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02 18

THE FAN HIS FOOTBALL CLUB TRIED TO KILL

deejayone.co.uk

It's been a long time since an update on this site.
Simply because of how busy I have been, the fact the last parody film fell through on the day of the shoot and no time to get other things off the ground. It's been a busy time with Wednesdayite (as Sheffield Wednesday fans will no doubt know and have an opinion on, either way) and things appear to go from ridiculous to sublime daily in all things SWFC related. However, I felt compelled to write something, anything, on the whole SWFC Ltd/Kaven Walker Vs. Nigel Short debacle. I will warn straight away about a long story here - however, this is a ridiculous situation that has been going on for near two years and needs explaining in full.

For those who do not know Nigel Short, he is our very own Gary Barlow in the spoof Take That video made last year. However, Sheffield Wednesday fans will know him as the man who got us a giant flag a few years ago to pass over our heads on the Kop. He was also the man who came up with the 'Shareholders Association Initiative', which compiled a register of shareholders willing to sell for the right offer when the club stated that investors were being put off by not being able to get to a majority 51% shareholding. Nigel is a lifelong fan of Sheffield Wednesday, following in the footsteps of his father before him, who has dedicated a huge amount of his spare time to helping the club and it's community via various means.

In the very same press conference where the clubs' then chairman Dave Allen, with Chief Executive Kaven Walker sat by his side, made the claim about not reaching 51% of shares being a problem for investors, Mr. Allen infamously went on to label a section of the clubs own fans (customers) 'Scum' and 'Cretins' with one unfortunate lady publicly called a 'venomous bitch'. Ironic then that this same club - and Kaven Walker - were at the same time dragging lifelong fan Nigel Short through a legal battle for something he wrote about them on an internet messageboard around two years ago.

And what was the comment that Nigel Short made that offended the club and it's CEO so much? Nobody can remember. Was it any worse than what Mr. Allen said at his press conference about his own customers? Probably not.

For a defamation claim to be made, it has to be proven that what was said changed somebodies opinion of the person you're referring to, for the worse. How it can be claimed that what was written two years ago on a messageboard that nobody can remember damaged anyone is beyond me. However, before we get into tactics employed by Sheffield Wednesday, Kaven Walker and the solicitors in the case against Nigel Short that should not have been brought, let's quickly take a look at the 'Owlstalk' case. Sadly, Nigel Short isn't the only fan that the club have tried to surpress though the courts.

Last year, Sheffield Wednesday, along with it's CEO and all it's directors (it is worth noting that Brian Laws, the football club manager, was originally supposed to be a claimant but he refused to take part in the action and had his name withdrawn), took the largest fans' internet messageboard (www.owlstalk.co.uk) to the High Court. The case, which made headlines across the country and drew interest around the world, was an application to reveal the email addresses of what was trimmed down from over 30 users of the internet forum, with the intent to identify the individuals and sue them for 'damaging' comments. Once again, everyone had forgotten what the comments actually were. Ironically again, the case itself brought the comments back into the public domain, possibly further perpetuating the damage the club were claiming was caused. Following some deliberation, the High Court judge dismissed the claim for the vast majority of the users and their comments were deemed as simply 'saloon bar moanings'. Bringing these actions cost the club, some £25million+ in debt, thousands upon thousands of pounds - at a time when the struggling team could do with a real boost.

Back to Nigel Short's case and you would probably be staggered to know the whole thing could have been sorted following the very first solicitors letter to him - around two years ago. At that time costs were stated at £2,500 (for him to have only received one letter!) and Nigel was asked to agree to a statement to be published by the club. Desperate for the club not to enter into a PR nightmare, Nigel offered, without incurring further costs by employing a solicitor, to settle at this point. He asked for a statement of the costs to pay and for one word in the statement by the club to be altered (the word 'defamatory' to be changed to 'offensive'). This was rejected out-of-hand and so began the continuation of a nightmare for Nigel, his family and the club he loves.

