Stato
Well-known member
- Dec 21, 2011
- 6,585
On 3 May 1997 I stood, as many of you did, on the terraces at Edgar Street 1-0 down at half time. The last few weeks have hurt, but the stress is absolutely nothing in comparison.
Whoever the manager is, whichever players remain, there will be a Brighton to watch next year. There will be a stadium in the city in which to watch them.
In the future, maybe sooner than we expect, it will be our turn to laugh and Palace’s to hurt. I don’t say ‘to have the last laugh’ because, thanks to Tony Bloom’s generosity, this club is set up to outlive us all and the rivalry is likely to do the same.
Let’s be open about this. All clubs have different levels of supporter. Watford and Palace, having struggled with crowds all season, had no trouble selling their allocations for the play off final. This is because success breeds interest. Palace season ticket holders who have baited Brighton about second teamers filling the Amex will no doubt have arranged tickets for their friends and family, who ‘haven’t been for years, but wouldn’t miss it,’ or ‘like to see the local team do well’. There is an outside chance that some of these part time fans took kids who may develop a lifelong affinity because of this one game. Good luck to them. They have picked their local club and they can be proud of its success. They could be even prouder if their owners were to follow Marcus Leibherr’s moral lead and share some of the £100 million bonanza with the previous creditors who made it all possible. (Couldn’t resist it)
From an Albion point of view, it’s important to note that the buzz that Palace fans have this week has been in Sussex for the last two seasons. There is a much greater chance that Brighton’s new or returning fans have brought kids to the Amex in the last two years. In previous years, these kids would have become armchair fans of Premier League teams. Now they will be Brighton fans. Some will fall away as the club’s fortunes ebb and flow, but a good proportion will become the core of the next generation.
We all know that the troubles of the nineties have cost the Albion a generation of fans and a big draw was needed to bring people back. In building the Amex, Bloom did his part better than Kevin Costner in ‘Field of Dreams’. However, what can’t be bought with Bloom’s millions are the experiences which ingrain the club into your soul. Those of us who lived through the ‘Build A Bonfire’ years have all had these experiences and they were definitely not all about success. Hurt played a very large part.
Some kids, mine included, have now had their first practical lesson in the stoicism it takes to support the Albion. Enjoyment of future successes will be enriched by this pain. I am grateful that the new generation’s first taste of hurt has not been over a threat to the club’s existence, but was about the football. This is the way it should be. Lets swallow it and move on.
Whoever the manager is, whichever players remain, there will be a Brighton to watch next year. There will be a stadium in the city in which to watch them.
In the future, maybe sooner than we expect, it will be our turn to laugh and Palace’s to hurt. I don’t say ‘to have the last laugh’ because, thanks to Tony Bloom’s generosity, this club is set up to outlive us all and the rivalry is likely to do the same.
Let’s be open about this. All clubs have different levels of supporter. Watford and Palace, having struggled with crowds all season, had no trouble selling their allocations for the play off final. This is because success breeds interest. Palace season ticket holders who have baited Brighton about second teamers filling the Amex will no doubt have arranged tickets for their friends and family, who ‘haven’t been for years, but wouldn’t miss it,’ or ‘like to see the local team do well’. There is an outside chance that some of these part time fans took kids who may develop a lifelong affinity because of this one game. Good luck to them. They have picked their local club and they can be proud of its success. They could be even prouder if their owners were to follow Marcus Leibherr’s moral lead and share some of the £100 million bonanza with the previous creditors who made it all possible. (Couldn’t resist it)
From an Albion point of view, it’s important to note that the buzz that Palace fans have this week has been in Sussex for the last two seasons. There is a much greater chance that Brighton’s new or returning fans have brought kids to the Amex in the last two years. In previous years, these kids would have become armchair fans of Premier League teams. Now they will be Brighton fans. Some will fall away as the club’s fortunes ebb and flow, but a good proportion will become the core of the next generation.
We all know that the troubles of the nineties have cost the Albion a generation of fans and a big draw was needed to bring people back. In building the Amex, Bloom did his part better than Kevin Costner in ‘Field of Dreams’. However, what can’t be bought with Bloom’s millions are the experiences which ingrain the club into your soul. Those of us who lived through the ‘Build A Bonfire’ years have all had these experiences and they were definitely not all about success. Hurt played a very large part.
Some kids, mine included, have now had their first practical lesson in the stoicism it takes to support the Albion. Enjoyment of future successes will be enriched by this pain. I am grateful that the new generation’s first taste of hurt has not been over a threat to the club’s existence, but was about the football. This is the way it should be. Lets swallow it and move on.
