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Not a comment as such, I just felt that my username would be particularly apt in first spot.

Surely if you go to the seaside you should be eating ice cream and rock, not burgers?

(And before any Falmer FC fans jump on me, I know exactly where your ground is!)

Good blog, great day, fantastic ground, excellent result (in the end) and sorry to say you are right his finger tapping obviously got the better of him, as it should have been a notch over £20 for the food. One last comment, should have gone for the pies - which are great!

As you drive over the brow of the hill from Lewes (I think I my geography is correct) you see the brilliant white roof meshing rising above the wheat fields.
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Unless you went the scenic route, the chances are you came south down the A23 and then headed east on the A27. In which case you didn't come from the Lewes direction.

Anyway, sounds like you have a fantastic show this Saturday. I may even watch, or look on iPlayer later.

Anyway, I had a particularly rancid, heavy and stodgy burger in the away section of Three Point Lane a couple of seasons ago. Not sure it was kosha!

Paul Furlong

As a Brighton season ticket holder it was a brilliant day and if all you can complain about is the burgers next time I would definitely recommend then pies to any visitors...They sold 10000 on Saturday so that was at least 50% of the stadium fed!!

Avoid the burgers but the pies at the AMEX are superb (and made on-site)! Best I've had at any ground in the UK.

Went to the first game at the Amex on Saturday. As a seasoned footy fan I was a little unsure whether the first game had been 'overhyped', but I was blown away by the atmosphere both outside and inside the ground - gave me goosebumps to see the sea of blue and white flags being waved across the three home stands. Truly special. Credit should also go to the Doncaster fans who made the trip - applauding the home fans in their display of passion for their new home... Shows the positive side of British life around the world.

Dan,
The Stadium looks great. I remember visiting Brighton once as a kid, we stopped in at friends at Gatwick, then drove south to Brighton. Got into awful trouble for taking jelly babies from the friends in Gatwick and rubbing them in my younger brother's hair. He was rather diminutive, perhaps like Mr. Bloom, and had (has) a foul temper.
Anyway moral in that story is, next time you are in Brighton, take some Gatwick jelly babies with you and save your self the 35 quid.

As far as burgers are concerned the best one I have ever tasted was over here in America (you will recall from your trip to LA the portion sizes and varieties). Anyway this burger was entirely a home creation. My wife baked the bun, a nine grain kaiser roll, and I harvested, butchered, ground and then made the venison burger with a variety of herbs and onion. It was a little two wet so had to sit for 8 hours before I B-B-Q'd it. The lettuce, onion, tomato and Tesco sweet onion relish (brought back from Wales) were not home grown- obviously, but it was the best.
Any way thanks for the blog and the opportunity to reflect on burgers & j-babies, got screaming kids to take care of now.

If you want to sample a burger let me know next time you are in the US and I will FedEx half a dozen frozen ones to you.

Hughie Ferguson ( a real player... can you find out more ??)

As a Doncaster Rovers fan who attended the last game at the Goldstone I was delighted to see Brighton in their own home. If you had told anyone in the ground on that day as we both struggled for league two survival that we would be kicking off the opening day together in the championship 15 years later we wouldn't have believed it! As for stadium food, the hot chocolate at our old Belle Vue stadium was like hot lava, took about 45 minutes to cool down and I once got food poisoning from a hotdog at Darlington's ridiculously massive stadium!

Forgot to mention,
Venison burger was complimented by a local beer known as "Heresy." Really complimented the burger, but also proved that bad things taste so nice.

Hughie Fergusson II (1927)

A few years back, I went to the Women's FA Cup Final at the Den (Arsenal 4, Leeds 0 - Rachel Yankey bossed the whole game), and the pies and chips cost more than the tickets into the game...

Jabba du Hutt

The photo caption is rather misleading, the council in question was East Sussex County Council, based in Lewes, who hate Brighton. The Brighton City Council have been generally very supportive of the new stadium.

A day out to the seaside with Robbie Savage.. Can he swim?

What a beautiful stadium it is too, Theres some real pressure on Gus to deliver this year. I for one hope he does too, his passion is clearly there as Saturday showed.

