Falmer Stadium
Encyclopedia
Falmer Stadium, known for sponsorship purposes as the American Express Community Stadium, or The Amex, is a football stadium
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...

 near the village of Falmer
Falmer
Falmer is a small village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England, lying between Brighton and Lewes, approximately five miles north-east of the former. It is also the site for Brighton & Hove Albion's new stadium....

 in Brighton and Hove and is the home of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.
Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club are an English association football club based in the coastal city of Brighton & Hove, East Sussex. They currently play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system....

. The stadium was handed over from the developers to the club on 31 May 2011. The first competitive game to be played at the stadium was the 2010–11 season final of the Sussex Senior Cup
Sussex Senior Challenge Cup
The Sussex Senior Challenge Cup, or simply Sussex Senior Cup, is the county senior cup of the Sussex FA. The first winners of the cup were Brighton Rangers, who won the cup in 1883...

 between Brighton and Eastbourne Borough
Eastbourne Borough F.C.
Eastbourne Borough are a semi-professional English football club, based in the town of Eastbourne, East Sussex, and are members of the Conference South. They are known as The Sports after their previous name as Langney Sports. Eastbourne Borough play their home matches at Priory Lane in Langney...

 on 16 July 2011. The first ever league game was against Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers F.C.
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is an English football club, based at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The team currently competes in the Football League Championship, after being promoted via the League One play-offs in 2008, and have remained there since.The club was founded in...

, who were also the opponents in the last ever game played at Brighton's former stadium, the Goldstone Ground
Goldstone Ground
The Goldstone Ground was a football stadium and home ground of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. between 1902 and 1997. The club currently plays at American Express Community Stadium, a stadium on the outskirts of the city, following the move from their temporary stadium in the Brighton suburb of...

, 14 years earlier. Brighton won the game 2–1.

Plans

The plans were initiated by Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club are an English association football club based in the coastal city of Brighton & Hove, East Sussex. They currently play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system....

 after the club's previous home, the Goldstone Ground
Goldstone Ground
The Goldstone Ground was a football stadium and home ground of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. between 1902 and 1997. The club currently plays at American Express Community Stadium, a stadium on the outskirts of the city, following the move from their temporary stadium in the Brighton suburb of...

, was sold by the club's former board (consisting of Greg Stanley, Bill Archer
Bill Archer (businessman)
In 1987 Archer and Greg Stanley of Fads DIY acquired Choice DIY, a small DIY company with six stores in the Midlands and the north of England for £900,000. In 1988 the Focus DIY company was bought by Archer and all stores were re-branded Focus DIY. With the help of private equity the chain rapidly...

 and David Bellotti
David Bellotti
David Frank Bellotti is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom who was Member of Parliament for the Eastbourne constituency from 1990 to 1992....

) to developers in 1995 with no new home arranged.

When the club was evicted at the end of the 1996–1997 season, it ground-shared for two seasons at Gillingham
Gillingham F.C.
Gillingham Football Club is an English professional football club based in the town of Gillingham, Kent. The only Kent-based club in the Football League, they play their home matches at the Priestfield Stadium...

’s Priestfield Stadium
Priestfield Stadium
Priestfield Stadium is a football stadium in Gillingham, Kent...

, 75 miles away in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

.

Two years later, the club returned to Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...

 as tenants of Withdean Stadium, which was upgraded to Football League capacity requirements and later expanded when Brighton reached Division One (now the Football League Championship) in 2002 following two successive promotions.

The site at Falmer
Falmer
Falmer is a small village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England, lying between Brighton and Lewes, approximately five miles north-east of the former. It is also the site for Brighton & Hove Albion's new stadium....

 was identified during the 1998–99 season and it was hoped that the stadium would be ready in the early to mid-2000s. However, subsequent delays in gaining planning permission meant that the club would have to wait until August 2011 before being able to play their home games there – more than a decade after the stadium was first proposed.

Planning permission

Planning permission was given by the unitary authority
Unitary authority
A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...

 of Brighton and Hove in June 2002, with the intention of the stadium being ready for the 2005–06 season
2005-06 in English football
The 2005–06 season was the 126th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:*The rebuilt Wembley Stadium was due to open in time for the FA Cup final in May. However, in August 2005, The Football Association reserved the Millennium Stadium as a backup, as there was some doubt whether...

