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Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. are an English football team based in Brighton. They are currently playing in the Football League Championship. The team are also known as 'the Seagulls' as a result of their seaside location. The team play in blue and white stripes.
Founded in 1900, Brighton were a founder member of the Southern League. They were elected to the Football League in 1920. Between 1979 and 1983 they were in the old First Division. In 1983 they reached the final of the FA Cup, which they lost 4-0 to Manchester United after replay. They were relegated from the First Division in the same season.
For many years they were based at the Goldstone Ground in Hove, until financial concerns drove them to sell their ground. For two years from 1997-99 they shared grounds with Gillingham, but have since returned to Brighton, where they now play at the Withdean Stadium. This is not predominantly a football ground, having been used for athletics throughout most of its history, and the club is trying to win planning permission for a new stadium outside Brighton. They recently received partial approval for their plans to build their stadium at Falmer but have to prove the absence of any alternative suitable location before the final go-ahead is given by central government.
The sale of Goldstone, implemented by majority shareholder Bill Archer and his chief executive David Bellotti, proved controversial, and the move provoked widespread protests against the board.
In their last season at Goldstone, 1996-97, the Seagulls were in danger of relegation from the Football League. They won their final game at Goldstone over Doncaster Rovers, setting up a winner_take_all relegation game at Hereford United, who were level on points with the Seagulls. The Seagulls drew 1-1, and Hereford was consigned to the Football Conference on goals scored.
The Seagulls stayed in the Third Division until winning the division in 2001. The following season, they won the Second Division, becoming only the seventh club in the history of the Football League to win successive championships in different divisions. The Seagulls, however, could not repeat their success in the First Division, and were relegated at the end of the 2003 season. They won promotion to the League Championship as the 2004 Second Division playoff winners.
Famous Supporters include: Fatboy Slim, who owns a minority stake in the club, and whose record label Skint Records sponsors the club; comedian Norman Wisdom who was once a director of the club and wrote new words for the club's song "Sussex by the Sea" (which was composed by William Ward-Higgs in 1907); Jon Snow, Channel 4 news anchor, and Desmond Lynam, a leading British television sports presenter.
Due to the cost of the public enquiry, rent on the Withdean Stadium, fees paid to use Gillingham's Priestfield Stadium, and a general running deficit due to the low ticket sales inherent with a small ground, the club had an accumulated deficit of £9.5 Million as of 2004. The Board of Directors are picking up £7 Million of this, and the other £2.5 Million must be raised from the operations of the club. In an effort to achieve this, a fundraising appeal known as the Alive and Kicking Fund has been started, with everything from nude Christmas Cards featuring the players to a CD single being released to raise cash. On 9th January this fundraising single 'Tom Hark (We Want Falmer)' went straight in at number 17 in the UK chart, gaining it national airplay on BBC Radio 1.
Unlike most clubs carrying a large debt, the club has never considered entering administration, as it was a previous period of administration that led to Archer gaining control of the club.
Current first team squad
As of Nov. 12, 2004 - Michel Kuipers
- Paul Watson
- Kerry Mayo
- Dean Blackwell
- (Since retired through injury)
- Alexis Nicolas
- Leon Knight
- Gary Hart
- Charlie Oatway
- Richard Carpenter
- Guy Butters
- Nathan Jones
- Paul Reid
- Maheta Molango
- Albert Jarrett
- Adam Virgo
- Chris McPhee
- Dean Hammond
- Adam Hinshelwood
- Mark McCammon (on loan from Millwall F.C.)
- Daniel Harding
- Dan Beck
- Adam El-Abd
- Ben Roberts
- Jake Robinson
- Chris May
- Joel Lynch
External link - Official club website (http://www.seagulls.co.uk/)
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