action man Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 what did everyone think of their new ground?i personally thought they had 1 good 3 tier stand 2 ends that seem to go half way across and back then stop and another side that stopped half way up so they could write american express in huge letters ,very dissappointed in it,too much concrete and not enough seats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintNeil90 Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 It looked like there were loads of panels missing too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Garrett Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 Didn't go today, but don't they have pretty major plans over the next few years to expand and fill in the corners etc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Turvey Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 It's unfinished. The East Stand will have a second tier on it and the corners are going to be filled in also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chez Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 hope they have some change from the £90m as it needs a lot of work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_saints Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 Really did expect better. It's "nice" but there's so much wasted space and the concourses were no better than ours really. They will be extending though apparently so hopefully it will make it look a bit more complete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 (edited) Feels like Ricoh cemetery with those walled in parts, especially behind the goals which I assume won't be added to. Edited 2 January, 2012 by shurlock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bourno Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 3 sides non-league. We did chant 'you've only got one stand'. the seats were padded and comfy and plenty of leg room but the seats weren't steep enough. concourse wasn't finished I was expecting a lot more . The ambient lighting in the clubs colours - one red light above the concession stand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Kraken Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 I don't see the point in spending all that money to provide a stadium that isn't complete yet. Just build it all in one go, if that's the plan. I think it looks a bit daft at the moment, far too much empty space where there should be seats; even if they're empty its better than the current configuration. £90M not that well spent, IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
south Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 I don't see the point in spending all that money to provide a stadium that isn't complete yet. Just build it all in one go, if that's the plan. I think it looks a bit daft at the moment, far too much empty space where there should be seats; even if they're empty its better than the current configuration. £90M not that well spent, IMO. Planning permission..... Originally only 22,000 thousands seats were originally allowed and that was a fight in itself. Another tier on the East and the two corners of the South will be added in the summer, if planning is permitted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocknrollman no2 Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 When we turned up,i was impressed with their ground.The stewards were helpful and their fans were friendly,especially when we mixed with them in "Dicks bar." But after we had a few beers and we went to our seats,i was very disappointed with the stadium itself. They only seem to have one main home stand with what looks like two very small "stands" to its left and in front of it.Our stand was ok,giving a good view of the pitch,although it did seem small. The way the ground is built also allows all of the sound of both sets of fans to go straight into the air,so you cant hear any songs. If i was a Brighton fan,i would have expected more,but considering their lack of a proper ground in the past,i guess they are grateful with anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Garrett Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 This cost nearly 3x the amount of St Marys...Why ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffo Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 Boring. Tinpot club and the stadium had about as much character as Colchester's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Kraken Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 Planning permission..... Originally only 22,000 thousands seats were originally allowed and that was a fight in itself. Another tier on the East and the two corners of the South will be added in the summer, if planning is permitted. Fair enough if its planning, but I still think its a weird gamble to leave such enormous corners without any seats. If planning permission is not granted you're left wioth a wonky stadium that just looks wrong. Not a great result for £90M. If planning is granted then of course i'll reserve judgement until then, but it seems like an arse about face way to go about things to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colinjb Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 It's unfinished. The East Stand will have a second tier on it and the corners are going to be filled in also. If they can sustain their crowds. Coventry managed 20k+ in their early years, then it dropped off. Look at them now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 Boring. Tinpot club and the stadium had about as much character as Colchester's. And like Colchester, the surrounding area smelled of sh*t. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sour Mash Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 Feels like Ricoh cemetery with those walled in parts, especially behind the goals which I assume won't be added to. Yep, not a million miles from the Ricoh. After all the hype, I tought it was rubbis. Not easy to get to, nothing around there, over-crowded concourse. Decent enough view. Not much noise. Doesn't look anything special, inside or out. Have they really spend £90m on all that? Where did they get that much cash from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sour Mash Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 If they can sustain their crowds. Coventry managed 20k+ in their early years, then it dropped off. Look at them now. Exactly. Statistically, there has to be lots of people in that crowd that haven't been going regularly to Brighton home games for a fair old while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chin Strain Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 This cost nearly 3x the amount of St Marys...Why ? Cost of the building materials has increased dramatically in 11 years. That won't have helped. The land was probably a lot more expensive too. However, padded seats all adds to the cost. I was disappointed by it. Style over substance. Football grounds are defined by their 'kops' behind the goals. They've missed the point completely by having such tiny stands at each End. Even if they increase the capacity there will be no more depth to the stands behind the goals. Also, it needs to be steeper. I thought The Madjeski was a much better ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Chuckle Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 Soulless, boring, really disappointed. Still think MK Dons is the best of new stadiums facility wise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Diamond Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 Soulless, boring, really disappointed. Still think MK Dons is the best of new stadiums facility wise Urgh. Franchise bastards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 Cost of the building materials has increased dramatically in 11 years. That won't have helped. The land was probably a lot more expensive too. However, padded seats all adds to the cost. I was disappointed by it. Style over substance. Football grounds are defined by their 'kops' behind the goals. They've missed the point completely by having such tiny stands at each End. Even if they increase the capacity there will be no more depth to the stands behind the goals. Also, it needs to be steeper. I thought The Madjeski was a much better ground. Agree. V.underwhelming. Their north stand felt like a midget version of the Milton after it had seats put in. At least in our case, it wasn't by design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Diamond Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 Also wasn't it apparently designed with acoustics in mind, so they could out-sing the opposition? From what I can tell, that failed. I was listening on Solent and I heard our lot more than them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Boy Saint Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 Looks very nice from the outside, but a bit of a let down inside, main stand aside. Toilets were a bit of a bun fight. Padded seats were pleasant warmed your backside up nicely when you sat down at half time. Being 5'2" and having to stand up Mrs JBS found her view quite restricted compared to the Mad Stad. Amazingly they ran out of Fosters and (what I thought was a nice touch) Ringwood Bitter. Pies were nice although could have been warmer. Access to and from the Station very good. At the end of the day far better than the Withdean and the 5h!tty stick they have had to carry since the Goldstone ground was sold from under them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horley CTFC Saint Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 This cost nearly 3x the amount of St Marys...Why ? Might be the pie making machine in hospitality - good quality pies! Ground will look better once they get the 8,000 extra seats but nice red glow from the away end after dark so the colour coordination is obviously working Car park a nightmare to get out of after the game - half an hour without moving - puts the Rose Bowl to shame Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamster Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 Poor mans stadium MK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jam Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 Fair enough if its planning, but I still think its a weird gamble to leave such enormous corners without any seats. If planning permission is not granted you're left wioth a wonky stadium that just looks wrong. Not a great result for £90M. If planning is granted then of course i'll reserve judgement until then, but it seems like an arse about face way to go about things to me. I think it's the thin end of the wedge thing. I'd assume it's going to be much easier for them to get permission for extra seats in there is going to be no impact on the external view of the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cat Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 I ordered a chicken balti pie and was given a chicken and ham one instead. What a disgrace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattio Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 Poor mans stadium MK.Bloody hell, didn't think a stadium could be that sh*t! