I have a confession. I support Brighton & Hove Albion. There, I said it!

We just happen to be having our best season in years. We currently sit proudly on top of League One, a good 8 points clear of the team in second place (currently Huddersfield) with two games in hand.

Supporters of football teams that have their roots in the lower leagues are a hardy bunch. They have very low expectations. Anyone can beat anyone. Sometimes, your team puts a run of wins together , or, usually, avoiding defeat by the skin of their teeth and, sure as eggs is eggs, the relentless march of defeats comes calling and down the league you plummet.

When this is coupled with bad administration of your club leading to you losing your ground thus necessitating a ground share with a club 100 miles away to play your ‘home’ games; which then leads you to using a converted athletics track as a ‘home ground’, things can’t really get much worse and makes that yo-yo feeling that little bit more nauseating.

So, you can imagine my bemusement when we have a season like this.  Gus Poyet (our manager) has turned us into an unstoppable force. Seriously. I check the results after every game and I am progressively more dumbfounded with every positive result. It’s almost a relief when we lose a game cos it reminds me that we are fallible after all. Football supporters are rarely logical about their team.  We still haven’t lost at home.

And speaking of home, the Goldstone ground used to be our home. It was, in the end, a shithole… but it was our shithole.  I went there a few times, the most memorable and funny time was when we were in the dizzying heights of the First Division as was.  Liverpool were the visitors.  We got hammered 0 – 4 but I recall it as the funniest game I ever went to.  We were herded into pens (as was the limit of crowd control back then) and were about twenty feet from the ‘Pool fans.  They were hilarious, the game was held in terrific spirit.  I have always had a soft spot for the scousers thanks to that. (I know they are far from angels but not that day, they were great.)

Well… Now our cuppeth runneth overeth.  As we romp to what must surely be a league championship we also look forward to our brand spanking new ground! Sadly, this may not be available to viewers outside the UK but I’ll try and find something global.  It looks amazing.  It is exactly the right sort of ground for an up-and-coming team like us. I really hope I get a chance to visit it sometime soon when we are playing in the Championship (or, dare I say it! The Premier League?)  Well done Brighton…

BBC Sport – Football – Behind the scenes at Brighton’s new ground.