Brighton and Hove Albion - Features

The Tony Bloom Hunt

24th March 2010 - Scott McCarthy

We're getting good at this Albion related hunting business. You may recall that, on the day he was confirmed as the new Albion boss, the We Are Brighton team managed to gatecrash the announcement and become the first fans to get a picture with Gus Poyet. Well, this time we have done it again with chairman Tony Bloom.

Mr Bloom is a man who, so far in his tenure as chairman, has been quite happy to sit in the background. Unlike his predecessor Dick Knight, who liked to make speeches on the pitch every other home game, the man known as the Lizard has very rarely been seen in public.

There was quite excitement then when news reached me via a text message that Mr Bloom was infact going to be attending Wednesday's action of the 2010 Cheltenham Festival, owing to the fact that his horse, Little Josh, was running in the 2.40. Being a keen racing fan myself, I too would be in attendance. A quick thumb through the Racing Post confirmed that the horse, trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies who would go onto pick up the Gold Cup with Imperial Commander on the Friday, was running.

Come 2.20 then, I headed over to the parade ring where horses are walked around prior to the race and owners, jockeys and trainers gather. Lo and behold, there was our Tony, sporting what can only be described as an incredibly dashing orange tie. Attempts to gain a photo with him at this stage were unsuccessful, as he made a quick escape to his viewing position, and again after the race we were unable to locate him. But we weren't going to give up that easily...

As luck would have it, we were then mooching about outside the entrance to the Grandstand after the second last race, when a short man came striding past. Not noticing who it was at first, it was only when my companion gave a high pitched squeaking noise not dissimilar to a whale and muttered the words "Lizard" that I realised who it was. Chasing him down, we finally got the much treasured picture, and after exchanging the usual pleasantries, including Mr Bloom unfortunately having to turn down our invite to joining us for a night on the town due to his attendance at a meal, he wished us both luck for the remainder of the week before making his way out of the racecourse. 

A thoroughly nice chap, thanks to whom we are going to have a shiny new stadium and a great future as a club no doubt. And a great fashion sense to go with it. Nice one Tony!