Brighton's Dick Knight trouble due to Brentford scanning issue

In his programme notes before Brighton’s 0-0 draw with Nottingham Forest, Paul Barber has stressed that videos of an incident where Knight lost his temper over ticket issues had been misrepresented on social media.

In fact, Barber has pointed out that the reasons behind the honorary president’s struggles were a glitch which meant that Knight’s ticket would not scan properly.

Writing on the abuse faced by some staff members, Barber wrote: “Some of this abuse came after one or two of our supporters bizarrely seemed to take great delight in witnessing and filming club president Dick Knight finding himself unable to access the stadium due to a failure of Brentford’s stadium access system.

Brighton CEO Paul Barber

“If it wasn't for Albion staff helping, Dick (and other fans experience the same issue) would have faced a long walk to the other side of the stadium to gain entry. Despite this, at least one individual decided to misrepresent what actually happened to Dick on social media, leading to more abuse of our staff.”

A video circulated on Twitter appeared to show Knight remonstrating with staff over issues with his tickets, saying “I am the f****** president of the club”.

Knight is well known for helping save the club in 1997 after the Goldstone Ground was sold to property developers.

The honorary president will now step away from his role for the next then games, meaning that he will not attend the matches or represent the club in any way.

In a statement released on the club's website, Knight acknowledged that his behaviour was “unbecoming of the club’s president”.

He has apologized to fans, adding: “I would like to apologise unreservedly to anyone I offended or upset by my behaviour at Brentford last Friday night, particularly Brentford and Brighton & Hove Albion’s staff, who kindly and helpfully ensured my access to the stadium after repeated attempts to use my ticket had failed. I will be not making any further comment on this matter."