I've always been aware that these guides serve a minority audience, but this one feels more niche than most. With only 700 tickets available for the away end, how many are reading this? If, say, an optimistic 1% of our following ever read these guides, I’m now talking to seven of you. It might have been easier for me to phone you all up and tell you which pubs I've been in. Still, we’ll press on.
Brighton offers a jolly day out. There are some good pubs and, for once, a decent variety of non-drinking options on offer, which may be of interest if you’re recovering from a Christmas binge. I used to like our visits to the old Goldstone Ground, a once endearingly ramshackle ground that by the end was mournful. Let us not forget that Brighton were the Wimbledon of their day, a cause celebre behind which football fans of many colours united. Owned by dodgy sorts who were in it for the money, their ground was flogged, and the usual kind of shops occupy that once sacred space. Brighton were left homeless and seemingly heading for oblivion. That they have not just survived but flourished, and that they have returned to Brighton after a spell in exile at distant Gillingham, is kind of a miracle. Of course, life is never easy: after a rapid rise from near non league to the First Division they now look out of their depth, while their current temporary home is inadequate and hemmed in by all sorts of restrictions. The usual Nimby tendency throws obstacles in the way of their dream of a permanent home. Still, I expect most Brighton fans are happy they have a club to support at all.
The old ground was in a decent place, in the heart of Hove and close to the station, a short run out of Brighton proper. The Withdean, however, is some distance from the town - sorry, city - centre. Nevertheless, while the ground may be a long way out it seems silly to come to a match at Brighton and not spend at least some time drinking in Brighton. Fortunately there are some decent options for the discerning not far from the main Brighton station, and it is those which I know about and shall dwell on here.
I should make the significant and obvious caveat that I've not sampled any of the following in a matchday environment since Brighton moved to their current ground, so I don't know how busy or welcoming they'd be. It’s also a while since we last played Brighton and memory doesn’t get me very far. Most of what follows were places I visited on the last, non-footballing trip to Brighton, and even that, shockingly, was two and a half years ago.
Beers to look out for include Gale's of nearby Hampshire and the divine Harvey’s. Gale’s is rare enough in most parts to make it a treat when you get it in one or two pubs round here. All their beer's good. I particularly like the strong and sweet HSB, but Butser and GB are fine for everyday drinking. Harvey’s is simply one of our finest breweries, based in picturesque surroundings in nearby Lewes. Anything with Harvey’s on it is worth drinking, although you're most likely to get the excellent Sussex Bitter.
Brighton also has a brewery, the Kemptown Brewery based at the Hand in Hand brew pub, Upper St James’s Street, down close to the seafront. I don’t recall ever having been there myself, but it’s surely worth a visit. Further details are available on their website.
More local beer can be found at my consistently favourite Brighton pub, which is conveniently located within short walking distance from the station. The Evening Star on Surrey Street is a favoured haunt of beer lovers. It's a little, sparsely furnished den. You used to be able to smell it before you could see it, as the Dark Star brewery was based on the premises and the air hung heavy with the smell of malt, but burgeoning demand for their fine beers has seen the brewery move to Haywards Heath. The Evening Star remains the brewery tap, and the best place to sample their beers. Try and get a pint of the very hoppy and therefore appropriately named Hophead, and the famous deep and complicated Dark Star. There's a mild, which I can't recall trying, called Over the Moon, and if you're lucky you might get a pint of the proper City Porter. They also have on guest beers, mostly from small breweries, and they have quite a turnover. They do real cider and Belgian beers too, and you should be able to get something basic and home-made to eat here. For more on the pub, visit their website. There's also a brewery site. Simply, no visit to Brighton is complete without several in here. Give the mediocre pub right by the station a miss and step a little right from Queen's Road to find Surrey Street. I recall one or two chippies round these parts too.
There's also a Harvey's pub quite close to the station. It's been a long time since I called in there and then they were just closing up so there was only time for a quick slurp, but it seemed fair enough. That was the Lord Nelson on Trafalgar Street, left from the station. Expect a nautical theme.
Another pub close to the station is the Basketmakers Arms on Gloucester Road, left off Queen's Road. This is obviously a thriving boozer, and when I called in on an early evening it was absolutely jam-packed. This is one of those pubs that's full of clutter. Beer comes from Gale's so you’re fine here.
Down closer towards the seafront off Western Road on your right I have dim memories of the Prince Arthur on Dean Street. Nice, old-fashioned pub with a few beers on, if I remember rightly.
A really fine pub is the Sir Charles Napier on Southover Street, in a residential area to the east of the station. This is a fine, comfortable and beautifully looked after pub with a dark, woody interior and, as I recall, a pleasant garden. Of course, the beer's good too, and this is another Gale's pub. The only catch is that Southover Street is incredibly steep and you'll be knackered by the time you get up there. Best stop for two.
On the same street - and in the two and a half years since I last went to Brighton I honestly can't remember whether it's up or down - you have Greys. This is a funny little place, specialising in Belgian beer, food and, at least on my visit, a rather jocular landlord. I'd had a few by then and the passage of time has erased memories of what I drank (Adnams?) but I'd remember if it was bad, and it wasn't.
