That York city game

So I do know of 1 Chelsea fan there that day as he came with me but nothing dramatic he was at the Uni of Brighton and went to most home games for a couple of years, he also missed the pitch invasion as he was in the bog - we had been on the ale for several hours before.

It was a strange feeeling I was split, on one hand I was against as wanted the game played and we needed the points but on the other it was something that had to be done as no one was listening.

Lethargic said:

So I do know of 1 Chelsea fan there that day as he came with me but nothing dramatic he was at the Uni of Brighton and went to most home games for a couple of years, he also missed the pitch invasion as he was in the bog - we had been on the ale for several hours before.

It was a strange feeeling I was split, on one hand I was against as wanted the game played and we needed the points but on the other it was something that had to be done as no one was listening.

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What were the points needed for?

Robert Codners Nostrils said:

Great question. But you don't get the highest crowd of the season for the last game having just been relegated unless you have guests. There were tons of Chelsea, milwall, charlton and even palace present that day.

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Nonsense.

hove born&bred said:

This is approaching the biggest load of nonsense I have ever read on here! And that is indeed say something.
I think the OP has belatedly, 21 years later in fact, caught up with urban legend that Combat 18 or whoever were involved. The higher than normal attendance was due to the fact that it was perceived at the time, that this was likely to be the last ever match at the Goldstone

The pitch invasion and subsequent destruction of the goals was arranged by Albion fans in the days before and finalised in the hours before kick off, at the Hove Park Tavern.

It was a chance , and one that was taken,to highlight the asset striping and mismanagement of the club to a wider audience. And how it worked. There was no violence apart from the goals being torn down and that aimed at the directors box.

Some old ladies had a picnic in the centre circle. One of whom I sat next to at Withdean for a number of years. RIP Shelia.

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Spot on sir.

My recollection was that something was always on the cards that day and was inevitable.

I went along with a couple of school friends who didn't normally come and only did because they wanted to see what might happen.

I do genuinely recall a small group of people, maybe say 10-15 or so of alternative/activist types in the North Stand who were certainly material in breaking down the North goal cross bar - one in particular stood out as wearing combat trousers, army boots and having a Mohawk but that could genuinely be my memory playing tricks. If it's right I recall him turning back to the North Stand with arms raised on the success of his efforts only to be booed, he flicked the v's and ran off with the mob to the South.

I'm not saying these were C18 as reported by the press but they were certainly not ordinary BHA fans.

If I had to guess it was the presence of this small band that lead to such rumours but I saw no evidence of overt violence only a desire to get the match abandoned.

My guess would be that they were casual supporters who liked the idea of supporting a cause and being involved with relative anti establishment antics.


As for my feelings I recall being agog as a 15 year old who had never witnessed anything like it before at first hand. I guess in my formative adult years interpretation of what was going on with the club that marked the point where the cause became all consuming and I personally felt that I had to do whatever to be involved and help bring about the change.

Without the necessary contacts that restricted itself to turning up when needed, writing letters, and going on marches etc but overall just knowing that I couldn't stand by and do nothing.

As an amusing aside I remember it being a blistering hot day and one of the school friends that came with me threw up everywhere before the game and sat in the North Stand slumped against the wall the rest of us ignoring his occasional moans to remain casually watching the unfolding chaos!

It was planned by Brighton fans and carried out by Brighton fans.

Not all were supportive. I'll suggest two reasons:
1. For most, this was pre-internet, so there's no way that everyone there could have known what was planned and when. It surely looked like a spontaneous action to some (so a bit hooligan-y).
2. Some people honestly thought it wasn't the correct course of action. I used to stand near someone who always shouted 'stop protesting and support the players' whenever there was a protest. I disagree(d) strongly, but it's a valid point of view.

In retrospect, I'm really proud I took part and think of it as the finest day in Albion supporters' history. It was NVDA (non-violent direct action) in extreme circumstances, that changed the course of the club's history.

Two other thoughts:

This stuff about supporters of other clubs sounds like the sort of rumour that's inevitable if you frame the events as being hooliganism, not NVDA. Plain wrong.

