Sportsman, Withdean, Brighton

Official site of Sportsman - www.stonehouserestaurants.co.uk

Official site of Sportsman - www.stonehouserestaurants.co.uk

The Sportsman is a huge Crown Carveries pub that backs onto Withdean stadium which is used for athletics and was the temporary home of Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club between 1999 and 2011. The football is now played at the Amex in Falmer so the bumper fortnightly Saturday trade for this pub has since past. In fact on Saturday night I was the only person that took the walk across the huge car park out the front to have a beer in here. Most of this vast pub is set for dining and the carvery prices start at £3.99 and breakfast is available for £3.29 between 09:00 and 11:00. There is a bar area that houses a plasma screen that was turned off. I didn’t spot any sports advertisements, but there was some background music playing softly. The bar is stocked with standard draught products and the two hand pumps were drawing Harvey’s Best and Marston’s EPA. I didn’t eat here during my visit, but I have eaten at a Crown Carveries pub before and found it to be very good value for money. This is the sort of pub one goes into for a bite to eat a few days before payday and I wouldn’t entertain the idea of going here just for a beer.