Planet Swans ArchivesSo the second away trip in 3 days, this time to Brighton & Hove Albion, but Brighton for short. I had my pre-match drink at the Orange House with the Pembroke Dock Jacks before making my way to Tescos. The solitary coach left Swansea with the regulars at around 1pm for the journey south, estimated to be around 5 hours.
It was a good journey with not too many hold ups; I was being called negative by pixiejack as I had predicted a 2-0 defeat though. We stopped for a quick drink in Crawley for 50 minutes before making our way to Brighton.
We arrived at Brighton at 7pm and I got quite worried when I was outside the turnstile. The Brighton stewards were searching every man and woman before we were allowed to enter the ground. The most worrying thing is they seemed pretty eager to search us! That’s what living there must do to you.
The Withdean is one of the worst grounds I have ever been to, it’s an athletics stadium. With four stands – only one of them covered – and some trees and greenery in-between. We were behind the goal, which then had an athletics track behind that. It is similar to Newport’s ground for those of you who went there but a worse view in my opinion. As I said at the time, it would have been a better view listening to the radio!
In all due respect it’s not their fault, I wish them good luck in their campaign for a new ground. I feel sorry for the home fans who have to pay around £25 to watch football there. It makes the Vetch seem like the Nou Camp.
The programme cost £3, but to be fair it was a good read. There was a little article on Leon Knight wishing the Barnsley manager good luck as well as an article from Ugo Vallario on his background and running the away travel. This was quite ironic as Ugo was not at Brighton! The part timer!
There were the obvious homophobic chants from the travelling fans, which I’m sure the Brighton fans have to endear every week. The chant that made me laugh was ‘Where are ya, where are ya?’ towards the Brighton fans as we were so far away.
It was a long trip back after seeing – from a distance -an awful game at an awful stadium, let’s hope Saturday at Blackpool is a little better. A message to everyone who is thinking of going to Brighton’s ground in the future. I’d advise you to invest in some binoculars.
Ticket: £22.50
Coach: £15
Programme: £3
Food/Drink: £5 (ish)
Total: £45.50
Current Total: £516.50
