will night games ever be special again?

[Return of the Rev]

During the 70's night games drew some great gates at the goldstone
derby at home 33,500 palace 33,300 rochdale 34,765
All big games but the crowds were better because it was a midweek fixture,saturday players got a chance to swell the ranks,now it seems midweek games mean thousands of empty seats,will this ever change

 

[Notters]

During the 70's night games drew some great gates at the goldstone
derby at home 33,500 palace 33,300 rochdale 34,765
All big games but the crowds were better because it was a midweek fixture,saturday players got a chance to swell the ranks,now it seems midweek games mean thousands of empty seats,will this ever change

Yes, in the playoffs.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

During the 70's night games drew some great gates at the goldstone
derby at home 33,500 palace 33,300 rochdale 34,765
All big games but the crowds were better because it was a midweek fixture,saturday players got a chance to swell the ranks,now it seems midweek games mean thousands of empty seats,will this ever change

Notwithstanding the fact that last night WAS pretty special, I take your point.

I think a lot has to do with social changes.

In the 70's, I bet 29,500 of those 30,000 lived within 25 miles of the ground. In those days people lived their lives in an area. They lived there, worked there, married a girl from there, brought up their kids there, died there.

Now people have far more opportunities / reasons to move about. A lot of fans, including STH now live 50 miles away or more. Its not always easy to get there. The Watford game will be our ELEVENTH home evening game this season. That's a lot of half-days to take off work, for somebody not local.

 

[Return of the Rev]

Notwithstanding the fact that last night WAS pretty special, I take your point.

I think a lot has to do with social changes.

In the 70's, I bet 29,500 of those 30,000 lived within 25 miles of the ground. In those days people lived their lives in an area. They lived there, worked there, married a girl from there, brought up their kids there, died there.

Now people have far more opportunities / reasons to move about. A lot of fans, including STH now live 50 miles away or more. Its not always easy to get there. The Watford game will be our ELEVENTH home evening game this season. That's a lot of half-days to take off work, for somebody not local.

I think you are correct sir,plus the youngsters attending seem seem to be even younger,safety and comfort have helped this trend.

 

[Gregory2Smith1]

it's true night games always seemed to have a better atmosphere at the goldstone,even when the attendance wasn't particulary high either

the derby game was electric as was the ipswich game the round before (sorry WBA away in between)
palace 2-0 brace from sammy morgan
pompey 4-0
luton 3-2
shrewsbury 0-2 down at half time,drew 2-2,fred binney pen at the death

great,great nights,i live abroad now so i've only been to the amex for the coventry game,but i'm coming over for the watford next month and looking forward to sampling the atmosphere for an evening match

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

I think you are correct sir,plus the youngsters attending seem seem to be even younger,safety and comfort have helped this trend.

is that because you're getting older . transport still seems to be an issue midweek I LIKE TO BE TUCKED UP IN BED BY 11PM

 

[BRIGHT ON Q]

I went to many a midweek game at the Goldstone with 7,000 present.

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

it's true night games always seemed to have a better atmosphere at the goldstone,even when the attendance wasn't particulary high either

the derby game was electric as was the ipswich game the round before (sorry WBA away in between)
palace 2-0 brace from sammy morgan
pompey 4-0
luton 3-2
shrewsbury 0-2 down at half time,drew 2-2,fred binney pen at the death

great,great nights,i live abroad now so i've only been to the amex for the coventry game,but i'm coming over for the watford next month and looking forward to sampling the atmosphere for an evening match

That 2-1 against Ipswich is one of my favourite ever evening games at The Goldstone. (It also happens to be the only home Programme I am missing between 74/5 and 82/3)

The transport is the issue at evening games, as others have said, if you don't live in Brighton, then it can be a pretty late night.

I really HATE the fact that people leave early, but I can understand it for night games.

As for the person who suggested a Car Park - that would only make things worse - another Park and Ride site, more busses, and FULLY LOADING the busses would help. (Last night we watched two double decker busses leave with about 20% of the top deck empty - very frustrating when you are standing in a Queue. How hard would it be to count people on so the busses were full when leaving.)

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

Maybe for children and young people attending football matches for the first time at the Amex, it's as special as it was for you at the Goldstone when you first started going to night games. Often, first cuts are the deepest.

 

[Return of the Rev]

I went to many a midweek game at the Goldstone with 7,000 present.

