Resentment towards new Falmer fans

[turienzo's lovechild]

we're gonna need a lot of fans to "crawl out of the woodwork" as it were, as otherwise we'd just have 6,000 rattling around in there

a LOT of people (me included to a certain extent) are put off by the whole withdean "experience", which has DEFINITELY held us back in recent years, falmer will be so different on so many levels.....we ARE capable of getting good crowds, and with a good marketing strategy and a decent record on the pitch we'll get them. £20 odd to watch league 1 football at one of the worst grounds in the league is different to £20 odd to watch (hopefully) championship football in one of the best

as long as the 'new fans' come along, learn the chants etc. then i have no problem with it, and no-one should have a problem

 

[Pavilionaire]

I've got a little bit of sympathy for Andybaha. Yes, we need people to buy Falmer tickets, hospitality etc BUT the fact remains this MD person to which he refers chose not to go to Withdean at a time when the club needed every penny it could get to survive. That person is lucky to have a football club with a facility in the first place.

The facts are that when we have our first sell-out crowd around only one-third will be Withdean die-hards. About one-third will be Withdean "casuals" and one-third newbies. Also, nobody is forced to go to Withdean, everyone has a choice - it's their leisure time. To then claim some form of special treatment or compensation is in order would be wrong. We're supposed to be in this together...

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

I'm pretty much guaranteed a ticket, I reckon. I'm going to be flying back from Japan for this game which clearly shows a sky high level of dedication deserving of a ticket. If that's not enough I can come at it from another angle...which is it will be my first game since Dec 30th 2006 and thus I am exactly the kind of lapsed fan that they need to bring back into the fold. Which they won't do by not giving me a ticket. So it's tickets ahoy for me.

 

[Acker79]

This is one of the sides of fandom that really perplexes me.

If you're such a fan, why do you care about other people supporting the club only now there's a nice ground?

Why do people feel the need to categorise fans? It isn't just football, all areas of pop culture have fans trying to create levels of fandom. "I was a fan of Marina and the diamonds before the they made it mainstream, I have their older stuff, they were so much better when they were less commercial", "I can name every member, and species of alien in the cartina band in star wars", "I've read Harry Potter 59 times, ha!", "I've been to every Brighton game at Gillingham!"

What is worth more fan points, being a fan for 70 years (and not finding the withdean experience conducive to your health, or pension), or going to every game at withdean, even though you've only been a fan for 15 years?

Does buying a replica shirt make you more of a fan then going to one away game a season?

It's ridiculous.

There's a whole host of reasons peopple don't go to withdean: ease of getting tickets, price, stability of the stands (my dad has dodgy knees and when the crowd gets up and down it causes vibrations in the stand that make it painful for him, let alone the getting up and sitting down aspect if you want to be able to see the match you paid for), the lack of roof, the view, some have an idealogical opposition to seeing the albion in a temporary home, some don't like the idea of parking their car three miles away and leaving it for 2 hours.

Some people have jobs that leave them unavailable to go to games, some have families and mortgages and other things that require the money that might otherwise be used for tickets.

What difference does it make to your connection to the club you support if the guy next to you never went to withdean? Does it bother you that there are some kids at withdean who never went to the goldstone? How dare they jump on the back in brighton bandwagon?

 

[teaboy]

As to 'only' a third of fans at Falmer being 'hardcore Withdeaners' COUNT THE SEATS!!!! If EVERYONE you expect to crawl out of the woodwork went to Withdean, where would you sit? 23,000 into 9,000 (or 6,000) simply doesn't go.

 

[The Auditor]

I agree but this isn't going to happen. Platinum seat holders will have priority, forever.

ok ...but ....how many "corporates" will want to do aways ? ..and if we progress up the leagues our allocations will be bigger...I may be wrong but I dont see it as too much of a problem

I thought that allocations at present were for existing corporates ans season ticket holders so the MD might not have been but his company may have been supporting the club

 

[Storer68]

The Uberfans should all be given a choice of a free NOBO shirt or blue and white striped shorts.

already got em.

that's how you qualify as an UBER UBER FAN

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Brighton has but not Hove, I mean, look at the type of person that lives there.

Oi !!!!!

I didn't go to Gillingham but have been to dozens of Golstone matches and a majority of the Withdean games - I really couldn't care less who turns up at Falmer just as long as loads of people do.

I can't afford a platinum ticket but am glad people like your customer can and have brought them - means more money for team building.

 

[cuthbert]

How many games must someone attend before they're 'worthy' of a seat at Falmer? FFS just enjoy it! Were you annoyed that 6,000 turned up at Withdean for the first game when only 2,000 went to Gillingham?

I don't remember that many at Priestfield, but then that evening against Barnet is indelibly etched in my memory, when just over 1000 of us all wondered "What the bloody hell am I doing here?". Roll on big crowds it's not my personal club.

 

[KneeOn]

I'm not an uber fan by any stretch of the imagination but I have probably averaged 15-20 games a season at Withdean, suffering the cold, wind and rain along with the other 5K of hardcore fans.

