SUA Seagull
Well-known member
How very true. My first Albion game was at Bournemouth away Dec 1969, 0-0. I will always remember it because the programme match title literally took up the whole cover "Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic Football Club versus Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club"! I was only 11 but I can still vividly recall Albion's Alex Dawson having a shot that hit the left post, rolled along the goal line, hit the right post and bounced out! I was instantly hooked and have been drawn to Sussex ever since.
I still have the Albion scrapbooks I made up in the 60s and 70s with newspaper cuttings and my own handwritten score sheets, league tables, scorers etc. As a north Londoner surrounded by Spurs and Arsenal fans I was considered by my schoolmates to be somewhat strange in voluntarily supporting a (then) lowly third division club. I often get quite wistful when at the Amex, seeing how far we've come, what an incredible set up we now have in all departments, and reflecting on other clubs less fortunate than ourselves who've slipped down the ladder and who will probably never have the chance to experience at their clubs the enjoyment we routinely receive from ours.
I indoctrinated my son, then 6, in the "Albion way" by dragging him to the Goldstone in Oct 1994 to watch a turgid 1-1 draw with Rotherham. He too was hooked and like me is now a STH. Albion is our shared passion and has been - and will always be - a huge part of our lives.
