Dick Knight has urged his successor as chairman Tony Bloom to resist any attempts by TV to hijack Albion’s historic first league match at The Amex.

The Seagulls are due to kick-off in the Championship in their new stadium with a poignant opening fixture against Doncaster Rovers on Saturday August 6.

Doncaster were the last visitors to The Goldstone 14 years ago and Knight, now the club’s life president, does not want live television cameras to intrude on a special day for the fans.

He told The Argus: “If I was the chairman now I would resist any suggestion of moving it from 3pm on the Saturday.

“As far as I am concerned this game is for our fans, not something contrived by television. I think that would be really unfortunate.”

The BBC and Sky are expected to cover three games from the Championship on Friday night, Saturday tea-time and Sunday lunchtime.

Albion are unlikely to feature in their plans, since Doncaster are relatively low-profile opponents and other games appear more attractive.

West Ham and Birmingham, two of the clubs relegated from the Premier League, are at home to Cardiff and away to Derby respectively, while Southampton host Leeds.

Albion face Doncaster a week after a prestige friendly at The Amex against Spurs. Former landlords Gillingham visit a few days later in the Carling Cup.

Boss Gus Poyet said: “We have two home games straight away, which means three in a row (including Spurs). That could be good or bad, depending on the results.”

Poyet is hoping to supplement the looming recapture of Kazenga LuaLua by completing the majority of his transfer business before the players report back from their summer break on June 27.

He said: “There could be a couple of things before the start of pre-season, then perhaps one in the first week, so I’ll have 90% of the team.”