Dick Knight stadium tribute

[cjd]

What about before that?

If you realise how much money Tony Bloom has agreed to "loan" to this club, and he is still, relatively young, I would imagine he was building his financial empire during this period............and with hindsight........what a good job he did...!

 

[Acker79]

There's an entire stadium worth of things to use to commemorate various people who have played a key part in the history of the club and the fight for falmer. Why are people getting hung up on naming the stands?

There have been some other suggestions here too, the road to the stadium, the gates.

But there's also going to be executive boxes that we can name, the bars can be named, the food areas can be named, isn't there going to be a host of facilities to allow the stadium many non-football related activities? Function rooms can be named after key figures.

We can even name the team areas - The Malcolm Stewart Treatment Room, the Peter Taylor Away Changing Rooms etc.

This is a big building with many many opportunities to pay tribute.

 

[Barry Izbak]

I would personally contribute serious money to sponsor the khazi's if we could have Stanley, Archer & Bellotti's faces built into the West Stand urinals. Perhaps a Gaudi-esque mosaic mural?

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Hello,

Yesterday, we ran this piece about fans who have contacted us to say they would like part of the new Falmer stadium to be named after Dick Knight:

Fans call for Falmer tribute to Dick Knight From The Argus)

Today, we're throwing the question of whether and how a tribute should be made, and would like your feedback too. What do you reckon?

I'll check this thread throughout the day, but you can also email me, should you be minded, at jo.wadsworth@theargus.co.uk.

Thanks!

Yet another "Albion fans call for ... " story from the Argus. Not that I have any issues with Sureyya, 20. It just seems to be rather lazy journalism. Again.

When are we going to see "Albion fans call for Argus to pay for the running costs of NSC"?

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Why do so many people think that the only player worthy of a stand is Peter Ward? If you were going to have just one player, I would have thought that Charlie Webb was standout one.

I haven't got Tim Carder's book to hand but I know that he did more than 10 years as a player, nearly 30 years as a manager and some time in administration as secretary or general manager too. He also scored the only goal when Brighton v Villa to win the Charity Shield. I think 50 years of service beats Wardy's four - no matter how good Wardy was.

Agreed.

Bearing in mind a large portion of our support has never seen Peter Ward play, I don't see why we should just nip back to the 70s and stop there. As you say, Webb was part and parcel of the club for nigh on 40 years.

By all means, name something after him or have some sort of historical tribute of Ward amongst others, but naming a stand after him?

I would like to see a similar display akin to Lords. Pictures and profiles of players and their feats for the club, dotted about the concourse.

 

[beorhthelm]

1) The Goldstone stand

2) The Dick Knight stand

3) The Peter Ward stand

4) The North stand.

i do like that. definatly a Knight stand/end, he saved the club.


if Bloom want to call it the Bloom stadium/ground, its his money so he should do.

and Arthur, you're a cock.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

Yet another "Albion fans call for ... " story from the Argus. Not that I have any issues with Sureyya, 20. It just seems to be rather lazy journalism. Again.

When are we going to see "Albion fans call for Argus to pay for the running costs of NSC"?

Lazy? Try probably under-staffed, over-worked, under-paid and under pressure.

I have no huge love for The Argus, but they don't deserve the levels of criticism or abuse they so often get on here.

 

[Acker79]

I have no huge love for The Argus, but they don't deserve the levels of criticism or abuse they so often get on here.

Does anyone deserve the abuse they get on here?

 

[keaton]

Does anyone deserve the abuse they get on here?

US?

 

[Brixtaan]

The uninformed,ill-educated vitriol from posters like keaton and Arthur need to be nipped in the bud from the outset.

Knight and Bloom deserve credit above all ex players.

 

[Arthur]

Did Bloom (or any others with financial clout) try and get involved?

A consortium backed by Steven Foster did and were promptly told to do one because Knight citing the excuse he said he wouldn't let one individual have soul control of the football club.

Now before anyone jumps down my throat I know bugger all about Perdew or how much money he has (a bit like Bloom really!). But it hardly says come and invest in my club does it.

