David Pleat reckons we would struggle to get fans if we hit the big time

[Hunting 784561]

If a club like Wigan can succeed in the Premiership, I'm sure as hell BHA can.

If teams like Reading & Swansea can go up and make a mark in the Premiership, I'm sure as hell that we can.

This sort of stuff is just garbage from old school gobshite idiots, designed to 'keep us down' and remind us to 'know our place'.

Utter fecking bollocks.

 

[Braders]

In the words of Joey Barton
"Just heard David Pleat's comments from last wk, should he really be having a pop at anyone? Really?? #3mph"

 

[User removed 4]

Sorry - but I don't understand the point. To sustain the level of support you need success (and a rich sugar daddy) not necessarily a large catchment area. Fulham and Blackburn prove that and to sustain support you need the support in the first place - Brighton has been next to the sea for quite a time.

I think Pleat is wrong - our support is growing because of success not vice versa. (Happy to be proved wrong though )

Serious question, what sort of crowds do you reckon Brighton would get if they were perennial premiership strugglers ? I think it’s been shown before that a side that is doing really well in the championship or league one will get bigger crowds than if they were struggling in the higher division, by the way, what was the manner of the win last night ? going away to cardidd, play offs last year and no mugs, and doing them 3-1 is no mean feat, were albion worth that scoreline ?

 

[BHseagull]

Being by the sea has pro's and con's. But the fact or the matter is that they equal each other out...

OK, so we obviously cannot rely on support coming from south of Brighton; only a radius covering areas North, East & West of Brighton.

However, we do not have any competition for fans from that direction either. Anyone living in Brighton (with a few exceptions) will support us, especially in the Premier League.

We can EASILY get 30k a week if we are the Premier League. In fact, we could probably do it right now. 30k fans every match day is easily enough to sustain ourselves as a Premier League club, hopefully in the not too distant future.

 

[Simster]

Serious question, what sort of crowds do you reckon Brighton would get if they were perennial premiership strugglers ? I think it’s been shown before that a side that is doing really well in the championship or league one will get bigger crowds than if they were struggling in the higher division, by the way, what was the manner of the win last night ? going away to cardidd, play offs last year and no mugs, and doing them 3-1 is no mean feat, were albion worth that scoreline ?

We'd get more than Wigan, surely. And this is their 7th season in the Prem, and they've averaged 17-18,000 most of the time. In the early 90s, they were division 4 and playing to crowds of 1,500.

I'd have thought Fulham was our benchmark - 25,000 each week, although they do their upmost to fill the ground (with commendable cheap ticket offers in their neutral area) and they haven't struggled for two seasons now.

 

[The Large One]

Serious question, what sort of crowds do you reckon Brighton would get if they were perennial premiership strugglers ? I think it’s been shown before that a side that is doing really well in the championship or league one will get bigger crowds than if they were struggling in the higher division, by the way, what was the manner of the win last night ? going away to cardidd, play offs last year and no mugs, and doing them 3-1 is no mean feat, were albion worth that scoreline ?

It's a fair point.

When we were on the up in the late 70s, we would get 25,000-30,000 crowds week in, week out. When we got to the top division, the crowd numbers started falling - one, because attendances generally were falling (the mid-80s saw an awful lot of empty terraces), but two, Brighton were no longer a winning side.

At present, I still believe a 31,000-capacity stadium is ambitious for us.

 

[westy]

Pleat is just an out of touch washed up dinosaur. What has he based his comments on? Not a lot id imagine, probably didn't even know we'd flogged over 18,000 season tickets. Idiot.

 

[Randsta]

I think BHA could sell @ least 20,000 season tickets in the premier league and that is a lot more than most, if the transport infrastructure is in place the sky is the limit!

 

[User removed 4]

It's a fair point.

When we were on the up in the late 70s, we would get 25,000-30,000 crowds week in, week out. When we got to the top division, the crowd numbers started falling - one, because attendances generally were falling (the mid-80s saw an awful lot of empty terraces), but two, Brighton were no longer a winning side.

At present, I still believe a 31,000-capacity stadium is ambitious for us.

maybe only fill a couple of the corners in ? a sort of dont run before you can walk compromise, that said , I agree with simster ( a first surely) that if wigan , a town dominated by rugby league can survive, then i'm sure brighton can.

