decision to move the Club to play at
Gillingham was a tactical masterstroke
because he thought he would force
Brighton and Hove Council to give him
planning permission.
I had to make the Council realise that I
was doing this to save the football club,
a vital part of the culture of the city, and
wanted to give something back to the
community - who were helping me save
the Albion - which is why I developed the
community side of the club. I remember
I often stood on the Goldstone terraces
when I was a kid or in my teens, thinking,
“Why are those sausage rolls still rotting
away in that ramshackle tin hut at the
back of the terrace? They’ve been there
since August” - and there we were, in
March!
I knew that the club had no interest
in its fans whatsoever and that was
football throughout the land, it wasn’t
just Brighton. So when I took over, it was
easy for me to pioneer things because
we were doing things at Brighton, that
weren’t being done at other clubs-not just
building a community scheme using the
power of football to genuinely help the
16
disadvantaged, but like putting Skint on
the shirt because I knew it would bring a
laugh. I thought it would be much better
if we took the word Records off Skint
Records. I said “Trust me, its better if we
just use your very distinctive logo and that
will bring both of us far more publicity,
because we are exactly what we say on
the shirt! I was able to sell the Skint guys
that sort of thinking because they were
like minded. I always remember when
we played away at Barnet and they were
sponsored by Loaded Magazine and we
were sponsored by Skint. Normally it’s
all macho and bravado as the teams are
lining up in the tunnel ready to come out,
but the players were just standing there
falling about and laughing their heads off!
LE: You could make a film of this. My
question to you is who would play Dick
Knight and who would play Bill Archer?
DK: Ummmmmm?
LE: You must have thought about this?
DK: No, I haven’t, absolutely not, this is a
real surprise. (After a long pause…!) I think
my younger self would have been Tony
Curtis because they used to say I looked
like him. Though the other day, I was in
this restaurant and someone came up
and said to me “are you Sean Connery?”
LE: I’ve had that as well you know, but
more of a younger version….what do you
think?
DK: (Ignoring me) Yeah, well, people
have said that to me before, “You look
like Sean Connery.” And I just say, “No, I
don’t, I’m better looking than him!”
LE: On the other side then, who would
play Bill Archer?
DK: Who’s the guy that plays the evil
villain in the um… you know, those
movies? That Canadian comedian? Mike
Myers, I think that’s his name.
LE: Really? In those Austin Powers
Movies?
DK: Yeah, the Austin Powers movies. Or
Alan Rickman?. But no, he died recently
and anyway, he’s far too smooth and
cultured. Bill Archer’s not any of those.
No, you need some rough diamond. He