I know there will be less posters who will now remember him but 13 years ago today we lost arguably our best and funniest poster when Eli passed away suddenly.

My thoughts today with Yvonne (otherwise known as ‘Er Indoors) and his two sons Simon & Bryn.

You are still so badly missed by those of us who were around at the time.

Tony - apparently a member of the Top Brass.

ClaretTony wrote:I know there will be less posters who will now remember him but 13 years ago today we lost arguably our best and funniest poster when Eli passed away suddenly.

My thoughts today with Yvonne (otherwise known as ‘Er Indoors) and his two sons Simon & Bryn.

You are still so badly missed by those of us who were around at the time.

Tony - apparently a member of the Top Brass.

Bloody hell 13 years ago? Sadly missed off here.

Sending love to Eli’s family. A fantastic man, who was a great inspiration to me. His profound words of wisdom were always appreciated.

For note, the West Yorkshire Luvvies are still going strong.

J

13 years bloody hell time marches on.

A minutes applause on the 13th minute for the next home game then?

I always used to enjoy reading the contributions from the poster eli. Witty, insightful and knowledgable with a very dry humour. Then a photo was published on the old site of posters outside the Bridge pre game, possibly Palace at home first game of the season? And then the penny dropped. Eli was none other than David Evans.

I had known David for as long as I could remember, he lived 5 doors up from us in Nelson. Simon and Bryn went to the same school as me and my mum was and still is good friends with Yvonne. It was a sad day 13 years ago when I received a phone call informing me that David had died the previous evening. He is missed as a great bloke, top poster and I know as a father and husband.

I believe his parting shot was to inform the board he was having a short holiday, after buying a lead for his travel kettle from Distortion Dave's emporium and a warning for any Scousers reading that his house wouldn't be empty.

I will raise a glass later in memory of eli. UTC

I remember joining the old board in around 2004-5 and thinking Blimey! There are other Burnley fans out there.

Eli being one .

May he continue to rest in peace <3

Herts Clarets wrote:I always used to enjoy reading the contributions from the poster eli. Witty, insightful and knowledgable with a very dry humour. Then a photo was published on the old site of posters outside the Bridge pre game, possibly Palace at home first game of the season? And then the penny dropped. Eli was none other than David Evans.

I had known David for as long as I could remember, he lived 5 doors up from us in Nelson. Simon and Bryn went to the same school as me and my mum was and still is good friends with Yvonne. It was a sad day 13 years ago when I received a phone call informing me that David had died the previous evening. He is missed as a great bloke, top poster and I know as a father and husband.

I believe his parting shot was to inform the board he was having a short holiday, after buying a lead for his travel kettle from Distortion Dave's emporium and a warning for any Scousers reading that his house wouldn't be empty.

I will raise a glass later in memory of eli. UTC

I also knew David long before he became Eli through NCC with him and Simon and being at school with Bryn, where Yvonne also taught. I read his posts having no idea who had actually written them (although in hindsight, it was easy to put the two and two together).

A very funny man who also had a hobby of making prank calls to the Radio Lancashire phone in.

Eli was a brilliant member of the boards with plenty of wit and humour; where or where have those years gone?

Rest in Peace Eli, a true Claret who should never be forgotten.

13 years ago, crikey time flies, RIP Eli!

Only met him once before a match, and he mocked me for wearing sandals. He made me laugh a lot on the old board. Thoughts are with his family.

A lot of things I remember about him and if I could have a wish then it would have been to have known him longer than I did.

He used to tease jdrobbo on this board, before they got to know each other, so when jdrobbo split up with his then girlfriend I thought I'd better warn eli so phoned him. He said that jdrobbo must be devastated so he would have (in his words) a ceasefire. A couple of weeks later, I got a call from him. He just asked: "Is it now safe to resume hostilities?"

Herts is correct - his last real post was to let us know he was going on holiday and had just been to distortiondave's emporium to get a new plug on his travel kettle because you need a good brew inside you at the start of the day. He said he would be back for the Hull game and warned that if there were any Scousers reading the post that the house would not be left unoccupied.

He didn't return for the Hull game and he wasn't on the Southend game a few days later either, so I phoned him and 'Er Indoors told me that he hadn't been well and was asleep. That led to a load of messages on the board and he did post once more to thank people for their good wishes and he was particularly pleased to have received one from reb who he referred to as the First Lady.

And then, on the morning of 31st October, I received a text from Herts to tell me he'd passed away. What a sad, sad day that was.

