Not606: when Celtic and Rangers supporters sang from same songsheet

In case you thought the theme song at Ibrox was changing to The Fields of Athenry, think again. Nor are Celtic fans about to augment their repertoire with Follow Follow. But supporters of both clubs did agree on one matter: the need to escape the over-moderation of the BBC’s 606 football chat forum …

Sunderland supporters are well served by internet discussion forums, from Ready to Go to Salut! Sunderland and similar.

I have been meaning to mention not606 for some weeks now. It is a lively site with good, well-read Sunderland pages full of talking points of interest to most SAFC fans. If you come across a certain Kingshirker lurking there, you’ll know it is me. But where did not606 come from? What was the common ground that united Glasgow greens and blues?

What better than to turn to cyprussydsafc, the moderator of those SAFC pages, for an explanation?

Here it is:

not606 was set up around three years ago by a group of disgruntled Celtic and Rangers fans who were sick of the BBC606 moderation, it would have remained a small forum if it had not been for the BBC announcement of the 606 closure.

A big exodus of Newcastle and Sunderland fans took place followed by fans of other clubs …

We have over 12,000 members to the forum and it’s hard to give an exact number of Sunderland fans; a one day snapshot shows that the Sunderland board had 1331 unique visits on the July 11 with each visitor averaging five visits.

On first visit, the board and forum can seem strange. Moderation is light and swearing is allowed. Topics can cover any subject but our love of all things Red &White is our bond.

I liken the board to going to the pub with your mates who are all Sunderland fans, with the odd visit from other fans, normal from the dark side (Newcastle). Football is the main topic, rumours, games, players, management past, present and future.

Although we are in cyberspace members get to know each other and we find the most intimate things are discussed. Deaths and relationship problems and compassion and friendship abound. Just as in the pub tempers flare and fall outs take place. The moderators are there to calm things, and they are Sunderland fans.

Basically the board is a talking shop, a place to pop on to to catch up, hear and share gossip, let out frustrations, ask for help and advice, to have a laugh or just to have a moan. Everyone is welcome and most members have more than one forum membership. It’s my hope we can make not606 their first and main port of call.

We are always looking to improve and grow with more members, more topics and opinions and more sharing. We have just linked up with newsnow (welcome on board; we’re there, too – ed) and a good thread will be promoted to an article and may be picked up by newsnow to be read by thousands of readers.

We also have a new mobile app so you van log on to not606 anytime, Mick, the forum owner is working on a number of ideas to help promote and build the forum, but all that said the Sunderland’s boards development will be down to the Sunderland fans. The more members the more threads the better the board.

The season’s start will see a rise in users, either to share the joy – our wish – or to share the pain: a Sunderland norm.

Good luck to the site, which strays far beyond football in the subject matter it covers. And in case you missed the earlier main link, this will take you to the Sunderland pages.

Monsieur Salut

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