'A word with Dan Ashworth' - Brighton CEO confused…

'A word with Dan Ashworth' - Brighton CEO confused over Newcastle United stadium rule

Brighton CEO Paul Barber says he may have to consult with Newcastle United's Dan Ashworth to try and get the atmosphere at the Amex Stadium on par with St James' Park. Supporters of the Seagulls are said to be unhappy with the current setup at the south coast venue due to the positioning of both home and away fans.

Visiting teams can take an allocation of 3,000 tickets at the Amex but some of the Brighton faithful feel they should be moved to a different part of the ground to stop them 'drowning out' home fans. According to SussexLive, Barber was recently told at a fans' forum that Brighton's travelling fans are also drowned out at venues such as St James' Park and the London Stadium due to the positioning of the away supporters.

In response, Barber joked he would have a word with Newcastle's new sporting director and former Brighton employee Ashworth to ask how the Magpies get away with sticking away fans at the very top of the stadium given current Premier League rules.

"We are also not in a position where we can put away fans in the gods because you can't have away fans above home fans," Barber said. "Newcastle get away with it, I don't know how to be honest, I might have a word with Dan Ashworth to see if he can sort it.

"But we are looking at it and with the goodwill of our head of safety and security and support services we will see what we can do. It won't happen this season because there is a lot of work to do but we would like to respond to some of the feedback we have had from people to see if we can change the dynamic a little bit."

St James' Park remains one of the most feared venues in the country, with Wor Flags helping to boost the atmosphere even more in recent months. Many opposition players have namechecked the north east stadium as their favourite ground to play in, including former Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster.

Speaking on his Fozcast YouTube channel, Foster said: "The best stadium to play at as a footballer I think is Newcastle. Honestly, St James' Park, when that place is rocking, what an atmosphere.

"It's a different atmosphere to most stadiums because it's not necessarily an intimidating atmosphere. When we played them a couple of weeks ago, they went 1-0 up in the 50th minute and the place was rocking. The noise is incredible, it's such a big, massive stadium. That one stand, where the away fans sit is massive where you can see the away fans at the top."

'A word with Dan Ashworth' - Brighton CEO confused over Newcastle United stadium rule

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