How Brighton and Hove Albion became ready to tackle the top flight - Telegraph feature

It was exactly five years ago that Brighton and Hove Albion chief executive Paul Barber chaired the first of his Monday management meetings. The club had already travelled a vast distance from the days when their very existence was in doubt but, at exactly 3pm every week, the club’s executive committee began gathering at the Amex Stadium to discuss how their various priorities would support one over-arching dream: being ‘Premier League Ready’.

It was a phrase used so often internally that the acronym ‘PLR’ became a part of everyday dialogue. Hard to imagine back then, but the moment when aspiration meets reality is actually happening and yesterday, after more than 200 such meetings, senior staff gathered for one final time before Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City become the first Premier League visitors to Brighton. The length and depth of the journey can be quantified in so many ways.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/08/07/brighton-hove-albion-became-ready-tackle-top-flight/

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How Brighton and Hove Albion became ready to tackle the top flight
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Brighton are gearing up for life in the Premier League CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES

Jeremy Wilson, deputy football correspondent
7 AUGUST 2017 • 10:10PM
It was exactly five years ago that Brighton and Hove Albion chief executive Paul Barber chaired the first of his Monday management meetings. The club had already travelled a vast distance from the days when their very existence was in doubt but, at exactly 3pm every week, the executive committee began gathering at the Amex Stadium to discuss how their various priorities would support one over-arching dream: being ‘Premier League Ready’.

It was a phrase used so often internally that the acronym ‘PLR’ became a part of everyday dialogue. Hard to imagine back then, but the moment when aspiration meets reality is actually happening and yesterday, after more than 200 such meetings, senior staff gathered for one final time before Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City become the first Premier League visitors to Brighton. The length and depth of the journey can be quantified in so many ways.

Derek Allan, an authentic club legend after 42 years as secretary, arrived at yesterday’s meeting direct from completing the paperwork on the £10 million signing of Davy Propper. It was the biggest deal he had signed off in a career that extends back to working at Preston with Bobby Charlton. “Bit different to when we were making free transfers for a set of kit,” he says, wryly. Did he ever expect to see Brighton in the Premier League? “No - it’s unbelievable.”


Barber recalled how his first friendly game at the club had been against neighbours Lewes at the wonderfully named Dripping Pan stadium. On Sunday, they were hosting Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid for their final pre-season match. In the middle of the desk around which the executive committee had gathered yesterday was the new Premier League handbook. It extends to almost 700 pages and outlines the expectations of every member club. For Brighton, being Premier League ready is about both practice and culture.

Brighton
Brighton's next challenge is to establish themselves in the Premier League
Almost £6 million has been spent this summer during an intense 13-week window of construction on what was already one of English football’s most modern grounds. The Hawkeye goalline system was installed two weeks ago and, as we all look out onto across the stadium, a television studio is being built that will be used on Saturday by the American broadcaster NBC. There are five new pitchside cameras positions that required ‘heavy diamond drilling’ into pre-cast concrete. Floodlights have been installed that are double the previous power to meet the necessary intensity for 4G television.

There is a new restaurant, an improved players’ lounge and manager’s area. The tunnel area has been revamped to accommodate additional media interviews. A new car park has been built for broadcast vans. The ground has been permanently hard-wired, the PA system upgraded and wifi provided inside the stadium bowl. There is even now an entire back-up generator. “We can’t afford a power failure that means a live broadcast to 200 countries is interrupted,” explains Barber. Security both at the stadium and training ground has been enhanced.

Right hand side of table (working forward from right to left) Rose Read, head of human resources Martin Perry, executive director and chair of Albion in the Community, Lucie Welch, PA to the chief executive, Paul Mullen, head of football administration, Tony Crosbie, head of catering for Sodexo
Right hand side of table (working forward from right to left) Rose Read, head of human resources Martin Perry, executive director and chair of Albion in the Community, Lucie Welch, PA to the chief executive, Paul Mullen, head of football administration, Tony Crosbie, head of catering for Sodexo
Bollards have been installed to protect the concourses from a Westminster-style attack and there will be 500 stewards working on Saturday, as well as teams of dogs trained in detecting explosives. Martin Perry was among those fans who helped save the club and then, with the financial backing of club owner Tony Bloom, oversaw the building of the Amex. He is now also directing the current works.


“The construction pace has matched when we were building the stadium,” he says. Joining the Premier League guarantees numerous other knock-ons and adjustments. NBC have just visited to record a feature on the club and city that will potentially be seen by hundreds of millions of US viewers. EA Sports have been extensively filming both the stadium and its players in order to visually recreate Chris Hughton and his team for their Fifa 18 game.

Sky Sports took an entire afternoon recording various posed head and waist-up player images. The surge in interest is local as well as global. Jenny Gower, the head of ticketing and supporter services, is reporting a season-ticket waiting list of 6,000 for the first time since the stadium was expanded and the club’s membership now exceeds the 30,000 capacity. Tony Crosbie’s catering team has almost doubled to 510 since 2013 and, on Saturday, he expects to sell 7,500 pies and get close to the stadium record 41,000 pints. Replica kit sales are already double last season, which was in itself a record.

Rose Read, the head of Human Resources, has been overseeing a series of Premier League inductions. The purpose is to inspire and prepare all staff for what will follow but also make them conscious of the added profile now of their jobs and the importance of confidentiality.

