If we don't get Falmer, we won't have a club

The future of a proud football club could be decided in the next few weeks.

Planning inspector John Collyer heard lengthy arguments from Brighton and Hove Albion about why the application for a new home should be approved.

In a nutshell, without Falmer, the club would struggle to survive.

The inspector also heard impassioned responses from Falmer residents about why they did not want a football ground on their doorstep.

He has now made his recommendations to the Deputy Prime Minister and it is up to John Prescott to give two fingers or a thumbs-up to the club.

Neither the Albion, nor Whitehall, were able to say when the report was due.

A spokesman for Mr Prescott said: "It's not the sort of thing we would say, even if we did know.

"But we don't know. It's in due course."

A club spokesman said: "We would rather wait until the decision comes through before saying anything. We've had no indication of when the verdict will be."

Portsmouth FC applied to build an out-of-town stadium in the early Nineties. It was rejected, partly because of the impact on nesting grounds for geese.

Mr Prescott, however, said in December he was "minded to confirm" a compulsory purchase of land by Arsenal for a 60,000-seat stadium in north London.

After the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, when 96 people were crushed to death at a soccer match, much tighter ground regulations were introduced.

In the aftermath, the Taylor Report recommended all top grounds in England and Scotland should become all-seater.

With the subsequent influx of cash into the game through broadcasting rights, more and more teams moved from ageing Victorian and early 20th Century stadiums into new arenas.

Among the first were Millwall, who moved a short distance from their home The Den to The New Den in South London.

New stadiums then took off apace in the North, where vast tracts of land used for traditional heavy industry were sitting vacant. Land was cheap and grants were available for redevelopment.

Among these were Middlesbrough, a team that are now an established Premier League force but in a town far smaller than Brighton and Hove.

A handful of non-league clubs, including Wycombe Wanderers and Yeovil Town, built stadiums to meet the requirements for league football.

Other team erected new stands or completely rebuilt their grounds. The Albion, on the other hand, through their previous board of directors, sold the Goldstone Ground home for a retail development.

After two seasons playing home games at Gillingham, the club moved to Withdean where the capacity is inadequate.

Chief executive Martin Perry told the Falmer Inquiry: "If the application fails, the future of the club is in jeopardy.

"We do not have a contingency plan. There is no other site."

Some of the new grounds around the country have been built alongside out-of-town retail parks, for example Sixfields in Northampton. This was funded by the local council and Northampton Town pay rent to play there.

Other clubs have moved to stadiums created for non-football purposes, such as Manchester City, who proudly occupy the City of Manchester Stadium built for the Commonwealth Games.

Wimbledon recently moved to the National Hockey Stadium in Milton Keynes, a decision which has been uniformly panned by the football community.

The Albion have none of these options, however. There is no big out-of-town retail opportunity.

Sandwiched between the sea and the Downs, the only available brownfield building sites are too small to accommodate a large football stadium.

Wimbledon aside, the majority of teams have also had a ground available to sell to fund their new homes.

The Albion no longer have that luxury.

For some teams, notably Wigan Athletic and Bolton Wanderers, their new modern stadiums have helped them achieve remarkable success on the field.

But others, such as Derby County, are now in a parlous state. Their new ground has not helped pay players' spiralling wages.

Paul Samrah, chairman of the Falmer For All campaign, said: "We're aware of which other clubs have built stadiums but our design is not like any of the others so we did not want to draw too many comparisons.

"In terms of success, Bolton are now in the League Cup Final as a result of their new stadium and are now an established Premiership side.

"Reading are also pushing for promotion and most have had success.

"But we are looking from a different view.

"After two years in Gillingham before Withdean, we have to build up our fan base again, which is something the other clubs have not had to do.

"At its peak, we had a capacity of 33,000 at the Goldstone Ground.

"But gradually with health and safety rules and lack of investment, parts had to be closed.

"There are two ways this can go. I think we have put forward a very, very strong case.

"But if we don't get Falmer, we probably won't have a club."