Conference trucks::football;1

    I'm not terribly up-to-date with the issue, but I know that plans to
    use the current training site at Waterhall (near Sussex University) had
    fallen through, due to lack of funds (it's no more than an area of
    parkland at the moment).
    
    Hmm, there was a time when Brighton players were cast-offs from Liverpool 
    (Jimmy Case, Mick Robinson) and Man. Utd (Andy Ritchie), or were on
    their way to the big-time (Mark Lawrenson, Peter Ward, Dean Saunders).
    Now they're cast-offs from Worthing and Crawley Town ;-)
    
    Sad days...
    
    Dom 
    

    Dom,
    
    Talking of Crawley Town, what happened to the proposd ground-share?
    Last I heard, Brighton didn't want to pay for ground improvements to be
    done.
    
    Stuart

    Can't help you there, Stuart. It's as much as I can do to keep up with
    Brighton's results, courtesy of my old man (rugby fanatic and lukewarm
    Blackpool supporter) and the Internet (very unreliable and lacking in
    details).
    
    Dom

    Liam Brady left Brighton by mutual consent yesterday....they have lost
    their last 6 games and are going nowhere. I have to feel sorry for
    Brady. There must be a job somewhere in the game for this great
    footballer, though it probably should be in coaching instead of
    management....
    
    Ray....                                         

Palace are playing on Sunday, so I thought I might pop down to 
Brighton to see them relegated, and watch their "supporters" smash
up a ground they don't even own.

Anyone else fancy it??

Stuart

    A word in your ear, Stuart, if you do decide to go to the Goldstone:
    
    It used to be that you could get into the North Stand free if you could
    tell a joke about Crystal Palace F.C. that the turnstile operator
    hadn't heard before. Now, I'm talking about 10-12 years ago (when there
    was a lot more money in the coffers!) and I can't guarantee that the
    offer still applies, but it's got to be worth a try. Of course, *don't* 
    tell them you're a Palace fan; it might be considered cheating. 
    
    I know it's not much, but it'll pay for your petrol from Saaf London
    and back.
    
    Dom

It is with great regret that I have to announce that Brighton and
Hove Albion have been relegated and will be gracing the 3rd Division 
next year.


Stuart

    It is with great regret that I have to announce that against my better
    intentions I am remaining a supporter of the Seagulls for yet another
    season.
    

    Good for you. After the free-for-all that took place in 32 yesterday,
    no one will be accusing you of following success! 
    
    Where are you from, incidentally? As far as I know, UKFURNITURE isn't 
    a Sussex name ;-)
    
    Dom

    re.9 Parents are from Worthing and Brighton (my Grandad was the
    landlord of a pub sadly demolished to make way for a multi-storey).
    
    Have been a fan of B+HA for as long as I can remember, and Reading
    since I've lived in Reading (12 years)                          

    > -< Steve Foster..good riddance. >-
    
    What's all that about then? Has he given up football, or simply left
    the club?
    
    One of the poorest players ever to win an England cap.
    
    Dom

    He retired, thank god, not loved by the fans, and as good at football as 
    Brighton's old goalie Perry Digweed was at having a normal name.
    
    dickie.

    
    
    Just found this entry , I should have looked before .
    
    
    Re: .8
    
    I will also be remaining a Brighton supporter , but until the present
    board of directors either resign or are sacked I will not be renewing
    my season ticket . 
    After following the team for 20 years through good and bad (including
    three Wembley visits ) I think the fans deserve more than they are
    getting from the present board . ... Ticket prices increased after
    relegation - what brilliant marketing , congratulations Mr Bellotti !!?!
    
    I agree with the comment re the web page , it is very amateur and even
    the 'alternative' page has now gone blank !!
    
    Regards
    
    Kevin Jones
    
    Leatherhead

    On the transfer front, Brighton were hoping to sign Tommy Smith from
    5th Arundel Cubs 5-a-side 2nd XI but were not willing to go up to the
    full 10p.
    
    dickie.

