On a personal note – and despite whatever I think of the way Beckford has handled his transfer wishes – it’s been brilliant for TSS. Only a week into January and The Scratching Shed has already seen more visitors than it did last month!

Over 10,000 of you read yesterdays post on Jermaine Beckford leaving Leeds, which is a new record for a single post. It has also received more comments than any other post in the sites brief history with 143 as I write, so thanks to everyone who continues to support the site and help make it a success.

With a lot of thanks to NewsNow and everyone linking and sharing across forums and social networking sites, TSS received a staggering 13,500 total visits yesterday and amazingly, over 140,000 page views. Waking up this morning, it’s fair to say I was totally speechless and can’t even begin to think how the site will top these feats.

Friend of the site and former TSS writer, Grumpy Older Man had a bit of dig in his own blog Clarke One Nil about the “paid adverts” on the site. Although I know his dig was in jest, I felt it shouldn’t go by without response. Unlike Clarke One Nil (that is hosted for free on WordPress.com) TSS is hosted independently, so the advertisements are there in an effort to cover the sites cost.

With growing visitor numbers each month, the cost of TSS rises and the truth is that these adverts bring in very little revenue and don’t come close to covering the costs incurred. The only sites that really profit from such ads are the ones with much larger visitor numbers, or those that seek independent advertisers or sponsorship. With that in mind, if anyone runs there own business around the Leeds area and is interested in sponsoring (advertising on) TSS please email me; admin@thescratchingshed.com – a grit salesman would probably do well at the minute!

Once again I’d like to thank you all for helping make TSS a success.