[Albion] Brighton Women's Home Ground?

[hans kraay fan club]

Preston Park velodrome, the money the council get for that can go towards updating Withdean and they can incorporate a new velodrome there.
simple

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What is with all the proposals to gain ourselves a new facility, at the cost of destroying somebody else's community asset?

The second part of your suggestion is a complete non starter. There is no possibility that there is room for both at Withdean.

 

[Braggfan]

good transport links, if it works for pride, it can work for 5-10k fans which is realistic I think, it can also be used for other events

I genuinely don't think it would happen there, but to be honest I don't think i'd want to it to either. Preston Park is a an amazing green space for the whole city, I don't think it would be fair to take part of it away for use by a smaller proportion of the city's population. Just my opinion.

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

What is with all the proposals to gain ourselves a new facility, at the cost of destroying somebody else's community asset?

Oh Nimby alert, what women's football not enough for you ?
just joshing, it was just an idea, every time I go there, it seems to me, there are a bunch of over weight folks running round it, maybe a few blokes picking up dog poop with those poop scoop things, hardly seems used to me.
I could be wrong, I am most of the time, so get your kicking shoes on.

The second part of your suggestion is a complete non starter. There is no possibility that there is room for both at Withdean.

Come on, it is hardly a proper velodrome is it! they have so many surfaces that can be used for multiple sports now, again just an idea and way of upgrading both Withdean sports complex and a velodrome.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Oh Nimby alert, what women's football not enough for you ?
just joshing, it was just an idea, every time I go there, it seems to me, there are a bunch of over weight folks running round it, maybe a few blokes picking up dog poop with those poop scoop things, hardly seems used to me.
I could be wrong, I am most of the time, so get your kicking shoes on.

Come on, it is hardly a proper velodrome is it! they have so many surfaces that can be used for multiple sports now, again just an idea and way of upgrading both Withdean sports complex and a velodrome.

It is a 'proper' velodrome. Not a Track Cycling 200 / 250m velodrome, obviously, but valid all the same - and extremely important historically.

And whilst I understand what you are suggesting regarding a multi-use facility, no such suitable surface (to my knowledge) exists - and it is within my line of work.

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

It is a 'proper' velodrome. Not a Track Cycling 200 / 250m velodrome, obviously, but valid all the same - and extremely important historically.

And whilst I understand what you are suggesting regarding a multi-use facility, no such suitable surface (to my knowledge) exists - and it is within my line of work.

spoil sport

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

Our ladies will be in their ground before cladding is replaced up the road

 

[stewart12]

What is with all the proposals to gain ourselves a new facility, at the cost of destroying somebody else's community asset?

The second part of your suggestion is a complete non starter. There is no possibility that there is room for both at Withdean.

no one would need to destroy Withdean as an athletics venue, but it has also been used for football for many years. We're only talking about 10-15 home games a season and if the Albion could tart it up a bit, it would benefit the athletics club as well

The Velodrome is a bit of a stretch though!

 

[Clive Walker]

gold medal is a mini amex next to the amex.

 

[stewart12]

In an ideal world, sure, but given how hideous running tracks are to the feel of football arenas I would be staggered if the club went with that approach after paying for the site unless it's a condition of planning permission.

Besides, I'm fairly sure Withdean's residents would make life near on impossible

perhaps but a major reason why running tracks are not popular in mens football is that it hampers the atmosphere- to be honest this is less of an issue in womens football where things are less raucous, less hostile etc

what you could do is have permanent stands along each side (and of course the North Stand is already there) and have permanent/semi permanent stands directly behind each goal to give it more of an enclosed feel

 

[BNthree]

I've said this before that PBOBE has a 'patch' that is destined to be the new stadium. He knows, TB knows and I guess a handfull of others know where it is going. They're just not letting on at the moment. Is the land that Ikea were taking now going to be housing or is it still available?
Next question, how big would you build it? 10K, 15K or start with 5K but easily expandable.

That’s not in Brighton and Hove council area though? As I understood it that Ikea site was bought by IKEA so it was up to them to sell the plot. No public transport available for that though so unlikely to get planning permission for a stadium there.

 

[fataddick]

You potentially need to factor in (if advantageous) the prospect of Lewes women sharing any new facility.

For those who haven't been following it, Lewes 'owners' (ie 1,800 folks who pay £50+ a year for that title) have spent the past week voting on whether to sell off 51% of their women's team to an American investment company for £5.1m.

It's just the women's team (not the men) that investment company Mercury 13 are interested in and their business plan revolves around building Lewes into a WSL team.

The Dripping Pan is smaller than the lowest average attendance in the WSL (and not easily expandable) so seems impractical as a long-term venue for their women if so.

I guess they could play at Crawley if Brighton's women move to their own dedicated site, but something in B&H used by both sides seems more geographically sensible.

Obviously this is reliant on Lewes owners/fans voting in favour of the £5.1m investment (the vote ended 5pm yesterday so the result is imminent) but having two well funded women's team sharing a dedicated stadium makes a lot of financial sense.

You'd think if that is an option it might count against Lancing (due to distance from Lewes as well as not being in the B&H council area).

Whilst Withdean might be feasible, would the inclusion of Lewes women (with links to LDC and the proximity of the council border) make a 10k capacity mini-Amex close to the actual one in Falmer (ie essentially halfway between Lewes and central B&H) the most viable option?

 

[hans kraay fan club]

perhaps but a major reason why running tracks are not popular in mens football is that it hampers the atmosphere- to be honest this is less of an issue in womens football where things are less raucous, less hostile etc

what you could do is have permanent stands along each side (and of course the North Stand is already there) and have permanent/semi permanent stands directly behind each goal to give it more of an enclosed feel

So rendering it unusable for an athletics meet then?

