Dave Goss admits the Brighton Bears have come a long way since he formed the club back in 1973.

They have even matched the Brighton Centre attendance record set by his old-time side.

Now, as the club go into their 30th anniversary year and aim sky high, their founder admits his great memories still centre on those early days trawling the regional leagues.

In the United States, Seventies funk was alive and kicking and so was the ABA, stage to on-court showmen, awesome Afros and gimmicks like the three-coloured ball, three-point shot and cheerleaders in bikinis.

Not all of those fads caught on but Goss admits that sort of pioneering spirit was also evident this side of the Atlantic.

Back then, Brighton ball was all about amateur players, bushy sideburns and figure-hugging kits.

Goss, now coach of Bognor Pirates, said: "We formed the team because of our love of basketball. I had come down from Essex and been playing for the Brighton Giants but they disbanded in the late Sixties.

"There was the advent of the National League in the Seventies and around that time we formed Brighton Basketball Club.

"We were playing at Portslade and Lancing and progressed to the London League and, in 1977-78, the National League second division."

The Bears nickname did not appear until 1981 when Brighton reached the NBL top flight and started playing at the Brighton Centre. Argus readers were invited to suggest the best name for the club.

Those exciting days saw the first overseas signing as Kevin Kallaugher joined from Harvard and a record Brighton Centre crowd of 3,600 to see a play-off with Solent in 1982.

Goss said: "We were just living one season at a time. A lot of the time I was funding the club. We had a good sponsor as well in TCB bank.

"Our crowd for that Solent game was a record for the venue until the Bears beat it last season.

"The problem was we did not have a back-up venue like The Triangle for when the centre was booked up.

"We could play two games on successive nights then not be back for weeks.

"I touted the club around. We played all over the place and Worthing council gave us a lot of help and we settled there."

Goss, 54, follows the BBL from a distance these days and admits he does not like all he sees.

He said: "Things have changed too much. Our first American was subsidised rather than paid.

"I suppose our first real signing was Jerry Jenkins but back then every team was professional with eight Englishmen and two Americans.

"These days you can basically have six Americans and it means English players get no significant court time.

"In fact the only regular English starter over the last three years was Ian Whyte and he is one of my lads from Brighton.

"I know it's a very professional league now but I can't see how the current set-up is assisting the growth of basketball here."

Former club secretary Peter Godding recalls going to Warrington for a Brighton win televised live on Channel Four and one of the classic NBL games when mighty Solent were beaten at Lancing.

He said: "Solent had names like Jim Guymon, Mark Saiers and Roy Lewis and the place was jam-packed. We got 500 in there and were turning others away."

Bears dropped out of the league for a year in 1986 and were on the brink of extinction but have fought back admirably with many of their landmark moments coming at ten-year intervals.

It was 1983 when they played their first match in Worthing and 1993 when they claimed the play-off crown that led to a historic championship hat-trick.

Bears fans will be reluctant to emulate desperate Spurs followers expecting their side to win the cup when the year ends in one but will find it hard not to wonder whether 2003 will bring a first major trophy to Brighton.

If it does, those Seventies enthusiasts who kept the game alive in the town will take some of the credit.