[Albion] If we'd have lost at Hereford...

[Commander]

Where do you think the Albion would be now?

I think this is going to be an unpopular opinion, but I think we would be in pretty much the same position we are currently in.

After we were relegated we were playing in front of 1-2000 people at Priestfield- would that have really been any lower had we been in the Conference? Would the running costs have been any higher, and was there a big difference in revenue from being in the 4th Division to the Conference? Our squad was Conference level and we were paying Conference wages, so would it have changed that much?

Then the return to Brighton would have galvanised a lot of excitement and interest, and I think we would have still been getting those crowds at Withdean, and I think we would still have been able to attract the likes of Micky Adams. By the time we were back at Withdean we had one of the biggest budgets in the division, if I remember correctly. Getting out of the Conference with a budget like that would have been relatively straightforward. Assuming promotion from the Conference in the first season at Withdean, we'd have gone into the 2nd season there in the 4th tier. The team that got up from the Conference regularly went straight up from the 4th tier in those days, which takes us to the 3rd season at Withdean in the 3rd tier, and bang on track with what actually happened.

There would still have been Dick Knight, and still have been Tony Bloom, and I think we would still be somewhere around where we are today.

The alternative scenario has us going bust in the Conference. But I'm not sure why we would have, and if we had the fans would 100% have created a Phoenix team, presumably with Knight and eventually Bloom on board. It took Wimbledon 9 years to get back in the League, and I assume we would have done it in similar. Even that scenario only has us back in tier 4 in 2006, rather than tier 3 where we actually were. Even if we had gone bust, I still think we'd currently be in Hughton relegation battle years.

Thoughts?

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Where do you think the Albion would be now?

I think this is going to be an unpopular opinion, but I think we would be in pretty much the same position we are currently in.

After we were relegated we were playing in front of 1-2000 people at Priestfield- would that have really been any lower had we been in the Conference? Would the running costs have been any higher, and was there a big difference in revenue from being in the 4th Division to the Conference? Our squad was Conference level and we were paying Conference wages, so would it have changed that much?

Then the return to Brighton would have galvanised a lot of excitement and interest, and I think we would have still been getting those crowds at Withdean, and I think we would still have been able to attract the likes of Micky Adams. By the time we were back at Withdean we had one of the biggest budgets in the division, if I remember correctly. Getting out of the Conference with a budget like that would have been relatively straightforward. Assuming promotion from the Conference in the first season at Withdean, we'd have gone into the 2nd season there in the 4th tier. The team that got up from the Conference regularly went straight up from the 4th tier in those days, which takes us to the 3rd season at Withdean in the 3rd tier, and bang on track with what actually happened.

There would still have been Dick Knight, and still have been Tony Bloom, and I think we would still be somewhere around where we are today.

The alternative scenario has us going bust in the Conference. But I'm not sure why we would have, and if we had the fans would 100% have created a Phoenix team, presumably with Knight and eventually Bloom on board. It took Wimbledon 9 years to get back in the League, and I assume we would have done it in similar. Even that scenario only has us back in tier 4 in 2006, rather than tier 3 where we actually were. Even if we had gone bust, I still think we'd currently be in Hughton relegation battle years.

Thoughts?

You scenarios ignore the inconvenient bit, that the Conference had indicated that they were NOT planning on admitting us (without a ground).

 

[Thunder Bolt]

You scenarios ignore the inconvenient bit, that the Conference had indicated that they were NOT planning on admitting us (without a ground).

Exactly. We may have re-started with Whitehawk or similar but BHAFC in 1997 would've died. Tony Bloom wasn't in a position to help until 10 years later.

 

[bhafc99]

Let’s not forget that the season after Hereford, we were still pretty shit. Who’s to say we wouldn’t have sunk low in the Conference and stayed there. Would Bobby Zamora have come to a conference club from a league club etc?

 

[hans kraay fan club]

And had we not kept ticking along for those next few years, is there a GUARANTEE that Lord Tony would still have made all the same choices that he subsequently did?

 

[Flounce]

Given that we may have not been allowed to play in the Conference we might be looking at Wimbledon as to what we aspired to

 

[Nobby Cybergoat]

I reckon we'd have been admitted. At that level, even then we were a big club and we had a high media profile and an organised fan base. They'd have let us in.

But getting out of that league would have been hard. There's was one promotion place available. There's every chance it would have taken years and years to get promoted. Not a chance, we'd have attracted (or been able to pay for) Cullip, Watson, Kuipers, Zamora. I don't see how we'd have been able to pull the strings to get Withdean. The planning inspectors for Falmer would have laughed at us as a non league club.

My guess. We'd now be a league 1 club, playing at a partially converted Withdean or Whitehawk.

Thank god, it's not a reality we have to contend with

 

[HeaviestTed]

In an alternate universe maybe we would have been bought with oil money and getting worried about FFP taking away our last ten champion league wins away.

