[Albion] "Finest night in 122 years"

[Stumpy Tim]

I've been a Brighton fan for thirty years, and for me this was the greatest away game I've known. We beat Ajax in their own backyard... There is no comparison

 

[jakarta]

 

[oldboyroy]

Absolutely yes. Hereford and cup final were where we were but this is elite football and Brighton winning at Ajax!

 

[Commander]

It's certainly a prestigious night for us... but there have certainly been more than 10, or 20, or even more, greater occasions as an Albion fan.

The victory feels great to me of course - but I'm more chuffed about 3 points, than I am beating Ajax. We're a considerably better side than them, and we were favourites to win. We have beaten bigger and better sides than them frequently in the Premier League over the last few years.

The 'great nights' will come in the next rounds, should we qualify.

You can think of 10 or 20 better nights than beating Ajax away!? Can you name some of them please.

 

[Justice]

No. That was, and always will be, Hereford away. Everything else flows from there.

To be fair the article said best night game. I fully agree about Hereford being the most important in the club’s history.

 

[Commander]

To be fair article said best night game. I fully agree about Hereford being the most important in the club’s history.

Most important isn’t ‘best’. Hereford was a massive relief. Last night was a stunning win against 4 time European Champions in their own back yard.

 

[Klaas]

As good at it was, before the FA Cup was so devalued it was watched worldwide.

Almost beating Manchester United in 1983 sent shock waves round the globe.

I was living in Canada at the time. The game wasn't even shown live. Shockwaves, my arse.

Anyway, our greatest night in my opinion is what is greatest in my mind, not the mind of some nob in Singapore who is upset 'his' team only drew with Briton Albion (something).

I always remember as a kid being told by the commentator that the game was being watched worldwide in seventy billion countries and was the highlight of the football year blah blah.
It was a big load of bollocks wasn't it?

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

I always remember as a kid being told by the commentator that the game was being watched worldwide in seventy billion countries and was the highlight of the football year blah blah.
It was a big load of bollocks wasn't it?

What do you think, this was the same time Rolf Harris & Jimmy Saville were on tv and when you turned on the radio you heard Gary Glitter…

of course they lied

 

[Silverhatch]

For substance & style & any other metric you can throw into the mix the answer is yes. Ajax 0 BHA 2. Still really can’t believe it’s happening.

 

[Brok]

Finest night so far...

 

[Herne Hill Seagull]

Lot of responses here are going to depend on how long you've been watching, I think. I've just woken up on the sofa bed in my mate's house in Amsterdam and spent last night looking round the stadium, and up at the scoreboard, thinking how surreal it was after the war years, and Gillingham, and the long slog back. Somebody once wrote a fantasy piece for Gull's Eye about getting on the Eurostar to go and watch Brighton playing in Europe and coming back to a state-of-the-art stadium for a home game. I scoffed with laughter, reading it. And yet last night we beat Ajax - again - in their own back yard.

There have been other games that were more important, of course - Doncaster, Hereford, Man Utd at home first time round to secure PL status for a second season. Other games that provoked delirious happiness - wins at Old Trafford, the night we were promoted to the PL and got the train back to Brighton with the players, Doncaster again to open the Amex for league football.

But for sheer, open-eyed disbelief at where we are, who and how we're playing, the scoreline and opponent, given where we've come from - it's not even close.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Yes, it is.

Whether or not Albion were expected to get a result or not, the fact remains.

They have won away in a major European competition for the first time against a giant name in European football.

And when you have stood on the windswept terraces of a northern outpost watching dreadful football with 100 other Albion fans this means more than anything else.

I started by thinking this was a win we knew they could get. I ended up just staring at the scoreline thinking it looked like something from my school Subbuteo league.

There has never been a moment of pride like this.

Great post and spot on .

I was already thinking about a lot of that before kick off, having seen Trainspotter on the Eurostar over and Seagulls Over Lewes in Dam Square. It would have been quite the thing whatever the result. Winning it is historic. What a trip!

 

[Lethargic]

For now yes, but what does the future hold?

 

[Greg Bobkin]

As this thread proves - and as others have stated - it's subjective.

But beating Ajax away, after beating them at home - and conceding zero goals in the process - is a HELL of an achievement. Subjectively, it will be viewed as the greatest night in the club's history.

Personally, I still can't quite believe we're playing European football. I'm sure some fans will be frothing about Crouch's 'little Brighton' comment last night, but I completely get what he meant.

It's monumental. Dare I say, it's history-defining

 

[Hotchilidog]

I’m still trying to comprehend what happened yesterday. It was a coming of age for this team and this club. Even though Ajax are not great at the moment they were feisty last night and threw everything they had at us and not only did we resist, we conquered. The extra quality on the pitch was wearing green and black not white and red. The roll call of old players on the metro back to the city after the game was a joy to behold and a reminder from whence we came. Odes to Gary Hart, Anthony Knockaert, Leo Ulloa, Kerry Mayo, Michel Kuipers and of course Gerry Ryan and Peter Ward echoed and bounced off the tin shell of the carriages with joyous abandon. Was it the greatest night, who knows? What it was, was very special indeed and one we shall remember and celebrate for a very long time indeed. Pure class!

 

[studio150]

Historic yes
Greatest night away in Europe yes (to date)
Greatest ever day in our history - maybe.

Yes I had goosebumps and a couldn't really believe it feel before the game, as seeing The Albion at Ajax and playing under a closed roof.

But at the end of the game no tears of joy like I have experienced at other games.

And hopefully more significant wins in Europe to come.

 

[Blue3]

I think all in all last night probably was the best Thursday night in the clubs history we have just outclassed home and away Ajax the four times winners of the European Cup / UEFA Champions League and two times winners of the UEFA world club title.

 

[Austrian Gull]

For those harking back to Hereford that was the most important day for the club IMO but last night was something glorious and beyond our wildest dreams.

I was in the away end at Edgar Street and not in Amsterdam but yesterday was just wonderful to watch. Leaping around the lounge with my two boys when the goals went in was more meaningful than anything for me.

Can't wait to see if we can top it later this season!

 

[Thunder Bolt]

No. That was, and always will be, Hereford away. Everything else flows from there.

That was the most important game of the club’s history.
Last night was historic, and the finest.

We beat a European giant on their own turf to complete the double in a European competition.

 

[sparkie]

Yes, I think beating Ajax away in a European competition is the greatest night.... so far.