What would have happened if we stayed at The Goldstone?

[Kev_England]

Would we have ever been able to upgrade the Goldstone to the type of staduim being built at Falmer?

I just can't see that it would have been possible to increase the footprint of the Goldstone due to the surrounding roads/houses. So the only alternative would have been to build upwards. But I still dont see it being as good as whats going up in Falmer.

Parking? At the Goldstone there wasnt any. My mum still lives 2 blocks from The Goldstone and its all resident parking permits now.

Pubs? The Goldstone wins here: lots of decent pubs in walking distance.

I'm just wondering if we stayed at the Goldstone if they'd be thoughts of moving anyway?

 

[Return of the Rev]

I Lived In Mark Lawrenson Old House! Nice Wallpaper

Not Aloud To Build Higher On The East Terrace.
Plus It Would Have Spoilt My View Of The Games From My Garden.
I Think Most Of Goldstone Lane Residents Were Sorry To Swap The Goldstone For A Wharehouse.

 

[BensGrandad]

To have extended The Goldstone we would have had to buy the houses overlooking the ground, which Peter Taylor (1) wanted to do. More realistically we would have relocated at our speed rather than as being dictated to by LDC. I think that we would have had a ground 5 years ago because who ever was in charge would have built a new ground in an acceptable place be it the dog track, Beeding wherever, They wouldnt have had the problems to over come that the existing board have. This was all down to one reason we were homeless so desperate.

 

[Don Quixote]

It was good enough as it was

 

[Zesh Rehman]

It was good enough as it was

well it wasnt, it had all closed down

 

[Gully]

Very true about the homeless and desperate bit, which is why I worry for the future of Horsham who now play in Worthing having left Queen Street without their new home sorted out...also local to me I was chatting with someone last week who said that Gloucester City are on the point of folding because the council here, rugby obsessed prats, aren't being particularly helpful with their bid to sort a ground out...remember the pics from the floods with the water about a foot from the top of their goalposts!

 

[BensGrandad]

It was good enough as it was

It was falling to pieces and probably wouldnt have got another safety certificate on it without great expenditure. The East Terrace was virtually closed and would not have been in use now.

 

[Kev_England]

It was good enough as it was

Were the bogs ever upgraded?
The last game I saw there in the late 80's the bogs were still basically 4 walls with a trough around it and no roof. Not that that was a problem, but honestly the whole place was becoming a bit of a dump.

Of course, I miss it too. Walked past there every day on my walk to school (Blatch Mill).

 

[Return of the Rev]

Knees Up In The Chicken Run

Brighton V Rochdale Night Game 34,700 Inside And A Few Thousand Outside. No Better Ground In The World That Night.
Wouldn't Let Us Do That These Days.

 

[bhaexpress]

It was good enough as it was

What drugs were you taking back then ?

 

[portlock seagull]

Were the bogs ever upgraded?
The last game I saw there in the late 80's the bogs were still basically 4 walls with a trough around it and no roof. Not that that was a problem, but honestly the whole place was becoming a bit of a dump.

Just like Gillingham then?

 

[Freddie Goodwin.]

It was certainly policy of those latter owners to run the Goldstone down to the state that it became. It could have been decent enough if invested in over the years.

What if those factories/garages behind the South had gone and Albion had built a big South Stand with changing rooms, offices etc. The stand could then have been built, like at birmingham, along the West and north.. A 2 tier all seater.

The East would have to be all seater & covered and would have to slope towards the south.

It could have worked. See what Notts County & even gills have done with limited space.

Falmer will still be better though.

 

[Paxton Dazo]

Falmer will still be better though.

But given the choice, playing at the Goldstone or Falmer..surely you would pick Goldstone?

Of course Falmer will look nicer..but it will be all seater..and the same as most new football grounds?

 

[Horsham Gull]

The Taylor report would have forced the board to make the upgrades surely?

