Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.

infobox football club
clubname = Brighton and Hove Albion F.C.


fullname = Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club
nickname = "The Seagulls
The Albion
founded = 1901
ground = Withdean Stadium
Brighton & Hove
capacity = 8,850
chairman = flagicon|England Dick Knight
manager = flagicon|England Micky Adams
league = League One
season = 2007-08
position = League One, 7th
shirtsupplier= Errea
shirtsponsors= IT First (front)
Donatello Restaurant (back)
pattern_la1=_blueshoulders|pattern_b1=_whitestripes|pattern_ra1=_blueshoulders
leftarm1=FFFFFF|body1=0000FF|rightarm1=FFFFFF|shorts1=FFFFFF|socks1=FFFFFF
pattern_la2=_navyshoulders|pattern_b2=_navystripes|pattern_ra2=_navyshoulders
leftarm2=000066|body2=FFFF00|rightarm2=000066|shorts2=000066|socks2=000066
pattern_la3=|pattern_b3=__bluestriped_sides|pattern_ra3=
leftarm3=00CCFF|body3=00CCFF|rightarm3=00CCFF|shorts3=00CCFF|socks3=00CCFF

Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club are 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 unfortunately 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 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 one season. Promotion was gained at the first attempt, but the Seagulls went down again two years later.

The fight for a stadium

For many years Brighton and Hove Albion were 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.

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 against 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 relegated to the Football Conference on goals scored.

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 at the beginning of the 2010-11 season.

Building of the stadium is due to start December 2008.

History

Managers

*flagicon|England John Jackson 1901-1905
*flagicon|England Frank Scott-Walford 1905-1908
*flagicon|England Jack Robson 1908-1914
*flagicon|Ireland Charles Webb 1919-1947
*flagicon|England Tommy Cook 1947
*flagicon|England Don Welsh 1947-1951
*flagicon|England Billy Lane 1951-1961
*flagicon|England George Curtis 1961-1963
*flagicon|Scotland Archie Macaulay 1963-1968
*flagicon|England Fred Goodwin 1968-1970
*flagicon|Ireland Pat Saward 1970-1973
*flagicon|England Brian Clough 1973-1974

*flagicon|England Peter Taylor 1974-1976
*flagicon|England Alan Mullery 1976-1981
*flagicon|England Mike Bailey 1981-1982
*flagicon|England Jimmy Melia 1982-1983
*flagicon|England Chris Cattlin 1983-1986
*flagicon|England Alan Mullery 1986-1987
*flagicon|England Barry Lloyd 1987-1993
*flagicon|Ireland Liam Brady 1993-1995
*flagicon|England Jimmy Case 1995-1996
*flagicon|England Steve Gritt 1996-1998
*flagicon|England Brian Horton 1998-1999
*flagicon|England Jeff Wood 1999

*flagicon|England Micky Adams 1999-2001
*flagicon|England Peter Taylor 2001-2002
*flagicon|England Martin Hinshelwood 2002
*flagicon|England Steve Coppell 2002-2003
*flagicon|Scotland Mark McGhee 2003-2006
*flagicon|England Dean Wilkins 2006-2008
*flagicon|England Micky Adams 2008-Present

See [http://www.soccerbase.com/manager_history.sd?teamid=381 Soccerbase] for full managerial history

Players

Notable players

;England
*flagicon|England Gareth Barry
*flagicon|England Jimmy Case
*flagicon|England Martin Chivers
*flagicon|England Alan Curbishley
*flagicon|England Steve Foster
*flagicon|England Leon Knight
*flagicon|England Charlie Oatway
*flagicon|England Michael Robinson
*flagicon|England Steve Sidwell
*flagicon|England Bobby Smith
*flagicon|England Gary Stevens
*flagicon|England Stuart Storer
*flagicon|England Clive Walker
*flagicon|England Peter Ward
*flagicon|England Bobby Zamora;Northern Ireland
*flagicon|Northern Ireland Gerry Armstrong
*flagicon|Northern Ireland Willie Irvine
*flagicon|Northern Ireland Steve Penney

;Republic of Ireland
*flagicon|Republic of Ireland Wayne Henderson
*flagicon|Republic of Ireland Mark Lawrenson
*flagicon|Republic of Ireland Gerry Ryan
*flagicon|Republic of Ireland Paul McShane;Scotland
*flagicon|Scotland Chris Iwelumo
*flagicon|Scotland Neil Martin
*flagicon|Scotland Gordon Smith
*flagicon|Scotland Adam Virgo;Turkey
*flagicon|Turkey Colin Kazim-Richards;United States of America
*flagicon|USA Tony Meola;Wales
*flagicon|Wales Peter O'Sullivan
*flagicon|Wales Dean Saunders
*flagicon|Wales Robbie Savage

Current squad

:"As of 27 September 2008."cite web
title = The Squad
url = http://www.seagulls.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Squad/Profiles/0,,10433,00.html?ptvParm=
publisher = Brighton & Hove Albion FC
accessdate = 2007-04-30]

Out on loan

Honours

League

*Football League Championship/(Old) Second Division [The Second Division became the First Division upon the formation of the Premier League, and is now known as the Football League Championship.] titles: 0
**1978/79 Runners Up
*Football League One/(Old) Third Division [The Third Division became the Second Division upon the formation of the Premier League, and is now known as Football League One.] 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 [The Fourth Division became the Third Division upon the formation of the Premier League, and is now known as Football League Two.] 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

Cup

*"'FA Cup
**1982/83 Runners Up
*"'Charity Shield
**1910 Winners

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.

ee also

*Falmer Stadium

External links

Official

* [http://www.seagulls.co.uk/ Official site]
* [http://www.seagullspics.co.uk/ Official picture site]

References