From what I recall, when the Albion came back to Brighton and Hove and took up temporary residence at Withdean the locals, quite naturally, expressed some concern.
They were involved in discussions on some level, these resulted in the arrangements we currently have with park and ride buses, and so on.
This has led to fans being quite responsible, we don't cause trouble etc.
The same can't be said with Falmer.
The locals have fought the club all the way. A rivalry has grown between fans and residents in the Falmer area, with passionate feelings on both sides. Even when official decisions have been made they've been challenged and appealed and even now the locals are still not happy.
The post match phone in on SCR still gets occasional calls from people questioning if it will really work, I remember a caller over christmas asking if our form continued to nose dive leading to a further fall in attendance, could we still afford Falmer. A legitimate question that got lost in the ensuing shouting down from Harty pretty much telling the guy to get over it and move on (in fairness, the guy didn't press the question instead spouting more anti-stadium views).
But when the stadium is built these rivals will be our neighbours.
I love the albion, but I wouldn't want the stadium on my doorstep. Sure it would be convenient, but apart from being tempted to watch the match from my garden or bedroom and miss out on the atmosphere of being in the stadium, I'd be concerned about several thousand people walking past my house, when they're drunk, when they're elated, when they're depressed, upset, angry, spoiling for a fight, or in any of a number of states that leads to otherwise sensible people thinking nothing of kicking a flower pot in frustration, breaking a wing mirror while imagining it's the head of the ref who gave a dodgy penalty, or getting being so happy about the win they're singing foul language songs at the top of their lungs wile my kids are watching "help! I''m a celebrity strictly come dancing on ice idol.. get me out of here and into big brother", the constant concern at big matches that the fans are going to have a big rumble in the street and so on.
I know the majority of fans don't behave that way, and yes, like I said before we behaved ourselves at Withdean. But we're guests at Withdean and have to play by the host's rules, Falmer will be our home, what right does anyone have to tell us how to behave?!
Which brings me on to my concern. At Withdean the residents appeared to take a step back and say 'ok, let's give this a try', and out of respect (and general human decency) we behaved, and it has all worked out.
Will that happen in Falmer? I see a lot of venom spouted at The Swan. I worry that fans are going to want to go rub it in the landlord's face, and then feel they should do the same to all the residents, because some of them opposed the stadium. Especially if they get particularly drunk in celebration at our homecoming, or if they get particularly upset over a run of losses that are obviously the fault of bad karma from the locals cursing us!
I hope I'm wrong, but the rivalry has built up over the years between stadium supporters and stadium opposers, and now we're neighbours and I worry there'll be quite a lot of trouble.
They were involved in discussions on some level, these resulted in the arrangements we currently have with park and ride buses, and so on.
This has led to fans being quite responsible, we don't cause trouble etc.
The same can't be said with Falmer.
The locals have fought the club all the way. A rivalry has grown between fans and residents in the Falmer area, with passionate feelings on both sides. Even when official decisions have been made they've been challenged and appealed and even now the locals are still not happy.
The post match phone in on SCR still gets occasional calls from people questioning if it will really work, I remember a caller over christmas asking if our form continued to nose dive leading to a further fall in attendance, could we still afford Falmer. A legitimate question that got lost in the ensuing shouting down from Harty pretty much telling the guy to get over it and move on (in fairness, the guy didn't press the question instead spouting more anti-stadium views).
But when the stadium is built these rivals will be our neighbours.
I love the albion, but I wouldn't want the stadium on my doorstep. Sure it would be convenient, but apart from being tempted to watch the match from my garden or bedroom and miss out on the atmosphere of being in the stadium, I'd be concerned about several thousand people walking past my house, when they're drunk, when they're elated, when they're depressed, upset, angry, spoiling for a fight, or in any of a number of states that leads to otherwise sensible people thinking nothing of kicking a flower pot in frustration, breaking a wing mirror while imagining it's the head of the ref who gave a dodgy penalty, or getting being so happy about the win they're singing foul language songs at the top of their lungs wile my kids are watching "help! I''m a celebrity strictly come dancing on ice idol.. get me out of here and into big brother", the constant concern at big matches that the fans are going to have a big rumble in the street and so on.
I know the majority of fans don't behave that way, and yes, like I said before we behaved ourselves at Withdean. But we're guests at Withdean and have to play by the host's rules, Falmer will be our home, what right does anyone have to tell us how to behave?!
Which brings me on to my concern. At Withdean the residents appeared to take a step back and say 'ok, let's give this a try', and out of respect (and general human decency) we behaved, and it has all worked out.
Will that happen in Falmer? I see a lot of venom spouted at The Swan. I worry that fans are going to want to go rub it in the landlord's face, and then feel they should do the same to all the residents, because some of them opposed the stadium. Especially if they get particularly drunk in celebration at our homecoming, or if they get particularly upset over a run of losses that are obviously the fault of bad karma from the locals cursing us!
I hope I'm wrong, but the rivalry has built up over the years between stadium supporters and stadium opposers, and now we're neighbours and I worry there'll be quite a lot of trouble.
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