Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.
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| Brighton & Hove Albion | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club |
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| Nickname(s) | The Seagulls The Albion |
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| Founded | 1901 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Withdean Stadium Brighton & Hove |
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| Capacity | 8,850 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman |  Dick Knight |
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| Manager | Dean Wilkins |
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| League | Football League One | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005-06 | The Championship, 24th (relegated) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. are an English football team based in the coastal city of Brighton & Hove, East Sussex. They are playing in the Football League One during the 2006/07 season after their previous relegation from the Championship. The team are nicknamed 'Seagulls' as befits a seaside club and partially as a response to the similar sounding nickname ('Eagles') of their arch rivals Crystal Palace, rather than the more obvious seaside link. Prior to this nickname they were known as 'the Dolphins' or 'the Twins'. The team usually play in blue and white stripes. Founded in 1901, Brighton played their early professional football in the Southern League. They were elected to the Football League in 1920. Between 1979 and 1983 they were in the old First Division. In 1983 they reached the final of the FA Cup, which they drew 2–2, but lost 4–0 in a replay to Manchester United. They were relegated from the First Division in the same season. But over the next decade or so, financial problems dragged the Seagulls down the league and in 1997 they narrowly avoided relegation to the Nationwide Conference. A boardroom takeover saved Brighton from going out of business, and by 2001 they had climbed out of the basement division. A second successive promotion was achieved, but they were relegated after just one season. Promotion was gained at the first attempt, but the Seagulls went down again two years later.
Well known former managers of the Seagulls include Jimmy Melia, Brian Clough, Barry Lloyd, Liam Brady, Steve Gritt, Micky Adams, Peter Taylor, Steve Coppell and most recently Mark McGhee. Well known former players include Peter Ward, Mark Lawrenson, Tony Grealish, Chris Coward, Jimmy Case, Steve Foster, Dean Saunders, Gary Stevens, Frank Worthington, Bobby Zamora, and Martin Keown.
Brighton currently play at Withdean Stadium in Brighton, where they have been tenants since 1999. For two years before that they ground-shared with Gillingham, after their previous stadium — the Goldstone Ground — was sold to help pay off debts. They are hoping to move into a long-awaited new 22,000-seat stadium at Falmer in 2009; the new stadium has been on the cards since the late 1990s.
[edit] The Fight For A Stadium
For many years they were based at the Goldstone Ground in Hove, until the board of directors decided to sell the stadium for their own financial gain. For two years, from 1997–99, they shared grounds with Gillingham, but have since returned to Brighton, where they now play at Withdean Stadium. This is not predominantly a football ground, having been used for athletics throughout most of its history and previously a zoo. If you are an away fan going to Brighton it is advised that binoculars are taken due to the pitch being more than the width of the athletics track away from the stand. After a four-year struggle that went to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the club gained final planning permission for a new stadium at Falmer near Brighton on 28 October 2005. However, it faces a new legal challenge from Lewes District Council, in whose area some of the stadium's car parking will be built.
The sale of the Goldstone Ground, implemented by majority shareholder Bill Archer and his chief executive David Bellotti, proved controversial, and the move provoked widespread protests against the board. Brighton received little, if any money from this sale.
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 over Doncaster Rovers, setting up a winner-take-all relegation game at Hereford United, who were level on points with the Seagulls. The Seagulls drew 1–1, and Hereford was consigned to the Football Conference on goals scored.
The Seagulls stayed in the Third Division until winning the division in 2001. The following season, they won the Second Division, becoming only the seventh club in the history of the Football League to win successive championships in different divisions. The Seagulls, however, could not repeat their success in the First Division, and were relegated at the end of the 2003 season. They won promotion to the League Championship as the 2004 Second Division playoff winners.
Due to the cost of the public enquiry, 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 as of 2004. The Board of Directors are picking up £7 million of this, and the other £2.5 million must be raised from the operations of the club. In an effort to achieve this, a fundraising appeal known as the Alive and Kicking Fund has been started, with everything from nude Christmas Cards featuring the players to a CD single being released to raise cash. On 9 January 2005 this fundraising single 'Tom Hark (We Want Falmer)' went straight in at number 17 in the UK chart, gaining it national airplay on BBC Radio 1.
Unlike most clubs carrying a large debt, the club has never considered entering administration, as it was a previous period of administration that led to Archer gaining control of the club.
