it seemed to rile him. Never ever got the full story about his exit though.

 

It was me. He ******* hated it.

[I.J]

You rascals are doing this "IJ" chat deliberately now.

 

[Walter Kidd]

IJ is reading this. Great stuff.

[Floyd]

You rascals are doing this "IJ" chat deliberately now.

 

 

Who me??

[Dusk_Till_Dawn]

The JKB death of Carlisle United's substitute was class. More of that please

[Gavsy Van Gaverson]

The JKB death of Carlisle United's substitute was class. More of that please

 

Sooperstar was on form on that one.

[johnjl]

The JKB death of Carlisle United's substitute was class. More of that please

 

Compared to most on this thread I'm a newbie but I remember this and it was fantastic reading.

[H2]

I am guessing a lot of the very early contributors to kickback don't post much anymore. (e.g. Bill Duff, Grant Thorburn, Kevin LittleJohn, Scott Wilson, John S, Davie Stevenson, Neil Henderson, Eck).

[Prince Buaben]

Compared to most on this thread I'm a newbie but I remember this and it was fantastic reading.

 

The fake german account that was created. Also created a fake facebook for this person and a fake girlfriend.

 

:lol::lol:

[johnjl]

The fake german account that was created. Also created a fake facebook for this person and a fake girlfriend.

 

:lol::lol:

 

it was an absolute classic. Sooperstar nailed him bang to rights and more and more came out.

[Dusk_Till_Dawn]

it was an absolute classic. Sooperstar nailed him bang to rights and more and more came out.

 

The moment of truth went something like this:

 

"I've played against this guy in six-a-sides in Edinburgh and I can confirm that he's absolute gash. There's no way he ever played for Carlisle."

 

What developed from there was a thing of beauty

[Gavsy Van Gaverson]

The moment of truth went something like this:

 

"I've played against this guy in six-a-sides in Edinburgh and I can confirm that he's absolute gash. There's no way he ever played for Carlisle."

 

What developed from there was a thing of beauty

 

Did it not come out that he used to hang Jigsaws on his wall

[johnjl]

Did it not come out that he used to hang Jigsaws on his wall

 

Was that the same boy had forgotten all about that.

[Dusk_Till_Dawn]

Did it not come out that he used to hang Jigsaws on his wall

 

aye, that's right - although quite how that came to light I've no idea

[milky_26]

Did it not come out that he used to hang Jigsaws on his wall

i remember that as well. i remember that "his german friend" was outed due to a grammar or typo error that the former carlisle benchwarmer used to make

[milky_26]

aye, that's right - although quite how that came to light I've no idea

IIRC someone had been round his place for some reason and had noticed them. then when his lies were starting to be exposed they dropped that clanger from him

[Dusk_Till_Dawn]

IIRC someone had been round his place for some reason and had noticed them. then when his lies were starting to be exposed they dropped that clanger from him

 

Classic JKB ambush

[rossthejambo]

It was me. He ******* hated it.

 

He certainly did.

 

it was an absolute classic. Sooperstar nailed him bang to rights and more and more came out.

 

Christ I'd forgot about that beaut. Remember he said he was in Nade's "circle of trust" :rofl:

 

Did somebody not once pass his post that was in German to an actual German and they said it was all gibberish as well?

Edited June 3, 2012 by rossthejambo

[Chad Sexington]

Classic JKB ambush

 

Quite beautiful in its way.

[johnjl]

Classic JKB ambush

 

Was a must read thread. Was it deleted in the end?

[Guest GhostHunter]

I can't believe, that no-one has mentioned "None" and his millions of personas..

 

Some sheer comedic gold, and certainly kept me on my toes for a while - he'd create new accounts quicker than I could ban them..

 

If you need to ask, you're too young.

 

Uncle Is Watching.

[The People's Chimp]

I can't believe, that no-one has mentioned "None" and his millions of personas..

