Great day at the Amex shows Brighton getting Women football right
Never one to turn down a few beers on a Sunday afternoon, my mother and I were amongst the last former Brighton Women players to remain in the Mayo Wynne Baxter Lounge at the Amex following the 2-1 WSL win over Reading.
Obviously, I am not a former Brighton Women player. My mother though is, having been number one goalkeeper between 1976 and 1980. Amongst her career highlights was conceding double figures away at Southampton in the FA Cup.
We were just polishing off the final Moretti of a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon around an hour after the full time whistle when Hope Powell popped into the lounge.
“Are you one of our former players?” the current Albion boss asked my mother, who was a little starstruck. “Maybe we played against each other before?”
That seemed unlikely to me. Another one of my mother’s career highlights was getting drafted into the starting XI a few hours before a Sunday afternoon kick off having drunk a bottle of wine at lunchtime.
It was hard to imagine one of the greatest players of her generation like Powell sharing a pitch with a woman whose pre-game preparation on at least one occasion was to sink a significant amount of red with a Sunday roast.
And so it proved. A quick journey down a Wikipedia rabbit hole reveals Powell played most of her career in the 1980s, after my mother retired.
That someone as famous as Powell was stood there though genuinely wondering if she had played a Brighton side with my mother in goal was somewhat surreal.
For Powell to then thank her for playing a part in paving the way for the current generation of WSL stars and Euro winning Lionesses, even more so.
That though was the reason that my mother and around 60 other former Brighton Women players were guests of honour at the Amex.
The club are attempting to piece together the history of the Albion women’s team. In doing so, they are recognising the trailblazers of previous eras who had to overcome prejudice and discrimination to kick a ball around.
On the face of it, inviting them to a game was a simple and straightforward gesture. But it was also a fantastic one. The former players were treated to the best seats in the house in the West Lower and then paraded around the pitch at half time.
The East Stand stood and applauded whilst picture of the players in action were shown on the big screen. Richard Reynolds carried out interviews before a group picture was taken.
The women were getting the same treatment afforded to the male stars of the 1970s like Peter Ward and Brian Horton, whom my mother used to laud from the terraces of the Goldstone on a Saturday before representing the Albion herself on the Sunday.
“I bet you never thought 40 years ago that one day, you would be watching Brighton Women in a 31,000 seat state-of-the-art stadium as a guest of honour?” I asked my mother once she had returned from her half time lap of the Amex.
“It is a bit different from my day” she said in response. If I had a pound for every time I heard that at the Amex from the guests of honour, then I would have been almost able to afford a bag of Starbust.
When my mother played, home games took place a small hop up Old Shoreham Road from the Goldstone Ground on Hove Recreation Ground. There was nowhere for women to change, so they went home after games still kitted up and covered in mud.
The Women did have their own HQ, a hut located in the north west corner of the Goldstone. They would train on Hove Lawns, attempting to avoid a combination of sea breeze, potholes and dog crap littering the grass.
No Brighton supporters came to watch, not even one fan and his dog. Crowds went as far as the parents of some of the younger players, my grandparents included.
A far cry from the 28,994 who saw England beat Spain in that Euros quarter final at the Amex or even the 5,220 who turned out for Brighton 2-1 Reading.
The crowd for the game against the Royals was impressive given Reading are not exactly a big draw. If Brighton were to host Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United or Manchester City and their array of Lionesses, then many more intrigued football supporters would come along.
It has to be hoped that Brighton Women receive more opportunities to play at the Amex this season. The case is certainly strengthening, with record-breaking season ticket sales and new-found interest in the WSL.
We already know that Tony Bloom is committed. The big number to do with Brighton Women at the moment is 8,000,000.
Or to be more specific, the £8 million which Bloom has spent building a purpose-built training facility for the women at the American Express Elite Football Performance Centre.
Along with establishing the men’s side as a top 10 Premier League club, Bloom has said his aim is for the women to break into the top four of the WSL.
That looks an incredibly tough task given the dominance of City, Chelsea and Arsenal over the past decade and the investment being made by Manchester United, who have four of the summer’s successful Lionesses in their Red Devils squad.
The future though has never looked brighter for Brighton Women. Proper investment. Proper facilities. A clear plan and target to make the Albion one of the best clubs in the country.
Brighton have come a long way from playing and training on park pitches, no fans and in the case of my mother, shipping over 10 goals in the FA Cup.
Sharing in the current success of Brighton Women clearly meant a lot to all those former players who were at the Reading match.
They could be proud of the part they had played in starting the journey towards home games at the Amex and a training ground which is the envy of women’s football in England.
The only way is up from here. And if current number one Megan Walsh ever needs some coaching into how to play a game under the influence, then I know just the woman to help.