Now I'm as enthusiastic as the next bloke about Falmer but I do find myself feeling a bit resentful towards all the 'fans' that are crawling out of the woodwork now the new stadium is only a year or so away. I realise that for Falmer and the club to be a success we need to be attracting gates of 15K+ along with all the corporate hospitality stuff. However at work yesterday the MD of one of the companies we supply was waxing lyrical about his purchase of two platinum tickets which he will have for life, and that he will be able to access exclusive bars and restaurants. When I asked him about this he told me that he has always been an Albion fan but had never attended a game a Withdean. I had to bite my tongue because it looks as though I'm not even guaranteed a ticket for the first match unless I buy a season ticket.

I hope we get big crowds, I hope all the corporate stuff helps to fund a decent team but I also hope the club doesn't forget all those that turned out week in week out at Withdean.

A fan is a fan is a fan.

Thats a bit like saying where were all the six year olds who are now sixteen when we were at Gillingham? Where were all the kids born in 2000 when we were struggling in the dying days of Goldstone?

I'd take a fully seated stadium with the older fans from withdean, and goldstone and gillingham, and the newly discovered fans, rahter than 8000 fans and songs of "we filled your ground" and "your suposeld to be at home".

So long as a current and future STH i don't lose my priority for the villa and man city esque games, to non sth's and to corperate fans i'm good!

 

[papajaff]

I have around 6-8 mates who refuse to go to Withdean but who love the Albion. And I really don't blame them.

They have all said that once the Albion are at Falmer they will get season tickets. How many others also have friends who say the same? Bollox to 5-6000 of us rattling around in Falmer.

 

[andybaha]

I've got absolutely no problem with whoever wants to go to Falmer, infact as I've said I hope the place sells out week in week out.

I guess it was just the fact that this guy can afford to pay for the best experience at Falmer when over all the years I have known him I have never heard him mention he was an Albion fan. And now suddenly he is.

 

[Pavilionaire]

As to 'only' a third of fans at Falmer being 'hardcore Withdeaners' COUNT THE SEATS!!!! If EVERYONE you expect to crawl out of the woodwork went to Withdean, where would you sit? 23,000 into 9,000 (or 6,000) simply doesn't go.

I think you miss the point. I'm not saying there should be more hardcore Withdeaners now, I'm saying that the reality with a Falmer sell-out - which we all want - is that two-thirds will be non-regulars, of which one-third probably never set foot in Priestfield or Withdean anyway.

Another point is that within the 6,000-odd Withdean regulars there's some right silent / boring / whingeing bastards. I know there's some excellent vocal fans who don't go to Withdean but will go to Falmer.

It will be interesting for younger fans to see an Albion home match with 20,000+ fans. To me as someone who attaneded the Goldstone that's much nearer a PROPER Albion crowd figure.

 

[Simster]

I've got absolutely no problem with whoever wants to go to Falmer, infact as I've said I hope the place sells out week in week out.

I guess it was just the fact that this guy can afford to pay for the best experience at Falmer when over all the years I have known him I have never heard him mention he was an Albion fan. And now suddenly he is.

Excellent news.

Sorry, what's the problem again?

 

[Billy the Fish]

I was out with a lapsed QPR fan who lives in Hastings.
He told me that he drives past Falmer and thinks it looks brilliant and is seriously considering buying a ST when it opens because its so easy to get to from Hastings!

Welcome one, welcome all I say.

Hopefully we'll pick up a bit more support from eastbourne and hastings now we're that side of Brighton.

 

[Billy the Fish]

Another point is that within the 6,000-odd Withdean regulars there's some right silent / boring / whingeing bastards. I know there's some excellent vocal fans who don't go to Withdean but will go to Falmer.

That is an often overlooked but VERY good point. The withdean atmosphere must put alot of people off.

With a decent pricing strategy hopefully there will be a natural split between the withdean whingers and people who want some atmosphere. As long as they don't have a specified singing section, it should naturally occur in the cheap seats or behind the goal in the north stand

 

[sir albion]

Who cares about people booing it because they don't feel important anymoreFact is there was probably 20k fans picking and choosing withdean games so plenty have contributed.

Every club has die-hard fans but they are the small minority end of,christ get over it and move on.

 

[Sillwood]

we're gonna need a lot of fans to "crawl out of the woodwork" as it were, as otherwise we'd just have 6,000 rattling around in there

a LOT of people (me included to a certain extent) are put off by the whole withdean "experience", which has DEFINITELY held us back in recent years, falmer will be so different on so many levels.....we ARE capable of getting good crowds, and with a good marketing strategy and a decent record on the pitch we'll get them. £20 odd to watch league 1 football at one of the worst grounds in the league is different to £20 odd to watch (hopefully) championship football in one of the best

as long as the 'new fans' come along, learn the chants etc. then i have no problem with it, and no-one should have a problem

Yep!! - more the merrier.

 

[Gritt23]

More the merrier I say. Come one, come all ....... well, not that bloke who has just been banned for 5 years from all grounds.

 

[The Oldman]

Another point is that within the 6,000-odd Withdean regulars there's some right silent / boring / whingeing bastards. I know there's some excellent vocal fans who don't go to Withdean but will go to Falmer.

.

There were at the Goldstone and I expect there will be at Falmer too but hopefully not the majority.