Question for the over 42s...

[Medwayseagull]

We need a promotion clinching game to the top division, similar to Newcastle away in 1979, for the current era to surpass that great day and that great time.

 

[Silk]

Now almost = then. Peter Ward WAS magic. The style of football was different. I think we are on course for the best times, not quite there yet.

 

[Norman Baker suck my lozenge]

Late seventies early eighties was the best,the queue for a pie was much better and Knight hadn't ran off with the cup final Money to leave us on the brink of extinction.

 

[Icy Gull]

Footballing , the late 70's to early 80's pissed over anything we have done in the last 3 years , absolutely no comparison at the moment. We won a poor 3rd division and came midtable in the second division compared to promotion, 4th, promotion, 4 seasons in top division and fa cup final.

Errr we are only two seasons into this surge if you are making comparisons. I don't agree that coming out of Division 3 and blowing out on a 2nd promotion ( due to a match fix down the road) "pissed" on the last two seasons. Yes last season doesn't compare with our near miss but the season we won League 1 was not far short of the year we came out of the third. Remember we did actually piss the league with some great football and it was only a shit run in after we won the Championship that tarnished the season. I f***ing LOVED that season, especially after the dross of the previous few years. I think you are being harsh.

All about opinions but I think there's certainly some hyperbole in your comments

 

[Cappers]

Struggle hard to beat the excitement of the cup run in 83, and when Wardy was running at defenders.......

 

[pasty]

Bring back terraces and "now" will be as good as "then"

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Errr we are only two seasons into this surge if you are making comparisons. I don't agree that coming out of Division 3 and blowing out on a 2nd promotion ( due to a match fix down the road) "pissed" on the last two seasons. Yes last season doesn't compare with our near miss but the season we won League 1 was not far short of the year we came out of the third. Remember we did actually piss the league with some great football and it was only a shit run in after we won the Championship that tarnished the season. I f***ing LOVED that season, especially after the dross of the previous few years. I think you are being harsh.

All about opinions but I think there's certainly some hyperbole in your comments

Then - League one - 2nd and promoted, championship - 4th, championship -second and promoted, 4 seasons in the premiership, fa cup final

Now - League one - promoted as champions, championship - 10th

How can that compare which was the original question

 

[Cappers]

Bring back terraces and "now" will be as good as "then"

Very good point. Bound to be better with terracing

 

[Boys 9d]

The playing standards and stadium facilites are now so superior. The one thing I have nostalgia for from the 50s when I first watched the Albion was the lack of need for crowd segregation. Home and Away supporters mingled in the stands and standing areas and everyone supported their team without hurling abuse at each other or resorting to any violence. Later attitudes changed for the worst but hopefully the present trend to better behaviour will continue.

 

[rool]

It's all about the now for me, I can't even remember a single thing about the day at the Cup Final.

 

[Icy Gull]

Then - League one - 2nd and promoted, championship - 4th, championship -second and promoted, 4 seasons in the premiership, fa cup final

Now - League one - promoted as champions, championship - 10th

How can that compare which was the original question

I'm pretty sure the original question wasn't comparing 2 seasons against 8 back then, I saw it as a general question about how what we are doing now compared with what we did then...and for my money it compares quite well....so far. But then I'm camparing like with like

 

[somerset]

I think the 1983 cup run was better than now, but it's bloody close

I'll go along with that.... the atmosphere was great before that too.... is when we had the old asbestos roof on the north stand.... the promotion run.... ten thousand to Newcastle..... seagull special trains..........

 

[Lady Gull]

For me,then.Hard to define why,but the magic of Wardy,fabulous leadership from Nobby Horton,the slightly ragged atmosphere of the Goldstone Ground and the passion of Mullers,did it for me.
Yes,I was younger then and perhaps with age goes some of the fervour.I have to be honest and say if we lose these days it doesn't bugger up my week-end any more!

This - just being younger helped I think too - I love the Amex - but it's not the same experience as The Goldstone - we lived near Hove Rec and I used to walk the dog round there and watch the Albion training there some mornings - great fun with the players - too! The goldstone holds very happy fun memories for me - will never forget the experience of going there with friends, family - lads I met there - good times.

 

[withdeanwombat]

Then.

I think our current team is very good,and perhaps eventually it will match and exceed the Ward/Lawrenson era.Hope I'm still sucking air and Harveys at that point.

 

[sydney]

Bring back terraces and "now" will be as good as "then"

can remember being down the front of the north stand right behind the goal.....forest , tottenham( mid week) , citeh ,west brom,arse (first game in old 1st div) norty , west ham (massive crush, bedlam, an old boy died that day i think) saw liverpool and man u a couple of times ,brum ,blackpool, .......terraces were great , specially with the long,low roofs that amplified the noise.
terraces have their good and bad points , we didn't know anything else in those days so it was brilliant.
don't think i qualify to comment on the OP although it does seem that we are rising from the ashes somewhat

 

[The Large One]

I'm pretty sure the original question wasn't comparing 2 seasons against 8 back then, I saw it as a general question about how what we are doing now compared with what we did then...and for my money it compares quite well....so far. But then I'm camparing like with like

Th original question was whether it's better to be an Albion fan now or to have been an Albion fan then.

Using only stats to compare like-with-like is ludicrous, as there are so many other things needed to compare and contrast.

It was meant to be more about how you FEEL.

 

[Hiney]

Then

But that could also be associated with the fact that I was younger. That the music scene was more exciting and football generally was more competitive (although the Championship is pretty competitive)

And the fact that no player in the current team is as good as Lawro was - it was worth the entrance money to watch him every week.

Difficult to argue with that.

It was amazing back then. because we were punching WAY above our weight. Lawrensen was so much better than anyone in the division and this, combined with the great TEAM we had, meant we just surfed this amazing wave of euphoria which carried us through.

Today, it's different because football in general has lost the passion/romance, call it what you will. We can now see that there is a grand plan, involving the ground, the training ground, the squad, the manager etc. etc. etc. There is a proper infrastructure in place, which is vital if you need to 1) get promoted and 2) stay up. Back then it was all about one game at a time and who gives a shit whether or not we will be 'ready' for Div One.

Both were incredible but back then, it was just MAGICAL

 

[MACROBLUE]

A lot of people say 'there's never been a better time to be a Brighton fan', and if you're under 35, I guess that statement might well hold true.

But we had a meteoric rise in the late 1970s powering our way from the Third to the First Division, where we stayed for four years, and reached the FA Cup Final. My memories of those days were little more than 'Peter Ward is Magic'.

So taking that into consideration, would those who remember the giddy days of the late 1970s and early 1980s say that NOW or THEN is/was the best time to be a Brighton fan - or maybe even another period (mid to late 1950s...?)

Just curious, like.

Late 70's without doubt, 30k+ crowds sometimes as well as great atmosphere.

 

[Pavilionaire]

It's hard to compare eras but I'd say the football now compared with the early days of the old Division 1 is pretty evenly matched. A composite team from the two eras would probably look something like:

1. Kusczak. 2. Bruno. 3. G Stevens, 4. Lawrenson 5. Foster. 6. Horton. 7. Case. 8. Ward 9. Robinson 10. Vicente 11.Buckley.

 

[brakespear]

Different things, for me anyway - I started supporting the Albion in 1978 and the next year we were promoted to the First Division whereas now we have had a fairly long spell out in the wilderness with little to enjoy (not that we didn't try our best) and to suddenly have the club in the position it is now with the ground and everything.....just can't compare the two really.