And here's a thing. My mates and I were sponsoring one of the younger players that season. He rang one of us that week and said: "the game on Saturday isn't going to finish, it is?" People around the club knew.

i was in the north in my usual spot to the side of the goal slightly back... and not in the know!
what i do recall however, was that i was surrounded by lots of people id never clapped eyes on before..... LOTS.
bha fans or not? not a clue... but i was shocked by events, concerned about how it would pan out in the long term, but supportive.

I was in the North Stand, my usual place half way up behind the goal, a young lad, probably 16 or 17 walked past me obviously to join the many already on the pitch. I tapped him on the shoulder & he turned round. I said to him ‘this is not the way’, he replied with tears in his eyes ‘what else can we do, no one is listening’. I had no answer, no one would help us, my eyes welled up too so I just nodded to him & he quietly walked down & on to the pitch.

I was in the south west terrace, I think the majority were supportive of the protest, with one or two dissenters. I also heard in a Hove Park Tavern before the game, it was going to happen, and what time it would happen.

1959 said:

Not strictly true. I saw two women leaning against a crash-barrier in the North Stand that day, who appeared to be booing the pitch invaders. I remember one of these ladies was wearing a neck-brace of some sort, one of those collar things. A big blond-haired guy on the pitch saw her and started shouting abuse and pointing. Then he climbed back into the stand, walked straight up to the one wearing the neck thing and headbutted her hard. She went down in a heap, of course, bleeding profusely. He shouted a bit more abuse at her as she lay on the ground while her friend was screaming. And then he ran away.

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I saw this and left the ground after feeling pretty sick. It was vicious assault, way OTT.
Anyone know what it was about?

Was not Was said:

It was planned by Brighton fans and carried out by Brighton fans.

And here's a thing. My mates and I were sponsoring one of the younger players that season. He rang one of us that week and said: "the game on Saturday isn't going to finish, it is?" People around the club knew.

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If I remember correctly the players just knocked the ball around for a couple of minutes waiting for the inevitable pitch invasion.

I can confirm that I was one of the additional fans at the game that day that hadn't been all season.

I'd spent the previous few years climbing and getting married rather than following the Albion, but heard that it might be the last ever game at the Goldstone, so went along.

I don't recall seeing any fans from other clubs at all (apart from York City, of course) and was genuinely shocked when the pitch invasion happened. I remained in the North stand and can confirm that there were chants of "what's the f*cking point of that?", followed by a hail of items (which appeared mostly to be lumps of mud) being thrown into the North stand crowd from those on the pitch.

I was pretty confused about the whole thing at the time and didn't really do anything to get clued up afterwards. It seemed a long way from the days when I'd followed the club around the country and I was just deeply saddened as I walked away from the ground that day.

I guess it was a gradual thing the following season where I slowly became aware that a battle was required to save the club, but I only got involved once we were exiled in Kent. I did try to make up for lost time once I was back on board, though!

Anyone else think that the York game was definitely NOT going to be the last game at the Goldstone. I just went to that game not even thinking it was the last.

Whereas the Donny game the following season, we all knew that was it. But not the York game. Have always wondered why I felt like that.

I was very young, and very upset. For me it wasn't much more complicated than that my favourite thing in the world to do was to go to the games, and I was annoyed at the people running on who caused it to be cancelled, to the extent that I was crying.

I remember it very clearly, and it's a very strange thought remembering how I felt about it then compared to how I do now.

I hated it at the time, but I'm glad I was there to see it.

papajaff said:

Anyone else think that the York game was definitely NOT going to be the last game at the Goldstone. I just went to that game not even thinking it was the last.

Whereas the Donny game the following season, we all knew that was it. But not the York game. Have always wondered why I felt like that.

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I agree and forgot to say that in my above post. Think rumours were floating around at the time about potential stays of execution or more likely that we were blinded by a lack of reality - football in Brighton WAS The Goldstone ground and nothing would change that.

A very confused youngster but this in particular sparked the beginning of my understanding.