 

[Braggfan]

You potentially need to factor in (if advantageous) the prospect of Lewes women sharing any new facility.

For those who haven't been following it, Lewes 'owners' (ie 1,800 folks who pay £50+ a year for that title) have spent the past week voting on whether to sell off 51% of their women's team to an American investment company for £5.1m.

It's just the women's team (not the men) that investment company Mercury 13 are interested in and their business plan revolves around building Lewes into a WSL team.

The Dripping Pan is smaller than the lowest average attendance in the WSL (and not easily expandable) so seems impractical as a long-term venue for their women if so.

I guess they could play at Crawley if Brighton's women move to their own dedicated site, but something in B&H used by both sides seems more geographically sensible.

Obviously this is reliant on Lewes owners/fans voting in favour of the £5.1m investment (the vote ended 5pm yesterday so the result is imminent) but having two well funded women's team sharing a dedicated stadium makes a lot of financial sense.

You'd think if that is an option it might count against Lancing (due to distance from Lewes as well as not being in the B&H council area).

Whilst Withdean might be feasible, would the inclusion of Lewes women (with links to LDC and the proximity of the council border) make a 10k capacity mini-Amex close to the actual one in Falmer (ie essentially halfway between Lewes and central B&H) the most viable option?

That's not a factor. They're not allowed to play away from the Pan as part of any potential agreement

 

[stewart12]

So rendering it unusable for an athletics meet then?

oops I meant temporary not permanent

 

[stewart12]

something like the Saracens home ground is my thinking. Keep the north stand, have a large-ish covered south stand and covered seating behind each goal (that could be removed for athletics meetings)

re: the locals. A lot of their initial fears were born from a misguided reputation of football fans and in particular Brighton fans and they imagined us rampaging through the streets of Withdean and Westdene smashing up their nice suburban homes etc. Surely by the time we left they were kind of fine with it, and crowds at womens games are SO different (very few away fans for one). Football has moved on a lot since the late 90's

but it would probably involve buying the site from the council which they may be reluctant to do

 

[fataddick]

That's not a factor. They're not allowed to play away from the Pan as part of any potential agreement

That's not quite right. They couldn't move elsewhere without the agreement of the main Lewes FC (ie presumably another vote amongst the full fan ownership).

There are so many hurdles to clear before the issue would even come up (ie the M13 vote passing, Lewes women staying up this season, Lewes women being promoted to the WSL in a future season, then reaching a point where the Pan's capacity is deemed no longer sufficient, identifying an alternative venue - eg a Brighton women groundshare - then voting on the issue) that we're talking about at least a couple of years from now.

Stadia don't pop up overnight and the timeline for a Brighton women's stadium is also going to be at least a couple of years. This whole discussion is about theoretical future developments and including Lewes women as a potential factor in that seems sensible to me (covering all bases).

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

Lewes & The Albion women will not share they are direct rivals and it is not in Mr Blooms mindset I am sure of that. Brighton council have already implied that they are looking to bring the Albion women back to the Brighton conurbation, they will have already been in touch with the Albion and sites probably mooted.

 

[Braggfan]

That is true, they could move if they had the agreement of the the rest of the club/owners. which firstly i don't they'd get. But also i don't think they'd want to.
I don't imagine it would be that difficult to develop the dripping pan. We're not talking about making it fit for 20,000. They'd be looking to get 5000, 6000? I would think the pan could be developed to hold that.

Most likely the grass bank that runs down the whole side of the pitch could be developed. The terrace behind the far end goal could be built on. Even the existing stand could be redeveloped. Everything about Lewes as a club, is that its a community based club. Taking the women out of that community would seem to be at odds with everything they're trying to do.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

something like the Saracens home ground is my thinking. Keep the north stand, have a large-ish covered south stand and covered seating behind each goal (that could be removed for athletics meetings)

re: the locals. A lot of their initial fears were born from a misguided reputation of football fans and in particular Brighton fans and they imagined us rampaging through the streets of Withdean and Westdene smashing up their nice suburban homes etc. Surely by the time we left they were kind of fine with it, and crowds at womens games are SO different (very few away fans for one). Football has moved on a lot since the late 90's

but it would probably involve buying the site from the council which they may be reluctant to do

Saracens are one of my customers, so I know Copthall / Allianz Park / StoneX Stadium pretty well.

The problem is that 'temporary stands' are not 'temporary' to the point that they can be erected and dismantled through the course of a season. Those stands go up and stay up for the entire rugby season, and athletics meets are only possible in a short summer window (same at West Ham / London Stadium). The surrounds of the astro-turf rugby pitch also include an astro carpet that covers at least half of the running track surface.

 

[halbpro]

So more seriously, while the Velodrome would be very good for me personally, you'd lose a good cycling track as well as the cricket ground that exists inside the track and is (in my experience) pretty well used. It would also likely impact the tennis courts that are next to the track, and I can't see it getting significant support from residents. The amount of footfall currently is likely substantially less than what Brighton see at the Broadfield, let alone a stadium in Brighton.

I think the greyhound track does have decent potential for redevelopment, but again removing existing facilities is always going to make things far far tougher and I don't think it's what the club is about.

Honestly, putting it on the Brighton University site between their buildings and the train line is probably the best option, if viable. Beyond the advantages of shared infrastructure with the Amex, the stadium would basically advertise itself just by existing.

The other site I've seen mooted is Toads Hole Valley, but I believe planning permission has already been granted for a new neighbourhood development there?