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 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 carparking for the stadium is in the Lewes district as opposed to the Brighton & Hove unitary authority. Construction of their new home has yet to begin.
The stadium is expected to open for the 2009/10 season.
[edit] History
[edit] Formation and foundation
Brighton were founded in 1901 and 19 years later, in 1920, they were elected to the Southern section of the Football League's new Third Division — having previously been members of the Southern League.
[edit] Life at the top (1979–83)
Brighton's life as a Football League club brought little in the way of success and headlines until 1979, when they were promoted to the First Division as Second Division runners-up.
In their first top-flight season, a 4-0 home defeat to Arsenal set the tone for an abysmal start to life in the big time. However, an away win to European Cup holders Nottingham Forest inspired a remarkable recovery and Brighton finished the season well safe from relegation with a respectable 37 points.
The following season, Brighton found themselves in relegation trouble before an end-of-season rally saw them to safety.
Season 1981-82 was the high point of Brighton's stay in the top flight, with the side in the top half or mid-table all season, finishing a credible 13th on 52 points.
They remained at this level for four years before being relegated back to the Second Division in 1983. In their final season in the First Division, 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. This was the final that featured the alleged "miss" by Gordon Smith with virtually the last kick off the game in extra time prompting the well known phrase "and Smith must score" - in effect it was actually a save by the Manchester United goalkeeper, Gary Bailey. In the replay Manchester United won 4–0, despite Brighton dominating the first twenty minutes of the match.
[edit] Sliding towards another relegation (1983–87)
Brighton never made a serious bid to return to the First Division after their relegation in 1983 and they were relegated again in 1987 — this time to the Third Division.
[edit] A brief revival (1987–91)
Just before the end of Brighton's relegation campaign, the club's directors had appointed Barry Lloyd as their new manager. He hadn't been able to save their Second Division status, but he helped them regain it at the first time of asking. In 1990–91 Brighton spent the season pushing for promotion to the First Division and finished sixth. They reached the play-off final after beating Millwall 4–1 at home and 2–1 away but lost to Notts County in the final at Wembley 3-1. If the disappointment of missing out on a top flight was traumatic for Brighton supporters, it was nothing compared to the traumas that the club would encounter over the next few years.
[edit] Relegated again… and again (1991–96)
The club's fans were hoping for a push for promotion to the upcoming new Premier League for the 1991–92 season, but instead they watched their side battle against relegation. The battle was lost and Brighton started the 1992–93 season in the new Division Two.
Barry Lloyd quit in December 1993, having failed to mount a serious challenge for promotion to Division One, and was replaced by Liam Brady. Brady lasted just two years before being replaced by Jimmy Case, but the transition came too late to prevent Brighton from going down to Division Three at the end of the 1995–96 season.
Meanwhile, the club's financial situation was becoming increasingly precarious and the club's directors had come to a decision that the Goldstone Ground would have to be sold in order to pay off some of the club's huge debts.
[edit] Near oblivion (1996–98)
Jimmy Case was sacked after a terrible start to 1996–97 saw Brighton stuck the bottom of the league by a considerable margin — they seemed certain to be relegated from the Football League just 14 years after they had almost won the FA Cup. The club's directors, who appeared to not care in the slightest of the on-field fortunes of the club, appointed a relative unknown in Steve Gritt, the former joint manager of Charlton Athletic, in hope of performing a miracle survival.
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. 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 saved the day and Brighton retained their league status on goal difference. Robbie Reinelt scoring the goal that will write his place in Albion history and in the process ending Hereford's 25-year league career.
The sale of the Goldstone ground went through in 1997 and this led to Brighton having to play some 70 miles away at Gillingham's Priestfield stadium.
1997-98 saw Brighton endure more dismal form but they were never in any real danger of going down because Doncaster Rovers seemed set for the drop long before Christmas due to exceptionally dreadful form. But the board of directors wanted to move the club forward, and knew that they couldn't go on hoping forever that another team would do even worse than them. So Gritt was axed in February 1998 and replaced by former club captain Brian Horton, who already had managerial experience with Hull, Oxford, Manchester City and most recently Huddersfield.
Brighton continued playing their home games at Gillingham for the 1998-99 season and were in contention for a play off place under Brian Horton. In January 1999 Horton left to join Port Vale as manager and Jeff Wood was installed as the new manager of Brighton. With two wins and a draw in the first three games under Wood things continued to look good, however after picking up just 1 point from the next 10 games Brighton fell from play off contention and in April 1999 Wood was sacked. Micky Adams was appointed Brighton's new manager. Brighton finished the season in 17th place, their early season form enough to ensure they didn't spend a 3rd straight season fighting relegation to the Conference.
