ALBION president Dick Knight has urged fans never to forget how the club fought for its survival.

But the former chairman admits he feels no resentment towards former chief executive David Bellotti, who died on Wednesday.

Bellotti was reviled by Seagulls fans for his role as right-hand man to club owner Bill Archer as he plotted to sell the Goldstone Ground in 1990s.

Knight declined to join in rejoicing among some supporters as news broke that Bellotti, who had been unwell, had died at the age of 72.

But he said it was crucial to remember the context in which he worked as Cheshire-based Archer’s man on the ground and how close Albion were to extinction.

Knight told The Argus: “The death of David Bellotti serves as an apt reminder to the younger generation of Albion fans of the club’s near disastrous recent history.

“The club’s survival was all about the fans. Not just fighting against Archer and Bellotti but also the battle for the stadium. The role they played is unprecedented in football history.

“I hope people don’t forget what the fans fought for. I think there are people who are not so aware of what happened in the 1990s.

“It is always sad to hear someone has died but I think we have to put the David Bellotti role into context.

“He will be remembered by Albion fans who were around at the time as someone who had influence in our club in the first half of 1990s, the consequence of which was a situation from which the club had to be saved.”

In The Argus today, Knight reveal show Bellotti attempted to cling to his role by telling a rival club to exclude him and an FA appointed director from the boardroom at the start of the 1997-98 season.

But he said: “I didn’t really have any feelings about him. I resented what he was doing at the time.

“Banning Fred the Evening Argus seller from the Goldstone was the nadir of his behaviour. But I don’t resent him now because he wasn’t the orchestrator of what was going on. He had no real power.”