Withdean was an age ago.

[Thunder Bolt]

Withdean was a lifeline when we were drowning. We gained some good memories there as well as bad, but now we have our home. Memories are being made week by week as we settle in but I think we appreciate our new home all the more for having suffered along the way.

 

[Storer 68]

In the Summer it was alright but the Winter was just f***ing horrendous. There wasn't a single redeeming feature about the place on a cold November evening.

YES THERE WAS.

Redeemg feature No.1 - It's NOT IN FECKIN ' KENT!

and I saw us win MORE SILVERWARE than I ever did at the Goldstone, or I have dome at the Amex. So whilst I would have rather gone to a proper football ground, I was always happy at Withdean, simply because it was our HOME

 

[Mendoza]

I was there just before the Hull game last week, this is where the hospitality lounge used to be, now just a park bench

 

[Southwick_Seagull]

YES THERE WAS.

Reedimg feature No.1 - It's NOT IN FECKIN ' KENT!

Okay I'll grant you that one! I don't want to be too disparaging about the place because as others have said some wonderful moments happened there and as you have just pointed out just being back Sussex was huge for the club and us the supporters but slowly it grinds you down. The initial pleasure fades and it was so disheartening.

Personally for me it was a cycle that happened each season, as I mentioned in the Summer I thought it was okay, the optimism of the forthcoming season, the sun was out, you would see everyone who you hadn't seen for months and football was back and you'd get a tan sitting out watching it. Inevitably however the Withdean 'experience' would just crush you as each game went on. I just wanted to spend as little time as possible there, watch the lads, support the team and get out. Now I get to Falmer at 12.30, go into Dick's Bar and stayed for a few in the North Stand after the game. Its just totally different.

I'll take good memories and thanks for the Withdean but miss it? Not a chance.

 

[British Grenadier]

Will carry a memory of Withdean with me for life - jumped up when Virgo scored that equaliser against Swindon and took a small lump out of the back of my calf on those crap seats. Scarred for life - but worth it.

How odd, I did exactly the same when Danny Cullip headed THAT goal (78th minute iirc) against Chesterfield. I was limping for about 3 days but as you say, it was worth it

 

[Basil Fawlty]

Being at Withdean will live long in my memory. We had some bloody brilliant seasons there. The back to back Championships, Swindon at home. The Great Escape twice. Then winning the League One Title last season. Made you think about the times sitting in the rain, was totally worth it. But now we've moved into the Amex, its a completely new ball game. The pre-match entertainment. The music, the atmosphere, its just breathtaking.

 

[Storer 68]

Being at Withdean will live long in my memory. We had some bloody brilliant seasons there. The back to back Championships, Swindon at home. The Great Escape twice. Then winning the League One Title last season. Made you think about the times sitting in the rain, was totally worth it. But now we've moved into the Amex, its a completely new ball game. The pre-match entertainment. The music, the atmosphere, its just breathtaking.

Could I just add the 6-0 DEMOLITION of Mansfield in the opening game. darren Freeman - take a bow sir! What a Day that was.

 

[Curious Orange]

I sat down and watched the Withdean Years DVDs the other evening, some great memories from our time at the place that was smaller than most of our visitors' garden sheds.

Raise a glass folks, to Withdean, horrid in the cold and rain, but it was a home while we needed it.

(and I miss the chips)

 

[ozzygull]

The way I look at our time at the Withdean.

It was like a mate who let you sleep on their sofa, when you were down on your luck and now where else to go. It was not ideal and you over stayed the welcome, but they stuck by you util you got back on your feet and a place of your own.

So the Withdean, Thank you

 

[Brovion]

I think my view was always a bit brighter because it took me about four minutes to get there. But yes, you're right, there was no 'matchday experience' whatsoever. Now I look forward to the EVENT that is going to The Amex more than I look forward to the football itself.

Agreed. I think I could go to The Amex (and I still go 'wow, I can't believe it's ours' whenever I see it), have a pie and a pint, join in with the singing, sit and look at an empty pitch for ninety minutes, have another pie and a pint and a sing-song in the North Stand concourse, and then go home. The whole matchday 'experience' now is just ..... well we're a 'proper' football club again. The novelty will eventually wear off of course (although the current results are helping to prolong it) but at the moment it's the best I've known it, right up there with the very best days at the Goldstone.

Brighton at Withdean seems like different club. What kind of mug have you got to be to want to pay £25 to be forcibly made to sit (because 'it's the law') on a hard plastic seat in the freezing cold and pissing rain watching a load of dross in near silence with a few thousand other addled-brained individuals?