Sports Letter

I WRITE as a Brighton fan initially to commiserate over Blackburn Rovers' current plight and secondly to inform spectators of Blackburn that living in your town is the man who most consider responsible for Brighton's problems.

With one eye on a valuable site (which I think is the correct one) and the other closed, he continues to aggravate the Brighton Council by refusing to work 'in partnership' with the planning department (we know not why) and by playing a game of brinkmanship with our club because he thinks eventually the council will yield.

So far they have not done so and have stated they have no intention of doing so. Meanwhile our team falls deeper into the mire and the money we do have from the sale of the Goldstone Ground is being steadily eroded so that in three to five years he may walk away leaving Brighton in the Vauxhall Conference League with no ground and, eventually, no money in the bank.

This letter should shame any true supporter, let alone the chairman, Bill Archer of Mellor. But I do not believe he will relinquish control until he has effectively wrecked the club.

Incidentally, next season possibly we are scheduled to play at Gillingham (about 100 miles round trip). How many people will attend the matches? The feeling of frustration in Sussex is growing knowing that we cannot significantly alter the views of this beleaguered man. Yet he remains in control, alienating council and supporters alike.

I hope that this message reaches the eyes of the chairman and strikes a chord in his heart.

STEPHEN SHANNON, Westbourne Villas, Hove, East Sussex.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.