Some nice words about us on F365 (apologies if fixtures):
It's Going To Be A Big Football League Weekend For... | Football365 | Faves | Big Weekend
Brighton
It's terribly patronising to describe any team as 'everyone's second club'. Blackpool had to deal with that collective head-patting for the whole of last season in the Premier League, and this season one imagines Brighton will have to smile politely.
Having said that, surely few (Crystal Palace fans aside) will wish ill on Brighton.
Finally, some 14 years after the Goldstone Ground closed, Brighton have their own home. The Falmer Stadium has all sorts of nice bells and whistles (beer from each visiting team's local brewery, a crèche) but the most important thing is that Brighton have somewhere to call their own.
And to go with their home, a decent-looking side. They may have lost Elliott Bennett to Norwich, but the signing of Craig Mackail-Smith is a hell of a coup, while the additions of Wills Buckley and Hoskins are handy too.
Gus Poyet appears to be that all-too-rare combination of a genuinely likeable man and a very capable manager. Even he didn't expect success this quickly, and will look to consolidate this season, but Norwich showed last season that back-to-back success is not impossible.
It's Going To Be A Big Football League Weekend For... | Football365 | Faves | Big Weekend
Brighton
It's terribly patronising to describe any team as 'everyone's second club'. Blackpool had to deal with that collective head-patting for the whole of last season in the Premier League, and this season one imagines Brighton will have to smile politely.
Having said that, surely few (Crystal Palace fans aside) will wish ill on Brighton.
Finally, some 14 years after the Goldstone Ground closed, Brighton have their own home. The Falmer Stadium has all sorts of nice bells and whistles (beer from each visiting team's local brewery, a crèche) but the most important thing is that Brighton have somewhere to call their own.
And to go with their home, a decent-looking side. They may have lost Elliott Bennett to Norwich, but the signing of Craig Mackail-Smith is a hell of a coup, while the additions of Wills Buckley and Hoskins are handy too.
Gus Poyet appears to be that all-too-rare combination of a genuinely likeable man and a very capable manager. Even he didn't expect success this quickly, and will look to consolidate this season, but Norwich showed last season that back-to-back success is not impossible.