The 2022-23 season ranks as the best in Brighton & Hove Albion’s 122-year history.
They finished three places higher in English football’s top flight than they’ve ever done before — sixth position in the Premier League gaining them direct entry to the Europa League group stage in September.
Here’s a look back at a memorable campaign in which the good far outweighed the bad.
The high point
It has to be getting over the line to reach Europe for the first time by beating Southampton in the penultimate home game.
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Nobody would have expected that after head coach Graham Potter left for Chelsea, taking five of his staff with him, six league matches into the season in early September — departures followed by three defeats and two draws in little-known successor Roberto De Zerbi’s first five games.
They did it so stylishly, too, such free-scoring fun to watch, with 72 goals — 14 more than Manchester United (who they beat home and away).
GO DEEPER
Brighton and Hove Albion. Who'd have thought it?
Tonight's dressing room SCENES! 😍 pic.twitter.com/tGsyvE7Wyl
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) May 24, 2023
The low point
There haven’t been many. Just a handful of below-par performances and results here and there, which pale in significance by comparison with the sudden and completely unexpected fate of Enock Mwepu in his second season at the club.
The midfielder, and Zambia captain, was forced to retire prematurely in October due to a hereditary heart condition at the age of 24. Mwepu was potentially a good fit for De Zerbi’s style of play, thanks to his athleticism and attacking instincts.
Goal of the season
There are plenty of contenders here. Kaoru Mitoma at Leicester City and also against Liverpool in the FA Cup, Solly March against Southampton and Liverpool, Pascal Gross’ volley versus Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Alexis Mac Allister’s penalty against West Ham warrants a mention, as it was the result of peak ‘De Zerbi-ball’ — a passing move out from goalkeeper Jason Steele involving nine players, culminating in Mitoma being fouled inside the box by Jarrod Bowen.
I thought I had it all worked out, though. For spectacular significance, the nod had to go to Julio Enciso’s long-range screamer that crucially won April’s game at Chelsea, a week after a devastating defeat away to Tottenham Hotspur.
That is until the Paraguayan teenager bent in an even better goal to equalise against Manchester City in the penultimate game, finishing off a move of 10 passes involving most of the team that also started with Steele, went back to him from inside opposition territory, then came back out again.
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Stunning.
Watch @JulioEnciso33's #PL Goal of the Season winner from EVERY angle! 📺🍿 pic.twitter.com/dTs8DvecHy
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) June 4, 2023
Biggest issue to fix for next season
Set plays. They’re not very good at scoring from them and bad at conceding from them.
At Newcastle United last month, for example, they were 2-0 down at half-time due to headers by Deniz Undav (an own goal) from a corner and Dan Burn from a free kick. Then in the next game, at home to Southampton — the one where European football was clinched —the already-relegated visitors’ goal was another header from a corner.
It’s the most glaring aspect where there is a lot of room for improvement.
Funniest moment
Watching Brentford score their third goal in the 3-1 lunchtime win at Spurs in the press room at the training ground, straight after De Zerbi’s press conference looking ahead to Southampton’s visit the following day. Brentford’s victory set up the prospect of Brighton achieving the European dream with two games to spare.
Six weeks earlier, De Zerbi’s team outplayed Tottenham on that same pitch in north London but were robbed in a 2-1 defeat thanks to a series of controversial decisions by the officials; a result that threatened to derail their ambitions.
Barely a week subsequently went by without puzzling over how Spurs, on the evidence of performance levels across the season, could possibly be higher in the table than Brighton.
Justice was eventually done.
Weirdest thing the manager said
It felt weird at the time he said it.
At De Zerbi’s first press conference after being appointed, a lot was made of the similarities in style between the Italian and Potter in terms of having their teams play out from the back.
So The Athletic asked about the biggest difference between them.
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De Zerbi answered that he wanted more control in games. That came as a surprise to Brighton supporters and to regular observers of his predecessor’s team, who’d seen them have a level of control in matches under Potter of the kind they’d never experienced before.
Clever man. De Zerbi knew what he had in his locker.
(Photo: Gareth Fuller/PA Images via Getty Images)Player the fans will happily never see again
Nobody within the squad who made appearances for Brighton this season, which says a lot about their ability and likeability. So, it has to be someone from the large group of players who were sent out on loan.
It didn’t work out for Aaron Connolly on loan to Venezia in Italy’s Serie B or when farmed out to Hull City of the Championship in January, although in the latter case that was because of a foot injury. The 23-year-old Republic of Ireland international forward has been well and truly left behind at Brighton by countryman Evan Ferguson, who is five years younger.
Stat that sums them up
With a helpful nudge from my colleague Duncan Alexander, who specialises in this sort of stuff, Brighton became the first club in the Premier League’s 31-season history to name a starting XI featuring two teenage South Americans — Argentinian Facundo Buonanotte, 18, and 19-year-old Paraguayan Enciso.
First #PL start, first #PL goal for Facundo Buonanotte. 💫 @BrightonTools 📺 pic.twitter.com/YCkWHhv1q9
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) April 27, 2023
Brighton also accounted for 11 of the 20 goals scored by teenagers in the competition — six for Ferguson, four by Enciso and Buonanotte’s one.
The present is great, the future could be even greater.
GO DEEPER
Brighton's surge to Europe under Roberto De Zerbi - poetry in motion
Tonight's dressing room SCENES! 😍 pic.twitter.com/tGsyvE7Wyl
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) May 24, 2023
Reason to be optimistic for next season
There’s not just one.
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De Zerbi committing his future to the club for at least another year; owner-chairman Tony Bloom — Brighton are very fortunate to have someone in charge who is a lifelong fan of the club, is rich and smart, and holds a global database of players that is a key cog in cute recruitment; a blend of exciting young talents and seasoned pros that set high standards, embellished by the capture of Joao Pedro in the former category and the anticipated arrival of James Milner in the latter.
They may lose Mac Allister, Moises Caicedo and Robert Sanchez in the next few months, but they’ll still have Lewis Dunk, March, Gross, Pervis Estupinan, Mitoma, Ferguson, Adam Lallana, Danny Welbeck, Joel Veltman… I could go on.
.@DannyWelbeck with @JulioEnciso33… 🤣🏋️ pic.twitter.com/4GOzeFeJX1
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) May 25, 2023
Predicted finish for next season
Having four competitions to take part in, with the addition of the Europa League, presents the fresh challenge of more double gameweeks. Finishing sixth leaves limited scope for improvement, although De Zerbi and his players had targeted the top four and Champions League qualification this season from February onwards.
Top 10 again plus a deep run in the FA Cup, Carabao Cup or Europa League would be a satisfying start to the adjustment — although that might not satisfy De Zerbi’s desire for bar-raising.
(Top photo: Clive Rose via Getty Images)
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