What would you suggest they should have said during the course of the planning application then ? Come out and say "we're applying to build this here stadium, but how the FRIG we are actually going to pay for the thing I have not got a scooby. Worry about that later shall we ?" I mean what else could they say ?
And its worth remembering, B&HCC would never have supported the application nor given over the land if they thought the finance would never be in place to see it through.

But the money wasn't there so B&HCC did support the application without the funds.

{edit} and quite how your arrive at a conclusion that gaining planning permission for a 22,500 stadium in a designated AONB is supposed to be the "easy bit" I have no idea.

Oh come of it, other clubs in the country have done it so why couldn't we?

What did the planning team get wrong ? How could they have got permission for the stadium quicker ? How would more financial clout have been helpful during the public enquiries ?
Not having a go, just a little bemused at your statements.

Again, just out of interest, how did Perry make a pigs ear of the planning process/application?

13 years and still waiting!

 

[parks]

It would be somewhat ironic, if the man paying for it all had to name a stand after someone else.......Dick did a great job, not alone though, many worked hard, to keep the club afloat. I think a Hospitality area/room rather than a stand would be better named in his honour....

 

[keaton]

The uninformed,ill-educated vitriol from posters like keaton and Arthur need to be nipped in the bud from the outset.

Knight and Bloom deserve credit above all ex players.

Can you read?

Where was I vitriolic or ill-educated? At no point have I criticised Knight or Bloom, all I did was ask a couple of questions, and stated at the beginning that I might not know all the details.

 

[les dynam]

only 2 people deserve any sort of falmer naming honour - knight and bloom. without those 2 it wouldn't exist.

north stand HAS to be called the north stand. away end should be the away end. so perhaps the smaller of the 2 main stands should be the knight stand, and the other (the main main stand) is tony's if he wants it.

as an aside, i don't for a minute think the club, now TB is running things, haven't already thought about this and decided exactly what they want to do. i'm fully expecting naming rights for all 4 stands to go to the highest bidders.

 

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

Oh come of it, other clubs in the country have done it so why couldn't we?

Name one other club that got a stadium built in a designated AONB.

Go on. If you're so sure.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

13 years and still waiting!

I was hoping that you wouldn't come back with that!

First of all, 13 years is misleading.

Yes, his consortium took over back in '97, but it is not that straight forward, is it?

The club were not in a position to simply design a stadium and cherry pick a plot of land, seeing as we had no assets remaining.

Can they be blamed for all of the subsequent delays? It seems that the only viable option for the stadium needed part of the land residing in Lewes District. How would you have gone about avoiding that? It wasn't a simple case of demanding land from the council.

From the timeline below, I find it very hard to believe that much blame can be levied at Dick Knight and his fellow board members.

1997: Brighton & Hove Albion football club sold the Goldstone ground in Hove, its home for 96 years.

1998: The Falmer site next to the University of Brighton was first identified as a possible location for a new stadium.

May 1999: Residents of Brighton and Hove were offered the chance in a referendum to say if they wanted a stadium and, if so, if they agreed with the Falmer site. Of those who voted, 68 per cent supported a stadium at Falmer.

1999: The football club began playing its matches at Withdean stadium in Brighton. September 2000: Brighton & Hove City Council published its Local Plan, seeking to allow a football stadium development at Falmer.

2000 to 2002: University of Sussex representatives attended meetings of a working group that brought together the interested parties - the main participants being the football club, Brighton & Hove City Council and the University of Brighton.

October 2001: The football club applied to Brighton & Hove City Council for planning permission to build a new ground at Falmer.

June 2002: Brighton & Hove City Council planners voted to grant the planning application. They attached 32 conditions to that consent, including a clause that "provision and retention of car parking provision at Sussex University … must be agreed prior to permission being given to begin work'.

June 2002: In preparing its submission to the forthcoming public inquiry, the University commissioned a study to look at the impact of a stadium on parking, , traffic management and spectator stewarding.

July 2002: The Vice-Chancellor and the Finance & Business Director briefed the University's governing body (the Council) on the salient points to be aware of as far as they affected the University.

August 2002: The football club applied to Lewes District Council for planning permission to develop a transport interchange on land north of the stadium site.

December 2002: Senate (the University's academic body) received a report on latest developments and the Council (the University's governing body) had a brief discussion about the stadium.

