Hypothetical question re Albion in the Premier League

[Curious Orange]

I was a little too young to see the Albion play the last time we were in the top flight, it'd be nice to add a season or two in the Premier League to my memories.

 

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

I don't think anyone on this thread has actually said that they don't want to go up have they? The thread is more about which division you are likely to enjoy more.

.

No, you're correct.

I was more on a uncontrollable rant about stuff I've read on NSC before. Marshy's quote just triggered me!

 

[LE19]

I want us to be financially ready, so we can afford the right players. However, I can't get my head around whether we're better off:
Getting our finances straight for a few years, with FFP and growing into the Amex, or
Going straight up and down again, with the benefit of parachute payments.

I'm happy(ish) to watch us get beaten by great teams in great stadiums with huge crowds, but not if it googles our finances.

 

[Official Old Man]

Between 1974 and 79 I went to every home game and most away via the 'Seagull Special' train. I dreamt of the Promised Land. The day we made it was the greatest day ever at that time (no wife or kids) but then it all went sour. I just lost interest. Didn't go to any away games in '79/'80, not even Old Trafford or Anfield.
This time is different. The PL is three leagues in one. Top 6, bottom 6 and the rest who just play every week beating the bottom teams and losing to the top ones. That's where I believe we will be.

 

[Westdene Wonder]

Great excitement when Brighton were promoted to the then Division 1 ,three months into the next season the group I went with to a man wished we had missed out on promotion,although we spent out on better players it was back to the wall,one man up the rest trying to keep the score down,after relegation we could not afford to retain the new signings,yes i am aware that there are large payouts but you only have to look at the attendances of sides that have been relegated from the Premiership to see how supporters dessert.
I dont want to see what all we have achieved is lost,so I much prefer we remain in the Championship, a winning team particularly at home will keep the supporters happy.

 

[SeagullSongs]

The BEST thing about going up would be the chance to see this man cooing over our tactics:

View attachment 41721

Incorrect.

That would be the second best thing.



The BEST thing would be seeing a little spinning CG image of the Amex before they show our highlights on MOTD.

 

[Paxton Dazo]

It's ****ing shit. Trust me.

 

[T soprano]

The best thing about going up is ( I did mention this in another thread ) is next season PANNINI STICKER ALBUM
Just can't wait to get that silver foil Seagull club badge and I can Put loads of stickers of Vicente and Ulloa all over my Helmet

 

[hybrid_x]

Indeed. I've NEVER EVER EVER understood ANYONE saying they would want us to stay in this division.

By that logic that must mean they dont want us to win every game.

During a match I want us to score a goal, to score more than the other team, to win, to get more points, to accumalate enough points to go up. Surely if someone didnt want to us to go up they must hope we don't score as thats the first step!

However, the WORST is people saying "I don't think we're ready yet" and "I want us to wait a year". You can't just CHOOSE when to go up. You HAVE to take your opportunity when it arises.

totally this.

 

[blue2]

As long as its not boom and bust I am quite keen to see the other Fergason standing within abuse distance

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

The best thing about going up is ( I did mention this in another thread ) is next season PANNINI STICKER ALBUM
Just can't wait to get that silver foil Seagull club badge and I can Put loads of stickers of Vicente and Ulloa all over my Helmet

Is it Panini or Merlin that have the rights these days? I hope it's Panini for old times' sake!

 

[Stat Brother]

My loathing for the all consuming Premier League isn't new.

So as an aside, the EPL is getting tough to stay in.
If it ended now Villa, Stoke & Sunderland would be in next seasons relegation places, that's quite a lot of pedigree.
A couple of years ago that would have been a lot 'easier'.

With that in mind the next question has to be:-

are, we the fans, ready for the Premier League?

Judging by NSC when we draw with Leicester, the answer is 'no'.

I just don't see promotion as an enjoyable experience at the moment, certainly not as much fun as being very competitive in a very strong Championship, next season.

 

[el punal]

Putting aside the financial issues, do you think that you'd enjoy watching us in the Premier League more than the Championship next year?

If we don't go up, there is a pretty good chance that we'd be one of the challenging teams next season, which would mean we would probably be the better team in most games and would win far more matches than we'd lose.

It's unlikely we'd be anymore than a struggling team trying to establish themselves in the top division and would get well beaten on quite a few occasions and seldom be the best team in a match.

I ask this question having seen us in the top flight the last time we were there and overall I didn't enjoy it anywhere near as much as the getting there and the three or four preceding seasons. Obviously there were a few highs like beating United and Forest and turning Palace over most times we played the team of the eighties.

I know that most on here have probably never seen the Albion in the top division and the getting there would be an amazing experience as would the first few games and being on MOTD every week. We'd also be on Sky quite often, getting spanked by teams like United, Arsenal, Chelsea, City etc.

Maybe you think we'd actually do quite well?

I'm in two minds but am only swayed by the financial implications rather than the excitement of seeing Albion in the top division. From a football experience point of view I think I'd rather see a winning Albion team in the Championship than a struggling team in the Premier.

So in short, of course I want to get there but I'm not sure it would be as much fun watching the Albion if we did.

Good post! I too was around for when we went up to the old Div.1 and, like you, enjoyed our rise to fame from 1976-79 more.

Being in Division 1 seemed to be a trial of survival and so the enjoyment factor tended to be less obvious.

I also thought, at the time, that the club did little to promote our status as a top tier club. Remember that awful "Lego" stand - so there we were playing Division 1 football in a Division 3 ground. Having said that, the experience was worthwhile and not to be missed, with a few cracking results along the way.

Should we gain promotion, this season or soon, I feel that this time we have a much better infrastructure in the board, management, stadium and everything else. I would look forward to it and enjoy it as much as the last two seasons.

