Brighton's change with Sussex By The Sea hits right note

Pascal Gross and fans will share a belated mutual thanks and goodbye at the Tottenham game.

The switch to a Sunday afternoon, with Borussia Dortmund playing on Saturday, makes Gross’s return to the Amex possible.

He will receive a rapturous ovation from Seagulls fans and it promises to be an emotional occasion.

The timing of Albion and Dortmund fixtures has worked out perfectly.

But it is the timing of a much older favourite which continues to have fans talking and disagreeing with each other.

Some believe events took a pretty gross turn when the communal singing of Sussex By The Sea was switched to just before kick-off.

(Although, of course, fans are free to sing it whenever they like).

The words “Now is the time for marching” used to ring out just as Lewis Dunk started to lead the team out.

Which is either perfect timing or an awkward comparison when you think about what the song was used for in its early days.

Now Fatboy Slim’s Right Here Right Now accompanies the entrance on to the pitch.

It’s great we have him involved in the build-up.

He could have recorded that particular track specifically for this purpose.

Although it is not exactly a football-type singalong, Praise You would be a welcome return to the music played after a win, as used to be the case.

So now Sussex By The Sea is played just before kick-off and the music cuts out to allow fans to sing the last few lines acapella.

The last bit has been going on for a few seasons and dates back to a midweek game when the PA system failed, leaving the fans to improvise and go it alone.

It worked so well, it was adopted as the norm.

But the real point of the switch is to ensure the match gets underway amid a swell of noise and singing.

It is a move which appears to have divided opinion.

But the thinking behind it is pretty obvious.

And - personal opinion, not subjective reporting here - it looks and sounds like it will work.

No one was really expecting it at the Ipswich game.

There was a mention of what would happen right at the end of Paul Barber’s programme notes.

But, while that column is always interesting and often includes some gems of opinion or information, what percentage of fans read those pages before the match?

And, if we are being honest, how many of the loudest singers read those pages before the kick-off?

So we were taken by surprise against Ipswich and then the crowd was smaller than usual for the next match, against Wolves in the Carabao Cup.

The Nottingham Forest game was the first good sample of how it will work, against a club who have their own kick-off anthem by the Trent.

Again, personal opinion from a seat near the players’ tunnel, but it worked.

The teams emerged to a roar of “Albion, Albion” and Sussex By The Sea was belted out with great gusto as the game started.

It will only get better as time goes on.

There is likely to be a tweak to the scheduling this Sunday around kick-off to, quite rightly, accommodate a minute's applause for Barry Lloyd, the former Albion boss and chief scout who died recently.

The latest change with Sussex By The Sea is not the first.

Most memorably in 1980, Sussex By The Sea was replaced by the theme from Rocky, which was chairman Mike Bamber’s idea from the USA.

There was an outcry and the county anthem was restored after a few weeks.

To add to the unhappy mix, the North Stand had just been demolished as well.

There have been occasional calls for Sussex By The Sea to go since then and, true, it did not exactly sound inspirational at Withdean, be it in terms of what was coming over the loudspeakers or from the crowd.

But Albion are not going to change this new policy. Not quickly anyway.

It is understood to have come from the players, who like it.

Barber has reported positive feedback and I understand there is satisfaction with how it has worked so far, especially against Forest, when people knew what was going to happen.

Those who like and support the change point out that it happens at some other grounds, where the club song is still playing as the game starts.

I am not so sure that is a good point to emphasise when arguing in favour of the change.

While everyone takes ideas from everyone else at times, the great strength of Albion has been that they do not necessary follow others.

They often do things differently.

So do not support the change by saying others do it. That’s not how Brighton operate.

But Sussex By The Sea is unique and the new use of it seems to work – so far.

I expect that to be the case again when (no, actually, a minute or two after) the Seagulls and the Spurs go marching in on Sunday.