BOURNEMOUTH - Away, Falmer Years:
Prem 17/18-19/20 22/23-25/26, seasons 7-9 12-15 . . C'ship 13/14-14/15, seasons 3-4 . . '19 FA Cup . '17 EFL Cup.
no league meetings in seasons between 2011 to 2013, 2015 to 2017.
Prem previous encounters home & away: P12 W6 D1 L5 - see Clubs in Archive.
Albion PL/EFL record @ Cherries: W = 1 D = 1 L = 5

manager - Andoni Iraola (2023) P44 W = 38.6% @ July '24 . experience: head coach in La Liga latest after a playing career in Spain.
Vitality Stad - ave gate; 11.1K, cap; 11.4K . nickname: Cherries . shirt: red & black stripes.

Prem/EFL record from 11/12: 11 2 L1, 10 1 C, 16 9 / 12 14 18 P, 6 2 C, 15 12 11 @ 24/5/25.
Prem best finish = 9th (2nd sesn), worst finish = 18th.
C21; top ten - 1 time '17 . stayed up - 1 time in bottom six '16, relegated - '20.

24/25 odds at start: top six 12/1, top half 15-8 . sack AI 12/1 . expected to finish: mid div
run in: Ipswich 1-2 (H), West Ham 2-2 (A), Fulham 1-0 (H), Palace 0-0 (A), Man Utd 1-1 (H),
Arsenal 1-2 (A), Villa 0-1 (H), Man City 3-1 (A), Le'ster (H)
run in forecast*: 44pt > 58pt* . max was 71 . actual = 53 . Po was 10 . actual Po = 11

Cherries v Albion (A) from 17/18: 2-1 2-0 3-1 - - 0-2 3-0 1-2 . . W = 2 D = 0 L = 4 . F6 A11
scorers: March Mooy Ferguson Enciso Pedro Mitoma . (Knockaert Bissouma Andone - FAC)
memorable match: Season7 (A) - a time when Brighton fans realised how tough the Prem was for real.
note: for home Falmer Years results and reports scroll further below.

Season14, 8th Premier League (A) Sat 23/11/24 - w 1-2 ~ Pedro Mitoma
Bournemouth were playing their third consecutive elite campaign after regaining a Prem place in '22 and finishing in mid div last term. They were ko'd in R4 of the EFL Cup and R5 in the FA Cup. AFCB pre-season friendlies: in California; Wrexham 1-1, Arsenal 1-1. Then Vallecano 1-0 (H), Girona 3-2 (H). This Prem fixture was the 6th of 19 away, coming after the third intenational break, during the second quarter (Q2). The reverse game was 25 Feb '25 in mid season (Q2-3) - see home scroll further below. We had won the home match last season during Sept '23, scoring three times. Last term we'd met here during late April '24 when again put to the sword in Dorset. We finished 11th 48pts, while AFCB were 12th 48pts. Now we had 19pts and they had 15pts in this early period up to halfway thru. Our Prem record at the Vitality versus Cherries was; lll wl - in five seasons to date since '17. We'd found it hard to get points at their place. They were hoping to build another elite long stay. Current away form was; W2 D1 L2 F8 A7 - two wins. Hosts home form was: W3 D1 L1 F8 A4 - three wins. At the moment Brighton were 6th, while B'mouth were 12th from 11 games played. In the last three campaigns we'd been 9, 6 & 8 at the halfway stage (Q2). Albion were looking to avoid another defeat at Cherries. B'mouth