Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.

Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. were founded in 1901 and 19 years later, in 1920, they were elected to the Football League's new Third Division – having previously been members of the Southern League. In the Southern League they won their only national honour to date, the FA Charity Shield, which at that time was contested by the champions of the Southern League, and the Football League, by defeating Football League Champions Aston Villa in 1910.[4]

Mike Bamber was the chairman of Brighton from October 1972 until 1983. He famously brought Brian Clough to the club in 1973 and later appointed former England player Alan Mullery as manager. Brighton's life as a Football League club had brought little in the way of success and headlines until 1979, when, under Mullery's management, they were promoted to the First Division as Second Division runners-up. The 1982/83 season saw a wildly inconsistent start for the club, with victories over Arsenal and Manchester United mixed in with heavy defeats. Manager Mike Bailey eventually lost his job at the start of December 1982. Jimmy Melia took over as manager, but was unable to turn the situation around and Brighton, after four seasons in the top flight, were relegated in 1983, finishing in last place.

Despite their relegation, that season Brighton reached their first (and only to date) FA Cup final and drew 2–2 with Manchester United in the first match. Brighton's goals were scored by Gordon Smith and Gary Stevens. The final featured an infamous "miss" by Gordon Smith with virtually the last kick of the game in extra time, prompting the BBC commentator Peter Jones to utter the well-known phrase "...and Smith must score". However, Smith's kick was saved by the Manchester United goalkeeper, Gary Bailey. In the replay, Manchester United won 4–0.

After four seasons, relegation to Division Three came in 1987, but the Albion bounced back the next season. In 1991 they lost the play-off final at Wembley to Notts County 3–1, only to be relegated the next season to the newly named Division Two. In 1996 further relegation came to Division Three. The club's financial situation was becoming increasingly precarious, and the club's directors decided that the Goldstone Ground would have to be sold to pay off some of the club's huge debts. Manager Jimmy Case was sacked after a very poor start to the 1996–97 season saw Brighton stuck at the bottom of the league by a considerable margin. The club's directors appointed a relative unknown in Steve Gritt, the former joint manager of Charlton Athletic. Brighton's league form steadily improved under Gritt, although their improving chances of survival were put under further threat by a two-point deduction imposed as punishment for a pitch invasion by fans who were protesting against the sale of the Goldstone ground. A lifelong fan named Dick Knight took control of the club in 1997 having led the fan pressure to oust the previous board following their sale of the club's Goldstone Ground to property developers.

By the last day of the season, after being 13 points adrift at one stage, they were off the bottom of the table and had to play the team directly below them, Hereford United – the game was in their hands. If Brighton won or drew, they would be safe. Brighton defender Kerry Mayo scored an own goal in the first half and it looked as though their 77-year league career was over. But a late goal from Robbie Reinelt ensured that Brighton retained their league status on goals scored (despite Hereford having a better goal difference as, in the Football League at the time, goals scored took precedence), and Hereford's 25-year league run was instead over.

The sale of the Goldstone Ground went through in 1997, leading to Brighton having to play some 70 miles away at Gillingham's Priestfield stadium for two seasons. Micky Adams was appointed Brighton's manager in 1999. For the start of the 1999–2000 season the Seagulls secured a lease to play home games at Withdean Stadium, a converted athletics track in Brighton owned by the local council. 2000–01 was Brighton's first successful season for 13 years. They were crowned champions of Division Three and promoted to Division Two. Adams left in October 2001 to work as Dave Bassett's assistant at Leicester, being replaced by former Leicester manager Peter Taylor. The transition proved to be a plus point for Brighton, who maintained their good form and ended the season as Division Two champions – winning a second successive promotion. Just five years after almost succumbing to the double threat of losing their Football League status and going out of business completely, Brighton were one division away from the Premier League.

In May 2009, Knight was replaced as chairman at Brighton by Tony Bloom, who successfully secured £93 million funding for the new Falmer Stadium and 75% shareholding at the club.[5]

Brighton's final season at Withdean was 2010–11, in which they won League One under the management of Gus Poyet. The following season, Brighton changed their crest to a design similar to the crest used from the 1970s to the 1990s. This was to reflect on the club returning home after not having a stadium since 1997.

