Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club is an English football club based in the coastal city of Brighton & Hove, East Sussex. They play in Football League One, after their relegation following the 2005/06 season from the Championship. The team are nicknamed 'Seagulls', partly due to the city's seaside location and partly as a response to the similar sounding nickname 'Eagles' of their arch rivals Crystal Palace. Prior to this nickname they were known as 'the Dolphins' or 'the Twins'. The team have historically played play in blue and white stripes, though this changed to plain blue for a period in the 1980s. Founded in 1901, Brighton played their early professional football in the Southern League. They were elected to the Football League in 1920. Between 1979 and 1983 they were in the old First Division. In 1983 they reached the final of the FA Cup, which they drew 2–2, but lost 4–0 in a replay to Manchester United. They were relegated from the First Division in the same season. But over the next decade or so, financial problems dragged the Seagulls down the league and in 1997 they narrowly avoided relegation to the Nationwide Conference. A boardroom takeover saved Brighton from going out of business, and by 2001 they had climbed out of the basement division. A second successive promotion was achieved, but they were relegated after just one season. Promotion was gained at the first attempt, but the Seagulls went down again two years later.
Well known former managers of the Seagulls include Jimmy Melia, Brian Clough, Barry Lloyd, Liam Brady, Steve Gritt, Micky Adams, Peter Taylor, Steve Coppell and most recently Mark McGhee. Well known former players include Peter Ward, Mark Lawrenson, Tony Grealish, Chris Coward, Jimmy Case, Steve Foster, Dean Saunders, Gordon Smith, Gary Stevens, Frank Worthington and Bobby Zamora.
Brighton currently play at Withdean Stadium in Brighton, where they have been tenants since 1999. For two years before that they ground-shared with Gillingham, after their previous stadium — the Goldstone Ground — was sold by the clubs former owners to help pay off debts. They are hoping to move into a long-awaited new 22,000-seat stadium at Falmer in 2010; the new stadium has been on the cards since the late 1990s. A decision allowing the club to build at Falmer was given on 24th July, 2007, and on 31st July 2007 Lewes District Council confirmed they would not be appealing against Hazel Blears' decision. Falmer Parish Council followed suit shortly after leaving the way clear for the stadium's construction.