Half a million quid

[Uncle Buck]

of course I am an idiot as i have got an opinion that differs from yours!!!

nice one!

There are certain things you say that hit a chord. I try not to disagree with the current board, but I am quickly coming to the decision that a Supporters Trust needs setting up and something along the line of BISA needs forming. At the end of the day, we are in this current mess because people did not start asking questions of the previous regime until the principle asset had been sold and maybe there is the need for some outside scrutiny, rather than just agreeing that everything is OK.

 

[CHAPPERS]

Surely we all know the ins and outs of why Falmer hasn't been given the green light yet? Personally I do not see how it's the boards fault at all, but maybe I don't know the full story. All I know is that they have done their BEST to come up with a viable plan for a stadium in a city that is landlocked by the Downs and where there is very little viable space for putting a football stadium. This has cost them a lot of money PERSONALLY and has has very strong opposition from a bunch of people of don't seem to know their arses from their elbows but have somehow managed to push the club to the brink with their BOLLOCKS arguments about BATS which somehow fooled the Planning Inspector into ruling that Falmer is the not the best site for a football ground.

I find it insulting and plain stupid to say you don't trust somebody who SAVED the club from extinction and pumped money into a cause that we all love to the death especially as we are SO close to fulfilling the dreams of thousands of people, I would not want anybody but the current boasrd running this club right now even if they have pissed me off a bit recently.

If you can come up with a viable argument anout why you shouldn't trust them which cannot be blown out of the water by anyone with half a brain then I'll be VERY surprised.

Now f*** off and read 'Build a Bonfire' before you come back with your tail betwen your legs.

f*** SAKE.













Aaaaaaaaaaaaand relax.

 

[Meade's Ball]

what idea have i plucked from thin air?

That we haven't got a ground yet and its taken 8 years to sort something out.

I accept that some people may have different opinions but obviously some people can't accept a different opinion that they don't agree with

Is that not the idea of a chat forum then?

Its all about opinions in football that's why diff

Shut up you different-opinion-owner! I don't want to hear your blasphemy.

 

[WATF0RD ZERO]

If i could paraphrase chappers ...............


Do you know anything about the club (finances, stadium, league position etc) that Dick Knight inherited ?

 

[Seagullible]

what idea have i plucked from thin air?

That we haven't got a ground yet and its taken 8 years to sort something out.

I accept that some people may have different opinions but obviously some people can't accept a different opinion that they don't agree with

Is that not the idea of a chat forum then?

Its all about opinions in football that's why diff

What annoyed me is your distrust of the board.I appreciate I've been luckty and spoken to Dick Knight on many occasions and know he is a shrewd businessman who LOVES the Albion and would do nothing to harm it. The stadium delays are more down to NIMBY's putting as many spanners in the works as possible meaning the club has to firmly close and lock all doors behind them before they can get to the next stage of the process.
I would add that at no point did I call you an idiot

 

[Pavilionaire]

SFC, the board's hands have been tied by having to work to a planning framework that has thrown up obstacles to the stadium every step of the way.

They have being committing private capital into the club without any guarantees of a return, against the backdrop of the post-ITV Digital football collapse.

During the Knight stewardship of this club we have risen to our highest league position for 10 years or so.

I doubt if there is anyone out there who wants Falmer to happen more than Dick Knight and his board, and there doesn't appear to be much more they could be doing to get it to happen...

 

[Silver flying chariot]

pavilionaire (can't cut and post not sure how to!!) you make some very valid points in your post!

I have supported the albion since 1990.

I look at this board all the time I just don't post on it often. I know the feeling on this board and I know exactly what has happened in the last few years with regard to falmer and the situation

I am just fed up of hearing the same old crappy excuses from the board. I am sure they are doing the best they can, it just seems that there is no respect given to the fans, they don't care. the fans are constantly bailing the club out e.g 40 note fund, alive and kicking fund and don't get me started on the "buy a brick with your name on it at falmer" Any other business offered me the same service I would have been gone ages ago. Football is different, you can't just go and support another club!!

 

[Silver flying chariot]

I have read build a bonfire thank you (Chaman's saviour) and I was around when the bad old days were here!!

Sorry i disagree with you about the state of the club at present. IN MY OPINION I think that we should be asking more questions about what is happening. I am not saying the board aren't faced with difficult circumstances but how long are we going to give them. IN MY OPINION 11 years is NOT ACCEPTABLE!!

and I won't appologise for my opinion!

 

[CHAPPERS]

I have read build a bonfire thank you (Chaman's saviour) and I was around when the bad old days were here!!

Sorry i disagree with you about the state of the club at present. IN MY OPINION I think that we should be asking more questions about what is happening. I am not saying the board aren't faced with difficult circumstances but how long are we going to give them. IN MY OPINION 11 years is NOT ACCEPTABLE!!

and I won't appologise for my opinion!

Not asking you to mate. Might have gone a bit ott there but the semtiments are the same. I know what you mean about asking questions of the board but what do you want to ask them exactly??

Saying you don't trust them just seems a tad silly (IMHO) to me.
They quite clearly have the clubs best interests at heart and have made an excellent case for Falmer.

We're not gonna agree on this are we? Sorry to have gone a bit overboard but i'm having one of those days.

 

[Pavilionaire]

SFC, I agree with you that the fans are being asked to contribute well over the odds financially, but I believe that the club wouldn't be asking for money unless they REALLY needed it.

I want to see the Albion around in 50 years time, which is why I'll continue to pay in, go the Fund Raiser tonight etc.

