What Now If Still Goldstone

[HAMPSHIRE DAVE]

Looking at Mike Floate's web-site and the pictures of the Goldstone ground it made me think how much more now than
our present place would the Goldstone have held?
The east terrace would have been made all seated likewise the north stand terrace.
That would have cut the capacity by half.
The only place that may still have had standing was in front of the main stand.
Plymouth for some reason are still allowed standing in their main stand.
Please don't get me wrong,I would love the Goldstone to still be around but the capacity would have been really small with safety
regulations.
www.mikefloate.clara.co.uk:albion:

 

[Napper]

one of the problems would be that the terracing would of had to be re-done. Even so despite what is said by alot of people if. 10,000 seats would still of been good

 

[Safeway]

I'm convinced that if we'd have stayed at The Goldstone there's no way we'd have enjoyed the recent 'glory years'. No Adams, no Zamora, no titles and no play-off final. Gritt (or even worse, Case)would have stayed and we'd have just drifted on and would have been promoted from the Third at best. The Goldstone would have declined further into disrepair. No roof would ever get put on the east terrace and eventually even more parts would have been condemned. It would have been an embarrassing wreck.

What happened in '97 galvanised the club. It brought everyone together - the fans, the board and the players.

Of course we need Falmer for the club to ultimately survive, but I still think we'll end up better off in the long run for losing the old ground.

Many people credit Micky Adams for the current team spirit, but I reckon that was created during the 1996/97 season, cemented at Edgar Street and continued to grow through the Priestfield years to what it's been recently.

 

[Happy Seagull]

Wasn't the capacity around 11,000 during its final season? Surely with an all seater Goldstone, we wouldn't have got too many more seats than we have at Withdean?

Also like Safeway said, who knows if we would ever have got this close to a new stadium if we hadn't of been f***ed over all those years ago.

 

[bhafc99]

I'm convinced that if we'd have stayed at The Goldstone there's no way we'd have enjoyed the recent 'glory years'. No Adams, no Zamora, no titles and no play-off final. Gritt (or even worse, Case)would have stayed and we'd have just drifted on and would have been promoted from the Third at best. The Goldstone would have declined further into disrepair. No roof would ever get put on the east terrace and eventually even more parts would have been condemned. It would have been an embarrassing wreck.

What happened in '97 galvanised the club. It brought everyone together - the fans, the board and the players.

Of course we need Falmer for the club to ultimately survive, but I still think we'll end up better off in the long run for losing the old ground.

Many people credit Micky Adams for the current team spirit, but I reckon that was created during the 1996/97 season, cemented at Edgar Street and continued to grow through the Priestfield years to what it's been recently.

Some fair points in there, and I agree with your broad argument. But I don't think there was much team spirit or direction for much of the time we were at Gillingham. Off the pitch the work began with Dick Knight and the move to Withdean, but on the pitch it's hard to see that era as a good or galvanising one.

 

[Storer68]

.

What happened in '97 galvanised the club. It brought everyone together - the fans, the board and the players.

Of course we need Falmer for the club to ultimately survive, but I still think we'll end up better off in the long run for losing the old ground.

Many people credit Micky Adams for the current team spirit, but I reckon that was created during the 1996/97 season, cemented at Edgar Street and continued to grow through the Priestfield years to what it's been recently.

We continued to grow at Priestfield?

No , all we did at Prietfield was exist. We achieved nothing else except keep going. On the pitch 97-8 was miles worse than 96-7 quality wise. It was our life support system but ultimately only enabled us to survive. It has been being at Withdean that has made us propser

 

[Safeway]

I'm not saying the CLUB grew during Gillingham, of course it didn't. It did what you say - existed.

I'm just saying the TOGETHERNESS grew. The whole 'Bring Home the Albion' campaign, culminating with the return to Withdean.

 

[Icy Gull]

Safeway is right about the Goldstone. The atmosphere at the Goldstone post Cattlin and pre Case was shite. The team weren't much good and there was an air of resignation that we'd seen our best years and we were on the slide. In fact it was very similar to Withdean now, so maybe it's just that we are shit fans at home Everyone blames the facilities at Withdean but apart from the glory years of 20,000 plus crowds we haven't been any better than below average as a home crowd for 20 years. Except for the 3 months before Hereford and the occasional cup games against Manchester United or Liverpool, we've been as quiet as church mice at home

 

[Brovion]

Wise words Mr Safeway. I agree with your analysis of the Priestfield years as well. Granted we were still crap on the pitch but the 'togetherness' grew. Remember the 'Bring home the Albion' campaign?

I was once told that the Chinese word for 'crisis' is the same as the Chinese word for 'opportunity' (Not being able to speak Chinese I don't know how true that is but it's a nice homily) and I think as a club we made the most of the 'opportunity' of 1997. It's an odd fact that we've achieved far more without a proper ground than we ever did for about 95% of the time we were at the Goldstone and I put that down to the "Spirit of '97"

 

[dougdeep]

I bet the toilets at the back of the chicken-run would be just as bad!

 

[timbha]

agree with Safeway, and.... NSC would not exist, Paul Samrah would be a part time DJ for Saga, Martin Perry would still work for Mc Alpine, most of us wouldn't be season ticket holders, I'd have more money, no trophies for the Albion, Withdean would have been comdemned for H&S reasons, Gillingham would still have a crap stand and someone would have got to Bellotti in the West Stand and be serving a prison sentence.

Losing the GG was probably a turning point, though still a tragedy that the council should answer to.

I understand that a covenant did not permit a roof over the Chicken Run, although many years ago the club turned down the chance to buy all the land to the south of the ground, Peugeot garage, etc which would have given scope to change the entire layout.

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

14,500 all seater, and Hampshire Dave, this is the 4th/5th time this thread has been posted in the last 12 months, you may have only 41 posts but that's no fuggin excuse for starting yet another thread on this subject

Hic.

 

[dougdeep]

14,500 all seater, and Hampshire Dave, this is the 4th/5th time this thread has been posted in the last 12 months, you may have only 41 posts but that's no fuggin excuse for starting yet another thread on this subject

Hic.

If we only had original threads on here we would be down to about one a day by now. Perhaps you would care to start one.

 

[BensGrandad]

The team rebuilding began with Nobby Horton at the end of Gillingham.

 

[mr turd]

Capacity was around 14k when we left,or should i say got bunged out the ground wasn't really built for all seater looking at it,and it was getting worse by the year.

Reckon it would look a right dump now

 

[e77]

We will never know !

I wonder what would have happened if Horton/Adams/Taylor and/or Coppell had stayed.

 

[Happy Seagull]

Capacity was around 14k

I thought it was alot closer to 10/11,000?

 

[Box of Frogs]

Would we have moved to a new stadium or would/could we have developed the Goldstone?!?!

Was losing the Goldstone Ground the necessary evil to get us to where we are today?

 

[Superphil]

Ivor Caplin had negotiated for the compulsory purchase of the business units behind the south stand to allow the whole pitch to be rotated by 90 degrees, thus allowing suitable development and expansion. I think he explained all this when he was on the Albion Roar last year. Archer wasn't interested because it didn't involve him earning a chunk of money from sale of it as real estate.

So there was a possible future at the Goldstone, but we didn’t have TBs money to do anything about it.

 

[worthingseagull123]

Could be fun imagining how it could have been redeveloped.

A two tier North and South Stand and a three tier West Stand.

Maybe the East stand being low and long like the old West Stand at Filbert St.

Maybe an all seater capacity of 24,000?