Players and fans share favourite Goldstone memories

From Fans United and the final-ever match with Doncaster to games with Manchester United and Liverpool, players and fans share their favourite memories of the Goldstone Ground.
The Goldstone Ground. Picture by Mark RavenThe Goldstone Ground. Picture by Mark Raven
The Goldstone Ground. Picture by Mark Raven

Ian Chapman (player; 1987-1996): “I loved the Goldstone and had some great times there. For me to be at my local club was a dream come true.

“We had some real good games there. The one that sticks in my mind was when we drew 3-3 with Bournemouth after being 3-1 down. My big friend Paul McCarthy, who passed away recently, got the equaliser. I look back on that really fondly.”

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Stuart Storer (player; 1995-1999): “I’ve got quite a few memories, some funny, some sad, some strange. When I see people, they won’t let me forget that goal. It’s constantly there, which is nice but a little bit embarrassing at times.”

The Goldstone Ground. Picture by www.wearebrighton.comThe Goldstone Ground. Picture by www.wearebrighton.com
The Goldstone Ground. Picture by www.wearebrighton.com

Mick Fogden (youth team coach; 1979-1994): “Beating West Ham, who had Paul Ince in their team, in the under-18 Youth Cup final. It was the first time ever a London team hadn’t won it. That was one of my big highlights and Ron Greenwood presented us the cup at the Goldstone.”

Jeff Minton: (player; 1994-1999): “I loved the Goldstone, it was a great stadium and it’s a shame it got sold off. The fans were all brilliant. I’m not too sure if they took to me in the first couple of years I was there but the last two or three seasons, I got on really well with them. They were always fantastic and got right behind their side at the Goldstone. You don’t see that at a lot of teams.”

mickybha (North Stand Chat): “Too many to mention, good and bad. But among them, the arrival of Clough and Taylor at the little old Goldstone in 1973/74, wow; closely followed by the 8-2 mauling by the Bristol Rovers duo Warboys and Bannister. Malcolm Allison and his Fedora hat versus Palace the night the Seagulls chant was born. And Peter Ward’s England under-21 hat-trick.”

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DavidRyder (North Stand Chat): “I loved the Goldstone. I guess my favourite memories are personal ones: My dad making me a stool and bringing it along to our usual spot on the East Stand; cold winter evenings walking to the game across Hove Park with the lights and the noise in the distance; that first view at the top of the North Stand steps of the impossibly-green pitch bathed in floodlights; the tinny rendition of Good Old Sussex By The Sea as the players sprinted out; the ‘Seagulls’ chants at every corner. They’re not specific to any one game or season, just the familiar essence of the Goldstone that is still with me today.”

The West Stand at the Goldstone. Picture by www.wearebrighton.comThe West Stand at the Goldstone. Picture by www.wearebrighton.com
The West Stand at the Goldstone. Picture by www.wearebrighton.com

Paul O’Brien (supporter): “Fans United is something I’ll always remember, with all the shirts and flags from different teams. It was a fantastic day and the 5-0 win really got the fans behind the team for the run-in.

“I also remember George Parris sneakily creeping up on the Bristol Rovers keeper, pushing him over and scoring in a league game.”

Simon Sheppard (supporter): “It’s got to be seeing Bryan Wade score all four goals against Newcastle in the 1990/91 play-off season, I’ll never forget that match. There’s also the Millwall play-off match, and strangely enough, a friendly versus Steaua Bucharest. We won 5-4 and Clive Walker scored a hat-trick, we were 4-0 up at half-time, they came back to 4-4, then Johnny Crumplin scored the winner! It was a brilliant game.”

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Kalimantan Gull (North Stand Chat): “September, 1992; League Cup. Brighton 1, Man Utd 1. The game obviously stands out because of the illustrious opposition, but it also saw the Man United debut for one David Beckham, as a sub – to which the crowd shouted ‘who?’!”

albionfan37 (North Stand Chat): “I remember the game against United in the League Cup. We equalised and I was cheering and going mad but couldn’t actually hear myself, a very strange feeling when you’re 13-14.”

Stuart Tuck (player; 1994-2000): “Fans United, that day was incredible. And I remember saving a penalty against Torquay in my third or fourth home game, that sticks out quite well.

“I felt like a supporter living in Hove. I lived and breathed it and had that connection with the fans in some way.”

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Mark Ormerod (player; 1994-2000): “There’s so many for me. Maybe not a memory of my own but my dad went to a game where 36,000 were there against Fulham. When I started to go there, the ground was starting to die, they’d shut the East Stand and it was quite sad. When you think that ground held 36,000 at one stage, that’s pretty special.”

binky (North Stand Chat): “Gotsmanov celebrating a goal BEFORE rounding the keeper and putting the ball in the net.

“Hans Kray bouncing in front of the keeper in the North goal, and the North Stand bouncing in time.

“Gerry Ryan’s goal against Liverpool into the North goal after running from the halfway line.

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“Climbing up the steps at the back of the North Stand for an evening match, when the floodlit pitch came into view at the top of the steps, with the crowd in the stand in front always sent a shiver down my spine. Bunking over the wall to get into the sold-out Derby County cup game. There was a big bloke boosting people over the West wall, and there was a queue waiting to be boosted.

“Going in at half-time a disappointing 2-2 against York, then scoring five goals in the second half. Being run out of the North Stand by Tottenham and being run out of the North Stand by Millwall.”

Bill Cassidy’s tie up (North Stand Chat): “Scoring ten against Wisbech in the cup and then nine against Southend in the league a week later.”

Superphil (North Stand Chat): “Liverpool in Division One. There was no roof on the North Stand, it was pouring down with rain, we were 3-1 down at half-time, came back to 3-3 at full-time. Soaking wet, singing ‘3-1 down and we drew three-all’.”

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half time scores (North Stand Chat): “Norman Wisdom leading the crowd in a rendition of Sussex By The Sea rewritten by himself. Repercussions to this day as some still sing ‘going up to win the cup’.

Kerry Mayo (player; 1995-2009): “My debut, coming on against Carlisle. We lost 3-1 but it was nice to come on and be cheered. The Doncaster game as well, there’s so many but the best one for me was the Hartlepool Fans United game.

“We won 5-0 and a funny story about that was for every 100 fans over a crowd of 10,000, we’d get a bonus.

“We looked around and thought there were 13,000 or 14,000 fans there but it must have been the only day when the turnstiles stopped working, as the crowd was announced as 9,997 or something like that.”

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Steve Gritt (manager; 1996-1998): “My one abiding memory is after the final game. We were underneath getting changed and kept hearing banging and shouting and more banging.

“We went back out and there was nothing left of the ground. It was just amazing that within an hour or so of the game finishing, people had dismantled so much of the ground, including the two giant clocks in each corner.

“Everyone had taken their souvenirs and it was quite spooky to see a stadium that was almost dismantled. That’s a massive memory and obviously that season is something that will live with me forever.”

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