Forster Interview
Seagulls find their wings
As part of skysports.com's League One Spotlight, Chris Burton catches up with Brighton striker Nicky Forster.
League One Spotlight Posted 1st September 2009 view comments
Imagine, if you can, that after 95 years of living in the same house - one which has perhaps been passed down from generation to generation, because living for that long alone would be some achievement never mind in the same house - that someone of no relation to you, who has no concept of what that humble abode means to you, comes along and pulls that roof from over your head.
They agree to sell your pride and joy to the highest-bidder so that a drive-thru Burger King can be built on the plot where your house once stood.
Then, to make matters worse, you are forced to relocate over 60 miles away while a new home for you and yours is found.
You must also share your new digs with a group of locals, while your own friends and family have to travel unfathomable distances just to keep in contact with you and make sure you still exist.
Light at the end of the tunnel emerges when, after two years spent living in a foreign land - like Gillingham for example - you are informed that you are free to return to your roots.
Once again, though, things are not as straight forward as they first appear, as you are put up in a council-owned development, with an athletics track running around the edge of it.
After a few years of making the best out of a difficult situation, you kindly ask for permission to build your own accommodation just down the road from your temporary home.
Things start to look up as none other than the deputy prime minister himself backs your proposal.
However, an appeal is lodged by potential neighbours not taken by the idea of having you and your extended family, which stretches to quite a few thousand, living on their doorstep.
You are forced to apply for planning permission again a couple of years later, and once again you are given the green light.
Dream
At last a dream which has been shattered more times than you care to remember and you began to think would never come to life is put in place, with a move-in date set for somewhere around August 2011.
Think this tale sounds too far-fetched to be true? Think again.
This is precisely - well almost - the sequence of events which Brighton & Hove Albion have been forced to cope with ever since their own Goldstone Ground was sold from under their feet by gold-digging owners back in 1997.
A move to a purpose-built stadium in Falmer has been touted for years, but only recently come fruition.
The future at last appears bright for the Seagulls, after years spent wandering around aimlessly in the dark.
Club captain Nicky Forster admitted as much when he spoke to skysports.com's Chris Burton recently, but the experienced striker was keen to point out that performances on the pitch must start to match the progress which is being made of it if the club are to truly fulfil their potential and forget about the events of the past.
"We are two years away now from getting into a purpose-built stadium, which the club has been waiting such a long time to get. It's no good for the club to drift through a transitional period and then all that gets up and running and we find that we have dropped down the divisions," said Forster.
"We have got this fantastic new facility and it would be so disappointing if we can't use it properly because we have dropped down divisions. We have got to make sure that we improve on the pitch as well as all the things that are being improved off it. We know that."
Forster, who has been in the professional game for over 15 years, is set to turn 36 in September and accepts that he may not get the opportunity to turn out at the new ground.
He is, however, determined to do all he can to be part of the grand opening and will be pushing hard this term to ensure his contract is extended past next summer.
Hungry
"The age factor is probably against me, but I'm still hungry and I still look after myself and I still want to be a footballer," he added.
"With all those aspects, I'm sure that gives me a chance. I have just got to make sure that I prove to someone that I am worthy of staying.
"I've still got the hunger and I've still got the desire. I still get that feeling first game of the season when we start to kick-up and we go out for the warm-up and you start to see the crowd. There is still that hunger in me deep down and that's why I can't give it up."
Any plans Forster has of playing on for the foreseeable future will depend on his ability to keep Brighton's promising crop of youngsters at arms length.
With the Seagulls renowned for giving promising talent an opportunity to shine, the former Reading and Ipswich frontman knows his place in the side is up for grabs.
"We pride ourselves on our youngsters and the kids that come through. Some of them are playing in our first-team now," he added.
"But we have got some good youngsters in the youth teams, ones that look like they are very capable of making that step up in the next few years. There are a few good players as well down at the centre of excellence, so things do look good. Obviously, though, in the short-term we have got to make sure that we as a first-team improve and push ourselves up the league."
It is fair to say that Brighton's start to the 2009/10 campaign has not gone entirely to plan, with early setbacks leaving the Seagulls languishing towards the foot of the League One table.
There is, of course, still a long way to go though and Forster admits the club have not entirely written off the prospect of mounting a play-off push.
"I think that would possibly exceed our expectations, especially at this point, but nothing can be ruled out," he said.
Form
"You look at Sunderland a couple of years ago, who were right towards the bottom (in the Championship), they managed to get promotion and Crystal Palace a year or two before that were playing catch-up.
"We won't rule that out, but before we start thinking about that we have got to find form. That is what has been lacking in the first few games. But we have got time to turn that corner and we are hoping it happens sooner rather than later."
The battle to secure a safe passage out of the third tier promises to make for intriguing viewing this term, with a number of fallen giants currently plying their trade at that level.
Forster expects a number of the so-called big boys to be challenging for honours come the end of the season, but he also sees a couple of dark horses enjoying a productive campaign - including Huddersfield Town, who recently hammered Brighton 7-1 at The Galpharm Stadium.
He said: "Huddersfield played very well against us on the night. We were, unfortunately, as poor as they were good, but they were impressive, with their movement. They have got a fairly young team, so whether they can maintain that over the course of 46 games remains to be seen, but they were impressive.
"I think that Millwall will be there or thereabouts, and then the usual suspects like Leeds and Milton Keynes (Dons)."
Forster will be hoping to be in the mix come next May but if promotion fails to materialise this year there will always be further opportunities in the future, as the former England U21 international has no plans of slipping into coaching just yet.
"It's a natural progression isn't it from playing to staying in the sport, so I would very much like to look into that avenue in the future," he said.
"I'm doing coaching badges as we speak, but what I don't want to do at the moment is take that step over that line and become a coach because I still feel that I have something to offer and I still have still got the hunger.
"Until that goes I just want to make sure people see me as a player and not as a coach. You're a long time retired!"
