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 (Capacity 8,850) |
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| Chairman |  Dick Knight |
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| Manager | Micky Adams |
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| League | League One | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007-08 | League One, 7th | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club is an English football club based in the coastal city of Brighton & Hove, East Sussex. They play in Football League One, after their relegation following the 2005-06 season from the Championship. The team are nicknamed 'Seagulls', partly due to the city's seaside location and partly as a response to the similar sounding nickname 'Eagles' of their arch rivals Crystal Palace. Prior to this nickname they were known as 'the Dolphins' or 'the Shrimps'. The team have historically played in blue and white stripes, though this changed to plain blue for a period in the 1980s. 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 Cattlin, Jimmy Case, Steve Foster, Dean Saunders, Gordon Smith, Gary Stevens, Frank Worthington and Bobby Zamora.
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 by the club's former owners to help pay off debts leaving the club groundless. They are hoping to move into a long-awaited new 22,000-seat stadium at Falmer in 2010; the new stadium has been on the cards since the late 1990s. A decision allowing the club to build at Falmer was given on July 24 2007, and on 31st July 2007 Lewes District Council confirmed they would not be appealing against Hazel Blears' decision. Falmer Parish Council followed suit shortly after that, leaving the way clear for the new stadium's construction. The deadline for all challenges to the stadium passed with no group coming forward on September 5, 2007. A new managing director was appointed days later, leaving chief executive Martin Perry to concentrate on the building and financing of the new stadium.
[edit] The fight for a stadium
For many years Brighton and Hove Albion was based at the Goldstone Ground in Hove, until the board of directors decided to sell the stadium. For two years, from 1997–99, the club shared the ground of 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 as a zoo. 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.
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. The club 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-takes-all relegation game at Hereford United, who were level on points with the Seagulls. The Seagulls drew 1–1, and Hereford were 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.
Because of 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 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 fundraising 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 fundraising single 'Tom Hark (We Want Falmer)' went straight in at number 17 in the UK chart, gaining it national airplay on 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 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.
Permission has been granted for the club to progress with their stadium. Shortly following the government's decision, Lewes District Council announced that they would not appeal against it, much to the relief of Albion fans. The stadium has been scheduled to open in mid way through the 2009-10 season, or the beginning of the 2010-11 season.
[edit] History
[edit] Formation and foundation
Brighton 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, by defeating Football League Champions Aston Villa in 1910.
[edit] Crest history
The first known crest (1946-1975) to be used by Brighton & Hove Albion was the traditional coat-of-arms design of the twin towns of Brighton and Hove. A hybrid design employing the shield of Hove and the dolphin crest of Brighton was also used at times while a calligraphic shield was worn on the team shirts in the latter 1950s. During the 1974/75 season the club became known as 'The Dolphins' and by the beginning of the following season, a new club crest had been introduced. Both this nickname and crest were to prove short-lived, however, following an incident said to have taken place in the Bo'sun public house in Brighton. Prior to a 'derby' fixture with fierce rivals, Crystal Palace, a few away supporters started chanting, "Eagles, Eagles" to which a group of Brighton & Hove Albion fans responded with a chant of "Seagulls, Seagulls". Current club director, Derek Chapman, is said to have been among the group who first christened the club with this nickname. The club has been known as 'The Seagulls' ever since and in 1977 the club crest was changed once again to represent this. A round seagull crest was used on club shirts until 1998 when the current design was introduced. New chairman Dick Knight wanted to sweep away all the remnants of the old, disgraced regime and saw an updated crest as a sign to supporters of new beginnings and happier times ahead.
During the 2001/02 season, however, the club shirts displayed no seagull crest at all. For the club's centenary season a return was made to the traditional shields of the former boroughs of Brighton and Hove (now officially one city). The Brighton shield shows Martlets (birds used often in Sussex heraldry) and coral which both represent the sea. The Hove shield also displays martlets and a ship that has run ashore, representing a French galley, commemorating the French attacks on the coast of Hove during the early 16th Century.
[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 "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 about 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 (2002–03)
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 in the streak. 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 Bobby Zamora, who had been in the double championship winning side and top goalscorer during this period, was sold to Tottenham for a £1,500,000 fee.
[edit] Up… and down again (2003-06)
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] Wilkins takes over (2006-08)
The season began with uncertainty, over the future of manager Mark McGhee and consequently the out of contract players. Several board member, led by major shareholder Tony Bloom wanted McGhee sacked, but chairman Dick Knight still backed him. The situation was eventually resolved with McGhee retained as manager, youth coach Dean Wilkins promoted to first team coach, and fist team coach Dean White named chief scout.
