Albion to boost The Amex capacity early

5:00pm Monday 23rd July 2012 in Albion By Andy Naylor

Albion are expanding the seating at The Amex Albion are expanding the seating at The Amex

Albion have brought forward the final phase of their expansion plans for The Amex.

The Seagulls could now have more than 30,000 fans watching them before the end of the season.

Plans to add an extra 2,200 seats at the north end of the stadium were originally earmarked for the 2013-14 season.

The seats will now be installed next spring, in time for the final few games of the 2012-13 campaign, as it is more cost-effective for all the expansion works to be completed in one go.

Extra seats in the east, south-east and south-west stands will raise the capacity from 22,500 to about 28,000 by the start of the season in August.

A further 500 hospitality seats in the south stand will be added in December.

Advancing phase three of the project at the north end will increase the capacity to 30,750 before the end of Albion’s second season in their new stadium.

Albion’s record attendance was 36,747 at the Goldstone against Fulham in December 1958.

Comments(41)

Alan G Skinner says...
5:10pm Mon 23 Jul 12

There is certainly a business case for this. Season Tickets sold out again with the backdrop of a potential promotion campaign. Once we have reached 30,750, should we reach the Premier League, what would be the logistics involved to take us to 40,750. Some fairly major work to the North and South stands I'm assuming?

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ballantrrae says...
5:18pm Mon 23 Jul 12

Great about the extra seating. Now lets get the additional new signings in we can all enjoy watching.
Still waiting to see who we might get as the midfield powerhouse Poyet wants and of course another striker.
Now the squad is in Spain I imagine we will have to wait until that trip has finished.
Any rumours anyone ? Captain Haddock ? All I've seen is the Argus report about the young French lad Balmy.

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tug509 says...
5:23pm Mon 23 Jul 12

40,750,my mouth`s watering at the prospect.Would it be possible to add a third tier to the East stand? As well as your suggestion of adding to the North and South,whichever way you look at it this is more common sense from TB and all concerned.UUUTA!!!

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WoodingdeanDS says...
5:47pm Mon 23 Jul 12

With the two main arches over the West and East stands held up by the so-called Dog-Heads, I can only see that you could possibly raise the North and South stand roofs so that they are well above, and reach or extend over, the west and east roof structures. You could then have three tiers at the south and north ends.
Suspending additional tiers under the west and east roof beams would be tricky, if only for safe access.

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Alfie T says...
6:06pm Mon 23 Jul 12

Alan G Skinner wrote:
There is certainly a business case for this. Season Tickets sold out again with the backdrop of a potential promotion campaign. Once we have reached 30,750, should we reach the Premier League, what would be the logistics involved to take us to 40,750. Some fairly major work to the North and South stands I'm assuming?
I doubt that major increases would be possible,I was involved with the construction of the main structure and it was designed to hold 30,000. To increase that to 40,000 would take a huge financial investment.

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Poolegul says...
6:11pm Mon 23 Jul 12

It adds absolutely nothing to the discussion but since it is mentioned in the report I was there for that Fulham game and it certainly added an extra dimension to the view that a good crowd is the required 12th man the team needs! Anyone ese there that day (wasn't it Boxing Day?).

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Cardiffcgull says...
6:48pm Mon 23 Jul 12

I was at the Fulham game, the Police let us overspill the wall onto the pitch, within touching distance of Johnny Haynes etc.

Later biggest game was the promotion game against Watford, called recall the crowd number but it was big, what a hat-trick from Adrian Thorne!

Several years later I was a Hove copper walking around the Goldstone free of charge, what memories.

This really has been a lifelong experience -more to come me thinks!

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woodingdean gull says...
6:48pm Mon 23 Jul 12

Due to the stadium design the maximum capacity is the quoted figure of just over 30k, to expand further would mean extensive re-design which would mean just knocking it down and starting again, which isn't an option. Ever. Considering how much TB spent to build it that's not an option, after years in the wilderness of withdean have some of our fans forgotten our past and are now thinking we are a man city of the championship? Yes we can and will achieve the premiership, but we won't get to the size of the uniteds, chelski, and arsenal any time soon, calm down, take stock and enjoy what we now have..
SEAGULLS!!

