Back in August, when everybody was predicting a comfortable mid-table finish, I recorded what looks like being a prophetic interview with Albion-loving thespian Ralph Brown.

In the interview for BBC SCR he stuck his neck out and said his team had the ability and character to achieve back-to-back promotions.

Whether or not Albion get to Division One by this Saturday doesn't really matter.

They are all but there and in a way it would be nice to clinch it the following Saturday at Withdean before the home fans.

Wherever it happens, it is still an unbelievable achievement and part of a five-year journey most clubs can only dream about.

Albion have got to Division One playing in a temporary stadium with a limited capacity, a prudent but realistic playing budget and continual jibes from their rivals about being a one man team.

Just what Albion could have achieved on a level playing field this season against the likes of Cardiff, Huddersfield, Stoke, Tranmere, Wigan and Bristol City is now immaterial.

They will finish above all those teams, through sheer character, determination and ability.

You cannot buy team spirit, Sam Hammam!

Already the non-Albion footballing public of Sussex is predicting relegation next season but didn't it say that last May?

Albion are a sleeping giant. They will remain that until the first game at Falmer. Until then, I am more than happy to see them continue to be the Wimbledon of the new Millennium, not in playing terms obviously, but by the way they take on the so-called big boys like Cardiff and Reading and keep coming out on top. Now it is time to bring on Palace, Pompey and the rest of the Division One elite.

I sat down at home the other night and recalled the past few years. After the demise of the Goldstone and our last-day survival at Hereford, I actually used to get excited about Albion playing Leyton Orient!

Happy days they certainly were, even in defeat, but with the prospect of Selhurst and Fratton Park on the horizon, they are now, thankfully, dim and distant memories.

It was Jesus Christ who said "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone", although I also heard Adam Ant say it on Multi Coloured Swap Shop in 1981. So who are we to judge the actions of Garry Flitcroft?

However, there is one aspect of this episode that I would like to pass comment on and that is the involvement of the PFA.

Even though PFA chief Gordon Taylor is the highest-paid union official in the country, the way the PFA look after their members can never be questioned.

I know from speaking to former Albion players that the PFA has helped out with all kinds of funding, from buying computers, providing tuition fees for further education and paying for ex- players to have operations.

At the time of its much-publicised dispute over TV money with the football authorities last year, I knew of at least two ex-Seagulls who had to wait for operations because money was not forthcoming as a result of the dispute.

At the same time the PFA was backing Flitcroft, who earns almost £1million a year, to the tune of £100,000 in order to keep his name out of the Press following his extra-marital indiscretions.

The founding fathers of the trade union movement must be turning in their graves at that particular revelation.