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HARTY: On Albion's dream becoming a reality
« Previous « PreviousNext » Next »View GalleryPublished Date: 28 May 2009
BURNLEY'S Championship play-off win against Sheffield United on Monday has local implications – not only for local Clarets Bernhardt Cozzi and Pussy Williams, but for Albion fans everywhere.
The Lancashire club's promotion to the Premiership proves that the dream can be a reality. And with last week's news that new Albion chairman Tony Bloom is prepared to bankroll both the stadium project and the team with multi-million pound funding, how far away is Premiership football in Sussex? Am I deluded?
Well, you probably would have said the same to Burnley supporters a few years ago, but it's clear, with the right formula, anything is possible.
Having avoided relegation to the bottom division, new Albion boss Russell Slade is being given a budget to mount a promotion challenge next season.
This throws up a debate among Albion fans. A number think that a transitional season is in order this year, with a sustained promotion challenge for the last year at Withdean – culminating in a first season in the Championship in the newly-opened Falmer.
I'm actually in the other camp. Although not taking anything for granted, and supporting the Albion you certainly can't, promotion this year would see the final year at Withdean in the Championship.
Now, for all the good that Dick Knight did, in my opinion, one of his failings was that in the seasons the Albion flirted with the Championship, he was unable to back his managers with a big enough budget.
With the figures being talked about with Tony Bloom, that's not the case, and that is the crux of the theory.
Brighton's big problem is that since they left the Goldstone in 1997, their fan base has been seriously affected. A final season at Withdean with a Champ-ionship campaign not fighting relegation will result in, potentially quality opponents, and near capacity crowds. That will, hopefully, sustain the interest in Falmer.
By the summer of 2011, I would hope that under Bloom's chairmanship, although the Premiership big four influence won't have been totally eradicated, more youngsters in Sussex between nine and 16 will be following the Albion in numbers not seen since the halcyon days of the Goldstone.
That fact alone will help put the all-important bums on seats at the new stadium and, perhaps the biggest factor, with the team not hampered by financial constraints, they will come back week after week.
Alan Pook's departure from Woodside Road marks a sea of change at Worthing FC.
It appears that by making former joint boss Danny Bloor re-apply for the manager's job, a number of people at the club hope that a better candidate will come forward.
For as much time as I have for Danny, perhaps a complete change is the answer. And perhaps, ultimately, that answer comes in the shape of former Albion legend Ian Chapman?
Having cut his non-league teeth with Whitehawk in the Sussex County League before coaching an Albion side to a creditable seventh finish in League One the season before last, he ticks all the boxes, and should finally unite what appears to still be a divided boardroom at Woodside Road.
And, finally, the St James's Park Class of 09 join that esteemed band of footballing luminaries that include Manch-ester United 74, Tottenham 77, West Ham 78, Manchester City 83, Nottingham Forest 93, Middlesboro 97 and West Ham (again) 2003.
"Too good to go down"– a phrase football fans from all the small unfashionable clubs never tire of hearing.
And even in relegation, Newcastle's celebrity supporter, Mr John McCririck, comes out with the classic line, "I can't believe we've got to play Peterborough and Scunthorpe".
Well, the Posh and the Iron are in the Championship on merit, and much the same can be said of the Magpies.
« Previous « PreviousNext » Next »View GalleryPublished Date: 28 May 2009
BURNLEY'S Championship play-off win against Sheffield United on Monday has local implications – not only for local Clarets Bernhardt Cozzi and Pussy Williams, but for Albion fans everywhere.
The Lancashire club's promotion to the Premiership proves that the dream can be a reality. And with last week's news that new Albion chairman Tony Bloom is prepared to bankroll both the stadium project and the team with multi-million pound funding, how far away is Premiership football in Sussex? Am I deluded?
Well, you probably would have said the same to Burnley supporters a few years ago, but it's clear, with the right formula, anything is possible.
Having avoided relegation to the bottom division, new Albion boss Russell Slade is being given a budget to mount a promotion challenge next season.
This throws up a debate among Albion fans. A number think that a transitional season is in order this year, with a sustained promotion challenge for the last year at Withdean – culminating in a first season in the Championship in the newly-opened Falmer.
I'm actually in the other camp. Although not taking anything for granted, and supporting the Albion you certainly can't, promotion this year would see the final year at Withdean in the Championship.
Now, for all the good that Dick Knight did, in my opinion, one of his failings was that in the seasons the Albion flirted with the Championship, he was unable to back his managers with a big enough budget.
With the figures being talked about with Tony Bloom, that's not the case, and that is the crux of the theory.
Brighton's big problem is that since they left the Goldstone in 1997, their fan base has been seriously affected. A final season at Withdean with a Champ-ionship campaign not fighting relegation will result in, potentially quality opponents, and near capacity crowds. That will, hopefully, sustain the interest in Falmer.
By the summer of 2011, I would hope that under Bloom's chairmanship, although the Premiership big four influence won't have been totally eradicated, more youngsters in Sussex between nine and 16 will be following the Albion in numbers not seen since the halcyon days of the Goldstone.
That fact alone will help put the all-important bums on seats at the new stadium and, perhaps the biggest factor, with the team not hampered by financial constraints, they will come back week after week.
Alan Pook's departure from Woodside Road marks a sea of change at Worthing FC.
It appears that by making former joint boss Danny Bloor re-apply for the manager's job, a number of people at the club hope that a better candidate will come forward.
For as much time as I have for Danny, perhaps a complete change is the answer. And perhaps, ultimately, that answer comes in the shape of former Albion legend Ian Chapman?
Having cut his non-league teeth with Whitehawk in the Sussex County League before coaching an Albion side to a creditable seventh finish in League One the season before last, he ticks all the boxes, and should finally unite what appears to still be a divided boardroom at Woodside Road.
And, finally, the St James's Park Class of 09 join that esteemed band of footballing luminaries that include Manch-ester United 74, Tottenham 77, West Ham 78, Manchester City 83, Nottingham Forest 93, Middlesboro 97 and West Ham (again) 2003.
"Too good to go down"– a phrase football fans from all the small unfashionable clubs never tire of hearing.
And even in relegation, Newcastle's celebrity supporter, Mr John McCririck, comes out with the classic line, "I can't believe we've got to play Peterborough and Scunthorpe".
Well, the Posh and the Iron are in the Championship on merit, and much the same can be said of the Magpies.
