Thetownend.com

I saw this and thought it would be of interest to some overseas Reds.

Cut a long story short £110 for all of STFC's games streamed live.

http://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/news/article/2016-17/live-streaming-platform-ifollow-unveiled-for-global-efl-fans-3704134.aspx

And to some non-overseas reds, thanks to the power of VPN

 :nod:

Read this on another thread. Works out a tad more than Player but as long as the streaming is at least mainly lag free then It's a decent option even to pay for. Unless Player negotiate some kind of deal as surely this will see many unsubscribe? plus will it just be one fixed camera angle or will there actually be say 2 (side stand view and SB view) or even a side stand view operated (much like BBC FA Cup matches?

What implication does this do to the effective "lost seats" Will clubs be given a chunk of TV compo for say the equivalent of 100 lost seats? May only be say c£2k @ £20 per ticket but £2k x min 23league + min 4cup = c£52k. I know in relative terms we don't sell out our stadia, however this is a fair claim for clubs to consider, lets face it from that alone many LG2 and LG1 clubs could factor that into paying a players wages for a season and for the some clubs or clubs ran efficiently that could be a welcome chunk of cash.

Also, on the flipside  (we know there is nothing like being at a live match but this could deter some "maybe i'll re-new my ST" to "well for £100 I can just get annoyed at home instead?" and save £350 in the process. That's also an attractive prospect for many a floating voter if the season isn't going so great. Obviously even better if you use the VPN method.

Have I thought about this a bit too much?  :doh: :doh:

I've been waiting for this day. The internet finally arrives at what it was built for.

Just need someone to buy me it for my birthday, then I can be as miserable as everyone else on a Saturday.

Not sure I'll ever need to return to the UK again.

You say that, but "Brexit means Brexit"

#softStrongAndVeryLong, no wait that's not it

Fuck, I'd managed not to watch our descent this year, what excuse do I have now?

Maybe we could have a whip round? ;)

It's replacing player.

And the clubs will get a split of revenue.

Never mind "need".  I doubt that you'd be returning anywhere near the UK if you'd had to endure what we have back here.

PS  It may have suffered in comparison with Joshua:Klitscko but at least the election candidates your way aren't scared of a televised scrap.

I'll hold off until Sunday before making any judgments about the relative shitness of the state of France and England.

But I console myself that however bad things get, there will always be cheese. And wine.

If its replacing Player what about those far away fans without a sea in the way, I am pretty sure that despite Mrs Mays best efforts Cumbria is still not abroad?

Not to mention those of us over the bridge! Do I count as overseas I wonder?

Bloody hell, imagine if we got commentary that actually worked?

My understanding is this: PlayerHD and the whole EFL service provider contract (website template etc) is up, and this new product is part of the replacement service provider. Radio comms will be available as part of that new service provider.

iFollow is a great service--I've been waiting for something like that for a long time. Now I'll be able to watch Swindon Town whilst sitting comfortably in my armchair in Gdańsk. :clap:

If anyone gets iFollow+VPN working from the UK can they let me know, er, it's for a friend...#awayDays

I have a friend also that would like to know this... ;)

So will Julie be redundant now?

If anyone has a username and password they would like to lend me...

I'm very reluctant to pay 100 quid for something without even being sure it will work, partly due to shoddy experiences with STFC player. I think I'll just try streams to begin with.

I take it we still wont be able to listen on the BBC over the internet?

Has anyone found the app for iPhone?

Sure i read somewhere that the live stream will be just that, no actual commentary?

Reading this, it sounds like the video streaming and live audio commentary could be two separate things!

https://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/news/2017/june/town-fixtures-to-be-streamed-around-the-world-on-ifollow-in-201718/

The Q&A here says it's being left to individual clubs!

https://www.efl.com/iFollow/faqs/

What can possibly go wrong?  ???

So then people such as myself may have no access to commentary?

So you can only buy a season pass and not konthly? Dropped a bollock there imo

Wasn't Konthly one of Harry Redknapps signings at Pompey ;)

Nope been checking every day. I've emailed iFollow to ask when it might be available. Won't be subscribing until I see it in the Store. Have also asked them if the iOS app will allow streaming to AppleTV, which is a possible deal breaker for me.

