4 October 2024
Gulls Thriving on South Coast
It has been a rollercoaster of a last twelve months for Brighton fans. It all started off like a dream for their fanbase as the club qualified for Europe for the first time in their 122-year history. Then, after the draw was made, they discovered their fate. They would be facing AEK Athens, Marseille and Ajax in their Europa League group.
All of this was happening only 26 years after the club almost went out of existence. Rooted to the bottom of Division Three for most of that season, without a home ground, relegation would have meant the end of the football club. They knew they would not be accepted into the Conference without a ground to call their own.
They went into the final game of that season knowing they needed at least a draw to avoid relegation. Falling behind to an early goal from Hereford, The Seagulls staged a comeback and managed to secure a 1-1 draw. It sparked wild celebrations as Brighton secured their place in the football league, something which seemed unlikely when they were 11 points adrift at the bottom.
All of that seems a million miles away from where they found themselves at the start of last season, looking forward to going up against some of Europe’s elite. However, juggling both European and domestic commitments pushed the squad to its limits. Despite this, some superb victories over Ajax and Marseille saw them top their group before bowing out to defeat against Roma in the ‘round of 16’.
Roberto De Zerbi’s side ended up finishing 11th in the table but had a European adventure to remember. The manager then dropped the bombshell that he had decided to leave the club at the end of the season. It left the fans in limbo, wondering where the club would go from this point. The pressure was on the owner to bring back some positivity to the Amex Stadium.
Brighton appointed Fabian Hurzeler as their new man. The inexperienced young manager had guided St Pauli to the Bundesliga the season before and relished the opportunity of tackling the demands of the Premier League. At his first interview as Seagulls’ manager, he announced himself as ‘the grounded one’. Many wondered how he would perform in his new role.
With impressive victories over Everton and Man Utd in their opening games, Hurzeler then took his side to The Emirates to face Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal. The Seagulls came away with an impressive draw to maintain their unbeaten start to the season. Heading into the international break, they sat third in the Premier League table and the future looked bright once again.
A frustrating draw at home with Ipswich Town showed there are no easy games in this league. Such was their dominance, it seemed fitting that the Tractor Boys’ keeper was awarded the man of the match award. The positive was that it meant Hurzeler’s side remained unbeaten this season in the Premier League, which is no easy feat, only five sides could boast that stat at the time.
A tough draw at home against Nottingham Forest was followed by defeat to Chelsea in the capital. They struggled to deal with Cole Palmer, not the first side to do so, but their defending was nearly as madcap as the hosts. As a result, they have now dropped to ninth in the table but there is still a long way to go in this campaign.
Over the past few seasons the club has been very active in the transfer windows. There is no doubting that Tony Bloom backs his managers. That said, their business model seems to be to find talent and develop them into much more. When large bids come in for their players, they stick to their valuations and will only part with them if the price is right.
At this point a special shoutout needs to go to Chelsea. In the space of one year, Brighton received £225m from the West London outfit for a number of deals. None of whom have managed to reproduce the form that tempted The Blues into shelling out these funds. The Seagulls have certainly cashed in their chips with Todd Boehly’s side to good effect.
To underpin their start to the season, their young German manager was awarded the ‘manager of the month’ award for August. The most difficult thing for The Seagulls now is keeping this momentum going, it is a long gruelling season in the top-flight. Getting the club back into Europe would be some achievement for his first season at the Amex Stadium.
The club has a wealth of young talent and the academy seems to keep producing starlets. For any side looking to become a Premier League mainstay, they could not go far wrong trying to mimic the model of Brighton. They rarely flirt with the bottom three and are capable of beating the big boys as they showed with a deserved victory against Man Utd.
Many sides are envious of what is going on at the Amex Stadium. It has seen bigger clubs look to poach managers, coaches and sporting directors. Seagulls’ fans need not worry, the club seems to appoint the right person to replace departures. This is one business model that works well, the personnel just need to buy into it, something which everyone seems to do at Brighton.
Victory in EFL Cup means they are still battling on all fronts this season. Winning some domestic silverware would truly be the icing on the cake for Tony Bloom’s outfit. When it comes to a trophy like the league cup, too many Premier League sides do not take it seriously until the latter stages. Nobody would begrudge seeing a side like Brighton make an appearance at Wembley. They will need to do it the hard way with Liverpool the visitors in the next round.
What the season holds for The Seagulls, only time will tell. Fans can rest assured that securing their Premier League status is almost a given. Their bar is set far higher than that nowadays. The focus will be on European qualification and seeing if they can bring some silverware to the south coast. In Tony Bloom they trust, the Fabian Hurzeler era has started well and the future looks bright once again.
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