Johnny Phillips: The long road back to the top for Brighton

For Brighton and Huddersfield it has been a long wait.

The Terriers’ glory days of Herbert Chapman’s three-in-a-row league titles in the 1920s will never be repeated. Brighton haven’t reached such heights but they did contest the FA Cup final back in 1983 and would have lifted the trophy were it not for a last minute save from Manchester United’s Gary Bailey that denied striker Gordon Smith a virtual tap-in with the game tied 2-2. United won the replay 4-0.

So, here they are in the Premier League and both can be hugely proud of what has been achieved. If Huddersfield’s promotion was the more surprising of the two, Brighton’s story is perhaps the more romantic. It is 20 years since the club was left homeless and penniless. There has been plenty of heartache and pain over these last two decades but The Seagulls have achieved so much to get this far.

When the club’s former owner Bill Archer sold the Goldstone Ground to a property developer with no new venue to move in to, fans were rightly angered and upset.

On April 26, 1997 the Goldstone Ground closed its doors for the final time. Soon after, an ugly retail park went up where once stood a proud football ground.

A ground share with Gillingham was agreed and supporters spent two seasons making a 140-mile round trip to see their team play ‘home’ matches. It was deeply unsatisfactory but at least the club was in good hands now. Dick Knight and his consortium came to the rescue and brought Brighton back to the city.

The Withdean Stadium is an athletics venue but between 1999 and 2011 it played host to Brighton’s home games. In fact they rarely played their first game of a season at home because the temporary seating was never installed in time, having always been used at golf’s Open Championship a couple of weeks’ before each season kicked off.

Martin Perry, Brighton’s executive director and part of the Knight consortium, remembers how they had to make do and mend down the years.

“When we left the Goldstone Ground we literally had nothing, we didn’t even know then where we were going to play the next August. After Gillingham we came back to Brighton and I remember having to bring the printer in on a match day to Withdean and we used to print the tickets. But the printing machine was really temperamental so we had to use a hairdryer to try to warm it up.”

Now Perry can look out across the magnificent Amex Stadium at the foot of the South Downs and enjoy the club’s opening fixture this evening at home to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

It is six years since the Amex opened but it is this day that everyone at the club has been waiting for. Entrepreneur Tony Bloom, a lifelong Brighton fan, took over from Knight and provided the necessary funding for the build, but the list of people who put the work in down the years is endless. Brighton’s football club is at the heart of the city too. Albion In The Community, the club’s charitable foundation, reaches far and wide and has become a valuable institution.

The club has a great relationship with a progressive city council too. The Premier League’s visiting supporters are being encouraged to spend the weekend there. And if you think it’s a bit of a trek for fans of Newcastle, Liverpool and their ilk, then remember just how far the Brighton fans have travelled over those homeless years.

Councillor Alan Robins speaks about the welcome visiting fans can expect when they arrive on the Sussex coast, not just at the ground but in the city too.

“Brighton has always had a feeling of liberalism, that sense of tolerance. For some people who come here it is refreshing and enjoyable. There’s something for everyone here. For example, if you go into the North Laines there’s even a vegetarian shoe shop! Shoes that have been made without any animal fibres. That is the vibe you get in Brighton, but I wouldn’t want anyone to think it’s pious or pompous, it isn’t that. It’s for everybody.”

A Brighton away-day is a must for any supporter but Seagulls fans will be hoping visitors are from the Premier League only in the coming years. The future could be bright if they get this season right.

Whereas Huddersfield sits between the two great metropolises of Manchester and Leeds and lies on the M62 rugby league corridor, there are no such competing factors for Brighton to worry about. The catchment area is vast and their local rivals, Crystal Palace, play a distant 45 miles away. The club has everything in its favour to grow further if it can build on what has already been achieved.

Brighton’s transfer record was broken earlier this week with the capture of box-to-box midfielder Davy Propper from PSV Eindhoven. With more money available, manager Chris Hughton will have the tools at his disposal to give it a real go this season.

There can be no harder test than an opening fixture against Guardiola’s expensively-assembled side, but it is one that has been eagerly anticipated by the locals.

Brighton’s revival story isn’t finished yet.