[Albion] Brighton Women's Home Ground?

[Terry Butcher Tribute Act]

I can't believe people are talking about Preston Park in this thread. Insanity. But yes I'm sure the residents of Preston Drove and Preston Park Avenue will be fine with a state of the art stadium rocking up on the park.

 

[rippleman]

I can't believe people are talking about Preston Park in this thread. Insanity. But yes I'm sure the residents of Preston Drove and Preston Park Avenue will be fine with a state of the art stadium rocking up on the park.

Wherever the new ground eventually ends up, there will always be nimbys to overcome.

I'm not sure the University / close to the Amex would be practical given the potential for fixture clashes. So many mens games get switched to accommodate the TV masters. Most WSL home games are on a Sunday and the men had plenty enough games on a Sunday before we got involved in Europe. It's a great option if we can sort out who is playing on a Sunday when the fixtures first come out and then there are no changes to the fixtures.

What happens if M home on Saturday and W home on Sunday - then Sky decides they want the M playing on the Sunday as well. It would just be an endless kerfuffle.

Withdean would seem to be the better option

 

[Terry Butcher Tribute Act]

Wherever the new ground eventually ends up, there will always be nimbys to overcome.

I'm not sure the University / close to the Amex would be practical given the potential for fixture clashes. So many mens games get switched to accommodate the TV masters. Most WSL home games are on a Sunday and the men had plenty enough games on a Sunday before we got involved in Europe. It's a great option if we can sort out who is playing on a Sunday when the fixtures first come out and then there are no changes to the fixtures.

What happens if M home on Saturday and W home on Sunday - then Sky decides they want the M playing on the Sunday as well. It would just be an endless kerfuffle.

Withdean would seem to be the better option

Man City women play on the Etihad campus no bother. Why would Brighton Uni be any different

 

[Kuipers Supporters Club]

I asked AI, and to be fair ...

 

[Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo]

Man City women play on the Etihad campus no bother. Why would Brighton Uni be any different

Quite.

At the moment Brighton's WSL fixtures appear to flip flop with Crawley's League Two games to ensure the ground isn't in use two consecutive days over a weekend. That could easily be changed to tie in with our men's team fixtures and home WSL games could be scheduled for weekends the mens side is playing away. This would avoid any problems with Premier League games getting moved for TV etc. Cup fixtures may cause some clashes but it's not likely to be many a season.

 

[dazzer6666]

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?

Not so sure - would be quite awkward for them to groundshare with WSL and WC both almost always being played on Sundays. Lewes have also had a new 750k pitch laid, paid for by the FA within the women’s game.

Vote is in favour of the investment so looks like that will progress but not sure what it means long term. The way Lewes are playing, they are in very real danger of dropping to T3 next season which might impact plans too.

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

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.

It is also well used by a cricket team.

 

[fataddick]

Following on from my groundshare hot potato, I was at the Pan last night for the Charlton game and Lewes were (to my surprise) the better side, only a dodgy injury time penalty decision giving us the win.

I didn't overhear any arguments between Yes/No voters and the attendance was above average for them (1k-ish) suggesting little hissy fit boycotting.

There is a general antipathy to the concept of groundsharing in this country. I can understand that when it means 'squatting' elsewhere, Charlton at Selhurst or Albion at Gillingham style.

If it's a stadium that is originally built for, and geographically suited to, both clubs (Munich or Milan style) then there are huge advantages, not least in terms of usage, shared costs/overheads, extra green-ness (like a car share but a building), etc.

Falmer is in a unique position, straddling the Lewes/B&H county border, being as close by train to the centre of both, etc. I do think a mini-Amex there built for both women's teams has a lot going for it.

The area immediately west of the Amex (between the trainline and Uni buildings) looks perfect on paper, being the right size for a 10k-ish stadium's footprint and close to the new Fan Zone building that could service both stadia.

I also don't think having games at both stadia on the same Sunday is a crazy idea either as long as they are spaced out. (Most southern WC sides move their home games vs Durham to noon so the away team/fans get home at a decent hour, and Sunday TV games have super variable start times.)

