Thankyou David Bellotti

[Buzzer]

Ultimately, Archer was the owner and if he wanted to sell up and the club to go out of existence then he could legally do so as far as I'm aware. Even the changes to the constitution were legal under Company Law, it just contravened FL rules which have no legal bearing except on its members.

Legally, Archer and Bellotti did nothing wrong re the sale. I'm aware of a number of illegal things they did do but these were minor and related to the protests and protestors. For instance, Bellotti told the Gillingham stewards that it was illegal for Albion fans to have banners protesting. He said that Gillingham could get into trouble with the police. They also used all sorts of trivial and spurious reasons for banning people from the Goldstone.

I'd say that the FA and FL should have banned Bellotti and Archer. I think it's clear to any informed outsider - such as journalist Paul Hayward who fought desperately for our cause - that what Bellotti and Archer did was not in the interests of the club. They didn't - and only a few years ago the Football League were still accepting sponsorship money from Bill Archer's companies. Coincidence? You tell me.

Getting back to your first point, in my opinion - Yes. Bellotti was specifically brought in to oversee the sale of the Goldstone Ground. Everything else was irrelevant to those two, especially results on the pitch. I think the worst result that Bellotti could have imagined was us staying up against Hereford.

 

[Buzzer]

Also how much of this was down to that Ivan whatever MP that allegedly promised that Brighton would get a ground in the town upon the sale of the Goldstone? Is he as liable as the Archer/Belotti/Stanley coalition?

Do you mean Ivan Caplin? This is just my opinion but I think Brighton and Hove Councils were led a merry dance by Bellotti and were given all sorts of worthless assurances. I don't know what Caplin or Lord Bassam's involvement was in the sale but know they both fought really hard to get us back to Brighton. Party politics is bound to play a small part in this and I think that John Prescott would not have been half as helpful if this was a Tory stronghold but I don't doubt for one moment Caplin and Bassam's sincerity over the Albion.

 

[Sussex Nomad]

Cheers Buzzer, you sound like a well informed person. One more thing I heard from higher echelons a few years back, was Dick Knight installed as Brighton chairman by the FA first and foremost? Or was that one way off radar?

 

[Buzzer]

I'm a lot more informed in hindsight. It's reading books like "build a bonfire" (soon to be re-published), "more than 90 minutes", articles by Paul Hayward and having met and discussed this with the fans who really deserve a medal for what they did for this club, Lord B, Attila, Paul Samrah, the people that organised Fans United, that organised the marches, the petitions, the collections, the stupid stunts - all those.

You know what, it only really hit me about what Bellotti and Archer had done when I went to that first "home" game against Macclesfield and it near on broke my heart. The Hereford game kept us in the league but I never considered that the Albion would not exist until the Gillingham games.

I don't think Dick Knight was installed. I suspect that Archer's financial advisers told him to get rid of his ownership of the Albion as it was making his whole portfolio very toxic. Dick Knight was the only man around who made a credible bid and Archer got rid of his shareholding. He was still a major creditor up until a few years back when he wrote it off - once again probably on the advice of his legal team. I can't think that altruism is a quality he possesses in much quantity.

 

[Albalbion]

Buzzer.... are you Paul Samrah? haha

 

[Buzzer]

ha! Not a chance. Let's just say that if I shared a booth with Attila before the games then you'd hear almighty arguments about the pre-match music!

 

[Albalbion]

hahaha fair enough

 

[Sussex Nomad]

Having been on the county league circuit and having come across many ex players, and those 'in the know' over many years you hear a lot of things, some real, some possible, some downright fictional, helps to keep you grounded. Even know Stanley for what it is worth but was fortunately not involved with him at EPFC, but he always came across as not a nice person, although I still hold the opinion that he was asked into Brighton by a desperate Bamber that needed cash at the time and Stanley was willing to stick in a mill when a mill was a large amount of money. But that million became a complete noose around Brighton's neck when he started charging exhorbatant interest rates on the loan, finally getting a stranglehold on the club and the rest is history. How the hell an alcoholic could own our club is beyond me. Looking back on the dark days, what a farce it all was. I even remember Stanley being seen as a saviour to our club and we all loved him, we also had the honeymoon period with Bellotti and Archer. I think pro clubs only go through this once tops and we've had our once.

 

[Grassman]

Do you mean Ivan Caplin? This is just my opinion but I think Brighton and Hove Councils were led a merry dance by Bellotti and were given all sorts of worthless assurances. I don't know what Caplin or Lord Bassam's involvement was in the sale but know they both fought really hard to get us back to Brighton. Party politics is bound to play a small part in this and I think that John Prescott would not have been half as helpful if this was a Tory stronghold but I don't doubt for one moment Caplin and Bassam's sincerity over the Albion.

Think you'll find he was called Ivor Caplin. He always seemed one of us and indeed I believe history has backed that up. The photo of Bellotti really winds me up, it just proves he is a career politician who'll say what his masters tell him to say. We should have f*cking nobbled the prick when we had the chance. Christ, I remember the time he walked among us in the Goldstone North Stand and we all treated him like a saviour - should have ripped him limb from limb then.

 

[Sussex Nomad]

From what I was told through sources, through the early 90's Caplin basically had promised us land to build a new stadium and that he would 'see it through' ... having said that Archer and Stanley were businessmen and Bellotti was a politician, so I fail to see how one councillor, then to become MP, could have pulled the wool over their eyes. I think Stanley was more interested in where he got his next rum and coke from, Archer had no interest anyway, being from the north and Bellotti was the bum boy that did all the spade work. But Archer and Bellotti definitely had the agenda to break a great football club. Please, please God give us our day with them scumbags.

 

[Ecosse Exile]

LondonBlue, Im not saying your wrong about Bamber who did indeed overspend massively chasing the dream, but Bryan Bedsons board were inbetween Bamber and Archer, so wouldn't it have been Bedson that brought Stanley in?

Or was Stanley really involved in our club as far back as the 80's?

 

[NMH]

Confucius said that the best revenge is to live a good life.

I like to imagine Belscrotie will appreciate this philosophy, more and more when he sees what became of a chance (he should feel) he had flogged off.

A collective might be in order, and perhaps a round of "are you watching...."

 

[Sussex Nomad]

LondonBlue, Im not saying your wrong about Bamber who did indeed overspend massively chasing the dream, but Bryan Bedsons board were inbetween Bamber and Archer, so wouldn't it have been Bedson that brought Stanley in?

Or was Stanley really involved in our club as far back as the 80's?

I am almost certain the Stanley connection started during Bamber's tenure, however I'll be happy to be told otherwise.