Ian Cartwright's away guide to Brighton

Given the seaside location and the likely weather, you might have thought that I was disappointed that our visit to Brighton & Hove Albion would take place on a Tuesday night in December, instead of nearer to the start of the season.

In this instance, however, I was actually quite pleased that the fixture on Tuesday (7.45pm) has fallen at this particular juncture - more of which later.

This will be the Addicks' first League visit to the Withdean Stadium, Brighton having decamped from the Goldstone Ground in Hove and landed up at the Withdean via a particularly disastrous spell sharing at Gillingham.

Tickets have been in great demand despite the evening kick-off, given the proximity of Brighton to South-East London and the Addicks' allocation had sold out by Wednesday afternoon.

Although we have played at the Withdean in both post and pre-season friendlies, which gathered good turnouts, this will no doubt be quite a few people's first visit to the Withdean.

In its original incarnation, it was the local municipal athletics track, and while significantly better than Sutcliffe Park, for example, it is not exactly Gateshead, although Seagulls fans may suggest that it would have been easier to get to Gateshead from Brighton than Gillingham!

Consequently, there is only one stand of a permanent nature. All of the rest, both in the home and away areas, are of the temporary variety, with no cover - just like Gillingham, in fact.

We are situated behind the goal in the west 'stand', which is single tiered and shallower than the Gillingham one. On this occasion, away fans enter from the back having circumnavigated a walkway, so it's the people at the front who will have the most stairs to negotiate.

As you would expect, the view is unimpeded. The leg-room is not great, but not knee-crunching either, and the biggest problem is that not only are fans distanced from the pitch by a running track, there is a further recess where the hammer net would go!

The refreshment facilities are not exactly tip top, but there are some, if nothing else. The stadium boasts its own pub in the form of The Sportsman, which does allow away fans in and serves pub grub, but could get a bit crowded. Further down the A23, for the ground is situated on the final stretch of this road, is the Preston Brewery Tap, which is better for the real ale drinker.

Many travelling fans will undoubtedly opt for the main town centre, where there are a plethora of places to suit all tastes, but don't bank on it being a cheap day out in a lot of cases.

What is useful is that the match ticket includes a train ticket to and from Preston Park, which is the closest station to the ground, so if you have route restrictions on tickets, this may overcome any problem you would encounter with an officious guard or machine. On coming out of the station and walking down to the bottom of the hill, turn left along the A23 for the stadium, which is signposted well.

While the drive is easy enough, parking is more of a problem as there is no matchday parking permitted within a mile of the stadium. There is a park and ride based at Mill Road a mile from the ground, though be aware that the Withdean itself is also used as a park and ride for the town centre when there is no match.

Go down the A23 and look out for a Spar and BP garage on the right at a roundabout, not long after you go under the A27. Turn right at this roundabout into Mill Road. This is also included in the match ticket - alternatively you could carry on to the town centre, where there is lots of parking, then use the match ticket to take either the train to Preston Park or one of the local buses to the stadium - it is also valid for the return.

Oh yes, why was I so pleased the game was in December? Well, our previous two visits there have been on quite warm, balmy days in May and August respectively. The Withdean is surrounded by dense woodland. I am very susceptible to insect bites, therefore on the last two occasions I got home looking like I had contracted chicken pox - this time I'll take the soaking!