 

[Beanstalk]

You scenarios ignore the inconvenient bit, that the Conference had indicated that they were NOT planning on admitting us (without a ground).

This. A friend asked Dick Knight a similar question a few years ago - what would've happened if we'd lost?

His answer was very simple: there was no workable plan to save the Albion if we lost. The Conference wouldn't have allowed us to play in it and it would've likely meant the end of the club as we knew it. We needed to return from the cliff edge that day - there was no alternative.

 

[Peacehaven Wild Kids]

A lot of fans of clubs relegated to the Conference are optimistic of a speedy return.

I’m sure some of those fans in question support Torquay, Chester, Scunthorpe or Darlington to name just four.

 

[Stato]

Despite the match result, Hereford effectively lost that day. They were wound up in 2014. Their Phoenix club is in the National League North.

Yes, we were different teams with different histories and their future wouldn't have necessarily been our future, but their lot hints at the scale of the challenge, and they were a team with a ground without any concerns about being accepted into the Conference.

 

[Official Old Man]

You scenarios ignore the inconvenient bit, that the Conference had indicated that they were NOT planning on admitting us (without a ground).

I never knew this. What would our away following have been in the conference? How big a club were we? Yes we had a huge following but would we really have had 1000's going to away games, blimey we struggled to get that at (150 miles from) home.

 

[Peacehaven Wild Kids]

I never knew this. What would our away following have been in the conference? How big a club were we? Yes we had a huge following but would we really have had 1000's going to away games,

Yes

….but probably only for the first season

 

[nwgull]

Let’s not forget that the season after Hereford, we were still pretty shit. Who’s to say we wouldn’t have sunk low in the Conference and stayed there. Would Bobby Zamora have come to a conference club from a league club etc?

Let's be honest, the season after Hereford we were far worse and were only saved by Doncaster having possibly the worst team in the history of the Football League. So you're right that we'd have sunk low in the Conference and may have even been relegated again! We'd certainly not have been promoted for several years.

 

[kevo]

Exactly. We may have re-started with Whitehawk or similar but BHAFC in 1997 would've died. Tony Bloom wasn't in a position to help until 10 years later.

Indeed. The existing club would almost certainly have folded. There was already discussion among supporters groups of forming a new club to initially play at county league level.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

I reckon we'd have been admitted. At that level, even then we were a big club and we had a high media profile and an organised fan base. They'd have let us in.

But getting out of that league would have been hard. There's was one promotion place available. There's every chance it would have taken years and years to get promoted. Not a chance, we'd have attracted (or been able to pay for) Cullip, Watson, Kuipers, Zamora. I don't see how we'd have been able to pull the strings to get Withdean. The planning inspectors for Falmer would have laughed at us as a non league club.

My guess. We'd now be a league 1 club, playing at a partially converted Withdean or Whitehawk.

Thank god, it's not a reality we have to contend with

We wouldn't have been admitted as we had no ground, there is no reckoning.
As it was, we had to survive a vote by the league clubs to stay in the league. We survived by 47-17.

Football: Saved Brighton to share New Den

A vote of club chairmen yesterday saved Brighton from being expelled from the Football League - and the club then celebrated by confirming plans to ground share with Millwall.

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Stat Brother]

4th.

 

[Commander]

You scenarios ignore the inconvenient bit, that the Conference had indicated that they were NOT planning on admitting us (without a ground).

I had forgotten that. But I also don't believe it. We'd have been the biggest club in it by a mile, they would have wanted us there.

Despite the match result, Hereford effectively lost that day. They were wound up in 2014. Their Phoenix club is in the National League North.

Yes, we were different teams with different histories and their future wouldn't have necessarily been our future, but their lot hints at the scale of the challenge, and they were a team with a ground without any concerns about being accepted into the Conference.

Hereford got back into League One. Only a few years later did they slide back out and go bust. That was nothing to do with our game with them.

A lot of fans of clubs relegated to the Conference are optimistic of a speedy return.

I’m sure some of those fans in question support Torquay, Chester, Scunthorpe or Darlington to name just four.

We were a totally different level to any of those clubs in history / fan base etc. We'd be in the FA Cup Final only 14 years earlier.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

I had forgotten that. But I also don't believe it. We'd have been the biggest club in it by a mile, they would have wanted us there.

Hereford got back into League One. Only a few years later did they slide back out and go bust. That was nothing to do with our game with them.


We were a totally different level to any of those clubs in history / fan base etc. We'd be in the FA Cup Final only 14 years earlier.

I don't know why you don't believe it. HKFC and I don't tell lies. All you need to do is search.

How Brighton went from the brink of extinction to the Premier League – told by their heroes

Almost 25 years ago, Brighton were on the edge of oblivion. After two decades of hard work and heartbreak, they're now a Premier League staple – and they could go top with a win over Crystal Palace...

www.fourfourtwo.com

 

[hans kraay fan club]

I don't know why you don't believe it. HKFC and I don't tell lies. All you need to do is search.

I do sometimes, to be fair.