A History of Brighton and Hove Football Club

Brighton and Hove Albion, or as they are more popularly known ’The Seagulls’, first came into being in 1901. It has had a topsy turvy history which includes being managed by the great Brian Clough and has been associated with some great names in the game including Peter Ward, Dave Sexton, Alan Mullery, Mark Lawrenson and even Frankie Howard. No, not the comedian, but the club’s famous blonde winger and long serving groundsman.

Originally the Albion was two clubs - Hove FC and Brighton Albion. The first games were played at the Goldstone ground; a piece of land attached to an estate, which was previously used for grazing cattle. The two clubs agreed to share for financial reasons and up until then Brighton had actually played some of its games at the County Cricket ground.

Improvements were made to the Goldstone with increased seating and new stands. Crucially the club signed a 99-year lease with the Stanford estate with an option to purchase the freehold outright during the next eight years, making the Goldstone the home of Brighton and Hove. In 1904 the club became a limited company and began using the now famous blue and white shirt.

During the Second World War the ground was struck by a German bomb, which damaged the North stand. Despite this the club continued to grow and had its biggest ever gate when a record breaking 36747 attended a winning match against Fulham. With increasing crowds came increased building and there looked to be no stopping Albion on its way the top.

At this point the club were in the second division and remained there for four seasons before going into the third and then the fourth in 1963. But even then the crowds continued to flock with average gates of around 18000. With the arrival of Mike Bamber, Albion secured the talents of Brian Clough, Peter Taylor then Alan Mullery whose side clinched promotion in 1977. They went close again the following season just missing out to Spurs in a challenge for the first division.

They achieved that goal in 1979 and the ’Seagulls’ remained there for four years. Despite suffering relegation in 1983 they reached the cup final only narrowly failing to beat Manchester Utd in the final. But after the 2-2 draw the replay was a one sided affair and the Albion lost 4-0.

Many more years of highs and lows followed before the club was relegated and began to struggle financially. Crowds were not a patch on days gone by and the Albion began to head towards crisis. What followed was perhaps the most notorious period in the clubs history. The board sold the Goldstone ground without securing a new one after some 95 years of history. It is a decision which has left the club struggling ever since. Rumours abound about the exact nature of that sale and just why the board did it.  The fans were outraged and have never forgiven the directors. A trading estate lies on the site of the old Goldstone now.

Battling for their survival and without a home, Albion entered a period of ground sharing with Gillingham incurring a 140 mile round trip for fans. Thankfully the Withdean sports track was secured and Albion had a temporary home in 1999. It has remained there ever since despite searching for suitable grounds. It has been held back by a lack of planning permission and legal wrangling. Currently despite winning approval for a ground at nearby Falmer, they face further legal objections and are still awaiting the outcome.

It certainly seems that with the rise of Brighton’s popularity and its elevation to city status financial backing for the Albion shouldn’t be a problem. With a lack of large clubs in the area the ’Seagulls’ should be one of the South’s biggest. However relegation never seems too far away particularly with the limited seating. A bigger ground is needed to accommodate visiting fans and will be necessary should the Seagulls get back into the top flight. The fan base is strong though and growing, at some point the seagulls will be back.