Brighton

The story of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. began in the year 1901. It was first a part of its first league, the Southern League, and was admitted to be part of the Football League in 1920. They were promoted in the First Division in the 1978-79 season, but then were delegated in the 1982-83 football season. They were relegated to the top division in 2017-18, playing with the Premier League.

The club played match at Goldstone Ground between 1902 and 1997. Following the sale of the stadium the club played on the grounds of Gillingham over the next two years before moving to Withdean Stadium between 1999 and the year 2011. Then in 2011, the brand new arena Falmer Stadium was completed and it has been the home field for the club ever since.

Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. was established in the year 1901. after 19 years, the year 1920 they were elected into the Football League's newly created Third Division - having previously been part of the Southern League. The Southern League they won their only honour as a nation in the form of that of the FA Charity Shield, which was at the time contest with the champions from the Southern League, and the Football League, by defeating Football League Champions Aston Villa in the year 1910.

After their transfer from the localised division 3 south of 1921 to the one in the region, Albi continued to play in the division until the year 1957-1958, when they took the title and were promoted into the Second Division at the same time that the regionalised northern divisions were de-regionalised to the third and fourth divisions during the season 1958-59. Albion kept their second tier status until their relegation in the year 1962, only to suffer a second decline in 1963, before sliding in the fourth division, for the first time. They were awarded the fourth division title between 1964-1965 , and then remained in third division up to 1972, when as runners-up they won promotion into the second division.

Mike Bamber was the chairman of Brighton from October 1972 to 1983. He famously introduced Brian Clough to the club in 1973, and then appointed the former England teammate Alan Mullery as manager. Brighton's existence as an Football League club had brought nothing in terms of headlines and success until 1979, when under Mullery's direction they were elevated into the First Division as Second Division runners-up. The 1982/83 season witnessed an extremely inconsistent beginning for the club, winning against Arsenal as well as Manchester United mixed in with huge losses. The manager Mike Bailey eventually lost his job at the beginning of December 1982. Jimmy Melia took over as manager, but was not able to improve the situation and Brighton after four seasons in the top league was relegated in 1983 and finished in last position.

Despite their demotion during that time, Brighton made it to the first (and only until now) FA Cup final and were able to draw 2-2 with Manchester United in the first game. Brighton's goal was scored through Gordon Smith and Gary Stevens. The final featured a infamous "miss" caused by Gordon Smith with virtually the final kick of the game in extra time. This prompted to BBC reporter Peter Jones to utter the famous phrase "Smith must score" "...and Smith should score". Smith's shot was saved by Manchester United goalkeeper, Gary Bailey. After the replay match, Manchester United won 4-0.

In the following four years, the relegation into Division Three came in 1987 and Albion were promoted to Division Two in 1987. Albion were promoted in the following season. In 1991, they lost their play-off semi final in Wembley against Notts County 3-1, only to be sent back the following season to the new Division Two. In 1996, the club was relegated back to Division Three. The club's financial position was getting more uncertain The club's directors determined they would have to decide if it was time to dispose of the Goldstone Ground would have to be sold in order to pay certain of its massive debts.

Director Jimmy Case was sacked, following a poor beginning to the 1996-97 season that which left Brighton in the bottom half of league standings by large amount. The directors of the club appointed Steve Gritt, the former joint manager of Charlton Athletic, as manager The manager was largely unknown. Brighton's performance in the league was steadily improving under Gritt but their growing prospects for survival came at additional pressure after a two point reduction by the Football Association, imposed as punishment for an alleged pitch invasion by fans protesting against the selling to developers of their club's Goldstone ground. A long-time Brighton fan called Dick Knight took control of the club in 1997 , having been the one who pushed for fans to remove the previous board after the selling their club's Goldstone Ground to property developers.

On the final week of their season after being 13 points away at one point the team had moved up from the lowest of the division table and needed to face the team beneath them Hereford United, to remain within the division. If Brighton either won or lost the game, they'd be safe. Brighton defenseman Kerry Mayo scored an own goal in the opening half and it looked like Brighton's 77-year-old league career was done. But a last-minute goal by Robbie Reinelt ensured that Brighton kept their league status according to the how many goals they scored (despite Hereford having a better goal difference , since according to the Football League at the time goals scored were the primary criteria) The Hereford team's 25-year-long league streak was finished.

It was sold off to the Goldstone Ground went through in 1997, resulting in Brighton having to play 70 miles away from Gillingham's Priestfield stadium for two seasons. Micky Adams was named the Brighton manager at the end of 1999. In the initial stages of the 1999-2000 season , the Seagulls obtained a lease to play home matches in Withdean Stadium, a converted athletics track located in Brighton which is owned by the council of the city. 2000-01 was Brighton's debut prosperous season in the last 13 years. Brighton won the title of champions in Division Three and were promoted into Division Two.