The Falmer Stadium hosted its first league match on the opening day of the 2011–12 season against Doncaster Rovers, who were the last opposition to play at the Goldstone in 1997. The game finished 2–1 to Albion. The 2012–13 season saw Brighton finish 4th and lose in the play-off semi-finals to Crystal Palace. Poyet was suspended as manager following controversial comments made in his post-match interview,[6] and was later sacked as manager and replaced by Óscar García.

On the final day of the 2013–14 season, Brighton beat Nottingham Forest 2–1 with a last minute winner from Leonardo Ulloa to secure a 6th-place finish. After losing to Derby County in the play-offs semi-finals, García resigned. Ex-Liverpool defender Sami Hyypiä was appointed manager for the 2014–15 season but resigned after just four months due to a poor run of results. He was replaced by former Norwich manager Chris Hughton. In the following campaign Brighton went on a 22-game unbeaten run from the opening day to 19 December when they lost 3–0 at home to Middlesbrough. On the final day of the season Brighton travelled to Middlesbrough and needed to win to secure promotion to the Premier League, but a 1–1 draw meant 3rd and a play-off place, where defeat to Sheffield Wednesday was Brighton's third playoff semi-final defeat in four seasons.

Brighton started 2016–17 with an 18-match unbeaten run, taking them to the top of the league for much of December and January. They remained in the automatic promotion positions for most of the rest of the season, and clinched promotion to the Premier League after a 2–1 win against Wigan Athletic at home on 17 April 2017.[7] They broke their transfer record multiple times throughout the summer window, with the previous club record signing of Jose Izquierdo commanding a fee reported to be over £13 million.[8]

Brighton's first season back in the Premier League was largely successful, with the club rising into the top half several times in the season. Despite falling to one point above the relegation zone in January, victories over Arsenal and Manchester United in the final months of the campaign helped secure a finish of 15th.

Brighton's second season in the Premier League was inconsistent. Despite a promising start, the team endured a poor second half of the season, achieving just 3 wins in their last 18 games. In the FA Cup, Brighton reached the semi-finals for the first time since 1983, losing 1–0 to Manchester City. Albion ultimately survived relegation with a 17th-place finish, but Hughton was sacked following the end of the season due to the poor run of results.[9]

Following Hughton's sacking, Swansea manager Graham Potter was appointed as the new manager on a four-year contract.[10] The contract was extended by a further 2 years in November 2019.[11] From March to June 2020, the season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[12] Following a 0–0 draw with Newcastle in July 2020, Brighton secured a fourth season in the Premier League, eventually finishing the season in 15th.[13]

Goldstone Ground (1902–1997)

For 95 years Brighton and Hove Albion were based at the Goldstone Ground in Hove, until the board of directors decided to sell the stadium. The sale, implemented by majority shareholder Bill Archer and his chief executive David Bellotti, proved controversial, and the move provoked widespread protests against the board. The club received little if any money from this sale.[14]

In their last season at the Goldstone, 1996–97, the Seagulls were in danger of relegation from the Football League. They won their final game at the Goldstone against Doncaster Rovers,[15] setting up a winner-takes-all relegation game at Hereford United, who were level on points with the Seagulls. Brighton drew 1–1, and Hereford were relegated to the Football Conference on goals scored.[16]

Withdean Stadium, Brighton's home from 1999 to 2011

For two years, from 1997 to 1999, the club shared Priestfield Stadium, the ground of Gillingham, before returning to Brighton to play at Withdean Stadium. This is not predominantly a football ground, having been used for athletics throughout most of its history, and previously as a zoo.[17]

Because of the cost of the public enquiry into planning permission for a new stadium, rent on Withdean Stadium, fees paid to use Gillingham's Priestfield Stadium, and a general running deficit due to the low ticket sales inherent with a small ground, the club had an accumulated deficit of £9.5 million in 2004. The board of directors paid £7 million of this; the other £2.5 million had to be raised from the operations of the club. In an effort to achieve this, a fund-raising appeal known as the Alive and Kicking Fund was started, with everything from nude Christmas Cards featuring the players to a CD single being released to raise cash. On 9 January 2005 this fund-raising single 'Tom Hark' went straight in at number 17 in the UK chart, gaining it national airplay on BBC Radio 1.[18]

Brighton fans at Falmer Stadium during the first league game at the stadium against Doncaster Rovers

Falmer Stadium (currently known for sponsorship reasons as American Express Community Stadium, Amex Stadium) is a stadium located in Village Way, Brighton BN1 9BL.