had 3 players on nations duty at Euro 24 finals in Germany during June. In Aug Cherries had soon been ko'd in the EFL Cup R2 south tie at fellow Prem outfit West Ham. Their boss Andoni Iraola had spent around 89m on 8 new talents and a loan player prior to the big kickoff and before the August window shut. A fair expenditiure to boot. Headline news before the Prem pause was about how close the top half of the table looked for majority of teams - 3rd 19pts down to 13th 15pts. News after internationals was praising our many players who'd turned out for national teams at full & U21 levels. Two days prior to kickoff news came through of the passing of John Prescott, who was the instrumental politician for the granting of permission to build our new BHA stadium at Falmer.
*** match report: ten-man Albion got a right result. Although outplayed for much of this match blue & white snatched an early goal in each half then defended valiantly. First Pedro was on hand to tap in after Rutter's shot was parried (4 mins). Cherries chased the game but missed their chances and went into the interval goalless. On the re-start Mitoma ran on to a Pedro thru-ball assist to slot the second (49mins). Hosts made many more attempts to score while visitors held advantage of a two goal lead. Just before the hour mark Baleba was harshly sent off for a second yellow card. Locals piled on pressure but travellers held out. Hurzeler put on subs immediately from the red card incident and game management was now order of the day. At the death red & black shirts bagged a late consolation to soil an otherwise clean sheet (90+4mins). Brighton fans were singing in the rain, whilst storm Bert raged along the south coast towards our home city. We took back all three points for the soaking and thanked lady luck to boot. Fortune favours the brave, so our great attacking play and stoic defending paid dividend today. The bench had two U21s making up numbers, however there was sufficient class in this match-day squad to keep pedal to the metal when the going got tough. By their own admission Cherries were ripe low hanging fruit and we duly picked them off with a couple of enjoyable bites.
stats: ht 0-1, goals 93-4,49, poss 56%-44%, on target 5-4, off target 14-2, corners 7-0, fouls 12-10, yellows 2-3, red 0-1 subs 5-4, shape 4231-4231
weather: rain . gate: . MoM: Verbruggen - big saves
team: 1 Verbruggen 34 Veltman 29 van Hecke 3 Julio 30 Estupinan 20 Baleba 26 Ayari 22 Mitoma 14 Rutter 9 Pedro 18 Welbeck
subs: 11 Adingra 64 (14), 27 Wieffer 64 (9), 33 O'Riley 76 (26), 28 Ferguson 86 (18)
bench: 23 Steele 8 Gruda 10 Enciso 44 McConville 47 Samuels
squad: 2 Lamptey 6 Milner 7 March 15 Moder 17 Minteh . injured: 5 Dunk 4 Webster 24 Kadioglu 41 Hinshelwood
Prem P12 . W3 D3 L0 . F11 A8 . W3 D1 L2 . F10 A8 . Pt22 Po5 = 1.83pt/gm . W = 50% L = 16.6%

