Brighton & Hove Albion
American Express Community Stadium

Capacity: 22,500 (all seated)
Address: Village Way, Falmer, East Sussex, BN1 9BL
Main Telephone No: 01273 878288
Fax No: 01273 878238
Team Nickname: The Seagulls
Year Stadium Opened: 2011
Pitch Size: 115 x 75 yards
Shirt Sponsors: brightonandhovejobs.com
Home Kit Colours: Blue & White
Away Kit Colours: Green & Black Stripes
Kit Manufacturers: Errea
Official Web Site:
www.seagulls.co.uk
Unofficial Web Sites:
North Stand Chat
Brightonfans.com
This Is The Albion
Countdown2Falmer
Bomb Message Board
BHAFC.Net

After leaving the the Goldstone Ground 1997, which had been the Club's home since 1902, Brighton have struggled to find a new permanent home, first ground sharing at Gillingham for two seasons, before returning to the South Coast in 1999, to take up temporary residence at the Withdean Athletics Stadium.  After a long drawn out battle, the Club finally prevailed receiving planning permission in July 2007 for a new stadium at Falmer, on the outskirts of Brighton. At a cost of £93m the new American Express Community Stadium as it has been named, has been well worth waiting for; adding a spectacular sight to the Sussex landscape.

From a far the semi circular roofs of the stand and the tubular supporting steelwork above them, are at first glance reminiscent of the Galpharm Stadium in Huddersfield. But on closer inspection the similarity ends as this is a far superior ground, which inside is reminiscent of the KC Stadium in Hull. On one side is the impressive looking West Stand. This three tiered stand, has a large lower tier, a small middle tier and a medium sized upper tier. The seating in the upper tier follows the semi circular design of the stand, giving it an interesting effect. The team dugouts are located on this side, as well as an open press area, which is conveniently situated above the players tunnel on the half way line. Opposite is the smaller East Stand. This is single tiered stand, which in terms of numbers of seats is comparable to the lower tier of the West Stand. It has an area behind and above it which contains administrative offices for the Club.

Both ends are also small single tiers of seating, and have an electric scoreboard to the rear. One of these ends, the South Stand is given to away supporters. The roofs over both ends slope down quite considerably from the large West Stand on one side to the East Stand opposite, giving the ground a different look. Apparently though, this is so the stadium fits in with the rolling South Downs landscape.

My only slight grip is that the stadium doesn't look quite finished. Although the stadium is fully enclosed, the corners remain empty of seating, which makes it a little unsightly, but I guess these can be filled with seating in due course. Also above and behind the East Stand the steel framework is exposed and I believe that this is so that an additional tier can be added relatively quickly at some point in the future. One nice touch though, is rather than having lettering displayed on the seating, images of seagulls are included instead. What the makes the ground particularly striking is the amount of transparent material used in the roofs of ths stadium, apart from the supporting framework there is not a solid panel in sight.

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Future Developments

The Club are seeking formal approval for their plans to increase the capacity of the stadium to 30,750. The first phase of this will be to add an additional tier to the East Stand, as well as the filling in of the corners, with seating on either side of the South Stand. This could happen as soon as at the end of this season. The second phase scheduled for early 2013 will see a row of hospitality boxes incorporated above the away end. The final phase will see the corners either side of the North Stand being filled in ready for the start of the 2013/14 season.

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Thanks to John King for providing the above photo.

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West And North Stands

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There is not much in the immediate vicinity around the stadium. There is one pub called the Swan Inn located on Middle Street in Falmer, which is about 15 minute walk away, but for most fixtures this is for home fans only. Alcohol is served within the ground in the form of Kronenburg (£3.80), Strongbow (£3.80), Harveys real ale (£3.60), Fosters (£3.60), White, Red or Rose wine (£3.80). The Club also offer a 'Pie and a Pint' for £6.50. Harveys have also produced a special 'Albion' bottles beer which is only available at the stadium or from the Harveys shop in Lewes. 5p from every bottle sold will be donated to the Macmillan Cancer Support charity.

Outside Brighton Mainline Station there are a number of excellent pubs'. Phil Kramer recommends the Evening Star, on Surrey Street. It is away fan friendly and only two a minute walk away from the station. It is in the CAMRA good beer guide and serves real Sussex ale and cider'.

