Anybody With a Whinge About Entry To Tonight’s Youth Match Is Full Of Shit. Fact.

[London Irish]

Never before (not in the last few seasons) for any club has there been over a thousand fans for a Fourth Round FA Youth Cup Tie. Not just Brighton. Anywhere.

Norwich attracted 1316 fans when they played Chelsea so the opposition has got some extra attraction.

To be fair 933 watched West Ham and that is nearly a thousand.

Tonight was utterly unprecedented and a one-off. A tribute to the power of the Chelsea brand, yes, but also to the huge potential that football has in Sussex.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

I think I've missed something here. I thought it would be popular as everyone is aware of how well our Youth Team are doing. Pretty obvious to me that it would be great to see how they measure up against the supposed cream of the crop.

Or was everyone there supporting Chelsea?

Nah. 90% of the people there tonight didn't give a f*** about the Albion youth team. They just wanted to say they'd seen the Chelsea Stars Of The Future (no.11 - tho not the poncey no. 7 with the gloves and the shit hair who really fancied himself) and maybe, pathetically, tout their sold-out programme on e-bay.

All things considered, not a pretty sight

Good result, mind

 

[perseus]

You can post on:

http://www.sportnetwork.net/boards/read/s379.php?f=722&i=12435&t=12435&sid=379

 

[the right footed denilson]

I think I've missed something here. I thought it would be popular as everyone is aware of how well our Youth Team are doing. Pretty obvious to me that it would be great to see how they measure up against the supposed cream of the crop.

Or was everyone there supporting Chelsea?

spot on

yes there would have been less if it was luton but that would have been the case if it was the FA Cup proper. people went because they wanted to support OUR boys against the richest and possibly best football club in the world.

nothing wrong with that.

agree with LI too-

it just shows what could happen when we get the new ground and start playing decent football.

 

[GNF on Tour]

Re: Re: Anybody With a Whinge About Entry To Tonight’s Youth Match Is Full Of Shit. Fact.

Anybody got an answer for that point?

316 give or take a few - happy?

 

[Icy Gull]

Nah. 90% of the people there tonight didn't give a f*** about the Albion youth team. They just wanted to say they'd seen the Chelsea Stars Of The Future (no.11 - tho not the poncey no. 7 with the gloves and the shit hair who really fancied himself) and maybe, pathetically, tout their sold-out programme on e-bay.

All things considered, not a pretty sight

Good result, mind

I'd be very suprised if any of that team make the 1st team. I don't know much about Chelsea but I can't imagine that any of the youth team have made the 1st since Abramovich arrived. Why wait for talent to blossom when you can cherry pick the best players in the World?

 

[HampshireSeagulls]

Can't see the problem myself. The youth team of the club that is dominating the Prem turns up, it's bound to generate more interest. The bonus is that the added interest when we turned them over means that perhaps more people will think "hang on, why don't I go and watch this lot?" We increase the interest of local potential supporters (who, let's face it, will not get the chance to go and see Chelsea). This is how I was turned from a Leeds fan to a Brighton fan at a very young age - bribed by my Dad to go and see a team that I could see regularly rather than a team that I would never see. Our only problem will be that we are hamstrung by Withdean and the inability to just "turn up" and watch matches.

 

[Woodingdean Gull]

Nah. 90% of the people there tonight didn't give a f*** about the Albion youth team. They just wanted to say they'd seen the Chelsea Stars Of The Future (no.11 - tho not the poncey no. 7 with the gloves and the shit hair who really fancied himself) and maybe, pathetically, tout their sold-out programme on e-bay.

All things considered, not a pretty sight

Good result, mind

I think you're the one talking bollocks. I went along, not mainly because it was Chelsea, but I was still on a high from the Leeds match, it was being played at the Withdean and not a small town pitch, it was only £4 to get in, the youth team is in excellent form, and both my daughters were up for it. And yes, before some crap comment comes back, they both bleed blue and white and the youngest is a junior seagull.
We all got in for free as well but were pleased to put a tenner in the bucket when it came round.
Great game, great result and well done to all the players and the coaches.

 

[The Great Cornholio]

Pointless whinge. Burton are taking 11000 to Old Trafford tonight. Big names attract people. If we get Torquay in the League Cup, 3-4000 go. We get Chelsea, you could sell the ground 5 times over. Same reason smaller teams sell out when they play Man U in the League Cup. They know it will be the reserves but their team are playing the mighty Man U. Our youngsters were playing the "mighty" Chelsea youth.

I presume you'd be happy if 20 people had turned up and the youngsters didn't get the opportunity to be blooded before a big crowd?

And where you do think the extra people to fill Falmer will come from if certain "Criteria" exist as to who can go? Sorry, you can't watch us play Man U in the cup because you didn't come to the Crewe home reserve game.

If you don't let "Johnny Come Lately's" in, you will get 7000 at Falmer.