At this point, Nigel was forced to employ a solicitor. Solicitors swopped communication, as they do, for some time until all went quiet. Cases like this have a deadline in which they can be brought and that deadline passed without further communication, therefore it was assumed that no further action was to be taken. Breathing a sigh of relief, the Short family got on with their lives. Nigel settled his solicitors fees, but he was happy things had finished. But they hadn't.

Some four months later, it was revealed that SWFC Ltd and Kaven Walker had indeed filed a case at the court - but without actually telling Nigel. Subsequently, the club waited the maximum time allowed before serving the claim. That claim was for unaffordable damages upto £50,000 + costs of around £7,500 (bear in mind that Nigel's own costs up to this time were less than £1,000). As it was that Nigel could not afford that amount, and the claimant's refusal to accept his reasonable offer at the start - before the ridiculous costs mounted, there was no choice but to attempt and defend the case. Fortunately his solicitor, and subsequently a barristor that had to be appointed, agreed to operate on a 'no-win-no-fee' basis.

At the clubs' Annual General Meeting in November 2007, a shareholder asked the room to raise their hands if they agreed with the legal actions the club were bringing. Not one hand in the room was raised. Not even on the top table.

The dark tactics used aganst Nigel Short did not stop at serving the claim at the very last minute, however - there are a couple more shocking stunts pulled during this case that - almost - defy belief. The first of these is that Nigel's employer was copied in on the allegations. Is it fair that this action could have lost Nigel his job - and subseqently the finances that the club are trying to claim from him?

The latest sorry affair has seen the club recently issue an open statement on their website saying that they will effectively drop the case if Nigel pays his own costs. On the face of it, this could be seen as a nice gesture, however the costs are substantial and would force Nigel into bancruptcy. Basically, it would appear the club are trying to publicly bully Nigel into making himself bankrupt in order to get the case dropped. On this basis, Nigel is forced to refuse and it looks like the issue will continue further - probably ending with a judgement in court one way or the other, unless the club see sense and drop the actions that should never have been brought and absorb all costs.

Anyone in Nigel's situation would feel stressed and that stress can have a major effect on your health. Indeed in the stressful two years that Nigel has endured he has been diagnosed with Cancer, which he continues to fight. Whilst Nigel would not wish for this fact to be played upon in this ongoing ridiculous saga, it is evident that he is having to fight two battles, now seemingly in the public eye.

Despite the shocking headline for this story (written merely to catch a readers interest), I am not making any assumptions as to what impact the football club and it's actions has had on Nigel's health. I will leave that up to the reader to make their own mind up. One thing I will say is that it really can't have helped, can it?


I wish Nigel all the best in both his battles. Once you're fully recovered and fit, we'll go for the sequel to the video mate.


Read Nigel's blog and his continuing story about his fight against Cancer here: http://nigelshort.blog.co.uk/ 



Feel free to send a link to this page (http://deejayone.co.uk/cms/news.php?item.24.2) to whoever you know, post it on your own website/blog or to tell this story to anyone who might be willing to listen. This whole story realy deserves airing and the 'finger on the pulse' local media in Sheffield seem adamant not to give it the airtime or column inches it deserves. I'll leave it up to individuals to wonder why the local media seem indifferent to this big news story. However, it has been suggested in certain circles that there is an element of our Football Club surpressing the media's views. Whilst not passing judgement about this, local media have shown some interesting signs in this regard - BBC Radio Sheffield's Seth Bennett airing his personal opinions on his BBC website blog (some saying this possibly vindicated their opinions that BBC Radio Sheffield's Football Heaven was being quite biased when it comes to reporting on matters surrounding Sheffield Wednesday) and also claiming 'there's no smoke without fire' (despite the fact that no one can remember what was said) on the live football phone-in. Another telling occurance with the local media was that local newspaper, The Star published a fair and balanced story about the SWFC/Kaven Walker Vs. Nigel Short debacle on their website for it only to mysteriously disappear a couple of hours later (update: 19/02/2008, in fairness to The Star, a trimmed-down version of the story has today been reinstated onto their website and the story has today been featured in the print newspaper) - it would be interesting to know why that article was (originally) pulled. I know a few certain reporters have been worried about people questioning their 'Journalistic Integrity' recently - I would suggest those reporters take a step back and question themselves WHY people are even thinking this. Maybe Seth Bennett should heed his own on-air words: "There's no smoke without fire"?

