Fans United: When football fans said we will not let Brighton be killed

They come from Charlton. From the blue and red halves of Manchester. From Chelsea, Spurs and Arsenal. From Frankfurt. From Belgrade. From Madrid. They even came from Crystal Palace. Football fans from across Europe flocking to the Goldstone Ground on Saturday 8th February 1997, Fans United saying we will not allow the murder of Brighton & Hove Albion.

Never before had there been such a show of support for a single cause which brought fans of rival clubs together.

Palace and Brighton, Celtic and Rangers, Millwall and West Ham, Norwich and Ipswich, all stood together on the crumbling terraces of the soon-to-be-demolished Goldstone with a simple message: Every football club is worth fighting for.

The idea of Fans United was born by Plymouth Argyle supporter Richard Vaughan. Protests like the York City pitch invasion when Brighton fans tore down the goal posts to get their game with the Minstermen postponed had brought the Albion’s plight to national attention.

Everyone in football was now aware of what was happening at the Goldstone. Bill Archer, Greg Stanley and David Bellotti were trying to drive the Albion out of business to make themselves rich by pocketing the profits from their sale of the ground and the subsequent demise of the club.

It was asset pure and simple asset stripping – and if it could happen at Brighton, it could happen anywhere.

There was nothing to stop a businessman from Lancashire buying Plymouth, Charlton, Millwall or Palace, changing those clubs’ articles of association, selling their grounds and then running off with the money.

That is what attracted fans from different corners of Europe to join the fight to save Brighton. The rivalries and dislike of other clubs football fans held did nor matter when it came to greedy individuals trying to kill off a 95-year-old institution for the sake of their own personal wealth.

On a small corner of the fledgling mid-90s internet lived a website called The Seagulls Server. It was essentially a guestbook where fans of other football clubs would leave messages of support for Brighton supporters in their ongoing battle to save their club.

“I`m a Plymouth fan and I think that one week when we`re away I`m going to come up and support your protest,” wrote Richard on The Seagulls Server in December 1996.

“I think it would be a good idea if LOADS of fans from different clubs turned up at Brighton (with their shirts on) and joined in, it would show that we`re all behind you 100%.

Brighton fan and journalist Warren Christmas picked up on the idea. You can read his fascinating inside account on how Fans United came into being over on his blog.

A date was set – Saturday 8th February 1997. There were no Premier League matches due to an international break, meaning that not only could fans of the biggest clubs in the country head to the Goldstone to show their support, but that the media would have no top flight football to cover that day.

With national figures who supported Football League clubs like Millwall fan Danny Baker and Torquay United supporter Helen Chamberlain using their platforms to promote Fans United, interest quickly grew not just in the United Kingdom but across Europe.

The Brighton board knew what a powerful statement it would be to see fan of clubs who detested each other stood shoulder to shoulder as Fans United at Brighton v Hartlepool.

They did their level best to prevent it happening, appealing to anyone who would listen that it was no protest but rather an excuse for rival supporters to fight running battles against each other across Hove.

Nobody – other than certain sections of the media who turned up to cover the game gleefully awaiting said predictions to come true – believed them.

Those tabloid journaliss were left disappointed when Fans United turned out to be a roaring success and as a result, the event received far less coverage than it deserved.

Broadsheets less obsessed with sensationalism were more willing to report on what was a unique day in English football history – and although the press attention that Albion fans were hoping for did not materialise, the impact of Fans United went far beyond column inches in a way that not even the organisers could have envisioned.

Crucially, Sussex Police were by now accustomed to the bullshit and spin that Archer, Stanley and Bellotti specialised in and could see through it. Fans United would go ahead with their blessing.

The Seagulls Server was inundated with further messages of support. Erik, Fred and Wilem of Rotterdam wrote: “We sympathise with the Seagulls supporters in their struggle to survive!! So we three Feyenoord supporters try to be there on 8 Feb to show our support. Archer BEWARE; Football belongs to us, SUPPORTERS!”

Unlike those Dutch fans, Jeremy of Croydon had been to the Goldstone Ground before: “One of my worst memories is of watching Palace get stuffed at Brighton on Boxing Day in 1979. But that’s immaterial if one man is allowed to kill off a football team. Keep up the pressure. Don’t let Archer get away with this.”

“All the best from a devoted WATFORD fan,” wrote Michael. “I’ll forego the away game at Brentford on February 8th to be there for the good of English football everywhere. The people who do this thing to our national game need to be stopped.”

Even with these words of encouragement and promises of attendance at the Hartlepool game, nobody knew what to expect when the morning of February 8th rolled around.

Support on the internet was one thing, but at a time when the world wide web was still in its infancy, only five percent of the UK had access to the online world and less than 100,000 websites existed, it was not a real gauge of interest.

How many people would actually come? Would it descend into a riot? Did football fans care enough to put on a united effort in attempting to save the club bottom of the Football League from going out of business?