With pre-season came mixed messages, then manager Mark McGhee proclaiming promotion was the aim, while Knight stated at the pre-season fans forum that mid-table would be acceptable. The mixed feelings for Seagulls fans continued into the season, as new non-league signing Alex Revell scored a debut goal to secure a 1-0 victory at Rotherham, but in the immediate aftermath young forward Colin Kazim-Richards handed in a transfer request that would eventually lead to him leaving the club on deadline day to sign for Sheffield United for £150,000 with a 25% sell on clause. [1][2][3]
Results quickly deteriorated, and manager Mark McGhee was sacked at a meeting with Albion chairman Dick Knight on 7 September 2006. Assistant manager Bob Booker also left the club on the same day, after several years working with a number of managers. Many fans had lost faith in McGhee during the previous season's relegation battle, and this was cited by Knight as one of the key reasons for his departure, along with a loss of faith in the dressing room.
Following McGhee’s sacking the club installed Dean Wilkins as caretaker-manager, saying they would have to give Wilkins a chance to see what he could do for the club. Chief scout Dean White was promoted to Wilkins' assistant manager. The pair were given the posts on a permanent basis on 29th September[4], and former player Ian Chapman was also added to the coaching staff shortly afterwards.
It was to prove a difficult season for the rookie management team, whose inexperience was mirrored by that of the team, 10 youth players having been awarded contracts in the summer[5], along with several youth team graduates already in the first team. There were some highlights - beating Leyton Orient 4-1 home and away, winning 2-1 away at Scunthorpe United (one of only two home defeats for the eventual champions), and thrashing Conference side Northwich Victoria 8-0 at home in the first round of the FA Cup. A 3rd round tie away to West Ham United was a break from League One for Brighton's fans, but their side were beaten 3-0 after a disappointing second-half performance. Albion also reached the Southern area Semi-Final of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. January signing Bas Savage claimed cult fame on television programme Soccer AM for his moonwalk celebration following each one of his goals scored for the Albion, which were also proving crucial in keeping Brighton away from a relegation battle.
The 2006-07 season proved to be very successful for the Seagulls Reserve team, after securing the Sussex Senoir Cup and winning the Pontins Holiday Combination Southern League by finishing just one point ahead of Southampton Reserves.
On 24 April Dean Wilkins signed a three year contract extension.[6]
The 2007-08 season, was a considerably better season for the first team, who finished seventh in League One, finishing 7 points off the play-offs and the club retained the Sussex Senior Cup beating Crawley Town, 1-0, in the final.[7]
[edit] Adams Returns (2008 onwards)
After what many fans and pundits deemed a very good 2007-08 season for Brighton and Dean Wilkins, it was announced on the 8th May 2008 that Wilkins had been sacked from his position of manager and offered the role of first-team coach at the club. It was then revealed that Micky Adams would be returning to the club to take over the duties of being manager [8] and that reserve team coach Ian Chapman had left the club. [9]
[edit] Managers
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See Soccerbase for full managerial history
[edit] Players
[edit] Notable players
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[edit] Current squad
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- *: Players marked with an asterisk are to be released from the club at the end of their current contracts on 30th June 2008
[edit] Notable 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), a top 20 hit single to raise awareness of the Falmer Stadium project.
- 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.
- Michael Fish, former weather broadcaster born and raised in Eastbourne famously said there would not be a storm in 1987 the night before the Great Storm.
- Tony Hawks, a British comedian.
[edit] Honours
[edit] League
- Football League Championship/(Old) Second Division[2] titles: 0
- 1978/79 Runners Up
- Football League One/(Old) Third Division[3] titles: 2
- 1964/65 Champions
- 2001/02 Champions
- 2003/04 Position 4th (1-0 vs. Bristol City, Play-off final)
- Football League Two/(Old) Fourth Division[4] titles: 2
- 1957/58 Champions (Division 3 South)(after which Div 3 North & South split in Div 3 & Div 4)
- 2000/01 Champions
- Southern Football League Division One
- 1909/10 Champions
[edit] Cup
- FA Cup
- 1982/83 Runners Up
- Charity Shield
- 1910 Winners
[edit] Women's football
Brighton & Hove Albion also have a female team, Brighton & Hove Albion Women, affiliated since 1991. They currently are in the Women's Second Division.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] Official
[edit] Independent sites
- North Stand Chat
- Live Chat hosted on North Stand Chat
- Beak Speak!- Unofficial Forum
- BrightonFans: Unofficial messageboard
- Seagulls Fans: Unofficial Fans Website
- BHAFC.net: Unofficial messageboard
- The Seagulls Mailing List
- Brighton Ultras - A selection of Brighton fans who try and improve the atmosphere at games.
- Albion Archives
- BHA Links
- Open View From The Net
- Flying High
- This Is The Albion
- Albion Album
- All Things Brighton Beautiful
- Site started by Brighton Fans with info on "Clubs in Crisis"
- Unofficial fans group MySpace page
[edit] References
- ^ The Squad. Brighton & Hove Albion FC. Retrieved on 2007-04-30.
- ^ The Second Division became the First Division upon the formation of the Premier League, and is now known as the Football League Championship.
- ^ The Third Division became the Second Division upon the formation of the Premier League, and is now known as Football League One.
- ^ The Fourth Division became the Third Division upon the formation of the Premier League, and is now known as Football League Two.
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