[edit] Back Home (1999–2000)
For the start of the 1999-2000 season The Seagulls moved back to Brighton and started playing their home games at Withdean Stadium, a converted athletics track owned by the local council. The season started very well with Brighton born debutant Darren Freeman scoring a hat-trick in a 6-0 demolition of Mansfield in the first game of the season. Brighton's early season form was very patchy as they struggled to find consistency as a rebuilt squad struggled to gel. This early season inconsistency was carried over into the New Year. One bright point was Darren Freeman becoming the first goal scorer of the new millennium when he scored after just 2 minutes against Exeter City on January 2, 2000. In February 2000 Brighton signed a little known forward on loan from Bristol Rovers called Bobby Zamora. Zamora made an instant impact scoring in his debut, the 1-1 home draw with Plymouth. Brighton lost their next game away at Northampton 1-0, this was to prove their last defeat of the season as the following game a Zamora hat-trick inspired them to a 7-1 win at Chester City. Unfortunately the run of 8 wins and 6 draws came too late to mount a run at the play offs and Brighton finished 11, just 5 points off the play off places.
[edit] Promotion double (2000–02)
2000-01 was Brighton's first successful season for 13 years. They were crowned champions of Division Three and promoted to Division Two, where they made an excellent start and looked good bets for a second successive promotion. 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 Premiership.
[edit] Another struggle (2002 - 2003)
Peter Taylor decided against renewing his short-term contract after the promotion triumph pursuing potentially bigger and better things at rich and up-and-coming club Hull City, so Brighton promoted youth team manager Martin Hinshelwood in his place. However, Brighton made a terrible start to the 2002–03 Division One campaign, after winning their first game 3–1 away at Burnley followed by a 0–0 draw against Coventry they set a record losing sequence losing 12 games in a row. Hinshelwood then became Director of Football and Steve Coppell was handed the manager's duties after the 10th defeat of the run. Coppell's spell started very brightly with a 2-0 half time lead against Sheffield United, however some questionable refereeing decisions led to Brighton losing 4-2, the 12th and final defeat is a result that no Brighton fan needs reminding of. Brighton stopped the slump by beating Bradford 3-2 at Withdean and continued to improve substantially under Coppell and looked as though they might be able to pull off a miracle survival. Although the great escape eventually proved beyond them, Brighton gained some satisfaction by staying alive until the last game of the season, a 2–2 draw at Grimsby. It was at the end of this season that club legend Bobby Zamora, who had been instrumental in the double championship, was sold to Tottenham Hotspur.
[edit] Up… and down again (2003 to 2006)
Coppell moved to Reading in October 2003 and was replaced by Mark McGhee, who had achieved Division Two promotion success with Reading in 1994 and Millwall in 2001 — both times as champions. McGhee achieved promotion with Brighton at the first time of asking after a dramatic two-legged play-off semi-final against Swindon in which Adam Virgo headed an injury time equaliser in extra time to take the tie to 2–2 and a subsequent penalty shoot out which Albion won. This was followed by a 1–0 victory over Bristol City in the 2003–04 Division Two play-off final (courtesy of a Leon Knight penalty in the 82nd minute) gaining them a place in the newly-named Coca-Cola Football League Championship for the 2004–05 season. Albion finished 20th out of 24 clubs in the 2004–2005 season, narrowly avoiding the drop by a single point, but achieving their highest league position for 14 years. Brighton were relegated two games before the end of the 2005–06 Championship campaign after a disappointing season on the South coast.
[edit] A new era, a new start? (2006 to present)
Ex-Manager Mark McGhee was sacked in a meeting on the 7 September 2006, following a less than impressive start to the season, in which Colin Kazim-Richards had put in a transfer request following an argument with McGhee. Later in the same day, Bob Booker, his number two, also stepped down. Chairman Dick Knight explained the decision on the club website[1] saying that McGhee had lost the support of the club's following. He said, "We're a community club and we have to listen to the fans." Dick Knight also said that McGhee agreed with the decision and there "wasn't any rancour". Dean Wilkins, the first team coach, and Dean White, the chief scout, were put in temporary charge.
