27th April 1996

[Harty]

I remember you well. Not personally though.

I trust you used the 1471 function.

I think you mean 141, we did, unfortunately Simon Valder didn't, but that's another story.

 

[Dave the OAP]

and Simon will forever be held in high regard by Brighton fans that know him and what actually happened

 

[¤DãŃn¥ §êãGüLL¤]

Check out all the lads in the Liam Gallagher sunglasses.

shiiiiiiite

I was thinking the same thing regarding the 90s fashion.... look at the floppy fringe hairstyles too.

Weird how quickly fashion changes.

 

[BensGrandad]

At the time I was annoyed that the match was abandoned and I couldnt watch us play but now believe that this was the event that put us and our plight into the national focus and for that we must thank those that 'organised' it.

 

[Harty]

and Simon will forever be held in high regard by Brighton fans that know him and what actually happened

He could almost be described as our very own Nelson Mandela.

 

[Harty]

At the time I was annoyed that the match was abandoned and I couldnt watch us play but now believe that this was the event that put us and our plight into the national focus and for that we must thank those that 'organised' it.

Leesy asked my on BBC SCR, or whatever it was called that week, at 2.35pm if anything was going to happen.

I replied "Football is a big part of a lot of peoples lives, if you start messing with peoples lives you have to be prepared to accept the consequences."

 

[chimneys]

Whats with 6 or so of them pricks starting on that poor fucker on his own?

Wankers

Littlehampton's finest (the twins et al), if I'm not mistaken!!

 

[chimneys]

Hello Brighton fans,

I have just been adding some stuff to the York City FC online archive and thought you might be interested in this clip from the famous 1996 abandoned game at the Goldstone Ground.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0yZ8CM9wEI

You've probably seen all of this stuff a million times before but I hope it's of interest to you - I certainly shan't forget being in the away end that afternoon.

All the best,

Phil
YCTV.

Many thanks for that YCTV. Gets the adrenaline going just watching it, bringing the memories flooding back.

Good to remind us of what an atmosphere at a home game was like as well (albeit exceptional circumstances)!!

 

[Statto]

I was there with my family, shortly before I turned 12. I didnt know what was happening at first. I went on the pitch when it calmed down a bit.

 

[Silverhatch]

Going quietly was not an option. Direct action was needed. Apathy was utterly rife in he corridors of football power and they were all obsessed with the fledgling Premier League. The pitch invasion was one thing, but in hindsight the posts coming down a la the jocks at Wembley was what really got us noticed.

That was a pivotal day and without it there would probably be no stadium rising in east Brighton.

 

[Tooting Gull]

Good footage. I was at college in Sheffield, had been to a lot of away games up north that season (including York) but not so many at home.

What I do remember from up there is how it was reported in the Sunday red-tops. I'm sure the News of the World had it on the back page as a purely hooligan story, with maybe the briefest mention of the backdrop.

But I don't think it mattered, because the longer-term impact far outweighed any misreporting from a couple of papers the day after.

 

[Al Bion]

Millard: "This is no way to save your club"

Without that day, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have a club now.

I'll never forget the anticipation in the North Stand as we waited for 3.15 and then the emotion of going on the pitch and realising that fans, young and old, from every side of the ground were coming on too knowing it was the only thing we could do to save our club. Definitely one of my most memorable days ever with the Albion.

Thanks YCTV, a great clip.

 

[Freddie Goodwin.]

The FL, who had chosen to do nothing, were now forced to take notice. This was the last day of the season and this game was vital to York & carlisle as to who would go down (with Albion) and the big thing was that final day matches had to be played together.

The FL were mightily embarresed but then they should have done something sooner. What ever happened to that smug Graham Kelly?

 

[Taybha]

he changed his name to lorraine

 

[Barrel of Fun]

141, of course.

Mr Valder is a legend in his own right. He said what many of our fans were thinking. The Mandela comparison is not far off.

Was that Millard pleading us off the pitch? "....this is not the way to save the Albion". Little did he know.

 

[ROSM]

The national linkage to euro 96 was key. The FA crapped themselves with the press shots going round the world.

There were some who attended with no interest in the Albion (some asked me at Hove station which end was the home end) but the vast majority on the pitch were dyed in the wool albion fans whose actions saved the club

 

[Lady Whistledown]

I remember turning up for the game and standing in my usual spot on the East Terrace with my Dad, and there being an inexplicable feeling in the air that something was going down.

I remember being faintly shocked by all the people running on the pitch, feeling quite emotional about it all- sad that it had got to that stage, and nervous about how it would turn out. But then it became obvious that the only purpose was to get the game abandoned, and that there was no sinister motive. And it was just fascinating to watch. We stood up there just watching it all, for ages (probably wasn't that long really, but it felt like the entire history of the club condensing into those few minutes), and thinking that at last something had to happen as a result. And hoping the media wouldn't read anything negative into it. Which many of them did of course.

 

[Barry Izbak]

feeling quite emotional about it all- sad that it had got to that stage

I was on the East with my brother. I went down and sat on the pitch in floods of tears, a 35 year old bloke. I had Radio snooze on in my ears and the emotion of the commentary describing what I thought would be the last time I was ever going to be there just got to me.

I hated those fcuking pricks in the boardroom and proper, bigtime in your face direct action was the only way to make things change.

Thanks for posting that YCTV.
Doesn't it make the skates protest at Fratton Park look like fcuk all.
More interested in getting a ticket for Wembley they are.
Get up and fight for your club you w4nkers!

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Just watching the footage now....and it's making me nervous in anticipation even though I was there and know exactly what happens.

The poignant thing for me is that I went to the Goldstone every other week or so for about eleven years of my life, from the age of nine or ten, and yet looking at that feels like a lifetime away. It's almost like I can't quite relate to it any more, like I'm watching someone else's club. Because it's been so long, I'm losing the memories of it and that pisses me right off somehow.

 

[Gwylan]

The poignant thing for me is that I went to the Goldstone every other week or so for about eleven years of my life, from the age of nine or ten, and yet looking at that feels like a lifetime away. It's almost like I can't quite relate to it any more, like I'm watching someone else's club. Because it's been so long, I'm losing the memories of it and that pisses me right off somehow.

I felt the same thing watching it. I went to the Goldstone for 30 years and yet it all seems a distant memory. I was at the York game, in the North Stand and then on the pitch, and yet I can scarcely recall the game. I'd forgotten Sack the Board written on the pitch, for example.

I do remember seeing Brighton on the national news that night and the realisation that perhaps someone might take the club's plight seriously. It's a stark reminder of how far we've come since then.