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

Re: Anybody With a Whinge About Entry To Tonight’s Youth Match Is Full Of Shit. Fac

Last Wednesday went to see Albion Reserves v Reading Reserves at Worthing. About 200 people there max., Those absent missed out on the reason why FDM was No.1 v. Leeds on Saturday. Leroy Lita was playing for Reading then, he was snuffed out, til he got subbed, by a more than capable Albion reserve side.

Tonight aforesaid Lita scored a hat-trick for the first team in the FA Cup v. West Brom.

How many would have turned up tonight if the game had been against, say, Luton Town?

Only conclusion is that theres more Chelsea fans in Brighton than there is Brighton fans.

Oh well.

withdean is round the corner from my flat

worthing isn't

i would go to withdean regardless of who they were playing yesterday

 

[algie]

Withdean is much easier to get to for me

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Quote from Chelsea fan

"I kid you not
There are as many people in the Withdean tonight, as Brighton's first team get for a league game. It is packed to the rafters."

 

[WATFORD zero]

All things considered, not a pretty sight

Always look on the bright side eh Tom

 

[Gazwag]

I think I've missed something here. I thought it would be popular as everyone is aware of how well our Youth Team are doing. Pretty obvious to me that it would be great to see how they measure up against the supposed cream of the crop.

Or was everyone there supporting Chelsea?

My thoughts, people went because it was Chelsea, but, added to this is the fact that the Youth team are doing fantasticly well at the moment, hugh credit to the youth setup, and many people we swayed into going because they knew we had a chance to win.

If the Youth team had as many wins this season as the first team, giving the likelyhood of a 5-0 stuffing last night, I'm sure a very much reduced crowd would have turned up

 

[Gwylan]

I think you're the one talking bollocks. I went along, not mainly because it was Chelsea, but I was still on a high from the Leeds match, it was being played at the Withdean and not a small town pitch, it was only £4 to get in, the youth team is in excellent form, and both my daughters were up for it. And yes, before some crap comment comes back, they both bleed blue and white and the youngest is a junior seagull.
We all got in for free as well but were pleased to put a tenner in the bucket when it came round.
Great game, great result and well done to all the players and the coaches.

One thing that struck me last night was the high percentage of kids in the crowd - far more than is usual. I suspect that there were many more people like Wooodingdean Gull in the crowd who saw it as an opportunity to take kids to a game. I guess that their youthful enthusiasm also contributed to the atmosphere as there was a corresponding lower percentage of miserable old gits.

 

[Bwian]

What on earth is there to moan about?

Nobody expected more than a thousand to turn up-4000 or so did. Loads of kids there too-our future hard-core fanbase-and they saw an Albion side beat the youth side of the richest club in the world.

Just says to me that the future is bright once Falmer is finally opened. Add to that the fact that our youth set up is in great shape despite the previous regime's best efforts to destroy this club at every level.

Sorry-what was your whinge again?

 

[Woodingdean Gull]

What on earth is there to moan about?

Nobody expected more than a thousand to turn up-4000 or so did. Loads of kids there too-our future hard-core fanbase-and they saw an Albion side beat the youth side of the richest club in the world.

Just says to me that the future is bright once Falmer is finally opened. Add to that the fact that our youth set up is in great shape despite the previous regime's best efforts to destroy this club at every level.

Sorry-what was your whinge again?

Exactly.

 

[mcshane in the 79th]

At the end of the day we need the sort of people who turned up last night to be able to fill Falmer. Why are you moaning about people showing up just because it was Chelsea, when you could clearly be saying well done, Hinshelwood/Wilkins and the team for a great battling performance and a thoroughly deserved win

 

[The Large One]

It was clear at 7.00 that more turnstiles needed opening, yet it was only at 7.35 , after kick off that the safety officer was called and entry via the new away stand allowed.

A complete lack of coordination and organisation. But that's Brighton.

Utter crap. I got in at 7.00 with Dover and a couple of others when there was no queue. There were people milling about outside, but not in the numbers that eventually turned up. Most people turned up, as per the old way, right at the last minute. Some people just LOVE it, having a dig at the club.

Speaking to THPP last night, I think his 'whinge' is actually a pre-emptive strike against those who were going to come on here and moan that 'there's a complete lack of of co-ordination and organisation'. There haven't been that many on here who have done that, but you for one have quite nicely obliged.

There was absolutely no way anyone could have predicted a 4,000+ crowd, even if the game was being plugged a fair bit. The plugging was more along the lines of 'if you're not doing anything else, come and give the lads a cheer...' And there was nothing else doing - so I did.

The majority of the crowd were kids, many of whom were (mainly just because kids today are) Chelsea fans. But it is very heartening to see not only the future of the Albion on the pitch, but the future of Albion supporters and sponsors there as well.

I thought The Colbourne Kid and the club did a fantastic job to cope with the unexpected.

 

[WATFORD zero]

No, i think Tom has a point.

When we are at the top of the championship at Falmer in 5 years time, i hope they don't let anyone into the ground who can't prove that they made at least half the games at Gillingham.

I didn't notice any negatives last night as i was blinded by the positives