It was a day thousands of Albion fans feared would never come.

As the diggers churned up the earth at Falmer today, a kick-off ceremony to officially hand the site over to contractors the Buckingham Group took place.

Work will now begin in earnest on the 22,500 seat community stadium – 11 years after the Seagulls' last match at the Goldstone Ground.

It may be no more than a muddy building site, but it looked like paradise to the 100 or so Albion fans who won the right to be there in a lottery draw.

Albion directors were joined by civic leaders and celebrity supporters including Des Lynam and Norman Cook at the ceremony to mark the start of work on the £65million stadium.

The actual dimensions of the pitch were marked into the mud complete with corner flags, goalposts and a penalty spot.

The players, fresh from a dramatic victory over Shrewsbury on penalties in the Johnstone Paints Trophy, walked over to join the celebrations from their training ground at the university site in Falmer.

Under the winter sunshine, chairman Dick Knight scored the first goal at Falmer when he shot past first-team goalkeeper John Sullivan into a goal fashioned from two diggers.

Mr Knight said: “It is a fantastic feeling to be here today and especially to score the first goal at Falmer – although my penalty wasn't too convincing.

“Now some who thought it would never happen can see the work being done here and believe it.

“We really are on our way. It is a testament to the efforts of thousands of people who just didn't give up.

“No other football club has been through what we have, but that just shows the spirit of the Albion.”