Cherries:
Quatr: Pl . W D L . . . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . W% L%
total: 37 . 14 11 12 . 56 46 10 . 53 11 = 1.43 . 37.8 32.4
3qtr: 29 . 12 08 09 48 36 12 . 44 10 = 1.51 . 41.3 31.0
hfwy: 19 . 08 06 05 . 29 23 06 . 30 07 = 1.57 . 42.1 26.3
start: 10 . 04 03 03 . 13 12 1 . 15 10 = 1.50 . 40.0 30.0 - A Iraola
EFL Cup: West Ham 1-0 (A) R2
FA Cup: Man City 1-2 (H) q-f, Wolves 5pen4 1-1 aet (H) R5, Everton 0-2 (A) R4, West Brom 5-1 (H) R3
Nov: 10th in table, 1pt off 8th at Q1
Jan: 7th, 5pt behind 4th at midway Q2
Apr: 10th, 1pt behind 9th at three-quarters stage Q3
May: xth, xpt behind xth at finish Q4

Season13, 7th Premier League (A) Sun 28/4/24 - L 3-0
This late April Sunday lunchtime fixture was the penultimate away game. In the January transfer window no big business was done by Prem clubs due to enforced fair play rule & regs. So Albion continued with our much depleted original squad - although several injuries had been incurred during first-half of the season, from Prem games, Europa League group matches and domestic Cup competition. So far hosts habitual home record was; W6 D6 L5 F23 A26 - an average return. Our Prem record at the Vitality versus Cherries was; lll w - in four seasons to date. Three initial losses stand out. We'd found it a tough place to score and prevent goals during formative campaigns. Current away form was; W4 D5 L8 F24 A31 - not very good. At the moment Brighton were 12th, while Bournemouth were 11th from 33 & 34 played respectively. They had also changed managers 4 times during our Prem years - Andoni Iraola seemed a good fit now. But it was hoped Seagulls would take more points out of Dorset on travels today. Based on previous meetings Brighton were looking for a second straight win in Bournemouth. There were a glut of clubs in mid div and Albion could definitely not afford to get beat on the road again. It would be about who could get a result, hit the net, score most goals, or at least keep a clean sheet. Lately all these fundamental stats were proving to be very big problems for us. Our match-day squad was required to step up and find their scoring boots once more pdq.
*** match report: momentum is a big thing. Bournemouth had it, while Brighton did not. Hosts form was very good during second half of the campaign but we were on a downward spiral spinning towards finishing just above the bottom six. Brighton fans witnessed another abject performance with no goals scored and a defence that leaks like that west pier structure in the sea at Hove. De Zerbi thought we were on the beach anyway and apologised to travelling support afterwards. Albion conceded very early at a corner routine and were chasing the game (13mins). Soon after halftime Cherries got a second when we were ripe for picking (52mins). Their third came from a fast counter and we couldn't deal with that either (87mins). Seagulls were shot down with hardly a squark. Playing in blue & white didn't do much for pride at all. We can't defend properly, nor take chances, or mix our game up to carry a threat. We are one trick ponies who flatter to deceive. Yes, there is mitigation from injuries across the season. But it's a squad game and we have to question whether our group was big enough to cope from last summer in America. Midweek excursions into Europe have taken a toll as well. At the subsequent fans forum there were more questions than answers by way of post mortem.
stats: ht 1-0, goals 13,52,87, poss 30%-70%, on target 6-1, off target 9-12, corners 8-2, fouls 14-10, yellows 2-2, subs 5-5, shape 442-4231
weather: sunny . gate: 11,188 away 1301 . MoM: ?
team: 1 Verbruggen 42 Offiah 5 Dunk 3 Julio 19 Barco 24 Adingra 11 Gilmour 13 Gross 40 Buonanotte 55 O'Mahony 9 Pedro
subs: 18 Welbeck 45 (55), 10 Enciso 66 (24), 34 Veltman 74 (42), 4 Webster 74 (3), 20 Baleba 88 (9)
bench: 23 Steele 14 Lallana 15 Moder 31 Fati
squad: 38 McGill (gk) . injured: 2 Lamptey 6 Milner 7 March 28 Ferguson 29 van Hecke 30 Estupinan 41 Hinshelwood
Prem P34 . W7 D6 L3 . F28 A23 . W4 D5 L9 . F24 A34 . Pt44 Po12 = 1.29pt/gm . W = 32.3% L = 35.2%

Quatr: Pl . W D L . . . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . W% L%
total: 38 . 13 09 16 . 54 67 -13 . 48 12 = 1.26 . 34.2 42.1
3qtr: 29 . 10 08 11 . 43 53 -10 . 38 13 = 1.31 . 34.4 37.9
hfwy: 19 . 07 04 08 . 28 35 -07 . 25 12 = 1.31 . 36.8 42.1
start: 10 . 01 03 06 . 08 21 -13 . 06 17 = 0.60 . 10.0 60.0 - A Iraola
EFL Cup: Liverpool 1-2 (H) R4, Stoke 2-0 (H) R3, Swansea 2-3 (A) R2
FA Cup: Leicester 0-1 (H) R5, Swansea (H) R4, QPR 2-3 (A) R3
Oct: 17th in table, 1pt off 18th at Q1.
Dec: 12th, 3pts from 11th at Q2.
Mar: 13th, 1pt off 12th at Q3.
May: finished 12th, 1pt from 10th at Q4.
23/24 odds at start: top half 8/1, bottom half 1-12, rel 9-4 . sack AI 14/1 . expected to finish: mid table
run in from 30/3/24: Everton 2-1 (H), Palace 1-0 (H), Luton 2-1 (A), Man Utd 2-2 (H),
Villa 3-1 (A), Wolves 0-1 (A), Brighton 3-0 (H), Arsenal 3-0 (A), Brentford 1-2 (H), Chelsea 2-1 (A)
run in *forecast @ 29/3/23: 35pt > *46pts . max was 65 . Actual = 48 . Po was 13th . Actual po = 12th

