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Martin Perry gives the inside track on the Foundation’s early days.

When it comes to the Albion, Martin Perry has seen it all. Former chief executive of the club and chair of the board of trustees at the Foundation, Martin oversaw a crucial period in Albion history.

He arrived at the club in 1997, and he was in for a surprise when he came into work for the first time.

“When I first arrived at the club, because of course the Goldstone had been sold and we had no ground of our own, we were based in some awful offices on Queen’s Road that we’d inherited from the previous owners,” Martin said.

“In the corner of these dreadful offices were two people – Steve Ford and Dave Jupp. They told me they were running what was then known as ‘Football in the Community’.”

Martin had been involved in building football stadia before he arrived at the Albion, and he had noticed a growing movement for clubs to support their local communities.

“When I was helping to build Huddersfield’s new stadium there were plans for a classroom. I was confused and asked why that was being built.

“They told me to imagine a child who was behind their class in terms of reading, and how much better they’d learn if they could go to a football stadium and have one of their favourite players read to them.

“It struck me then just how powerful a tool that football can be.

“That was a time when a lot of other Football League clubs were also focusing on community schemes, there was this immense movement among the 72 clubs to support their communities. Almost every club was doing something, it was very heartening to find out.”

The charity was still in its infancy then, but Martin and Steve Ford had big plans to develop it.

“When I arrived Steve was focusing on after-school football sessions, and together we decided to expand our activities into the classroom.

“Steve was keen and he always wanted to do something like that. He had the ideas, he had the lesson plans ready, but he just never had the support. So we began to work on that.

“Another area we wanted to explore was disability football, because we knew the huge benefit it could have on the local community.

“So that was the start for me, working with Steve and the team to expand what from just offering after-school football and beginning to work in education and disability football.

“After a few years our disability football programme really took off and it became very popular.”

The charity’s disability football programme, now one of the biggest in the UK, was a big hit with local people who hadn’t really seen anything like it in Sussex before.

“We ran all sorts of education programmes – particularly after we’d moved to the Withdean – and that was really strengthened by the fact we’d managed to get the football club back home to Brighton after spending a few years without a home stadium.

“The charity just grew and grew. It started with just two people in 1999 and look at it now – hundreds of staff members working all over Sussex.

“I was very fortunate, I had a wonderful team around me to make all of this happen.

“The reputation of the club grew too, as a result. Local people began to realise just how powerful this project was, and what the social benefits were to the area.”

Rather than viewing the Foundation as a nice thing to do, Martin sees the charity’s community work as an essential part of being a football club.

“Clubs absolutely have a responsibility to help their communities,” he said, “I think it’s really important that clubs use the power they have.

“Football clubs and players are icons, they’re held up as examples in the community and therefore there’s a responsibility.

“To use a ‘Gen Z’ term, they’re influencers. They have to use the power and influence they’ve got to give people a helping hand, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.”

Trying to change a person’s life when you only spend an hour with them every week on a football pitch is difficult. It can feel like an uphill battle for some, but Martin has a different view.

“Back in those early days when I first got involved, I met a guy who helped to improve local schools in deprived neighbourhoods, and he told me something that stuck with me.

“He said ‘If I can improve the facilities in these schools, if I can improve the achievement in these schools just a little bit, then I will have succeeded’.

“That really struck me. He said that to me 25 years ago. Never forgotten it.

“If all of us try to improve the environment around us, try to support people around us, just a little bit, then the world would be a better place.

“You see that through programmes like Premier League Kicks. You take young people, effectively, off the streets. You give them tasks like organising football games, bringing the kit, confirming with the referee.

“They start to take responsibility, and you begin to improve their outlook on things. It’s a small step, but an important one.”

After years of enjoying growth and success, Martin reflects on those early years as a really key period for the club and the charity – one that they had to get right after years of turmoil.

“In that period while we were away in Gillingham, we lost a lot of our contact with Brighton,” Martin said.

“Although there were some very loyal fans and sponsors who stuck with us, it was a really difficult time. We were at a low ebb, so it was important that Football in the Community did what it could.

“When we announced we were coming back, I told supporters in a meeting that one of the strategies we needed to develop was to re-engage with the local community. So the Foundation was a really important vehicle for doing that – with schools and young people especially.

“We certainly had a vision, but never quite expected the charity to reach the scale it has today. It plays such a major, major role in local society.”