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[Football] Giving up my season ticket.
- Thread starter Deanbha
- Start date
Pavilionaire
Well-known member
- Jul 7, 2003
- 31,262
I look at the last couple of years USG have had in Belgium with some envy. Those 8,000-odd fans are living the football dream: promotion, then slugging it out with Club Bruges for the title after having done nothing of note for over 80 years.
Brighton are currently playing good football and have arguably the best squad in our history, but the lottery that is VAR and the constantly shifting kick-off times are a pain in the arse, not just for fans but also the families of fans.
I think if kick-off times were 3pm on a Saturday with a handful of midweek games that would definitely help with the sense of anticipation and the resulting atmosphere, but obviously that isn't going to happen any time soon.
I can see the attraction in lower / non-league football - cheaper, easier transport issues, shorter queues, more unpredictability on the pitch, watching the match and having a pint, more of a connection with the players and - of course - no VAR and regular kick-off times.
Brighton are currently playing good football and have arguably the best squad in our history, but the lottery that is VAR and the constantly shifting kick-off times are a pain in the arse, not just for fans but also the families of fans.
I think if kick-off times were 3pm on a Saturday with a handful of midweek games that would definitely help with the sense of anticipation and the resulting atmosphere, but obviously that isn't going to happen any time soon.
I can see the attraction in lower / non-league football - cheaper, easier transport issues, shorter queues, more unpredictability on the pitch, watching the match and having a pint, more of a connection with the players and - of course - no VAR and regular kick-off times.
Thing is I am not entirely anti a 1730 Saturday kick off a couple of times a season as in winter it can be quite a good atmosphere under the lights but you can still get home quite early (or down the pub depending on personal preference/circumstances) but it seems to be the default this season.
I have to admit to not attending quite a few home matches this year. But I live in Greater
London (Kent). We have had that bloody petrol shortage thing, a gale force storm one week, a -5C wind chill day, kick-offs
at weird times, train problems all over the place (having to wear a mask on the train for 2 hours when
I do that some days on my work commute), financial pressures, pressures to do other
things and the fact that the matches are on tv (a laziness inherited from having all matches shown during
lockdown). No bags allowed in the ground, so can't travel with laptop. covid passes, masks.....the list
goes on and on.
Add to that the fact that I get mind-numbingly bored with side to side football it's really, really taxing
me after 24 years of going, Goldstone, Gillingham, Withdean etc.......
F*** me!! What a load of whinging, moaning minnies this thread has produced. We’re in the Premier League, going through a bit of a rough patch with a load of key players out, and yet we’ve achieved the highest position in our history. But no, that’s still not good enough. It’s too sanitised - whatever that means. There’s no atmosphere. We’re customers not fans. Barber out. Potter’s not doing right thing. And so on and so forth.
FFS people!! Get a grip. Most of you sound like you’re doing auditions for Arsenal Fan TV and God knows they’re whiney enough. Know what I mean blud.
Yep everyone shut up and not have an opinion about their club on a football forum
Some of us are just not enjoying the “match day experience “ at the moment, this is clear to see from the many posts on this thread.
Many of us have never been fans of the Premier League and maybe it’s not for us after supporting the Albion for many years watching lower league football.
Everybody has their reasons for their declining mojo, but for me it's simply home results.
Look at this run at home at the beginning of 2018–19:
3-2 Man United
2-2 Fulham
1-2 Spurs
1-0 West Ham
1-0 Wolves
1-1 Leicester City
3-1 Crystal Palace
1-2 Chelsea
1-1 Arsenal
1-0 Everton
Even when we didn't win, we still f**king scored. This list is ruddy dreamland compared to the last few seasons.
Give me something to shout about for my money or, like many others, I won't be renewing...
Look at this run at home at the beginning of 2018–19:
3-2 Man United
2-2 Fulham
1-2 Spurs
1-0 West Ham
1-0 Wolves
1-1 Leicester City
3-1 Crystal Palace
1-2 Chelsea
1-1 Arsenal
1-0 Everton
Even when we didn't win, we still f**king scored. This list is ruddy dreamland compared to the last few seasons.
Give me something to shout about for my money or, like many others, I won't be renewing...
Weststander
Well-known member
The same for me.
Wall to wall live TV football in the shutdown, from the sofa, was great. Luckily I was able very easily to just focus on the football, empty stands were an irrelevance. I lost my stamina to traipse off for 4 hours to see yet another Albion failure to win.
I’m sure there are thousands at the Amex that are not really Albion fans, just there for a day out with their mates on the lash.
Weststander
Well-known member
I'm sure you're right.
Over the decades I've travelled to see a host of games across Scotland and England, with no Albion connection. Alloa to Ibrox, Merseyside, London. Football's a religion, it really is.
Even in the amazing Mullery era, I always had the impression that the people of Sussex had a load of other interests, ready to ditch Goldstone visits if there was a decline. And so it always panned out.
