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[Albion] Just Brighton



supergeorge

Member
Sep 7, 2009
44
Given that it’s 7 years ago tonight that we beat Dagenham & Redbridge to win promotion it took me back to one of my favourite Albion moments.

No doubt this weekend we will be accused of supporting Chelsea/Tottenham et al by that lot up the road but this is a story I wrote some time ago for a website about the moment my son (he’s 14 now) showed that he really is just Brighton, and thought I’d share it.

Enjoy

Just Brighton

“We are two halves of the same. Together we share the victory and confront the defeat, and together we dream of our tomorrows.”

I saw this quote written on the concourse wall of the West Stand at the Amex Stadium whilst enjoying a post-match pint after our win over Newcastle in the FA Cup last season. That quote struck a chord with me as I read it and looked at my son who was sitting underneath it, big smile on his face down to the aforementioned victory and a famous Amex pie in his hand! I thought how true that statement was in describing the two of us and how my passion for Brighton and Hove Albion has passed down to him and the moment I knew he was really a fan.

If people ask me when I became a Brighton fan or how long I have supported them then the answer has to be all my life. I don’t recall making a conscious decision to support the club, I just always have and I’m sure my son will say the same when he is asked in the years ahead.

My father passed away when I was only five so I never had that father/son relationship where he would take me to a game, teach me all there was to know about the beautiful game, share his stories of following his team Chelsea. I got to see my first ‘real’ game when I was ten years old, Brighton v Charlton for the record, but before that I always considered myself as Brighton through and through, something that has continued without exception to where I am now. Do I still get excited on match days like I did all those years ago, yes I do, do I still launch myself in the air when we score, yes I do, do I still hate Crystal Palace, well of course I do. I had always hoped one day I would have a son, to be able to do the things that my father and I never did. When he came along I only got to a few games a season, as he got older I would go to a few more games but he didn’t like it when I did leave for the match, was it that he wanted to come or was it that he just didn’t want me to go?

At the ripe old age of four and a half, and on a late summer’s afternoon, me and my boy set off for the game, his first. Brighton v Bristol Rovers at Withdean. He loved it, from the bus journey there to the people, the noise, the colour everything. We went back again a few weeks later, the next time not so warm, not so dry; the people that have experienced Withdean will testify that it is not the place to be when the rain is falling. We sat there in the rain, in a sparsely populated and very open, family stand, together as one under a standard issue poncho to divert the incessant rain. It was cold it was wet, we took the lead, we went behind we went ahead again only to succumb to a ninetieth minute equaliser, I was devastated! He still wanted more and this setback did not deter him, we made many visits that season, we experienced numerous defeats from narrow 0-1′s to dreadful 0-4′s, there was the odd victory in there as well but still he kept the faith. We looked certainties for relegation at one point but we managed to pull off the great escape with a narrow 1-0 win over Stockport County, this resulted in our first pitch invasion, joining the many thousands on the pitch in celebration. The following season he wanted to go to every home game and in the end it worked out cheaper get season tickets. His passion for the Albion had spread to his school friends and he was a one man marketing machine for all things Brighton!

During our last season at Withdean there was a moment that has stuck with me ever since. It was an evening match and we were in our usual seats in the Family Stand and sitting next to us was this young boy, about 12 or 13, he started chatting to my son and asked him who else he supported, implying that Brighton couldn’t possibly be his only team and there must be a Premier League team that he followed, the response from my son was a simple, “I don’t support anyone else, I’m just Brighton”.
We went on to win the league that season playing some great football. It took nine years before I witnessed my team win promotion, luckily for my son it happened in only his second full season. The night we clinched promotion was just fantastic, we needed to beat Dagenham & Redbridge at home, it was a midweek game, under the lights at the ‘Theatre of Trees’, the game went one way then the other, one down in a matter of seconds, then two, this wasn’t going to plan but we finally got back in the game and grabbed the winner late on and thus promotion was won. The final whistle went which sparked great celebrations, me and my son stood and applauded our heroes, I looked down at him and there he was, tears streaming down his face, these weren’t sad tears, these were tears of joy. I immediately thought back to that moment earlier in the season and thought to myself, yes son, you are, just Brighton.
[MENTION=21557]ian[/MENTION]burkebha
 


grubbyhands

Well-known member
Dec 8, 2011
2,283
Godalming
Fan-f*ckin'-tastic. Tears in my eyes and all that malarky.
 




