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Brighton count the cost of life without home comforts
By Paul Hayward
Brighton and Hove Albion are almost £30 million out of pocket as a direct result of their eight seasons in temporary accommodation and a six-year wait to be given planning approval for their stadium project at Falmer.
The huge cost of Brighton's nomadic existence since the Goldstone Ground closed in 1997 was calculated at the request of Telegraph Sport and places further pressure on John Prescott, the deputy minister, to rule on the Falmer application swiftly when the second of two public inquiries ends, probably in April.
Brighton, who are 17th in the Championship, currently play at Withdean, a converted municipal athletics track with a capacity of 6,900. It cost £ 2.5million to upgrade Withdean when the club reached the end of a two-season ground-sharing arrangement at Gillingham and the cost of the Falmer application plus two public inquiries is now £2.9 million and rising.
But the biggest shock will be lost gate revenues, based on a conservative estimate (12,000) of what the club's average attendance would have been had they moved from the Goldstone Ground straight into a new arena. During a break in the hearings at Brighton Town Hall, Dick Knight, the Albion chairman, confirmed that £23.5 million has already been lost in gate monies. Knight said: "We cannot ever recover that money."
If the Seagulls remain at Withdean for another three seasons, while a new stadium is constructed, they will miss out on at least £3 million per campaign, which will stretch the deficit over 11 seasons to £38 million. That figure takes no account of shortfalls in programme sales, corporate hospitality and merchandising. Withdean sells out for home games, but the club suspect that a generation of young fans are being lost.
"It's a legacy we inherited from the previous regime, and the planning application has gone on far too long," Knight said. The Falmer application was lodged in 1999 and the first public inquiry began in Feb 2003. After two planning inspectors recommended against Falmer, Prescott reopened the process to compare the scheme with alternative sites, such as Sheepcote Valley, near the racecourse.
Opponents argue that Falmer is a site of outstanding natural beauty but the club hope that Prescott's department is merely trying to minimise the chances of a judicial review before it gives the green light. A final answer is not expected before the General Election.
"Despite over 100,000 people endorsing the stadium, in a city referendum and petition, the inquiry process seems designed to delay indefinitely, or worse, to stop it happening," Knight complained. "If the system allows a few opponents to prevail over the wishes of the vast majority, it will be a huge injustice to our club and a hammer blow to sport in this part of the country."
To heap further pressure on the government, which has three local Labour MPs, Brighton fans have threatened to field `Falmer for All' candidates in the forthcoming election. But the board are likely to discourage any attempt to raise the political stakes so high.
Meanwhile, the crippling cost of eight years without a proper home stretches the club's famous powers of survival to the limit.
By Paul Hayward
Brighton and Hove Albion are almost £30 million out of pocket as a direct result of their eight seasons in temporary accommodation and a six-year wait to be given planning approval for their stadium project at Falmer.
The huge cost of Brighton's nomadic existence since the Goldstone Ground closed in 1997 was calculated at the request of Telegraph Sport and places further pressure on John Prescott, the deputy minister, to rule on the Falmer application swiftly when the second of two public inquiries ends, probably in April.
Brighton, who are 17th in the Championship, currently play at Withdean, a converted municipal athletics track with a capacity of 6,900. It cost £ 2.5million to upgrade Withdean when the club reached the end of a two-season ground-sharing arrangement at Gillingham and the cost of the Falmer application plus two public inquiries is now £2.9 million and rising.
But the biggest shock will be lost gate revenues, based on a conservative estimate (12,000) of what the club's average attendance would have been had they moved from the Goldstone Ground straight into a new arena. During a break in the hearings at Brighton Town Hall, Dick Knight, the Albion chairman, confirmed that £23.5 million has already been lost in gate monies. Knight said: "We cannot ever recover that money."
If the Seagulls remain at Withdean for another three seasons, while a new stadium is constructed, they will miss out on at least £3 million per campaign, which will stretch the deficit over 11 seasons to £38 million. That figure takes no account of shortfalls in programme sales, corporate hospitality and merchandising. Withdean sells out for home games, but the club suspect that a generation of young fans are being lost.
"It's a legacy we inherited from the previous regime, and the planning application has gone on far too long," Knight said. The Falmer application was lodged in 1999 and the first public inquiry began in Feb 2003. After two planning inspectors recommended against Falmer, Prescott reopened the process to compare the scheme with alternative sites, such as Sheepcote Valley, near the racecourse.
Opponents argue that Falmer is a site of outstanding natural beauty but the club hope that Prescott's department is merely trying to minimise the chances of a judicial review before it gives the green light. A final answer is not expected before the General Election.
"Despite over 100,000 people endorsing the stadium, in a city referendum and petition, the inquiry process seems designed to delay indefinitely, or worse, to stop it happening," Knight complained. "If the system allows a few opponents to prevail over the wishes of the vast majority, it will be a huge injustice to our club and a hammer blow to sport in this part of the country."
To heap further pressure on the government, which has three local Labour MPs, Brighton fans have threatened to field `Falmer for All' candidates in the forthcoming election. But the board are likely to discourage any attempt to raise the political stakes so high.
Meanwhile, the crippling cost of eight years without a proper home stretches the club's famous powers of survival to the limit.
sign
Paul's articles whether Albion related or not, are always worth reading. Far better than the Premiershite and Eurotrash obsessed Harry Harris and his mates at the other tabloids.
despite the promise it would only be a few years........