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farside says...
6:49pm Mon 23 Jul 12

Poolegul wrote:
It adds absolutely nothing to the discussion but since it is mentioned in the report I was there for that Fulham game and it certainly added an extra dimension to the view that a good crowd is the required 12th man the team needs! Anyone ese there that day (wasn't it Boxing Day?).
The Fulham match was just before my first game and was when we were pushing for promotion (successfully) to Division 2 - now the Championship. But I've been there in a few 30K plus crowds and it was an immense experience. Funny that looking back I can never recall a time when the Goldstone wasn't at least a little "tired" but I still miss it for all the modern amenities of the Amex. Nostalgia is a powerful thing. Can't see how, given the need to keep a barrier of empty seats between home and away fans in these health & safety conscious days, we can get to 30,000 again although hopefully we can get close. Too many evening games for it to become a regular feature though and I can't help thinking that will impact on season tickets next year as people find that work committments and kids schooling rules them out of attending a majority of home games. Promotion this season will sort that though!

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Neville says...
6:56pm Mon 23 Jul 12

I remember watching Brighton v Rotherham at Goldstone,well over thirty thousand and some fans sitting on stacks of bricks at base of West Stand,near the end Ken Beamish hit a speculative shot from touchline which the goalkeeper failed to hold and we got promoted that night,great times. Re the increase to the stadium I think you will find 30750 is the absolute limit with no further chance of expansion let alone the logisitics of getting peole to/from stadium which is the main consideration.

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Howie2 says...
7:01pm Mon 23 Jul 12

I was also at that Boxing day match against Fulham. Packed in to the East terrace and being caught up in the atmosphere. Remember being behind the North goal for the Watford game in my last year at school.

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roast says...
7:12pm Mon 23 Jul 12

Tony Bloom was on the train to the Barnsley game and was asked if any further development was going to take place, he said 100% no, 30,000 is the max it will ever go.

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wole says...
7:27pm Mon 23 Jul 12

I suppose Tony Bloom is your best mate is he? What on earth do you know about anything? I suspect you work in London behind a computer desk all day and just comment on various websites around the country.
Very sad man is what you are I am afraid Roast!

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tug509 says...
7:45pm Mon 23 Jul 12

Cardiffcgull wrote:
I was at the Fulham game, the Police let us overspill the wall onto the pitch, within touching distance of Johnny Haynes etc.

Later biggest game was the promotion game against Watford, called recall the crowd number but it was big, what a hat-trick from Adrian Thorne!

Several years later I was a Hove copper walking around the Goldstone free of charge, what memories.

This really has been a lifelong experience -more to come me thinks!
I was`nt born until 61 so obviously not at the (so called record game).I say this not to offend but to pass on a conversation that myself and three friends had with a certain gentleman that has stayed with me ever since.We had played Derby in the League Cup R4 (26-10-76) the night before and as always we had been in the North Stand,and it seemed almost from kick-off that we scored(within 5 minutes im sure) Wardy scored at our end,i remember moving about 10 feet forwards without my feet touching the groud.Anyway the game finished 1-1 and as was common for us we went to the ground the following morning just kids hanging around everybody knew there had been a monster gate (given as 33,500) On several occassions we`d been lucky enough to talk to Frankie Howard and on this one he said that he`d had to open the big double gates at the North West for fear they`ed break and told us absolutely seriously "That is the most i`ve ever seen in here" Yes im well aware this is only heresay,but i`m passing it on because of WHO said it.

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LAWgull says...
7:45pm Mon 23 Jul 12

cardiffseagull If My memory is correct the final score was brighton 6 watford 0 and adrian thorne scored FIVE I may be wrong but I think it may have been is debut as well

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Brightonlad86 says...
7:47pm Mon 23 Jul 12

Isn't it ironic... All those who claim the PL is plastic now want a slice of the action...I wish the Albion all the best and hope they achieve there goals but the majority of supporters are nothin more than hypocritical fools..

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Chi Gull says...
7:51pm Mon 23 Jul 12

Don't think there was any need for that comment wole.