Bear in mind that most of a Falmer Albion women's crowd would likely attend the men's game too, or that a Lewes women's crowd will largely be using road and rail in the opposite direction to the main Albion influx. The pressure on transport/infrastructure (if not parking) is less than might be expected, even before you stagger the start times.

Fast forward to October 2027: A 12.30pm women's game at mini-Amex and a 4pm men's game at actual-Amex (with a pint or two in the Fan Zone in between) sounds like a goodly Sunday, non?

Of course this groundshare idea relies on Lewes hugely boosting their women's crowds, but that (along with the January transfer investment to avoid relegation) is going to be the proof of the Mercury 13 pudding going forward.

Agreeing to move the women's team 300 yards outside of Lewes district may be emotive and rejected, yes… but the people most opposed to that likely voted against the M13 takeover in the first place (and that vote carried easily).

I don't think the idea of a Brighton/Lewes East Sussex Women's Community Stadium at Falmer should be dismissed out of hand by fans of either club, but obviously it ain't my rodeo x

 

[dazzer6666]

Following on from my groundshare hot potato, I was at the Pan last night for the Charlton game and Lewes were (to my surprise) the better side, only a dodgy injury time penalty decision giving us the win.

I didn't overhear any arguments between Yes/No voters and the attendance was above average for them (1k-ish) suggesting little hissy fit boycotting.

There is a general antipathy to the concept of groundsharing in this country. I can understand that when it means 'squatting' elsewhere, Charlton at Selhurst or Albion at Gillingham style.

If it's a stadium that is originally built for, and geographically suited to, both clubs (Munich or Milan style) then there are huge advantages, not least in terms of usage, shared costs/overheads, extra green-ness (like a car share but a building), etc.

Falmer is in a unique position, straddling the Lewes/B&H county border, being as close by train to the centre of both, etc. I do think a mini-Amex there built for both women's teams has a lot going for it.

The area immediately west of the Amex (between the trainline and Uni buildings) looks perfect on paper, being the right size for a 10k-ish stadium's footprint and close to the new Fan Zone building that could service both stadia.

I also don't think having games at both stadia on the same Sunday is a crazy idea either as long as they are spaced out. (Most southern WC sides move their home games vs Durham to noon so the away team/fans get home at a decent hour, and Sunday TV games have super variable start times.)

Bear in mind that most of a Falmer Albion women's crowd would likely attend the men's game too, or that a Lewes women's crowd will largely be using road and rail in the opposite direction to the main Albion influx. The pressure on transport/infrastructure (if not parking) is less than might be expected, even before you stagger the start times.

Fast forward to October 2027: A 12.30pm women's game at mini-Amex and a 4pm men's game at actual-Amex (with a pint or two in the Fan Zone in between) sounds like a goodly Sunday, non?

Of course this groundshare idea relies on Lewes hugely boosting their women's crowds, but that (along with the January transfer investment to avoid relegation) is going to be the proof of the Mercury 13 pudding going forward.

Agreeing to move the women's team 300 yards outside of Lewes district may be emotive and rejected, yes… but the people most opposed to that likely voted against the M13 takeover in the first place (and that vote carried easily).

I don't think the idea of a Brighton/Lewes East Sussex Women's Community Stadium at Falmer should be dismissed out of hand by fans of either club, but obviously it ain't my rodeo x

Again, can't see a groundshare with Lewes women working - WSL and WC games are almost entirely played on Sunday afternoons - and you'd have to include the potential when planning at least that both teams end up in the same division. The M13 investment will take a while to have any impact - you wouldn't have heard much argument from the 'no' lobby last night, as the vast majority of those against it are the (mostly male) dinosaurs who have literally zero interest in the women's game and wouldn't set foot in the place when they're playing. The club is full of them sadly (just have a read through the questions submitted when the consultation paper was released for examples).

