More than a knight - a superhero
Amy Lawrence
Sunday October 30, 2005
The Observer
Down on the South Coast of England, hundreds of miles and light years away from the 68,000-strong citadel of Old Trafford, supporters of Brighton and Hove Albion might have sympathised with the handful of Manchester United fans who were ejected last week for raising a pithy protest banner against their owner, Malcolm Glazer.
Albion fans are experts on protests. They are connoisseurs on the subject of unwanted owners. The wounds they bear from their bitter fight with former chairman Bill Archer - a DIY tycoon who sold their stadium and left them homeless - haven't healed. But they moved a giant leap towards a complete recovery last week when the message they had been waiting for arrived from John Prescott's office in the early hours of Friday. The green light for the new stadium at Falmer means they will be able to operate as a normal football club again.
If all the building works go to plan, Brighton hope to open the turnstiles in the summer of 2008, more than 11 years after they played a genuine 'home' game.
On 26 April 1997, the Goldstone Ground, Albion's address for 95 years, hosted a dramatic finale before the bulldozers flattened the site for a retail park. Only the day before, Archer had relinquished control and the new man at the helm, Dick Knight, made an appearance in the directors' box to a rapturous welcome.
It was a day filled with enough raw emotion to knock him sideways. A nervy win helped to stave off relegation out of the football league. Fans wept, sang and claimed their piece of history - even grandmothers left the old place armed with plastic seats and clumps of turf. 'I will survive' wailed over the PA, but nobody could be certain they would.
Without the indefatigable resourcefulness of the new board, and old fans, it's debatable that Brighton and Hove Albion would still be in existence. Knight is a footballing superhero. He might not look it - a chain smoker with a balding head, white beard, bags under his eyes and tendency to daydream - but superhero he is. Chairmen tend to grab the headlines because they are either too unpopular or too rich to ignore. Knight is neither. It does the game no harm to observe what he has done for his club through great resilience and great ideas.
Knight took on the Brighton cause when they were on their knees. Struggling at the wrong end of English football's fourth tier, they were forced for two years to groundshare at Gillingham (thanks for arranging a 140-mile round trip at huge expense before you left, Mr Archer). Prospects were so ghastly that Knight and right-hand man Martin Perry vowed to do everything in their power to get the club back to Brighton. It was a cause. A mission.
Their temporary base since then, 7,000-capacity Withdean, was a godsend of sorts, but has been hard work to sustain economically. Given their budget, Brighton's Championship status is a miracle - they function on a quarter of average gate receipts for the division - and a 1-1 draw there against Ipswich yesterday earned them another valuable point. Falmer will hold 23,000.
Over the six-and-a-half-year crusade for approval for a new stadium, Brighton lost three managers (Micky Adams, Peter Taylor and Steve Coppell) and numerous players who understandably preferred more stable environments. They also lost funds, as well as fans excluded because there is no more room at the inn.
For Knight, and the Albion faithful who backed him to the hilt, reward has come at last. After the epic struggle to get this far, raising £50million to turn the architects' drawings into bricks and mortar should be a walk in the park. Naturally, they see limitless possibility ahead. For the first time in eons, talk of Europe in Brighton had nothing to do with a Labour conference.
Charlton Athletic - high flyers and recent conquerors of Chelsea - are an example of what can be achieved if everyone at a club, including board, management, players and supporters, pulls passionately in the same direction. Charlton's mission to reclaim The Valley several years ago demanded similar inspiration as that shown by Brighton, and was the springboard for them to become a member of the Premiership establishment.
The only pity is that these hard lessons have not prompted a change in FA regulations to protect and assist clubs who fall upon hard times because of bad management. Charlton and Brighton were strong enough to fight their own battles. Wimbledon and Wrexham were not and were left to rot.
P.s. apparently there is a crisis at Liverpool. This concept was debated at length last week. For a modicum of perspective, visit ClubsInCrisis.com. It's a website maintained by Brighton and Hove Albion's supporters' club and it aims to maintain a network of support and help through the internet for clubs in trouble. 'Please note,' they write, 'a club in crisis is not a club where your chairman won't put his hand is his pocket for another £10m player!' Well done to the Albion fans. You thoroughly deserve your future at Falmer.