    Hello chaps, just to let you know another Brighton fan has arrived. I
    like you no doubt, although resigned to watching div.3 football, am
    eagerly anticipating a swift return back to div.2 even though we might not
    have a venue to continue in. Only a week to go before it all starts
    again, and although being unable to witness the opener, I will be
    starting my quest with an away trip to the not so mighty Cardiff on
    August 24th. A match report will follow.
    
    Cheers,
    
    Jon. 
    
        

    Saturday August 17th.   
    Brighton 2  Chester 1
    
    On a day of great anticipation Brighton battled through to earn their
    first three points on opening day for seven years. To add to the
    entertainment a streaker graced the pitch prior to kick off and two
    individual pitch invasions took place during play amidst the raucous
    chanting of "Sack the Board" and "Belloti out". The reduced entry fee
    (half price in fact) failed to boost attendance but those who were there
    enjoyed a good victory and hopefully a taste of things to come. 
    

    Saturday August 24th.
    Cardiff 1  Brighton 0
    
    The trip to Wales was only made by a few Brighton supporters. To say
    150 would be optimistic but good voice made up for small numbers. 
    Brighton took the initiative early on and came close a number of times,
    but just couldn't finish their chances off. Cardiff looked mediocre and
    when their unexpected goal came just before half time it seemed a
    little against the run of play.
    
    Brightons' performance in the second half however was dismal, with no
    urgency and a style more fitting to a team one-nil up. Only in the last
    ten minutes did they seem to realise they were a goal down and put up a
    bit of a fight, but by then it was too late, and a one-nil defeat
    seemed an accurate reflection of what was really a poor game.
    
      

    
    Mighty Brighton 5 (yes five) Hartlepool 0
    
    A fantastic performance from the Brighton lads who could have had 7 or
    8 goals, and a fantastic performance by football fans from all over the
    UK by turning up, swelling the attendance to about 8,000, and showing
    their support for the Brighton fans attempting to keep their club
    alive. Brighton are now only 6 points adrift, after some good wins, their
    confidence is building and with any luck they'll pull themselves out of
    the mire.
    
    Richard.

    Now THAT is the sort of news that brightens (no pun intended!) up a
    Monday. I won't bother asking for the names of the scorers...they
    probably wouldn't mean too much anyway.
    
    Just goes to show what a good crowd can do...
    
    Dom
    
    P.S. Not a lot of people know this, but the first match I ever saw was
    was Brighton 6 Oldham 0 in 1967. I guess I haven't brought them too
    much luck since then ;-)

    Well I think it's disgusting. Hartlepool let me down on a �5
    accumalator. 
    
    Go and support your teams and stop affecting my gambling.
    
    Tony
    

    Brighton 1	 Exeter 0
    
    Brighton win again! 

    To be honest, I think a draw at Carlisle on Saturday is quite possible.
    
    Fingers crossed we could be off the bottom on Saturday, even more so if 
    todays appeal goes our way.
    

    I'll drink to that!
    
    Richard
    
    ps SEAGULLS!

    Well, nearly a draw. Carlisle 1 - Brighton 0. And 2 points remain
    deducted.
    
    dickei.

    Saturdays game at home to Swansea is a game we must win. To beat the
    fourth placed team in our division would boost morale for the away trip
    to Darlington the week after.  We've got to start picking up points
    away from home.
    
    Jon.

    Brighton did it. A good win against Swansea now has us at only one
    point adrift at the foot of the table (shame we had those two pints
    deducted though)
    
    Richard

    It's always a shame, a great shame, when you have two pints deducted.
    
    Tony
    

    Great game, great goals, great spirit!
    
    I think we'll just about avoid the drop if we continue like this.  It's
    the off the field problems that concern me the most.
    
    Apparently the Archer/Knight talks resume again today. Fat chance of
    anything being resolved though.
    
    

    Disaster!
    
