The record attendance at withdean

[Notters]

"The record attendance for any event at the stadium was established on 8 December 1985 when 12,000 people saw an american football match between the Brighton B52s and the City College of San Francisco" - from Tim Carden's Encyclopedia of Brighton.
Two questions: why?
Are there any photos of this?

 

[strings]

Ruddy, eck.

That makes our 8,999 look a bit shameful. I would love to see a photo of this - I couln't even imagine where 12,000 people would even fit (unless treehouses were built).

 

[Muzzman]

 

[severnside gull]

Presumably this was just after Channel 4 started and was broadcasting american football on UK tv for pretty much the first time. It was hugely fashionable/popular here for three or four years but has since declined in popularity. It would also have been the pre-football stands layout at Withdean when most people just stood on the terracing/grass banks with the one small stand.


(ah well done - as the photo shows)

 

[Notters]

Weird!

 

[Mendoza]

Seems like most of the 12,000 attendance were the squads

 

[scooter1]

I was there. The Brighton B52's got a right thumping as I recall.
There used to be a big concrete stand in the south east corner, with changing rooms underneath and that was pretty full on that day as it was the only dry place to sit

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

the thing people are forgetting is that around half of that 'crowd' were infact players

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

12,000?

 

[Simster]

I was there. The Brighton B52's got a right thumping as I recall.
There used to be a big concrete stand in the south east corner, with changing rooms underneath and that was pretty full on that day as it was the only dry place to sit

76-0.

What a pointless event.

I was at the Goldstone ROARING on the Albion I think.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

The B52s used to play in front of crowds of between 1500 to 2500. The match was advertised in the weekly American Football newspaper and attracted fans from all over the country. The only seating at the time was the North Stand which I think for this match was reserved for visiting dignatories and VIPs , the rest of us had to stand on the grassy slopes of were the South Stand now is and the flat bit behind the goal where the East/Family stand now is.

 

[Beach Hut]

I saw that game, didn't two of the USA footballers get accused of rape as well later on that day

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

I was there. The Brighton B52's got a right thumping as I recall.
There used to be a big concrete stand in the south east corner, with changing rooms underneath and that was pretty full on that day as it was the only dry place to sit

For those in the know the concrete stand was unsafe as it hadn't been maintained for several decades. The changing rooms were underneath and at regular games the toilets were located there as well , portaloos were brought in for this game. This building was recently shown in a photo of old scenes around Brighton (the one with Brighton Zoo painted on the front)

 

[Man of Harveys]

I was at the Goldstone ROARING on the Albion I think.

On a Sunday morning? Were you alone?

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

On a Sunday morning? Were you alone?

The match at the Goldstone was the day before. Withdean was heaving an hour before the kick off.

 

[DIFFBROOK]

12000. How did they get a safety certificate? I suppose those things didn't matter in 1985

 

[ATFC Seagull]

It was a massive event because it was one of the first times an American side (albeit a pretty 2nd rate college one) had come overe here - so attracted a massive crowd. Seems crazy but if a British side was to take on a US college side now, I'd imagine there'd be a good 6-7k turnout, and in the 80's American football was massive.

The B52's were actually more of a British All-Stars team that day though.

Edit - 80's not 90's

 

[Brovion]

76-0.

What a pointless event.

I was at the Goldstone ROARING on the Albion I think.

No you wouldn't have been. It was played on a Sunday the day after Albion had played at home - with an attendance of about 8500. The 12000 crowd at Withdean the following day was admittedly inflated as it was the only American football game on in Britain that day and it had been plugged on the Ch4 American football programme. Consequently a lot of the crowd were from outside of Sussex,

I was there and it was brilliant. Yes, it was a one-sided thrashing (the biggest cheer came when Brightin got their first 1st down in the third quarter) but it was the first time that most of us had seen American football. Being Withdean it PISSED down with rain, and the majority of the crowd were on the open grassy bank where the South Stand now is. Every now and then someone would lose their footing and career down the bank, often knocking over the people in front who in a snowball-like effect would knock over a few more until chunks of the crowd were picking themselves up wet and muddy from the grass.

BTW Brighton got better. They lost the return game (in Candlestick Park) by a much closer score, and the final time the two team met Brighton won.

 

[Marlton & Hove Albion]

I was there that day with a couple of mates. People were everywhere.

Funny, I don't remember the rain but the thrashing sticks in my mind. I remember one of their lads receiving the ball from the kick off and the B52's were like bowling pins being felled by the opponents to the extent that the guy ran untouched back for a touchdown.

The rest of the afternoon was quite predictable. I recall the B52's have an American Quarterback. Probably got the job because he was a Yank and the only one who knew the rules. He'd have been responsible for the kit back home.

 

[Freddie Goodwin.]

There used to be large, uncounted, crowds for firework displays.

No parking or litter patrols back then. Did nobody care about the bats?