[h=3]Albion juggle with progress on and off the field[/h] 3:00pm Thursday 24th October 2013 in Albion By Andy Naylor
Albion owner and chairman Tony Bloom has a tough task balancing investment in infrastructure with investment in the team.
* Albion bosses are facing an awkward balancing act during the next phase of the club's development.
* Simultaneously maintaining progress on and off the pitch will not be easy.
* Owner Tony Bloom continues to invest heavily in the infrastructure.
* The £30 million training ground at Lancing is well on the way to completion.
* Albion have also unveiled plans for £55 million worth of job-creating improvements at The £120 million Amex, including hotel, fans' car park and student accomodation, to boost revenue and aid the club's determination to comply with Financial Fair Play rules.
* These are mindboggling sums of money poured into projects which will help the Seagulls produce their own players and ensure they are on a sound financial footing for generations to come.
* Here's the difficult bit, the awkward balancing act.
* The average fan is not too bothered about long-term gain via hotels and training grounds. Their main concern is to see their team winning and, ideally, playing an attractive brand of football in the process.
* Championship rivals like Queens Park Rangers and Nottingham Forest appear to be taking an almighty risk by more or less ignoring Financial Fair Play in search of Premier League riches.
* Albion are taking a different and much less dangerous risk, but a risk all the same, in relying on the patience and understanding of supporters.
* Head coach Oscar Garcia and the recruitment team headed by David Burke have to operate in a different transfer market to QPR, Forest and others. They cannot compete with them in terms of players' wages.
* Albion have, in a short space of time, become the best supported team in the Championship. Crowds in excess of 26,000 are now commonplace at The Amex.
* There is still plenty of room for more on a match-to-match basis and there is still a waiting list for season tickets.
* Demand currently remains high but the majority of spectators filling the stadium are relatively new, with a limited appreciation of where the club was and where it is now and the remarkable progress that has been made.
* Those that braved journeys to Gillingham for home games and the rain at Withdean to watch Albion in the lower divisions will be level-headed about a rare season of mid-table mediocrity but they are a small percentage of attendees at The Amex.
* The in-house buzz phrase of chief executive Paul Barber is PLR - Premier League Ready.
* Albion are doing everything they can off the pitch to be ready for the top flight but there can be no guarantees about when, or even if, they get there.
* The Championship is enormously competitive and difficult to get out of. Having a team, with a mid-table budget, that is also Premier League Ready represents quite a challenge.
Original article
* Albion bosses are facing an awkward balancing act during the next phase of the club's development.
* Simultaneously maintaining progress on and off the pitch will not be easy.
* Owner Tony Bloom continues to invest heavily in the infrastructure.
* The £30 million training ground at Lancing is well on the way to completion.
* Albion have also unveiled plans for £55 million worth of job-creating improvements at The £120 million Amex, including hotel, fans' car park and student accomodation, to boost revenue and aid the club's determination to comply with Financial Fair Play rules.
* These are mindboggling sums of money poured into projects which will help the Seagulls produce their own players and ensure they are on a sound financial footing for generations to come.
* Here's the difficult bit, the awkward balancing act.
* The average fan is not too bothered about long-term gain via hotels and training grounds. Their main concern is to see their team winning and, ideally, playing an attractive brand of football in the process.
* Championship rivals like Queens Park Rangers and Nottingham Forest appear to be taking an almighty risk by more or less ignoring Financial Fair Play in search of Premier League riches.
* Albion are taking a different and much less dangerous risk, but a risk all the same, in relying on the patience and understanding of supporters.
* Head coach Oscar Garcia and the recruitment team headed by David Burke have to operate in a different transfer market to QPR, Forest and others. They cannot compete with them in terms of players' wages.
* Albion have, in a short space of time, become the best supported team in the Championship. Crowds in excess of 26,000 are now commonplace at The Amex.
* There is still plenty of room for more on a match-to-match basis and there is still a waiting list for season tickets.
* Demand currently remains high but the majority of spectators filling the stadium are relatively new, with a limited appreciation of where the club was and where it is now and the remarkable progress that has been made.
* Those that braved journeys to Gillingham for home games and the rain at Withdean to watch Albion in the lower divisions will be level-headed about a rare season of mid-table mediocrity but they are a small percentage of attendees at The Amex.
* The in-house buzz phrase of chief executive Paul Barber is PLR - Premier League Ready.
* Albion are doing everything they can off the pitch to be ready for the top flight but there can be no guarantees about when, or even if, they get there.
* The Championship is enormously competitive and difficult to get out of. Having a team, with a mid-table budget, that is also Premier League Ready represents quite a challenge.
Original article