Brighton and Hove Albion F.C.

Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. The club's home ground is the 31,800-capacity Falmer Stadium, situated in Falmer to the north east of the city.

Founded in 1901, and nicknamed the "Seagulls" or " Albion", Brighton played their early professional football in the Southern League, before being elected to the Football League in 1920. Prior to the current, continuing stint in the Premier League, the club enjoyed greatest prominence 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. They were relegated from the First Division in the same season.

By the late 1990s, Brighton were in the fourth tier of English football and were having financial difficulties. After narrowly avoiding relegation from the Football League to the Conference in 1997, a boardroom takeover saved the club from liquidation. Successive promotions in 2001 and 2002 brought Brighton back to the second tier, and in 2011, the club moved into the Falmer Stadium after 14 years without a permanent home ground. In the 2016–17 season, Brighton finished second in the EFL Championship and were thus promoted to the Premier League, ending a 34-year absence from the top flight.

History

Formation and early years (1901–1972)

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, which at that time was contested by the champions of the Southern League, and the Football League, by defeating Football League Champions Aston Villa in 1910. Following their switch to the regionalised division three south in 1921, they remained in this division until the 1957–1958 season, when they won the title and secured promotion to the Second Division at the same time as the regionalised north and south divisions de-regionalised into a third and fourth division for the 1958–1959 season. Albion retained their second tier status until relegation in 1962, suffering a successive relegation in 1963 and slipping into the fourth division for the first time. They won the fourth division title in 1964-1965 and remained in the third division until 1972 when as runners up they secured promotion back to the second division.

Mike Bamber years (1972–1987)

Mike Bamber was the chairman of Brighton from October 1972 until 1983. He famously brought Brian Clough to the club in 1973 and later appointed former England player Alan Mullery as manager. Brighton's life as a Football League club had brought little in the way of success and headlines until 1979, when, under Mullery's management, 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, after four seasons in the top flight, were relegated in 1983, finishing in last place.

Despite their relegation, that season 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. The final featured an infamous "miss" by Gordon Smith with virtually the last kick of the game in extra time, prompting the BBC
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