 

[fataddick]

Again, can't see a groundshare with Lewes women working - WSL and WC games are almost entirely played on Sunday afternoons - and you'd have to include the potential when planning at least that both teams end up in the same division. The M13 investment will take a while to have any impact - you wouldn't have heard much argument from the 'no' lobby last night, as the vast majority of those against it are the (mostly male) dinosaurs who have literally zero interest in the women's game and wouldn't set foot in the place when they're playing. The club is full of them sadly (just have a read through the questions submitted when the consultation paper was released for examples).

You made a valid point (in your earlier post) re the FA's investment in a new pitch at the Pan, but memories are fleeting and the Lewes pitch needs more work than most being essentially a flood plain (thus historically more waterlogged than most) but surely that's all the more reason to lessen the number of games played on it?

Your point re Lewes and Brighton women both playing at home on Sundays I ignored as I thought you were joking re that being an issue. You are aware that half of a team's games are away from home and the first thing the fixture computers factor in is ensuring that teams who share a home venue don't both play at home on the same weekend?

Back in the day when men's teams almost all played at 3pm on Saturday, teams could comfortably if begrudgingly groundshare (Bristol Rovers @ Bath, Charlton @ Palace/West Ham, Brighton @ Gillingham, etc) and the likes of Inter/AC Milan and Bayern/1860 Munich seem to manage it these days just fine. You generally don't want back to back Saturday/Sunday games (for pitch maintenance reasons) anyway, so the specifics of when a weekend's game is played at Mini-Amex seems irrelevant to me.

Plus the main reason women's game are almost all on Sundays is that there are less fixtures so it's easier to schedule them all on the same day of the week.

For example, there are 24 teams (23 home league games) in each men's EFL division. There are 12 teams (11 home league games) in the WSL/WC. Obviously there are cup games to factor in too, but these will scale more or less similarly (eg less rounds in women's cups due to fewer teams taking part).

So a shared Brighton/Lewes women's ground would host less league games than even an unshared men's EFL ground (and many EFL grounds also host women's games or PL reserve sides etc).

The Dripping Pan currently hosts 32 league games per season (21 men's and 11 women's) whilst the Mini-Amex would host 22 league games. I don't understand how or why you think the latter will make fixture clashes more - rather than less - of an issue. PS Lewes men and women also very rarely play at home on the same weekend anyway - that's kind of the point of the fixture computers.

I get that you don't like the idea of a shared women's stadium for Lewes and Brighton (for whatever reason) and that's absolutely 100% fair enough. Your whole 'you wouldn't be able to fit both team's games in' argument is complete bollocks though imho. No offence intended x

 

[dazzer6666]

You made a valid point (in your earlier post) re the FA's investment in a new pitch at the Pan, but memories are fleeting and the Lewes pitch needs more work than most being essentially a flood plain (thus historically more waterlogged than most) but surely that's all the more reason to lessen the number of games played on it?

Your point re Lewes and Brighton women both playing at home on Sundays I ignored as I thought you were joking re that being an issue. You are aware that half of a team's games are away from home and the first thing the fixture computers factor in is ensuring that teams who share a home venue don't both play at home on the same weekend?

Back in the day when men's teams almost all played at 3pm on Saturday, teams could comfortably if begrudgingly groundshare (Bristol Rovers @ Bath, Charlton @ Palace/West Ham, Brighton @ Gillingham, etc) and the likes of Inter/AC Milan and Bayern/1860 Munich seem to manage it these days just fine. You generally don't want back to back Saturday/Sunday games (for pitch maintenance reasons) anyway, so the specifics of when a weekend's game is played at Mini-Amex seems irrelevant to me.

Plus the main reason women's game are almost all on Sundays is that there are less fixtures so it's easier to schedule them all on the same day of the week.

For example, there are 24 teams (23 home league games) in each men's EFL division. There are 12 teams (11 home league games) in the WSL/WC. Obviously there are cup games to factor in too, but these will scale more or less similarly (eg less rounds in women's cups due to fewer teams taking part).

So a shared Brighton/Lewes women's ground would host less league games than even an unshared men's EFL ground (and many EFL grounds also host women's games or PL reserve sides etc).

