Vital Statistics
Founded: 1901
Chairman: Tony Bloom
Last Season: League One - Winners
Nickname: The Seagulls
Rivals: Crystal Palace
Major Honours
None
Scheduled Matches
Portsmouth vs Brighton: Saturday, August 13th (3pm)
Brighton vs Portsmouth: Saturday, March 10th (3pm)
Transfers In
Will Buckley (Watford - £1 million)
Roland Bergkamp (Excelsior - Undisclosed)
Craig Mackail-Smith (Peterborough - £2.5 million)
Kazenga LuaLua (Newcastle - Loan)
Will Hoskins (Bristol Rovers - Undisclosed)
Ben Sampayo (Chelsea - Free)
Anton Rodgers (Chelsea - Free)
Romain Vincelot (Dagenham & Redbridge - Undisclosed)
Daniel East (Wolves - Free)
Transfers Out
Elliott Bennett (Norwich - Undisclosed)
James Tunnicliffe (Wycombe - Free)
James McNulty (Barnsley - Undisclosed)
Francisco Sandaza (St. Johnstone - Free)
Glenn Murray (Crystal Palace - Free)
Probable Starting XI
GK: Casper ANKERGREN
RB: Inigo CALDERON
CB: Gordon GREER
CB: Lewis DUNK
LB: Marcos PAINTER
RM: Matt SPARROW
CM: Liam BRIDCUTT
CM: Gary DICKER
LM: Kazenga LUALUA
CF: Craig MACKAIL-SMITH
CF: Will BUCKLEY
The Manager: Gus Poyet
Poyet was well known in England as a Chelsea and Tottenham player but actually spent the majority of his career at Real Zaragoza before heading to the Premier League.
In 2006 the Uruguayan made the move to Swindon as player-coach but hung up his boots without making an appearance to focus on his coaching career alongside Dennis Wise. He and Wise soon moved to Leeds and then Poyet became assistant manager at Tottenham.
Following Juande Ramos' dimissal in 2009, Poyet was given his first job in management with Brighton and secured League One safety before winning the division last season. With significant backing, Poyet will be looking to push the seagulls even higher this campaign.
The Fans
Being "local" there is a slight rivalry between Brighton and Pompey fans during "south coast derby" games but it's generally good natured banter even if it focuses on the stereotypes of the two cities.
Being a popular rave venue, it's no surprise to see that Albion have many famous fans in the music business including Phats and Small, Jamie Theakston and superstar DJ Norman Cook (better known as Fatboy Slim).
Other well known supporters are TV presenter Des Lynam, weatherman Michael Fish and footie commentator Peter Brackley.
Brighton fan Tom Bravo on the upcoming season:
Well, we're about to enter arguably the most exciting era in the club's history. Having overseen a positively destructive League One title campaign last season, ambitious chairman, and life-long Brighton fan Tony Bloom has dug deep into his pockets and provided Gus Poyet with the funds to smash the club's transfer record not once, but twice.
So, the on-pitch progress is all well and good, but finally, and far more importantly, this summer sees the end to our long and gruelling wait for a new stadium. It provides the platform from which Bloom can take the club to the next level and fulfil the potential that has, until now, remained untapped. Thus, despite the 14-year wait - it really could not have been timed any better.
This a very competitive looking division, with plenty of historically large clubs paying players who would probably look more at home in the Premier League. Taking nothing for granted, most realise there are no easy games - and this was confirmed when the rather daunting fixture list was released. We are though, for the first time in my lifetime on an equal footing with most clubs in this league, thanks to the increase in revenue brought about by the new stadium. Additionally, there is now a stability at Brighton that simply wasn't there when we last locked horns with those in the Championship.
Taking everything into account, I and I'd guess most Albion fans would be content with survival and a continuation of the patient passing football we were treated to last season. Still think we have the potential to surprise a few.
The Ground: The Amex Stadium (Capacity: 22,500)
Brighton's new £93 million home is an impressive stadium. The oval exterior gives it a look like other "new" grounds but the inside is completely different.
In the concourse, there is a projector which displays images of the opposition Brighton are playing. The slideshow on my visit was mainly stock images of Pompey players but there were one or two of the fans at Wembley.
There is also a nice touch with a local "guest" ale being served at the canteen. In Pompey's case it was Ringwood Bitter.
The stadium itself is smaller than what you might think. The West Stand is the biggest - a three-tiered stand that is much like those in newer stadia.
This is the North Stand, complete with sloping roof, which is a small single stand that can hold around 2,500 fans. The big screen had a supportive message for Portsmouth, wishing the club luck through tough times. A nice touch indeed.
For the record, the South Stand is exactly the same as the North, including the padded seats.
The East Stand looks unfinished but there is planning permission to extend the capacity by building another two tiers to it, making it look exactly like the West Stand.
This is the East Stand when it is full from the view from my seat. The acoustics in the stadium are excellent but the home fans were surprisingly quiet for a "local" game.
Overall, the Amex Stadium is a welcoming ground that is light years away from the horrid Withdean Stadium. If only we could get a stadium like that of our own...
If you're interested, here is an overview of Brighton's old home, the Withdean Stadium, one of the worst experiences in football you will ever have had should you have had the displeasure of visiting.
After getting off the train at Preston Park and spending what seems like forever trudging through a back alley desperately trying to avoid potholes, you can see the stadium in the distance and a certain feeling of doom hits you.
This is one of the entrances...
This is the other one in true athletics stadium fashion.
The South Stand, the biggest stand in the ground although it is very difficult to hear anything that the Brighton fans sing.
This is the West Stand, situated even further away from the pitch than the others. This was usually the designated stand for the visiting fans but due to the ticket demand for the cup game the Pompey fans were given the South and South East stands.
This is the North Stand, the only covered end in the whole ground. The rest are open to the elements so I was happy that it didn't rain back in January, even if it was freezing cold!
This is one of the East Stands, which is exactly the same as the other one (i.e: not very good) - it was difficult to get any atmosphere going with the fans split.
Here is a photo of the teams coming out of their "dressing rooms" - this picture was taken with my camera zoomed all the way in and the players still looked miles away!
This is a view of the pitch without the zoom. The Withdean was a "unique" ground that won't be missed by me and probably won't be missed by Brighton fans either!
