The Seagulls Best Ever Season: A new book charting the 2021-22 campaign
A new book has been released charting Brighton & Hove Albion’s record-breaking 2021-22 campaign through the eyes of a supporter who took the plunge and bought his first season ticket at the age of 66.
Regular WAB readers will know the name Tony Noble and quite possibly his story too. Tony went to his first Albion game at the Goldstone Ground in 1966.
After a couple of years as a regular stood at the front of the North Stand, his family moved away from Sussex when Tony was 12 and he was forced to watch from afar ever since.
Until the 2021-22 campaign. At the age of 66, Tony bought his first ever Brighton season ticket. It turned out to be quite a good year to do so, Graham Potter leading the Seagulls to their best ever finish of ninth in the top flight of English football.
Throughout the campaign, Tony contributed a regular column to WeAreBrighton.com on his experiences as a 66-year-old first-time season ticket holder.
From navigating the challenges of getting to the Amex via public transport to finding ways to keep up-to-date with away games whilst in a foreign restaurant without his wife and friends realising, it has been quite the adventure.
There were situations almost as difficult as keeping a stable MyAlbion TV connection for Potter and his players on the pitch. They endured an 11 game, three month winless streak between mid-September and Boxing Day.
January to April saw a 96 day run without a goal being scored at the Amex. Six consecutive defeats in the Spring was the club’s worst run of form for 16 years.
Tony though remained unwavering in his positivity and support for the team, even through those moments. And of course, the good more than made up for the bad – including a famous 4-0 win over Manchester United, shock successes at Arsenal and Spurs on back-to-back weekends, and no less than six last minute goals which often turned despair into joy.
All of Tony’s columns for WAB have now been turned into a book, offering a unique overview of the campaign on a game-by-game basis from an Albion season ticket holder.
It includes Tony’s own pictures, so as to give an even truer sense of what it was like to watch the Seagulls soar higher than ever before for a supporter watching the club regularly for the first time in over 50 years.
The Seagulls Best Ever Season can be purchased via Amazon, either as a paperback or on kindle. To buy please click here.
And yes, for those wondering – Tony will be back writing for WAB next season. Fingers crossed the sequel about a 67-year-old with a season ticket for a second year proves to be even more of an adventure than the original…
