A thread dedicated to the person who first introduced you to the Albion

[pottert]

My mum who now works for AITC is definatly the reason why I became an active Albion fan.
I'm sure I may have been taken to many Albion matches but the one that sticks in my mind is my first game on my own.My mum dropped me off outside the gate of the west stand for the game against everton in 1982/3 i was 9 years old.We lost 2.1 to a last minute goal.My mum picked me up & took me home.She did that a couple of more times before I then made my own way to the ground by bus & so it continued for the next 30 years

 

[Mexican Seagull]

My uncle who took me to see the Albion draw 0-0 with Liverpool in the 2nd Div in 1962, my Dad hated football but my uncle went to every Albion game even if he did stand in the NE corner of the Goldstone and the view was awful, but he did alway bring a thermo of hot chocolate - Brighton went down that season and Liverpool went up and up.....

 

[RowleyBirkinQ.C(deceased)]

My grandad, he was Canadian but moved to Sussex after the war and was hooked by the Albion. He was at the game were we had our club record attendance in the 50's at the Goldstone vs Fulham. He took me to my First game in 84 vs Palace and I bloody loved it, we spent many years on the east stand chicken run until he felt i was old enough to go to the north stand and he retired from match days. My grandad passed away nearly 10 years ago and there is still not a day that goes by that I don't think about him and wish he was witnessing these amazing times as an Albion fan. He was my grandad, like a dad to me and best mate and I miss him dearly.

 

[luppers]

Sincere commiserations on your sad loss PFJ, I'm sure many posters reading this will feel your pain.

It was also my Dad who stood me on the old "chicken run" back in 1953 as a 6 year old. I can't remember who we played or the score. The first game I can remember was in 1954 against Tonbridge who, I believe, we beat 5-0. The die was cast. I helped to pay back to my Dad some of what I owed him by getting a sem-final ticket at Highbury, I was a season ticket holder and lottery agent, and then getting him a ticket for the final. I managed to do this by buying him a season ticket for the following season which qualified for the '83 final. I gave him the ticket on Fathers Day. He couldn't believe it and said that he "never expected to see the Albion at Wembley" in his lifetime.

After a wonderful life, creating the love for the Albion to me and my two brothers, he passed away five years after Wembley. However, I'm glad to say that my son and two daughters are avid Albion fans.

Keep the memories PFJ and pass on the love for BHA.

My dad also took me to my first match when I was a 6yr old in 1953,and we also stood on the old chicken run,although we moved to the North stand later

 

[topbanana36]

George Winsor (R.I.P) and a season ticket holder in the south west corner, brought me to Brighton v Man Utd 1979 boring 0-0. My Dad came with me as well and has not been to a game since.

 

[Tony Towner's Fridge]

On the 23/04/71 , my Dad decided it was time for me to visit the Goldstone and take in my first Albion match. I was 10 years old ,
It was against Halifax Town, it was in the third division . It was a 4000 crowd and we lost 1.0.

Regardless of the result , I was hooked. I will always remember first stepping over the top of the terrace and see the pitch for the first time . I had never seen anything so green . I know grass is green , but this was super green.

He took me to every home game up until 1976/77,when I think he felt his job was done and I started going with my mates .
If it was not for him , I could have been a Leeds fan or an Arsenal fan or any other team doing well at the time .Because of him , I am a Brighton fan as are my children.

My Dad sadly passed away on Sunday, in my life he did many great things for me , but ensuring I am an Albion fan has to be at the top.

This thread is dedicated to him and all others like him who first introduced us to the Albion.

RIP Dad x

Condolences to you and your family. My Dad was my hero as far as many things and in particluar him introducing me to the Albion aged 7 or 8 on a cold November in 1963 or 4 (time has withered the memory but I think it was Halifax at home). East Terrace Chicken Run was my spiritual home for many many a season after that and I still vividly remember the view from the terrace and him (RIP) in his flat cap.

Nice thoughts, thanks.

