Albion have a baker to thank for the ground which has been their home for the best part of a century.
It was back in the summer of 1901 that Alderman John Clark, a football fan and director of Brighton United, came to the rescue of the amateurs of Hove FC in their search for a ground.
Clark's home was Goldstone House, situated in Fonthill road close to his bread factory. He also leased the adjoining Goldstone Farm from the Stanford Estate.
The farmland included a large meadow at the southern end of Goldstone Bottom, used during the 1700s to execute convicted criminals and mutineers. The turf was flat and Brighton hockey club had used it the previous year.
At a meeting at Hove Town Hall on June 25 1901 Hove FC agreed a three year, £300 lease with Clark. For £600 he built a fence to surround the ground with gates and a turnstile and a covered stand with room for 400 spectators, dressing rooms and toilets. In return he also received half of the gate receipts above £200 for each season.
Hove FC's first match at the ground, a 3-0 defeat by Clapton, took place on September 7 1901.
A professional team, called Albion, had been formed around the same time. They played at Dyke Road, but a fixture clash on February 22 1902 caused an historic switch.
A Sussex Senior Cup final between Eastbourne and Shoreham meant Albion needed a ground for a friendly against Southampton Wanderers. Hove FC had no match, so the 7-1 win for Albion was played on the ground which was destined to become their home.
Albion played four more matches at the Goldstone that season and when in the summer of 1902, Hove realised their attendances were not big enough to cover the rent, they agreed a groundshare for two seasons.
In 1904, Hove FC returned to Hove Park at the end of their three-year lease with Clark, leaving Albion ad the sole occupiers.
The Goldstone had no terracing then, just a natural bank for spectators on the east side. A small wooden stand with 400 seats straddled the halfway line on the west side, with dressing rooms behind.
Admission to the stand was from inside the ground, which was enclosed by an eight-foot wooden fence with entrances at the north-west and south-east corners.
The pitch was surrounded by a single bar fence and farm wagons and carts were placed behind standing spectators to accomadate more supporters when big crowds were expected.
Clark continued to sub-let the ground to Albion on a renewable lease until September 29 1926. On that momentous day Albion chairman Charles Brown agreed to compensate Clark for the remaining five years of his lease from the Stanford Estate and to buy his interests in the property. It meant Albion were now the owners of the Goldstone on a 99 year lease from the Stanford Estate, with an option to obtain the freehold.
The club carried out alterations as and when it liked, with one significant exception. No structure could be built on the east side which would obscure the view from Clark's home.
Copyright Evening Argus 1997
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