Amy Lawrence
Sunday October 30, 2005
The Observer
Down on the South Coast of England, hundreds of miles and light years away from the 68,000-strong citadel of Old Trafford, supporters of Brighton and Hove Albion might have sympathised with the handful of Manchester United fans who were ejected last week for raising a pithy protest banner against their owner, Malcolm Glazer.
Albion fans are experts on protests. They are connoisseurs on the subject of unwanted owners. The wounds they bear from their bitter fight with former chairman Bill Archer - a DIY tycoon who sold their stadium and left them homeless - haven't healed. But they moved a giant leap towards a complete recovery last week when the message they had been waiting for arrived from John Prescott's office in the early hours of Friday. The green light for the new stadium at Falmer means they will be able to operate as a normal football club again.
If all the building works go to plan, Brighton hope to open the turnstiles in the summer of 2008, more than 11 years after they played a genuine 'home' game.
On 26 April 1997, the Goldstone Ground, Albion's address for 95 years, hosted a dramatic finale before the bulldozers flattened the site for a retail park. Only the day before, Archer had relinquished control and the new man at the helm, Dick Knight, made an appearance in the directors' box to a rapturous welcome.
It was a day filled with enough raw emotion to knock him sideways. A nervy win helped to stave off relegation out of the football league. Fans wept, sang and claimed their piece of history - even grandmothers left the old place armed with plastic seats and clumps of turf. 'I will survive' wailed over the PA, but nobody could be certain they would.
Without the indefatigable resourcefulness of the new board, and old fans, it's debatable that Brighton and Hove Albion would still be in existence. Knight is a footballing superhero. He might not look it - a chain smoker with a balding head, white beard, bags under his eyes and tendency to daydream - but superhero he is. Chairmen tend to grab the headlines because they are either too unpopular or too rich to ignore. Knight is neither. It does the game no harm to observe what he has done for his club through great resilience and great ideas.
Knight took on the Brighton cause when they were on their knees. Struggling at the wrong end of English football's fourth tier, they were forced for two years to groundshare at Gillingham (thanks for arranging a 140-mile round trip at huge expense before you left, Mr Archer). Prospects were so ghastly that Knight and right-hand man Martin Perry vowed to do everything in their power to get the club back to Brighton. It was a cause. A mission.
Their temporary base since then, 7,000-capacity Withdean, was a godsend of sorts, but has been hard work to sustain economically. Given their budget, Brighton's Championship status is a miracle - they function on a quarter of average gate receipts for the division - and a 1-1 draw there against Ipswich yesterday earned them another valuable point. Falmer will hold 23,000.
Over the six-and-a-half-year crusade for approval for a new stadium, Brighton lost three managers (Micky Adams, Peter Taylor and Steve Coppell) and numerous players who understandably preferred more stable environments. They also lost funds, as well as fans excluded because there is no more room at the inn.
For Knight, and the Albion faithful who backed him to the hilt, reward has come at last. After the epic struggle to get this far, raising £50million to turn the architects' drawings into bricks and mortar should be a walk in the park. Naturally, they see limitless possibility ahead. For the first time in eons, talk of Europe in Brighton had nothing to do with a Labour conference.
Charlton Athletic - high flyers and recent conquerors of Chelsea - are an example of what can be achieved if everyone at a club, including board, management, players and supporters, pulls passionately in the same direction. Charlton's mission to reclaim The Valley several years ago demanded similar inspiration as that shown by Brighton, and was the springboard for them to become a member of the Premiership establishment.
The only pity is that these hard lessons have not prompted a change in FA regulations to protect and assist clubs who fall upon hard times because of bad management. Charlton and Brighton were strong enough to fight their own battles. Wimbledon and Wrexham were not and were left to rot.
P.s. apparently there is a crisis at Liverpool. This concept was debated at length last week. For a modicum of perspective, visit ClubsInCrisis.com. It's a website maintained by Brighton and Hove Albion's supporters' club and it aims to maintain a network of support and help through the internet for clubs in trouble. 'Please note,' they write, 'a club in crisis is not a club where your chairman won't put his hand is his pocket for another £10m player!' Well done to the Albion fans. You thoroughly deserve your future at Falmer.
