Lord Bassam must surely address himself to at least a couple of inconsistencies in his urging that a community stadium be built at Falmer.

He says such a stadium will be "stunning". Exactly.

Those who walk upon the Downs do not wish to be stunned. There is enough stunning to be had elsewhere. The countryside offers something more pleasing than such an assault upon the senses.

And what does "community" mean? Perhaps, in bandying this adjective about, Lord Bassam hopes to give the impression the pitch will be open to all and sundry when the footballers are elsewhere. I suggest he gives due consideration to the demands of modern turf technology and the nature of the subsoil.

No longer is the groundsman's job simply one of mowing, replenishing the white lines and a little aerating now and then. To keep a pitch in the condition required by a team for which Lord Bassam has such hopes, it is a case of sedulous attention, which means keeping everybody else off.

I am astonished that, in all this, Lord Bassam has not mentioned this central aspect of today's soccer: Grass.

-James Fitzgerald, New Church Road, Hove