Their first game at the helm was a 1–0 win against Millwall on 9 September 2006. The team climbed six places to 11th, just two points away from the play-off zone. After a good start under Wilkins and a few impressive performances (beating Leyton Orient 4–1 at the Withdean Stadium being the most noticeable), Dick Knight appointed Wilkins manager until the end of the season with Dean White as his assistant, but results after they got the jobs permanently haven't been good with the team losing the next five games, but then things looked slightly better for the Albion after a great 2-1 win away to Scunthorpe United at Glanford Park on 14 October 2006 where the Seagulls looked to be in complete control of the match. The next two matches proved to be successful, with a 1-1 draw against Northampton and a 3-0 win against Huddersfield at the Galpharm Stadium to put the club in a more secure position. The club have kept up their good run with a 4-1 win over Football League Two side MK Dons in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. The Dons beat Brighton 4-1 in a pre-season friendly before the season began, which may indicate that Wilkins youthful side are making a turn for the better and proving their potential. A 3-2 win against Bradford City took them back up into the top half of the table. a cup win over Northwich Victoria saw a new Withdean record being set with an 8-0 victory in the FA Cup. The game was also notable due to the second hatrick in 3 games by Jake Robinson. Albion's 6 match unbeaten run came to an end on the 18 November 2006 as they were unlucky to be beaten 1-0 at Withdean by Tranmere Rovers, with Jake Robinson coming close for the Seagulls in the last minute to save a draw, but his shot went agonisingly wide of the post. Then they lost again by the same scoreline at Doncaster Rovers, with ex-Brighton player Mark McCammon netting the only goal. In midweek on 28 November Brighton ended this losing streak against Millwall in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, winning on penalties 3-2. The Seagulls then went on to beat Stafford Rangers 3-0 to secure a place in the third round of the FA Cup where they drew West Ham at Upton Park. This was followed in midweek with an impressive win against promotion contenders Swansea City, Dean Cox scoring the fantastic first goal in the 3-2 victory. Following that Albion beat Cheltenham 2-1 at Withdean, although this match was unusual as it was played on a Saturday evening. Albion then failed to win in their next 7 matches, only picking up one point away at Oldham in a 1-1 draw. When the Upton Park tie came around, the 5,000 Albion fans watched as they were knocked out by West Ham after being beaten 3-0, all goals coming in the second half for the Hammers. For the match against Millwall on 13 January, the club decided to designate this match as scarf day for the fans so they could try and improve the atmosphere at Withdean, after the decline in the number of spectators this season, Albion lost the match 1-0 thanks to a first-half goal scored by Darren Byfield. Albion ended their losing streak away at Chesterfield winning 1-0 with the goal scored by Joe Gatting, although the Seagulls did deserve to score more than one goal, manager Dean Wilkins was also very pleased with the Albion support that had travelled up to Saltergate, and praised them at the end of the match. The following match was the re-arranged Johnstone's Paint Trophy Southern area semi-final tie against Bristol City which was postponed from a few weeks earlier. although the Albion lost this match 2-0, in the next match the Albion held Port Vale to a 0-0 draw at the Withdean, to end a run of 3 successive home defeats. Albion's poor run of form continued and they went on to a sequence of 8 games where the Seagulls only managed to score one goal. However this ended with a 4-1 win away to rivals Leyton Orient, with Dean Hammond, Bas Savage, Joe Gatting and Dean Cox all getting on the score sheet. This was followed by a 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest on 17 February 2007, the club's first home league win in ten weeks, but the following week Albion's poor home form continued, this time with a 2-0 loss to Bristol City, with Seagulls' midfielder Tommy Fraser being sent off for an apparent stamp on their goalkeeper. Albion then drew their next match 1-1 away at Crewe, this being Albion's best result they've ever got at Gresty Road.
[edit] Chants
Brighton's best known song is "Sussex by the Sea", which is the song played when the players run out on to the pitch. The full song is not sung, however, just the chorus. The words were also changed in 1983 when Brighton reached the FA Cup Final. The words sung are:
- Good old Sussex by the sea
- Good old Sussex by the sea
- And we're going up to win the cup
- For Sussex by the sea
Another song often sung at home and away games is along the lines of the Blaydon Races:
- All the lads, should have seen us coming
- Everywhere was blue and white and everyone was running
- All the lads and lasses, all with smiling faces
- Going down Old Shoreham Road
- To see the Brighton Aces
(Previous home, The Goldstone Ground was situated on the Old Shoreham Road)
Brighton fans are also known for the chant "C-C-Seasiders" as well as many various versions of the clubs name and nickname. They are also known for chanting "You dirty Northern bastards" at clubs as far south as Reading and London.
