Brighton manager Roberto de Zerbi is addressing his players in the Amsterdam Arena before their Europa League tie with Ajax. "There's 3,000 Brighton fans in this stadium tonight," said the Italian. "But there's more than twice that number in the city who have travelled over.
Remember that when you go on to that pitch." A long-standing senior Brighton official was in the dressing room that day. A fan first and foremost, but someone who has spent almost three decades working for the club. "It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up," he said.
For some clubs, an encounter with Ajax is commonplace. "The royalty of European football," says the official. "From where we've come from, to be in that environment.
It was a pinch-me moment." Brighton won 2-0. It was the high point of the first European campaign in the club's history. Ask Paul Samrah for his single most memorable moment as a Brighton fan and a very different answer comes back, which goes to the heart of why, as they celebrate their 125th birthday around the visit of Arsenal, the Seagulls are almost unique among English clubs.
"After the years of campaigning, the days and nights I spent fighting for regime change and then for the stadium, the moment I heard we'd actually got planning permission, that our objectors had decided not to continue their fruitless efforts to stop the stadium," he explained. The two stories highlight the before and after reality of Brighton & Hove Albion. Formed in 1901, Brighton were a Southern League club for almost two decades before they were voted into the Football League.
They had experienced only seven seasons in Division Two when they were promoted to the top flight for the first time in 1979. For years, they were known outside Sussex chiefly for "And Smith must score..." - the BBC radio commentary, delivered by the late Peter Jones, at a critical point during the 1983 FA Cup final, late in extra time. It was the moment when Gordon Smith, clear on goal with a chance to earn Brighton their first major trophy, saw his shot saved by Manchester United goalkeeper Gary Bailey.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