Adams quit in October of 2001 to become David Bassett's assistant in Leicester and was replaced by the former Leicester director Peter Taylor. The change was a positive factor for Brighton which maintained their excellent form and finished the season with the title of Division Two champions - winning another consecutive promotion. After just five years of almost losing the battle loss of their Football League status and going out of business altogether, Brighton were one division away from being in the Premier League.

Then, in May of 2009 Knight had been replaced as the chairman of Brighton by Tony Bloom, who successfully obtained £93 million for the construction of the new Falmer Stadium and 75% shares in the club.

The final season of Brighton at Withdean was the 2010-11 season in which they were crowned League One under the management of Gus Poyet. The next campaign, Brighton changed their crest to one that resembled the crest that was used from the 1970s through the 1990s. This was done to commemorate Brighton returning to their home town after having no stadium since 1997.

It was the Falmer Stadium hosted its first league game on the opening game of 2011/12 season. The opponent was Doncaster Rovers, who were the final opposition that played at Goldstone at the time of 1997. The game ended in a 2-1 win for Albion. In 2012-13, Brighton finish fourth and losing in the play-off semi-finals against Crystal Palace. Poyet was removed as manager after controversial remarks made in his post-match press conference,[6after which he was fired as manager. He was later replaced with Oscar Garcia.

The last game of 2013-14 Brighton defeated Nottingham Forest 2-1 with a late winner of Leonardo Ulloa to secure a sixth-place place. In the end, after losing against Derby County in the play-offs semi-finals, Garcia resigned. Former Liverpool player Sami Hyypia was appointed manager for the 2014-15 campaign, but was dismissed after just four months following an unsatisfactory run of results. The manager was later replaced the former Norwich coach Chris Hughton.

The following season Brighton had 22 consecutive games without losing from the first day of play until 19 December, when they lost the game 3-0 at home against Middlesbrough. In the last game of the campaign Brighton traveled to Middlesbrough and required a win to be promoted to the Premier League, but a 1-1 draw secured 3rd and a play-off slot and a loss against Sheffield Wednesday was Brighton's third semifinal defeat over the course of four seasons.

Brighton was in the midst of an unbeaten streak of 18 matches which saw them reach at the very top of their league for a large portion of January and December. They remained in automatic promotion positions for much of the of the season. Then, they got promoted into the Premier League after a 2-1 win over Wigan Athletic at home on 17 April 2017. 7] They have broken their record for transfers several times during the summer period and the previous record-breaking sign in the form of Jose Izquierdo commanding a fee estimated to be in excess of PS13 million.

Brighton's return to the Premier League was largely successful and the club climbed to the top of the table several times throughout the course of. Despite being one point over the zone of relegation in January wins against Arsenal as well as Manchester United in the final months of the season ensured a place 15th.

Despite an impressive beginning to their second season the Premier League, the team had a disappointing performance during the latter stages of the season and only managed to score 3 wins over their last 18 matches. Then, in the FA Cup, Brighton reached semi-finals for their first time since 1983. However, they ended up but lost 1-1 in the semi-finals to Manchester City. Albion eventually escaped the relegation process with a 17th-place finishing, however Hughton was fired at the conclusion of the season because of the lack of success.

Following the sacking of Hughton, Swansea manager Graham Potter was named the new manager under an agreement for four years. This contract was extended by two years in the month of November. Between March and June, 2020 the league was suspended because of the COVID-19 epidemic. After a 0-0 draw against Newcastle in July of 2020, Brighton secured a fourth season in the Premier League, eventually finishing the season on 15th. Following the loss of Fulham by Burnley, Brighton secured a remarkable fifth consecutive season of the Premier League in May 2021.

The 2021-22 season was the Seagulls finish 9th within the Premier League, the highest the Seagulls have ever achieved in English top flight football with a record-breaking 51 points.

Home stadium Brighton and Hove Albion.

For over 95 years Brighton and Hove Albion were located on Hove's Goldstone Ground in Hove, until the board of directors took the decision to let the club go. The plan, formulated by the majority shareholders Bill Archer and his chief executive David Bellotti, proved controversial and led to massive opposition to the board. The club didn't receive any funds from this sale.

In their final campaign at Goldstone in 1996-97, the Seagulls were at risk of being relegated from their position in the Football League. They had a win in their final game in the Goldstone against Doncaster Rovers, setting up the winner-take-all game of relegation in Hereford United, who were close on points with the Seagulls. Brighton played to a 1-1 draw while Hereford were sent into the Football Conference on goals scored.

