Withdean Stadium, Brighton
Championship League
v Coventry City
Saturday, September 17th 2005, 3pm
By Lori
Kilpatrick
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Brighton are obviously notorious for an unfortunate
reason, having one of the worst grounds in the entire League. However, I
was looking forward to going because I wanted to know whether it was as
bad as I had heard and also because it was an early season fixture and a
day by the seaside in the sun would be welcome.
I took the train as normal and considering
recommendations from this website I arrived at Preston park via London
Victoria. The train journey was fine apart from a slight admin hitch
where the screen at Paddington said we were not stopping at Preston
park, however we did stop there and I embarked on the 20 minute walk to
the ground. The train station is slightly odd in that it seems to be at
the end of a very upmarket street and you would never guess it was
there. The walk to the ground is very simple, walking straight out of
the ground you go straight on and then left following the main road for
15 minutes until turning left again under a bridge to see the less than
intimidating stadium looming in front of you. On the note of car parking
there seems to be a sign on every corner reminding you not to park there
due to restrictions placed on the club in moving to the Withdean.
I was slightly behind time so I went straight into the
ground (wearing colours) and encountered no problems at all with the
home fans. It seems like a very family oriented club and there was no
tension whatsoever between the groups of supporters.
The ground itself is very quaint with only the far
side having any kind of size. The away fans are in a temporary stand
with no roof and quite far from the pitch as well due to the athletics
track. The only stand with a roof is to the right of the away end which
mainly consists of the prawn sandwich eaters purely judging on the
amount of noise generated. When I visited they were also in the process
of constructing another temporary stand at the far end of the ground
which will slightly enhance the capacity. In my opinion, basked in
sunshine the ground looked spectacularly picturesque and an excellent
place to watch football if not the most atmospheric.
The game itself was of low quality but high drama,
Coventry twice taking the lead but Brighton equalising twice, the second
a stunning goal from their energetic winger. To be fair to the Brighton
fans they attempted to make some noise in the far stand but in the open
air it is very difficult. At one stage of the game hardly anyone was
watching the game due to the baiting of a steward who was adjudged to
have a slightly unfortunate moustache, he did not take kindly to this
and eventually it went too far and stopped. The other stewards all had
regular facial hair and did not cause any trouble! The food was good and
the queues did not get too out of hand. However the toilets were
pathetic and not even sufficient for an away following of around 800
which is all they can offer.
After the game the crowds bottlenecked at the bridge
but it wasn't very serious and I made it back to Preston park in perfect
time to my train to London Victoria. The train staff were very helpful
and all the Brighton fans on the train were very friendly
Overall Brighton was a good day out and the access to
the ground is good, however they do need a new stadium as they
definitely have the support and will not remain in the championship if
they don't get the extra revenue. It is not as bad as some have said and
I will be going again next season.
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