BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION 12.02.11

HOW TO GET THERE

CAR
The stadium is located two miles away from the town centre and is just off the London Road (A23). There is no parking allowed within a mile of the ground, due to matchday restrictions in place around the stadium.

Your ticket does act as a park & ride voucher and there is an excellent park and ride scheme which is available about one mile north of the ground, at Mill Road. Leave the M23/A23 and the scheme is well signposted.

PARKING
See above, someone else finds the ground for you!

TRAIN
The nearest station is Preston Park which can be reached from London Victoria, Kings Cross or London Bridge. Sometimes it’s quicker to get the train to Brighton and then a local service to for 1 stop to Preston Park. Your match ticket will include travel on local trains/buses before and after the game, to and from the ground.

As you leave Preston Park Station turn left onto the A23 London Road. Follow the crowd up this road until you reach Tongdean Lane, which leads you straight to the ground. This walk will take you around 15 minutes.

PUBS/FOOD
The ground is located in an up-market residential market area of Brighton, where houses sell for up to ½ a million. As you would expect there are not that many traditional, back-street, local pubs to satisfy the local professional population. One option is to get the train into Brighton where there a huge range of pubs to suit all(!) tastes, with a lot of these being located around the train station. The choice closer to the ground is as follows;

Crown & Anchor- This is a traditional pub around 15 minutes walk from the ground. It is located right near to Preston Park Station, just head down the bank from the station and turn right onto the A23 London Road. The pub is then located on your right hand side. They show Sky Sports and serve sandwiches and other snacks. The pub enjoys a decent pre-match atmosphere and serves a few real ales. The South East Poolies will be holding a meeting in here at Midday. This is a members meeting, but non-members are welcome join in find out more information about the club.

The Sportsman- This is a huge, sterile pub located at the ground, with great views into the stadium. It now only serves carvery style meals and no longer has Sky TV. This is popular with away fans and although there are a lot of home fans drinking in here, most will tell you it is simply due to the lack of pubs in the area rather than the quality of the pub. Expect to spend some time queuing as kick-off approaches.

The Preston Brewery Tap- A large pub, located on the London Road. This pub gets mixed reports for its service and quality of beer. They serve meals and welcome families.

The Park View- As its name suggests, it overlooks Preston Park and is located on Preston Drove. We popped in here at about 8pm after last season’s 4-4 draw and it’s fair to say they didn’t have a single drink on tap that I had heard of. The pub is a real mix of little coves and split levels. It was quite expensive and served food. One thing to bear in mind is that whilst celebrating a superb Adam Boyd performance and the draw (as mentioned), the 2 of us started to have a bit of a sing only to be told that football songs were not allowed. I argued that they were in fact Rugby League songs, much to the annoyance of Larry ‘the happy’ barman, who warned us where the door was. This was coming from a bloke dressed as either batman or superman (can’t remember which, may have even been another superhero). Not sure whether the bloke was a bit ticked off at his mates for telling him it was fancy dress for a joke or something. You have been warned.

WITHDEAN STADIUM- Capacity 8,850 ALL-SEATED
Now those that haven’t visited the Withdean Stadium before do not get too excited that they have included the word ‘stadium’ in the title. It certainly isn’t the Emirates Stadium; in fact it isn’t even the Bescot Stadium! Those that have been there before, rejoice in the fact unless there is a huge tidal wave expecting to submerge the whole of Brighton any time soon they will be out of here by the summer. Yes that means no more sitting in Hove for a game that takes place in the Preston area, whilst arguing with the delightful stewards that you are standing up to have half a chance of seeing at least half of the pitch. Oh and it always rains so at least the new gaff will have a cover.

Away fans are housed in 3rd world conditions in the West Stand, behind one of the goals. This is approx 5/10 minutes walk from the pitch and 900 seats are made available, oh and make sure you do actually sit on them. It is a temporary scaffold stand, with no roof. There are basic refreshment facilities behind the stand and a range of athletic equipment.

To the right is the South Stand, which is another temporary stand, but easily the largest in the ground. This again has no cover, but the home fans make a surprisingly good atmosphere in here. By the way it is acceptable for home fans to stand in this area, despite what the stewards may try and tell you.

Behind the opposite goal is the East Stand (bit of a trend in the stand naming). This is again quite a distance from the pitch, so don’t expect to be able to hear the home fans who sit in here. In fact it is so far that you may not even see the stand. This is made up of 3 separate temporary stands, which are fairly tall and thin (just like Andy Monkhouse).

To the left of the away stand is the superbly named, South Stand. This unfortunately breaks away from the trend and not only offers a roof, but is a permanent structure. It is a small stand running the length of the pitch. This is the main stand and houses the executive box, posh fan and director.

SAFETY
You will have no problems here. The home fans are a friendly bunch and all pubs have a good, relaxed feel to them. This may change in some of the town centre bars, especially after the game, as they attract a lot of weekend revellers. I am personally friendly (hello sailor) with a few Seagull fans and you soon realise that the trip we dread every season, is the experience that they suffer every home game. They are looking forward to the move more than any away fans could possibly be.

SOUTH EAST POOLIES
There will be a South East Poolies meeting prior to the game. This will take place in the Crown & Anchor Pub, 3 min stroll from Preston Park Train Station.

This is open to ALL members and those who would like to attend out of interest in becoming a member. The meeting will start at 12 ‘o’ clock and is expected to last for around ½ an hour, meaning we should be done in time for the Man Utd V Man City game live on Sky.

On the agenda for the meeting is;

• Membership
• Finance
• Website
• Events
• AOB

If there is anything else that you would like to be brought up for discussion, then please e-mail the details to kentpoolies@hotmail.co.uk. Likewise if you can’t attend but would like to make a suggestion or voice your opinion then please just get in touch. Minutes from the meeting will be e-mailed to all members.

This is a chance to find out exactly what is happening within the SEP and also become more involved in its running.

PRICE
Tickets are now off-sale to away fans. There are no tickets for sale anywhere on the day. If you do not have a ticket, then do not travel as you will not gain entry into the ground.