Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.

Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, known simply as Brighton, is a professional football club from East Sussex, England, competing in the Premier League. Their home stadium is Falmer Stadium, which they moved into in 2011 after a long period without a permanent ground. Founded in 1901, Brighton initially played in the Southern League before joining the Football League in 1920. The club's golden era came between 1979 and 1983, when they played in the First Division and reached the 1983 FA Cup final, losing to Manchester United after a replay. That same season, they were relegated. The club faced financial turmoil in the late 1990s, dropping to the fourth tier and nearly going out of business, but a boardroom takeover in 1997 saved them. Consecutive promotions in 2001 and 2002 brought them back to the second tier. In the 2016-17 season, Brighton finished second in the Championship, earning promotion to the Premier League after a 34-year absence. The 2022-23 season saw them finish sixth, their highest top-flight finish, qualifying for the UEFA Europa League for the first time. Brighton's nickname is the Seagulls, their kit features blue-and-white stripes, and their fiercest rivalry is with Crystal Palace, a feud that intensified in the 1970s.[edit]

Brighton & Hove Albion was founded on June 24, 1901, at the Seven Stars pub in Brighton. The club joined the Southern League and won its first major trophy, the Southern League championship, in 1910. After World War I, they entered the Football League in 1920, playing in the Third Division South. The 1950s brought their first league title: the Third Division South crown in 1957-58 under manager Billy Lane. That promotion took them to the Second Division, where they stayed for most of the next two decades.

The club's most famous period started in the late 1970s under manager Alan Mullery. Brighton reached the First Division for the first time in 1979 and stayed up for four seasons. The 1982-83 campaign was a rollercoaster: they reached the FA Cup final, famously drawing 2-2 with Manchester United in the first match before losing 4-0 in the replay, but were relegated from the top flight on the same day they played the initial final. Financial troubles followed, and by 1997 the club was in the fourth tier, playing at a temporary athletics stadium in Gillingham, 70 miles away. A fan-led takeover by Tony Bloom and others saved the club from liquidation.

Brighton returned to their home city in 1999, sharing the Withdean Stadium, an athletics track. Consecutive promotions in 2000-01 and 2001-02, managed by Micky Adams and then Peter Taylor, lifted them to the second tier. The long-awaited Falmer Stadium opened in August 2011, and the club won the League One title that same season. Under Chris Hughton, they finished second in the Championship in 2016-17, securing Premier League football for the first time since 1983. Graham Potter took over in 2019 and established a possession-based style, finishing ninth in 2021-22. Roberto De Zerbi then led them to sixth place in 2022-23, securing Europa League qualification, and a run to the FA Cup semi-finals in 2023.[edit]