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10 22

It's oh so quiet...

DeeJayOne

It's been a quiet time of late (on this site at least!), busy, busy, busy and all that (excuses, excuses). There has been a couple of 'under the radar' video releases over on the DeeJayOne YouTube Channel - head over there to check those out if you missed them (subscribe to the videos over there to ensure you don't miss out on some of the more, shall we say, 'covert' of video releases)!

However, the quietness is all set to change in the next few weeks as I set about recording and editing a new video - somewhat a 'sequel' (of sorts) to the Take That spoof earlier in the year. This one is going to be GREAT!

AND - in other good news (for some), I've decided to resurrect a certain pale-headed creation pretty soon - keep checking back to find out more...


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07 10

Get a slice of a band!

DeeJayOne Music
Music fans can get much closer to that dream of running their own record label thanks to a couple of new websites that have sprung up on the internet. DeeJayOne takes a look.

Slightly similar in concept, yet brilliantly diverse, are two websites set up to help fans get closer to the music. Sellaband and Slicethepie are both a two-fingers up at the music industry's notoriously laboroious process of finding the next big thing and releasing an album.

The idea is to get funding from the music fans to professionally produce an album and release it, through the website and it's partners (which can include such luminary sites and services such as iTunes, Napster, 7Digital, et al) - a small step towards chart success.

The fans who invested receive a copy of the album and in some cases can earn more money from the sales of the album - or in Slicethepie's case, trading the 'contracts' of that artist on a betting-exchange-type system.

Click 'Read the rest...' below for more.
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06 26

Rain, Rain go away... and don't bother coming back!

DeeJayOne Video
Well, it's been a strange old week or two. As reported on the news lots, my hometown of Sheffield took over a months' worth of rain in less than 12 hours on Monday. This led to the flooding of many rivers and canals, reducing roads to rivers and flooding homes and businesses.

I watched the Sheffield City Council's webcams on the day, seeing the city turning into one massive lake - in the meantime listening to Radio Sheffield announced the unfortunate deaths of two people - a teenager swept away by the overflowing River Sheaf in Millhouses Park and an elderly gentleman swept away on The Wicker, a busy road which was turned into river rapids by the mixture of the overflowing River Don and the Sheffield Canal.

Only thing to do? Grab the camera and have a walk out (despite police advice not to) to Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough Stadium to film the Don overflowing onto Penistone Road North and the aftermath of flooded abandoned cars - I later found out from news pictures that inside the stadium was just as bad, with the pitch being totally deluged and looking like a lake!

UPDATE (October 2007): I have been approached by the BBC to possibly use some of my footage on a prime-time BBC1 documentary, so look out for that programme coming up... I'll post an update when I get more info!

The video I took can be seen by clicking the 'Read The Rest' link below!
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06 17

I'm always letting things go...

DeeJayOne Video
Boredom and having no job currently can lead to some bizarre things happening.

One fine example of this can be found in the new YouTube music video put together by DeeJayOne. Beset by boredom and the job front being particularly poor currently, DeeJayOne wondered if he could make a subliminal music video using just the same frame and six different shots from it.

The music was chosen: Meek Joe's excellent tune, 'andevermoreshallbeso', from their album of the same name available from EspadaRolls records and DeeJayOne sang and danced to the tune six times consecutively then edited it all together... The whole filming took less than half an hour and the editing didn't take long either.

The results can be seen by clicking the 'Read The Rest...' link below!
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06 17

The program for this evening isn't new. You know it through and through.

DeeJayOne Music
I got a text message last week. It simply said 'The Doors are playing live in the UK this week'.

When I got beyond the perception that the sender of the message was off his head, or that I'd missed the massive news of those Jim Morrisson conspiracy theories being true, I did some research.

Sure enough, 'The Doors' - or at least as close as I will get to see them in my lifetime WERE playing live in the UK.

