Any provision for extra seats?????.....

[Cheeky Monkey]

Knight, Perry etc cound'nt openly say the capacity can be increased in fear of upsetting the 'anti' mob again. But from what he said ALL the tiers can be raised if needed.

But wouldn't this conflict with the need for the stadium to fit in with the lie of the land? Surely there can be no upwards expansion?!?

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

The new £50bn monorail over the A27 eases congestion for those not wanting to sample the post match delights of the Zeke Rowe Bar and delay their journey home.

Tony Bloom arrives just before kick off in his Rolls Royce Phantom hover car

 

[dougdeep]

But wouldn't this conflict with the need for the stadium to fit in with the lie of the land? Surely there can be no upwards expansion?!?

It won't extend beyond the roof, that would be silly.

 

[burrish-gull]

But wouldn't this conflict with the need for the stadium to fit in with the lie of the land? Surely there can be no upwards expansion?!?

I thought the same but apparently no (I hazard a guess that more planning approval would be required). He is also involved in the Spurs redevelopment as well, he said that Falmer will be one of the best stadiums in the country when finished and could potentially hold 35,000 by raising the smaller tiers. Not 100% sure but I also think he is a director of KSS

Falmer on KSS Website
New Tottenham Ground


I did'nt even know I was talking to the arcitect until I brought the stadium design up and asked what he did for living. He is one the main men involved with KSS design, when he finished talikng to me he headed over to Martin Perry, so I knew he was'nt telling porkies!!

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

But wouldn't this conflict with the need for the stadium to fit in with the lie of the land? Surely there can be no upwards expansion?!?

Problem solved with a bit of landscaping and conifers to block the view of the stadium from the village and the A27

 

[burrish-gull]

Problem solved with a bit of landscaping and conifers to block the view of the stadium from the village and the A27

The more work that goes on the more you can see what an excellent place it is to put a stadium. Coming from Woodingdean you won't see it until you hit village way and coming from Lewes on the A27 the same (and this won't change even if some tiers are raised)

When you do see it though its going to be incredible because the surrounding countryside (i.e the Downs) is also very spectacular. It really is going to be the most unusual football ground in the country, purely by design and where it is

 

[KNC]

But which platforms did these diverted trains use at Lewes?

Both, crew changed ends on the down Bton, for the shunt over to the up Keymer.

 

[British Bulldog]

In our first season in the top flight 1979/80 we only had a gate exceeding 30,000 for one gamev Spurs. The opening fixture against Arsenal only attracted 28,604 and beating Palace 3-0 was in front of just 28,315. Five home games attracted less than 22,000. At todays prices I can't see many 30,000 crowds unless we were seriously challenging for Europe, and how likely is that?

I've just looked back through my Albion history book and I can only find 18 occasions where we've attracted a home crowd of 30,000 or above in our entire history, Extending Falmer to a 30,000 capacity would be a waste of time and money because we hav'nt got the fan base to need a stadium that big.

 

[Storer68]

but you can run 12 car trains from haywards heath to eastbourne via lewes. why not encourage more people to use lewes via haywards heath as a route to falmer rather than always think of going via brighton

 

[Storer68]

I've just looked back through my Albion history book and I can only find 18 occasions where we've attracted a home crowd of 30,000 or above in our entire history, Extending Falmer to a 30,000 capacity would be a waste of time and money because we hav'nt got the fan base to need a stadium that big.

build it and they will come

 

[burrish-gull]

I've just looked back through my Albion history book and I can only find 18 occasions where we've attracted a home crowd of 30,000 or above in our entire history, Extending Falmer to a 30,000 capacity would be a waste of time and money because we hav'nt got the fan base to need a stadium that big.

I think you've got a point, our best average crowd was 25,264 in the 1978 season. BUT football has changed alot over the years and the 'Johnny come lately' and plastic fans will all start pretending they've been Brighton fans forever once we start seriously challenging again.

England historical attendance and performance

I think 25,000 is a reasonable capacity in reality, christ if Reading, Hull and the likes of Bolton etc.. can pull in 20k plus then we should have no problem.

 

[Uter]

I've just looked back through my Albion history book and I can only find 18 occasions where we've attracted a home crowd of 30,000 or above in our entire history, Extending Falmer to a 30,000 capacity would be a waste of time and money because we hav'nt got the fan base to need a stadium that big.

I disagree with this statement completely. You seem to be suggesting there is some sort of upper limit on the sort of crowds we can attract and this is linked to our historical highs.

Going by that logic it was pointless Reading building a 24,000 capacity stadium as they had never previously averaged more than c16,000. Mk Dons have managed to find 10,000 supporters out of nowhere. If Norwich can regularly sell out a 25,000 stadium in a relegation season then why can't we expect similar support? Or even higher given Norwich is much smaller than Brighton? What about marketing to attract more families or women, What about population growth? There are a lot of factors to take into account here.