 

[Cian]

The Taylor report would have forced the board to make the upgrades surely?

The Taylor Report was published in 1990 - I don't think it really had major affects on clubs at the arse end of the league, and one would hope there'd have been upgrade/remedial work done before the 2000s and the Championship years...

Repairs and bootstrap upgrades to barely meet safety standards are almost always possible and not that pricey either.

 

[Freddie Goodwin.]

But given the choice, playing at the Goldstone or Falmer..surely you would pick Goldstone?

Of course Falmer will look nicer..but it will be all seater..and the same as most new football grounds?

The Goldstone was a magical place for those who stood in a 30,000 crowd but itwould have had to have been virtually rebuilt to stay where it was.

Perry has always said falmer would have the 'WOW' factor andI really hope we can get a ground with character that makes it really stand out as our ground rather than just another modern, functional, stadium.

 

[Icy Gull]

More to the point, what would have happened if the club had received the real value of the Goldstone which was over 20 million rather than the paltry 6 million Stanley and Archer achieved?

 

[Gully]

Very good point Icy, that would have pretty much paid for Falmer 6 or 7 years ago and we wouldn't have suffered to loss of income or dent to our fanbase either.

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

More to the point, what would have happened if the club had received the real value of the Goldstone which was over 20 million rather than the paltry 6 million Stanley and Archer achieved?

That's what the original question was about I believe. Of course the ground would have needed sorting out or we would have had to move, but...

- we would have had the capital from the sale of the ground
- we'd have had a base in Brighton during the biggest boom in post-war football crowds
- we'd have had larger crowd and therefore more revenue
- we would not have spent £10m or more fighting for a new ground
- we'd have moved on our terms
- we'd still have a local fan base
- a generation would have grown up with football on the door step

I have little doubt that we could have been in higher divisions, maybe with spells in the Prem. I expect we'd have been a yo-yo side, but it was achievable when you consider that we got to the second tier despite our problems.

We lost out on a great deal by losing our ground and moving to Kent and then Withdean. But, we are still in business (unlike some) and we appear to be in as strong a position as many with permission to build a new stadium.

But, what could have been...

 

[drew]

It was certainly policy of those latter owners to run the Goldstone down to the state that it became. It could have been decent enough if invested in over the years.The ground was already heading for decay before Stanley/Archer/Bellotti put the boot in.

What if those factories/garages behind the South had gone and Albion had built a big South Stand with changing rooms, offices etc. The stand could then have been built, like at birmingham, along the West and north.. A 2 tier all seater.We were massively in debt so where would we find the money to buy prime commercial properties?

The East would have to be all seater & covered and would have to slope towards the south.A sloping east covered seating area? Not sure that would be good.

Falmer will still be better though.Couldn't agree more

The Taylor Report was published in 1990 - I don't think it really had major affects on clubs at the arse end of the league, and one would hope there'd have been upgrade/remedial work done before the 2000s and the Championship years...

Repairs and bootstrap upgrades to barely meet safety standards are almost always possible and not that pricey either.Not much ambition there then. Lets be honest, we need minimum 20,000 seats to start to progress if we want to get in the championship, stay there then push for the premiership

More to the point, what would have happened if the club had received the real value of the Goldstone which was over 20 million rather than the paltry 6 million Stanley and Archer achieved?Exactly, I have never fathomed why Archer who, lets be honest, seems an astute (if somewhat shady) business man, let so much slip away. It wouldn't have been his money but he would have been in a better bargaining position when he had to sell his shares.

Personally, as much as I loved the games when we had a full house, the Goldstone was not a great stadium. Forget match days and look at photos of it empty. The main stand was past it and didn't even run the length of the pitch. The east terrace was empty and decaying and the south stand was relatively small. The North stand, if we had stayed, would have had to become all seater. There were some great games there, Ipswich and Derby in the League cup in 76 but I am looking forward to Falmer and hopefully a packed stadium (well, for a few games at least).