The Albion - "just another club"?

[Gilliver's Travels]

Clapham Gull raised a really interesting question in the Sports Cafe on Tuesday. Once we've got Falmer open for business, will we become just another club, along with all the others?

Okay, so at last we'll have (both literally and figuratively) the level playing field we've been demanding all these years. We'll be able to compete. But think: no more death-defying struggles for existence, no campaigns to fight... Matchday attendances at Falmer that are entirely performance-related... Buying players, selling players, sacking managers, winning, losing, promotions, relegations... Think Derby County. Think Stoke City, Southampton even...

Do we really want to be just like that? Do we really want all that boring normality? Maybe we should say NO to Falmer NOW! Views?

 

[SJ's Love Monkey]

Brighton to the fans will never be "just like another club" just as Palace to Palace fans are not either. Its your club and its unique IMO

 

[Stumpy Tim]

Brighton to the fans will never be "just like another club" just as Palace to Palace fans are not either. Its your club and its unique IMO

100% correct

 

[Curious Orange]

I'm sure to the majority of football fans we are already "just another club".

 

[Seagullible]

watch games with a roof over my head in a stadium I'm proud of and don't have to make excuses to away fans. Beer at halftime. Potential for club to grow and be a big club pushing for promotion the the premiership

 

[Curious Orange]

Oh, and I'm quite looking forward to the peace and quiet after the last ten years!!

 

[Grendel]

Here's an idea - why don't we build Falmer, then flog it off a few years later and build a retail park on it whilst watching our team struggle in the lowest tier of the football league. Then we can groundshare with Gillingham before ousting the board and returning to Brighton to play at Withdean. We could play there until we're granted permission to build a new stadium at Sheepcote. That'd be great, wouldn't it?

 

[1066gull]

It's true.

When Hull got the KC Stadium and were in Division 3, they stood out above the rest as they had the largest stadium. The same happened when they were league 2, but now there in the CCC there just an ordinary team.

 

[Simster]

We will NEVER be "just another club" to us, and I don't care what other fans think in that respect.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Our stadium (fingers x) will be even more special than other stadiums. This will be a stadium that we built, having fought tooth and nail for it for so long.

Along with the likes of Wrexham, Brighton and Hove Albion stands for people power and never-say-die attitude.

Or am I getting a little over romantic here....

 

[Man of Harveys]

Personally, after everything that's happened, I can't wait for the day that we become boring if it means our future's secured.

 

[Fran Hagarty]

When it comes down to it, I'd rather be us than the likes of Chelsea. We've had to struggle and fight to get where we are and to be in the Championship without an adequate ground and with precious little in the way of resources is a feat in itself and to be applauded.

Boring Chelsea have it on a plate and I, along, increasingly, with others, have little respect for them as they laud it with a manager who compares himself to God!

We can be proud of getting where we are through the endeavours of the Board and the fans. And no, I'm not jealous. If I felt that way I would be like the other glory seekers who've come out of the woodwork and latched onto them since they became rich and successful, just like they did with Manchester United before!

 

[Pavilionaire]

It's a bit like elderly people saying that they were happiest in the War when there was a real community / neighbourly spirit.

The challenge for the club post-Falmer is to try and fill the stadium and retain the closeness between board, team and fans whilst doing so.

If we get Falmer the campaign waged will become the blueprint for clubs in turmoil in the future. I think we'll have special status for a couple of years, then most football fans will have forgotten and/or moved on.

 

[Eggmundo]

We will never be " just another club".
The legacy of our dark days will last for ever.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

A little bit of mid-table mediocrity would be nice once in a while