"One Johnny Prescott, there's only one Johnny Prescott..."

[Munchkin]

Made me laugh when in Dicks bar he spoke about the extra security that was put in place after the 'egg' incident, what he didn't realise that the security was there to protect the public !

Spoke passionately about the clubs Falmer campaign and praised the Albion fans for the huge part they played.

 

[The Large One]

We did manage to get a brief interview with him for the Roar, but couldn't get it uploaded on to the show in time. We'll put it up on iTunes later.

 

[The Large One]

The sound quality is awful, but I've had a go at transcribing it... E&OE

Albion Roar: This is The Albion Roar, with John Prescott in the back of Greggs, after handing pasties to the great and good of Brighton. How are you feeling about that John?

John Prescott: Well, I'm always associated with pies... Your football ground I'm going to see today, I'm really looking forward to it. You remember that there was a big row at the time, I think it was Norman Baker, who said I'd had a sumptuous meal at your last ground. It was a tatty old hut, wasn't it? And it was a steak & kidney pie - so when I come down here, I seem to get the problems about pies…

AR: Well, the steak & kidney pies are much better at the Amex, I have to say…

JP: Well I don't know about that. I'll leave you to.. they're your pies so it's up to you. But the point is that they're actually taxing food on millions of people going to sport over every weekend…

AR: When the applications landed on your desk all those years ago - 10-12 years ago - were you made aware about the depth of feeling about how important this stadium was to the fans and the city of Brighton?

JP: Well, I know that football is an important international game. And Brighton's big disadvantage down on the coast was they've got to travel everywhere, so the communications had to be important. But at the end of the day I must tell you I've never been in something like this where I've been stepped abroad, here, people came up to me and said 'Mr Prescott, can I speak to you?' [inaudible] I said 'Are you a seagull?. They say 'yeah..' It was the most happy campaign but they made their point, and I'm delighted that their arguments came to the fore and we were able to give them a [inaudible]

AR: Did you enjoy the flowers?

JP: Ah, the flowers and the Valentine Card! They came to Hull when they were playing Hull. And it was massive, it was almost as big as this room. But that was the spirit of the campaign all over, all groups, all classes saying 'we do want a new ground'. And since Hull had just got a new ground and doubled our population (I think he means 'attendance'), I was aware of the importance of that to a town and a city and particularly like Brighton.

AR: So this is the first visit to the ground since it was opened and you're getting the tour. What are you expecting from the place?

JP: Well, I was here during the election campaign, when it was part-built and it was magnificent. We had the same experience in Hull when we went from 13,000 to 25,000. Women and kids coming [inaudible] and it really does do that. But when I've seen it since, and this is the first time since it was completely done... it's magnificent. Its architecture, its development - it's sheer joy. It's a stadium of joy. And I hope you do well this year, now that we're below you.

AR: Better than Hull?

JP: It's certainly as good. I see you've got more business boxes than we've got but that's because you've got a lot more businessmen down here. They are the temples of enjoyment, the sport of the weekend, people gear up for it - they get down and they get up. There's nothing like football to lift the spirit of the city. And what was beautiful about Brighton is you kept it when it was down. It didn't looked as if you were going to get a stadium, you were floundering a bit in the football. It's given a new pride to it and that's what football can do to a city.

AR: So what do you reckon to this afternoon's game then?

JP: Well, it's a bit North and South isn't it? You're being unfair with me, just been wanting to see that that Hull can do better than they're doing it's just slipped a bit. But it will be good football, and it's something to fight for and I'm looking forward to seeing it.

AR: We couldn't score against Hull…

JP: No, but you did beat us when we came down to that tatty old hut you had. So good luck to you. When they first invited me, I didn't want us to be in the position of Middlesbrough and Brighton - who's going up next time? I think we're slipping a little bit but we've got a new crowd coming, so building up our team.

AR: We have to wrap now, but thank you so much for your support, and enjoy the football…

JP: It was well worth it. Your campaign was well worth it. Brighton deserved it and you've got it.

 

[Easy 10]

JP:They are the temples of enjoyment, the sport of the weekend, people gear up for it - they get down and they get up. There's nothing like football to lift the spirit of the city. And what was beautiful about Brighton is you kept it when it was down. It didn't looked as if you were going to get a stadium, you were floundering a bit in the football. It's given a new pride to it and that's what football can do to a city.

JP: It was well worth it. Your campaign was well worth it. Brighton deserved it and you've got it.

Nicely put JP.