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyer Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 Soulless, boring, really disappointed. Still think MK Dons is the best of new stadiums facility wise Thats what SMS is, its the worst type of ground there is plus theres another half a dozen identical to it. Fratton Park and Selhurst park are the worst of the old stadiums Ive seen and SMS is the worst of the new ones. Saints should have built a new version of the Dell, i hope QPR build a 45k version of Loftus Road. id be gutted to have to go to a Ricoh, Pride Park, SMS etc every week. Single tier, shallow rake, 1st row 10m away from the touchline doesnt make a good ground or atmosphere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colinjb Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 Thats what SMS is, its the worst type of ground there is plus theres another half a dozen identical to it. Fratton Park and Selhurst park are the worst of the old stadiums Ive seen and SMS is the worst of the new ones. Saints should have built a new version of the Dell, i hope QPR build a 45k version of Loftus Road. id be gutted to have to go to a Ricoh, Pride Park, SMS etc every week. Single tier, shallow rake, 1st row 10m away from the touchline doesnt make a good ground or atmosphere. It is odd, maybe it depends on whether it is your own ground. I love St Mary's, I have some incredible memories from there and have experienced some utterly stunning atmospheres. Charlton 01/02, Norwich 04/05, Man utd 03/04, Walsall 10/11, Sheffield Utd 07/08. It may be identikit, but I love the thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyer Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 It is odd, maybe it depends on whether it is your own ground. I love St Mary's, I have some incredible memories from there and have experienced some utterly stunning atmospheres. Charlton 01/02, Norwich 04/05, Man utd 03/04, Walsall 10/11, Sheffield Utd 07/08. It may be identikit, but I love the thing. I loved watching games at the dell, facilities might have been crap, there might have been no legroom but the atmosphere there was miles better than SMS. I was even stuck in those horrible cages when I was there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sour Mash Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 I ordered a chicken balti pie and was given a chicken and ham one instead. What a disgrace. I ordered a Steak and Ale Pie and they gave me some sort of Spicy Chicken number. C**ts. Won't let them get me like that again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sour Mash Posted 2 January, 2012 Share Posted 2 January, 2012 I loved watching games at the dell, facilities might have been crap, there might have been no legroom but the atmosphere there was miles better than SMS. I was even stuck in those horrible cages when I was there. Out of the new grounds out there, what do you consider decent? They're all s**te in my eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Le God Posted 3 January, 2012 Share Posted 3 January, 2012 (edited) what did everyone think of their new ground?i personally thought they had 1 good 3 tier stand 2 ends that seem to go half way across and back then stop and another side that stopped half way up so they could write american express in huge letters ,very dissappointed in it,too much concrete and not enough seats By the start of next season there should be a second tier added to the East Stand: The South East corner will also be filled in. As will the South West, in addition to the West Stand middle tier wrapping around into the South. In January 2013, the new South Stand hospitality will open, a second tier above the current away end, for corporate hospitality. Then for the start of the 2013/14 season the North East and West corners will be filled in, in addition to the West Stand middle tier wrapping round there too. This will boost the capacity up to 30,750. Edited 3 January, 2012 by Matthew Le God Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlakeySFC Posted 3 January, 2012 Share Posted 3 January, 2012 (edited) I was very impressed with the ground I must say. I still prefer Cardiff's and MK Don's overrall but the Amex was a decent enough ground How and why it cost £100 million i'll never know though, Cardiff's cost half that, ridiculous considering Brighton's precarious financial position. Edited 3 January, 2012 by BlakeySFC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Le God Posted 3 January, 2012 Share Posted 3 January, 2012 Considering Brighton's precarious financial position. What makes you think they are in a precarious financial position? They have just moved into a £90m stadium, are expanding it to 30k seats in the next eighteen months and are building a £20m training ground and academy. Tony Bloom has them on very solid foundations now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffo Posted 3 January, 2012 Share Posted 3 January, 2012 What makes you think they are in a precarious financial position? They have just moved into a £90m stadium, are expanding it to 30k seats in the next eighteen months and are building a £20m training ground and academy. Tony Bloom has them on very solid foundations now. Are you a Brighton fan? Bore off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Le God Posted 3 January, 2012 Share Posted 3 January, 2012 Are you a Brighton fan? Bore off. Why me to "bore of" and not BlakeySFC who seems to think they are broke? All I did was ask a question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlakeySFC Posted 3 January, 2012 Share Posted 3 January, 2012 There stadium/new training facilities/possible stadium extension etc. is all paid for by Bank loans, there owner is only worth £35-50 million tops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Le God Posted 3 January, 2012 Share Posted 3 January, 2012 (edited) There stadium/new training facilities/possible stadium extension etc. is all paid for by Bank loans, there owner is only worth £35-50 million tops. How does that make it "precarious"? If the debt is serviceable then there isn't an issue. Edited 3 January, 2012 by Matthew Le God Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlakeySFC Posted 3 January, 2012 Share Posted 3 January, 2012 A debt that big is still a risk for any business Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Le God Posted 3 January, 2012 Share Posted 3 January, 2012 A debt that big is still a risk for any business How do you know it is funded by loans? How do you know how much money Tony Bloom has? The statement you made of "there owner is only worth £35m - £50m tops", gives quite a large range. I find it hard to believe anyone that doesn't know the difference between "there" and "their". