Ground #246 - Withdean Stadium

Date: 28th October 2017
Ground: Withdean Stadium
Location: Brighton, East Sussex

My thirtieth new ground of 2017 was on Saturday 28th October at the Withdean Stadium in Brighton, East Sussex. The match was AFC Varndeanians vs. Seaford Town in Southern Combination League Division One.

Withdean Stadium is part of the Withdean Sports Complex in the north of Brighton. Built in 1936 the ground is three-quarters of a mile north of the nearest railway station at Preston Park. The ground is bordered by the rest of the sports complex to the north, has a wooded area to its south and east and housing to the west. It was the home of Brighton & Hove Albion between 1999 and 2011 before they moved to their new home at Falmer. AFC Varndeanians have been playing at the Withdean since 2015.

The North Stand runs from the six-yard box at the western end of the pitch to just past eastern end of the pitch with the furthest sections slightly behind the goal. This is the only permanent stand at the site and has a capacity of 1,350. The seating varies between five and seven rows and at the back there is a flat concrete space allowing for some media tables and a commentary box building. This side borders a pub and the leisure centre which can be accessed via the stadium. The bulk of the temporary seating used by Brighton & Hove Albion was removed when they left the stadium with only one uncovered temporary stand remaining behind the western goal with around 800 seats. With the venue being an athletics track this stand is quite some distance from the pitch and in between it and the goal has shotput netting and a storage box. There is a flat section behind allowing for more athletics facilities including the athletics club building, dressing rooms and a Varndeanians clubhouse which all sit in the north-west corner.

The southern section has the two dugouts placed next to the pitch. Behind these is the running track and then a flat area with a mixture of grass and concrete. Beyond this it starts to get steeper with a grass bank punctuated by a concrete walkway running through the middle of it. This side of the ground used to see the largest stand in the venue - the South Stand. This uncovered temporary structure was able to house around 4,700 supporters. The eastern end of the Withdean is another area which used to have additional seating. There were two uncovered temporary stands which made use of a portion of the car park to bring the venue's capacity up to 8,850 when the Seagulls departed. With these since removed there are no spectator areas with the running track running close to the boundary with the fully restored car park.

Varndeanians entered the game having lost their last seven league fixtures but despite this were much the better side early on. They took the lead in the 17th minute through Ryan Walton after work from James Walters down the left wing. Walters had picked up the ball in the final third and after advancing into the area shot at the keeper, the ball was palmed away but then found its way to Walton to knock in from close range. A couple of minutes after this the lead was doubled. This time Walton turned provider whipping in a free-kick from the left with Elliott Wood rising unchallenged to head home. The quick-fire double woke Seaford up and they went close a couple of times around the half-hour mark. In the 42nd minute they should have grabbed a goal back when an attacker went clean through but he blazed wide with just the goalie for company. The visitors improved in the first section of the second half but their shooting again let them down. After an even half an hour the away side suffered a disastrous six minute collapse where they conceded three more goals. The first of these came in the 77th minute when an attack was cleared as far as James Walters some 30 yards out. Walters let rip with a volley which flew past the keeper into the back of the net. In the 81st minute Varndeanians won a corner on the left and it was crossed to the backpost for Connor Martin to nod in from close range. Two minutes after Seaford let in a near-identical goal when a corner from the right went to the backpost and Connor Martin headed in once again. The hosts were reduced to ten men in the 87th minute when Ryan Walton picked up two bookings in the space of a minute - the first for a dive in the area and the second for a push trying to beat a defender and the keeper to the ball and score from another cross to the backpost. Thankfully for Seaford this stemmed the tide and ensured the score was kept at 5-0 - a scoreline few would have predicted at the start of the afternoon.

Result: AFC Varndeanians 5-0 Seaford Town
Division: Southern Combination League Division One
Attendance: 49

Ground #200 - Falmer Stadium

Date: 9th August 2016
Ground: Falmer Stadium
Location: Falmer, East Sussex

My eleventh new ground of 2016 was on Tuesday 9th August at Falmer Stadium in Falmer, East Sussex. The match was Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Colchester United in the Football League Cup 1st Round.

Falmer Stadium, currently known as the American Express Community Stadium or the Amex, lies in the midst of two university campuses - the University of Brighton and the University of Sussex. To the north-east of Brighton the ground is located just off the A27 and is served by Falmer railway station which is adjacent to the site. The venue was opened in 2011 giving the club a permanent home for the first time since leaving the Goldstone Ground in 1997.

The stadium's unusual shape, designed to fit in with the surrounding rolling hills, sees to large stands running alongside the pitch and short ends behind the two goals. When the venue opened in 2011 there were four separate seating areas but within six months the club applied to add an additional 8,000 seats taking the overall capacity to 30,750 by the end of the 2012/13 season. The result of this is that all four quadrants have been filled in creating a lower tier bowl throughout the ground. With the short ends behind the goals the North and South Stand are single tier. The South Stand has a small hospitality area with a balcony overhanging the seating while the North Stand has a control centre and offices contained within. On the exterior of the North Stand there is the large club shop and ticket offices.

The largest stand in the ground is the West Stand which has three tiers. The middle tier is thinner than the other two and also extends out into the north-west and south-west quadrants. There are corporate boxes placed at the top of the lower and middle tiers and the fans 1901 Club is also included. As the largest stand a number of offices and meeting rooms are housed within. Opposite this is the East Stand which was a single tier stand when Falmer Stadium opened but a second tier was soon added. The south-east corner is where away fans are positioned with the hill directly behind this corner of the ground being the designated area for coach parking.

This was a League Cup 1st Round tie between Football League Championship side Brighton & Hove Albion and Football League Two side Colchester United. The first half was a cagey affair - Colchester had come with a tightly packed defence and frustrated the home side to a handful of half chances. The visitors had a couple of counter attacking moments with Sammie Szmodics going closest with a header from six yards. Colchester's resistance was broken in the 64th minute when Kazenga Lua Lua went down the left wing and squared for Sam Baldock on the edge of the area. Baldock had time to readjust and curl an effort into the top of the net. Once the first goal went in that was the end of the challenge from the visiting side as the hosts added two more in quick succession. The second goal was scored in the 70th minute when Lua Lua again ran at the U's defence before slipping in Jamie Murphy who ghosted behind the back line and chipped the ball over Dillon Barnes. In the 74th minute Colchester were undone down the left wing again as Baldock had time to pick out Elvis Manu in the area with Manu sliding low into the goal. The Championship team rounded off the night with a fourth in the 86th minute as Jamie Murphy ran through three defenders on his way to steering the ball into the bottom corner. Though the League Two side had put up a decent performance for the first hour the capitulation in the final third saw Brighton record a comfortable 4-0 victory.

Result: Brighton & Hove Albion 4-0 Colchester United
Competition: Football League Cup
Attendance: 6,895