Anyone who has followed the planning saga will know that just achieving a 30k stadium was minor miracle. To go beyond that would be almost impossible on the falmer site. I can well imagine TB saying that 30k was the absolute limit. Its just a fantastic stadium and we should all enjoy it whatever the capacity.

I have been in 2 or 3 30,000+ crowds at the Goldstone. I remember feeling crushed on the east terrace and not having a very good view, but I was only a lad.Hate to disagree with one of the posts above,but I don't think the Ken Beamish pomotion clincher was against Rotherham...?

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Baldseagull says...
7:56pm Mon 23 Jul 12

wole wrote:
I suppose Tony Bloom is your best mate is he? What on earth do you know about anything? I suspect you work in London behind a computer desk all day and just comment on various websites around the country.
Very sad man is what you are I am afraid Roast!
He is every Brighton fans best mate, and he often takes the train to away games with the rest of us and is happy to chat.
Strange you should suspect that Roast is the same as you though.

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gordongull says...
8:03pm Mon 23 Jul 12

Brightonlad86 wrote:
Isn't it ironic... All those who claim the PL is plastic now want a slice of the action...I wish the Albion all the best and hope they achieve there goals but the majority of supporters are nothin more than hypocritical fools..
Shouldn't you be with your buddies trying to save the Muppet Theatre?

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Ringmer Rich says...
8:09pm Mon 23 Jul 12

Brightonlad86 wrote:
Isn't it ironic... All those who claim the PL is plastic now want a slice of the action...I wish the Albion all the best and hope they achieve there goals but the majority of supporters are nothin more than hypocritical fools..
The premier league is plastic, but then again, so are we now. Who cares? I'd wager at least 50% of the Amex ST holders never ever went to the Withdean. Does it matter?... Of course not. From the crumbling Goldstone, to that really short drive to Priestfield, to sitting in a puddle Withdean; all of that is now in the past. The Amex is open and all are welcome, even you crazy hypocritical fools ;)

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Baldseagull says...
8:10pm Mon 23 Jul 12

I have been at a number of games, at the Goldstone and elsewhere, where the official gate figure seemed a long way short of the real numbers, I always assumed it was so that chunks of gate money could avoid taxation, top up certain players etc.

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mark5 says...
8:24pm Mon 23 Jul 12

I remember being at an evening game at the Goldstone in the mid 70s against Sheffield Weds when the crowd was about 33,000! Standing on a box at the back of the North Stand and being lifted off the box as the crowd swayed back and forth(Health and Safety officers today will shudder to recall these times!) That crowd was in the 3rd division too! Anyone else remember it?

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Neville says...
8:35pm Mon 23 Jul 12

Chi Gull Yes 1971 Season Brighton played Rotherham and was 1-1 with a few mins to go and then beamish scored made it 2-1 and promoted.

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FloridaGull says...
8:47pm Mon 23 Jul 12

Great memories, I was at the Watford and Fulham games, too. Huge crowds, big victories! Yes, Thorne got 5 against Watford (but it wasn't his debut, though pretty close). And Fulham on Boxing Day! 36,000, spilling out to the touchline, and a 3-0 victory (I recall Freddie Jones scoring twice, but not 100% on that). More of the same, please!

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beanyeye says...
9:05pm Mon 23 Jul 12

Neville wrote:
Chi Gull Yes 1971 Season Brighton played Rotherham and was 1-1 with a few mins to go and then beamish scored made it 2-1 and promoted.
I was at that evening game against Rotherham. North stand end, close to the end of the game. A right foot thump from Beamish. Absolute magic (even relished the prospect of school next day). Fantastic!

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kevbha says...
9:12pm Mon 23 Jul 12

was on a stadium tour at begining of july the chap taking us round said to get the extra seats in all the seats in already can be pushed closer together
to bring the ground capacity up to just under 40 k with the rest that are going in now also the 3 empty rows up in the east upper being used

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Far gull says...
9:26pm Mon 23 Jul 12

Remember 33,000 plus against west ham which we won 2-1 and everybody sat round touch line. Could do that again to increase capacity!!!!!!!!? When on tour round stad for sons 8 th birthday guide mentioned about sinking pitch to fit in more seats! Could have been a blag but interesting thought along we changing rooms up to champions league standard. Oh to dream.