I found it. It's Swindon Town Official App by EFL.

Will someone, anyone, be trying an iFollow/VPN combo on Saturday?

I'll be giving it a go. IPVanish should confuse 'em!

Maybe someone will put a stream up from it

"The Swindon Town app is available and ready for download, you can find it here https://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/ifollow/official-club-app/
In regards to your Apple TV query, Not currently.

iFollow will only be supported on desktop & mobile browsers and via iOS / Android apps.

It will not be available on Smart TV devices, nor will it support Chromecast functionality."

Just downloaded the app. Confirms that I am in the 'USA' by quoting prices in dollars.

Problem appears that there is no facility to pay for just an individual game. Don't fancy coughing $140.

As a quick heads up if anyone does do this then it obviously goes without saying can they post it in the lounge please. Don't get anyone off the forum in trouble

Nothing stopping you plugging laptop to tv by hdmi cable though is there ;)

Have you paid up for the full iFollow account on the hope you can make it work?

Also, for Kodi users out there... are we expecting stream to potentially crop up on there (I don't have one but have been considering).

See my above post. Got Kodi so hoping someone may stream it if poss.

They are waitig till the season starts to see what they can do i read somewhere

Sorry for being stupid but does this mean stfc player is dead and I have to sign up for this ifollow thingy?

"* Blackouts and restrictions apply in some markets" is really encouraging..

I think we can listen to commentary from BBC wilts online again. Fucking hope so.

If you had stfcplayer it just transferred over

Cheers tans.
I tried logging in via the app and it said my account had been blocked (and I never Julied), looks like this could take a while  :suicide:

Just seen this on FB from club

A match pass, costing the equivalent of just £5, will allow overseas fans to choose specific Sky Bet EFL matches to watch during the regular league season and offers fans greater choice in how they follow the Reds.

https://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/news/2017/august/ifollow-app-launched--match-passes-now-available/

interesting ....

Well, I've signed up. Been offered a season pass for £110. Just waiting to see when/how to pay for a match pass at $7.

Have to watch on my iPad, though as there's no Chromecast option apparently.

Just got an update from the iFollow support chap
"Apologies,

you CAN use the 'casting' functionality in the google chrome browser to watch iFollow streams.
Please disregard the previous message."

Probably being stupid here, but I can't see where to pay for a single match. It says a day pass is available from the match centre - God knows where that is.

I see it next to Buy a Season Pass.

You will only see these options if you are connecting from a IP outside the UK or a VPN.
If you are using a VPN and have accessed the page from a UK IP you will need to clear your cache before your connect from another IP.

What's the best VPN to use? Do they all charge?

So we pay £110 and then have to pay £7 per match?


I use NordVPN and have done for a few years now. No idea if it's the best, but as they're one of the few that genuinely don't keep logs, they're great for p2p.

They also do a good price on 2 years up front.

https://nordvpn.com/order/?2year&coupon=2YDeal2017

I'm not sure about the best but I have been using IPvanish for about a year now - its seems really fast I can usually d/l at around 180mb/s on a 200meg connection though the VPN.

I don't like the app that comes with it though, it makes it slow to connect and can sometimes lose connection.
So I just use OpenVPN software to connect to the IPvanish servers.

IPvanish is currently discounted at around £44 a year.  https://www.ipvanish.com/vpnfan-promo/?a_aid=VSP&a_bid=fccf1ac6&chan=FAN

Tor Browser might work - its a free option maybe.

No its 130 Euros a season or 6 Euros a game.

I don't see the match option either. just season pass even though I'm in USA ;)

From this link?  https://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/matches/fixtures/first-team/201718/august/carlisle-united-vs-swindon-town-on-05-aug-17/

Are you in the US on holiday then?

It was quoting me $140 for the season of $7 per game when I looked, and I AM in the USA.

ok I see the game option from that link, but not once logged in. I could create second account I suppose

But of course

I can see the option just next to a season pass but not actually any option to buy it

Edit: apparently you can't buy a match pass until the day of the game

Will your payment card have to have an overseas registered address I wonder

Shouldn't think so.

