Reclaiming Brighton as the default team for Sussex kids

[Buzzer]

Whilst out today, we counted no less than 14 children in Albion tops and didn't see a single other team top; no Man U, no Liverpool, no Arsenal, not even Barca. It blows me away how quickly we've turned it around after all those lost years. When I started taking my kids to Withdean in 2006, if on match day in town you spotted another family decked out in the stripes then we'd often give each other a little nod. At their school there were only about a dozen other children out of 210 that were Brighton fans and likewise over in Worthing with my brother's kids' schools. Within a year or two of moving to the Amex, practically half the school were Brighton fans and now, it's definitely the default. I was out drinking in Worthing with [MENTION=6886]Bozza[/MENTION] last year and once again all we saw were Brighton tops. Go to Preston Park on any weekend and most if not all the children taking football lessons are in Albion tops.

Hats off to the club for doing such a great job here. The free Junior Seagulls membership, free Albion kit on the 7th birthday and all the other incentives and schemes will prove to be a priceless investment in securing a rock-solid fanbase for the future. One thing that I notice when going to away matches is that a lot of clubs have an aging fanbase, a bit like the typical Withdean home crowd but we must now have one of the youngest averages. And the brilliant thing is that our catchment area is big enough that we'll definitely get even more now we're in the Premier League. We'll be on MOTD, there will be Brighton Panini stickers and they can tell their friends who still support the big boys that they actually get to see their team play, all those little things that make a big difference...it's an exciting time to be a young Brighton fan.

 

[strings]

Oh my God.

The Panini sticker thing hadn't occurred to me. That is proper exciting!

Sent from my E2303 using Tapatalk

 

[Hillian1]

The great Inigo Calderon said much the same.

 

[Guinness Boy]

We moved back to England from living abroad in 2006 and then moved to Portslade in early 2007. My son was then 1. I wandered round the area when we put the offer in to see how it had changed, as I grew up round here. Walked to Victoria Park where there were kids' teams training and all of them were in Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool with a couple of Man U.

Now my son is 10 and plays in a team himself. 90% of the boys have some sort of Albion clobber on when they train. Three of the lads in his team are Amex STHs including him and many others go now and again.

This season he has also charged down an aisle at Fulham when Dunk scored. insisted we never leave before the last player comes off the pitch, tried to invade the pitch from the back row of the WSU last week and started a chant of "Sing up, put your phones away". *proud face*

 

[CorgiRegisteredFriend]

Oh my God.

The Panini sticker thing hadn't occurred to me. That is proper exciting!

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And Match Atax player cards.

 

[Biscuit]

When I went to primary school, within my group of friends, I was the only one who would wear a Brighton shirt.

We had Man United, Arsenal, Liverpool etc and piss taking was fairly frequent. They couldn't understand why you'd want to follow a team that were 'shit', and I couldn't understand why you would want to support a team you never went to see. It bothered me a lot at the time, but looking back at it as an adult it's much more understandable. It's so difficult for kids with the pressure to fit in and to associate yourself with something successful. I think I was unusual in not feeling that pressure. Thankfully I see a lot of the aforementioned kids at Brighton games now! They go regularly - both home and away - and are fully fledged Brighton fans. It's safe to say they've seen the light!

A lot of it is Brighton are now playing football that we could have only dreamed of at Gillingham. I had a ST for the Priestfield - I recall there was only about 2,500 of us - and the whole experience was just unbearable. It makes moaning about the trains at the Amex laughable to be honest. Now there's 10x as many fans, in an amazing stadium with loads to see and do. Fantastic food and drink.. and the football isn't bad either! I'm just so pleased that success has now come our way, and children are wearing the stripes with pride. So whenever I see children wearing a Brighton shirt I remember how rare that used to be, and how wonderful it is to see now.

 

[Buzzer]

This season he has also charged down an aisle at Fulham when Dunk scored. insisted we never leave before the last player comes off the pitch, tried to invade the pitch from the back row of the WSU last week and started a chant of "Sing up, put your phones away". *proud face*

I can empathise with that. The first time I saw my youngest flick Vs at a group of Palace fans I almost burst with pride.

 

[bn1&bn3 Albion]

I used to do a bit of coaching at schools and in the 3 years I was doing that I saw the amount of kids wearing Albion shirts grow massively. I even had an incident where one of the kids was calling another kid a plastic because he was wearing a Manchester United shirt even though he'd never seen them live.. As a responsible coach I had to tell him to stop, on the inside I really wanted to laugh and give the kid a high five..

 

[Beach Hut]

We moved back to England from living abroad in 2006 and then moved to Portslade in early 2007. My son was then 1. I wandered round the area when we put the offer in to see how it had changed, as I grew up round here. Walked to Victoria Park where there were kids' teams training and all of them were in Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool with a couple of Man U.

Now my son is 10 and plays in a team himself. 90% of the boys have some sort of Albion clobber on when they train. Three of the lads in his team are Amex STHs including him and many others go now and again.