Selfies with any visiting superstars are strictly prohibited. “They will be professional; not star-struck,” says Read. Staff and fans have also been warned that this first season back in the top-flight of English football since 1983 might well require some resilience. Off-field recruitment has included an on-site lawyer and a new press officer to support media chief Paul Camillin in telling a story now with a global audience.

On the pitch, Premier League ready also means successfully navigating a rather larger potential transfer pool. It is estimated that Paul Winstanley and his recruitment team were realistically shopping for 40 per cent of the world’s player market in the Championship. The expected five-fold increase in revenues has raised that figure to 85 per cent. Separate transfer target lists based on whether the club is in the Premier League or Championship are constantly updated and, while it might have seemed optimistic to take that approach before promotion, it is seen simply now as prudent to prepare next season for all eventualities.

Finance director David Jones worked previously in the Premier League with Southampton. “The impact of promotion on our turnover is dramatic and the challenge is to keep hold of our costs,” says Jones. “Until now we have been reliant on the generosity of our owner but there is no reason why we cannot become financially self-sustainable.”

Indeed, Brighton’s next challenge will be to establish themselves in the Premier League independent of outside financial backing. The staff outlook and way Bloom has funded growth in the club’s infrastructure from bottom to top provides cause for optimism.

For now, though, it is right just to pause and absorb the magnitude of their achievement. “It will still be 11 v 11, two goals and one ball on Saturday,” says Barber. “That’s not changed but almost everything else has. I feel more excited than at any time in my career. If I feel like that, how will the chairman and fans feel? It is going to be an incredibly emotional day. They have waited 34 years. We didn’t fight for survival to miss this opportunity. This is our moment.”

Brighton break transfer record with Propper signing

Brighton broke their transfer record with the £10 million signing of Holland midfield Davy Pröpper from PSV Eindhoven.

Propper has signed a four-year contract and joins goalkeeper Mathew Ryan, who had been the previous record signing, as well as Markus Suttner, Pascal Gross, Mathias Normann and Izzy Brown as new summer additions.

“Davy is a player with great experience of the Eredivisie with Vitesse Arnhem and PSV Eindhoven,” said Brighton manager Chris Hughton. “He has played a number of matches in the Champions League for PSV, as well as international football. He is also a really good age at 25.” Pröpper joined PSV from Vitesse Arnhem in 2015 and played in the team that won the 2015-16 Eredivisie title.

Central in his decision to join Brighton was a conversation with Danny Holla, who is now at Vitesse Arnhem but played under Hughton until last year.

“It’s the biggest competition in the world, so this will be a great challenge and I think I’m ready for it,” said Propper.

“The club showed me a film, so I know quite a few things about it and the city already. Not every club in Holland has a good stadium and I really like the one here.”

Related Topics
Brighton and Hove Albion FC

Premier League

Right wing rag

An excellent piece and certainly whets the appetite but, like similar I have read, it's such a shame that Dick Knight doesn't even get a name check.

Herr Tubthumper said:

Right wing rag

Click to expand...

It is, and their "I have £100,000 to spend, what should I do with it" articles are obnoxious as hell.

But their football section is pretty good.

The NBC feature mentioned.

http://www.nbcsports.com/video/brighton-hove-albions-ascent-premier-league

Herr Tubthumper said:

Right wing rag

Click to expand...

That it might be, but it's an interesting article as are the ones in the Guardian, which some might consider to be a left wing rag.

Get prepared for dogs sniffing your bollocks on Saturday then.

Eggman said:

The NBC feature mentioned.

http://www.nbcsports.com/video/brighton-hove-albions-ascent-premier-league

Click to expand...

"Geographic restriction
This content is not available in your location"

So, not very useful for us who live in Brighton

"Hawkeye goalline system". Completely forgot about that. Wonder how often we'll get to see it in action?

Gwylan said:

"Geographic restriction
This content is not available in your location"

So, not very useful for us who live in Brighton

Click to expand...

We've gone global now...

Gwylan said:

"Geographic restriction
This content is not available in your location"

So, not very useful for us who live in Brighton

Click to expand...

Install Hola on Chrome and change your country to the US et voila.

Justice said:

Get prepared for dogs sniffing your bollocks on Saturday then.

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That'll take the edge off losing.

GreersElbow said:

It is, and their "I have £100,000 to spend, what should I do with it" articles are obnoxious as hell.

But their football section is pretty good.

Click to expand...

I could never look another socialist in the eye if I read the Telegraph. It would be a betrayal to my working class brothers and sisters.

Gwylan said:

"Geographic restriction
This content is not available in your location"

So, not very useful for us who live in Brighton

Click to expand...

Just used my US VPN - it's the Match of the Day one they did a few weeks back... nothing new

Herr Tubthumper said:

Right wing rag

Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure the political leaning of a paper tends to make sod all difference to their sport coverage.

Herr Tubthumper said:

Right wing rag

Click to expand...

Yes, but pretty unrivaled for sport.

Herr Tubthumper said:

Right wing rag

Click to expand...

Still a better newspaper than the old socialist crap, the Guardian aka the world owes everyone a living

Great article, and really brings home the extent of the off-field improvements we've had to make to bring the Amex up to scratch. Never would have thought it needed THAT much doing to it, but I'm a lot clearer now on just what that £6m worth of improvements has gone on. Like THPP, I'd completely forgotten about the Hawkeye goal-line technology that had to be installed. And personally, I'm delighted that the floodlights have FINALLY been upgraded. I've always felt the lighting to be a bit DIM at the Amex since day (well night) one. Good to see that's been addressed, even if we were forced into it.

The futures bright.