TNBA

TTF

 

[SULLY COULDNT SHOOT]

Lovely thread and my thoughts are with those who remember their Dads.

Unfortunately this was not my destiny.

We moved to Brighton in early 1977. I was nine years old. My Dad was a real sportsman but as I hadnt seen him for five years and it would be another five years before I saw him again so he did not influence me. I loved football. Had become a Manure supporter when I got their kit for Xmas 1975 and when we lived in Croydon 76-77 I had flirted with Palarse ... the time of Venables, Taylor and Hinshelwood.... and all my mates supported them. But I had never been to a game anywhere.

September 1977 and I wasnt settling in Brighton. I had lived in 6 different places in six years and nowhere felt like home. My stepdad had no interest in sport at all. However he had a friend Jim (why did we always call Dads friends 'uncle'?) and one day he turned up at our house with a ticket for me to go with him to see England play at the Golstone. I went nuts. I still remember the game. We were in the chicken run and I can still see in my minds eye one of Wardys goals going past the keeper at the South Stand end. From that night Wardy was my hero! Of course from that moment on I dreamed of going back to the Goldstone. The next game Uncle Jim took me was Hull City at home. We were in the South Stand and we won 2-1 I believe. Jim wasnt an Albion fan I think... that or he fell out with my parents as I hardly remember him after that. It didnt matter because I was now going on my own and I went to every home game that I could right up until after the FA cup 'triumph' (never forget even getting there really was something!). Soon after I started travelling round the world and have probably seen less than 20 Albion games since then but have never stopped breathing Albion air.

So thank you Jim wherever you are on this earth or in the ether. That one peice of kindness finally gave a sense of place and belonging to a child who didnt know what to believe in.

 

[KLF]

My Dad supported Forest, sister Liverpool, both brothers Man U.

Supporting Brighton (my local team) was entirely my decision at the age of 9. I'm so glad I made the right choice. Yay me!

 

[drew]

Well I was first introduced to the Albion in 1973 when Clough was manager. The St Francis U12s had a trip to the Goldstone, including a tour and a chance to sit in teh dugout. Think it was against Colchester and the score was 0-0 (might have been Chesterfield). To be honest, I wasn't hooked. At the backend of the 75/76 season, my best mate asked if I wanted to go with him and his parent and I went to about 4 games, the first of which was Halifax at home, possibly 1-0 and also Peterborough which I think was 5-0. Big thanks then to Bill and Gwen Willis and my mate Ian (who I think now lives downunder). Having said that, I'm not sure I even remember that, before they took me, that I was aware they had been going to see the Albion!!! The following season, my dad (RIP) whose only other experience of football was watching Wimbledon in mid 60s, started going from the begining of the season and took me, and my brother and sister. And that was that. Since the start of that season I have probably missed hardly any home games and been to about 70 different away grounds (many of which no longer exist).

 

[StillHateBellotti]

November 1981 v Notts County, Jimmy Case and Steve Gatting in a 2-2 draw at the Goldstone. South Stand behind the goal, frigging freezing cold but never looked back since. Will always remember the wonderful memories of me and my Dad at the Goldstone and "CHIPS" before I was old enough to start my North Stand adventures. Unfortunately he was taken ill as the new ground was being built and could not wait to visit. He would have had a season ticket but will have to make do with a memorial stone. RIP, Albion is in my blood because of you...........

 

[Insel affe]

My Uncle Robert Dyke took me to a real cracker I was eight years old and living with him and my aunty at the time for sevral years Brighton 3 Tottenham 1 1978. Thank godness my dad fecked off for a while being a Scumphampton fan.

My uncle is not very well at the moment and is not expected to see out the month, Thank you uncle Bob you gave me so much including a home and love and thee Albion I owe you so much.

x

 

[Peter Grummit]

On the 23/04/71 , my Dad decided it was time for me to visit the Goldstone and take in my first Albion match. I was 10 years old ,
It was against Halifax Town, it was in the third division . It was a 4000 crowd and we lost 1.0.