February to October 2003: The University reported to a public inquiry, presided over by an appointed government inspector. The inspector's job was to hear all sides and make a report and recommendations to the Deputy Prime Minister (John Prescott). The football club, the two planning authorities (Brighton and Lewes) and a wide range of other interested parties including the University of Sussex put evidence to the inspector at the inquiry hearings.

June 2003: The University of Sussex reached agreement on some issues of direct concern. These issues included agreement with Brighton & Hove City Council on a variation in the user clause in the University's lease, which previously prevented Sussex from using and developing the campus for anything except direct teaching and research. In addition, it was agreed that if there was a stadium, an access route would be built to campus through Stanmer Park. As a result, the University withdrew from the inquiry.

July 2003: The Vice-Chancellor briefed the University's governing body (the Council) on latest developments.

August 2003: The University signed a licence agreement with Brighton & Hove Albion for identified car parks on campus to be used if the stadium was built.

December 2003: The inspector's report on the evidence he had heard at the inquiry was sent to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM). The inspector (Mr J. R. Collyer) recommended that all four applications connected with the stadium proposal be refused planning permission.

July 2004: The Deputy Prime Minister announced that the public inquiry would be re-opened "as soon as possible", with seven other sites in Brighton and Hove to be considered against set criteria.

February to May 2005: The inquiry reopened and a new inspector (Mr D. H. Brier) heard further evidence, focusing on whether there was an alternative suitable site elsewhere in Brighton and Hove. He prepared a further report and sent it to Mr Prescott.

October 2005: The Deputy Prime Minister announced his decision to grant planning permission for the stadium. In reaching this decision, the government considered detailed information from Sussex on transport management and car parking.

November 2005: Lewes District Council decided to launch a legal bid in the High Court to call for a judicial review of the government's decision to grant planning permission. One of the grounds for the challenge was that the Deputy Prime Minister had made an error of fact in his decision.

November 2006: The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government invited parties to make further representations to enable her to reconsider the application.

February 2007: Representations were submitted by the city council, the football club, Lewes District Council, Falmer Parish Council and several other bodies and individuals.

July 2007: The government granted formal planning permission.

April 2008: The club and City College Brighton announced plans for the college to build a building next to the stadium.

June 2008: The club shortlisted three building contractors.

December 2008: The club started construction work on site.

May 2009: Multi-millionaire property developer Tony Bloom took over as Albion chairman, became the club's biggest shareholder and committed to funding the vast majority of the £93million stadium development through interest-free loans.

November 2009: Work began on construction of a new link road into the University of Sussex campus and a new bridge and traffic lights at the A270/Stanmer Park link road junction.

Autumn 2011: The club hope to play at Falmer from the start of the 2011-12 season.

 

[Brixtaan]

Can you read?

Where was I vitriolic or ill-educated? At no point have I criticised Knight or Bloom, all I did was ask a couple of questions, and stated at the beginning that I might not know all the details.

Asking where Blooms been for the last 10 years!

 

[Jam The Man]

I think you'll find that the Bloom family have been involved with the Albion for about 50 odd years, and to put up as much wonga as he is for Falmer is unbelieavable, or would you rather have the pile of crap in control like Pompey have.

Erm.... and that has what to do with my post?

Thanks for the history lesson though, I can assure you I knew of the Blooms' long standing association!

 

[Easy 10]

OK, so in summary Arthur:

You believe that B&HCC gave over land and fully supported the planning application for the stadium (11-10 in favour remember ?) with NO viable business plan in place from the club to finance the thing.
And you also believe that if the owners of the club at that time simply had more money, we could have circumnavigated or ignored UK planning laws and built the stadium years ago.

Try visiting Earth some time, once you've worked out what planet it is you're on eh.

 

[countrygull]

It's my opinion that whilst Dick Knight did a huge amount to save the Albion, the movement to save the club actually started before he came to the fore: it started with the fans. If there's to be a stand called anything, perhaps it should be called the `Fans United` stand: or a statue should be a statue commemorating the massed ranks of fans who took part in the peaceful protests to save this club. We all owe Dick Knight a huge amount: but we owe more to those fans.