How to become a Brighton & Hove Albion fan

Here’s a quick tip for you: there’s no such thing as a “true fan”, really.

If you’re enthusiastic about something and you’re willing to learn, then it doesn’t matter if you can regurgitate trivia; anyone can learn facts, but it takes true passion to put them into cohesive arguments or use them in a way that’s fun and interesting.

With that in mind, if you’re just getting into English football – or, indeed, if you’re just beginning to follow the fortunes of our beloved Brighton & Hove Albion – then the only real way to get into the sport is to let enough time pass that you officially become “a fan”.

With that said, we’ve put together a little primer to help you just in case you want a boost. Here’s how to become a Brighton fan if you’re new to the beautiful game or the Seagulls.

Learn the team
Do you know your Duffy from your Roberts? Are you familiar with the Seagulls’ starting eleven, and can you predict who’s going to get substituted on after an injury or a card?

These are important skills to have if you’re a fan of a football team, and this goes for Brighton & Hove Albion as well.

You don’t need to be able to recite all of the team’s past players by heart, but knowing the starting line up and formation will stand you in good stead when you’re hanging out with other fans and swapping strategy tips!

Try betting
Sports betting is a good way to take your love of a team to the next level, or to add some stakes to an otherwise fairly vanilla game.

Using the sites listed here, you can indulge in some sports betting with the Seagulls. Try betting when Maupay is going to score his first, for example, or when women’s keeper Megan Walsh is going to leap for a ball and stop it in its tracks.

Remember that you can never guarantee victory when you’re betting; when it stops being fun, that’s when you need to walk away, but if you’re still enjoying yourself (and not losing money), then have fun!

Play some football yourself
If you want to put your love of Brighton into action, why not head out to your local football field and have a kickabout yourself?

Pick up a kit with your favourite player’s name on it (or your own, if you’re feeling particularly heroic) and see if you can put together a team of your friends or fellow supporters.

If you’re enjoying yourself, then why not join a local five-a-side league? You never know; you could be the next big thing, or perhaps even a star manager that’s going to lift Albion out of its position in the Premier League and take it all the way to the top!

Watch every game and know your fixtures
It’s a good idea to keep up with the fixtures if you can. Most Seagulls matches are broadcast live on a variety of UK channels; you can see them on Sky, ITV, BT Sport, and various other channels, so make sure you set your TV to remind you when they’re on (or record them if you’re unable to make it).

You can also make an event of it; invite a few other fans round, grab some snacks and drinks, and get ready to spend the next 90 minutes (or more if there’s extra time) criticising Graham Potter’s decisions and swearing you could do a better job yourself. It’s all part of the ritual.

Go to the games
If you’re local – or if Albion is playing a team that’s local to you – then you should try to score a ticket if you can. If you can’t stretch to a season ticket, try to attend a couple of games when you’re able.

There’s something about the atmosphere of a live football game that’s completely different to watching it on TV, and it’ll make you feel like a true fan to sit alongside like-minded folks, cheering for Gully as he makes his way onto the pitch.

If you absolutely can’t go to the games, then watching live on TV is fine, but you owe it to yourself to experience the ambience of a live game at least once if possible.

Read Seagulls!
There’s an excellent book about the history of Brighton & Hove Albion that you should definitely read if you want to become a fan.

Tim Carder’s Seagulls! is an in-depth look at the team over the years; it describes itself as a “comprehensive history”, and it’s hard to argue with that when it includes every little tidbit of information pertaining to the club that you could possibly want.

It takes you through Albion’s early years and if you’re angling to become a supporter of the club, you could do a lot worse than reading it. There are other Albion books around, too, if you don’t get along with Seagulls! for whatever reason.

Form a supporters’ club
Via the official Albion website, you can apply to form a supporters’ club if you like. These clubs give you the right to use the club’s logo, as well as giving you group ticket access benefits, listings on the Albion website, and other perks.

If you manage to become an official supporters’ club, you’ll also get promotion of your news and events, as well as LEDs and perimeter branding at the Falmer Stadium and plenty more.

You only need 10 members minimum, and there’s a £10 annual membership fee, but this is more than worth it if you want to be a true fan of the club.