An Evening at the Komedia for Bob Booker and Mark McGhee
I have learned from Daffers that if you get off to a bad start at any event it’s hard to recover and this is what happened at the Komedia Brighton last night where the Albion Roar – a media duet of Brighton HAFC football fans – were hosting the former managerial team Mark McGhee and Bob Booker for a radio and tv programme before an audience that had to pay £10 for the privilege of being there. I took a pal of mine who sits near me at the Amex and is an authority on the Albion. On arrival at the theatre we were told to wait to be seated. The best seats were already reserved for McGhee and Booker’s party and we were directed to two on a long table which, given our corpulence, we could not access. So we moved to the other end of the table and were told we could not sit there – the auditorium was half empty – and directed to another two with poor vision, one had its back to stage. At this stage I kicked up a fuss and we were shown to 2 more seats. We noted that a couple sat with impunity at the ones we were asked to leave. I went to the loo and saw some of the fresh red paint had finished on my hands. The event started late and by this stage my friend and I agreed we would leave before the end.
McGhee and Booker took Albion to promotion into the Championship via the play-offs in 2005. They recalled some of the times and gave us an insight into the dressing room. Keen fans love these events which might explain why we were asked to pay £10 to be the live audience for the programme. My friend learned little given his knowledge.
An old school friend of mine has just written a book on Bob Booker which was being promoted at the event which was also sponsored both of which seemed to make the £10 unjustifiable. At the interval we both left. On the third move I told the young and unhelpful usher that this was certainly the first time I had visited the Komedia and in all probability the last.
Meanwhile the Albion, yet to score a goal and unable to buy a finisher, have only one forward Tomer Hemed fit for Saturday’s game v WBA. Sussex CCC, 229 runs behind and following on, have little hope too of winning at Northamptonshire who lie just below them and our hopes of promotion are as distant as an Albion goal.