If arriving at the Mill Road Park & Ride then a little further on down London Road (A23) on the left is the Black Lion pub which is a Harvester outlet.

Owen Wilkinson informs me; 'After the game the bars at the ground remain open. The North Stand stays open to 8pm on a Saturday. So if you want to avoid the queues at the railway station then stay at the ground for a beer and watch the late kick off game on the television screens. They also display the departing train times on screen too, so you know when to leave'.

Keith Matthews  a visiting West Ham United fan adds; 'We walked up to The Swan from the ground which was a good 15 minute walk from the stadium. However they had security on the door and you had to show home section match tickets to gain access. We were also denied access from the Hikers Rest in Coldean
( home supporters only again and had to show match tickets). We entered the ground and must admit service at the bars within the stadium was very good'.

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To stadium is located at Falmer on the outskirts of Brighton, very close to the University of Sussex.

At the end of the M23, continue onto the A23, heading towards Brighton. At the roundabout which is the junction with the A27, take the A27 towards Lewes. After around four miles you will se the stadium on your right hand side. Leave at the A27 and take the slip road sign posted Falmer (B2123). At the top of the slip road turn right crossing back over the A27 and the entrance to the stadium is down on the right.

There is no parking at the stadium for away fans (although coaches minibuses will be allowed to park providing that they have been pre-booked with the Club) and there is a large no parking zone in force around the area of the stadium on matchdays.

Some Sat-Navs are not recognising the stadium post code of BN1 9BL. You can try instead BN1 9SD which takes you to nearby Falmer Railway Station instead.

Park & Ride

The Club are encouraging fans to use the Park & Ride services located at three different locations; Mill Road, Brighton Racecourse and Mithras House at Brighton University.

Probably the easiest for away fans to locate is Mill Road, as it is just off the A23/A27 junction. However, this is by far the busiest of the three, so if you have time on your hands consider using one of the other alternatives. The capacity of Mill Road is 500 cars. The road is located next to a BP garage, which (if coming down from London) you will see over on your right at the top of the slip road off the A23.

The Park & Ride is open from 12 noon on Saturdays (with last departure at 2.30pm) and 5.30pm for evening kick offs. The last buses return from the stadium 90 minutes after the end of the game. Although the parking element of the scheme is free, the ride part is not. You have to buy a travel voucher in advance from the Club (you can't pay on the bus). Call Brighton & Hove Albion Customer Services on 0845 873 0251 or the Brighton Ticket Office on 0845 496 1901 or purchase online. These cost £2.50 (including postage). Please note that vehicles must removed no later than two hours after the game has ended.

Mill Road isn't a car park as such, but a normal road that is closed for this purpose. Tony Hewitt informs me; 'I parked at Mill Road before an England Under 19 match. The Park and Ride was well-organised both ways.  Going in, you park parallel in the next slot and it is easy to drive in.  Buses and cars leave the road at the other end so it is completely one-way and simple. The road is divided into zones (A-E). Coming back after the game, it was well run by the stewards with only a 10 minute wait for a bus. The bus stops at all the zones so you end up close enough to your car'. Martyn Clark a visiting Leeds United adds; 'Before the game the Park and Ride was fine. We got on a coach (which was rather ancient looking) fairly quickly and it seemed well organised. I did note though, that eventhough we had arrived two hours before kick off the Park & Ride was already around three quarters full. After the game it was a completely different story. It took ages to get out of the ground and when we got to the bus pick up area, we found incredibly long queues trying to get up some narrow steps. All in all it took 1 hour 25 minutes from the end of the game to getting on a bus and moving back to Mill Road Park and Ride. Everyone (including Brighton fans) were very frustrated.'

Pam a visiting Leeds United fan tells me; 'We parked at the Park & Ride at Brighton racecourse. This park and ride was also poorly signposted and the actual car park was just a field. Returning after the game we found the area to be unlit and had difficulty in locating our car in the dark. There were also no staff around, which I found alarming. Considering that the Park & Ride is used by both home and away supporters, then this is a potential incident waiting to happen. I also dread to think what the state of the parking will be like in the winter.'

