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Goldstone Ground
The Goldstone Ground (or The Goldstone) was a football stadium in Hove, East Sussex that was the home ground of Brighton & Hove Albion between 1902 and 1997.
The Goldstone Ground stood on Old Shoreham Road, Hove, opposite Hove Park 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).
On 23 September 1992, David Beckham made his professional début at this stadium, coming on as a substitute for Manchester United in a League Cup second round tie.
The ground was used as the home venue for both Tottenham Hotspur and Wimbledon for their pre-season 1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup campaigns, whereafter both clubs received one season bans from European football by UEFA for fielding under-strength teams. The bans were later overturned on appeal.
The Taylor Report 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 at the time and reached the playoff final the following year, but defeat to Notts County 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 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 for their final game of that season the following weekend would prevent relegation to the Conference and preserve their Football League 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 on 27 December 1958.
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Goldstone Ground
The Goldstone Ground (or The Goldstone) was a football stadium in Hove, East Sussex that was the home ground of Brighton & Hove Albion between 1902 and 1997.
The Goldstone Ground stood on Old Shoreham Road, Hove, opposite Hove Park 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).
On 23 September 1992, David Beckham made his professional début at this stadium, coming on as a substitute for Manchester United in a League Cup second round tie.
The ground was used as the home venue for both Tottenham Hotspur and Wimbledon for their pre-season 1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup campaigns, whereafter both clubs received one season bans from European football by UEFA for fielding under-strength teams. The bans were later overturned on appeal.
The Taylor Report 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 at the time and reached the playoff final the following year, but defeat to Notts County 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 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 for their final game of that season the following weekend would prevent relegation to the Conference and preserve their Football League 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 on 27 December 1958.