This season he has also charged down an aisle at Fulham when Dunk scored. insisted we never leave before the last player comes off the pitch, tried to invade the pitch from the back row of the WSU last week and started a chant of "Sing up, put your phones away". *proud face*

I was coach for my eldests team for all 9 seasons, U8 - U16 and when they were U11s I banned them from training in Premier League tops and received several complaints

 

[lawros left foot]

Just prior to our first Amex game, I posted how my dream wasn't so much Premier League football, but seeing kids across Sussex in Albion kits, rather than the usual Man Utd Chelsea, etc.


Looks like I may have got my wish.

 

[Boroseagull]

When I was at school there were no such things as replica tops - you'd be lucky if your mum knitted you a blue & white scarf!

 

[wellquickwoody]

Unfortunately saw the following scene this morning. Only wish the kids had been in their teens to offer the ubiqutus FKW taunt.

Lyons Farm, Worthing, B&Q car park. Black Porsche Cayenne (if I wanted a 4x4 that would be it) pulled up, and exited 3 peeps. 1x dad about 35/40, 1 x Chelsea about 8 years of age, 1 x Man Utd about 6 years old. All dressed as full kit waxxers, even dad who was playing for Next.

 

[Buzzer]

Unfortunately saw the following scene this morning. Only wish the kids had been in their teens to offer the ubiqutus FKW taunt.

Lyons Farm, Worthing, B&Q car park. Black Porsche Cayenne (if I wanted a 4x4 that would be it) pulled up, and exited 3 peeps. 1x dad about 35/40, 1 x Chelsea about 8 years of age, 1 x Man Utd about 6 years old. All dressed as full kit waxxers, even dad who was playing for Next.

Plastic nouveau-riche w@nkers. Clearly bad parenting. I mentioned that there were only about a dozen other Albion fans at my kid's school and it would have been even less except that the catchment area takes in Bevendean, Hollingbury, Coldean where you are most likely to get the life-long working class Brighton fans.

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

My son was 3 when we played our last game at The Goldstone. I then dragged him to Gillingham, albeit only a dozen or so times over the next two years. Then The Withdean years.

(In Horsham) it was tough to be a Brighton fan, he was surrounded by kids in replica London teams shirts, plus the compulsory Utd and Liverpool.

Now, take a stroll through Horsham Park on a Saturday morning, Albion shirts are everywhere. It's a wonderful sight to behold.

 

[CheeseRolls]

The day after the last match at the Goldstone, I went back with my eldest then in a baby sling and sat in the home dug out. In the North goal a lad wearing a premiership shirt was practising shooting with his dad in goal. The sense of betrayal was tangible. Through a quirk of work, I had a 5 year work permit for Australia despite having only worked there for two days, which had about 4 years left to run and I told my wife, if the club doesn't survive I want to emigrate. We stayed and dug in. I kept my season ticket going, though I have to confess I never made a midweek game at the Priestfield.

It wasn't much fun, I would take my son, he would sleep in the car and then I would feed him jelly babies through the game, sitting on our own, so as not to distract anyone else. The low point came when he started toilet training and needed to go during one match. Inevitably the cheer went up and after a run of 5 consecutive games without scoring, I had missed a goal. During one game I found a hedgehog under my seat. It was alive, so I let a female steward know. I guess I was a familiar sight there and she probably didn't think much of my parenting skills, as she just gave me a blank look and ignored me.

Withdean by comparison was a joy, and gradually Brighton shirts started to appear again, even if we had to seethe whilst Charlton were sending coaches to the coast to pick up supporters. This scene was from one of our promotion parties for the kids, my youngest and nephews here, receiving the trophy on the balcony, with the "fans" below in the garden. We have moved house since, but another party and of course a parade are in order. You really have to milk the good times as a football supporter, because there are always plenty of low points to follow.

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

Now we've just got to reclaim the adults in Sussex who go around in their Liverpool and Man Utd clobber...actually no, let's not bother.

 

[Lindfield by the Pond]

I remember enrolling my two eldest at a Center Parcs football training session for kids about 15 years ago. Both in their Brighton tops. At the start, he lined them all up and went down the line asking about their teams. All were in Manure, Arsenal, Liverpool etc. Mine were at the end, and when he asked who they supported, and they said they were Brighton, I remember him saying to this day "Ah, we have some proper football fans here"

 

[Stephen Seagull]

I've always been the only one wearing a Brighton shirt when I was at school. Even my cousins and brothers had their Leeds, Arsenal etc.
Have lived in Barcelona since 2005 and buy a shirt every season and wear it around the city, one of the thingsI most remember when I come back to Brighton is how many adults and children wear the shirt with pride.

 

[Nixonator]

Now we've just got to reclaim the adults in Sussex who go around in their Liverpool and Man Utd clobber...actually no, let's not bother.

You'd have to get them to disassociate themselves from the 'uncles' that got them into their respective conglomerates.

 

[Deleted member 2719]

Make no mistake Albion in the community kicked off our publicity drive with Mr Butters and Co, doing a fantastic job branding our beloved Albion, followed by backing of Tony Blooms determination to fund and manage us to the top.

I have never felt so good when going into the new flip out in Chichester and Albion shirts out number any other team.
The great thing this is a regular occurrance throughout the county.

Guess what, it is only going to get better!