 

Some sheer comedic gold, and certainly kept me on my toes for a while - he'd create new accounts quicker than I could ban them..

 

If you need to ask, you're too young.

 

Uncle Is Watching.

 

I mentioned none on the other thread that was dredged up yesterday. He had quite a few members believing all sorts about him.

 

Roman Romanov...

Edited June 3, 2012 by The People's Chimp

[Tazio]

I missed the whole Carlisle Sub episode, not a clue how but it saddens me that I did.

[Toxteth O'Grady]

I can't believe, that no-one has mentioned "None" and his millions of personas..

 

Some sheer comedic gold, and certainly kept me on my toes for a while - he'd create new accounts quicker than I could ban them..

 

If you need to ask, you're too young.

 

Uncle Is Watching.

 

I liked none, all his stuff about Uncle was great, he'd dish up some enigmatic stuff to get folk hooked and then get all abusive and get banned.

 

I remember a prominant poster allegedly posting on Nones behalf.

 

Boabyarsebiscuit had a great thread "Who is None?"

Edited June 3, 2012 by Toxteth O'Grady

[Ray Winstone]

I missed the whole Carlisle Sub episode, not a clue how but it saddens me that I did.

 

 

It was a real corker that one

[Stanley_]

i remember that as well. i remember that "his german friend" was outed due to a grammar or typo error that the former carlisle benchwarmer used to make

 

Didn't he sign up on here again? Haven't seen him for a while but you can always tell it's him by his constant use of "kannae".

 

People probably missed the Carlisle saga because the threads get closed earlier now. The Irvine Jambo one was allowed to run for ages which is what made it so great.

[milky_26]

Didn't he sign up on here again? Haven't seen him for a while but you can always tell it's him by his constant use of "kannae".

 

People probably missed the Carlisle saga because the threads get closed earlier now. The Irvine Jambo one was allowed to run for ages which is what made it so great.

i think that was the word i was thinking about

[Bert Le Clos]

Didn't he sign up on here again? Haven't seen him for a while but you can always tell it's him by his constant use of "kannae".

 

People probably missed the Carlisle saga because the threads get closed earlier now. The Irvine Jambo one was allowed to run for ages which is what made it so great.

 

Correct. See yesterday's thread on George Wright.

[Dusk_Till_Dawn]

Does our man from Turin/Carlisle/The Bronx still post on here?

[Dusk_Till_Dawn]

Correct. See yesterday's thread on George Wright.

 

I didn't understand a word of that thread. Right over my head

[scottish_chicP]

This thread has cured my boredom. I'm away to open a beer and head into the classics!

[Homme]

Juve, in all his forms, was always instantly recognisable due to his constant use of '&' instead of 'and'.

[:shitwine:]

Juve, in all his forms, was always instantly recognisable due to his constant use of '&' instead of 'and'.

Let's not forget all of his posts are in lower case - and most of them are

 

 

 

I remember one of his aliases was a single mother on benefits.

[Bert Le Clos]

I didn't understand a word of that thread. Right over my head

 

A few key posts removed which would have explained everything.

 

Not quite sure why they were removed TBH, but I'll avoid saying anything in case the mods do the same to me

[Davinho]

Where did some of the old school posters go?

 

 

David Gillespie

 

Jim Blyth

 

David Besonen

 

Marian (Christ, she was weird)

 

Grant Thorburn

[Dusk_Till_Dawn]

Someone said on here a while back that David Gillespie had died

[Dusk_Till_Dawn]

As for Marian, now I come to think about it, if she was radge then I might know her

[Ulysses]

Someone said on here a while back that David Gillespie had died

 

There have been a couple of mentions of him being ill, but I don't recall anyone saying that.

[Tommy Wiseau]

Hopefully david.gillespie is well. I always enjoyed his bat shit crazy barrage of smilies

 

Once you worked out what the feck he was saying he actually spoke a lot of sense as well. Easily my favourite poster back in the day

[BigC]

I totally missed the Carlisle United Sub thread.