I've been to several fans forums and it is clear that the board DO genuinely care and appreciate the fans, but I feel they need to learn to be more open about finances and communicate information quicker via the website.

The club can't do much else apart from wait for the enquiry to re-open, keep the wolf from the door money-wise and hope that we get the results on the pitch.


Keep the faith.

 

[Ernest]

The question is are the present board not trust worthy but are they actually competent enough to run a football club under these extreme circumstances whilst planning a new ground.

 

[Meade's Ball]

I have read build a bonfire thank you (Chaman's saviour) and I was around when the bad old days were here!!

Sorry i disagree with you about the state of the club at present. IN MY OPINION I think that we should be asking more questions about what is happening. I am not saying the board aren't faced with difficult circumstances but how long are we going to give them. IN MY OPINION 11 years is NOT ACCEPTABLE!!

and I won't appologise for my opinion!

You sound incredibly stupid because of it. You think the board are responsible for that 11 YEARS, yet all the facts point to factors out of their control.
If you have any better ideas, then tell us and the board and we'll all be happy. But if you're just going to witter on like an angry simpleton, it gets us nowhere.
There are questions about the openness of the board and it's true that we are not always fed enough information, but that oughtn't lead you to the conclusion that they are incompetent or thieves. It's all just so tiresome.

 

[caz99]

do you know what thats what i was thinking this morning, its all so tiring. supporting the club is tiring, why cant we just be normal sometimes and now have all these worries all the time.

i dont agree with Silver Chariot however i do think its a tad unfair to have such a go at him just cos his opinion differs from so many of ours.

 

[Curious Orange]

The fact that we haven't played in our own stadium since 1997 is entirely down to the inadequecies of the planning system. Don't forget that there was a referenndum that backed building at Falmer and the City Planning Committee was minded to give consent years ago. It is only because of objections from authorities NOT in Brighton & Hove that the stadium has not yet been built.

 

[Silver flying chariot]

not a problem.

We aren't going to agree on it and thats fine.



the board have got the clubs best interests at heart, I just find it hard to accept it has taken this long to sort and it still isn't happening (at the moment) there are no bricks on the floor and no crane's building the stands! we have put all our eggs in one basket and if falmer doesn't happen what then

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

what idea have i plucked from thin air?

That we haven't got a ground yet and its taken 8 years to sort something out.

OK, its taken 8 years - but follow the process that's happened and how can it have taken any less?

First we had to stay alive as a club. The board trimmed costs and streamlined affairs so that we didn't go under or get relegated (which would have amounted to the same thing)

Then they realised that we could only afford a new stadium if we kept our fanbase alive. So the plan to come back to Brighton was put in place, which involved identifying a site, preparing it for football, ensuring local residents demands were satisfied, along with those of the council, the stadium operators and the football legaue. So we came back to Withdean. It took time. It cost money.

Next we had to identify a site that would get planning permission - the council asked us to evaluate each available site in advance. We did that. It cost money. It took time. Falmer was chosen as the only possible site and the council duly gave planning permission , but not before their own lengthy process, including organising the referendum and requesting us to produce a complete business plan.

Then the planning application was called to public enquiry. That has taken an obscene amount of time and money, and not of our doing.

The inspector ruled against the planning application, but JP has partially overruled that, and we go back to the enquiry stage again.

Finally we will have to build it, which will also take time. and money.

Where in all this could we cut time or costs?

..and its statements like this :

more money to pay for expensive lawyers and coporate dinners.

which get you called an idiot.

 

[Easy 10]

Kalimantan has summarised it brilliantly.

Its so easy to snipe and criticise from the sidelines, but nobody EVER comes up with any tangible alternatives as to what Dick Knight and the board could or should have done differently. This f***ing Falmer inquiry is royally pissing EVERYONE off, it just never seems to end. But DK and MP are doing everything within their power to get us that stadium - what else could they possibly have done ? And despite all this shit going on, we are still holding our own in the Championship.

Most other clubs would have withered and died by now under the circumstances we have had to endure over the last 8 years. Some would do well to remember that.

 

[Seagullible]

Kalimantan has summarised it brilliantly.

Its so easy to snipe and criticise from the sidelines, but nobody EVER comes up with any tangible alternatives as to what Dick Knight and the board could or should have done differently. This f***ing Falmer inquiry is royally pissing EVERYONE off, it just never seems to end. But DK and MP are doing everything within their power to get us that stadium - what else could they possibly have done ? And despite all this shit going on, we are still holding our own in the Championship.

Most other clubs would have withered and died by now under the circumstances we have to endure. Some would do well to remember that.

 

[The Auditor]

There are certain things you say that hit a chord. I try not to disagree with the current board, but I am quickly coming to the decision that a Supporters Trust needs setting up and something along the line of BISA needs forming. At the end of the day, we are in this current mess because people did not start asking questions of the previous regime until the principle asset had been sold and maybe there is the need for some outside scrutiny, rather than just agreeing that everything is OK.

Spot on...Why do people get so excited when the decisions of the board are questioned?....horses and stable doors?.. faith and trust yes ..blind faith no

Whats happening on the Supporters Trust?

 

[teaboy]

Just a brief thought in a hypothetical hind-sight sort of a way.

Would we have been better off stayins at Gillingham for 2 more years whilst preparing a local site (inc. Withdean) for a permanant move? This would have removed the 'temporary' clause in the Withdean stay, making it an easier permamant home.

Or would this situation (staying away from Brighton) led to us 'doing a Wimbledon' and eventually being Franchise FC 2?

Any thoughts?