Will find out Saturday I guess

I assumed as much, but knowing the clubs history of ineptitude did wonder whether the clubs system had mistakenly identified you as being in the US whilst you were actually in the UK and thus would have dispensed with all this talk of visible panty networks?

Just bought a vpn for umm other needs so might look into this  :hmmm:

I've signed up with my credit card details - no problem. My address is Seattle Airport!

I've got post wedding drinks in Italy tomorrow.

Would it be rude to watch this on the phone? Just signed up, very easy to do. May use it also when I'm in Turkey in September.

Try tonight can't we

You should be on the touchlines shouldn't you? Cunt

Think it only works for one team at a time mate, unless you want to create various logins

But it should reveal if streams are available without having to go through iFollow.

Anyway, who gets the proceeds of these games? Club, EFL?

Waiting on a reply from ifollow as trying yo register is a nightmare

Only game tonight will be forest v millwall i think as the other one is on sky

hmm, no 'per match' option obvious on meals Millwall's iFollow, just season pass..

A

I'm all signed up and showing on the account that I am subscribed specifically to Swindon Town, USA debit card though, so can't comment on the use of a UK one (although the form asks for post code where I had to enter a zip code).  Didn't look like much logic was in place to go off checking billing address for example.

I can now no longer see an option for a day pass at all.

And now it's back again. Still no option to pay though. I thought I'd have a look as it's past midnight here, was worth a go.

If I click the match pass it takes me to the create account page.

Are you sure the VPN is setup and you have cleared your browser history and cache and not logged in?

This link will show you where the internet thinks you are - http://whatismyipaddress.com/

I don't need a VPN. "It's past midnight here" is a bit of a clue ;)

Anyone done it this evening?

What's the email address for customer service?

According to the forest forum it is just a video stream with no commentary. You can have the audio comms playing seperate but it is about 20 seconds behind

A bit crap really, then. If I read it right, there's no access to highlights unless you sign up to the full service as well?

Not sure.

http://www.forestforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=45862&page=16

Surely it is a dream to have no commentary (I am assuming they do have the crowd noise!)

The day pass option keeps disappearing completely for me.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v490/jamiethon/123_zpsqkcesvyt.png) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/jamiethon/media/123_zpsqkcesvyt.png.html)

I've got the option OK, just there is no facility to actually order it. Looked at the Carlisle equivalent and it's the same.

If you want to order the season pass it's fine but not doing that until I'm convinced it's going to work

I dont think you can order until close to kick off

Hope you're right. Can't think of reason why to leave it that late, though

Have a read of the forest forum thread i posted earlier in this thread

I'm in Australia this afternoon. Can see there's the option to buy a match pass but match centre not open yet. Fingers crossed.

to be clear, where is the match centre, app or via web browser?

It is here via the browser  https://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/matches/fixtures/first-team/201718/august/carlisle-united-vs-swindon-town-on-05-aug-17/

It is near the top of the home page - Match Centre in a box with a ball, just under the countdown timer. You can also get to it from matches/fixtures. This is though a web browser.

thanks

Shouldn't this be in the lounge  :hmmm:

The link is up to watch live now  :)

Does the transmission start at 3pm sharp? All I can see at the moment is black screen.

Mine went live around 10 to with previews then sat with camera on tunnel till teams come out

Still nothing...  :(

Not getting the option for a match pass even though I'm *cough abroad

Feck... I knew it was too good to be true. And the support is not there to reply to me... typical.

Even the "Listen live now" feature doesn't work. FFS.  >:(

Working for me

Mine didn't work in IE, logged in again in Chrome and it's working fine.

Working for me on Firefox

It's working for a friend of mine. But he thinks the audio is a second behind the action...unless the crowd are slow to react...

Tried FireFox, Chrome and Opera - nothing.

Perhaps it's the OS (I'm using Linux Mint). Just a moment... THAT'S IT - I can watch it on Android!  :pint:

Working fine for me here in Seattle!

Great pictures. Approx 3 mins behind 'live'.

A friend of mine used the iPad app and it didn't even ask him to pay anything to watch it. A bit buggy but not bad at all if you combine the feed with the radio Comms.

