Albion appeal: Dear Supporter

Just a few weeks into the new Championship season and as we look down the league table on recent Premiership big-timers like Leeds, Sunderland, Derby, Leicester, Wolves and Nottingham Forest, it is timely to consider the progress your club, Brighton and Hove Albion, has made in recent years.

It is not just about football. It is more important than that. Because while our managers and players have given us a taste for silverware by performing brilliantly on the field, the club has tackled huge and often seemingly insurmountable problems off it.

And throughout, from the dark days of Gillingham to the never-to-be-forgotten day at the Millennium Stadium, thousands of Albion supporters like you have supported us.

It is because you care about this club that the board and I are now writing to ask if you can help us in another way.

The recent decision by John Prescott to reopen the public inquiry into the new stadium is definitely in our view an "orange light" to an eventual go-ahead for Falmer.

If he was going to say no, the inspectors' reports were his clear opportunity to have done so already.

But the further delays and extra costs involved will place a heavy additional financial burden on the club as we continue the struggle to keep the team competitive at the second level of English football while playing at inadequate Withdean.

Let me summarise the club's financial position.

The new board took over in September 1997 with the Albion's survival its long-term objective.

In the last seven years, the directors and other shareholders have invested a total of £7.1 million in the club in share capital and loans.

We spent £2.5 million converting Withdean but our temporary home can never realise the club's full potential.

For that reason, since 1999 we have been fighting for our new stadium at Falmer. Expenditure on the planning application and public inquiry to date is £2.5 million and we estimate the reopening of the inquiry will cost at least another £200,000.

So getting back to Brighton and battling for a decent permanent home will have swallowed up, by the end of the year, a total of £5.2 million.

In addition, we have suffered other costs. The final removal of Bill Archer in June, 2002, and the purchase of his shares, cost the club £700,000 - the only consolation is he was legally entitled to £1.4 million.

And the limited numbers who could get to Gillingham, and the restricted capacity at Withdean have resulted in trading losses every year.

The club's accumulated losses from 1997 to 2004 - including the substantial costs of developing Withdean and the Falmer project - are just over £9.4 million, of which the directors and shareholders have provided £7.1 million, a shortfall of £2.3 million.

In other words, without the investment in the new stadium project - essential to the future of the club - we would have more than balanced the books in recent years, despite the costs of getting rid of Mr Archer.

The losses incurred are not sustainable indefinitely.

We have taken action to reduce our Withdean costs by renegotiating with the City Council after Ecovert left. This will save the club £250,000 per year.

We are close to resolving the issues over the extra park-and-ride site needed for the extra seats at Withdean. The additional revenue the seats will bring will further reduce the trading losses.

But we have a cash deficit of £2.3 million which we need to raise to stabilise the club's position and this is where you may be able to help.

We have written to every Seagulls supporter - excluding juniors - who has attended an Albion game over the past five years.

If each person felt able to donate £100 we would raise more than £2 million. Of course, we fully understand not everyone will be able to, or wish to, do this but some of you may wish to contribute more.

Indeed, you may know of someone, or wish to make a substantial investment in the club yourself. If this is the case do please make contact with us and we will be happy, on a confidential basis, to explore ways which are mutually acceptable in which such an investment could be made.

It goes without saying every donation - whether £50 or £5,000 - will be very much appreciated. And we want to give something in return for such generosity to the club.

We obviously do not want donations to be subject to VAT so we trust that the following structure will be acceptable to you.

Donations up to £100 will be treated as a gift and very gratefully received
Everyone making a donation of more than £100 will be entered into a prize draw - with a season ticket for life to each of the first five people drawn out
As well as being entered into the draw, everyone making a donation of more than £250 will be entitled to have their name recorded on a seat in our new stadium - a permanent tribute from an appreciative club
Everyone who helps the club will receive a commemorative certificate in their name, signed by the board, as a memento for their grandchildren.

We hope you will understand why it is vital to explain the club's current position to you and you will feel able to make a contribution towards the costs of keeping the Albion alive and kicking, no matter what size that contribution may be.

The opponents of Falmer may try to use this open and honest letter as another excuse to question our ability to fund the new stadium.

We have said many times the funding of the stadium is completely separate from funding the day-to-day running of the club.

The directors are confident the capital required for the stadium will be raised through grants, sponsorships, marketing and investment but we can only generate this money once we have the approval for the stadium from John Prescott.

The Falmer project has never been just about creating a football stadium. It has been about creating a facility that will be of lasting benefit to our community.

We have the vision and drive to achieve this at Falmer - and give our great club the chance to compete in the upper echelons of English football for the next 100 years.

We remain extremely optimistic that John Prescott is making a stand for our new stadium and will eventually give us the green light.

Meanwhile, we need your help. Together we have achieved so much - taking the club from the brink of relegation from the Football League to three promotions in the last four years. We are back in Brighton, already playing a huge role in our local community but there is still much to do and we cannot do it without your support.

There are a number of ways you can make your donation: By cheque, by credit card or debit card, in cash at our club shop or ticket office, by visiting the club offices, or online by logging on to our web site at www.seagulls.co.uk. Or you could make a regular monthly payment by standing order.

Whichever method you choose, please complete the attached form and return it to the club so we can write and thank you and enclose your commemorative certificate.

Thank you for reading this important letter. If you can, please help us to secure the club's future now. We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely, Dick Knight