[Albion] New fan zone - "The Terrace" [Opening 29/03/25 currently]

[Oh_aye]

Does the Ruby get much matchday crowd?

It does but make sure you have your blaster ready, and keep chewie in the Falcon ready to take off if you run into any bounty hunters.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

I do feel the club need to be a lot more creative, and flexible, if they want to fill this venue on a regular basis......chats with ex-players and quizes wont cut it long term. A venue of this capacity has great potential..and to a degree is unrivaled in the city.

Don't know what the acoustics are like for live music but if they're any good then it has great scope as an additional local music venue

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Don't know what the acoustics are like for live music but if they're any good then it has great scope as an additional local music venue

Very much this. Next door to two universities it's in an ideal location. If the capacity for gigs is 1000-1500 then it fills that gap/step between small venues and the theatres...perfect.

 

[Moshe Gariani]

Very much this. Next door to two universities it's in an ideal location. If the capacity for gigs is 1000-1500 then it fills that gap/step between small venues and the theatres...perfect.

Intetesting. It is poorly suited to anything under around 300 people attending.

 

[Bozza]

The Terrace still finding its feet...

After cancelling the awards night event due to lack of interest, the Eurovision thing just about went ahead last night.

Only around 60 tickets sold made for a rather strange experience in a venue designed to accomodate 1,000+ people.

Did you go - must have been quite a strange vibe, and not quite the one intended.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Intetesting. It is poorly suited to anything under around 300 people attending.

Would have thought the venue lends itself to things like regular folk clubs and - yes! - jazz clubs without treading on the toes of existing clubs

 

[Bozza]

Very much this. Next door to two universities it's in an ideal location. If the capacity for gigs is 1000-1500 then it fills that gap/step between small venues and the theatres...perfect.

The internal capacity is stated as being 1,000, but for a gig it would need to be a lot fewer than that in order that people can see the stage.

As configured currently, the stage is upstairs, so no one downstairs could see.

I'd imagine a stage could be located downstairs, but the upstairs wouldn't be able to hold many people who could see the stage, it would just be those able to lean against the balcony railing.

So, maybe a capacity for 400-500 for gigs. Still very workable though, particularly with a large captive audience just a short walk away.

 

[chaileyjem]

I do feel the club need to be a lot more creative, and flexible, if they want to fill this venue on a regular basis......chats with ex-players and quizes wont cut it long term. A venue of this capacity has great potential..and to a degree is unrivaled in the city.

They've so far tried away playbacks - pretty unique to this club - which have all sold out, extended open hours on match days, a pretty innovative (if ultimately flawed) awards night event, quizzes, and have silent discos , DJ sets, QAs with players , and i guess are hiring it out , offering it to promoters - coming up. Not all of those events have worked but most have. For the first three months then i think thats a pretty strong stab at experimentation and creativity for a new venue.

 

[Hotchilidog]

Went to the Wolves beam back last week and I really enjoyed it. Definitely a good option if you cannot make a sold out away game. The big screens are a great way to watch a game, although you do need to get there early for a decent spot downstairs or for the prime spots upstairs

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

@Bozza NSC Meat-Up and curry hun? x

 

[timbha]

They've so far tried away playbacks - pretty unique to this club - which have all sold out, extended open hours on match days, a pretty innovative (if ultimately flawed) awards night event, quizzes, and have silent discos , DJ sets, QAs with players , and i guess are hiring it out , offering it to promoters - coming up. Not all of those events have worked but most have. For the first three months then i think thats a pretty strong stab at experimentation and creativity for a new venue.

Agreed, and we have to remember that the potential “audience” is more than just STH and Albion fans.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

The internal capacity is stated as being 1,000, but for a gig it would need to be a lot fewer than that in order that people can see the stage.

As configured currently, the stage is upstairs, so no one downstairs could see.

I'd imagine a stage could be located downstairs, but the upstairs wouldn't be able to hold many people who could see the stage, it would just be those able to lean against the balcony railing.

So, maybe a capacity for 400-500 for gigs. Still very workable though, particularly with a large captive audience just a short walk away.

Good point regarding capacity. But, 400-500 would be great....upstairs could be a private bar for quest-listers etc.

 

[CorgiRegisteredFriend]

I’m really struggling with The Terrace as a concept on non match days. There are plenty of live music venues in the centre of Brighton and many pubs that are finding times hard. They do not need competition from a football club attempting to make profit on non match days by hosting non football related events.
I’m guessing the Eurovision night ran at a loss then if only 60 tickets were sold. I’m also guessing it went ahead to avoid the embarrassment of a second cancellation in one month. Do other clubs open up their fans zones close season?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

They've so far tried away playbacks - pretty unique to this club - which have all sold out, extended open hours on match days, a pretty innovative (if ultimately flawed) awards night event, quizzes, and have silent discos , DJ sets, QAs with players , and i guess are hiring it out , offering it to promoters - coming up. Not all of those events have worked but most have. For the first three months then i think thats a pretty strong stab at experimentation and creativity for a new venue.

