On this day: Fans United at the Goldstone

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Spencer Vignes

2025-02-08T06:00+00:00

Craig Maskell was the goalscoring on the day of Fans United. 📷 by The Argus.

As Spencer Vignes recalls, Fans United day was one of the more surreal moments in Albion’s history. He caught up with ex-Seagulls striker Craig Maskell for his memories of that emotive day at the Goldstone Ground, against Hartlepool, on Saturday 8th February 1997.

Craig, Fans United brought supporters of clubs from across Europe together on the Goldstone terraces in a show of solidarity against the way the Albion was being run at that time. Paint us a picture of how you, a proven striker for a number of clubs, came to be playing up front for us that day...

I signed for Brighton because I knew Jimmy Case (Albion’s manager from November 1995 to December 1996) from my days at Southampton and I also remembered Brighton as a big club back when they’d been in the FA Cup Final. There was a history there, and I’d always gone to clubs where I thought they could move forward. I knew the fanbase was there if they were successful. Unfortunately, because of the money constraints and other stuff that was going on, it all sort of imploded. We didn’t sign too many players, Jimmy was sacked halfway through my first full season (1996/97) and other issues started coming more to the fore. We were rooted to the bottom of the league for a number of months and Steve Gritt came in and the rest is history. We survived by the skin of our teeth.

A lot of Albion fans regard Fans United day as a real turning point in the 1996/97 season. Was that also the feeling among the players?

Fans from across the continent showed their support at the Goldstone Ground. 📷 by The Argus.

Definitely. We couldn’t get a win for love nor money away from home, but at home our form was excellent. I think we won something like ten and drew two of our 12 home games after Steve came in, and Fans United was towards the beginning of that run. You felt a corner had been turned. It sounds a bit romantic, but what happened that day actually changed the atmosphere at the Goldstone and enabled us to get enough points to give us a chance in that last game (against Hereford United). Up until then things had been pretty angry at home games because the fans understandably didn’t like what was happening to their club. After that it became more about the football. It was a catalyst for our home improvement and we stayed in the league – not just the league, but the entire Football League – because of it.

What are your memories of the day itself?

Fans from clubs up and down the country, as well as internationally, stood with Albion. 📷 by The Argus.

It was a big occasion, and I always liked playing in front of big crowds. I’d been lucky enough to do that throughout my career. We’d been getting around five (thousand) at home up until then but on the day it was pretty much full with around fifteen or sixteen (thousand) in there. I don’t know what the capacity was then but it certainly seemed full. The ground had been sold, people were starting to hear about it across football, and here they all were alongside Brighton fans to protest against their plight. There was an atmosphere around the place before kick-off but we still didn’t really know what would happen or how many people would turn up. And so many people from different clubs came. That really made it special. You had all these people there who just loved football and could see the problems that this club, which not long before had been in an FA Cup final, was going through. People were really thinking about the situation and how a club such as Brighton could fall from grace so quickly. I’ve got 10 or 12 top moments from my whole career and it’s definitely in there because of what it actually meant to a football club at that time.

We won 5-0 that day against Hartlepool, and you scored a hat-trick. Do you remember anything about any of them?

Craig Maskell netted a hattrick against Hartlepool. 📷 by The Argus.

Do you know what? I can’t! Because of the nature of where Brighton were at the time there’s not a lot of footage in terms of YouTube clips etc around. I’ve got some video recordings of goals from my career and I remember plenty of others – but that’s only because I saw them afterwards on TV. To be fair it was a bit of a blur, that game. There was so much pressure in terms of our league position and everything else that was happening. What I do remember is throwing the match ball into the crowd afterwards as a gesture. I just wanted to give something back to the fans. It was what I thought was right. We hadn’t functioned properly as a team that season and were bottom of the league, so we deserved some stick. Throwing that ball back was a no-brainer for me. I’ve still got seven or eight (hat-trick match balls) in the loft but that’s the only one I’ve ever given away.