Detail

The relocation of Brighton & Hove Albion to Falmer Stadium was hardly the result of meticulously planning. Without having a new stadium planned, the club’s former board decided to sell Brighton’s home in 1995, Goldstone Ground, which saw the club be evicted and transplanted 75 miles away in Kent where they had to groundshare Gillingham’s Priestfield Stadium.

Within two seasons, the club were able to return to the city of Brighton by leasing Withdean Athletics Stadium, however the stadium required renovation in order to bring it up to Football League Requirements. Fans of the club persevered however, when the club announced that they had identified the location of Falmer for a new Stadium during the 1998-1998 season.

Initially the club had hoped to move into the new ground at the turn-of the millennium, however plans were essentially delayed for a decade. Whilst planning permission was provisionally granted in 2002 by the unitary authority, complicated arose due to the site’s status as an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott waded in, however strong protests from the local district council and residents greatly delayed the project.

Construction work finally began on 27th November 2008, and finished just over three years later in May 2011. Built by the Buckingham Group and Designed by famous football architects KSS who redeveloped Stamford Bridge in 2001, and The Etihad in 2003, Falmer Stadium was designed with potential expansion in mind. Within one season of opening 8,000 additional seats were installed, increasing the capacity to 30,750.

The official sponsorship name of Falmer Stadium is The Amex, which is named after American Express Europe who are the largest private employer in the area. The inaugural match was held against Tottenham Hotspsur on 30th July 2011, with the first competitive game held against Doncaster Rovers a week later on 6th August 2011.

Falmer railway station is the closest to The American Express Community Stadium with the distance and resulting walk less than 150 metres and 60 seconds respectively. It lies on the East Coastway Line with services operated by Southern including 4 trains to and from Brighton city centre per hour.

It should also be noted that free local bus and train travel is included with game tickets meaning if you travel from London you only need to pay to get to Haywards Heath and your ticket should take you the rest of the way.

The closest bus stops to Falmer Stadium are the two located on Village Way: Falmer, Amex Stadium West and East bound. Buses which run during routine hours are the 23 (Brighton – Falmer), 25 (Falmer – Hove – Brighton) and 84 (University of Sussex – Rottingdean).

There are also numerous services which run from the the University campus north of The Amex as well as special match day services which the club run in association with Seagulls Travel for Championships League matches.

Don’t forget that your ticket will allow you free travel on the buses!