FOOTBALL IS BACK WITH A ROAR!
Seagulls on song as fans return
A RENDITION of ‘Sussex by the Sea’ never fails to stir the soul and send a tingle down the spine. ‘You can tell them all that we stand or fall,’ is the refrain on this part of the south coast and yesterday they belted out their anthem with feeling.
It has been quite some time. One hundred and 82 days to be precise since more than 30,000 packed into the Amex Stadium and swallowed defeat in the derby against Crystal Palace, bitter rivals from yonder end of the M23.
They returned in very different mood, with not a trace of animosity in the air. This was more about solidarity: a ripple of polite applause as visitors Chelsea emerged, a terrific roar when Lewis Dunk led out the home team.
It seemed as if this humble event might be even more important to the grand scheme than the Premier League’s return in a fortnight.
Football desperately needs its fans in the stands, even if in limited numbers. Clubs will not survive for much longer without them. Not at this level — Brighton lose a sevenfigure sum for every game behind closed doors — and the impact is even more perilous in the three tiers of the EFL and beyond.
‘The crowd were great,’ said manager Graham Potter after yesterday’s 1-1 draw. ‘It was so nice to see people back in the ground and hear them engaging with the game. We all know football is not the same without the fans, but we had to adapt. This was a first step back and I hope there will be more but we are still dealing with the virus and the pandemic. We have to be sensible and do it in the right way.’
There are bigger pilot events to come — one with a 10,000 capacity for the FA Trophy and Vase finals at Wembley — but early signs were encouraging.
‘We were very pleased with the way it’s gone,’ said Brighton chief executive Paul Barber. ‘Our fans were fantastic. They followed the signage religiously and were respectful to our staff. I’ve had messages and emails from people who enjoyed being back inside the stadium. It has been a long time for them to be away and it was good to see smiling faces and a lot of excitement; a sense of relief and some light at the end of the tunnel.’
Barber and his staff worked round the clock to put the protocol i n place and get Government approval for this event.
The 2,500 spectators, all Brighton season-ticket holders selected from the club’s loyalty scheme, were dotted around, giving a chequerboard effect to the East Stand, with a few in another section of the South Stand, behind one goal.
They completed medical questionnaires ahead of the game and consented to tracking and tracing. There was hand sanitiser galore outside and temperature checks were carried out. Supporters arrived in orderly fashion and lined up, spaced apart as they pulled club-branded masks across their faces. They were able to remove them after reaching their seats.
They went through the repertoire, starting with the tried and tested ‘ Seagull s ’ c hant a s Bri ght o n paraded their new yellow away kit and new signing Adam Lallana, recruited on a free from champions Liverpool.
Chelsea are among several clubs with players in quarantine for various reasons. There were first starts in blue, however, for Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner.
Werner opened the scoring within four minutes. Callum Hudson-Odoi mistimed a header and the ball fell perfectly for the £54million striker to tap in from close range. There was a hint of offside but good humour won over. ‘One nil and you still don’t sing,’ the crowd chanted at the absent Chelsea fans.
The game offered enough to hold the attention, even in a second half littered with interruptions.
Injury forced Ziyech off and Brighton goalkeeper Christian Walton was carried from the pitch on a stretcher after falling badly.
Olivier Giroud left with a heavy bandage around a head wound, by which time Pascal Gross had made it 1-1 by converting Brighton’s second penalty of the game. Willy
Caballero had earlier saved Neal Maupay’s spot-kick.
Pre-season games are never about results. It’s usually all about fitness and managers searching for form and chemistry in combinations. This was less about the result than ever. Still, it was good to hear the noise when the equaliser went in.
More than good, in fact. It is what football is about. Fans stood to applaud their team at the end, waved their flags and sang about Potter’s blue-and-white army and joined in a popular tune in honour of Yves Bissouma, while maintaining their social distancing.
The rest of football will thank them for it. This warmed the heart on an August bank holiday weekend when hats and scarves were required to beat the chill in good old Sussex by the Sea.