Brighton 'can dream' of Premier League title charge after surge to second place
Brighton players celebrate after beating Manchester City (Darren Staples) Once homeless and destitute, Brighton have defied the odds to emerge as the most unexpected Premier League title contenders since Leicester's fairytale run a decade ago.
Key points
- Brighton head into the international break proudly sitting second in the Premier League after Sunday's 2-0 win against Brentford.
- But beating City 1-0 in Manchester in October -- just days after losing a League Cup penalty shoot-out at the Etihad Stadium -- showed Brighton have the bloody-minded streak required to cope with the pitfalls of a title race.
- In a season in which City are distracted by their appeal against a guilty verdict for financial breaches, Liverpool and Chelsea are rebuilding under new managers and Manchester United are in disarray, there could be an opening for Brighton to replicate Leicester's fairytale title triumph in 2016.
"I always say they can dream, they can have high expectations on us, but these are things we can't control." Hurzeler became the youngest permanent manager in Premier League history when Bloom lured him from St Pauli in 2024.
Additional details
- An even more catastrophic relegation from the Football League in 1997 was only avoided on the last day of the season after a live bull -- used as Hereford's mascot -- stampeded onto the pitch during a dramatic draw that saved Brighton from potential oblivion.
- Asked when supporters could start to dream of a title bid, Hurzeler said: "They should be always excited if they watch our game, and that's our job to make them excited.
- Brighton have won seven of their 10 league games this season, a blistering run that included a pair of statement victories.
- But that would be to ignore the rock-solid foundations laid by Hurzeler and Albion's astute owner Tony Bloom, a professional gambler who has transformed Brighton since taking a major gamble when he bought the club in 2009.
- The club spent two years in exile, playing their matches 70 miles from Brighton at Gillingham, after the Goldstone Ground, their home since 1902, was sold because of escalating debts.
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