Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. - History

History

Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. 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.

Mike Bamber was the Chairman of Brighton from October 1972 until 1983. He famously brought Brian Clough to the club later that year and then appointed Alan Mullery, who led the football club to the First Division in the 1978/79 season. Brighton's life as a Football League club brought little in the way of success and headlines until 1979, when under the management of former England player Alan Mullery they were promoted to the First Division as Second Division runners-up. The 1982/83 season saw a wildly inconsistent start for the club, with victories over Arsenal and Manchester United mixed in with heavy defeats. Manager Mike Bailey eventually lost his job at the start of December 1982. Jimmy Melia took over as manager, but was unable to turn the situation around and Brighton ended up being relegated finishing in bottom place.

Despite their relegation, 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 of 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.

In 1996, 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. Manager 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. A lifelong fan named Dick Knight took control of the club in 1997 having led the fan pressure to oust the previous board following their sale of the club's Goldstone Ground to property developers.

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 scored 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. Micky Adams was appointed Brighton's manager in 1999. 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. 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.

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 Premier League.

During May 2009, Knight was replaced as chairman at Brighton by Tony Bloom, who had successfully secured £93 million funding for the new Falmer Stadium and secured 75% shareholding at the club.