I accept we are never going to get 40,000 or 50,000 crowds in my lifetime, but I think the level of support we could achieve is definitely higher than 30,000.

 

[goldstone]

What it needs is a decent marketing department. Might just volunteer my excellent services when I retire from the airline business in a year or so.

 

[Hunting 784561]

I've just looked back through my Albion history book and I can only find 18 occasions where we've attracted a home crowd of 30,000 or above in our entire history, Extending Falmer to a 30,000 capacity would be a waste of time and money because we hav'nt got the fan base to need a stadium that big.

Not necessarily true.

Reading went from 5k up to 25k crowds in 10 years.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Both, crew changed ends on the down Bton, for the shunt over to the up Keymer.

So passengers were able to use the longer 'Keymer' platform (or London platform, as we passengers call it).

That's not an option for basic Coastway services.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

but you can run 12 car trains from haywards heath to eastbourne via lewes. why not encourage more people to use lewes via haywards heath as a route to falmer rather than always think of going via brighton

That's a very sensible point. Falmer is three stations away from Brighton, but only one from Lewes.

 

[British Bulldog]

Not necessarily true.

Reading went from 5k up to 25k crowds in 10 years.

As we have done in the past as well, Give us a bit of success and Albion fans will come crawling out from the woodwork from all directions as the recent play off final proved but it does'nt take long for them to disappear again when it gets back to the normal every day run of the mill league football. It's allways been the same with the Albion, We can draw in the fans from time to time but we can never keep hold of them long term.

 

[Hunting 784561]

I agree Albion fans can be fickle, but if the product on the pitch is good enough, then the support will stay.

Reading went from 5k to 25k crowds, and are now planning on increasing the Madjeski's capacity again up to 37k.

That is is a great role model for us to follow, and shows if the facilities are top notch, and the product on the pitch is also top notch - then not only 'will they come' but 'they will stay' as well.

 

[Brovion]

I disagree with this statement completely. You seem to be suggesting there is some sort of upper limit on the sort of crowds we can attract and this is linked to our historical highs.

Going by that logic it was pointless Reading building a 24,000 capacity stadium as they had never previously averaged more than c16,000. Mk Dons have managed to find 10,000 supporters out of nowhere. If Norwich can regularly sell out a 25,000 stadium in a relegation season then why can't we expect similar support? Or even higher given Norwich is much smaller than Brighton? What about marketing to attract more families or women, What about population growth? There are a lot of factors to take into account here.

I accept we are never going to get 40,000 or 50,000 crowds in my lifetime, but I think the level of support we could achieve is definitely higher than 30,000.

That's true, but what could reduce our potential fanbase is anywhere west of Worthing could (and I do only say 'could') become 100% Portsmouth. Hove is more central to the Brighton/Worthing conurbation than Falmer and in the old days both the Goldstone and Fratton where on the same railway line - and even then places like Chichester were far more Pompey than Brighton. In the future people from the West Sussex coast will have far more of a trek to reach Falmer involving having to change at Brighton; a quick and simple trip to Fratton may sound a better option.

I was going to make a (slightly) tounge-in-cheek comment that instead of extra seats the club's next planning request should be for additional car parking, but even by road you've got the joys of getting through Worthing (or perhaps even Arundel for the far Westies). We could see a slight shift in fan demographics and 'traditional' fan heartlands.

 

[burrish-gull]

That's true, but what could reduce our potential fanbase is anywhere west of Worthing could (and I do only say 'could') become 100% Portsmouth. Hove is more central to the Brighton/Worthing conurbation than Falmer and in the old days both the Goldstone and Fratton where on the same railway line - and even then places like Chichester were far more Pompey than Brighton. In the future people from the West Sussex coast will have far more of a trek to reach Falmer involving having to change at Brighton; a quick and simple trip to Fratton may sound a better option.

I was going to make a (slightly) tounge-in-cheek comment that instead of extra seats the club's next planning request should be for additional car parking, but even by road you've got the joys of getting through Worthing (or perhaps even Arundel for the far Westies). We could see a slight shift in fan demographics and 'traditional' fan heartlands.

This is a good point, I believe Albions support, because of the position of the stadium could take of massively in East Sussex again. I live in the far reaches of North sussex (although door to door Falmer is only 35 minutes away) on the Kent/Sussex border and many people around here I speak to are really exicted about Falmer.

I'd even add areas such as Tunbridge Wells to this as well, Falmer is easily reachable by car from here as well and I know there are many Brighton fans in the town. During the good old days of the 70's and early 80's the club was always seen as a Sussex club in my opinion, the fact that it was based in Hove did'nt really matter because people saw it as 'their' local league football club.