About us
The-Inferno is a non-profit, independant site founded by Cardiff Devils fans, for Cardiff Devils fans.
The Past...
The-Inferno was first setup by Sprinkles and Matt-J during the off-season before the 2007/2008 season as a rival board to the short lived Cardiff Devils Booster Club and its Forum. With the closing of the EIHL forum and the redirection of users to the Booster Club forums a lot of forumites were lost.
The forum was largely a success from the start, however several weeks later the forum disappeared overnight with no explanation. The off-season continued in it's usual chaotic fashion and several weeks later The-Inferno was given a new lease of life by Matt-J, with Pandora and Rocksteady Eddy becoming the first moderators of the 'new' boards.
Unfortunately, with the downtime between mark1 and mark2 of The-Inferno the previous forum users had returned to the Elite Leagues official forums and the boards here were getting little use. Matt-J and Theresa then came to the idea of running Match Night Live! to try and inject some life into the site. The first Match Night Live! appealed for texters on the Friday and was launched on the Saturday with Finny, Sharlene and Chris supplying the information needed. Although informal at first, Match Night Live! was a big success and Nott Simpson joined shortly after launch.
Match Night Live! moved from strength to strength, more people 'tuned in' and it wasn't long before word reached Matt-J from abroad that the players families were finding the service very useful indeed. Unfortunately with the success of the Match Night Live! the forums were largely abandoned and eventually were closed down during the 2007/2008 season. Match Night Live! continued and became the cornerstone of The-Inferno, although visitor numbers were not kept, 1500 tuned in for the big games.
The start of the 2008/2009 season led to the current version of The-Inferno, Brad Voth was banned, Devils fans were banned and the Elite Leagues official forums went into melt down and the new forums were born...
The Present
The-Inferno has gone from strength to strength during it's 3rd outing, the original Match Night Live! was replaced with a new version coded from new and the forums were given a new theme and logo created by James.
Just under 1 year after launch the forums total over 500 members with many more lurking in the shadows, Match Night Live! attracts an average of 400 users to each game and page views average around 170,000 per month.
The boards have been a success with the heavy moderating of the Elite League forums removed and genuine discussion taking place between Cardiff Devils fans, and those from other clubs and forums.
The Future...
A new website will be launched for The-Inferno at the start of the 2009/2010 season featuring unique content from users of the forums, Match Night Live! will be given another makeover and is likely to be tested during the 2009-2010 season.
There are plans to help the club out by sponsoring a player through the forum with many people chipping in a small amount along with plans to get The-Inferno some more exposure amongst the Devils faithful.
Things are looking up, and as one of the forum regulars would say...
HAPPY HOCKEY DAYS!