The American Express Community Stadium is the long-awaited – 14 years to be precise – new home of Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club.

Sitting on the edge of the South Downs National Park, the stadium’s stunning architecture seamlessly and sympathetically blends into the surrounding countryside.

The beautiful stadium signifies the dawn of a new era for the football club with every aspect of the £93 million stadium built to the very highest specification, incorporating all the best features from other stadia around the world to make a truly spectacular arena.

The stadium offers first-class events and conferencing facilities with superb catering, and amazing views of the pitch and the South Downs, to match the best in any high quality venue in the south.

The stadium has been fitted with state-of-the-art giant TV screens, the first of their kind in the UK, and even the cheapest seats are padded to the same specification as the VIP seats at the new Olympic stadium in London!

The American Express Community Stadium has more lifts and disabled access facilities than any other stadium in the country.

The aim of the stadium is to provide maximum comfort, the best hospitality, fine dining and catering options plus the most exciting match day experience in the country, although we can’t guarantee what happens on the pitch!

For further information, please contact our Conference and Events team on: eventsbrighton@azure.uk.com or call 01273 878272.

100 things you didn’t know about the American Express Community Stadium

1. The ground was broken on the stadium site on 1st December 2008

2. It has taken 912 days to build the stadium

3. It took 14 years to find a site and get planning permission for the stadium

4. The Amex construction was completed on schedule on 31st May 2011

5. The Amex is costing over £66million to build and was completed within its original budget

6. The stadium design concept is based on the roll of the South Downs

7. The nearest power supply big enough to handle the peak loads at the stadium was 3 miles away. A new cable was laid along the A270 as far as Stanmer Park and then fed underneath the railway and along the new footpath/cycle path serving the stadium. It cost over £475,000 to install

8. The pitch has been sown, not turfed

9. The total building footprint of the stadium is 30,400m2

10. The equivalent depth of a 4 storey house of chalk was dug out to create the stadium site

11. 139,000m3 of chalk was dug out and moved to an adjacent field during stadium construction

12. At its busiest time, there were 300 people working on the stadium construction

13. 4,520 tonnes of steel were used in the making of the stadium

14. 32,425 paving slabs were used to make the stadium concourse

15. 783,588 metres of cable have been installed in the building which equals 487 miles, further than the distance between Brighton & Glasgow

16. The tallest point of the stadium is 35m high

17. The stadium has 9 lifts

18. The stadium has 319 toilets

19. The stadium has 210 TV screens

20. 700 barrels of beer can be stored at the stadium

21. The train station is 147m from the nearest entrance to the stadium

22. Trains run every 12 minutes on matchdays. It takes 9 minutes to get from Brighton Station to Falmer Station

23. There are 100 steps from the ground floor to the upper concourse in the West Stand

24. 25,000 travel passes were printed for the first season at the new stadium

25. Stadium seats are 500mm wide

26. Fans have 800mm leg room in their seats

27. The furthest seat away from the centre circle is 55m. At the Olympic Stadium the closest seats behind the goal are 45 metres from the goal line

28. All the seats in the Amex are fully padded

29. The standard seats in the Amex are the same as the VIP seats in the Olympic Stadium being built in London

30. There are 22,500 seats in the stadium

31. 2,600 match day premier seats (known as 1901 Club) have been sold

32. There are 450 white seats in the stadium

33. There are 7,147 light fittings which switch off automatically if there is no movement after 30 minutes in each room

34. It is 39m from the home dressing room to pitchside

35. There are 34 seats in the dugout, 17 on each side

36. The players’ warm-up room has a 4G artificial pitch measuring 7.5m by 11m

37. There are 10 showers in the home team changing room

38. There is an ice bath and a Jacuzzi in the changing rooms that can seat 3 players in each

39. On match days LED lights are used to light the concourse in the away end in their team colours

40. The water storage tank that stores the water for the pitch sprinkler system can hold 45,000 litres

41. The grass is cut between 5 and 7 times a week

42. The grass is cut to 25-30mm

43. 1,100 trees have been planted at the stadium site

44. There are 21,202 metres of pipe work in the stadium

45. The 2 giant screens in the stadium are the first of their kind in the UK

46. The giant screens are the same as those used by the New England Patriots American Football Team in the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA

