If not for Alireza Jahanbakhsh joining I realistically would not have even known BHA (or Sussex) existed. But now that I’ve come to know the team and players, the history of the club, the style of play, the colors and the chants, and had a chance to see you hilariously negative lot on match days, I don’t think I’ll ever stop following Brighton. I’ve watched every game and even though I’d love if Alireza became a big name in the team, I just more want Brighton to succeed. I’m an ocean away so who knows if I’ll ever make it to a game but I feel like I finally have an English side to follow and call my own. Also people I’ve spoke to through this forum seem really friendly and squash down others who are racist or say mean things, not sure if all of England is like that or if Sussex has a more liberal bend. Regardless, I’ve loved falling in love with the club!
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[Albion] Post 2011 fans or those who have returned since we arrived at the Amex.
- Thread starter wigman
- Start date
Dolph Ins
Well-known member
Started going with Grandpa in the 60's. What with moving to the Midlands in my teenage years, Uni, then a job where I worked lots of evenings and Saturdays I went inconsistently.
My first child was born in 1993 so couldn't leave my wife to it every Sat. By the time my second child was old enough to want to go to the footie we were at Withdean, one of the worst football stadiums in the world. So I started taking him to away matches instead. By the time the Amex opened he was 15 and we started going regularly. Now my kids have gone I suspect I would have been a season ticket holder regardless of which league we were in but boy am I enjoying this.
My first child was born in 1993 so couldn't leave my wife to it every Sat. By the time my second child was old enough to want to go to the footie we were at Withdean, one of the worst football stadiums in the world. So I started taking him to away matches instead. By the time the Amex opened he was 15 and we started going regularly. Now my kids have gone I suspect I would have been a season ticket holder regardless of which league we were in but boy am I enjoying this.
I'm Brighton born and bred (no, not THAT one
) and first went to the Goldstone in 1980. Regular home and away in late 80s and early 90s. The gory years did me in a bit, Withdean was just about getting me back and then I moved abroad. Came back in 2006 to have my son who is now one of my three accompanying "new" fans. He was 5 when the Amex opened and I made the most of just going with mates for a couple of seasons but he had a season ticket by age 7. From his school I met a really good mate who came from, and followed Torquay but then moved here. He was also taking his son so that he followed his local team and not a Liverpool or Man U. The four of us managed to get seats with my other long term mate and his three boys at the start of the Hyypia season and we took them away a couple of times.I know we'd all stick with it together no matter what. My boy is probably more hard core Brighton than me now and will no doubt end up in the North with his mates. Mate from Torquay is as one of us as anyone else, I consider him Brighton through and through and we do as many aways as our points and partners will allow, Were both there at Boro for the Mike Dean show - it hurt him every bit as much as me.
brightn'ove
cringe
Personally I love the thought that if a returning fan or new fan got a season ticket in 2011 with their 11 year old child, there will now be a true new Albion to the core 18 year old person that spent their entire adolescence as an Albion fan. Those kids we saw starting to wear Albion shirts down the park in 2011 will now be in their late teens, and hopefully will start going to the football with their mates. This will be what changes the culture and atmosphere at our club and it’s something we didn’t really have too much of during the withdean years, and I can’t wait for the general demographic of our fan base to get younger and more passionate. Good times.
BN41Albion
Well-known member
- Oct 1, 2017
- 6,830
England is a very welcoming place overall despite the current issues; it's a very multicultural country for a start! There are those who aren't so liberal (to put it nicely!) like anywhere, but we're certainly a liberal place compared to many many countries. Brighton is a particularly liberal city though.
Anyway, I've gone off topic. It's great to see you and other new/newish fans now hooked or becoming hooked. Some nice comments on the thread too about the club, etc.
I've lived around a bit but followed the Albion since childhood being born in Brighton and now (very happily) back here in Sussex. Get to as many games as I can and would no matter what division we were in!