Onwards and upwards!

 

[Gary Leeds]

go up and hang around for a season or two and there is half a chance of an official Brighton subbuteo team being produced (Need to be sure they will sell the 10000 that is the minimum production run though), but would be looking to get the set of match attax and pannini stickers when they are out

Do we not have to give more away tickets when we go up? If so would this not cause issues with general sale match tickets? Could we end up with the only tickets available being the ones returned by the away club because all ours are season tickets?

 

[El Presidente]

Sides are likely to stay up this season in the PL by winning just NINE games.

First season we would be ecstatic to stay up I suspect, but how long would that feeling be sustained. Remember clubs such as Villa, Stoke, Sunderland and Newcastle have more money behind them than the Albion, and they all are in danger of relegation.

I want us to go up, but experience and history tells me that this season is probably as good as it gets in terms of seeing the Albion play good football AND get results.

 

[Albion Rob]

Being too young to remember us in the top flight, Zi'd love to see us get there. See the points about it not being fun getting beaten every week but that's just the beginning. It's surely the start of another longer term plan to establish ourselves, then be top 10, then have a shout of Europe -although sadly never the Champions League.

And even if we went down Zi don't think it would be like 30 years ago. We have the infrastructure to stick around the top of the Championship and go back up again in he next few seasons and have another crack. So whereas the 79-83 years seem like the top of he golden era, culminating in a cup final, I think we're embarking on a period where our ups nd downs are between the Premier League and the Championship.

As for memories of the grim football from the early 80s, I think football has moved on to the degree that even the strugglers play good stuff - look at Blackpool a couple of years back.

 

[pasty]

I'm really on the fence on this one.

It's been good for the past two seasons watching more wins than defeats and seeing your team battling at the top end of the table with a carrot of promotion to fight for.

If we're promoted we realistically can never expect more than a Fulham mid-table type existence with no real chance of honours whether that be league champions or playing in Europe. More likely would be an annual battle against relegation. Could that kind of campaign season after season become boring?

i previously posted on here my Reading-supporter friend's comments about how he enjoyed their last promotion to the Prem - top clubs coming to the Madjeski, great away trips, playing in the best league in Europe - but this time around he has different views - getting beaten week after week is tough to take, the cost of many away games is outrageous, Saturday 3pm kick-offs are the exception, the Championship is more fun.

Of course I want us to be promoted. Of course I would like us to play in the Premier League. But part of me fears a season of constant hammerings and a season-long battle against with relegation.

I guess it would all depend (IF we got promoted) on how much Gus is given to strengthen the squad. At present I only see the following as genuine Premier League first teamers:
Kuszczak, Bridge, Upson, Bridcutt, Ulloa.
And squad members:
Calderon, Greer, El Abd, David, Hammond, Orlandi, Vicente, CMS, Ankergren, Lua Lua, Buckley, JFC
Long shots: Bruno, Dunk, Crofts, Dicker, Hoskins, Barnes, Barker
Get rid:
Agdestein, Painter

So I guess, tempting though promotion is, I won't be overly upset if we don't make it. Another season of consolidation at the top of the Championship won't be the worst thing in the world. I will however be pissed off if we now miss out on the playoffs.

Summed up perfectly for me. Of course I want us to go up, but if we don't, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

 

[Perkino]

I'm trying to consider this through the eyes of a Swansea City fan, I think it would be great initially but over time being just one of the teams rather than having something to fight for may get boring.

Consistancy is key to staying up and making sure we beat those who would also be battling to avoid relegation. Once we have a training ground we could begin to push on a little but it could be a while before we start fighting for a top half finish let alone anything better.

I've heard before that we are the 7th highest earners on a home matchday in the country, but we'd need to be very careful with where we spend all our income to ensure progress up the league over a period of time

 

[um bongo molongo]

I was 6 when we got relegated from div 1 so I'd love to see us get promoted, and being able to bid for ulloa and Spanish Dave in our fantasy football auction would be awesome! The disappointing thing is that, since the Premiership, Sky, Champions League etc, not one of us thinks there's ever a hope in hell of us becoming a side that could challenge up there (unless Tony sells us to some Russian oligarch, which would be a disaster). Scroll through the old division one tables from the 80s and, whilst the old 'big 5' used to feature prominently, loads of sides competed for the league and finished top 6 - Ipswich, Watford, west ham, villa, Southampton and later Leeds, Blackburn etc. if we'd been in this position back then (good owner, good manager, good team, great new ground) we'd have had a genuine chance of going on in time and challenging for honours, now the best bet seems to be a carling cup and entry into a European competition no one wants to play in.

None of which we can do a blind bit about, and it doesn't really answer the question, but I do hope someone eventually realises a premier league that only 4 teams can win is a bit boring...

 

[goldstone]

I guess this whole thread highlights all that is wrong with the Premier League.

The same four or five clubs competing for honours season after season and the rest settling for mid-table mediocrity or battling relegation. After a few seasons of the same old stuff (assuming we get promoted and manage to stay up) won't us fickle Albion fans get a bit fed up with the same old same old? Sure it'll be great to see the "big" clubs coming down to the Amex, but even that'll get boring once we seen them a few times, managed the odd win, but become more prepared for a hammering. We will face each new season knowing that the best we can hope for is a good cup run or maybe a top-half finish.

I know it's harking back to "the good old days", but wasn't it better when clubs like Ipswich, Blackburn, Leeds, Villa, Forest, etc could be champions of England?

The Yanks have the right idea with American Football where the bottom club gets the first round draft pick from college players. Sure helps to even things out.

I really think we need to end this dominance of the Premier League by three or four giants, but how to do it? Any great ideas?