How Danny Baker saved Brighton & Hove Albion - The inside story of Fans United

Wozza · Feb 8, 2017

Harry Wilson's tackle said:
Thanks, Warren. You write very well. I would hope that its not just RV who is introduced to the crowd this Saturday. . . . . . .

Ha. No need for that.

I would never, ever take away anything from Richard Vaughan (and I hope that’s clear in the article), but most people assume that he had an idea and Fans United “just happened” – and that’s pretty frustrating tbh.

I’ve long given up on getting any ‘official’ credit (rubbed too many people up the wrong way, I guess), but at least now my three boys can read about daddy’s contribution to the cause (when they’re old enough to understand).

Ultimately, I guess that’s why I wrote the piece.

Gary’s contribution is largely uncredited too, of course.

Anyway, thanks for all the kind comments. I’ll be adding more media before the weekend. (And one day, might get around to completing the story properly).

EDIT: Article now at http://www.fansunited.co.uk, so it's easier to find.

The Andy Naylor Fan Club · Feb 8, 2017

attila said:
Great piece. Well done EVERYONE.
Gonna raise a glass to the memory of my old mate Roy tonight.
I always knew we'd get there in the end

'The battle's only just begun, but we have won the war.
Our club, though torn asunder, will survive.
And I salute each one of you who stood up and said NO!
And fought to keep the Albion alive.
And one day, when our new home's built, and we are storming back
A bunch of happy fans without a care
We'll look back on our darkest hour and raise our glasses high
and say with satisfaction: we were there.'

Ah a verse from Goldstone Ghosts. I have only been in Dicks bar a handful of times and on the last occasion I saw and read Goldstone Ghosts that is on a wall where I was standing. I must say it brought a lump to my throat and it's a poem I've read a couple of times since ( www.attilathestockbroker.com ) to remind me of where we've come from to where we are now. Cheers Attila.
:albion2:

RowXintheNorth · Feb 8, 2017

A good article Wozza, well written and a poignant reminder for those that don't know.

AlastairWatts · Feb 8, 2017

Return of the Rev said:
What a great day when some of us stood together against some money man in a suit having the Albions solely in his hands!

Would make a good book

It has already been written, by Dick Knight. Fans United was a great day, sure, and helped enormously,but the truth is that without Knight's efforts and dedication the club would have folded. Fans United was a part of all that.

Finchley Seagull · Feb 8, 2017

A fantastic read. That whole season is a bit of a blur in a lot of ways (especially the last half hour at Hereford, which has to be the longest of my life). Given the situation he joined in, it cannot be under estimated what an amazing job Steve Gritt did in keeping us.

If people ask why we need to support teams like Charlton and Plymouth when they are having issues, this thread should be forwarded to them. So many fans of clubs in the UK (and all over the world) came together that day to support Albion. We owe it to them to support them if they are in their hour of need.

Green Cross Code Man · Feb 8, 2017

Thanks so very much [MENTION=189]Wozza[/MENTION]. Both for the article and also for the vital work setting up fans united. I will be eternally grateful for your efforts and those others you mention, for helping to be a catalyst and a vehicle for change in those troubled times. I think you sit near me, a few rows back in the family stand. I'd love to buy you a pint of Harvey's sometime.

Return of the Rev · Feb 8, 2017

AlastairWatts said:
It has already been written, by Dick Knight. Fans United was a great day, sure, and helped enormously,but the truth is that without Knight's efforts and dedication the club would have folded. Fans United was a part of all that.

Sheebo · Feb 8, 2017

In the days of social media, it could be cool if someone could track down that Eintracht fan!

bhafc99 · Feb 8, 2017

Thanks [MENTION=189]Wozza[/MENTION], great read, and – as others have said – an evocative one on this anniversary.

Glad I could help you put it together – though surely this is the time and place to use my other photo from TFI. After all, who cares about Danny Baker and Frankie Dettori...