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mikeygit says...
9:32pm Mon 23 Jul 12

Tug509---in answer to your question about the East Stand--I had the privelege of being show round the stadium by Richard Hibberd--Head of Operations--whilst on a trip to the UK from my home here in Spain and he told me that the East Stand has been constructed the same way as the West Stand and therefore the East Stand could--if needed--replicate the West Stand. He told me then --Oct last year--that they had every intention of putting the maximum seats in asap, and I believe that planning apps were in then.
Hope this answers your question. Cheers.

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Captain Haddock says...
10:08pm Mon 23 Jul 12

ballantrrae wrote:
Great about the extra seating. Now lets get the additional new signings in we can all enjoy watching. Still waiting to see who we might get as the midfield powerhouse Poyet wants and of course another striker. Now the squad is in Spain I imagine we will have to wait until that trip has finished. Any rumours anyone ? Captain Haddock ? All I've seen is the Argus report about the young French lad Balmy.
Sadly I have no other news, B.

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pte says...
10:08pm Mon 23 Jul 12

At the planning stage was clear right from the start, before the club even spoke about future expansion that the stadium was designed for expansion. At the planning stage expansion may have been a delicate issue and was never mentioned in public. But you could see the pitch was large the corners were unfilled and that this was a stadium designed for expansion if it were ever needed and economically justified.

So my guess is that the stadium is expandable to 40K. If the club is prepared to spend millions on the academy and training facilities, a 40K stadium will have been thought about beforehand and will be needed to sustain everything.

If BHA can get 30K in the Championship they should get 40K in the Prem especially with the greater away fan support of the London and Manchester clubs. The club must be aware of this so its hard to believe they have been caught out

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pte says...
10:24pm Mon 23 Jul 12

BTW Reading FC have plans to expand to 38K so I cant see BHA not being able to do the same

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tug509 says...
11:33pm Mon 23 Jul 12

mikeygit wrote:
Tug509---in answer to your question about the East Stand--I had the privelege of being show round the stadium by Richard Hibberd--Head of Operations--whilst on a trip to the UK from my home here in Spain and he told me that the East Stand has been constructed the same way as the West Stand and therefore the East Stand could--if needed--replicate the West Stand. He told me then --Oct last year--that they had every intention of putting the maximum seats in asap, and I believe that planning apps were in then.
Hope this answers your question. Cheers.
Yes it does Much appreciated Mikeygit,the thought occoured when i saw the reconstruction of the outside of the south stand to allow the additional work on the two corners SW&SE.I wondered if they had built the East with that in mind as well.As other posts above have implied,we should be enjoying theMagnificent Stadium we`ve already got,and i`m sure we all do,but when you love your club as most fans everywhere do,you want more of a good thing.But to TB and all others in our great club,it will never be taken for granted,Massive Thanks. UTA

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AGT999 says...
6:15am Tue 24 Jul 12

Poolegul wrote:
It adds absolutely nothing to the discussion but since it is mentioned in the report I was there for that Fulham game and it certainly added an extra dimension to the view that a good crowd is the required 12th man the team needs! Anyone ese there that day (wasn't it Boxing Day?).
Yep, it was boxing day, i was also there with my younger brother. Johnny Haynes was playing and I think Jimmy Hill was also in he team.

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college says...
7:57am Tue 24 Jul 12

http://thetwounfortu
nates.com/great-foot
ball-league-teams-36
-brighton-and-hove-a
lbion-2010-11
I knew our players and the football then were good, but this level of praise - phew!!
reading the above article made me wonder if the 2010-11 team would have filled the Goldstone with the same size crowds I remember from the 60s and 70s e.g.30,000+ on a Wednesday night.
Opinions anyone

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Jimmy Stewart's Imaginary Rabbit says...
9:33am Tue 24 Jul 12

All those anti-Albionites who sneered that the stadium would be a white elephant with 8,000 rattling around inside have been pretty quiet of late!

