This season with 15,000 new fans

[Freddie Goodwin.]

And what did your daughter thinK?

Most kids I've seen at the Amex love it. Contrast that to a cold, wet, boring day at Withers where, to take your child could almost be seen as child abuse!

 

[Lethargic]

And what did your daughter thinK?

Most kids I've seen at the Amex love it. Contrast that to a cold, wet, boring day at Withers where, to take your child could almost be seen as child abuse!

She really enjoyed it thanks, although she thinks that the football goes on for a bit too long but she will be going back.

 

[Questions]

She really enjoyed it thanks, although she thinks that the football goes on for a bit too long .

To be fair I thought that today as well.

 

[wunt be druv]

New supporters,JCL's what ever, are absolutely fine by me and long may they keep coming to matches and supporting the Albion.I would much rather that than they put on Arsenal,Chelsea etc. shirts and be armchair Premiership "supporters".I think the influx of new supporters is great news for the club and welcome each and every one of them.

 

[huge]

Well now the season is coming to an end, there was a core support of approx 5000 at withdean and 1700 away on a good day, how do find these either returned or new supporters , questions -

Are they here for success only and prem football,
Do they know the songs ( when was last time you heard "lads and lasses walking up the the shoreham road"

Do they follow away ,

Maybe they spend all the time txt ing ,

Do they know the depth and feeling of sitting in the rain soaked to watch us and going to a porta cabin loo to dry out,

We have no loyalty points for doing any of that,

Well like your response ,


Seagulls seagulls ,

What is your point here? Are you asking if we should let the jcl's and jcb's stay? Have you noticed how many children come to the game now? That's our future!! Give your self a clap on the back and lord it over all the newbies. I was at the Goldstone. I'm a fan. I don't give a rats arse what you think of me.

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

I bumped into an old school mate after the game yesterday. Hadn't seen him in 26 years. He is a Liverpool fan for some reason but has 3 season tickets, one for himself and two for his kids. It may be too late for him, but his two lads started the season as neutrals, supporting Liverpool like their dad but are now completely won over, Brighton through and through. They are renewing next year, we need fans like this and it bodes well for our future.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

do they know the songs ( when was last time you heard "lads and lasses walking up the the shoreham road"

going down the shoreham road?

definitely "going down"... some prefer "Old" to "the"...

Can I make the case for "going along"?

I claim these to be the right words, but only on the basis of the original song being "gannin' alang the Scotswood Road ...", which is what my grandad taught me. But he came from Blaydon and supported Gateshead. Which, of course, makes my family a whole bunch of JCLs.

 

[Grombleton]

I think the Amex has done the world of good - there will be a lot of 'new' fans attending (insteadof just following) and this will be down to a few reasons:
- Facilities. Much more family friendly than before (i don't think a parent wants to take their kids to a game just to have them drenched before half-time) and the inclusion of things like Fan Zone (not my favourite thing, but there we go) means it gives the fans some exposure. Everything has been upgraded and it is a more attractive prospoect. One of my colleagues was finally able to take his two sons to the game yesterday and said they loved every minute of it.
- Corporate. Yes, i am one of the 'prawn sandwich brigade', but not one of the several tossers who piss off at 41 and 87 minutes (of which there are lots among them) - i'm lucky enough that the company i work for have spunked out on seats and i'm fortunate enough to go...at the start of the season i wasn't financially stable enough to buy a ST, let alone anything in 1901 but now i'm discussing with my boss to buy them outright. It's meant i can take friends, my girlfriend (who until this season had no real interest in football but has now seen 10 home games and loves going) and there's a number around me that are there for the football, and not the sandwiches. I've been following since the Priestfield years but not had the chance to go other than one or two games at the Withdean. If i could get an ST anywhere else then i still would (name is on the list).
- The standard. Yes, there will be people there that want to see us because we're in a higher league but success will bring that - if you gave people the choice between seeing teams like Liverpool, Newcastle, Leeds, Reading etc vs Rochdale, Yeovil and Oldham then i know what most would say...but if those additional people put money into the club and help its growth then it can only be seen to be a good thing.

It does annoy me that there are people who have the 'holier than thou' attitude because they have seen the team longer, older than others, have a seat in a different part of the ground etc...we're all fans and share the common wish that the Albion become bigger and better and people's personal hangups shouldn't get in the way of that.

 

[somerset]

I also am sick of this jcl debate withers was shiittee so people didn't bother, buy the new ground has reignited the core historic support and a percentage of newbies.... nobody said Arsenal suddenly developed 25k jcl's when emirates was built, it was just that highbury only held 36k.....

 

[Moshe Gariani]

Can I make the case for "going along"?

Yes. I reckon "going along..." would probably have been the first version sung at The Goldstone and correctly based on the original.

"Going down Old Shoreham Road..." is definitely what the majority were singing by the 1980s and have done since.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

What is your point here? Are you asking if we should let the jcl's and jcb's stay? Have you noticed how many children come to the game now? That's our future!! Give your self a clap on the back and lord it over all the newbies. I was at the Goldstone. I'm a fan. I don't give a rats arse what you think of me.

The kids are the key. Gully's Gang has a membership of 10,000 now.

 

[brightn'ove]

I bumped into an old school mate after the game yesterday. Hadn't seen him in 26 years. He is a Liverpool fan for some reason but has 3 season tickets, one for himself and two for his kids. It may be too late for him, but his two lads started the season as neutrals, supporting Liverpool like their dad but are now completely won over, Brighton through and through. They are renewing next year, we need fans like this and it bodes well for our future.

similarly i know somebody who is a plastic villa fan himself but takes his kid to the amex, he (his son) is now obsessed with brighton and hove albion and when you are that young, it sticks with you.

 

[Moshe Gariani]

The kids are the key. Gully's Gang has a membership of 10,000 now.

Is that true...? Incredible statistic - no wonder you see so many kids in Albion shirts these days.

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

I bumped into an old school mate after the game yesterday. Hadn't seen him in 26 years. He is a Liverpool fan for some reason but has 3 season tickets, one for himself and two for his kids. It may be too late for him, but his two lads started the season as neutrals, supporting Liverpool like their dad but are now completely won over, Brighton through and through. They are renewing next year, we need fans like this and it bodes well for our future.

I bumped into two old school friends I used to go to Withdean in the early years with that stopped going a few years in. Hadn't seen them for 6 years until that point.