History of ESMS Video

[The_Innocent_One]

One of my goals for this summer is to produce a History of ESMS video for my YouTube channel. (Yes, I will promote FFO in it). One thing I have realized is that a lot of the history is diffused. I'm hoping to bring it all together here as I start coming up with a script and scheduling interviews.

What I am looking for now is for people to share their memories on what happened during the first 5-10 years of ESMS being around, so I can fill it in with what I already know.

A few things I am particularly curious about:

- How did people find out about ESMS?
- What were the first big leagues?
- Does anyone recall those ESMS leagues that started in the late 1990s?
- I remember a few ESMS leagues being sent a cease and desist letter from the EPL about using logos. Did this actually happen and what league(s)?
- What are the first big moments, scandals, and memories people have of ESMS?
-How did ESMS evolve in those early years?

And, of course, if you have other anecdotes, stories, and what not from the history of ESMS, please share them. At the moment, I am just fact finding and trying to piece everything together.

[DieGelbeWand]

https://discord.gg/kY8QTh2S

https://esmshub.com/

[Marshy@Atletico]

JAFL I believe started around 2000 by Andy McGrae. When Andy decided it was time to leave the game was taken on by a number of people forming the HQ and sharing the jobs out. The main trio were myself, Peter Norton and Neil Kirby. When we had done our long stay at the crease, it was taken on by others but sadly folded a couple of seasons later.

JAFL scandal - the discovery one evening that a scottish man know as Alan Galbraith who was relatively new to the game but who was very active both in the game and on other platforms was in fact managing 4 teams. IP addresses on the auction board were the conclusive evidence that the HQ needed. Alan initially apologised and then disappeared on the discovery. The strangest thing was the deals between his four clubs were not benefiting any particular side. HQ reversed a number of transfer deals and play on was declared.

A great memory of JAFL was sometime towards its death. For many a year under the HQ committee nobody ever brought up the matter of website costs. The website was running fine and nobody ever thought about how. I assumed it was a free website!, It was discovered that one of the managers Davor Tomic had in face been funding the website for well over a decade but had never asked for a penny from anybody. Not only was he funding it whilst being an active manager he had continued to fund it after he had left the game. Absolute legend!

The best memories of JAFL were the european games. Gary Brown the runner of SSL brought the three leagues SSL, JAFL and UCFL together for all the best teams to meet in Europe. You had to be good to win the PFA Champions League!

[Shilts]

I think I discovered ESMS in 2002

I played in what I believe was the second league to be created (SNIFL - Stupidly Named Internet Football League)....the first was, I believe, called GISL (Global Internet Soccer League) and I think I stumbled across them when looking for play by mail or play by email football leagues.

I even played in a league called SMILE where they used the 1ab version of ESMS, SNIFL & GISL used 4ab I believe before 4ab+ was produced maybe?? Memory is sketchy. Eli Bendersky created it I think with Igor Oks? Could be wrong with the second name.

I loved it and massively overstretched myself by joining every available league! Bit of a cock up on my part as I spent every minute of free time on the various leagues so had to leave a few. SNIFL ran for years.

My first memory was being stitched up in a transfer deal by someone who'd played the game a good while. I had no idea what I was doing really but when I found out I'd been had I was not happy. Just shit behaviour in my opinion. It's normally a surefire way of making managers leave. I didn't. I stuck around for a long time and did ok. Nothing spectacular but I won the odd promotion here and there and won the inaugural TLF Cup where you had to field, I think, your reserves or play them out of position...something like that.

FFO followed much later for me. I took Northampton up one season but the season I remember most out of probably any I've played in was saving Hartlepool from the drop. It was that tense that other managers would say that they'd always look for my result after their own. It really was The Great Escape. I remember selling the teams crown jewels to get aging stars in to give us the best chance of avoiding the drop - got some aduse for that lol - but it was either that or Hartlepool were relegated out of the game altogether so no choice really! Anyway they survived so I reckon I was right in the end lol