Non-stop Stars
no.16 Howard Lush
Red Passion says a big 'Hello' to the man behind Stat-mail, the email soccer stats service…
Background: Stat-mail. You'll know all about it if you subscribe to the wrexham@topica.com mailing list.
Setting: Cyberspace - fittingly.
Could you tell us a bit about the origins and background of StatMail?
'Stat-mail in its early form started in the 1997/8 season. You might have noticed that before the Wrexham mailing list subscribed to Stat-mail, many people would post results and leagues tables after matches resulting in a lot of repeated e-mails! The same was true of my team's mailing list and subscribers were getting annoyed with all the duplication. I decided to design some software that would quickly generate the latest league tables from the latest results, and allow me to post a reliable and regular update to the mailing list. Before long I became the "official league table poster", and this removed a lot of the duplication. I decided to expand a little and provide the latest statistics such as form tables, prediction tables, specific team information etc. However, some people wanted to receive these, and others didn't. So I set up lists in my address book so that people could e-mail me and "subscribe" to the updates which they required. Before long, other subscribers were asking for updates on their teams. This in itself was not a problem - it just meant I had to send 10-20 e-mails every weekend. Even so, by the end of the season I was being swamped by subscription requests, and remember that I had to process them all manually. Incidentally, only one person unsubscribed that season - so I must have been doing something right! It got to the stage where I couldn't handle the requests anymore. Therefore I decided to use ISFA to host my mailing lists. There was another problem though - my team got promoted that season. Unwilling to stop my Division 2 service (there were many subscribers), and keen to follow the fortunes of my own team, I expanded my service to cover the Premiership and Division 1-3 - and Stat-mail was born!'
How does it work?
'Stat-mail has grown a lot since 1998 - but the principles are still much the same. There is some sophisticated software which generates the latest league tables, attendance tables, predictions, statistics etc from the match results so far. It then outputs all of these in a plain text format, prepares e-mail updates, and sends them to the relevant mailing lists. The software can also output the information in HTML format so that it can be made available on Stat-mail's website. The only manual part of the system is entering fixtures and results into the software - the rest is automated. Two types of mailing list receive Stat-mail. There are 98 dedicated mailing lists so that individuals can subscribe. Also some owners of discussion mailing lists (such as wrexham@topica.com) request that Stat-mail is posted to their mailing list.'
How many people subscribe to it?
'More than 50,000 is the official answer! There are only 5,000 subscribers to the 98 Stat-mail dedicated mailing lists (mainly because 93 of them are new this season). 44 other mailing lists are subscribed, adding another 19,000 to the total. Some of these other mailing lists receive more that one Stat-mail service (such as 'Division 2', 'FA Cup', 'League Cup' and 'Wrexham') - and that accounts for the discrepancy. As a result, the Stat-mail system distributes in excess of 7 million e-mails each season.'
What's your career background?
'Very short! I'm a student studying Computer Science at Bristol University. I'm sponsored by Nortel Networks and work for them for two or three months a year. The one qualification I need for running Stat-mail is that I love football, and am dedicated to providing one of the best soccer services on the Net.'
What's your role with the service?
'Absolutely everything - I design the software, run the mailing lists, enter the latest fixtures and results, maintain the website, answer support queries, liaise with mailing list owners, and manage advertising - and there are lots of other bits and pieces which seem to take forever to do!'
What's a typical day in the working life of Howard Lush?
'There is more than one answer to this. During term-time I go to lectures, tutorials and do other things that your average student does. During the summer I get up early, work all day, and come home late. You're probably more interested in the Stat-mail side of my working life though! The problem with football is that there are usually fixtures on six days a week. On a normal evening, my "job" starts at 9.30pm when all the fixtures finish. Usually there are only one or two, and it doesn't take long to enter the results and send out the updates. On a Saturday or busy weekday, things take a little longer. At 4.45pm around 45 fixtures finish and I work as fast as I can to get the e-mails out as soon as possible. The most annoying part is waiting for late results, and trying to track down that last Division 3 attendance!'
Good things about the job?
'Job satisfaction! It's so great to receive an e-mail which simply says "Thanks for your fantastic service". I'm also flattered by Stat-mail's popularity and the speed at which it has grown. Many subscribers live out of the country and Stat-mail keeps them up-to-date - they have learnt to rely on it. It is still hard to believe that when I hit the send button on a Saturday, I'm sending e-mail to 50,000 people.'
The second half of this interview to follow in RP27