I quite enjoyed watching it without a commentary, and the complete lack of a time piece added to the fun!  Had no idea where we were in the game until the board came up (literally had nothing around me that I could even see what time it was). 

I thought it was good quality. I had the just listen open on another tab and paused the live video for about 6 seconds and it all synced up perfect  ;D

I was impressed with it. Would prefer a time on screen, tbh - I was sweating on my bet.

Is the Caribou Cup available on it?

I think the season pass only covers league game - you should be able to get a match pass for it though.

Cup games are not included.

Well my transition from Player to iFollow went smoothly, nothing's changed - I still only hear about half the pissing match. But it's okay because I can watch highlights.. Of our game against Charlton last season, which I had several rounds of electro shock therapy in order to NOT remember. The shitcunts.


I assume FH does!

I've seen it around lots

So to confirm, you can watch games live with a UK subscription as long as you have a VPN configured to a different country?

On Saturday my friend used a VPN on an Australian network and watched the whole game without any real issues.

The only issue he had was that he couldn't use his existing account to both watch and listen to the radio comms, so he made a new account using the normal UK monthly plan for radio comms and synced the two of them.

This really should be in the lounge guys

I'm sure it's fine. I think it should be in the open so all can find the loopholes.

Not even companies like Netflix and Amazon, along with our own government, are able to prevent people accessing stuff via VPN. The money grabbing FA most definitely won't have a clue, unless they simply decide to stop offering it in its entirety. In my opinion of course.

I imagine you all sitting around in a fug of smoke on leather-studded armchairs reading Association Football Weekly and tutting at the passing of screw-in studs and lace-up balls.

Can you send me an application form and details of the initiation ceremony?

We'd have to go through and remove all the bad things we've said about you first. Might take a while.

As far as I can tell you already have access anyway.

I still want to know who gets the proceeds from these games. My credit card was charged to EFL. Do the clubs get anything for providing the content?

Oh.  :-[ Never noticed that before.

Right, clear a sofa and get me a Laphroaig on the rocks. I might be some time...

The club's don't provide the live content. It'll be wrapped up into a league wide digital rights deal, and the clubs will probably get a % of revenue based on sign ups.

I meant by actually providing the 'entertainment'

What is this lounge that you speak of?  :sherlock:

It's a secret bit for members that are brilliantly smart, good looking and have massive knobs (or great tits).

And Red Frog.

They'll get a fixed sum per sign up, almost certainly, as a top up to their of value of the digital rights deal signed by the league. Some clubs have opted out too.

 :flaccid:

So Red Frog is the only member then?!  :D

I may have used a somewhat liberal definition of the terms "brilliantly' 'smart' 'good-looking' and 'massive'

Just to let you know about my friend’s experience

He decided to use his Windows 10 PC with a VPN client and the ifollow service. 

He signed up to NordVPN for a 3 days trial. No credit card was required, just his email address so that NordVPN could send an email with a link in it to activate the trial.

https://nordvpn.com/free-trial/

He clicked on the link to activate the 3 Day trial and received another email with a link to download the VPN client software. He downloaded the NordVPN client software and installed it on his Windows PC.

He then ran the NordVPN client software on his Windows PC, logging in using his email address and password that he had set up previously when he signed up.

He then connected to a server in Spain using NordVPN.

(He got a “geoblocked” error message when he tried a Dutch server).

After this he started his Chrome browser and went to the subscription page

https://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/ifollow/subscribe/ and he could see that there was an option for a Season Pass for 130 euros. He selected “Subscribe Now”.

He was asked to create an iFollow account for which he was required to enter and setup his email address and password. He was then given options on how to pay for the season pass. He decided to pay with a UK based credit card. He entered his UK billing address but this caused an error message so he changed the country field from UK to Spain and tried again and his transaction when through.
       

I wonder of the FL will clock onto a potential to move to UK streaming if this proves popular for all those abroad and all those other "abroad"?  Might be a better money spinner than a Sky TV deal, especially if they throw in some advertising.  They could even carry on with the Sky deal by excluding those games that go National, just like I think this current set-up does.

Cheers for the info.