    How can Doncaster pull off a win against Wigan and then Darlington wipe
    us 2-0?  We need to pick up away points.

    because Doncaster are a proper team, who have been fighting against
    relegation from Div 3 for aeons. 8-)
    
    Wigan are only any good because they stole Graeme Jones from Rovers,
    and once you're played for Donny, you could never bring yourself to
    score against them. 8-)
    
    Mike
    

    Lets see what happens on April 26th
    

    I'll be there for the match the whole nation will be watching.
    
    Hmmm.
    
    Mike

    A good win for Brighton yesterday against Northhampton, that still
    leaves us a point adrift with Doncaster haveing two games in hand.
    
    Richard

    Luckily games in hand don't count for much at our end of the table! 
    Hereford are also within reach again after slipping up in their last
    few games.
    
    Hereford and Donny are both at home on Saturday, as are we, but
    Darlington are away to Torquay.  Lets hope results go our way for once.
    

    What a game!  One of the most exciting I've seen for a while but what
    is Rust playing at?  Orient's first three goals would have been
    embarrassing to concede in a kick about up the park.
    
    Shame the hardwork will probably be eradicated by the tw*ts who
    attacked the Orient players.  all the effort of the last six weeks
    could be worthless if the FA decide to impose more points deductions.
    
    On the positive side, a similar incident apparently happened at Crewe a
    few weeks ago and no action has yet been taken against the club.  
    
    Not long to go now but we can still survive!
    
    Jon.

Er, 5-5 at a guess?!

grahame

    4-4
    
    hth.
    
    Richard

Cheers, Dickie - scores like that should at least bring the crowds back. Good 
luck,

grahame

    Manager Steve 'True' Gritt has threatened to leave if Brighton are
    deducted points by the FA for the 4 man pitch invasion and alleged
    assault on a Leyton Orient player by a Brighton fan.
    
    dickie.
    
    

    Unfortunately Gritt has made some comments about his future at the
    club, but only with respect to Brighton being docked further points.  
    
    He didn't actually say he would leave though, but gave some comment
    along the lines of "I don't know what I will do, and you can make what
    you want of that".
    
    Although the guilty fan's actions are deplorable, anyone who was at the 
    game on Saturday will admit that there is a case aginst incitement by Orient
    players and officials, considering the atmosphere at the Goldstone at
    present. 
    
    Lets just hope the FA take into account the fact that Mcleish has
    already been fined this season for giving obscene gestures to Cardiff
    City fans.
         
    Jon.
    

    
    Let him go !  His threat should not influence correct punishment in ANY
    way. If he feels he can abandon a club because of an FA ruling then he
    is not worthy of that club. Where is the link ?
    
    He seems to be using this as a convenient excuse !
    
    Trevor

    Good win against Cardiff on Saturday, Brighton now have to rely on
    Hartlepool to be worse than they are.
    
    Richard

    Only a few South Stand tickets left for the Doncaster game!
    
    Wigan at home now all ticket too, on sale April 2nd.
    
    Terrace tickets only left for Hereford away.

    Donny are out of the relegation zone and cruising towards the play
    offs. Your best bet is for Bournemouth to go bust. 
    
    Wigan will stuff you, aidede and abetted as they are by Graeme "Call me
    Judas" Jones, Donny reject and English football's top scorer.
    
    Mike

    Mike,
    
    I don't think you've been following results, or the news very carefully 
    recently.
    
    Bournemouth won't be going bust, they have been given another chance by
    their creditors.  Plus we are winning all our home games at present and
    have a relatively easy "run in" compared with Hartlepool who look
    favourites to go down.
    
    Guaranteed six points from our last two games we'll see who have the
    last laugh!
    
    Jon.   

    Jonathan,
    
    Well, I'm pleased for you. Are the team winning the Conference eligible
    to come up this year? Halifax were the last team to go down and that
    was yonks ago.
    