I don't think there has been any midweek fixture with a 7,000 crowd? Are you crazy sir

 

[Rich Suvner]

I went to many a midweek game at the Goldstone with 7,000 present.

exactly this, it's easy to look back and cherry pick.

from this season, you could pick the following games under floodlights and recall the quality of the game and atmosphere:
Sunderland
Liverpool
Leeds
Derby

which is quite a high proportion so far in 11/12 and i'm pretty sure that Reading will also be quite tasty too.

also when thinking about attendances, in general our consistent 18k+ turnouts have exceeded my expectations, especially when you consider the club's following in the last 20 years.

i do however think that the Amex still needs a spark for the atmosphere to feel special - poor ref, silly banner, attacking performance. it'd be great if the default setting was electric, but in reality few grounds are like that.

 

[Vegas Seagull]

Could be the stadium, never really feels like 'night' in the ground, all perfectly lit etc no open dark skies above you

 

[severnside gull]

much as I loved going to games at the Goldstone throughout the 60's and 70's I think we need to be careful of looking at it as some sort of golden era in terms of general attendances. The reality is that attendances were very rarely higher than corresponding weekend games and depending on our situation at the time probably averaged around the low single figures if taken as a whole over the period and no higher than late teens during our most successful years. I could of course be wrong but I suspect not. Nostalgia is a wonderful thing but it is rarely an accurate guide.

 

[Randsta]

I always loved the atmosphere @ the Goldstone midweek and for me it was better than an afternoon kick off!

 

[BigGully]

Many youngsters were also not dependant on their parents to take them to the game and supervise them.

I bet many a tired parent have decided not to attend, after struggling through traffic to get home of a night needing a quick turn around to get down to Falmer, but in the 70's you wouldn't miss it for the world and your parents were irrelevant to you attending.

I remember meeting my mates at a seemingly young age and catching buses and trains and paying on the gate and hearing the low roar as we neared the Goldstone, which was both exciting and a little bit intimidating and the bellowing smoke sucked up past the floodlights, happy days.

 

[Shy Talk]

I think not! Night games at Withdean were better, I think, because the floodlights shone only on the pitch. Goldstone was the same, and this concentrated attention on the pitch. At the Amex everything is illuminated, presumably for the CCTV. I've a baseball hat I wear to night games as there are lights that shine straight at me in west upper. (still love it, though!)

 

[Gregory2Smith1]

That 2-1 against Ipswich is one of my favourite ever evening games at The Goldstone. (It also happens to be the only home Programme I am missing between 74/5 and 82/3)

The transport is the issue at evening games, as others have said, if you don't live in Brighton, then it can be a pretty late night.

I really HATE the fact that people leave early, but I can understand it for night games.

As for the person who suggested a Car Park - that would only make things worse - another Park and Ride site, more busses, and FULLY LOADING the busses would help. (Last night we watched two double decker busses leave with about 20% of the top deck empty - very frustrating when you are standing in a Queue. How hard would it be to count people on so the busses were full when leaving.)

and of course the 7-0 walsall game! all the goals in a 25 minute spell in the second half,south stand end,just happened to be behind that goal that night

i've actually got that ipswich programme,i'm an avid collecter too,missing a few more than yourself,but the only one missing from that season for me 76-77 is southend in the league cup

 

[Philzo-93]

I think you are correct sir,plus the youngsters attending seem seem to be even younger,safety and comfort have helped this trend.

Bring back the 70s lifestyle I say

Please note: that was a joke!

 

[mona]

Most people work harder now than in the 70s and getting to midweek games after a long day at work can be a pain.

 

[bn3gunner]

The Derby game was my second game at Falmer (the first was palarse which is a bit of a blur due to far too much drink beforehand) Someone offered me a ticket last minute in the west upper right behind the camera/commentary team, I thoroughly enjoyed myself from start to finish,the amount of moaning i read on here seems a bit unjustified and the main gripes people seem to have are no better or worse than the emirates,Falmer in my opinion is a credit to brighton and england as a football stadium the main bonus was the football, i really enjoyed watching the game and thought Brighton looked a league above Derby, with some brilliant flowing football, lua lua and vicentes effort that hit the bar was something else, Its down to my fathers place of birth that im not a seagull but i have so much respect for the Albion and what they have achieved after so much shit, So for me Tuesday was special. ( i hope i dont sound patronising or condescending because that is certainly not my intention)