My team's new stadium

by **UK Skins Fan** » Wed Aug 03, 2011 2:32 pm

I'm not just a Washington Redskins fan. My first sporting love is Brighton & Hove Albion, my local football team. This season, starting this very Saturday, they will be playing in The Championship. One league down from the much vaunted English Premier League, one good season could see them mixing it with the big boys like Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea and all the rest.

But the reason that this season is going to be special (and why I am counting down the hours until 3pm this Saturday afternoon) is that for the first time in 14 years, we will have a home. Imagine if the owners of your local team sold the club's stadium, with no plan to build a new one, but simply to pay off some creditors and pocket the surplus funds for themselves. That is what happened to my beloved Albion. As a result, the last 12 years have been spent playing in a rented athletics "stadium", which you can see here:

http://www.runtrackdir.com/uk/pics/brighton/brighton-wi-c640.jpg

I never saw my team play at this venue - the last game I saw them play was on 26th April 1997, and I vowed that I would not go to another game until the club had a real home. And now, finally, with new owners in place who are true fans of the club, and after a long campaign by the club and it's fans, we have a new home. And it looks like this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/brighton/9544703.stm

And like this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Falmerstadium-may2011.JPG

So, please excuse me if I'm not thinking of the Redskins at 3pm on Saturday 6th August. My head will be in the clouds, there'll be a tear in my eye, and I'll be roaring on the boys in blue and white. The anticipation is too much to bear, so I just had to share, lol.

Thank you for listening.

by **Irn-Bru** » Wed Aug 03, 2011 6:50 pm

What a great looking stadium. I wish the concrete bowl the Skins play in had half that much charm.

Hope you enjoy the new home and your team's rise to the top.

by **welch** » Wed Aug 03, 2011 9:21 pm

Great story and a beautiful stadium!

by **Warmother** » Thu Aug 04, 2011 4:12 am

That's a nice looking stadium. Good luck this year. Win The Championship!

by **UK Skins Fan** » Thu Aug 04, 2011 2:14 pm

Thanks guys - less than 48 hours to go now :-)

by **UK Skins Fan** » Thu Aug 04, 2011 2:16 pm

welch wrote:Great story and a beautiful stadium!

Hey welch - am I correct in thinking that you follow Spurs? Or is my memory getting worse?

by **langleyparkjoe** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 9:06 am

That stadium looks tough!!!!!!!

Just watching it I feel like a dolphin is gonna jump out from the field. LOL..

by **Irn-Bru** » Sat Aug 06, 2011 12:44 pm

by **UK Skins Fan** » Sat Aug 06, 2011 3:25 pm

And we won :-)

Brighton came from behind to win 2-1, with the winning goal coming in the 7th and last minute of time added on for injuries. Could not have wished for a better script on the pitch.

Off the pitch, well, what can I say? For reasons I mentioned in my opening post, this was an emotional day. To see 20,000 Brighton fans ALL waving flags and singing in full voice before the game was a sight and sound that made my bottom lip tremble, I don't mind admitting. It was one happy crowd. Brighton fans have been through a lot in the lost 15 years, and as we all sang during the second half: "BRIGHTON ARE BACK!"

It had been 14 years, 3 months and 10 days since I last saw my team play, and I don't think I'd realised how much I'd missed it. Any true sports fan will understand me when I say: it's not JUST a game.

by **welch** » Sun Aug 07, 2011 12:15 am

Hooah, that!

by **Warmother** » Sun Aug 07, 2011 8:14 am

Congrats UK, there's nothing like a win to get things started right.

by **Irn-Bru** » Sun Aug 07, 2011 9:40 am

Beautiful story. Something to tell the grandchildren.

by **UK Skins Fan** » Sun Aug 07, 2011 11:27 am

Plenty of videos on You Tube from fans inside the stadium yesterday. Trying to find one that captures what it FELT like to be there is impossible. Unlike others, this one doesn't include singing from the person holding the camera, lol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT9CVQmNT2c&NR=1

by **SkinsJock** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 2:41 pm

G'day Trevor - BIG congratulations to you and the SEAGULLS

great stadium and the video was fantastic

by **langleyparkjoe** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 7:16 am

Congrats on that win UK!!!

Wow, that's awesome how everyone dressed accordingly for each section, you folks really know how to have a good time!!!

NO RIOTS!