Beach Hut

Brighton Bhuna Boy
Jul 5, 2003
71,906
Living In a Box
That season was a real one off, we were simply invincibles in my view.

I remember the song of the season for me was actually "Greatest Day" as nearly every match day that season it was.
 


Jul 7, 2003
8,573
I posted this back after the game along similar lines:

My son was born in August 2000 just before the start of the football season. Albion were about to embark on their second season at Withdean with a young Bobby Zamora destined to lift the club away from the basement division. My son will be eleven this summer. He was enrolled as a Junior Seagull when he was only a few weeks old and I’ve always tried to keep him Albion. He trained at the Albion Soccer Schools from the age of 5 and I started taking him along to matches – his first was a 1-0 home defeat to Watford (Chris Eagles wonder goal) “Dad, I’m bored, can I go home”. No son, there’s another half to go yet.

It’s not been easy keeping him Albion. He went through a period of asking why he couldn’t support Manchester United. His cousins all did so why can’t he. “Why don’t you support a good team Dad?”, “why can’t we support a team who are on the telly?”. Many of you with young kids will have gone through this

I persevered in dragging him along to Albion games whenever one of our group had a spare ticket – kept on buying him the latest shirt with his name and age on the back. Slowly he stopped asking about other teams. When building work started at Falmer, I started to show him the webcam and gallery pictures. Once there was something to see I would take him along to see the shiny new ground being built. “That looks like a proper football stadium Dad. Can I get a season ticket with you when it opens?” Of course you can son.

This season, he has attended more games than ever, thanks to mates who, for various reasons, have not been able to make matches throughout this last season at Withdean. His season ticket for Falmer is secured and he keeps looking at the webcam. “Look Dad, the seats are being put in now – are we sitting where the seagull is?”.

Tuesday 12th April 2011 – Albion v Dagenham & Redbridge. His last game at the Withdean as my mates will all be back for the last two games. One nil down and not even a minute on the clock. “Dad, I don’t like this. I’m nervous. We’re not going to win tonight” Don’t worry son, loads of time to get back into the game. Winning 2-1 at half time and he keeps badgering my mate to check the Southampton score on his mobile. “Dad, if they lose we’re up aren’t we”. Maybe son. Not long after we are losing again. “Dad, I’m nervous again”. Murray hits the bar. Don’t worry son, we’ll get the result tonight.

The final whistle goes, relief all round as we win 4-3. “Dad, we’ve done it. We’re going up” Big hugs all round. “Can we go on the pitch Dad?” No son, by the time we get there, the stewards will have moved everyone off. “I want Gus’s name on the back of my shirt next year” The ‘no lap of honour tonight, you were told to stay off the pitch’ message comes over the tannoy. Son looks disappointed. We mill around, waiting for the row to clear so we can head home. All of a sudden, the players reappear. Big grins from the son and all around. The party starts again.

Eventually it’s time to leave and make the walk up the steep hill back to car. Doesn’t seem so steep tonight with such a spring in our step. “Put on BBC Sussex Dad” They’ll have finished broadcasting now son, it’ll be music for old folks. We put the radio on, Jonny Cantor is interviewing half naked players in the showers. We get home to Worthing at 10:40 and still they are broadcasting from Withdean and about to talk to Gary Hart. “Can we stay in the car and listen Dad?” No son, it’s way past your bedtime. We walk through the door and his mum asks why he has such a big silly grin on his face. “We won mum, we’re up to the Championship and next year we’re going to get promoted to the Premier League”.

I don’t know what time the boy finally went to sleep but I know that I went to sleep with a big grin on my face. Not just because of the Albion but with a fathers pride after such a wonderful father/son evening.


Seven years on, that little boy is now 6'5", just leaving college and sits with me and my mates in the WSU enjoying Premier League football albeit a few years later than he told his mum it would be.
 



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