BRIGHTON, England — An hour or so after the open training session has finished, with the rain pouring and seagulls swirling around the blue and white seats, a few of the Brighton & Hove Albion players are still signing autographs. There are a couple of hundred fans left from the 4,000 or so who have flocked to the AMEX Stadium — Brighton’s home ground — to watch their team practice. It’s the Easter break and the lower tier of the west stand is packed with families of all ages.
These are common sights and sounds for a Premier League club with European aims. But for Brighton it’s still a little unusual, especially for those who remember when the club was homeless and close to non-league obscurity 26 years ago.
World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister sits out the session but starts signing autographs 30 minutes before training finishes. “The session today will be about possession,” says the stadium announcer. Manager Roberto De Zerbi stands like a coiled spring, itching to get involved, passing on small observations here and there as the players play 11 vs. 9. The fans cheer every pass; Mac Allister occasionally looks over from the sidelines as he signs jersey after jersey.
“I feel the appreciation of the people,” Mac Allister later tells ESPN. “Representing Brighton at the World Cup and being a champion representing this club meant a lot because of what the club means to me.”
Brighton were only promoted to the top flight in 2017, but as part of their plan of year-on-year steady progression, their story is all down to the plan formulated back in 2009 when Tony Bloom succeeded Dick Knight as the club’s owner. With De Zerbi at the helm, the seventh-placed side in the Premier League are preparing to take the next step into Europe. But first it’s the FA Cup semifinal against Manchester United (Sunday, 11 a.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+, U.S. only).
After a marathon of autographs, Mac Allister is sitting in one of the rooms in the AMEX looking down on the pitch. Club captain Lewis Dunk is still down there having his photo taken, signing shirts with a few remaining patient supporters. Photos on the walls around the 24-year-old midfielder are reminders of Brighton’s storied past and glorious present.
“Everyone feels at home here,” Mac Allister says.
Brighton’s rise has been remarkable. In 1997 they were on the verge of falling out of the Football League, needing a result against Hereford to stay in the professional pyramid. Under the stewardship of Dick Knight — now the club’s life president — things stabilised, and in 2009, entrepreneur and betting magnate Tony Bloom came along with funding secured for Brighton’s new stadium and purchased 75% of the club. Bloom appointed Paul Barber as CEO in 2012, and from there the modern-day incarnation of Brighton was born.
When Barber came along, they were in League One, but rose to the top tier of English football over the next five years, working off a strategy of outthinking their competitors through clever recruitment, giving opportunity to youngsters, finding value in acquisitions and always having robust plans for when richer clubs invariably come looking for players.
So for every player like club captain Dunk, who’s been there since their League One days, you have players like Argentina midfielder Mac Allister and Japan superstar Kaoru Mitoma who were signed for small transfer fees via their remarkable scouting network. Blend in the academy hopefuls breaking through — like the much-admired striker Evan Ferguson — some experienced heads like Danny Welbeck and Jason Steele, and you have modern-day Brighton.
“I think it’s an amazing group and everyone tries to help each other and that’s so important,” Mac Allister tells ESPN. “We’ve got five or so South Americans here and maybe I’m the one helping them speak English or translate. Everyone helps each other and that’s why we’re a fantastic group and where we are.”
Mac Allister’s journey wasn’t straightforward, but his elevation is attuned to Brighton’s DNA. He was signed in 2019 for a transfer fee of just £7 million from Argentinos Juniors. “Alexis’s story summarises this club,” technical director David Weir told the Sunday Times in March. Weir was sent to Argentina to watch Mac Allister and they did the deal. They loaned Mac Allister back to his old club, and then to Boca Juniors.
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“He didn’t hit the ground running [at Brighton]. There was a settling-in period that took time,” Weir said. “There was talk of him potentially going on loan again, then slowly but surely he got into the team, played in different positions and became an important player. His journey is symptomatic of our club in all the different facets.”
Mac Allister made his breakthrough just before COVID-19 stopped the world, but having his mother in Brighton for those two months while football went into hiatus helped him settle into the area. Three years on and he’s a World Cup champion and one of the best midfielders in the Premier League, but ask him where the credit lies and he puts it at Brighton’s door.
“Since I came here I felt the support of everyone at the club,” he says. “I always try to give my best, and I’m very happy here. This club gave me the opportunity to play in the Premier League, the best league in the world. Everybody knows how much I love this club.”
Before Mac Allister spoke to ESPN, he was presented with a bespoke Adidas boot to commemorate his World Cup triumph created by artist Jordan Dawson. It’s gold and marked with the Argentine flag. His face lights up. Later on, away from the cameras, he’s still looking at the boots, smiling and taking photos to send home.
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At any one time in Barber’s office, there’s a list of 25 key positions on and off the field at Brighton. Their recruitment strategy is combined between a mix of their scouting network — which includes position-based experts alongside regional spotters — and data generated from their analysts and Bloom’s company Starlizard. In Barber’s words, Brighton have found their point of difference by looking in places that other teams of their stature might miss.
“Mitoma is a good example of where a club of our size and budget, we have to fish in ponds others may not look into or may not head to first because there are better-stocked ponds, or at least in their minds better stocked,” Barber said on the “Football Friendlies” podcast. “In our minds we think we can find better quality in ponds others aren’t prepared to fish in, and that’s what we do time and time again.”
When Potter moved on, Italian coach De Zerbi was their ideal candidate to replace him. De Zerbi was available, having left Shakhtar Donetsk in July 2022 due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. His first five matches were underwhelming, but there was no panic.
“We need to give credit to the front office, because they went out and got De Zerbi, which allowed us to make another leap in quality and mindset,” Mac Allister says.
It is the speed with which Brighton move the ball up the field that is eye-catching, as Guardiola pointed out. “The best team in the world in making the build-up, the best team, is Brighton,” he said in April. “There’s no team better that makes the process to bring the goalkeeper, the ball, to the last quarter.”
Mitoma highlights that as one key area for their improvement under De Zerbi.
“Our build-up from the back is very accurate,” he says. “We can be a threat from right, left and both sides. I think the forward players are suitable to the system. They can be in the build-up but then put pressure on the front. Brighton’s football matches the quality of players.”
“We have more space up front to exploit,” Mac Allister adds. “We spoke a few weeks ago about being ruthless and I think we are doing it. Ferguson comes in; he scores. Welbeck, Solly March and Kaoru are all in a good moment. We have very good players, but 100% the style of Roberto helps us to have more chances, and then it’s about confidence. The difference has been Roberto. He brought a strong mentality to keep growing, to keep pushing and I think we are in another place now. When I came here we were fighting against relegation and now we are thinking about Champions League or Europa League spots. I am really happy to be here and part of this journey.”