Regardless of the result , I was hooked. I will always remember first stepping over the top of the terrace and see the pitch for the first time . I had never seen anything so green . I know grass is green , but this was super green.

He took me to every home game up until 1976/77,when I think he felt his job was done and I started going with my mates .
If it was not for him , I could have been a Leeds fan or an Arsenal fan or any other team doing well at the time .Because of him , I am a Brighton fan as are my children.

My Dad sadly passed away on Sunday, in my life he did many great things for me , but ensuring I am an Albion fan has to be at the top.

This thread is dedicated to him and all others like him who first introduced us to the Albion.

RIP Dad x

My condolonces PFJ, your tale brought tears to my eyes.

My dad first took me 1971 v Port Vale (1-1). I too have a vivid memory of the green green grass, glimpsed through the turnstile of the NW terrace on our way to the 11 shilling (55p) seats in the West. In my memory's eye, my life was in black and white prior to that moment. My Dad made it to the Amex although he isn't well enough to go regularly. I'm taking him shopping this morning, but it's not quite the same as the hike-over-the-hill from Westdene, down through Hove Park, guess-the-crowd-from-how-far-back-the-cars-are bonding.

Because of him I am an Albion fan and that connection is why I met my lovely wife (and subsequent 3 fantastic boys, all of us now STHs). In short, I owe him my world.

PG

 

[rcf0712]

Another father son moment for me - 72/73 season, 3-3 draw at The Goldstone against Sheffield Weds......

 

[Loadicus Trux]

Great thread, and respect to all those who are no longer with us.
It was a friend of mine, who was a STH, who eventually talked me into going to the Goldstone in 1979. Arsenal were the opponents in a goaless draw in the League Cup.
It has always amazed me how I could go from appathy to completely hooked in such a short time.

 

[Brian Riggs]

One of the first games I remember my Dad taking me to was against Shrewsbury in August 1955. The last he saw was a 2-1 win against Fulham in September 1972. He'd left his seat in the West Stand and I'd been on the East Terrace. We had a quick, happy chat and went our separate ways. He died the next day, aged 50. I often wonder what he'd have made of the Cup Final, Withdean and now the Amex. RIP Dad and all the other Albion supporters who never lived to see it.

Ironically, that game against Fulham was my first. How strange.

 

[Whitley Bayster]

My Uncle, Dickie Fleming took me to The Albion vs Preston NE 1978 I was 7 we won 3-1 I think. We sat in the west stand all I remember is the dark stand, wooden seats and the smell of tobacco smoke. Thta was enough for me I've been hooked since (on the Albion that is, not tobacco!) He also took to my first away game Palace 1987. I don't see him anymore as he divorced my auntie but if he sees this thanks mate its something I value a lot. I have since introduced my youngest brother and my two sons I hope they feel the same way in years to come.

 

[BHAWise]

My dad took me to the goldstone vs Reading in 93 I was 6 and Shaka Hislop looked like a giant! Lost 1-0 I think

 

[LamieRobertson]

68 templeman 1-1

O cheers for that just remember tht it was a midweek game with three disallowed goals ...was nice to take my Dad to his first game at the Amex for a role reversal

 

[LABHA]

My dads best mate took me, late 70s was 1st game, seeing as he, my dad, and the rest of my dads family come from redhill area, happy as f***, to think I could of been a pikey inbred twat.

 

[The Large One]

Cracking thread this, coming a day after the anniversary of my mother's death.

My Dad was a self-employed carpenter in 1978, and Saturday mornings he was seemingly always in Newtown Road getting new tools and equipment. Now and then I'd go with him, pining - badgering him - for a chance to watch a game. I was eight.

One Saturday, I went again with him to Newtown Road, and instead of going to one of the woodworker's shops, he turned to me - and I so clearly remember the look on his face, nearly 35 years later, as he asked me, "Fancy watching the game...?"

He's nearly 70 now, in fine form, and an occasional visitor to the Amex.

Thanks, Dad.