Brighton v Arsenal - Half-Half Heaven
A glamour
FA Cup with one of the big boys of the Premier League is
a great thing for all manner of reasons. The chance of
an upset live on television. Seeing some of the finest
players in the world perform at The Amex. Spending hours
creating the perfect tin foil FA Cup.
Arguably the
best of the lot though is the half-half merchandise.
Needless to say the Brighton and Hove Albion merchandise
machine has roared into gear and you can purchase the
standard issue item of a half Brighton-half Arsenal
scarf.
But are the
Albion not missing a trick here? Are scarves not just the
tip of a glorious souvenir iceberg? We think so - and for no
cost or commission have come up with a list of things that
the Albion should be pushing to commemorate the glorious day
when The Arsenal came to town. You can thank us later, Mr
Barber.
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Half-Half scarf
It is the
original and the best and is available from the
Seagulls Superstore for what we are sure is a
not-at-all rip off price. The half and half
scarf serves two purposes. The first is as a
memento of the game, the day that the great
Arsenal visited The Amex to take on lowly
Brighton. The second is for those Arsenal
supporters who have become Brighton fans since
The Amex opened - don't deny it, we all know
someone like that - with it allowing them to not
have to chose between the two on the day.
Genius. |
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Half-Half shirt
Following
on from the idea of the scarf, this is a step up
in the scale for the undecided fan. Taking the
left half of a Brighton and Hove Albion home
shirt and the right half of an Arsenal home
shirt, you can split each one down the middle
and then join them back up to create the
ultimate reminder of when the two sides clashed.
There are a world of possibilities for this
particular market, with our favourite being a
mash up of the Seagull's orange third kit and
the Gunners fuschia and navy away kit - the sort
of colour combination not seen outside of
a late 90s rave. |
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Half-Half what we're famous for
Brighton
is famous for its rock. Arsenal are famous for
their players that smoke. This novelty item
combines the two, with one half representing a
stick of rock such as the ones you can find in
former Albion manager Chris Catlin's shop on the
seafront and the other representing a cigarette
such as the ones that Wojcieh Szczesny enjoys in
the changing room toilets after an away defeat.
There are some obvious health drawbacks to the
rock-cig and the market is limited as they can
only be sold to over 18s but it will surely
prove popular with Szczesny and Jack Wilshere. |
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Half-Half celebrity fan
Mankind has
managed to clone a sheep and do all kinds of
weird and wonderful transplants in the name of
medicine. This plan surely cannot be a bridge
too far then. Take Brighton supporter Fatboy
Slim, split him in two and then pair him up with
the corresponding half of Arsenal fan Piers
Morgan. What do you get? The ultimate half and
half celebrity fan. Yes he would whine
incessantly about wanting both Arsene Wenger and
Chris Hughton out, kiss up to Kevin Pietersen in
a worrying manner and be generally despised but
he'd be a bloody good DJ. |
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Half-Half last trophy won
Arsenal ended a
nine year wait for a trophy when they lifted the
FA Cup last season while the Albion last won
something meaningful (Sussex Senior Cup's don't
count (and are too hard to Photoshop)) when the
League One title was lifted in 2011. What better
way to celebrate the meeting of two historic
sides than by taking the most recently lifted
silverware for each and employing a skilled
trophy maker to cut both the FA Cup and League
One trophy in half and then weld the two pieces
back together as one glorious cup. |
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Half-Half stadium
The ultimate of the half and half project comes
in the form of the half-half stadium. Both The
Amex and the Emirates are recognised as being
two of the finest grounds in the country, so
imagine if you combined them? By carefully
knocking down half of Arsenal's home, you could
transport it brick by brick and rebuild it at
Falmer. The positives are endless - increased
capacity and a massive clock on the roof being
just two. Planning permission might be difficult
given it took a decade to get the get The Amex
built but if you don't think big in the 21st
century you get nowhere. |