'Riders on the Storm', as they are known now due to some form of complicated legal mumbo-jumbo battle or something or nothing, are two of the surviving members of the Original Doors band - Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger (the only other surviving member of the original band - John Densmore does not agree with the reformation, hence the change of name by all accounts). The line-up is completed by a somewhat surprising bass-player (Manzarek used to play bass on one of his organs) by the name of Phil Chen, excellent drummer TY Dennis and not-quite-Jim-but-still-bloody-good singer Brett Scallions (of Fuel fame).

Anyways, I - along with my two brothers - went along to Rock City in Nottingham to ride the snake.

More, including pictures, after the jump through the 'Read the rest...' link below:
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06 06

The best Dinner Party guest in history... or the Scariest man in Britain?

www.deejayone.co.uk
Derren Brown hit our TV screens in 2000, to somewhat muted publicity. Since then his popularity has risen and he is now regarded as one of the darlings of Channel 4's schedules.

Professing to always be 'honest about [his] dishonesty', Brown captivates audiences with a marvellously unique fusion of 'magic, suggestion, psychology, misdirection and showmanship'. This sometimes courts controversy, but for many - like me - it encourages a great deal of intrigue.

Other than those that simply regard the man as a fraud or simply don't like his techniques, everyone has a favourite Brown moment. The 'Zombie' game, Making the sun 'disappear', Russian Roulette, The Seance, doing what many have wanted and drawing blood from Robbie Williams by sticking long needles through him, etc. For me it was watching the TV broadcast of the Olivier award-winning 'Something wicked this way comes', his 2005 live stage show.

Following reading his recent book 'Tricks of the mind', I have become somewhat further in awe of the man himself. The book is extremely well and humourously written and gives great insight, not only into the learnings of many of his 'abilities', but also into the level of misdirection and even how to do some of the tasks yourself.

So, all this in mind - I got the treat of going to see the guy performing live, in my home town, on my birthday.

Click 'Read the rest...' below for more on Derren Brown's live show:
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05 18

By popular demand...

DeeJayOne Video
Following on from last weeks' 'Back for good' spoof, I've added up the 'Making of' and 'Dance Off' versions of the video.

The 'Making of' shows all the fun we had during the shoot, including some more of those.... err..... 'funky' dance moves. And a few tricks of the whole thing. Kind of. Actually rated very funny by a good number of people, so I'm not complaining!

The 'Dance Off' was just thrown together in a few minutes from the raw footage, inspired by an Owlstalk thread discussing the Soccer AM Dance Off's.

Both videos are now available, simply by clicking on the 'Read the rest...' link directly below!
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05 12

Whatever I said, Whatever I did, I didn't mean it...

DeeJayOne Video
The shroud of secrecy is now lifted and the next DeeJayOne video can be revealed... I don't want to 'big it up', but I do think this is one of (if not the) best video's I have produced.

Indeed it got LOTS of laughs (thank god) at it's premiere at Nigel's Party last night. New territory for me was the B&W blending and ultra-slo-mo that resulted in the final version of Nigel's 40th birthday present video - 'Back For Good' (move over Take That). AND there is a 'Making Of' Version coming very, very, very soon (if you're good).

Click on the 'Read the rest' link below to view the video!
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05 11

Video updates back for good?

DeeJayOne
Wow. No proper video updates adorn this high-quality webpage-type-thing for around FOUR whole months. Then we get TWO in as many weeks!?

Well, not quite yet. Following the success of the SWFC version of 'Thou Shalt Always...' (which incidentally was featured by Scroobius Pip himself in one of his Myspace bulletins - he apparently likes my version, although I stopped short of his request for a Millwall version), I have completed a top-notch piece of original wholly shot and edited work (although it is a 'copy' of an original concept - you'll get what I mean when you see it), with a 'cast', which WILL be featured here, but NOT until tomorrow for reasons which will be clear to some (and clearer to some others by tomorrow).

So, please return tomorrow for that update - in the meantime, here is a link to my funky-looking Director's page on YouTube - where I am currently transferring all my previous videos to... http://www.youtube.com/deejayone1

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