The Goldstone Ground (or The Goldstone) was a
football stadium
Football stadium may refer to:
* A stadium used in gridiron football, association football or Australian rules football
* A soccer-specific stadium
Soccer-specific stadium is a term used mainly in the United States and Canada to refer to a sp ...
in
Hove
Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th cen ...
,
East Sussex
East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...
that was the home ground of
Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...
between 1902 and 1997.
History
The Goldstone Ground stood on Old Shoreham Road,
Hove
Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th cen ...
, opposite
Hove Park
Hove Park is a park within the English city of Brighton & Hove. It is also the name of an electoral ward in Brighton and Hove whose population at the 2011 census was 10,602.
Overview
A paved path goes all round the park, approximately 1.17 mi ...
in a partly residential area. The area was previously part of Goldstone Farm and was first used for a football match by Hove F.C. on 7 September 1901. Albion played there for the first time on 22 February 1902, and it became the club's permanent home the next season.
The main West Stand was largely built in 1958 and consisted of seating and terraces. The South Stand was originally built in 1949 and served family spectators. The North Stand was built in 1984 and consisted solely of terracing. The East Stand was formed of uncovered terraces. Floodlights were first installed in 1961.
The ground also hosted football games for the
1948 Olympic Games, one of only two grounds outside London (the other being
Fratton Park
Fratton Park is a football ground in Portsmouth, England, which is the home of Portsmouth F.C. Fratton Park remains as the only home football ground in Portsmouth FC's entire history.
The early Fratton Park was designed by local architect A ...
).
On 23 September 1992,
David Beckham
David Robert Joseph Beckham (; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending fr ...
made his professional début at this stadium, coming on as a
substitute for
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
in a
League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
second round tie.
The ground was used as the home venue for both
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
and
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
for their pre-season
1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup campaigns, whereafter both clubs received one season bans from European football by
UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
for fielding under-strength teams. The bans were later overturned on appeal.
Closure and sale
The
Taylor Report
The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report is the report of an inquiry which was overseen by Lord Justice Taylor, into the causes of the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989, as a result of which, ...
of January 1990 required all English clubs in the top two divisions to have an all-seater stadium by August 1994. Brighton were in the
Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
at the time and reached the playoff final the following year, but defeat to
Notts County
Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...
ended their hopes of reclaiming the
First Division place which they had previously held from 1979 to 1983. Relegation a year later meant that Brighton were no longer covered by the requirements of the Taylor Report, and rising debts meant that the Goldstone Ground remained undeveloped and there were no serious plans for relocation. In 1996, Brighton were relegated to the fourth tier of the English football for the first time since the 1960s.
The final match at The Goldstone Ground was held on 26 April 1997, in which Brighton beat
Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...
1–0. The result lifted Brighton off the bottom of Division Three and meant that either a draw or a win in their visit to
Hereford United
Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'The ...
for their final game of that season the following weekend would prevent relegation to the
Conference
A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic.
Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...
and preserve their
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
status. Brighton went on to draw that game 1-1 and thus secured survival, avoiding becoming the first former members of the top flight or the first major cup finalists to be relegated to the Conference, and sending their opponents down instead.
Between 1902 and 1997 the ground had admitted 22.9 million supporters to 2,174 games. The largest attendance at the Goldstone was 36,747 when the Albion played
Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...
on 27 December 1958.
The ground's freehold was sold by the club's board of directors, who were trying to clear the club's mounting debts in an attempt to avoid bankruptcy, although no alternative home ground had been arranged, and the fans were not consulted. The then-chairman, Bill Archer, aimed to profit from the sale of the lucrative development land on which the Goldstone stood. A proposed ground-share with
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
– their nearest
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
neighbours – never materialised and the club eventually arranged a ground-share with
Gillingham at their
Priestfield Stadium
Priestfield Stadium (popularly known simply as Priestfield and officially known from 2007 to 2010 as KRBS Priestfield Stadium and from 2011 as MEMS Priestfield Stadium for sponsorship purposes) is a football stadium in Gillingham, Kent. It has ...
, over 70 miles from Brighton.
The planned sale of the club's stadium provoked two pitch invasions by angry fans in protest against it. A pitch invasion late in the
1995-96 season, when the Seagulls were relegated to Division Three, resulted in a suspended sentence of three points deducted and a game played
behind closed doors for the club. A similar protest on 1 October 1996 in a league game against
Lincoln City meant that a
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
hearing on 9 December that year saw them deducted two league points. The club later appealed against the points deduction but their appeal was rejected, although ultimately they still managed to avoid relegation from the
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
by a narrow margin that year.
The Goldstone Ground was sold to property developers and the site was redeveloped as a retail park, currently known as the Goldstone Retail Park.
After returning to the Brighton area in 1999 following two years in Gillingham, Brighton & Hove Albion played at the
Withdean Stadium
Withdean Stadium is an athletics stadium in Withdean, a suburb of Brighton. It was constructed in 1930. It was the home track of Olympic athlete Steve Ovett. Between 1999 and 2011 it was the home ground of football team Brighton & Hove Albion ...
, an athletics stadium about two miles north of the city centre. By this stage, a site at
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 (8 km) north-east of the former. It is also the site of Brighton & Hove Albion's Falmer ...
had been identified as Brighton's preferred location for a new stadium. This was finally completed in 2011, when the
American Express Stadium was opened on a site four miles north-east of the city centre.
References
{{Olympic venues football
Sports venues in Brighton and Hove
Defunct football venues in England
Sports venues completed in 1901
Sports venues demolished in 1997
English Football League venues
Demolished sports venues in the United Kingdom
Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.
1901 establishments in England
1997 disestablishments in England