From 1997 until 1999, Brighton FC played at Priestfield Stadium, the ground of Gillingham and Gillingham, before moving back the following year to Brighton for a game at Withdean Stadium. This is not primarily soccer field, however, it has previously been utilized for sports during all of its history and was previously used as an animal zoo.

Due to the expense of the public inquiry regarding planning permissions for a brand new stadium, the cost of renting Withdean Stadium, fees paid to use Gillingham's Priestfield Stadium, and a general deficit in the running due to the low sales of tickets that come with a small stadium The club ran an unsustainable indebtedness which was PS9.5 million by 2004. Board of Directors was responsible for PS7 million of this, and the remaining PS2.5 million needed to be collected through the operation for the organization. To achieve this, a fundraising appeal named The Alive and Kicking Fund was initiated, ranging from naughty Christmas Cards with the players' names to a single on CD being released to raise money. The 9th January of 2005 saw the fund-raising single "Tom Hark was a straight entry at 17th place on the UK chart, and was given the national attention of BBC Radio 1.

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

On the 28th of October, 2005 on the 28th of October 2005, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister announced that the application to build Falmer was approved to the delight and relief of all supporters. Lewes District Council contested John Prescott's decision of approving Falmer's application for planning permission and demanded a judicial review. This was due to an error in the initial approval of Prescott that did not mention that a portion of parking spaces at the site is within the Lewes district and not Brighton & Hove unitary authority. Brighton & Hove unitary authority. This led to further delays. After the judicial review had decided in favour of the venue, Lewes District Council said that it would not file any appeals in the future.

Construction of Falmer Stadium started in December 2008. On May 31, 2011, the club officially handed over the stadium and received access to the venue, which had initial seating of 23,374 which signifies the completion to 14 months without a permanent home. In January 2012, the club made an application for approval to Brighton and Hove City council to increase the capacity of the stadium by an additional 8,000 seats as in addition to adding an additional box for corporate use, brand new TV facilities, and a luxurious suite. The application was approved unanimously by Brighton and Hove City Council's Planning Committee on April 2012. The stadium was later extended to 27,250 at the the 2012-13 season. It was then expanded increased to 27,750 in December 2012, before hitting 30,750 by the end of May 2013.

In the year 2020 the club proposed plans to increase the size of the stadium's capacity from 30,750 seats to 32,500, including an additional hotel. In 2021 the stadium was extended to 31,800 seats, with further work still to be completed.

Despite the 40-mile (64 kilometers) in distance, the clubs are not as close Crystal Palace are Brighton's main rivals, which dates in the 1970s and the hostility between manager Alan Mullery and Terry Venables who took over the management for Brighton and Palace in the year 1976 in advance of a tense season that was part of the Third Division which saw both Palace and Brighton fighting for the title against Mansfield Town.

The season ended by seeing both Palace and Brighton losing the title by Mansfield but both teams were promoted, and the animosity among the managers created a fierce rivalry between the two clubs that lasted into the following season , which was in the Second Division as Brighton, which finished the season as the best dropped to second place following Palace had won a postponed match against Burnley the following weekend . They went on to beat Brighton to win the title by just one point. Furthermore that Brighton's A23 route runs directly across Brighton and Croydon the place the place where the Palace's Selhurst Park stadium is based which has resulted in the media labelling the rivalry as the A23 as well as the M23 derby, despite the fact that the fans of both clubs don't refer to it as such.

The club is located in East Sussex, Brighton find themselves isolated from other teams, which leaves the club without a well-established local derby. The games against the south coast teams Southampton as well as Portsmouth are sometimes referred to as local derbies in the media, but the majority of supporters of either club don't consider either team to be rivals due to the greater than 60 miles (97 kilometers) distance between the two clubs and the established relationship among Portsmouth and Southampton.

• 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 (15): 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, 2021-22
• The Sussex Royal Ulster Rifles Charity Cup winners: 1959–60, 1960–61 [a]

[a] shared with Chichester City in 1960–61

In the majority of Brighton's history they've been wearing blue and white shirts, often striped, with various combinations of blue and white socks and shorts. However, it was changed to all white in the 1970s before changing to plain blue in the most successful period during the 80s.

Since 2014, the kit of the club is manufactured by Nike. The previous manufacturers were Bukta (1971-74. 1975-80), Admiral (1974-75, 1994-97), Umbro (1975-77), Adidas (1980-87), Spall (1987-89), Sports Express (1989-91), Ribero (1991-94), Superleague (1997-99) along with Errea (1999-2014). The current shirt sponsors for the team include American Express. Previous sponsors have included British Caledonian Airways (1980-83), Phoenix Brewery (1983-86), NOBO (1986-91), TSB Bank (1991-93), Sandtex (1993-98), Donatello (1998-99), Skint Records (1999-2008), IT First (2008-11), and BrightonandHoveJobs.com (2011-13)