Map showing the location of the Amex Community Stadium (at the bottom of this page).

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The nearest railway station is Falmer, which is situated right by the stadium. Kevin Bartholomew informs me; 'The quickest and easiest way to get to the stadium though is by train. Falmer station is adjacent to the ground. It's three stops from Brighton central station on the line to Lewes and Seaford. Alternatively, you can avoid Brighton completely by getting a train to Lewes and changing there for Falmer. There are four trains an hour in either direction'.

Brighton Central Railway Station is over four miles away from the stadium. So either get a train, taxi or bus up to the stadium. Brighton & Hove Bus No 25 (Route and timetable on the Brighton & Hove Bus Company website, which shows bus stops) operates a regular service (every 12 minutes) up to the stadium from Central Brighton, as do Bus Numbers 28 & 29.

Owen Wilkinson informs me; 'Travel vouchers for the Park and Ride and Brighton buses are also valid for train travel, starting from Haywards Heath station. Away fans travelling from London for instance would only need a train ticket to Haywards Heath if they have purchased a travel voucher from the Club.' (See Park & Ride above, for how to buy).

Eddie Allcorn a visiting Gillingham fan adds; 'We went by train, an hour before the match (League Cup, 16,000 so not full) and found it impossible to get on the 1st train from Brighton station to Falmer. With hundreds of fans rushing from one platform to another as Southern trains switched platforms it was a case of a lucky dip whether you could even squeeze onto a 2nd train 15 minutes later, for the nine minute journey.  Post match it was carnage. We left the away end right on the final whistle having waited at the top of the steps at the back and legged it... even so by the time we reached the queue for the Brighton train the queue was substantial so we opted for the Lewes route. Even then we couldn't fit on the 1st train and were stuck in a queue on the new walkway. The station is tiny, can only fit 6-7 carriages to the platform and Southern trains put no extra trains on whatsoever (some trains are only three carriages - plus no staff to ensure they are properly filled before departure). Eventually another train came along and we made it back to Lewes where lots of other people had parked. We were lucky but for others who hadn't made such a swift getaway they ended up queueing over an hour (10.45 train) to simply leave Falmer to get to Lewes to pick up their car or try to catch a connection back to London. The only people that got away quickly were those on the official away coaches!'.

Rob Haynes a visiting Nottingham Forest Fan also found going by train frustrating; 'We stayed in Brighton so walked to the station and arrived at 13.30 to find a huge queue snaking around the concourse. Whilst it generally quite well organised it didn't add much to the pre-match experience to have to stand and wait for such a long period before getting on a packed train to the ground. Fans that left it later no doubt had an even longer wait. After the game we walked straight from the away end to the train station. At 6pm (the game finished before 5pm) I was finally moving and on my way into Brighton centre. All generally organised OK but again such a frustrating wait and such a waste of time! Trains again jammed back to Brighton. Thankfully no trouble but potential for trouble after needle game is multiplied by the time it takes to get in and out the ground. I feel sorry for any Brighton fans having to experience such long waits, especially in poor weather'.

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With over 18,000 season ticket holders, there are only around 1,500 tickets available for Brighton fans for league matches this season (more are likely to be available for cup games). These will be located in the wings of the West & East Stands.

Home Fans:
East & West Stands: Adults £30, Senior Citizens £21, Under 18's £15, Under 10's £8

Away Fans:
South Stand: Adults £24, Senior Citizens £17, Under 18's £12, Under 10's £6

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North Stand

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Ground Layout

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At the Amex Stadium
21,897 v Liverpool
Carling Cup 3rd Round, September 21st 2011.

At the Goldstone Ground:
36,747 v Fulham,
Division Two, December 27th 1958.

Average Attendance:
2010-2011: 7,352 (League One)
2009-2010: 6,467 (League One)
2008-2009: 6,092 (League One)

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Remember that you can also use the above link or the panel below to book any other hotels that you may need for business or leisure, either in the UK or abroad.

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Instructions for using the map:
- Use the bar on the left of the map to zoom in / out using the + / - keys.
- Click and drag an area of the map to move around or use the up/down, left/right arrows
- Click the Satellite button to see aerial view photograph..

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