Greg Bobkin
Silver Seagull
- May 22, 2012
- 16,033
I was welling up when Calde appeared, let ALONE the rest of the afternoon...
I was welling up when Calde appeared, let ALONE the rest of the afternoon...
I just held it in then, but went at the end when seeing everyone on the pitch. I asked on another thread, did anybody else notice Paul Barber wiping away a tear behind Tony Bloom when they were shown on the big screen? We were on the pitch by that time and I don't know if I imagined it in the bedlam. He certainly sounded like he'd had a good night on the radio this morning. Loved his reaction when asked about keeping everyone off the pitch. He just laughed and said 'Yeah, that went well didn't it?'
Nope. The surrealness of it all probably. It just felt very odd. The end of an era and the opening of an entirely new book in the history of our great club.
That is a great article with rare accuracy about the fans' experience of the day.Yes.
And I just have again reading Henry Winter's report of the day: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/brighton-seal-promotion-to-end-34-years-of-hurt-p2frnw6xz
(I know it's behind a paywall but if you register, you get 2 free articles a week. This one is well worth it.)
A snippet:
And certainly the passion of the supporters, many of whom kept the flame alive through the darkest of days, will enhance the Premier League. The largest-ever gathering of Albion fans at the Amex, 29,620, reported for duty yesterday. Nobody wanted to miss out. The Lewes Road park and ride was full early. Mill Road park and ride was soon crammed, with cars directed to Brighton Racecourse. Trains to Falmer were all-standing, often all-singing. This was the one, the moment that they had been waiting so long for.
It was a day of endless songs, probably becoming slurred as darkness fell. The game was preceded by a rousing rendition of Sussex by the Sea and soon the fans were loudly lauding Hughton, the dapper figure who rarely left the front of the technical area and was orchestrating this win over Wigan Athletic. Fans waved banners saluting the former chairman Dick Knight, who started the campaign to move to Falmer. They sang of rivalry: “Crystal Palace — we’re coming for you”.