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RIP Billo

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malkamalka
March 21, 2025, 9:21pm
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Sad to report that Bill Osborne (BillO), passed away early on Friday morning NSW time.

BillO was Co founder of Grimsby Town
International Supporters Club (GTISC) and The Electronic Fishcake (forerunner of The Fishy), in 1998.

RIP BillO


"Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens." (Jimi Hendrix)
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forza ivano
March 21, 2025, 9:22pm

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Oh no, great character.  RIP Billo
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Plankton
March 21, 2025, 9:40pm

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I always appreciated the The Electronic Fishcake in its early days. It was way ahead of its time for footie club discussion. RIP BillO
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Poojah
March 21, 2025, 9:53pm
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Sad news. I was probably 12 or 13 when I first started posting on here, or at least the mailing list that ran adjacently at the time.

The weird thing that sticks in my mind is his old profile picture; of him at the old Velodrome in Marseille at the 98 World Cup. I could be badly misremembering, it’s a 25 year old memory. But something like that, anyway.

RIP Billo.


A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner.
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GrimRob
March 21, 2025, 9:58pm

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Billo was the Abraham figure of the Fishy, and indeed the whole online GTFC presence. He predated even the official GTFC site by quite a few years. His mailing list was my entry point into GTFC online. He hasn't participated for quite a few years, but without him the club's history would have taken a different course.

I met him a few times in the week he was here from Australia in 2000, and prior to that spend many an hour with on ICQ.

A sad day, but I am sure he led a very full life, and never forgot his origins.


'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.  
~ Alfred Lord Tennyson

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Plankton
March 21, 2025, 10:10pm

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Quoted from GrimRob
Billo was the Abraham figure of the Fishy, and indeed the whole online GTFC presence. He predated even the official GTFC site by quite a few years. His mailing list was my entry point into GTFC online. He hasn't participated for quite a few years, but without him the club's history would have taken a different course.

I met him a few times in the week he was here from Australia in 2000, and prior to that spend many an hour with on ICQ.

A sad day, but I am sure he led a very full life, and never forgot his origins.


Blimey, ICQ. Now that's a blast from the past. I feel Grimsby as a community was way ahead of other bigger clubs in the early days.
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Maringer
March 21, 2025, 10:13pm
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Crikey, I'd forgotten about him. Never met him but always remember his enthusiasm as an (extreme!) exile. RIP.
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cardiffmariner
March 21, 2025, 10:39pm
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Sad to hear this. The Electronic Fishcake was a real step forward in terms of bringing scattered Town fans together. Grimrob described him as Abrahamic and there was definitely something of the originator there. RIP Billo.
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louth_in_the_south
March 21, 2025, 11:12pm

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A famous name RIP Billo


Lower F5
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Limerick Mariner
March 22, 2025, 1:50am
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Very saddened by this, much like when we lost Steve Plowes.

RIP Billo - he was  like founding father for all things GTFC online with that original email list that brought so many of us exiles in touch with each other. Met him when he was over from Oz one time - away at Watford in the double Wembley season.
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