Eksman
Active member
Its up north
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amex! out of town?
- Thread starter Return of the Rev
- Start date
Thunder Bolt
Silly old bat
That's the expression I would use to describe the location.
It's in walking distance so certainly not in the middle of nowhere plus I thought we were a city now so definitely 'not in town'
This. If a place is walkable from the centre of town, it's hardly in the middle of nowhere, is it? And yes, it is comfortably walkable, walked back into town from games plenty of times.
rainhamend
New member
- Aug 8, 2013
- 7
Gillingham lad here.. seeing as im the one who made the 'out of Brighton' comment, I would like to clarify I didn't mean out of Brighton in the literal sense, but out of Town (center of Brighton).
Seagull over Canaryland
Well-known member
I can understand a Gillingham fan making that sort of comment, those with traditional 'grounds' locked tightly within a town centre (I'm also thinking Brentford, QPR, Fulham, Pompey, Watford etc) will understandably get a nose bleed on arrival at The Amex with it's verdant surroundings. There aren't many footie stadia with a duck pond, country pub and national park within strolling distance of the turnstiles, yet also you have the sprawl of two University campuses (campus'/campae?) and Mouslcoomb / Coldean estates which might not be obvious from The Amex - but nevertheless they are there.
Away fans may also forget that being a seaside club half our potential sites for stadia are already lost to the sea plus we are hemmed in by the national park and existing urban development. There was virtually no other workable site for a stadium and certainly nothing viable in the centre of the City. Secondly they overlook the planning constraints at Falmer that give The Amex its character ('wonky' to the ill informed / blending into the downland landscape to those in the know). The location requires the majority of fans to use public transport. It requires a different mind set to the traditional 'car' oriented transport plans. 80%+ of fans now use public transport, a stat way in excess of any other major UK sporting venue, only bettered by the Olympic Park at Stratford which benefitted from the availability of a huge brownfield site and billions of £'s in subsidies for local and regional infrastructure. OK we are well sited within the A27 corridor and on the coast way rail line with a station within yards of The Amex. However it is not for BHA to fund an upgrade of Network Rail. Instead we ask fans to arrive a bit earlier and depart a bit later and enjoy the state of the art concourses.
It is good to get feedback from away and hopefully to gradually educate them in the Amex philosophy. Most arrive with their eyes open and willing to weigh up our circumstances. We have a proper stadium with decent facilities. On balance I very happily accept what we have over the fading romance of a tired old ground with poor facilities, wooden seats, no plumbing and marginal safety arrangements (cough:'Selhurst' cough) which does little to encourage families and/or new fans to spend their hard earned pennies on entertainment when there are more attractive alternatives. Even Premiership footie can't magic back the crowds if you play in a dump.
Away fans may also forget that being a seaside club half our potential sites for stadia are already lost to the sea plus we are hemmed in by the national park and existing urban development. There was virtually no other workable site for a stadium and certainly nothing viable in the centre of the City. Secondly they overlook the planning constraints at Falmer that give The Amex its character ('wonky' to the ill informed / blending into the downland landscape to those in the know). The location requires the majority of fans to use public transport. It requires a different mind set to the traditional 'car' oriented transport plans. 80%+ of fans now use public transport, a stat way in excess of any other major UK sporting venue, only bettered by the Olympic Park at Stratford which benefitted from the availability of a huge brownfield site and billions of £'s in subsidies for local and regional infrastructure. OK we are well sited within the A27 corridor and on the coast way rail line with a station within yards of The Amex. However it is not for BHA to fund an upgrade of Network Rail. Instead we ask fans to arrive a bit earlier and depart a bit later and enjoy the state of the art concourses.
It is good to get feedback from away and hopefully to gradually educate them in the Amex philosophy. Most arrive with their eyes open and willing to weigh up our circumstances. We have a proper stadium with decent facilities. On balance I very happily accept what we have over the fading romance of a tired old ground with poor facilities, wooden seats, no plumbing and marginal safety arrangements (cough:'Selhurst' cough) which does little to encourage families and/or new fans to spend their hard earned pennies on entertainment when there are more attractive alternatives. Even Premiership footie can't magic back the crowds if you play in a dump.
Thunder Bolt
Silly old bat
Southwick isn't in the same county.
pork pie
New member
I think of it as out of town.
Many reasons, you have to go through housing areas well away from the toen centre, and Falmer was always a small village with a pond when I was a little lad. Mind you, the A27 did not rip through it in those days either.
Many reasons, you have to go through housing areas well away from the toen centre, and Falmer was always a small village with a pond when I was a little lad. Mind you, the A27 did not rip through it in those days either.