The Brighton game was one of the biggest reasons why i love football, the unpredicatbility of it.......great game!

Im suprised you could see anything of the game with Savage's big hooter!

Morrissey

Good on Brighton, hope they do well this season!
Nice to see Gus doing well too, top fella!

Wish I'd gone to the Spurs game down there the other week, I was in Brighton anyway on a lads day out, so opted to stay in the pubs on the beach front instead (had already given someone else my ticket)

Best pies? West Brom and Wigan have to be the best in the prem!

"The guy on reception offered us a cake and everyone went out of their way to be helpful."

I thought Andy Reid had re-signed for Notts Forest?........

*test*

Isn't this nice, just you and Carlton Palmer having a bath

Laban you say Dan? He was a bit crafty actually. The deal was originally that Jacob would work 7 years for Rachels hand in marriage. Rachel had a sister called Leah, who was evidently the less pretty of the two. Laban tricked Jacob at the wedding and made Leah get dressed up in all the wedding regalia (face hidden) and Jacob only found out after he'd married her. Mind you, Laban then agreed to let Jacob work for another 7 years to get the girl he really wanted. So after 14 years he ended up with both sisters. Leah was the most fertile, and most of Jacobs 12 sons came from her (or her servant girl). Lucky chap. He could have fielded his own Jacob's XI, with a sub to spare :) Having said that, imagine all the nagging he must have had to endure, and he didn't have football focus to console himself with...

Congrats to Brighton on the new stadium. Looks a little beauty.

Regards
Henry VIII

A fantastic looking wee stadium.

As for the pies I'm sure they taste great but I bet the Killie pie (Kilmarnock FC) would give it a run for it's money.

Anyway, well done Brighton, hope you have many a success at your new home!

After all the events going on in various parts of the country since last weekend, it'll be nice to get back to some normality this weekend with the football (cricket in Birmingham) and everything else. Wonder how many work-hours are being spent today on peoples' fantasy football teams!?

Good to have the show back last week and will be interested in seeing what the Salford studio is like.

Cardinal Wolsey

What a fantastic start to a new era. Well worth the all the time and travel from South Carolina - I couldn't have missed this! And the first night game on Tuesday was spectacular too. Went home on Wednesday completely exhausted but very happy!!

Terrific blog, Dan.

Backing up other comments, I had a burger there - not nice. You really should have had the pies at the Amex. You had the choice of Steak & Ale, Chicken & Ham or Butternut Squash & Coriander.

No, really.

How does Patrick think Arsenal will get on this season? I would be interested to hear whether he thinks Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere can pick up the gauntlet (likely to be) dropped by Fabregas and Nasri.

Many thanks,
Thomas Cromwell

PS what does Richard Scudamore think the Premier League as a whole can do to try and engage further with the youngsters, particularly in the cities, to try and make them feel more of the community? There is perhaps a disconnect felt between the "ordinary fan" and the multimillionaire players, maybe not helped by the perception that some players feel they can get away with unacceptable behaviour both on and off the pitch.

Thomas Cranmer

In other news, the price of a pint has gone down at Eastlands, which is good news for me. Still tastes like goat pee though (something to do with how it's stored), so not so great. The curry pie is good!

Could you ask Vierra if he plans to go into management one day please? And if so, does he plan to learn his trade along side Mancini at City for the forseeable future?

And could you also ask him to try and persuade Mancini to adopt a more attacking approach? Thanks.

Shaun Goater
T

Hi Dan,
love the blog, great to see football back in focus!

burger / pie debate could be superfluous if you went DIY !

when I were a lad, standing on the terraces in The Shed, I'd have me cheese & strawberry jam sandwiches in me pocket until half-time..... didn't matter how much of a doorstopper each slice started out as, twas one squished sanger that entered me gob!

didn't have the same trouble funnily enough at Griffen Park or The Beveree when the Blues were playing away. ;-)

PS - it had to be strawberry jam & it had to be cheddar.