 

Made a bit of a tit of myself on the Irvine Jambo thread... I couldn't believe that someone who came across as quite smart could spin such demonstrably false yarns.. and as a result I stuck up for him!

 

Does anyone remember the Noel Gallagher thread? I think it might have been Gigalo Aunt who said he was working with Noel and he had agreed to do a Q&A for the Oasis fans on JKB... It was completely made up but loads of people fell for it!

[Dusk_Till_Dawn]

There have been a couple of mentions of him being ill, but I don't recall anyone saying that.

 

I might be mistaken

[Ulysses]

I might be mistaken

I hope so. I miss Dave.

[Homme]

Let's not forget all of his posts are in lower case - and most of them are

 

 

 

I remember one of his aliases was a single mother on benefits.

 

 

I mind that alias

 

Was that 'Except Today' or one of his other ones?

[Dusk_Till_Dawn]

Gorgie Fist was a good laugh, although nowhere near as funny as the Temple of Doom thread. Can't remember the full story but we were going to sign some guy with special needs whose surname was Temple. Or something like that

[Tommy Wiseau]

Gorgie Fist was a good laugh, although nowhere near as funny as the Temple of Doom thread. Can't remember the full story but we were going to sign some guy with special needs whose surname was Temple. Or something like that

 

 

Davey Temple

 

Forgot all about that - defo the most I've laughed on here outside of Irvine Jambo

[Jimmy McNulty]

Some of the excellent reads ended up in the (predictable) banning of various posters....

 

I may try to resurrect the Facebook thread in the Shed (as long as the usual tossers don't come along and ruin it like last time). Just had a friend announce on FB that her husband had decided to stop his chemo because it was not going to help, and along with 50 replies, there are 2 "Likes" (WTF?).

[Danny Wilde]

This is taken from a hard-copy email I have, dated 18th Dec 1996. A few well-kent current faces in there ...

 

These were the Kickback contributors to the 500 Club scheme we organised at that time. I'd forgotten that we requested a *minimum* amount of ?12.50 per head ... but by the end we'd raised ?625. All agreed that the extra ?125 should go to the Hearts Youth Development Fund.

 

I'm sure we've inevitably lost a couple of people below to the grim reaper (RIP). And many just moved on as Kickback evolved into a bigger beast. But I'm sure that many others still post here under whatever alias... Shout out if you recognise yourself or someone you know in the 1996 Kickback list !

 

 

Douglas Ross

Sean Carriere

Scott Wilson

Pamela Bridges

Murray Forbes

Tom Pike

Graham Robertson

Joel Warren

Paul Cowan

Chris Griffith

Frank Young

Eric Burns

Mark the Auckland Jambo

Paul Martin (me)

Scottie (s_ziggy_leslie)

Gordon Lawless

Kenny Sargent

Ray Adams

Jim Cockburn

Tom Wilson

Roddy Forfar

Brian Shaw

Geoff Kilpatrick (some studenty bloke with a Heriot-Watt email address...)

Peter Sharwood-Smith

Martin Cunningham

Chris Smith

Bob Pringle

Martin McLaren

Grant Thorburn

Tom Coyle

Andrew Quinn

Norman Douglas

Mike Ritchie

Lilian Cooper

Andrew Collin

Sandy Fisken

Edited June 3, 2012 by Danny Wilde

[Floyd]

Well before my time on kickback. Jeezo, what happened to them all??

[Danny Wilde]

I know we lost Tom Wilson (Scotts brother) about 10 years ago.

 

Must still be a few on that list (Geoff obviously) who still post here. But like I say, it was very early days in '96 ... and then once-working class people got internet in the house a few years later, it was all downhill after that.

 

Just kidding !...

 

Well before my time on kickback. Jeezo, what happened to them all??

Edited June 3, 2012 by Danny Wilde