Bring on the goose bumps as Brighton fans return to the Amex
You almost forget what it feels like, the buzz of a match day, the anticipation, the hope for a result. To steal from Crosby, Stills & Nash (no, not our latest front three of sub-6ft attackers)… it’s been a long time coming.
Except for a few restricted test events, Brighton v Watford in the opening home fixture of the 2021-22 Premier League season will be the first time we would have all been at the Amex Stadium at fully capacity in 18 months.
Watching football on TV from soulless, empty stadiums whilst broadcasters add out-of-time, fake crowd noise just hasn’t cut it. Don’t get me wrong, having nearly every single football match available to watch last season was great – but it is not the same.
It even became a bit boring towards the end. There are only so many times you can hear Martin Tyler shout “IT’S LIVE!” before pointing out that every game is live and muting the TV.
The delayed Euro 2020 tournament earlier in the summer with some full capacity crowds was almost a tease of how things used to be and how they will be again.
Waking up on a matchday morning just hits different. Spending the morning finalising those last-minute changes to your FPL team and placing that perfectly balanced accumulator that you have convinced yourself will come in (until the lunchtime game messes it all up and you are forced to place it again).
Grabbing a beer with your friends that you have not seen properly in ages as you watch that early fixture in the pub before joining the masses in the queue at Brighton station.
You hear someone mention the line-up is out and you check Twitter to see what sort of out-of-the-box starting XI Graham Potter has come up with, how many centre backs he has chosen, and where the fuck he’s playing Pascal Gross.
The walk up from Falmer station, the view of the stadium as you turn the corner on the footbridge as part of a mass of replica shirts and scarves. On a sunny day it is quite the sight.
You walk up to the smell of the food trucks and occasionally the sound of a local band playing in the bandstand. There is feeling in the air, the excitement of the unknown.
The hope that no matter who we are facing, we just might beat them – especially if Brighton 3-2 Manchester City at home last season is anything to go by.
You get lightly patted down by a friendly steward, negotiate the turnstiles (amazingly, people still have trouble working them out) and then if you are unlucky, there is a flight of stairs to climb that is a near-Olympic test of endurance. You pass people going up who have stopped to catch their breath along the way.
When you eventually reach the top, gasping for air, you grab a pint and a pie and mill around with the hundreds of fellow Albion fans in the concourse before taking your seat to the applause of the crowd. The teams come out and we start belting out Good Old Sussex by the Sea amongst a sea of cheap plastic flags waving.
We have all missed it. It is bound to be different now, there will be people missing that used to be with us, COVID regulations and masks will play their part.
But all of that will be forgotten for a moment when we score that first goal, we get lost in the roar of the crowd with limbs all over the place and we hug our friends.
I for one, am looking forward to it, and cannot wait for the goose bumps.
