It was party time at Withdean stadium as Albion fans toasted the historic decision to press ahead with a stadium at Falmer.

Seagulls supporters went wild 24 hours after John Prescott ended eight tortuous years by saying yes to the 23,000-seater stadium.

Champagne flowed as Albion repaid their fans' unwavering dedication with free bubbly at the ground entrance ahead of Saturday's game against Ipswich.

Every song was chanted with added feeling as buoyant supporters allowed months of nervous tension to give way to euphoric celebration.

Naturally, the pre-match music had a distinctly triumphant feel. Fans cheered and clapped along to Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves and Celebration by Kool and the Gang.

The Argus printed scores of posters bearing a computer-generated image of the £50 million stadium with the words, We've Got Falmer.

Mr Prescott was the focus of fans' appreciation, with one banner calling for him to be promoted to Prime Minister.

Other supporters sang "He's fat, he's round, he's given us a ground - John Prescott" and "We're not homeless any more". If only the 1-1 result, Albion's ninth draw in 16 Championship matches, could instead have gone their way.

Not that it seemed to matter much as the crowd of 6,867, the biggest of the season, celebrated the end of a long battle for a new stadium.

Albion fans Norman Cook - alias Fatboy Slim - and Des Lynam, the new host of Channel Four's Countdown, were there.

Anne Gall, 61, made a 440-mile round-trip from her home in Port Talbot, south Wales, to watch Albion's first match since Mr Prescott's announcement.

She said: "It's fabulous, truly fabulous. It has been a long time coming and will hopefully spur the club on to greater things."

Her friend Jill Wells, 53, from Burgess Hill, said: "Falmer will be what the city deserves."

It was an occasion when young and young at heart united to look ahead to a brighter future for the club.

Joe Kenward, a 13-year-old Ratton schoolboy from Eastbourne, joined his father Martin at Saturday's game.

Joe said: "It's brilliant we're going to Falmer. I can't wait till we play our first game there. I'll definitely be there."

Pensioner Ernie Johnson, 79, an Albion follower since the age of ten, said he broke down and cried when he heard the announcement.

He said: "This decision means a hell of a lot for the club. The stadium will be our home for 100 years and beyond.Certainly it will outlive me.

"It is terrific the decision went our way and I'm not ashamed to admit I sat down and cried with happiness when I heard the news."

Many fans echoed what has been said all along about Falmer: Without a new stadium the club would cease to exist.

Programme seller Wayne Walls, 27, of Racehill, Brighton, made it a family day out with his five-year-old son James.

Mr Wells said: "Having a stadium at Falmer means we can attract more money and better players. It's going to give us a new lease of life. It's the best early Christmas present ever."

In true sporting spirit, many Ipswich supporters offered their congratulations to Albion.

So too did former Eire international turned football pundit Andy Townsend. He helped pour champagne for fans and said: "It has been a long old struggle but it is fantastic.

"I remember playing at the old Goldstone ground for Southampton in front of 29,000. Let's hope the club gains those types of crowds at their new place."

At half-time chairman Dick Knight, chief executive Martin Perry and Falmer For All chairman Paul Samrah took to the centre circle clasping champagne to pay tribute to the fans.

Mr Knight, joined on the pitch by some of his grandchildren, said: "Wasn't that just about the greatest home win we have ever had? Are you all feeling bubbly?

"A toast to you all in champagne is the least this club can do to say thanks to the most marvellous supporters in the world."

He said he had received congratulations from throughout the footballing community, and the sports minister Richard Caborn.

After the match Albion poet in residence John Baines read a few lines of verse he had written following Albion's exit from the Goldstone Ground.

Mr Perry went on to pay warm tribute to the campaign. He said it had been "imaginative, clever but most of all, funny."

Older fans who recall the glory days seemed most pleased of all.

Jubilant Bill Parkes-Davis, 76, who lives in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, said: "Without a shadow of a doubt, had we not been given permission for Falmer we would have been cast into oblivion."

His friend Terry Chart, 75, said: "It's amazing to me how the management here has kept us within a sniff of the Championship. I simply can't work that bit of magic out."

Beryl Reeves and her grandchildren Mitchell Collingbourne, ten, and his three-year-old brother Jack wore T-shirts saying We've Got Falmer.

The club aims to raise just over half the stadium cost through corporate sponsorship, grants, sale of assets and private investment.

It plans to borrow the remaining £25 million in the form of a mortgage, which will be paid off by gate receipts at a rate of £1.9 million a year.

That works out at about 20 per cent of the club's estimated annual turnover of £9.7 million and is based on a projected average attendance of 12,000 at Falmer.

The club has targeted the start of the 2008-09 season for the stadium to open.