The Dripping Pan currently hosts 32 league games per season (21 men's and 11 women's) whilst the Mini-Amex would host 22 league games. I don't understand how or why you think the latter will make fixture clashes more - rather than less - of an issue. PS Lewes men and women also very rarely play at home on the same weekend anyway - that's kind of the point of the fixture computers.

I get that you don't like the idea of a shared women's stadium for Lewes and Brighton (for whatever reason) and that's absolutely 100% fair enough. Your whole 'you wouldn't be able to fit both team's games in' argument is complete bollocks though imho. No offence intended x

Personally wouldn’t mind a shared ground so no need to think for me thanks - just can’t see it happening. Knowing the people in and around Lewes Women I’d be very surprised if they’d go for it. The new pitch had all the necessary drainage work done.

 

[halbpro]

Quite.

At the moment Brighton's WSL fixtures appear to flip flop with Crawley's League Two games to ensure the ground isn't in use two consecutive days over a weekend. That could easily be changed to tie in with our men's team fixtures and home WSL games could be scheduled for weekends the mens side is playing away. This would avoid any problems with Premier League games getting moved for TV etc. Cup fixtures may cause some clashes but it's not likely to be many a season.

Yeah, most teams share a men's stadium so the league are perfectly capable of arranging things to avoid clashes like that. The fact the women's fixtures come out a month or two after the men's fixtures makes it fairly easy to sort

 

[Change at Barnham]

Brighton planning a purpose-built stadium for their women’s team - The Athletic

Intro:
Brighton & Hove Albion are pressing ahead with plans for a stadium built specifically for their women’s team, the first of its kind in Europe.

The club have been working for several months on identifying a shortlist of sites, within the city’s boundaries, for a purpose-built ground with a capacity of around 10,000 to give the women’s team a permanent home of their own.
The quest to find a suitable venue is gathering pace following support for the project from Brighton & Hove Council.

and some more.......

Chief executive Paul Barber says: “If we can find the right site we will be able to create a smaller stadium that will create a more intimate atmosphere, a better atmosphere for the players and the fans, and help promote women and girls football in the city.

“And if we can design it in such a way that it’s specific for female athletes, then it would probably be the first of its kind (in Europe), which will be another huge landmark for the club, the city and for women’s football.”

Brighton and Hove Council passed a motion in support of the project at a meeting in October. Council leader Bella Sankey, a Brighton fan, is spearheading the local authority’s backing.

The full article from the Athletic is available via the link above.

 

[Milano]

Get a site big enough to expand it to 45k if needed, 8k ‘north stand’, swap……..

 

[halbpro]

Athletic article is well written enough, but nothing new of substance in it. Doubt we'll have much movement till spring at the earliest

 

[Terry Butcher Tribute Act]

Athletic article is well written enough, but nothing new of substance in it. Doubt we'll have much movement till spring at the earliest

Just a classic case of Barber trying to whip up headlines about how wonderful we are before we've actually done anything. Like when people were wanking off about Graham Potter getting us to 15th. Incredible PR

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

Just a classic case of Barber trying to whip up headlines about how wonderful we are before we've actually done anything. Like when people were wanking off about Graham Potter getting us to 15th. Incredible PR

Your definitely a glass half full because I spilled it on the way back from the bar type of person aren't you.

 

[PeterT]

Get a site big enough to expand it to 45k if needed, 8k ‘north stand’, swap……..

Maybe Albion could take on running of the Christmas market too…..

 

[dazzer6666]

Lewes Women/Mercury investment deal is off.

 

[Hamilton]

Lewes Women/Mercury investment deal is off.

Yep. Sad, but if the Board couldn’t square it with their equality values, then fair play for standing firm. That’s integrity.

From what I’m reading, I am guessing that the investment in the women’s team would have to have included investment in all parts of the community. Mercury clearly wanted to focus only on the Women’s first team and no other pathways or initiatives.

Having met a couple of the board there I have to say that their integrity is sky high. They are first class people.