Brighton fans sing many songs about their, archrivals, Crystal Palace.
- P-A-L, A-C-E
- Stevie Coppell's got VD
- With a nik nak paddy wak, give the dog a bone
- Crystal Palace fuck off home
- When I was just a little boy
- I said to my Mummy, what should I be?
- Will I be Brighton, will I be Palace?
- Here's what she said to me
- Wash your mouth out son, and go get your father's gun
- And shoot the Palace scum, shoot the Palace scum
- Hark now hear, the Brighton sing
- The Palace run away, (again)
- And we will fight for evermore
- Because of Boxing Day
- Away in a manger, no crib for a bed
- The Little Lord Jesus looked up and he said…
- We hate Palace oh we hate Palace [et cetera]
[edit] Famous ex-players
- Argentina
- England
- Gareth Barry
- Richard Carpenter
- Jimmy Case
- Alan Curbishley
- Steve Foster
- Colin Kazim-Richards
- Martin Keown
- Leon Knight
- Michael Robinson
- Ben Roberts
- Steve Sidwell
- Gary Stevens
- Peter Ward
- Dean Wilkins
- Bobby Zamora
- Republic of Ireland
- Scotland
- United States of America
- Wales
[edit] Famous supporters
- Norman Cook aka Fatboy Slim, the musician and DJ who owns a minority stake in the club, and whose record label Skint Records sponsors the club;
- Norman Wisdom, the comedian who was once a director of the club and who wrote new words for the club's song "Sussex by the Sea" (which was composed by William Ward-Higgs in 1907);
- Jon Snow, the Channel 4 news anchor;
- Des Lynam, a leading British television sports presenter who also hosted Countdown on Channel 4 following the death of regular host Richard Whiteley
- Ralph Brown, a British actor who previously appeared in Alien³ and Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace;
- Mark Williams, a British actor and comedian who previously appeared in the BBC sketch show The Fast Show and in the second, third and fourth Harry Potter films;
- Christopher Ellison, a British actor who previously appeared in The Bill;
- Jamie Theakston, a British television and radio presenter and producer;
- Peter Brackley, a British television sports commentator, best known for commentating on Football Italia in the 1990s;
- Amanda Redman, a British actress with the lead role in New Tricks.
- Tony Bloom, a professional poker player known as "The Lizard".
- Robert Kazinsky, a British television actor, in Eastenders and Dream Team
- Baron Bassam of Brighton, a Labour peer and current member of the House of Lords
- Leo Sayer, recently said in Celebrity Big Brother that he was an Albion fan, he also said this whilst appearing on Channel 4's Friday Night Project
- John Baine, better known as Attila the Stockbroker, the poet and musician from Southwick, West Sussex who wrote Tom Hark (We Want Falmer), to raise money for the club following news of their debts as a result of not having a stadium
- Mark Little, former actor on Aussie soap Neighbours, the comedian, who now lives in Brighton once said 'Come on you Seagulls' on the BBC's Weakest Link.
[edit] First Team Squad 2006/07
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[edit] External links
- Official club website
- Official club picture website
- North Stand Chat
- Live Chat hosted on North Stand Chat
- Seagulls Fans: Unofficial Fans Website
- Unofficial Fans Slovaks Website
- BrightonFans: Unofficial messageboard
- BHAFC.net: Unofficial messageboard
- The Seagulls Mailing List
- Albion Archives
- BHA Links
- View From The Net
- Flying High
- This Is The Albion
- Albion Album
- All Things Brighton Beautiful
- Brighton&HA-Football
- Site started by Brighton Fans with info on "Clubs in Crisis"
- Falmer Stadium article on Wikipedia
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Blackpool | Bournemouth | Bradford City | Brentford | Brighton & Hove Albion | Bristol City | Carlisle United | Cheltenham Town | Chesterfield | Crewe Alexandra | Doncaster Rovers | Gillingham | Huddersfield Town | Leyton Orient | Millwall | Northampton Town | Nottingham Forest | Oldham Athletic | Port Vale | Rotherham United | Scunthorpe United | Swansea City | Tranmere Rovers | Yeovil Town edit |
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