And the one picture I can find - I used it in an article when we heard of his passing and suddenly a number of posters put two and two together and realised they knew Eli. The pint glasses are strategically placed; he was going through the tactics ahead of the game.

I never knew Eli,sounds like a lovely guy,it's so nice that posters remember him....RIP Eli.

A couple of memorable exchanges with eli:

On the morning England won the Rugby World Cup, 2003 I think, there was a Clarets Mad v Central Lancs Clarets 5 a side game at Thompson Centre. I played and spent a large portion of the game either kicking or having kicked out of me, several shades of manure. I could barely walk at the end and having forgotten my shin pads had lumps and bruising down both my shins. After showers we retired to the Bridge where eli noted that I had said I didn't much care for rugby. Correct was my reply. Don't you think some of those tackles you put in would have been more at home on a rugby pitch than a 5 a side court.....

He was having a discussion with Firmo and there was mention of Panglossian Hippy types. You're an educated man eli, you should be familiar with Voltaire. Aye I am, replies eli, it's on the back road between Skipton and Keighley

In 2003, before I knew the real identity of eli, I announced on the old board that on the day of the Watford home game, I would be unavailable for selection as I was getting married in Devon and would miss the next 2 weeks as I was boarding a plane across the Atlantic to honeymoon in Hawaii. Do you think that's wise asked eli, you can't be leaving before we have reached the 50 point mark for the season.

And one I quoted a couple of weeks back that always tickled me. When I see the word clique, it always draws me back to one of the funniest things I have read on the old site. Long standing posters will know the author...

"Interesting word is clique. You will find it in the dictionary between climax and clitoris"

I have to say I didn't know him but my older brother did. Was he a teacher/headteacher in Rossenale and also a former Lancs league cricket umpire? Anyway, best wishes to his family and friends at this time.

Silkyskills1 wrote:Was he a teacher/headteacher in Rossenale and also a former Lancs league cricket umpire?

He was a maths teacher - believe he started at the school in Bacup between the football and cricket grounds and then elsewhere in Rossendale before ending his teaching career at Gawthorpe. He played Lancs League cricket for both Bacup and Nelson, once playing in a game against the great Gary Sobers who played for Todmorden as sub pro. He later was a Lancs League umpire, a job he carried out, I'm told, with the same humour as he showed on this board. He was also an after dinner speaker on the cricket circuit and his advert in the Cricketer magazine would carry the phrase: "Can even make Yorkshiremen laugh."

The day he played against Sobers
http://lancashireleague.com/Scorecards/27/27524.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Some of the banter on the early messageboards was pure gold. Then Premier League started to eat into everything. Remember Firmo and the London Clarets, does he have a new alter ego on here these days? Lets make an effort to keep the board in the spirit of HC, Eli, Firmo, Herts, CT etc, a place of merciless ridicule!

Didn't he claim a draw in that game, as he didn't get Sobers out but DP Evans finished not out. I also seem to remember him saying that Sobers clattered a six that hit the scoreboard and eli claimed for a one handed catch on the rebound, as per playground cricket rules.....

Was he from Rossendale,looking at his picture he looks familiar,anyone know how old he was?

Steve1956 wrote:Was he from Rossendale,looking at his picture he looks familiar,anyone know how old he was?

I think he was 64 when he passed away. Yes, he was a Bacup lad I think.

Herts Clarets wrote:Didn't he claim a draw in that game, as he didn't get Sobers out but DP Evans finished not out. I also seem to remember him saying that Sobers clattered a six that hit the scoreboard and eli claimed for a one handed catch on the rebound, as per playground cricket rules.....

Very much claimed a draw because neither of them got the other out. He also said that he and the number ten conjured up a run out because, by then, Sobers was bamboozling them with his slow left arm stuff.

I remember first meeting Eli, when he was Mr Evans at Haslingden Secondary Modern, at trials for Rossendale Schoolboys Under 14’s. He was hard to impress, I was the only representative from my school and we had never met before. So as Clayton Claret, meeting up with Eli years later, it took us a little while before we realised that we knew each other from back in the day. However we struck up a more equal friendship, Eli was 10 years my senior, and he would often confide in me on stuff that was not fit for consumption on a message board. He was very funny, laughed a lot and loved to have a dig at the more pompous characters that he met. I remember he wasn’t impressed when Cotterill tried to embarrass an audience member who had asked him a question that had probably struck a nerve. Other members of this board might better remember what Cotterill said, but it was along the lines of, ‘so what do you know about football coaching’? Kind of, ‘my dick is bigger than your dick’.