On 28 October 2005, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister announced that the application for Falmer had been successful, much to the joy and relief of all the fans. Lewes District Council contested John Prescott's decision to approve planning permission for Falmer, forcing a judicial review. This was based on a minor error in Prescott's original approval which neglected to state that some car parking for the stadium is in the Lewes district as opposed to the Brighton & Hove unitary authority. This caused further delay. Once the judicial review ruled in favour of the stadium, Lewes District Council said that it would not launch any further appeals.

Building of Falmer Stadium started in December 2008. On 31 May 2011 the club officially completed the handover and was given the keys to the stadium with an initial capacity of 22,374 seats, signifying the end of 12 years without a home. During January 2012, the club submitted an application to Brighton and Hove City council to increase the stadium capacity by a further 8,000 seats as well as to add additional corporate boxes, new television facilities and a luxury suite.[19] This was granted unanimously by Brighton & Hove City Council's planning committee on 25 April 2012. The stadium was then expanded to 27,250 for the start of the 2012–13 season and then further to 27,750 during December 2012 before reaching 30,750 during May 2013.

As of 1 February 2021[24]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 2 DF  ENG Tariq Lamptey 3 DF  ENG Ben White 4 DF  ENG Adam Webster (vice-captain) 5 DF  ENG Lewis Dunk (captain)[25] 6 DF  POL Michał Karbownik 7 FW  IRL Aaron Connolly 8 MF  MLI Yves Bissouma 9 FW  FRA Neal Maupay 10 MF  ARG Alexis Mac Allister 11 MF  BEL Leandro Trossard 13 MF  GER Pascal Groß 14 MF  ENG Adam Lallana 15 MF  POL Jakub Moder 16 MF  IRN Alireza Jahanbakhsh

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 MF  COL Steven Alzate 18 FW  ENG Danny Welbeck 19 MF  COL José Izquierdo 20 DF  ENG Solly March 21 FW  ROU Florin Andone 22 FW  RSA Percy Tau 23 GK  ENG Jason Steele 24 MF  NED Davy Pröpper 25 MF  ECU Moisés Caicedo 26 GK  ESP Robert Sánchez 29 FW   SUI Andi Zeqiri 31 GK  ENG Christian Walton 33 DF  ENG Dan Burn 34 DF  NED Joël Veltman

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  AUS Mathew Ryan (at Arsenal until end of season) 30 DF  BRA Bernardo (at Red Bull Salzburg until end of season) 49 MF  IRL Jayson Molumby (at Preston North End until end of season)

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  ENG Matt Clarke (at Derby County until end of season) — DF  IRL Shane Duffy (at Celtic until end of season) — FW  NED Jürgen Locadia (at FC Cincinnati until 30 June 2021)

As of 13 January 2021[26]

Players to have featured in a first-team matchday squad for Brighton.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 44 MF  SWE Peter Gwargis 47 MF  ENG Teddy Jenks 52 DF  FRA Romaric Yapi 53 DF  BEL Lars Dendoncker

No. Pos. Nation Player 61 GK  ENG Tom McGill 54 MF  ENG Jensen Weir 67 MF  GER Reda Khadra

Source: Who's Who

• Football League Second Division/EFL Championship (Tier 2) runners up: 1978–79, 2016–17
• Football League Third Division South/Football League Second Division/Football League One (Tier 3) champions: 1957–58, 2001–02, 2010–11
• Football League Fourth Division/Football League Third Division (Tier 4) champions: 1964–65, 2000–01
• Southern Football League champions: 1909–10

• FA Cup runners-up: 1983
• FA Charity Shield winners: 1910
• Sussex Senior Challenge Cup Winners (14): 1942–43, 1987–88, 1991–92, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1999–00, 2003–04, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2016–17, 2017–18
• The Sussex Royal Ulster Rifles Charity Cup winners: 1959–60, 1960–61[lower-alpha 1][29]