Brighton & Hove Albion

Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (the Seagulls) is an English professional football club located in Brighton and Hove City, England. The club was formed in 1901 and joined the Football League in 1920 when they were elected to the new Third Division. They currently compete in the English Premier League, the top tier of English football, since earning promotion in the 2017/18 season. The club also has a youth academy that is made up of under-23 players, who play in the Premier League 2 Division 1, and a women’s team, Brighton & Hove Albion Women FC, that currently plays in the Women’s Super League, the top tier in the English women’s football.

Ownership

Brighton & Hove Albion is owned by an English entrepreneur Anthony Grant Bloom popularly known as Tony Bloom. Bloom took over the ownership of Brighton in 2009, succeeding Dick Knight after purchasing 75% of the shares. He is the current chairman of the club’s board and has overseen significant growth; that’s why he is popular amongst Brighton’s fans.

Stadium

The current home for Brighton & Hove Albion is the Falmer Stadium, located in Falmer north, east of Brighton & Hove city. The stadium is also referred to as the American Express Community Stadium or the Amex for sponsorship purposes. The club initially played their home matches at Goldstone Ground and Withdean Stadium.

Colors, badge and kit sponsorship

Historical home colors for Brighton have been white and blue, usually striped, with different combinations of white and blue shorts and socks. However, the club briefly used all white in the 1970s and plain blue in the 1980s. The club badge is designed with two circles, with the inner circle being blue with a white seagull bird at the centre, extending the wings to the outer ring, which is also white and has the club’s name written in blue. Brighton & Hove Albion’s kits have been manufactured by Nike since 2014, after taking over from Errea, and are sponsored by American Express, which took over from BrightonandHoveJobs.com in 2013. Other previous manufacturers include Butka, Admiral, Umbro, Adidas, Spall, Sports Express, Ribero and Superleague. And previous sponsors include British Caledonian Airways, Phonix Brewery, NOBO, TSB Bank, Sandtex, Donatello, Skint Records and IT First.

Fans and rivalries

Brighton enjoys the support of the local people of Brighton and Hove city, and since there are isolated from most teams, the Seagulls don’t have an established local derby. However, the club enjoys rivalry with Crystal Palace, who are considered their main rivals, although there is at least a 64 km distance between the two. Their feud is said to have begun in the 1970s due to hostility between managers Alan Mullery and Terry Venables, who both took charge of Brighton and Palace.

Honors

The club has claimed several honors over the years, including one FA Charity Shield title, and are one-time champions of Division Three of the Southern League. They are also past champions of League Divisions 2, 3 and 4 and have won League One title. Besides that, Brighton has also finished as runners-up in FA Cup, the Championship and League Division Two.