JUDGING by all the hype surrounding the news that leisure tycoon Stephen Purdew has announced plans in the media to pour millions into the Albion in return for a controlling interest, you'd think the club has miraculously been shown the light at the end of its long, dark tunnel.

What genius. From the brink of oblivion to the promised land in 18 months. From a hard-up business to a blue-chip investment opportunity at the flash of a chequebook. In the club's search for the Holy Grail, why didn't someone think of it before?

If only it were that simple.

Before I explain why there are no magic-wand solutions, and outline the club's vision for the future, let me recap where we are now.

Along with all supporters, the board is obviously very concerned about the recent poor results on the playing side.

money has been available, new players brought in, and a major bid was accepted before the transfer deadline last week but the player was then unable to join us for family reasons. Our players must now buckle down and battle for the club at this crucial stage of the season.

But remember, 18 months ago the club had no future, shackled to a long exile in far-away Gillingham.

Today, the Albion are coming home, tremendous progress has been made in building relationships with Brighton and Hove Council towards the new stadium and the club is firmly on the road to recovery.

It has been put there by a board who, since the club's restructure in autumn 1997, is painstakingly and sure-footedly working its way, in conjunction with supporters and the council, through a mass of complex issues to arrive at the point where we have council backing for our vision of a permanent stadium at Falmer.

The vision is about to be tested on the Brighton and Hove public at the referendum on May 6. And that is why the timing and style of Mr Purdew's approach could seriously damage our prospects of securing a permanent home in the area.

If he insists on his "control" mantra, it would destabilise the club board and disrupt the relationships we've built, at this most vital time in the Albion's history.

Why not Stephen Purdew?

Ihave already made it clear that we are very willing to talk to people genuinely interested in investing in the club in partnership with the existing board, and indeed we are currently in detailed discussions with a number of them.

Now, with the progress the club has made, it is hardly surprising that other interested investors are emerging.

The people we are already talking to accept the reason for the FA-brokered "no single majority" shareholder policy set up at the time of the club's restructuring.

This is designed to protect the club from being exposed to the whims of an owner, and if that policy were to suddenly change, it would undoubtedly concern the council and could have serious repercussions on its relationship with the club.

Iwould remind everyone that I do not have majority control - the existing board works by consensus. If Stephen Purdew understands why we have set the ownership rules, he will be willing to go forward with us on a partnership basis. His financial involvement could enhance the sums invested by the existing shareholders which are a matter of public record.

Lack of details

However, despite press reports, we have not received any firm offer or proposals from Mr Purdew. To take the matter forward some of the principal facts that we need to know include:

How much money is he willing to invest?

What is the source of his money - capital and borrowings?

What are the terms by which it will be invested in the club?

If it is a loan, is it interest bearing and when does it have to be repaid?

What is the sum to be used for? Is it just as a property investment in the stadium or can it be used as the board sees fit?

Conflicting development routes

In an interview given by Mr Purdew it seems that he has not made up his mind about the best site for his ideas of a major new leisure complex, including the main stadium and possibly an indoor arena.

There is certainly not enough room at Falmer for all of those developments.

Is he aware of the very successful health, leisure and tennis facility already there, built in partnership between the University of Brighton and a private leisure operator? It is hard to imagine them supporting any planning application that would compete with their own existing leisure facilities.

So if not at Falmer, where is he proposing to build his complex? How can he guarantee the deliverability of his site? Why should we give up a site which now has council support for another which may not be deliverable?

If we are to be successful in achieving a planning consent at Falmer for a stadium for the community, we must win the support of everyone who will be affected by our plans.

We have all spent many months talking to parties who would be affected by our proposals and these detailed discussions are ongoing. They include the local community, schools, universities, local business and the council. The club is working very hard crafting proposals that all parties will find acceptable. Much of the tremendous progress being made through these talks is at risk of being undone by the unsettling intervention from Mr Purdew.

Funding the stadium

In backing the club's vision for Falmer, the council is aware that we have already given an undertaking that we are not including a retail or commercial leisure development as part of our proposals for the site.

This obviously makes it more difficult for us but we are confident it can be achieved. Our approach is to invite partners to join with the club in the development. We will form a stand-alone Stadium Development Company and will invite the council, the universities and other partners who are interested, or able to use the stadium on a regular basis, to be shareholders in that company with us.

We are now in the process of preparing a detailed business plan to enable them to consider these proposals properly.

The company will qualify for a wide range of capital and grants, together with substantial sponsorship, catering and brewing capital contributions.

By opening up the stadium for a variety of uses, including concerts, shows, special matches and other sporting and entertainment uses, the stadium company will generate revenue streams that will support a level of bank borrowing to complete the funding package.

There are no "fat cat" developers hoping to make super-profits out of leisure, retail or housing developments involved or needed in this approach. All the funds raised, and revenues from the use of the stadium, will go into the stadium company.

This model is fully proven and is the way in which £30 million was raised to build the very successful stadium at Huddersfield in a partnership between the local council, Huddersfield Town Football Club and Huddersfield Rugby League Club.

But most importantly, the Albion will be a shareholder in the stadium company and this will give us the opportunity to rebuild the club's asset base lost when the Goldstone Ground was sold by the previous owners. By being a strong partner in the Falmer Stadium for the Community we will have secured the club's future by putting it on a sound financial footing.

The most important time in the club's history

The most senior committee of the council recently gave all-party support to recommendations made by the chief officers, that Falmer represented the best opportunity for the development of a stadium for the community, subject to a full planning process.

It also authorised officers to consider the involvement of the council in the development when it is undertaken.

And finally, it approved a resolution that because this issue is so important and worthy of a wider consultation process, the matter should be put to a referendum on May 6.

The referendum result is very important to the club for two reasons.

Firstly, it will confirm council policy to assist the club in returning to Brighton and their decision that Falmer presents the best opportunity. A strong endorsement of this policy will give the council confidence to proceed.

Secondly, it is almost inevitable that the planning application will be called in for determination by the Department of Environment, Transport and Regions. Again a strong endorsement by the local community will be taken into full account at the public inquiry and will powerfully support our case.

It is therefore obvious that we should all be totally concentrating on the campaign that is about to be launched to secure a resounding YES, YES vote on May 6.

The insensitive timing of Mr Purdew's intervention has distracted everyone's intention.

The way forward

We will state our position again. The board will always consider bona fide proposals that are for the good of the club. These will be in support of the main strategies we have embraced and which we are determined to fulfil.

These are:

To get back to Brighton as soon as possible.

To build a permanent home which can be used for the benefit of the community.

To put the club on a sound financial footing.

To win promotion to the higher divisions of the Football League.

To continue to be open about the way we run the club and maintain close contact with our supporters.

To build links with the local business community and promote trade for local companies.

To fulfil our role in the community by using the football club for the good of the community.

We are making progress on these fronts and Falmer presents us with the very best opportunity to achieve all these objectives.

Over the next few weeks we will be revealing much more details about our plans for Falmer which are realistic and achievable.

The best way in which all fans, potential investors and the public can help the club and the Brighton and Hove community at large is to encourage as many people as possible to turn out to vote at the local elections on May 6.

After voting for your councillors, vote YES, YES in the referendum for a stadium for the community of Falmer. Every great city, especially Brighton and Hove, needs one.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.