I am very concerned for the future of the Albion. Why, you may well ask, seeing as I was the only one to vote against the recent planning application for the stadium at Falmer?

Firstly, we have a chairman who went away on holiday when the Falmer planning application came before Brighton and Hove City Council.

We have no manager or new players with the season only a month away.

To my knowledge, no planning application has been submitted to extend the club's use of Withdean Stadium after June 2003.

Did the chairman really believe any new stadium could have been built before then?

Also, to my knowledge, no planning application has been submitted to increase the seating capacity at Withdean by 2,000, which the chairman promised the fans for the coming season and which was widely publicised in the Press.

Few supporters other than existing season ticket-holders will be able to see home games.

I think we are fully entitled to ask what the chairman is doing about this. Come on, Mr Knight, let's hear from you.

Most of us remember the Bellotti days all too well when the fans were kept in the dark over the club's future.

As a supporter for more than 50 years and a season ticket-holder for many of those, I have the Albion's interest at heart and have followed their fortunes through the ups and the downs.

I have seen many chairmen and managers come and go, some good, some bad.

Why are some clubs more successful than others? Could it be they have chairmen with a passion for football, which Dick Knight undoubtedly has, but, more importantly, financial clout to indulge their passion?

This is what seems to be missing at the Albion. Perhaps, for the fans' sakes, this is what the club should be looking for.

-Coun David Smith, Pitt Gardens, Brighton