Seagulls Over Burwash Article – January 2025
Confidence and Anxiety, FA Cup and an Albion Superhero
Over the years of travelling by coach with Seagulls Over Burwash to the Brighton and Hove Albion matches, there have been noticeable changes in the hope and expectation of the supporters. Given that the football club has spent the majority of its 124 year history rattling around in the lower echelons of the football league, the Albion supporters have, for generations, become accustomed to being perennial underdogs. There has been an acceptance the ‘clubs like Brighton’ won’t be able to compete with the big clubs, such as Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur. However, since the club established itself in the Premier League under the pragmatic guidance of Chris Hughton and, subsequently, instilled a philosophy of playing attacking, passing football during the tenures of Graham Potter, Roberto De Zerbi and, currently, Fabian Hurzeler, the confidence of the coach passengers prior to matches against ‘the big six’ has increased dramatically. Rather than writing the games against the giants of English football off before a ball has been kicked or considering such games as ‘free hits’, there is a growing expectation that Brighton and Hove Albion will not only provide a stern test for their more illustrious opposition but will have a realistic opportunity to take all three points. Over the last couple of seasons, the Seagulls have beaten all of the top sides in the Premier League and, this season, have recorded wins over both Manchester sides, Spurs and Newcastle and have taken a deserved point back to Brighton from Arsenal. The only league losses against the supposed title chasing teams came away at Liverpool, a closely fought 2-1 defeat, and a chaotic 4-2 reverse at Chelsea. Surely, given the Albion’s performances against these top teams, Brighton have a realistic chance of challenging for the Premier League title themselves, don’t they?
Unfortunately, as all long time supporters will testify, things are never so straightforward as that. Whilst the Albion’s record against the top teams is very good, they always seem to struggle against clubs at the bottom of the table. So far, they have played Ipswich, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Southampton at home and Leicester City away, all of whom were in the relegation zone at the time of the games. Brighton won none! Of biggest concern was the game against Wolves. With Brighton cruising to a comfortable 2-0 victory with 5 minutes to go, they somehow contrived, through sloppy defending and naive game management, to draw 2-2. Players and management alike stated that lessons will be learnt and that would not happen again. Fast forward a month and Brighton were 2-0 up at Fulham with 5 minutes to go………… yes, you know the rest…… another 2-2 draw. So, why does a team that performs so well against great opposition struggle against the lesser teams? Well, if I knew that, I would be an extremely well paid Premier League manager rather than a jobbing ecologist! Maybe it is a coaching issue? Maybe it reflects psychological frailties associated with playing clubs that the team are expected to beat. Or maybe we should just give credit to the opposition who never gave up, dug in and made themselves difficult to beat. Whatever the cause, if Brighton and Hove Albion do not improve their performances and results against the teams below them in the league table, they will not be challenging for the top six positions and European qualification come next May. So, back on the Seagulls Over Burwash coaches, I expect there to be a quiet confidence on the way to the Arsenal and Manchester United games on 4th and 19th January with the nervous anxiety among the passengers reserved for the ‘easy’ games against the likes of Everton and Leicester later in the season. As Jimmy Greaves famously said, “it’s a funny old game”.
One of the sporting highlights of the New Year is the third round of the FA Cup. The FA Cup is the oldest national cup competition in the world and has run, annually, since 1871, pausing only for the duration of the two world wars. The competition commences in August with the first of the ‘extra preliminary qualifying rounds’ for clubs in the 9th tier of the football pyramid. There then follows eight more qualifying rounds until the ‘first round proper’ begins and the League 2 and League 3 clubs join in. Only in the third round ‘proper’ do the Championship and Premier League clubs get involved. Whilst the financial importance of the competition for the top clubs pales into insignificance compared to the Premier League or the Champions League, for the smaller clubs and supporters it is a hugely important competition. For the lower league and non-league clubs that progress through to the third round, there is an opportunity for a big pay-day. The income from a televised game against a top club is huge compared to the gate receipts that most of the lower leagues rely on to run their clubs. Furthermore, there is the opportunity for the club to make history by achieving a giant-killing. Every year, there are upsets in the third round as lower ranked teams defeat their higher ranked opponents. It is this that makes the third round so captivating. Although the most infamous giant-killing was won by the stupendous Ronnie Radford 35 yard screamer as Hereford defeated Newcastle United in 1972, the most outrageous in terms of probability was the defeat of West Bromwich Albion by Woking in 1991. According to clever mathematical probability calculations, the odds of Woking from the Isthmian League beating West Brom were over 15 million to one! It’ll never happen again. Or will it??
For further information on joining Seagulls Over Burwash and details of forthcoming events, meetings or coach travel, please visit our website at www.seagullsoverburwash.co.uk or email me at simon.forster@seagullsoverburwash.co.uk. Alternatively, please feel free to contact our esteemed and venerated Chairman, Mr Teskey O’Neil, on 01435 884344 or tesbar80@btinternet.com. One of the highlights of the year for SOB members is the first appearance of Teskey showcasing his newly acquired Albion themed clothing which his many friends and admirers buy him for Christmas. This year he was really spoilt, and the passengers are in for a real treat when he boards the SOB coach for the Arsenal game. I managed to get a sneak preview and, without wishing to spoil the surprise, I anticipate that the sight of our dear Chairman in his ‘Seagull Man” super hero suit, complete with blue and white striped tights over dressed with blue pants, figure-hugging Lycra t-shirt with a seagull logo on the chest and a flowing blue cape, will leave the SOB membership speechless!
Happy New Year!
Simon Forster