They say where there's muck there's brass and Peter McDonnell is proving it by ploughing some of his fortune back into Albion.

The partner in a Brighton waste recycling, building and property firm is an unsung hero of the Seagulls' fight for survival, one of the minority shareholders who puts his hand in his pocket when the club needs help.

McDonnell, a lifelong Albion fan and self-made millionaire, paid £10,000 for his shares and, together with partners Mark Ratcliffe and Chris Gargan, has ploughed in an estimated £50,000 in total.

It's a rags-to-riches story for the 38-year-old father-of-two, who grew up on Brighton's Moulsecoomb estate.

McDonnell, alias 'Ned', and Ratcliffe, better known as 'Ted', followed the Auf Wiedersehen Pet route by starting with a building company in Germany.

They teamed up with Gargan when they returned to England and the trio now run Kingspan, a thriving, multipurpose operation employing 60 people.

One of their main projects was turning the old bus depot in Moulescoomb Way - where McDonnell's grandfather used to work as a driver - from a derelict site into a recycling centre.

McDonnell is happy to use some of the money he has made for Albion's benefit, especially as his partners both have sons playing for the club.

Sam Gargan featured in last season's FA Youth Cup quarter-final at Newcastle, while Billy Ratcliffe is in the under-14s.

"My dad used to take me out to the Goldstone when I was about four to stand on a milk crate in the 'chicken run' on the east terrace," McDonnell said. "I used to see 'Sully' (Peter O'Sullivan), Tony Towner, Brian Horton, Eric Potts, all that lot.

"I lost a little bit of interest in the last couple of years at the Goldstone, when it was all going to pot, but then when they got back to Withdean I went back out there.

"We've got a table of ten in the hospitality lounge and we do a bit of sponsorship and advertising with them and help them out with a few quid every now and then.

"I bought a few shares about two years ago. I was going to give them some money anyway.

"I gave them £10,000 a couple of years ago and we've been doing odds and sods since then, three grand here and two grand there. We always help them when we can or when they most need it.

"We've probably invested 50 grand over the last four or five years on nights out, buying shirt sponsorships, advertising, stuff like that.

"I'm a fan of Brighton and I always will be but now that Chris and Mark's boys are coming through, it's not as if you are giving it away to people you don't know, it's for a good cause.

"Even if they weren't there we would probably still do it but all the more reason to do it, because they are lining their kids' paths as well as helping others."

Vic Bragg is charged with the responsibility of bringing prospects like striker Gargan through now that Dean Wilkins has stepped up from youth team coach to first team coach.

The backroom reshuffle was prompted by major investor Tony Bloom. He wanted Mark McGhee out after Albion were relegated from the Championship, a view not shared by McDonnell.

"Mark has got the experience, he just hasn't got the money and the players. It wouldn't matter who was manager, you wouldn't get anyone to do any better.

"I know we went down but the other managers like Peter Taylor got out after promotion, before that could happen.

"Yes, he has made a couple of wrong signings but he has put his heart and soul into it and it is easy to slag people off when things go wrong.

"You have got to remember he got us back up and had the front to stay there and try to stay up, where as all the other managers (Taylor, Micky Adams, Steve Coppell) seemed to run off when they got us up there".

McDonnell also has great respect for Dick Knight and his relentless attempt to lead the club into a new stadium at Falmer but he believes Albion need a heavyweight investor on board as well once they get there to make the team a success.

"I think Dick Knight has done a brilliant job. Sometimes you have your moans and groans and think he should maybe let somebody in with some money.

"I know they don't want somebody to come in and take it from under their noses again, like what happened with Archer, but what are they going to take? There isn't anything there at the moment.

"Other than that he has begged, borrowed and scraped and put all his time and effort into it and he has actually kept it going on a shoestring.

"I get upset when we sell players like Adam Virgo, Danny Cullip and Dan Harding, everybody does, but you are better off having a club and losing a few players than not having a club at all.

"The only thing that puts a dampener on the whole Falmer thing is when you see clubs like Sunderland. That is one of the best grounds I have been to but they can't fill it up.

"That sticks in the back of your mind when people talk about Brighton as a sleeping giant. If you aren't playing good football you are not going to fill a stadium up, whether it be 12,000 or 30,000.

"If the players come with the stadium there won't be any looking back for any investor or Dick Knight.

"The youth set-up is good and we have seen some good players come through already. The club could do very well if they get the stadium and a serious investor and when I say serious I mean serious, heavy money.

"I don't think we will get promoted next season but we cannot afford to drop down another league because somebody with serious money isn't going to want to be involved in Third Division football.

"The potential is definitely there, it just needs that little bit of oomph.