Unfortunately we wasted a bit of time when last in these parts by calling in at a pub called the Constant Service on Islingword Road. Don't. Was full of student poseurs on sofas.
My memory of pubs closer to the seafront is sketchier still. I have been drinking around there, but it is many, many years ago, and those brain cells have died. I do recall a pub called the Brighton Rock, which wasn't as good as either the book or the film, but otherwise nothing. Seafront pubs are, of course, as a rule of thumb, crap. Something to bear in mind.
For once, the non-drinkers have lots to do in Brighton. The pier is, of course, excellent, offering authentic working class seaside entertainment. Save up your two pence pieces and play that game where you roll them down in an attempt to dislodge handfuls of small change. Even in these days of x-boxes it remains a surprisingly compelling game, and if you’re any good at it the hours will slip by. There are also many more hi tech amusement machines, which I don’t pretend to understand, and predictably rubbish fish and chips and teeth-rotting candyfloss, rock, etc.
Unfortunately the beach itself is pebble, which always strikes me as a bit silly. If you can’t build a sandcastle, what's the point? Still, if it’s aquatic thrills you’re after, look no further than the Sea Life Centre. There’s also a curious little railway - Volk's Electric Railway - down that neck of the woods as well.
Connoisseurs of flamboyant bad taste will need to visit the stunning Royal Pavilion. This is what happens when someone with more money than sense truly pushes the boat out. A bizarre blend of eastern delights exoticism as interpreted by Westerners and the aesthetic sense that says you can improve anything by gilding it, this place must be seen to be believed.
You might find more tourist ideas by visiting Virtual Brighton and Hove.
I must say I do like Brighton, although I think its recent conversion to city status, yoked with Hove, took things a little too far. It isn’t a city, it’s a town, and a seaside town at that – and that’s what it feels like. Still, if Preston’s a city I suppose everywhere is these days. It used to have a reputation for seediness. I recall in the Seventies it was the number one destination for a dirty weekend, but no one seems to have dirty weekends these days. There was much hilarity when Britain’s first nudist beach opened there. (Don’t know if it’s still going; there’s always been something masochistic about British naturism.) This image was replaced with one of trendiness. Brighton became the cool place to live for London media types and those in the creative (for which read unproductive) trades. Journalists, musicians, web designers and other affiliated scum of the earth made Brighton widely known as ‘London on Sea’. These days I suspect it’s passed through the optimum zone of coolness and is fast on its way to becoming naff again. Nevertheless, it is like London in many ways. There are plenty of post-yuppie tossers knocking about and – relevant to us – painfully cool and laughably shite style bars to service them. There’s a flourishing gay community – just like London. It’s a student town, like London is, and there’s a music scene, or rather scenes, encompassing the predictable but bankable big beat dance music epitomised by the absurdly monickered Fatboy Slim and an eclectic clutch of alternative rock and indie bands, some of which are even good. Skint Records sponsor the football team, of course. The alternativeness of the central Lanes and North Laine shopping streets feels somewhat forced, though. And don’t expect any decent pubs there. There’s also a substantial working class element who’ve been around rather longer than any of these, and speak in an accent like Cockney.
The ground is far away from this in leafy middle-classness, which makes life hard for the club. The residents close to what must have been a fairly placid minor athletics track evidently aren’t too keen on the fortnightly working class invasion. The result is that there are all manner of restrictions on what you can do round there, from the absurd – a ban on music, apparently – to the significant for the away supporter. If you've bought a ticket you'll have got a leaflet telling you how to get to the ground. Parking is very out. There is a park and ride facility to the north of the ground, and those with tickets will have got a voucher to use this. Of course, if you’re coming from Brighton centre, to the South, fat lot of use that is. Fortunately the Withdean isn’t too far a walk from Preston Park station, and your ticket includes a travel voucher for the trip. It’s not a long journey from Brighton and quite a few trains stop there.
There is apparently a pub by the ground - the Sportsman - but you mustn't count on getting in, I’m told. Obviously the ground is a tick, but from photos it looks very much like what it is – an athletics ground with some temporary stands. Away supporters occupy one such stand, in a corner. I have to say the words ‘North East stand’ are not encouraging. Stands are often named after primary points of the compass, and that ‘North East’ suggests something wedged in between North and East. Oh, and it has no roof. Now I’m not about to go down the ‘shit ground’ road you understand, as I’m aware of and sympathetic to the problems Brighton have endured, but – how can I put this – it costs twenty quid! Clearly, this cannot be considered a fair price for what you get. Brighton’s costs for sustaining football at this venue will doubtless be inordinately high, but can it be reasonable that we are effectively being asked to subsidise Brighton for playing in Brighton?
Ah well, as for the practicalities of getting to Brighton, it's well served by trains from London, with services from Victoria, and (except when affected by engineering works, as they are when we visit) by the Thameslink service from King's Cross, London Bridge, etc.
For those wanting a bit more than Brighton, look no further than nearby Lewes, a town which is attractive, interesting and full of great pubs, most of which serve Harvey’s. It’s one of my favourite places for a drink, and the site of an annual summer London Clarets pilgrimage. The area where Brighton want to move, Falmer, isn’t far from here. What can I say? We all signed the petition.
