The Community Stadium

My first match in 1965

I’ve been a keen Brighton & Hove Albion fan since my brother took me to my first match in 1965, and I was a regular at the Goldstone Ground until the last match there in 1997. For me, the covert sale of the ground endangered the club and shattered the trust between directors and supporters. After 32 years of emotional investment in the club, I wasn’t prepared to sit back and take it. Happily, I wasn’t alone.

An arena befitting our city

We spent two years battling to change the ownership of the club, a year helping to secure the temporary use of Withdean Stadium, and nine years campaigning for planning permission for a new stadium. Now the Community Stadium is rising rapidly from the ground and is already one of my favourite sites, even though I’ve only been inside the development once. It will be an arena befitting our city, a source of civic pride, and an inspiration for our youngsters.

The Albion ‘family’

The last fifteen years of the club’s history have had a profound effect upon me. After all the battles, I now feel a part of the Albion ‘family’ as never before – and the Albion plays a major role in my life. Curiously, despite the volatility of the club’s fortunes, the Albion is a source of comfort and stability in an ever-changing world.

An Albion museum at the stadium

Now I’m heavily involved in planning an Albion museum at the stadium, an objective I have worked towards since establishing the Brighton & Hove Albion Collectors’ and Historians’ Society in 1998.