Sussex Nomad
Well-known member
Born on the Kent/London border but lived, on and off for over 40 years in Sussex. First game was in 1973. Drifted about since the turn of the century, having lived in the US and London. Circumstances will see me having to hand back my ST this year, had it since 2011, but I'll still go as often as possible. But, and I do find it weird, enjoyed 76 to 78 more than 79 to 83 and I enjoy the Championship more than the Prem. Not a complaint, can't be happier with our status, just personal preferences I guess.
Quoting myself as forgot to say that whilst I am a JCL I would stick with the Albion even if we did a Sunderland and had successive relegations.
Icy Gull
Back on the rollercoaster
- Jul 5, 2003
- 72,015
Sunderland had over 46000 at their boxing game day in League One, which is pretty damned impressive. I tend to doubt we’d more than half fill the Amex in League One
I have been going regularly since 1975. Strangely I feel more comfortable missing games since we got to the Premier League. Having said that it may be because I can nearly always find a stream to watch
1979-2005. Dropped out due to MrMagoo and depressing football, a son, racing cars, no time etc etc . . . Started watching Shoreham a bit, didn't really watch much football at all for 5-6 years, then since my son started kicking a ball and showing a little interest have got back into it again, to a point.
I'm a turn up and cash on the turnstiles person, so struggle a bit with the whole concept of corporate football (did have an ST from 97-05) now just go when I can and watch on TV if I can't. Have enjoyed taking my son, although he doesn't seem to be as passionate, at least not yet.
I see a lot of people I know at the games I have been to at the Amex, who to my knowledge, had no interest in football whatsoever until very recently. As an entertainment option, the modern game clearly appeals to a lot more people than standing on crumbling concrete in the pissing rain watching donkeys!
I'm a turn up and cash on the turnstiles person, so struggle a bit with the whole concept of corporate football (did have an ST from 97-05) now just go when I can and watch on TV if I can't. Have enjoyed taking my son, although he doesn't seem to be as passionate, at least not yet.
I see a lot of people I know at the games I have been to at the Amex, who to my knowledge, had no interest in football whatsoever until very recently. As an entertainment option, the modern game clearly appeals to a lot more people than standing on crumbling concrete in the pissing rain watching donkeys!
BBassic
I changed this.
- Jul 28, 2011
- 13,065
Dropped off when the Goldstone was sold.
Unfortunately will be dropping off again at the end of this season. The money I spend on my season ticket + booze + food every other Saturday is needed elsewhere in my life. It's a shame but luxuries are the first things to go when you build a budget and stick to it.
Unfortunately will be dropping off again at the end of this season. The money I spend on my season ticket + booze + food every other Saturday is needed elsewhere in my life. It's a shame but luxuries are the first things to go when you build a budget and stick to it.
If hard Brexit and impending depression do happen, it'll be interesting to see the effect it has on sporting attendances, it's not the cheapest hobby in the world. It's already having an effect on car racing.
Nitram
Well-known member
- Jul 16, 2013
- 2,268
Got pair of season tickets in first year of Amex from a friend of wife’s who was unable able to attend. Went along to support wife as she has been a life long fan since Goldstone days. I took older son and daughter occasionally to Withdean in family stand. Both became season ticket holders at Amex. Son one of the few to go every home and away game last year.
Made many new friends in the area where we are seated. Slow burning relationship for me as not born in the area but through family have become a committed fan.
Made many new friends in the area where we are seated. Slow burning relationship for me as not born in the area but through family have become a committed fan.
father_and_son
Well-known member
More or less identical... had been to Withdean before _and_Son was born, but only as a "day out" rather than as a fan. His love of football was something I indulged to the point of becoming addicted myself. He too started supporting Chelsea but I am a firm believer that you must support a club you have a connection to... where you were born, where you live now, etc. Not just some random top 6 team because that's what is expected in the playground.
My better half's entire family all support different clubs and the only one I 'agree' with is the one who isn't really bothered about the sport but follows Southampton because he went to uni there. The rest have zero connection to their chosen clubs!
Proud to say I am a STH and fan of such an amazing club.
