Martin Perry retired after a 24-year association with Brighton & Hove Albion last month, leaving behind a wonderful legacy.
Along with Dick Knight, Martin was instrumental in saving the club from oblivion in the late 1990s after the sale of the Goldstone Ground. In his role as chief executive he then led the battle for planning permission for a new stadium, before eventually leading the process that saw Albion's now-iconic home built at Falmer.
His time at the club is a fascinating story of highs and lows but, as he reveals in a podcast on MyAlbion Audio, he might not have been around to play such an integral role in the rebirth of the club.
Before working for Albion, Martin spent many years in construction industry, latterly with Alfred McAlpine.
“I was flying to Khartoum to meet the vice-president of Sudan because we were building a military base there. A car came to collect me at the airport, and I had a phone call advising me not to go because there had been a coup. If I’d gone a day later I would have been caught up in it.
“I spent the next six weeks extracting the staff we had there out safely but the person I was going to meet was never heard of again. I took it in my stride. It was quite an exciting job, although some of it was pretty scary. I remember being in Angola holed up in a hotel with a curfew outside and gunshots. That was pretty frightening.”
Alfred McAlpine became the country’s biggest builder of new football stadium in the aftermath of the Taylor Report, which had condemned English grounds as being not fit for purpose following the tragedies at Bradford in 1985 and Hillsborough four years later.
“We built the new stadium at Huddersfield and I did the naming rights deal working for McAlpine. It was hugely successful and other clubs began to approach us. We built the DW Stadium at Wigan and helped with the Reebok at Bolton. We were in touch with almost every club in the country at one stage and in 1996 I spoke to Ivor Caplin, who was then mayor of Brighton, about a new ground for the club.
In 1997 Perry met Dick Knight for the first time just before his takeover. “I told him I was a Brighton fan, I’d love to build a new stadium for Brighton, but I don’t want to end up running the football club. Three years later I was.”
His first week as a director was a memorable experience. After the final game at the Goldstone, which Albion won 1-0, he and the rest of the board ‘cowered in the boardroom’ while the stadium was ripped apart by souvenir-hunting fans. A week later came the 1-1 draw at Hereford which secured the club’s Football League status.
“At Hereford you had utter devastation on one side of the pitch and complete euphoria on the other side with Brighton fans celebrating. That was my first week in football, what a baptism of fire.”
The club spent the two seasons exiled at Gillingham before taking up residency at Withdean, but only after an ex-girlfriend persuaded Martin that it was the best place for the club until a new stadium could be built.
“It was a crumbling athletics track with weeds growing between the seats. I said, ‘can we do this?’ and she said we had to then she dumped me! And I was left with the task of getting planning permission for Withdean.
“Then the relationship started again, and she took me to Falmer. We stood on Village Way and she said that it was the right place. ‘There’s a station, you’ve got bus services running to the university.’ I thought she was joking at first, but she was absolutely right. She then dumped me again and this time it was permanent!
“She was remarkably wise and had quite an influence on me. We are still the best of friends, she persuaded me Falmer was the right place and I persuaded the board.”
In the podcast Martin also reveals
- How he became an Albion fan as a schoolboy
- Dealing with Bill Archer and David Bellotti
- How he ended up following a car around the Withdean pitch dressed as Austin Powers
- Getting married the day before the League One play-off final – and how selling tickets for the match disrupted wedding plans!
- Praying in front of the TV hoping for a favourable cup draw when money was tight
- Taking the first penalty at the Amex – before and after it was built
You can listen to it in full on MyAlbion Audio here: https://share.transistor.fm/s/40e09c41