Outside The Box: Brighton fans make pilgrimage to help Plymouth pay the bills

No Pilgrims progress: Peter Reid's Plymouth could fall out of the League (GETTY IMAGES)

Fourteen years ago, with Brighton & Hove Albion in serious financial trouble and threatened with eviction from the Goldstone Ground, a young Plymouth Argyle supporter suggested a Fans United day, on which followers of clubs from all over the country would turn up for a Brighton home match.

A crowd of over 8,000, more than double the average, duly attended the game against Hartlepool and the team were inspired to a 5-0 victory. Now, with Brighton finally installed in a fine new stadium, their supporters are calling for a similar intervention to help Plymouth Argyle, who have been in administration since March and, after relegation to League Two, already look in danger of going out of the Football League. Some players have not been paid in full since last December. It took the threat of a players' strike ahead of the recent game with Burton Albion for 40 per cent of their September salaries to be paid and after two more defeats last week, Peter Reid's team are rooted to the bottom of League Two. Bishop International, a property firm based in Gibraltar, is hoping to buy the Home Park ground and the land surrounding it for around £6m, after which acting chairman and financial firefighter Peter Ridsdale would buy the club for a nominal fee. Brighton fans are planning a demonstration of support at their home game on Friday against Leeds (whose supporters may be a little cynical about Ridsdale's expertise after his days at Elland Road). Then a big turn-out is being requested at Plymouth the following day, when Macclesfield are the visitors. "We love the game and believe it should be run by people who love it too," a spokesman said. "Our victorious struggle to save our club shows that, as the saying goes, fans united – and reunited – really will never be defeated. Profiteers out of football – it's our game, not theirs!"

...And Argyle's liquified asset

On a geographical basis alone, the most loyal Plymouth supporters must be in contention for a competition being run by MintLPG, a firm looking for the fan who travels most miles in a season. The winner's car will be converted to LPG (liquified petroleum gas), which claims to offer better fuel consumption than petrol and to do less environmental damage. If, as promised, it saves 40p per litre, the estimated benefit for any Argyle fans driving the 780-mile round trip to Hartlepool last season would have been in the region of £62. Closing date is 1 October and the judges will need evidence in the form of match ticket stubs, away travel membership etc.

Charity in time added on

It is unlikely to have occurred to Barcelona yet, but the European champions have something in common with Witton Albion of the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League Division One North: both have given naming rights to charities. While Barça have Unicef on their shirts, the Northwich-based club had the Help For Heroes logo on theirs last season, after the charity set up to help servicemen and women injured serving their country. They have now renamed the social club "The Cheshire Suite" after the local First Battalion the Mercian Regiment. On the pitch, the 13th of the month produced an unlucky late blow for both teams on Tuesday. Barça conceded an equalising goal to Milan's Thiago Silva in the 92nd minute of their opening Champions' League game; and, as was rather less widely reported around the world, Witton went down 3-1 to AFC Fylde on the wind-blown North-west coast, after added time cost them two goals and a red card.

Cocktail hour in the last-chance saloon

The quote of the week,better even than Anders Lindegaard's "I'm not here to pick my nose" of his recruitment by Manchester United. The Italian Mauro Camoranesi, talking of his time at struggling Verona: "The fans didn't take to relegation very well. They attacked the parking lot with Molotov cocktails."

s.tongue@independent.co.uk

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