This is the shortest match but one of the most significant in the clubs history.
95/96 was an awful season. It started when it was discovered that our asset strippers had sold the ground. I reckon they were pretty sure of having run the club down and driven away supporters, they would have little trouble letting the club die and walking away with their prize of a nice piece of prize real estate.
Somehow that's not how football works. It's a game 'for the many' and fans rallied around to fight this, even those who had given up with poor displays on the pitch would not stand for Sussex to lose it's only league club.
The football authorities chose not to get involved and most of the national press were wrapped up in the Premier league, it seemed all the publicity was negative in regards to helping our cause.
And so it came to the final game of the season v York. To ensure fairness, all final fixtures had to be played at the same time on the same day. Albion were destined for relegation but the final place was between York & Carlisle, hence this game was really important for those teams.
Albion's asset strippers were adamant that this would be the last Goldstone game, even though they had been offered the option of another season.
It was an awful feeling travelling out there thinking this was the last ever trip to a place that had been so important in so many lives, but the feeling was that something big would happen and this game would not run it's full course. 3.16 was mentioned. To me that meant little more then a Steve Austin phrase in WWE wrestling.
The game kicked off in a strange atmosphere, a mix of hostility and anticipation. There was a big 'sack the board' slogan painted on the pitch. It was a nervous start.
Then, at 3.16 with most of the police and stewards at the north goal, fans invaded from the south, a few soon being joined by many more.
The ref & the players sprinted off as those fans turned to the actual goalposts and, hanging off the crossbar, brought it down. By now many fans were streaming in from the north and west stands.
The north goal was soon surrounded and broken too, there was going to be no resumption of this game.
The police and stewards knew there was little point in clearing the pitch, fans swarmed towards the players tunnel and to face the directors box. Some went to the York fans in the South West corner but not in confrontation but in fellowship and those York fans were very supportive.
The national press called it a riot, but there was no rioting. We made the national & international news and, once the indignation of the ignorant died down, people wanted to know why this had happened, why were we so angry?
This 16 mins of football forced the FA and FL to step in. They had an immediate crisis in regards to the Carlisle & York issue to settle and David Davies stepped in to do so much to bring a resolution, with Dick Knight's team waiting to take over. The preening Graham Kelly of the FA had done nothing.
Virtually the next day Albion announced they would take up the option of another year at the Goldstone, they could have done that earlier. We played York the following Thursday in a day time KO designed to stop people attending. York won 3-1 to stay up, it meant nothing to Albion.
I believe the York game was a turning point in 'the troubles' and we had now reached so many important people who saw what was going on and how wrong it was. Now we stand awaiting our Premier League fixtures but never forget.

I was in the press box and the thinking on the Times sports desk was that it could be the last game at the Goldstone - the deal for an extra year hadn't been confirmed - but also it was known that things were likely to kick off. Liam Brady made a statement announcing his consortium the next day in Hove Park and offered to pay the extra year's rent for the ground, which forced Archer and Bellotti's hand.

I certainly don't remember there being an issue about supporters of other clubs turning up. Wouldn't they have been watching their own teams?

As for the violence, I remember having to dodge those plastic squares with numbers on that were used to indicate substitutions at the time. Some clowns had found them in the dugouts and were flicking them at the directors' box, none too accurately. And they had sharp corners, I can tell you.

Robert Codners Nostrils said:

you don't get the highest crowd of the season for the last game having just been relegated unless you have guests

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I guess the Amex is mostly guests too then

At the time I missed a good number of games each season, but I obviously went to that one. We thought it might be the last ever game at the ground, everyone who could go did. That's why there were more of us. It's not rocket science.

Simster said:

Combat 18 sounds like an urban myth but I can say I had never before seen the fat bloke who snapped the crossbar.

And I'd say the OP is correct that most people in the ground condemned the initial pitch invasion. Nothing wrong with that, there were plenty who invaded the pitch simply because they were pissed off at relegation, not because the board were asset stripping the club. Some of the people who invaded the pitch later turned on people still in the north by chucking stuff at them (mostly clumps of grass rather than coins or bottles, in fairness).



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I remember the sponsorship hoardings being chucked towards the North stand and 1/2 fights breaking out between our own supporters. Before we turned up we also knew what time the pitch invasion would start.