 

[Ernest]

What we DID 30 years ago is not APPLICABLE now, going to a match then was LITERALLY taking your life into your own hands. Going to places like Goodison and Maine Rd needed a HEALTH warning and if you GOT away from the game without at least BEING threatened you DID well. The reason CROWDS were shit then was because hooliganism had driven away people and football was nowhere near the popularity it is now.

If we did get to the Premiership we would sell the ground out no problem week in and week out, some may be to day trippers and WEEKENDERS but a weekend in Brighton to watch PREMIER league football would soon be a CHOICE for many.

 

[The Large One]

maybe only fill a couple of the corners in ? a sort of dont run before you can walk compromise, that said , I agree with simster ( a first surely) that if wigan , a town dominated by rugby league can survive, then i'm sure brighton can.

I have every belief that where are now is the platform - the very basics, if you like - for pushing on. We haven't topped out yet. I would expect 20,000 from here on in, especially if we're getting better.

I would prefer that the stadium was finished (corners AND second tier) as soon as possible. The first 18,400 STs were sold with fairly minimal effort (build it and they will come etc.). To get 10,000 more in will require a massive effort on and off the pitch, and it's for the club to ensure we play with as few empty seats as possible. As I said, ambitious.

 

[Don Quixote]

Why's he just talking absolute rubbish?

 

[The Large One]

What we DID 30 years ago is not APPLICABLE now, going to a match then was LITERALLY taking your life into your own hands. Going to places like Goodison and Maine Rd needed a HEALTH warning and if you GOT away from the game without at least BEING threatened you DID well. The reason CROWDS were shit then was because hooliganism had driven away people and football was nowhere near the popularity it is now.

If we did get to the Premiership we would sell the ground out no problem week in and week out, some may be to day trippers and WEEKENDERS but a weekend in Brighton to watch PREMIER league football would soon be a CHOICE for many.

I agree to a point. My point was - the more fickle end of the support base disappears fairly quickly when we stop winning.

 

[HastingsSeagull]

mentalist lol....... do some background checking before spouting such garbage or keep trap shut

 

[westy]

mentalist lol....... do some background checking before spouting such garbage or keep trap shut

Exactly!

 

[kevtherev]

Wonder if he still pays whores to lick each other out on the back seat of his motor while he bangs one out?......He didnt even join in, shows what a wanker he really is lol..

 

[Falkor]

The only reason Wigan succeed is they have a extremely good business man in charge of the club, not saying we dont ours is fantastic, but Wigan might be a prem team but there support is awful, i would hate to see us in the prem and have 10,000 empty seats, that said i dont think we would, we have a very good fan base.

We have made great steps forward but there are still steps to make. I have to say i love being a Brighton fan, might get a rough ride on here from some of you, but when at the ground its like a family.

 

[cjd]

Get a bit disappointed to continually see the ..."we only got 28,000 for our first 'premiership' (old Divison 1) game against Arsenal" argument.

Whilst it is true, I very well remember the headlines of the Argus (our main source of information, for anything Albion in those days), was Alan Mullery saying...."you,ll have to get to the Goldstone a couple of hours before the game if you want to get in"...(or words to that effect).

This, was to a rambling stadium......Season Tickets only in the few seats......standing on the terraces.....no roof over the majority of fans (Chicken run).....filthy toilets etc....and poor catering facilties. What on earth did the Albion hierarchy think the fair-weather fan was going to do for two hours before the game started...?

Add to this...with it being mainly 'standing'.....who was going to take their younger children (a large element of our support today)..who wouldn't be able to see.....and the possibilty of crowd trouble (hooligan era) crushing them....?

Today, it really is a completely different scenario to the early 80,s......and comparing those 'gates' with the potential 'gates' in the Premiership in the future, bears very little genuine resemblance.

 

[pasty]

The only good thing about David Pleat is that it is easy to tell when he is talking bollox. His lips are moving.

 

[severnside gull]

Pleat was very clear - he said we could not sustain high crowds for the sole reason that we have the sea on one side.

Now there may well be any number of reasons why we might or might not sustain high levels of support but the fact that we only have land on three sides is almost certainly of negligable import to any of those arguments.

Put simply, the guy is a prat.