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seagull Posted 3 January, 2012 Share Posted 3 January, 2012 I was very impressed with the ground I must say. I still prefer Cardiff's and MK Don's overrall but the Amex was a decent enough ground How and why it cost £100 million i'll never know though, Cardiff's cost half that, ridiculous considering Brighton's precarious financial position. That figure incorporates the cost of the planning application, which spanned two public enquairys, I've got it in my head that that came to about 20m but that sounds insanely high so I've possibly got a little confused there, it was in the millions though. We also had a whole new road flyover built to deal with the traffic and the cost of steel has rocketed in the last few years. There stadium/new training facilities/possible stadium extension etc. is all paid for by Bank loans, there owner is only worth £35-50 million tops. Actually NONE of it is paid for by bank loans. The whole thing has been paid for by the chairman. With regards to other peoples thoughts on the acoustics, we've actually had a lot of opposition fans tell us how fantastic they are. Obviously we're all like kids on coke at the moment as we're so excited about the place that we tend to check out the opposition fans thoughts out after most games. I'll be the first to admit it wasn't brilliant today, it was perhaps more one of those days where the match dictated a lot of the crowds noise (such as panto villans, ref decisions, blabla) but its actually very good on the whole and have had away fans mention as much plenty of times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seagull Posted 3 January, 2012 Share Posted 3 January, 2012 In addition to the above (cant see an edit button), we had to dig about four levels into the ground, so that added to the cost. That's also why the ends are fairly small. Falmer was the only site for the ground, and to have it built there it had to blend into the south downs. It just wasn't practical to have large ends at either end. If we'd been lucky enough to have had a suitable area in Brighton which didn't need to be dug into the ground I'm sure it would have a different design but we had to work with what we had available. A lot of other clubs fans have said its weird because its lopsided/wonky. To be honest, I like that. If it wasn't, everyone would just say it was a bowl! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1976_Child Posted 3 January, 2012 Share Posted 3 January, 2012 I think there is an apostrophe in Brighton's ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niceandfriendly Posted 3 January, 2012 Share Posted 3 January, 2012 Wow, haven't seen pictures of the AMEX like this before. What a truly horrific looking stadium. Having lobbied central and local governments for a few years in support of the Falmer bid I feel a bit let down by this! Desperately needs improvement, which by the sounds of it is coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sour Mash Posted 3 January, 2012 Share Posted 3 January, 2012 That figure incorporates the cost of the planning application, which spanned two public enquairys, I've got it in my head that that came to about 20m but that sounds insanely high so I've possibly got a little confused there, it was in the millions though. We also had a whole new road flyover built to deal with the traffic and the cost of steel has rocketed in the last few years. Actually NONE of it is paid for by bank loans. The whole thing has been paid for by the chairman. With regards to other peoples thoughts on the acoustics, we've actually had a lot of opposition fans tell us how fantastic they are. Obviously we're all like kids on coke at the moment as we're so excited about the place that we tend to check out the opposition fans thoughts out after most games. I'll be the first to admit it wasn't brilliant today, it was perhaps more one of those days where the match dictated a lot of the crowds noise (such as panto villans, ref decisions, blabla) but its actually very good on the whole and have had away fans mention as much plenty of times. Don't think anyone is saying there is anything wrong with your new ground, just that there is nothing particularly special about it and doesn't live up to any of the hype. I can see why Brighton fans would be excited at just having their own, proper ground though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STEVEADAMS Posted 3 January, 2012 Share Posted 3 January, 2012 [u[/u]This cost nearly 3x the amount of St Marys...Why ? St Mary's was built in 2001 !!. How much do you think it would cost today?, very similar to Brightons I would guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric The Red Posted 3 January, 2012 Share Posted 3 January, 2012 I thought the chant we shoulld have sung yesterday was "It'll be nice when it's finished" Outside it looked fine and they have done a good job at making it not too obtrusive against the South Downs but inside it does look poor and the raking is too shallow at the away end - to fit in hospitality boxes above I assume reading about their expansion plans in the programme. Generally I thought the stadium had been 'oversold', i.e. a vast improvement on the Withdean but not great (yet) and the themed colour scheme idea was a joke , it seemed to consist of 1 or 2 lights! Lastly there catering people were nice and friendly but not very efficient, I ordered a Steak and Ale pie and got a burger! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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