    The Bournemouth thing was not really entirely serious, but don't you
    worry about that. And as for results, you are still bottom (of the
    league) aren't you? 8-)
    
    Mike

    Bum. I'm in a no ticket crisis for the Donny - Brighton game. Rovers
    are putting vouchers in the next two home programmes and without a
    voucher you can't have a ticket for Brighton's last home game in the
    football league, sorry, I mean "last game at the Goldstone Ground."
    
    Oh well, life's hard when you support a team that regularly takes
    upwards of 25 people away.
    
    Mike

    Bloody glory hunter!

    You've got me bang to rights there. I am only one of the many thousands
    of fans leaping onto the Kerry Dixon inspired Rovers Bandwagon now that
    we've screamed into contention for a European place. 13 points from our
    last 5 games. We're so ace.
    
    And you're not. 8-)
    
    Mike

    >> Kerry Dixon 
    
    Another ex-Reading player doing the biz!
    
    
    
    				Stretch. 

    Stretch,
    
    I'm not entirely sure that turning a team that had pressed for the
    play-offs three years in a row under Sammy Chung into a team that
    loiters around with the likes of Brighton and Hereford can be called
    "doing the biz". 
    
    Either way we spend eternity in the third division, but it's nice to
    still have a shred of hope at Christmas. 8-)
    
    Anyway, there's been a turn for the better. I'm going home for easter,
    so all I have to do is convince my sister to give me a lift to Donny on
    Easter Monday, and I can watch us stuff Exeter and get a ticket for the
    Brighton game. 
    
    Mike

    Mike,
    
    You'd better be quick because I know plenty of Brighton fans who will
    be trying to obtain tickets from Rovers' allocation.
    
    We've already sold out down here, 11,500.  Isn't that more than the
    cumlative total for your home attendances all season?
         

    It's twice the sum of our attendances for the last 19 years. Apart from
    when we set the record for most wins and most points in a football
    season of course. 8-)
    
    Our highest home gate of the season is 3000, but most of them were
    non-paying schoolkids.
    
    If Brighton fans want to get Donny tickets, they're going to have to go
    to either the Rovers - Exeter game on Easter Monday, or the Fulham game
    on the 19th. Without a prog from one of these games, you can't get a
    ticket. I assume it's to stop Brighton fans getting in the Donny end
    and causing trouble.
    
    Mike
    

    Four games to go, five points behind, can we pull off one of the
    greatest escapes ever?
    
    May 3rd is either going to be one of the happiest or one of the worst
    days of my life.
    
    Fingers crossed.

    
    Jonathan...why don't you take the guesswork out of it. Arrange to be
    married on May 3rd...that way you'll know well in advance that it's the
    worst day of your life..... 
    
    %^)
    
    Trevor

    Mike,
    
    Have to say I told you so.  Don't know if you saw the game but in fact
    it was absolutely useless from a skill perspective.  However from a
    results point of view it was a blinder.
    
    Just like to say how great your fans were, they really joined in the
    occasion, and the pre-match banner displayed by Rovers players was a
    nice touch.
    
    Look forward to playing you again next year after we've turned Hereford
    over on Saturday.
    
    Cheers, Jon.

    Jon,
    
    I didn't get to see the game because you had to go to one of two home
    games a few weeks ago to get a ticket for the away end. I'm relieved
    that Hereford lost. I hadn't realised you were playing them on the last
    day of the season, so when the Brighton goal came through on CEEFAX I
    was, ahem, slightly upset. 8-)
    
    I'm glad it all went off peacefully, and I hope you do Hereford next
    week.
    
    Cheers,
    
    Mike

    We are staying up, said we are staying up!
    
    Absolutely brilliant, the lads were fantastic.  Lets pray we never have
    another season like that ever again.
    
    Must give my comiserations to any Hereford fans reading this though; we
    know slightly how you must feel because we were in the VC at half-time.
    
    Not too much to worry about though, you'll be back in the third if this
    regionalised application goes through.
    
    Well done Brighton,
    
    Seagulls forever.