About 4,000 supporters took part in last year's peaceful protest

Brighton and Hove Albion are waiting for John Prescott to rule on whether they can build a new ground at Falmer.

About 5,000 fans are expected to march past conference venue the Brighton Centre next week - just as they did during Labour's conference in 2004.

Ex-players and managers are expected to join fans on the peaceful protest.

The Championship club has not had its own stadium since the previous owners sold the Goldstone Ground for retail development in 1997.

It's scandalous they've not got a ground, these fans deserve one Micky Adams, former Brighton manager

The team now play home matches at the Withdean Stadium, a small athletics complex in Brighton.

The club first submitted a planning application for a 22,000-seater stadium at Falmer in 2001 but, after a lengthy public inquiry, is still waiting for the deputy prime minister to rule on whether building can go ahead.

A verdict is expected by the end of October.

Local MPs and the city council have backed the planned stadium, but some local residents are not in favour.

Falmer would be three times the size of the club's current home

During last year's Labour conference, also staged at the Brighton Centre, about 4,000 people, including fans of rival teams, marched past the venue in an attempt to show the strength of support for the scheme.

This year's protest is planned for 26 September, the second day of the conference and has been organised with the co-operation of Sussex Police.

Gary Stevens, who scored for Brighton in the 1983 FA Cup Final, Jimmy Case, who played for and managed the team, current boss Mark McGhee and chairman Dick Knight are expected to join fans on the march.

Another former Seagulls manager Micky Adams, now in charge of Coventry City, who played Brighton on Saturday, said: "I'll always offer my support to this club.

"If that means coming down here and marching down Brighton seafront again then that's what I'll do.

"It's scandalous they've not got a ground, these fans deserve one."

Paul Samrah, chairman of the Falmer For All Campaign, said: "This is your final chance to have your voice heard, I cannot emphasise enough the importance of our march."