. The plans for the stadium were fought by neighbouring Lewes District Council
Lewes (district)
Lewes is a local government district in East Sussex in southern England covering an area of , with of coastline. It is named after its administrative centre, Lewes. Other towns in the district include Newhaven, Peacehaven, and Seaford. Plumpton racecourse is within the district...

 and local residents. The stadium will lie completely within Brighton and Hove; the vacant field to the north-east of the site straddling the boundary with Lewes.

Further complications were due to both vacant fields, and the campus of the adjacent University of Sussex
University of Sussex
The University of Sussex is an English public research university situated next to the East Sussex village of Falmer, within the city of Brighton and Hove. The University received its Royal Charter in August 1961....

, being included in the South Downs
South Downs
The South Downs is a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen Valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, near Eastbourne, East Sussex, in the east. It is bounded on its northern side by a steep escarpment, from whose...

 Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is an area of countryside considered to have significant landscape value in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, that has been specially designated by the Countryside Agency on behalf of the United Kingdom government; the Countryside Council for Wales on...

, although outside the National Park
South Downs National Park
The South Downs National Park is England's newest National Park, having become fully operational on 1 April 2011. The park, covering an area of in southern England, stretches for from Winchester in the west to Eastbourne in the east through the counties of Hampshire, West Sussex and East Sussex...

. This led to the designation of the stadium plans being the subject of a separate planning inquiry by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

John Prescott
John Prescott
John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott is a British politician who was Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007. Born in Prestatyn, Wales, he represented Hull East as the Labour Member of Parliament from 1970 to 2010...

 (then Deputy Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some counties, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, but is significantly different, though both...

) approved the plans on 28 October 2005. However, Lewes District Council immediately mounted a new legal challenge to the stadium plan. In April 2006, Prescott admitted that he had given his approval based on the misconception that only a small part of the stadium site lay on the Lewes side, and withdrew it.

Hazel Blears
Hazel Blears
Hazel Anne Blears is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Salford and Eccles since 2010 and was previously the MP for Salford since 1997...

, the Secretary of State
Secretary of State
Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....

 responsible for planning, re-affirmed the approval on 25 July 2007. Her decision went against the advice of planning inspectors. Lewes district council, Falmer Parish council and the South Downs Joint Committee (the three main opponents) announced shortly afterwards that they would not mount a high court challenge. On 4 September 2007, the deadline for appealing the new grant of permission expired and the club received full permission to proceed.

The stadium

On 27 November 2008 the Buckingham Group signed the construction contract for the new stadium and began preparation work on the site on 17 December. The stadium is set three storeys down into the ground. 138,000 cubic metres of chalk was excavated for its construction, which was put on the field on the south side of Village Way. This has been estimated to prevent 20,000 lorry trips taking the chalk to landfill.

Construction at the site officially started on 17 December 2008 and finished in May 2011. The stadium has the infrastructure to be expanded if necessary: however, any such developments would need further planning permission. This expansion would take place within the current structure.

The West Stand is the largest three-tiered stand, which holds 11,833 fans, including 14 luxury boxes and the premium fans' 1901 Club.

The East Stand (The Family Stand) holds 5,404 fans, with 10% reserved for away fans during cup games.

The North Stand has 2,688 seats and is occupied by many of the club's more passionate fans.

The South Stand, is for visiting away supporters which contains 2,575 seats.

The stadium was designed by London-based Architects, KSS
. The stadium capacity may be increased at a later date, with room for a further tier being installed above the East Stand (Family stand), which would increase the stadium attendance to a possible 30,000 seats. This building work would require no changes to the stadium frame and layout, as the space where the tier would be added will be free above the East Stand.

The deal with American Express Europe, Brighton and Hove's biggest private sector employer, confirming the naming rights of the stadium was announced on 22 June 2010. The stadium incorporates: a banqueting and conference facility; a nursery school/crèche; 720 square metres of teaching space for the University of Brighton; 1,200 square metres of office space, the club shop for tickets and merchandise and above it the 200 capacity bar/lounge named Dick's Bar after the club's life president, Dick Knight.

As well as football matches, the stadium is also designed for other sports such as rugby and hockey, and music concerts, conferences and exhibitions. The stadium's drinking outlets offer real ales from two local breweries, Harveys
Harveys Brewery
Harveys Brewery is a brewery situated in Lewes, in the county of East Sussex, England.As of 2008, Harvey's estate includes 50 tied houses, almost all in East Sussex and neighbouring counties...

 and Dark Star, both organisations having supported the club's appeal for a new stadium at Falmer, along with special guest beers from breweries local to the away teams.

