Brighton-watch #1- A brief background

Being a Brighton fan is like riding a roller-coaster constantly. There's been more ups and downs at the club than you can shake a stick at.

After losing our home stadium, the Goldstone Ground, in 1997 after the owners decided they fancied making a quick buck by selling the stadium site for a retail park to be built, this 96-year old football club was left homeless, penniless and on the verge of not only relegation from the Football League, but also complete liquidation.



We're made of stronger stuff though. Following two years in the wilderness, playing home games at Gillingham's dilapidated Priestfield Stadium over 50 miles away, tireless campaigning bought the club back to Brighton, at the wonderful Withdean Stadium.



Here is the actual view from the away end of the ground we played at for 12 years. It wasn't pretty- it had seven stands and a hammer net- but it was home; at least temporarily, as the club and the fans fought for permission to build a new stadium in Falmer.

After yo-yo-ing in and out of the Championship for years, things started going downhill again in 2008 when Micky Adams was bought in to replace Dean Wilkins, who was sacked after Brighton finished 7th in League One; which was considered quite an achievement by the fans.

Adams was fired in 2009, leaving Russell Slade in charge of hauling the Albion out of the relegation zone with only a handful of games remaining. A final day win against Stockport was enough to keep Brighton up by the skin of their teeth, but another relegation battle looked on the cards the next season after a poor start from the Seagulls, leading Russell Slade to be sacked just a few months after earning a full-time contract.

Gus Poyet was bought in as manager and his first game in charge was a famous win against South coast rivals Southampton- a rivalry that was to be stoked beyond belief the following season:

 After merely surviving once again, Albion looked to up their game and avoid a relegation battle the following season. However, Mr Poyet had other ideas. Brighton stormed clear at the top of League One, strolling to the title ahead of Southampton, who's manager Nigel Adkins had created a fierce rivalry with these words:

The promotion tied in nicely with the Albion's move to the beautiful 22,500-seater £100-million American Express Community Stadium at Falmer, funded by poker professional Tony Bloom, who's family have been involved in the club for generations. The club sold-out of season tickets this season, and went from an average gate of 7,000 to an average gate of 20,000 in one season.

 

After a failed play-off push, Brighton finished a respectable 10th in their first season in the Championship, beating Southampton 3-1 once again in the process; although the Saints promotion to the Premier League took the edge off this win somewhat. The most famous day of the season however, was the season opener; the first game at the Amex against Doncaster. 

After bringing in some Premier League class in Tomazs Kuszczak from Manchester United, Wayne Bridge on loan from Manchester City and former captain Andrew Crofts from Norwich, as well as La Liga experience in Valencia right-back Bruno Saltor and Athletic Bilbao winger David Lopez, Brighton looked set for an automatic promotion to the Premier League push this season after storming to the top of the league with a fine start to the season.

However, a run of 6 games without a win cost Albion, but they've since recovered somewhat, taking 7 points from their last 3 games, lying in 7th place in the Championship; 9 points behind leaders and fierce rivals Crystal Palace. More on that later.

With the stadium being expanded to house 30,000 seats in December and a state-of-the-art £29-million training complex on the way, the future is certainly looking bright, but will this season be the one where Brighton make their long awaited return to the top flight? Next year marks 30 years since Brighton last ventured into the top division, and I have a sneaky feeling we may just end our 30 years of hurt in May 2013.