IMO a 30,000 capacity is fine for a provincial club like ours. Sure they'll be individual games or sets of games when we could probably sell twice that number of tickets, but we've also got to remember that there WILL be bad seasons when fans won't turn up (Not a slur on Brighton fans, all clubs are like that). There's nothing worse than seeing a 40,000 capacity stadium with only 15,000 people in it. (Well, there are obviously lots of things worse, but you get the point).

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Al Bion says...
11:18am Tue 24 Jul 12

Chi Gull was right about the Rotherham game in 1971/72 season. Although it was a great win, it didn't clinch promotion. We still had two games to go (both against Rochdale!) and went into the last game (at home) still needing a point before the game started to be sure of promotion. We gained the point in a 1-1 draw, and I think Rochdale stayed up courtesy of their point. Neither team tried to score in the last few minutes and the game just petered out, but both sets of fans were happy.

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dave from bexill says...
11:29am Tue 24 Jul 12

Jimmy Stewart's Imaginary Rabbit wrote:
All those anti-Albionites who sneered that the stadium would be a white elephant with 8,000 rattling around inside have been pretty quiet of late!

IMO a 30,000 capacity is fine for a provincial club like ours. Sure they'll be individual games or sets of games when we could probably sell twice that number of tickets, but we've also got to remember that there WILL be bad seasons when fans won't turn up (Not a slur on Brighton fans, all clubs are like that). There's nothing worse than seeing a 40,000 capacity stadium with only 15,000 people in it. (Well, there are obviously lots of things worse, but you get the point).
Exactly right JSIR

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Al Bion says...
11:35am Tue 24 Jul 12

Mikeygit - While I don't doubt what Richard Hebberd said about expanding the East Stand, I can't see how it can replicate the three-tier West Stand which has a much higher roof. Fairly major work would surely be needed to raise the whole East Stand roof to the same height for a third tier of seating to be added.
That said, I think it's fantastic news for all Albion fans that we are in this position now, with another (hopefully) great season of football ahead of us. Well done to everybody concerned with our club over the last few years for making these such exciting times for us.

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RedKen1 says...
2:19pm Tue 24 Jul 12

Al Bion wrote:
Chi Gull was right about the Rotherham game in 1971/72 season. Although it was a great win, it didn't clinch promotion. We still had two games to go (both against Rochdale!) and went into the last game (at home) still needing a point before the game started to be sure of promotion. We gained the point in a 1-1 draw, and I think Rochdale stayed up courtesy of their point. Neither team tried to score in the last few minutes and the game just petered out, but both sets of fans were happy.
Well done Al Bion for putting people right. I remember the promotion night v Rochdale (not Rotherham) & the stalemate situation at the end. My dad bought me a silk scarf that night which I still have. You don't get quality material like that anymore.

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Chi Gull says...
3:00pm Tue 24 Jul 12

RedKen1 wrote:
Al Bion wrote:
Chi Gull was right about the Rotherham game in 1971/72 season. Although it was a great win, it didn't clinch promotion. We still had two games to go (both against Rochdale!) and went into the last game (at home) still needing a point before the game started to be sure of promotion. We gained the point in a 1-1 draw, and I think Rochdale stayed up courtesy of their point. Neither team tried to score in the last few minutes and the game just petered out, but both sets of fans were happy.
Well done Al Bion for putting people right. I remember the promotion night v Rochdale (not Rotherham) & the stalemate situation at the end. My dad bought me a silk scarf that night which I still have. You don't get quality material like that anymore.
Phew... my memory was of it being against Rochdale that we clinched promotion. I was one of the last to et into that game and couldnt get on the terrace for the 1st half it was crowded. However, now my memory has been jogged, I do remembr the last minute Beamish winner in a game we might have lost. That win made us all believe it was going to happen. I think we went up with Aston Villa who were then in the 3rd Div !!

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Billyboyarnold says...
3:05pm Tue 24 Jul 12

Great news about the £100 Bricks being replaced onto the North Stand Wall. You can't even read them where they are now. Brighton Bill Yorkshire Seagull & Loyal Fan since 1961.

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