Wozza · Feb 8, 2017

Ooh, you just outed yourself. Welcome back.

bhafc99 · Feb 8, 2017

Wozza said:
Ooh, you just outed yourself. Welcome back.

I'm always around virtually – just never in person, what with being exiled in Dubai for six years!

Official Old Man · Feb 8, 2017

Living in Spain at the time, I happened to be back in this country for a holiday, along with my Real Mallorca scarf & shirt. Shirt no longer fits but I will wear the scarf Saturday.
A case of a one/one scarf rather than half/half.

Papa Lazarou · Feb 8, 2017

Excellent read Warren. What a day, but what a horrible period in the club's history.

Tom Hark Preston Park · Feb 8, 2017

Wozza said:
https://medium.com/@warrenchrismas/...-brighton-hove-albion-11c1be4aaacb#.t637t5cfp

It's still work in progress really but as it's the anniversary and all that... enjoy!

This is a glorious and valuable time capsule of a document IMHO [MENTION=189]Wozza[/MENTION]. We weren't living in Victorian times twenty years ago, obviously, though we may as well have been. Only 5% of the UK population online, Google hadn't yet been invented, Facebook and twitter were still a decade away. Sake! How did people even FIND each other on the interweb? It's not like you could even organise stuff via a non-smart mobile phone without microwaving your mind. If you'd told the Albion faithful fighting to save the club from extinction back in 1997 what life would be like a mere twenty years down the line, they'd clearly assume you'd gone wrong. Or were beamed down from somewhere around 2047. Frankly amazing stuff!

Bozza · Feb 8, 2017

Tom Hark said:
How did people even FIND each other on the interweb?

AltaVista *sob*

hans kraay fan club · Feb 8, 2017

Tom Hark said:
This is a glorious and valuable time capsule of a document IMHO [MENTION=189]Wozza[/MENTION]. We weren't living in Victorian times twenty years ago, obviously, though we may as well have been. Only 5% of the UK population online, Google hadn't yet been invented, Facebook and twitter were still a decade away. Sake! How did people even FIND each other on the interweb? It's not like you could even organise stuff via a non-smart mobile phone without microwaving your mind. If you'd told the Albion faithful fighting to save the club from extinction back in 1997 what life would be like a mere twenty years down the line, they'd clearly assume you'd gone wrong. Or were beamed down from somewhere around 2047. Frankly amazing stuff!

It is astonishing.

Personally, I have zero recollection of how I knew to be there. I was largely out of any loop, living 80 miles away, and attending few games as working every weekend, often overseas. I didn't own a computer, didn't have an e-mail address, and wouldn't have even been aware of the concept of mailing lists or chat-sites.

Maybe from local TVS news :shrug:

attila · Feb 8, 2017

Funny thing is, Rolf is a St Pauli fan, came over with their lot (there were 14 of them altogether if I remember rightly, all pissed, all sleeping on my floor)

An Eintracht mate of his gave him the flag in a show of solidarity. His English wasn't that good so he didn't try and explain, he just waved it....

Wozza · Feb 8, 2017

attila said:
Funny thing is, Rolf is a St Pauli fan, came over with their lot (there were 14 of them altogether if I remember rightly, all pissed, all sleeping on my floor) An Eintracht mate of his gave him the flag in a show of solidarity. His English wasn't that good so he didn't try and explain, he just waved it....

So there wasn't an Eintracht fan? And the Real Madrid fans were fake... man, I need to re-write my intro. ;-)

hans kraay fan club · Feb 8, 2017

Wozza said:
So there wasn't an Eintracht fan? And the Real Madrid fans were fake... man, I need to re-write my intro. ;-)

#FakeNews

lawros left foot · Feb 8, 2017

Wozza said:
So there wasn't an Eintracht fan? And the Real Madrid fans were fake... man, I need to re-write my intro. ;-)

Shhhhhh, keep it quite, or the unholy trinity will be demanding a re-count

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