Mark Stein

Hi Dan,
Was at new AMEX taking my son to his first ever game (he's 4). You've passed on some the atmosphere to other readers, and although biased, I have to say the ten minute build up to the teams entering the field of play was spine tingling...whatever happens this season I will cherish the memories of a great day.

Main reason for post is simply to ask, why is FF not on iplayer? I forgot to set V+ box so would love to have seen your behind the scenes shots and interviews with Mr Bloom.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

While I agree about the atmosphere I have to disagree about the burger. I can honestly say that the ones my son and I ate were the most delicious burgers we've ever tasted.

As to the 98th minute goal, any chance we could win in normal time in future? My heart/hair/nails won't take another late injury-time goal!

Pies? Pies? Pah! you haven't tasted a pie like a Clarksie down here in Cardiff!

At first glance looks a great stadium, but then it loooks out of balance (a la Newcastle Utd & Lansdown Rd). Perhaps it is designed for a 2nd phase later.

Your geography, perhaps. Your grammar, not.

Hard to believe a good honest Brit would opt for a burger when there were meat pies on offer. Shame!

Actually your fine day out reminds me of some of the new MLS grounds, like Portland, Seattle and Vancouver, with fine food, fine fans, chanting all through the match and a little hate for the other fellow mixed in. Just enough, like a good spice. Not too much, as though you actually meant it.

As in a good meat pie, come to think of it.

I have very little bit of time for Gus Poyet as a person, not a good guy. Shows little sportsmanship. I do however have respect for Brighton and they way they won L1 time out, they are bound to do well this year.

@Rhino - He obviously works for the Amex catering crew. The burgers at Brighton are over-priced and awful....if a bit of meat between two bits of bap and*Nothing* else can pass as a burger.

And I'm a passionate Brighton fan

best of luck to brighton . i look out for their results now craig mackail smith has gone there.

top 10 comfortably for brighton this season and im sure cms will be there or thereabouts in the highest scoring chart.

legend

Great blog, Dan.

Having waited 14 years for the stadium, the over-riding feeling I experienced at the first game was DISBELIEF.

Not disbelief at the superb architecture, or the fantastic facilities, or the brilliant atmosphere, but disbelief that this amazing stadium is actually OURS!

Good things do indeed come to those who wait!

By the way, just to be nit-picky: the view you refer to in your 2nd paragraph is on the 'B' road from Woodingdean, not the A27 from Lewes. I assume this is the road next to the wheat fields from where you introduced FF from on Aug 6th? It is, I agree, a fantastic view from there!

An amazing day, stadium is superb. Give Mr Bloom a knighthood imediately.
The slightly lopsided look is because they have the option to put in a further 8000 seats. If you build it, they will come.

Please can I ask for your support to the following Formula 1 Government Petition

Please spread the word. Really do need and appreciate your support.
Thank you.

good blog as usual Dan. Great work



check it out

Andre the giant

It should have been built in the city of Brighton and Hove not in the county of East Sussex if the BH city council love BHFC Another bit of Sussex ruined by Prescott. Nice stadium just wrong place. What people have to understand is that most people in Sussex hate BHFC because they think they are the only Sussex team.And yes BHFC should stop calling itself Seagulls as they spend cash getting rid of the birds from the stadium....... maybe FALMER FC the new tractor boys.

No blog this week then...?
This one last week showed it was up from Thursday but didn't seem to appear till Friday. Hardly any point now if there is one lurking somewhere...

@QPR-Tokyo
Ahhh has somebody stolen your sweets!!
Why do "most people in Sussex hate" Buckhurst Hill Football Club (BHFC). They're based in Essex. If you're going to criticise something it's a good idea to get your facts right before posting and be able to substantiate your argument. I can't work out if your'e jealous or just plain stupid.

Hello dan, please comment on the repressive regime that is the FA. I am running an Under 8s side and Under 9s side and it is so so hard, please please comment on the bureaucy, its ruined our club. Kids wont play football next year thanks to them, its a joke.

On stadium food - well travelled son tells me that takoyaki (octopus balls) at Gamba Osaka's home ground were superb! Put together and cooked before the customer's eyes.