Season12, 6th Premier League (A) Tue 4/4/23 - W 0-2 ~ Ferguson, Enciso
This fixture was rescheduled well into second half of the campaign, following on from the pause for the '22 World Cup finals in Nov-Dec. It was originally postponed from 10th Sept due to national mourning at the death of Queen Elizabeth. And eventually played two months after the reciprocal home game in early February. Hands up who really recalls much about our two Sept '17 excursions; for a very early Prem fixture loss and EFL Cup tie knockout at the Vitality Stad in sandy Boscombe (see away scroll below). Or those two further Prem defeats from subsequent winter campaigns for that matter. These were: Dec '18 (later in between was a Jan'19 FA Cup tie) and finally Jan '20 (seasons 7-9). But right now it all seemed like; a different ball game, golden boot was laced on the other foot, Prem goal-posts had moved etc... and/or any similar popular footie saying which might metaphorically apply. Seagulls were out to prove who was the best south-coast club during the twenties - following a decade playing second fiddle to likes of Cherries, Saints and even Portsmouth in noughties years earlier. The squad was different now, contained more quality and professed to be up to Prem speed.
notes - as of original fixture date: by closing of the August transfer window Bissouma (Spurs 25m), Cucurella (Chelsea 60m) & Maupay (Everton 15m) were history, while Estupinan, Undav & Mitoma, plus kids Enciso & Ferguson were now in the Prem squad, with Colwill here too on loan. Almost on the stroke of midnight (poetic licence) Billy Gilmour (Chelsea 8m) joined us for the duration. In early Sept just prior to final prep for that original contest date Graham Potter left the club to join Chelsea. Albion head coach now was Roberto de Zerbi, in place for October Prem fixtures resuming since the international break. In contrast Cherries spent 0m by start of the season. Well, from May to July anyway. And sacked their manager after merely 4 Prem fixtures as well. At close of the August transfer window hosts had added a couple of buys to freebies gotten in already and an on-loan to boot. An interim head coach took charge and later got the job permanently.
Both clubs went to Dubai for their warm-weather camps during the World Cup finals in December '22. By close of the January '23 transfer window Cherries added a few players to their first eleven squad in a bid to escape possible relegation. Since then Albion had been in good form but hosts were really up against it to stay in the div come May.
*** match report: as the clock ticked down towards ninety minutes it appeared this contest would end as a single goal victory to visitors. At the death Albion got a second goal to record the first Prem win at Dean Court. Ferguson got the first with a cheeky back heel from Mitoma's pass (28mins). But Cherries were always in the game and carried a threat throughout. However their chances went begging to equalise as travellers piled on pressure with many positive attempts to stretch the lead. Mac Allister & Caicedo went off injured but their young replacements performed well. Enciso got his first Prem goal, in stoppage time, when netting from great build up by Gross (91mins). Perhaps the result flattered us but Brighton fans didn't care coz we were edging closer to clubs in 3rd, 4th & 5th places in the table. Coming weeks would show if Albion could cut the mustard with those big boys and set records almost way beyond our wildest dreams as a mere top ten outfit.
stats: ht 0-1, goals 28,91, poss 36%-64%, on 3-6, off 11-10, corners 5-5, fouls 11-5, yellows 1-1, subs 5-4, shape 4411-4231
weather: dry . gate: 10,266 (away 1309) . MoM: Estupinan - up & back
team: 23 Steele 34 Veltman 4 Webster 5 Dunk 20 Estupinan 7 March 13 Gross 10 Mac Allister 25 Caicedo 22 Mitoma 28 Ferguson
subs: 18 Welbeck 73 (28), 20 Enciso 73 (10), 26 Ayari 80 (25), 21 Undav 93 (22)
bench: 1 Sanchez (gk) 6 Colwill 29 van Hecke 27 Gilmour 40 Buonanotte
injured: 14 Lallana 19 Sarmiento . squad: 2 Lamptey 49 Moran
Prem: P27 . W7 D3 L4 . F25 A14 . W6 D4 L3 . F26 A20 . Pt46 Po6 = 1.70pt/gm . W = 48.1% L = 25.9%

Quatr: Pl . W D L . . . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . W% L%
total: 38 . 11 06 21 . 37 71 -34 . 39 15 = 1.02 . 28.9 55.2 - G O'Neil
3qtrs: 29 . 07 06 16 . 27 57 -30 . 27 18 = 0.93 . 24.1 55.1
hfwy: 19 . 04 04 11 . 18 41 -23 . 16 17 = 0.84 . 21.0 57.8 - G O'Neil
start: 10 . 03 04 03 . 10 22 -12 . 13 10 = 1.30 . 30.0 30.0 - S Parker
EFL Cup: Newcastle 1-0 (A) R4 . Everton 4-1 (H) R3 . Norwich 3pen5 2-2 (A) R2.
FA Cup: Burnley 2-4 (H) R3.
Oct: 10th in table, 2pts off 6th at Q1. Manager sacked.
Jan: 17th, 1pts off 16th at halfway stage Q2.
Apr: 18th, 0pts behind 17th at three quarters stage Q3.
May: 15th, 3pts above 17th at Q4.
22/23 odds at start: rel 8-13, bottom 15-8, stay up 5-4 . Sack SP 10/1 . Expected to finish: in bottom three.
run in from 8/4/23: Leicester 0-1 (A), Spurs 2-3 (A), West Ham 0-4 (H), Soton 0-1 (A),
Leeds 4-1 (H), Chelsea 1-3 (H), Palace 2-0 (A), Man Utd 0-1 (H), Everton 1-0 (A)
run in *forecast @ 7/4/23: 27pt > *35pts . Max was 54 . Actual = 39 . Po was 18th . Actual po = 15th

Seasons 10-11 (4th-5th) (A) - not Premier League.

