- Brighton v Arsenal, saturday at 3pm (what an odd time to play!)
- Premier League club finances – it really can’t go on like this
By Tony Attwood
These clubs have played each other 22 times, with Arsenal winning 11 to Brighton’s six which leaves five draws. The goals are 34 to Arsenal and 25 for Brighton and Hove. Although it does also appear that Brighton haven’;#t won any of the last six, which seems a bit careless of them. But long may that continue..
But I must be fair. Brighton have been an extraordinary success story and since I studied for three years at Brighton after completing my school days I did go to see them a few times then, and still have more of an interest in what they get up to than I do in most clubs.
But I am not taking your back to ancient days – for it is this century in which Brighton and Hove has transformed itself.
At the start of the era the club was in Division 3 aind in 1999/2000 came 11th in that league going out of the cups in the first two rounds.
But then came two extraordinary years – in 2001 the won Division 3, largely due (I think) to Bobby Zamora getting 31 goals, and then in 2000/01 then won division 2 with Zamora going one better with 32.
Division 1 however proved a tougher nut to crack and in their first season the club went back down a league, with Zamora managing a mere 14. Then there was some fair old jiggling about between the leagues before a five year run in League One (as it was called by then) which finally resulted in a promotion in 2011. This time they decided to stay in order to get themselves adjusted to the approach and tempo, re-entering the Premier League in 2017. And indeed they have been there ever since.
Their highest league position was sixth in 2023, while for the last two seasons they have finished eighth. Danny Welbeck was top scorer with 14 last season, as I believe I have already noted, while he was joint top scorer with 11 the season before.
The club has reached the cup final once (but lost to Manchester United) but all things considered the current time is their most successful era – and quite an extraordinary leap given that in my first year as a student, they came 19th in the third division.
This season they started out by qualifying for the Uea Conference League by beating Troso over two legs and amazed everyone (well they amazed me) by beating Villa in their first league game of the season 4-0. Their most recent result was a 3-2 way win over Manchester United in the League Cup.
This is their tenth consecutive season in the Premier League and across the nine years they have come 6th, 8th (twice) 9th, 11th, 15th (twice), 16th, 17th, although not in that order. The last two seasons they have finished 8th.
Their stadium holds 32,176 fans, When I was watching them they played at the Goldstone Ground which they then left in 1997 before moving to the Withdean Stadium and then finally getting to the Falmer Stadium in 2011. Certainly when I was a student there, Falmer had a railway station – I imagine it still does which must make travel to the ground much easier than might otherwise be the case.
What we can also do is compare Arsenal away from home last season with Brighton at home last season – and this is a comparison table which, although not published in other places as far as I know, does strike me as particularly interesting.
| Club | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
| Brighton home | 19 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 30 | 20 | 33 |
| Arsenal away | 19 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 30 | 16 | 38 |
The difference between the two teams when comparing Brighton at home and Arsenal away is not that great – but nonetheless it is there. It is true that in the last campaign Arsenal and Brighton & Hove did indeed score the same number of goals when comparing Brighton at home and Arsenal away, but Arsenal had the edge on goals against which throughout the whole campaign allowed the Gunners to secure two more wins than Brighton in this regard, at the expense of one defeat and one draw.
True, the number of goals scored was 30 by each club in this analysis of Brighton at home against Arsenal away, but Arsenal had the slightly tighter defence.
This season however taking into account both home and away games Brighton have outshone everyone with 13 goals to Arsenal’s eight, but when it comes down to the goal difference total, the two clubs are only one goal apart.