The preparations for Fans United began the night before the game. Homemade painted signs were put on lamp posts, directing those unfamiliar with the route to the Goldstone to the corner of Hove it occupied.

Pride of place went to the huge banner flown from a bridge above the A23: “Welcome to Brighton… except Bill Archer.”

A heavy sea mist lay over Hove that Saturday morning, which at one point threatened the game going ahead. Albion fans arrived as early as 10am, still unsure of how things would pan out.

Messages of support from fans of other clubs were printed out and stuck on the railings around Hove Park, where there was also an effigy of Archer which would be burned.

That image became synonymous with the war to save the Albion, going onto adorn the cover of Build a Bonfire.

Through the fog, a sea of different colours began to gather as the clock ticked past midday. Two hours before kick off and Old Shoreham Road resembled Joseph’s Technicolour Dreamcoat.

The blue and white you expected to see at a Brighton home game was mixed with red, claret, yellow, green… think of a football shirt colour and it was present at Fans United.

Beer flowed in the pubs of Hove, Bristol City and Aston Villa fans buying rounds with Bristol Rovers and Birmingham supporters. Flags from Dutch, Spanish, Polish and German clubs flew.

The German Federation of Active Football Fans sent a minibus from the Fatherland. Legend has it that John Baine ended up with around 30 Germans sleeping on his floor for the weekend.

Charlton supporters arrived by the coachload… literally, seven coaches. There were buses from Sheffield carrying Blades and Owls without anyone killing each other.

Wimbledon fans had banners and Aldershot fans turned up knowing what it feels like to watch a club die and not wanting anyone else to go through it.

Real fans had no first hand experience of that as the most successful club in European football history, but they were still present with a banner in the West Stand reading “Real Madrid want Archer out”.

A Chelsea fan plonked himself in prime position in the North Stand, leading all the songs. “Sack the board”, “Build a Bonfire”… not only had he appeared to have learnt every single protest song against Archer, Bellotti and Stanley, but he had a few ditties of his own. The most famous of course being: “Fans United, will never be defeated.”

In response to this overwhelming show of support, all that Brighton fans could do was thank their guests for coming. Albion supporters would spot another shirt in the crowd, try and work it who it was and shake their hands.

Southampton or Sunderland, Reading or QPR, Rotherham or Arsenal, it was actually quite difficult identifying clubs unless those distinct quarters of Wycombe Wanderers were involved.

The response was always the same. “You’re not alone. If Brighton go under, then my club could go under too.” Out of the darkest moment in Albion history came a celebration of football and football fandom that had never been seen before – and will probably never be seen again.

Brighton gave the official attendance as 8,412, desperate to underplay the numbers present. Anyone who attended that day and saw the queues to get through the turnstiles knew that the Goldstone was full to bursting, probably in excess of its 11,400 capacity.

There was of course 90 minutes of football to be played. And whilst everyone knows about the impact Fans United had in terms of giving renewed passion to save the Albion off the pitch, it was also massive for what happened on it.

Brighton responded to being roared on by their biggest home crowd of the season by hammering Hartlepool 5-0.

Fast forward three months and the Albion avoided dropping into the Conference – and they would almost certainly have gone out of business if non league beckoned – by virtue of having scored three more goals than Hereford United over the course of the 1996-97 season.

Needless to say, there were Bulls supporters at Brighton for Fans United. One confused interviewer asked a couple why they were there to support the Albion’s cause when Hereford could benefit in the relegation battle if Brighton went out of business.

“It wouldn’t help anyone if Brighton went under came the response.” And that summed up Fans United perfectly, especially in light of what was to happen at Edgar Street on Saturday May 3rd 1997, when Brighton drew 1-1 with Hereford to complete a great escape from relegation and condemn their hosts to the Conference.

A draw would not have been enough at Hereford were it not for the five goals Brighton plundered on Fans United day against Hartlepool.

It was the first time that the Albion had scored five times in a league game at the Goldstone since a 5-1 win over Wolves in the penultimate home match of the 1984-85 campaign, some 12 years earlier.

You had to go back even further to find a winning margin of five or more, Charlton beaten 7-0 thanks to a sensational three goal haul from midfield from Jimmy Case in October 1983.

Craig Maskell was the star of the show against Hartlepool, helping himself to a hat-trick. Also on the score sheet were Ian Baird and Gary Hobson whilst Paul McDonald claimed four assists in an astonishing individual performance which went somewhat under the radar.

As the players applauded all four corners of the Goldstone at full time including all those visitors from far flung corners of the continent, Maskell approached the North Stand and booted the match ball that his treble had earned him into the crowd.

On a day full of symbolism, it was arguably the most powerful act of the lot. Football fans had come to the Goldstone demanding their ball back because the game belongs to the fans, not businessmen from Mellor, failed politicians from Eastbourne or a rich bloke from East Preston.

Brighton eventually won the war. The power of Fans United.