Plymouth fans have had a long connection with Albion
Today marks the 17th anniversary of Fans United - a day which many Brighton & Hove Albion fans consider as one of the best and most important days in the club's history. The Albion Roar (the brilliant weekly Albion fans' podcast) caught up with Richard Vaughan, the Plymouth Argyle fan whose post on the fledgling Albion Internet Forum in 1996 led to that great, if foggy, day...Albion Roar:Tell us about your Argyle supporting history
Richard Vaughan:I started supporting Argyle when my parents took me to my first match on Tuesday December the 28th 1993. It was during the Christmas holidays so a day time match and we beat Fulham 3-1, which was at the time in Division Two (now League One, whish they would just leave the names of the divisions alone). It was a big crowd about 15,000 as we were having a very good season under then manager Peter Shilton. I also took my cousin along and we were asked to do a picture for the local paper. Funnily enough it made the front page, it was us holding up an Argyle scarf. I’ll have to see if my mum still has it and dig it out sometime. I was hooked and in love with the game instantly and attended all home games for the rest of that season. We played some amazing football that year and really should have been promoted. Argyle were top scorers in the league (from memory) that year and missed out on automatic promotion on the last day of the season, even thought we won 8-1 at Hartlepool. I then suffered my first ‘football heartbreak’ when we lost over two legs to Burnley in the play-offs semi final.
Supporters came from far and wide to the Hartlepool game in 1997
AR:Tell us about the Richard Vaughan who wrote 'that' post in December 1996, and the Richard now.
RV:Well, a lot has changed in the 17 years, I was obviously very young then, no real life experience, living at home with mum and dad in south Devon (Salcombe) and was quite shy (although not when watching football). I think I lived for the weekend then so I could go and watch Argyle. Fast forward to now and I’ve been married nearly seven years (with partner for eleven this coming Saturday funnily enough) and have 3 amazing children our eldest girl is 5, have three-year-old boy and little baby who is three months old (time to call it a day now!) So life is very busy as you can imagine so sadly I don’t get a lot of time to get down to Argyle much these days, I just have to pick and choose games. Football will always be a big part of my life though, it’s such a great place to escape to and no other sport can match the passion and unscripted drama we all love. I really intend to visit the Amex one day, maybe sooner rather than later as my brother in law is moving to Brighton soon! I’m holding out though until I have at least a stand named after me or at very least statue outside the ground... (joke)!
AR:What compelled you to write that 'I see the scum FA...' post?
RV:I had and still have a huge affection for lower league clubs, I believe you should always support your local team or at least a team you* have some connection with. The lower leagues are real football with real fans and sadly we don’t seem to ever get the right protection and are largely ignored by the elite. When I saw how badly Albion had been treated and how little the higher power of English football seemed to care, it really wound me up and I felt something had to be done. The idea simply came from reading on the messages that had already been posted for such a vast range of football fans. I just thought if this many people cared then why not all get together and show it. It looks funny to read now (scum FA) and is clearly the rant of a teenager!
AR:When you wrote it, did you have any idea of what might follow?
RV:I had no idea at all that it would snow ball as much as it did. I think within days of writing this the idea took off and I was being contacted by all sorts of people from the club and media. I think I started to realise what a big deal it was when a reported from Five Live came round to interview me at my house one evening in the build up (which for a 15-year-old was a bit mad). The day itself was mind blowing, the response was as you know so much more than we could ever have dreamed of. Even fans from teams on the continent were there and maybe more bizarrely some from Palace (sorry) but there were no issues everyone just joined together and enjoyed the unique atmosphere. The best memory of the day was the wall of sound that came from the terrace behind the goal (The North Stand I think), it was on a par with the Liverpool Kop!
Supporters at Fans United in 1997
AR:How do you feel now, coming up with an idea that was a Red Letter Day, not just for Brighton, but for football fandom?
RV:It’s still amazing and gives me a buzz every time I think about or read something about it, it never gets old. I really have to pinch myself that idea came from me and had such a huge impact. It still shows that despite how much money there is in football these days, it’s* nothing without the fans and if we were gone there would be no game. It’s a shame fans don’t always get listened to, especially by people* that have owned clubs for only five minutes. For example I think it’s terrible what has happened to Cardiff, yes they are in the ‘promise land’ but at what price. I think I’d be happier being in League Two if the price for the Premiership would be losing your traditional colours and identity.
AR:How did it feel when Fans United 'came home', and Brighton fans descended on Home Park in 2011?
RV:It was another unforgettable unique day that will go down in history and came at a time when Argyle needed some help at our lowest* ever point (similar to Albion in 1997). It was very special meeting so many Albion fans that were still so grateful for the original Fans United, which they all say played a huge part in saving the club. Best memories of the day were the Albion fans getting ‘the right side and the left side’ chant going which is something that has stuck and still sung at Argyle games! It was great that Craig Woolgar suggested the idea to ‘return the favour’ and it was also nice meeting him on the day, someone I’m also still in touch with. I’m also still in contact with quite a few of the original Fans United movement from 1997 and it’s great to see Albion fans still taking an interest in Argyle. I think we had some of you guys turning up at a few away games last season, so the bond between the clubs seems to be there for life. This was highlighted recently when we could have hosted Albion at Home Park in the fourth round of the club had we not lost to Port Vale. There were a quite a few messages exchanged between Argyle and Albion fans wishing for this to happen. Sadly we didn’t make it and despite being in front lost the replay (including missing a penalty and open goal in the last five minutes, typical Argyle!).
Interview published with kind permission of Alan Wares.
The Albion Roar is on every Saturday at 12pm on Radio Reverb 97.2FM, online at www.radioreverb.com or listen to the download at www.albionroar.co.uk or on iTunes.
Original article