47. The season tickets are smart cards and act as “pre-pay” cards as well as access control

48. There are 91 Club staff based in the North Stand

49. The first League football match at the Amex was held on 6th August 2011 against Doncaster Rovers, the last team that the Albion played at the Goldstone Ground in 1997

50. There is a restaurant in the East Stand open to the public for lunch during the week

51. The concourse walls of the Amex have been rendered and decorated

52. Each indoor concourse is decorated with local artists’ work with a different theme in each concourse

53. The Amex will house a museum with memorabilia and history related to Brighton & Hove Albion FC

54. The club shop in the North Stand is 540m2

55. A supporters bar, named Dicks Bar, is open to the public during the week as well as match days

56. There are 15 cameras filming every game from 10 different locations in the stadium

57. There are 14 corporate hospitality boxes

58. There is a 5-mile ‘subsidised travel zone’ around the Amex on matchdays, including buses, trains and coaches

59. The stadium is served by 3 park and ride sites

60. There are 234 cycle racks at the stadium

61. On average around 1,100 staff work at the stadium on match days

62. Around 200 sides of smoked salmon are consumed each match

63. All 15 food kiosks have their own chef

64. There are on average 100 chefs working each game

65. Albion pies are made in-house and served at kiosks and hospitality lounges

66. 500 Gully’s Gang picnic boxes have been ordered

67. 1,600 sandwiches are needed to feed staff every match day

68. Every bar has disabled access

69. 6,000 pint glasses were ordered for the stadium

70. Harveys and Dark Star Brewers ales will be on sale at all bars

71. 4,000 pints of beer are served per match

72. There are 1.5 miles of beer pipe in the stadium

73. There are 138 tills in the stadium

74. 1,800 pieces of uniform were ordered for hospitality staff

75. 2,000 banqueting chairs were ordered for the stadium

76. 10,000 lanyards were ordered for entry passes

77. 500 tablecloths are used each match

78. 600 salt and pepper shakers are filled each match

79. £2million has been spent on equipment for the kitchens

80. There are 30 ovens in the stadium

81. The Amex has permission to run 2 concerts per year

82. The Amex has been licensed to host weddings at the stadium

83. The Amex has room to host dinners for up to 500 people

84. Journalists have their own private bar at the Amex

85. There are 52 press seats for journalists in the stadium

86. All top soil removed from the stadium site was recycled for landscaping and planting areas

87. By tipping soil on the adjacent field, 14,000 lorry journeys were saved on Sussex highways

88. 64,900 tonnes of concrete was used in the stadium construction

89. The pitch is the largest dimension allowed in the Football League and equals both Wembley and Old Trafford

90. Who ate all the pies? Brighton fans did…..4,561 of them at the first match against Tottenham Hotspur

91. 14,083 pints of beer (and 670 packets of crisps) were served at the first match against Tottenham Hotspur

92. The arch was delivered to site flat packed where it was then constructed in 3 sections

93. The load on each end of the arch is 6,000 tonnes, equivalent to the force needed to stop an express train travelling at 60mph

94. The Amex forms part of a total of 250 million pounds worth of building work in the Falmer area

95. Following the re-profiling of land on Village Way South it will take 5 years for it to be restored to full agricultural use

96. The original Village Way was not wide enough for 2 buses to pass each other without having to mount the kerb

97. The paint used for the stadium arches is designed to protect the steel for a quarter of a century

98. On average 1,320 sausages are consumed every matchday

99. In total there are five sets of grow lights at the Amex, one of these was from Withdean

100. The kitchen serving the East Central Brasserie has been built to house work stations for catering students. During the week students prepare, cook and serve food in the restaurant which is open to members of the public