Herts Clarets wrote:I always used to enjoy reading the contributions from the poster eli. Witty, insightful and knowledgable with a very dry humour. Then a photo was published on the old site of posters outside the Bridge pre game, possibly Palace at home first game of the season? And then the penny dropped. Eli was none other than David Evans.

I had known David for as long as I could remember, he lived 5 doors up from us in Nelson. Simon and Bryn went to the same school as me and my mum was and still is good friends with Yvonne. It was a sad day 13 years ago when I received a phone call informing me that David had died the previous evening. He is missed as a great bloke, top poster and I know as a father and husband.

I believe his parting shot was to inform the board he was having a short holiday, after buying a lead for his travel kettle from Distortion Dave's emporium and a warning for any Scousers reading that his house wouldn't be empty.

I will raise a glass later in memory of eli. UTC

Here he is. 4th and a half from the right... that's me on the right with sunglasses, and my son in front of me who is now 20

J50 wrote:Here he is. 4th and a half from the right... that's me on the right with sunglasses, and my son in front of me who is now 20

What was Teddy Sherringham doing in the Bridge....black tshirt.

13 years ago?? Ho has that gone so fast

Like many I never met him but the posts he made, made you feel like you did.

The posts between himself and the other posters like jdrobbo, reb & the others, really did make it feel like you was down the pub and it was fitting that the board was renamed in his honour

13 years? Where the hell has that gone. I have been a member of the board (including the previous one) under various guises since 2002. Time just flies by. There’s some real characters come and gone over those years

MRG wrote:13 years? Where the hell has that gone. I have been a member of the board (including the previous one) under various guises since 2002. Time just flies by. There’s some real characters come and gone over those years

Reminded me whatever happened to the likes of Distortiondave and Firmo. I was just reading 'Stan The Man' the other day and lots of Firmo references in that, too.....

As for Eli, I never had the pleasure but from all the reminders of his old posts/comments and warmth towards him from posters, I really wish I had......

Well we can't have an Eli thread without a mention of his classic "Postcards from t'Egypt". I still smile whenever I think of BurnleyBabe's first postcard when she went to Manchester Airport to fly to Egypt. She was supposedly confused whether to go to Departures or Arrivals - and plumped for Arrivals as they had just arrived at the airport. Brilliant.

I remember seeing him umpiring at Bentgate, and must have seen him previously playing there. Also seem to remember him from school in Haslingden. Didn't realise he was Eli until I spoke to him in the Bridge.

A lovely man.

Brilliant Cliff, I'd forgotten the arrivals one.

Eli thought he was safe posting about burnleybabe while she was in Eeeejipt but her daughter went on the internet out there and saw it all. He did a similarly fantastic thread in 2006 when we went to the pre-season in Italy. If only I'd kept them.

Can't believe it is thirteen years. His postcard threads were brilliant.

I remember a devastated CT making a point of telling me we had lost Eli, at Luton v Burnley.

He was a class act all round. The patented lists are now a valuable addition on this site.

I'd only been posting on ClaretsMad for about a year and halft back then, but I remember his posts and the shock of his loss at the time.
Respect to Tony and others for keeping his memory alive.

Sadly today sussex clarets have cremated one of their original members. Jim Baker god rest your soul.
A remarkable man who had nothing but a love of his family, his motorbikes, his service to the police force and Burnley football club.
I first met this true claret in our first season in the premier league when I set up a supporters group to help us exiles get to games with company and convient meeting points.
Jim was the life and soul of the party with a pint or two in his hands.
Thankfully I was able to say goodbye today. He will never be forgotten.
RIP Jim, legend, gentleman and a claret

Got to say claret and blue ties were the order of the day.

dpinsussex wrote:Sadly today sussex clarets have cremated one of their original members. Jim Baker god rest your soul.
A remarkable man who had nothing but a love of his family, his motorbikes, his service to the police force and Burnley football club.
I first met this true claret in our first season in the premier league when I set up a supporters group to help us exiles get to games with company and convient meeting points.
Jim was the life and soul of the party with a pint or two in his hands.
Thankfully I was able to say goodbye today. He will never be forgotten.
RIP Jim, legend, gentleman and a claret

Got to say claret and blue ties were the order of the day.

RIP fellow Claret

Thanks everyone for the comments yesterday. Shows how much he’s still missed.

Steve1956 wrote:What was Teddy Sherringham doing in the Bridge....black tshirt.

That's my nephew Lee , I am 4th from the left.

2 faces that you may recognize....

Herts Clarets wrote:

DP EVANS.png

DP EVANS 2.jpg

2 faces that you may recognize....

Now that would have been a double act - Eli & Bumble