THE YEOVIL BAROMETER

As barometers go, the Yeovil barometer is a great one. Memories of games against the Glovers are gloomy retrospectives of some of the most impotent Albion sides of the last 15 years. 

Some of the names that adorned the stripes against the Somerset side in our 3rd Division noughties inertia will get you scratching your palms like a Burgess Hill resident watching BBC4.

Virgo (redux), Hawkins, Cox, Forster, Anyinsah, Dickinson ... Oh, it's tiring. But, we are, after all, historically a mid-table 3rd Division side, and those are mid-table 3rd Division players (or they  where when they played for us anyway).

Let's not forget that our friends in hoops have arguably had a rougher time when playing Albion in their short, but illustrious league history. Yeovil are one of a handful of clubs only to have played us at Withdean, the quote below from their Ciderspace forum paints a depressing picture;

“…the overall matchday experience of Brighton & Hove Albion FC is one of the most miserable and annoying ever experienced - and this at a ground where we've always won so far. Anywhere decent to eat and drink is miles away. The stadium has a NATO enforced exclusion zone covering most of South-East England around it on matchdays, inside which sneezing is not allowed as you might upset the residents….I ticked off this ground on our 2006 visit and swore never to go back to be ripped off again for such a cruddy experience, and intend to continue sticking to that promise.” 

Whilst The Amex could not be described as 'cruddy' by even the most myopic of Palace fans, our faux-Celtic friends might find our most extravagant Championship prices a little testing.

Yeovil's grim start to the season will see their fans feeling queasy when pushed on prospects, and positively nauseated from the ever-patronising media tone from the egotistical Championship. Few times has The Amex been an easy place to go for visiting teams, but with confidence low and the crowd edgy, this could be a good time for our league's lowliest club to come and do something magic.