Tokyohands
Well-known member
I'm pretty sure my first game was v Hull City in 1989 with a school mate. We were 11/12 year olds from Shoreham in the North Stand and I was instantly hooked. I went through the 90s to pretty much all home games and quite a few away but after I finished studying in Leeds we were still at Gillingham and I was working Saturdays, so never went there. My boss at the time was a season ticket holder when we returned to Withdean, so I went with him but moved to Japan in 2005 so didn't get to many games at all after that.
I'm still massively hooked of course and find it pretty tough not being there for games but friends still go and I can watch streams . If ever I move back i'll definitely be there and will always be with the boys from here, whatever happens!
I'm still massively hooked of course and find it pretty tough not being there for games but friends still go and I can watch streams . If ever I move back i'll definitely be there and will always be with the boys from here, whatever happens!
Peter Grummit
Well-known member
1980/81 we had to win the last 4 games to stay up, so hopefully not the best comparison!
Lifelong fan here since 71. Blown away that we get 30k every week and delighted to see all those new and returning fans that make that happen. What I would say is that, especially if you commit to a ST then being an Albion fan is more than about paying your money. Make sure the seat is always filled, either via the Ticket Exchange or otherwise. Get behind the team. And yes, stay to the end. I say that not because I enjoy telling people what to do but because it matters to all our collective experience of being fans and helps the team.
If and when we drop out of the PL then I fear we would suffer a bigger crowd dropoff than most teams. Part of that is simple migration patterns - Brighton is more of a transition city than most with its 2 universities and DFLs. Part is there are competing attractions. If anyone thinks we could match say Sunderland ('til I die) in this regard then they're mistaken. Hopefully we won't find out for a long while!
PG (UTA 'til I die)
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Mo Gosfield
Well-known member
- Aug 11, 2010
- 6,362
....or more recently....sitting in a temporary stand at Withdean, on a murky night, watching a terrible 0-0 v Tranmere, with just over 4,000 others. Ten years ago, that was our hard-core. The new experience has tapped into our fairly large catchment area. Charlton's influence through Kent and E Sussex has declined and they have slipped back to their genuine hard-core.
We have attracted enough ' new ' support to underpin a slip backwards and it is to be hoped that the Championship is the lowest level we would play at for the next few years. It looks unlikely now that league games will dip below 22,000 - 23,000 even if we are just ' treading water ' in the 2nd tier.
Not Andy Naylor
Well-known member
I like to think that many of the new or returning fans are people who would have been regulars or semi-regulars anyway if we hadn't had the Gillingham years. From talking to a lot of people, that's when the habit was broken and Withdean wasn't enough to tempt them back. If we go down at some point then a certain number who only come to see the Premier League will drift away, but enough now see Saturday afternoons at the Amex as part of their lives to ensure that gates stay high.
Hastings gull
Well-known member
- Nov 23, 2013
- 4,652
Some fascinating individual stories with the thread -enjoyed reading them all. Whilst the Amex crowds are huge compared to those at Withdean, the influx of new fans, whilst impressive, is not as huge as one might think. During the Withdean years, I recall reading that the club had a data base of 20,000 fans - just that clearly most didn't go to Withdean on a regular basis, but are now turning up in their droves, as the stadium can accommodate them plus the standard of football is so much better. Of course the attendances will drop if we go down, but I am sure that you are right in that we are hardly likely to go down to, say, 5000, as the habit is now to go to games. But one cannot be sure.
Nixonator
Well-known member
Sunderland had over 46000 at their boxing game day in League One, which is pretty damned impressive. I tend to doubt we’d more than half fill the Amex in League One
I have been going regularly since 1975. Strangely I feel more comfortable missing games since we got to the Premier League. Having said that it may be because I can nearly always find a stream to watch
It really depends how long we stay down there. For a one off season I personally think 20k+ would be very comfortable.
Stagnating down there would obviously be different, but reckon we'd still maintain 10-15k.
Withdean was never a regular fixture in people's calendars like the Amex is today. That was largely down to the facilities, not league position.
Having said all that, I don't think we'll be seeing L1 again for a very long time.
Edit: Out of curiosity, I just had a look at Sunderland's attendances. They averaged 27k last year in the Championship and looks to be around 25k so far this season.