Fair enough. But when I said "fill the event on a regular basis" i mean most days of the week i.e. not just match-days. To do this, I feel they will have to be more creative than the things you have listed. Maybe I have missed some events but I have only seen a quiz night, player Q&A, the awards ceremony thing which was cancelled and the Eurovision thing advertised so far. Eurovision aside, the other stuff is bog standard football events which, in my opinion, cannot be repeated too frequently and certainly not repeateded weekly to fill the venue as I suggest. My point was not a criticism btw.

 

[Bozza]

They've so far tried away playbacks - pretty unique to this club - which have all sold out, extended open hours on match days, a pretty innovative (if ultimately flawed) awards night event, quizzes, and have silent discos , DJ sets, QAs with players , and i guess are hiring it out , offering it to promoters - coming up. Not all of those events have worked but most have. For the first three months then i think thats a pretty strong stab at experimentation and creativity for a new venue.

It feels to me as though they are struggling on non-matchdays, home and away, but I say that fully appreciative that they are very much in an experimental phase as they seek to find out what works, and what doesn't.

It's inevitable that some things won't work, and that's completely fine - it's all part of the process.

But the end-of-season awards event was cancelled as only a handful of tickets had sold, I think a number of Stand or Fall screenings were cancelled/consolidated, most of the tickets available for this Friday's Zamora & Butters event remain unsold, and I'm not sure a single ticket has sold yet for the sports quiz in June.

I'm not surprised about the apparent low demand for the latter - I think a lot of people will be in close season mode and wanting a break from most things Albion-y.

It might be the case that the out-of-town location, even though it's just a short train journey from central Brighton, works against it for non-matchday Albion events. I know sitting here in Worthing, it just feels a bit of a ballache to go there for a midweek evening event if I want to have a drink and use public transport.

To be clear, I'm not trying to be negative about The Terrace at all - it's a fantastic facility, and a great addition to the Amex, and it will be interesting to see what type of events work and have broad fan appeal.

 

[CorgiRegisteredFriend]

When I compare it to the most recent fans zone I’ve been to which was at Wolves it is fantastic. Wolves was a disused car park hosting a couple of catering vans, a giant dart board which fans were invited to kick a ball at and a handful of Portable toilets. This was all in the open. I think The Terrace is great for fans that want to meet up before and after home matches and for those that want to watch beam backs of aways. But that’s it. I really don’t see how It can or should be any more than this.

 

[Moshe Gariani]

Did you go - must have been quite a strange vibe, and not quite the one intended.

It was a strange vibe. We arrived at Falmer station at 18.00 and were concerned it might have been cancelled as the place was completely deserted. With doors having opened at 18.00 we were the first people to arrive at The Terrace.

Friendly greeting from two door staff but an unpromising welcome to the venue with the ground floor in darkness and shutters closed.

Upstairs it just felt that the venue was cavernous for the number of people likely to attend.

As people trickled in, the vibe became one of those nice "we're in this together and will enjoy it regardless of whether it is objectively brilliant". Very few people looked like they were Albion fans and I think my radar on that is reasonably sound - one mixed group of students, one group of young women, a group of gay blokes, one or two European type single women, etc... all very nice and fun vibe ("atmosphere" would overstate things...). I had to ask for the Cup Final post-match coverage to be turned off the big screens!

Eurovision Bingo was a good icebreaker and encouraged inter-group chatting as the songs were hard to identify. Fortunately the group next to us were experts and helped us out. "Cherry Bomb" hosted enthusiastically and with good humour. Winning the Bingo - and a £46 bottle of Prosecco was a nice result for us.

The Big Screens are brilliant and it would be great to watch a game assuming a decent view of the screens and other needs being met.

One must assume that the club's experts have made a valid business plan for years ahead, but the immediate future for scheduled events doesn't look particularly rosy.

 

[Bry Nylon]

… one or two European type single women…

And you didn’t think to post this crucial information in real time?

FFS. Have a 3 month ban and consider yourself lucky it’s not 6.

 

[Moshe Gariani]

And you didn’t think to post this crucial information in real time?

FFS. Have a 3 month ban and consider yourself lucky it’s not 6.

...

Our nearest neighbour on one side was a very chatty 30-something cocktail drinking doppelganger for Agnetha out of ABBA.

I suppose I could have announced that to NSC with advice to hotfoot it to Falmer...

 

[Nitram]

I went to the beam back for the Wolves game and I thought it was a great experience. My reservations would be watching a game in the colder months with the design of the shutters making it open to the elements.
I couldn’t see it working as a live music venue due to its design, it’a a visual experience, plus it’s too far out of town to be an attractive venue for most.