One thing people rightly demand from their politicians is honesty so, cards on the table, as someone born and raised in South East London, I was never going to be anything other than a Millwall fan, writes Brighton and Hove city councillor Steve Davis.

When I moved to the coast and set up home in this amazing city, my allegiances to Millwall stopped me from being anything more than an occasional visitor to Withdean or the Amex. In fact, most Saturday afternoons my football fix is found at The Enclosed Ground among the proud East Brighton locals and the collection of footballing nomads from across the city who flock to watch Whitehawk.

Footballing allegiances entrenched from birth, however, haven’t prevented my admiration for everything the Albion are achieving on and off the pitch. Later this month I will be one of the signatories on the declaration which Brighton and Hove City Council will present to the football club when it is officially awarded the Freedom of the City. And even as a rival fan, it is an occasion I’m proud to be taking part in.

The impact a football club has on its local community should never been under estimated. Just this week Brighton and Hove Albion published its latest economic impact report which shows in the 2022/23 season alone the club contributed more than £600 million to the local economy. That really is an astonishing amount.

The club employs nearly 1,000 full-time and part-time staff with hundreds more employed by its local contractors in roles supporting the football club and stadium. They all spend money locally, supporting the city’s wider economy. The club also looks to work with other local businesses like Piglet’s Pantry in Worthing and Harvey’s Brewery in Lewes who both provide food and drink to fans on matchdays. The Albion attracted some 54,000 visitors from overseas, each spending money here, often when traditional tourism numbers are low. With the UK economy still reeling from the impact of Brexit, the fall-out of Liz Truss’s disastrous budget and more than a decade of Conservative austerity, communities across the country are struggling economically. Having a football club which is having such a positive economic impact won’t solve all the city’s problems, but it is certainly helping local businesses and people.

And it isn’t just here in Brighton it is having a positive impact. The club contributed £120 million to HMRC. That is the equivalent of the full-time salaries of more than 3,000 nurses, or the cost of 286 new fully electric double decker buses or 20 new primary schools. While it would be lovely if the government could funnel some of that money back to the city to help prevent future school closures and pay local social workers a salary they deserve, the fact that at present it does not should not diminish from the positive impact the football club is having.

More than just the finances, however, the football club is an integral part of our wonderful community here. Its charity, the Brighton and Hove Albion Foundation, continues to do amazing things locally. Whether working with local schools to use football to help people better engage in numeracy and Stem subjects, running free weekly football sessions for hundreds of young people across the city whose families are affected by the increasingly severe cost-of-living crisis, or providing opportunities to hundreds of people with a disability, staff at the club’s charity are providing support to thousands. At a time when local support services and other charities are facing crisis of funding, the foundation’s work has arguably never been more vital. It shouldn’t be left to football clubs and their charities to do much of this work but until central government begins providing proper funding to schools, youth services and other vital community organisations, we should be thankful the Albion’s foundation and other third sector organisations are there to support the most vulnerable in our community.

I coach a junior grassroots football team and I see first hand how important it is not only for young people to be active – Sport England research shows children under 16 are among the only group in the UK not yet to return to pre-pandemic levels of physical activity – and enjoy all the benefits football can provide but also how a thriving local football team can generate civic pride and a lasting affection for the place they call home.

So while I will always be a Millwall supporter and can’t promise I’ll be hoping for anything other than a Millwall win if the two teams meet again, I’m very much a fan of what the club is doing for the city and look forward to celebrating that later this month. Just don’t ask me to wear a scarf.

Cllr Steve Davis is leader of the Greens on Brighton and Hove City Council