Last edited:
el punal
Well-known member
Yep everyone shut up and not have an opinion about their club on a football forum
No, everyone not shut up and have an opinion. The difference is that we can all discuss, oppose or argue each post as we see fit. Free speech n’all that, that’s what makes the world go round and that’s what makes forums like NSC worthwhile. Long may it continue.
You must have made that up because everyone knows Hughton was nothing but negative while Potter puts the "E" into Entertainment.
Weststander
Well-known member
You must have made that up because everyone knows Hughton was nothing but negative while Potter puts the "E" into Entertainment.
Classy understated reply.
But I do miss your justified attacks on Potter's losing football during that crazy faux "olive branch" era on nsc.
That kiddies carol service saved you seeing yet another Amex shit show.
Sounds fine to me Harry…
I am getting fed up with the lack of Saturday 3 pm ko’s. If anything makes me not renew it will be this.
I wrote: "Give me something to shout about for my money or, like many others, I won't be renewing...", but I'll be more specific.
My 12-year-old is going to have conflicting interests in future as his own fixtures get later on Saturdays. Given the current fare at the Amex, he's not going to be desperate to hang on to a season ticket (even if, ironically, few matches seem to be at 3pm on Saturdays).
Meanwhile my 9-year-old is in his very first season as a ticket holder.... and bored with it. Matches aren't engaging at all. He's barely seen a goal! It's no exaggeration to say that this could put him off live football for life!
And dad? He's starting to think that driving 80+ miles (round trip) and spending the best part of £100 to witness drab low-scoring draws (if we're lucky) against (often out-of-form) teams isn't a good use of time or money.
So this is not some hissy fit. This is three Albion fans about to naturally drift away. This thread suggests many others are the same.
Two years of truly terrible home form is going to bite the club hard, I think.
My 12-year-old is going to have conflicting interests in future as his own fixtures get later on Saturdays. Given the current fare at the Amex, he's not going to be desperate to hang on to a season ticket (even if, ironically, few matches seem to be at 3pm on Saturdays).
Meanwhile my 9-year-old is in his very first season as a ticket holder.... and bored with it. Matches aren't engaging at all. He's barely seen a goal! It's no exaggeration to say that this could put him off live football for life!
And dad? He's starting to think that driving 80+ miles (round trip) and spending the best part of £100 to witness drab low-scoring draws (if we're lucky) against (often out-of-form) teams isn't a good use of time or money.
So this is not some hissy fit. This is three Albion fans about to naturally drift away. This thread suggests many others are the same.
Two years of truly terrible home form is going to bite the club hard, I think.
I have lived too far away from Brighton for the last 6 years to have a season ticket, but if I lived in Sussex, I’d be there.
Completely understand giving up a season ticket, Covid and hard to watch results are an unappetising combination, but I do feel we have to remember that the higher you get, the tougher the opposition.
We’re struggling because we’re playing against the best. We’re (still just) a community club in a billionaire’s playground, where wealthy nation states effectively own teams as status symbols.
That means we’re not going to win many games. It’s the reality of where we are. If we want to drop back into the Championship to win more games, that option is open to us. If we want to win the league, we probably need to wave goodbye to Tony and allow a dodgy nation state with an image problem to majority own the club.
I want to see a few more wins, of course I do, but I’m proud of where we are. It’s on merit, and not through back door sponsorship deals and gaming FFP.
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Completely understand giving up a season ticket, Covid and hard to watch results are an unappetising combination, but I do feel we have to remember that the higher you get, the tougher the opposition.
We’re struggling because we’re playing against the best. We’re (still just) a community club in a billionaire’s playground, where wealthy nation states effectively own teams as status symbols.
That means we’re not going to win many games. It’s the reality of where we are. If we want to drop back into the Championship to win more games, that option is open to us. If we want to win the league, we probably need to wave goodbye to Tony and allow a dodgy nation state with an image problem to majority own the club.
I want to see a few more wins, of course I do, but I’m proud of where we are. It’s on merit, and not through back door sponsorship deals and gaming FFP.
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I'd hardly call Leeds, Newcastle and Wolves the best - and look what happened there. Same old, same old. I could go on,
Yup.
I said throughout the BCD period that there was no way fans would put up with our home form if they were in the stadium. Well, it hasn't got better since fans came back.
Hughton was pilloried for his away form but now we're not serving it up in front of the main bill payers.
Good point, I thought exactly the same when I read the post you quoted.
I’m sure we have struggled against the teams in and around the relegation zone since we have been in the PL, but raised our game against Arsenal, Liverpool and Man United.
Well, it’s easy to sneer because the clubs you mention aren’t “top 4” clubs, but they’re in the Premier League too. You don’t get here by luck.
You might feel we should win against “teams like Wolves” but at this level, every game is a real contest. We have no divine right to victory, and of the teams you mention, I believe at least two out of three have budgets that dwarf our own.
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