What we learnt from the Brighton February Fans’ Forum

Brighton & Hove Albion held a February Fans’ Forum with deputy chairman Paul Barber answering supporters’ questions via Zoom.

These sort of events when done live are normally an unintentional comedy goldmine. Barber finds himself quizzed on why the stadium does not sell chips by Ken from Peacehaven or gets asked if the walls of the stadium can be painted in Dulux Vibrant Pink by Maureen from Steyning.

Bus driver Clive from Lancing meanwhile offers his own tactical advice to Graham Potter, such as asking him whether he has considered putting a man on the post to defend corners. Although with the way Brighton have dealt with set pieces at points this season, perhaps Potter would be better off listening to the likes Clive…

Unfortunately, holding a Fans’ Forum via the internet seems to have stopped a lot of the nonsense. There was no opportunity to grill Potter either, who presumably has more pressing issues to deal with such as the small matter of Crystal Palace at home on Monday night.

There was still plenty of useful information revealed by Barber though. Here are some of the things we learnt from the Brighton February Fans’ Forum.

The Amex Stadium has been expanded to 32,000
The most intriguing and unexpected revelation of the Fans’ Forum came when Barber said the capacity of the Amex has now been expanded to 32,000.

Last March, the Albion submitted a planning statement for 1,750 new seats which included cramming more fans into the existing stands, building a new suite above the North East Corner and converting offices above the North Stand into a new hospitality ‘shelf’ similar to the South Stand’s Heineken Lounge facility.

The improvements were set to cost Tony Bloom £4.31 million and be carried out over the summer before that little thing called Covid-19 got in the way. Understandably, they have hardly been mentioned since the Spring of 2020 as there have been more pressing things to worry about.

After saying that the capacity had been expanded, Barber was pressed on where exactly the additional seats had gone on. His answer was merely “everywhere”.

If the club have managed to fit an additional 1,750 seats into the existing bowl, then they could yet build above the North Stand and in the North East corner, which would further increase the capacity beyond 32,000. Exciting.

Creative ideas to help supporters with season ticket renewals
The pandemic obviously provided a major theme to the Brighton February Fans’ Forum. Normally, season ticket details would be released around now.

This year, it will be around mid-March as the club are working on some creative ideas to help supporters afford to keep their seats through flexible renewals.

Barber said that the club understood people had lost jobs or been put on furlough because of Covid-19. There will also be supporters who do not feel comfortable returning yet, even once the vaccine has been rolled out. All of those scenarios are being considered.

What that £67 million loss means
The Albion’s accounts for the 2019-20 campaign showed a £67 million loss when released a few weeks ago. Clearly, that is a lot of money and Barber went through the problems caused by the pandemic to football finances.

Around a third of that figure was down to Covid-19. TV companies were rebated for the season extending beyond June 30th and there was a drop in both matchday income and non-matchday income from other events the Amex normally holds being cancelled.

The club had expected to lose a large amount even before the pandemic. Those losses could have been offset by selling players, but the board wanted to keep the squad together to improve on last season’s 15th place finish and record points haul of 41.

Barber said that Brighton are in a better position that many other clubs as there are few owners around like Tony Bloom, a genuine fan who is in it for the long-term.

Interestingly, he added that takeovers were likely to be few and far between as people are no longer queuing up to buy football clubs. Of those who do want to buy, he is expecting Burnley-style takeovers rather than sovereign states buying football clubs, ala Manchester City.

From an Albion fans’ point-of-view, that is good news as we would become less competitive in a league pumped full of petrodollars. Less sports washing like that which has taken place at the Etihad Stadium over the past 13 years can only be a positive thing too.

Project Big Picture
The big six’s failed attempt to take over English football via Project Big Picture got an airing. Barber said it was a no-brainer to be against the idea as surrendering the one club, one vote system to hand all the power to a cabal of clubs was never an option.

It would also make it harder for Brighton to break into Europe. When later asked if finishing in the top six had now replaced Bloom’s top 10 plan, Barber said the two coincide with each other; if you are finishing in the top 10 regularly, you are naturally closer to the Europa League spots and presumably have a better chance of winning one of the cups.

Get your passports out everyone. We’re all going on a European tour…

Brighton’s transfer policy going forward
One supporter said that they felt we were turning into Southampton in the way that the club were recruiting exciting young players from across Europe and turning them into Premier League talents. They then asked Barber if the plan would now be to sell those individuals on for big profit?

Barber said that it was likely that some young players will want to move on to further their careers soon. Whilst most supporters would be aghast at the club considering selling, Barber made an important point – if you repeatedly block your best players from moving to bigger clubs, it can impact on future young players choosing to sign for Brighton.

There is a balance to be struck between keeping individuals and selling them at the right time, maximising profit and knowing that you have a suitable replacement. Brighton have to plot out a pathway for their players.

What Barber was effectively saying is that Brighton are a stepping stone to bigger and better things. Funnily enough, that is exactly what Maty Ryan said to become public enemy number one among some of the more precious Albion supporters out there.

The Maty Ryan situation
Speaking of Ryan, somebody rather wonderfully used the Brighton February 2021 Fans’ Forum to ask Barber about comments doing the round on social media that Ryan had punched Neal Maupay. Barber described the rumour as being “absolute rubbish”.

He went onto say that Ryan had a great opportunity to play for a big football club – careful Paul, you might get panned for saying that – and that Ryan has spoken to Barber about being unhappy that his comments to Australian media had been taken out of context.

Barber added that Ryan did a tremendous job for the Albion, was very popular in the dressing room and that he will be welcome back to the Amex whatever happens with his loan at Arsenal.

Social media
Unless you have been living under a rock, you will have seen that the Albion have launched a new campaign against social media abuse. The club have written to prominent supporters websites and groups – even we got an email – asking for their support on the issue.

Barber said that the club have had to delete 300 to 400 comments from their own social media posts which are abusive. The Albion will do everything they can to protect their staff and that means prosecuting those who make abusive comments, including people who try and hide behind an anonymous account.

One case at the moment in foreign lands by a person who thought they had hidden their identity could result in them being jailed. Barber asked if the potential impact on your future life is worth abusing a player for?

Barber was later asked if the club would start “naming and shaming” any Brighton fans who were behind abusive posts. He said in some ways it would be the best deterrent, but it was also something that the Albion’s legal team would have to carefully think about.

Where is Percy Tau?
Yesssssssssssssss, somebody got in a question about Percy Tau at the Brighton February Fans’ Forum. Every game the Lion of Judah is on the bench and he has not got any injuries? In the name of Percy Tau, why?

Barber said luckily he does not pick the team. Young players coming from a foreign land take time to bed in and nobody should be concerned that Tau is not playing regularly at the moment. We got a glimpse of what he can do at Manchester City and Barber is sure we will see more of him before the end of the season.

Unfortunately, nobody followed up by asking why Leandro Trossard and Andi Zeqiri do not pass Tau the ball. Or why we don’t sell him to Manchester City or Real Madrid. Or if we know that he should play every week because he is South Africa’s best player. Maybe at the next Fans’ Forum.

Shirt sizes bigger than XXXL
Probably our favourite question of the night and the sort of thing that Fans’ Forums are invented for (other than floating Tau propaganda and conspiracies). “My other half asks if you can go any higher than XXXL kits?”

Barber responded by saying that it was tricky as the club know that some people cannot always fit, but the Albion can only go as big as Nike go.

Given that Nike are American and half of Americans are the size of a semi-detached bungalow, it seems strange that they don’t have anything bigger than XXXL.