The stadium officially opened on 30 July 2011, hosting a friendly match against manager Gus Poyet's old club Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....

. The first competitive match was held on 6 August 2011, where Brighton beat Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers F.C.
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is an English football club, based at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The team currently competes in the Football League Championship, after being promoted via the League One play-offs in 2008, and have remained there since.The club was founded in...

 2–1, coming from 1–0 behind.

The stadium set its first record breaking attendance with 21,897 against Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...

. They were also the first away team to win a competitive match at the stadium, beating Brighton 2–1 in a League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...

 tie in September 2011.
Brighton's first league defeat at the stadium came on 27 September 2011 to rivals Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace F.C.
Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...

. Palace won 3–1 after Brighton had been 1–0 up.

Transport

The stadium is close to the A27
A27 road
The A27 is a major road in England. It runs from its junction with the A36 at Whiteparish in the county of Wiltshire. It closely parallels the south coast, where it passes through West Sussex and terminates at Pevensey in East Sussex.Between Portsmouth and Lewes, it is one of the busiest trunk...

 Brighton by-pass, linking it northbound to the A23
A23 road
The A23 road is a major road in the United Kingdom between London and Brighton, East Sussex. It became an arterial route following the construction of Westminster Bridge in 1750 and the consequent improvement of roads leading to the bridge south of the river by the Turnpike Trusts...

 and M23 motorway
M23 motorway
The M23 motorway is a motorway in England. The motorway runs from south of Hooley in Surrey, where it splits from the A23, to Pease Pottage, south of Crawley in West Sussex where it rejoins the A23. The northern end of the motorway starts at junction 7 on what is effectively a spur north from...

 towards London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 and southbound to the A270 and the city centre. There is pre-paid parking available for 2000 cars on the University of Sussex
University of Sussex
The University of Sussex is an English public research university situated next to the East Sussex village of Falmer, within the city of Brighton and Hove. The University received its Royal Charter in August 1961....

 and the Falmer Academy
Brighton Aldridge Community Academy
Brighton Aldridge Community Academy is a school in Brighton, that opened on 1 September 2010. The school replaced Falmer High School and is being built by building firm Kier Group. The school is sponsored by Rod Aldridge....

 sites. The club runs several park and ride services to the stadium. One of these is at Mill Road situated at the A23/A27 intersection, which holds 500 cars. Another is at Brighton Racecourse, holding approx. 700 cars. The third site is at Mithras House (Brighton University) on the Lewes Road, holding approx 300 cars. Match tickets come with travel vouchers valid for train, bus, and park and ride. The stadium is served by Falmer railway station
Falmer railway station
Falmer Railway Station is operated by Southern and lies on the East Coastway Line.The station serves the village of Falmer as well as the University of Sussex campus and the University of Brighton Falmer Campus. It also serves Falmer Stadium, the new home of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C....

 which is a nine-minute journey from Brighton railway station
Brighton railway station
Brighton railway station is the principal railway station in the city of Brighton and Hove, on the south coast of England. The station master is Mark Epsom...

 and seven minutes from Lewes railway station
Lewes railway station
Lewes railway station serves the town of Lewes in East Sussex, England. It has five platforms and is on the East Coastway Line. Train services are provided by Southern.The station has a café and a newsagent, and there is a taxi office on the main forecourt...

, both of which are served by trains from London.

The site also includes: a new link road from the A270 through the southern edge of Stanmer Park to the Sussex campus; a new high capacity footbridge over the railway at Falmer station; a transport interchange/coach park to the south of the stadium across Village Way; a 1,000-space car park at Falmer High School; alterations to the A27/A270 road junction, including a new flyover; a combined footpath/cycleway; a 150-space car park for club officials, players and disabled drivers; 220 cycle spaces.

See also

  • Ground developments to football stadiums in the English football league system
  • Tom Hark (We Want Falmer!)
    Tom Hark (We Want Falmer!)
    Tom Hark was a single released by a temporary, Brighton-based band named Seagulls Ska, made up of Brighton and Hove Albion F.C. fans.It was released in January 2005 to highlight the club's plight in building a new stadium at Falmer...


External links

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