Season9 3rd Premier League (A) Tue 21/1/20 - L 3-1 ~ Mooy.
This fixture was played less than a month since our last meeting in the elite division at the Amex, just prior to New Year. Albion were now into reciprocal PL matches and presumably knew what they were going to face from this and rest of premier oposition thru winter & spring of '20. But both clubs were in the d-z mix of lower order outfits desperately trying not to get involved in an ongoing relegation battle. Each manager thought they knew the score but this is an unforgiving divsion, where you're only considered as good as your last result. And apart from giants of the big six etc there weren't too many clubs that hadn't dropped into level2 at some point in their recent past. Brighton fans bore that in mind at present, having survived here over less campaigns than this week's smaller south coast opponents. Graham Potter had a strategy to keep BHA in this division but currently it was being severely tested. Tony Bloom wanted the club to be a top ten side and Dan Ashworth (technical director) was on board to get the right personnel in to achieve that dream. The January window was also open for business but so far merely a cold chill pervaded ongoing stadium atmospheres. Should Brighton fans be concerned? Well, we always had an opinion and to date were comparing things to last season when it all began to unravel from start of bleak mid winter.
*** match report: Albion crashed to an eighth defeat on the road to extend their poor record of never having won a game in January since 2018 to date. It began so well too as Seagulls took off and made the running for half an hour. Trouble was Cherries stopped 'em scoring and got two themselves by half-time, one being a Gross own goal. At the hour mark Potter put on 3 attacking subs together but all to no avail as hosts got a third goal to wrap up victory. Mooy scored a late consolation, at least making the score look a little more respectable. Potter said, 'we cannot be sorry for ourselves' during a robust vocal defence of BHA's performance across the whole ninety plus minutes. Stats showed visitors got good numbers as the away side and dominated possession to boot, although in truth couldn't beat the keeper who played a blinder. Brighton fans, whether they travelled to Bournemouth or kept in touch with live reports relayed to Sussex, were unhappy with this result and again socials & forums were full of harsh criticism. At end of the day it was tough to take but playing the blame game wasn't going to help an awful lot at this stage in moving on to a blank FA Cup Saturday ahead and then resume the PL schedule next month - effectively giving us two winter breaks in which to sort things out for better or worse.
stats: shape 4321-433, ht 2-0, goals 36,41,74-81, poss 34%-66%, on target 3-8, off target 8-13, corners 5-8, o/s 2-1,
fouls 9-12, yellows 1-1, subs 2-3 . MoM - Mooy . Gate - 10,065, away 1280 . Weather - cold & dry.
1 Ryan, 46 Alzate, 15 Webster, 5 Dunk, 30 Bernardo Y (20 March 60), 18 Mooy, 6 Stephens, 24 Propper, 16 Jahanbakhsh (44 Connolly 60),
7 Maupay, 13 Gross (11 Trossard) . Bench - 27 Button, 21 Schelotto, 4 Duffy, 17 Murray.
Squad - 3 Bong, 8 Bissouma, 14 Balogun, 22 Montoya . Injured - 19 Izquierdo, 33 Burn.
Prem: P24 . W4 D5 L3 . F16 A13 . W2 D2 L8 . F11 A21 . Pt25 Po15 = 1.04pt/gm. Wins = 25%, Loss = 45.8%

Quatr: Pl . W D L . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . . W% L%
Total: 38 . 9 7 22 . 40 65 -25 . 34 18 = 0.89 . 23.6 57.8 - E Howe, finish 2/7/20.
3qtrs: 29 . 7 6 16 . 29 47 -18 . 27 18 = 0.93 . 24.1 55.1 PREM SUSPENDED
Hfwy: 19 . 5 5 09 . 20 26 -06 . 20 16 = 1.05 . 26.3 47.3
Start: 10 . 3 4 03 . 14 14 00 .. 13 08 = 1.30 . 30.0 30.0 - E Howe.
EFL Cup: 3rd rnd - Burton 2-0 (A), 2nd rnd - Forest green 3pen0 0-0 (H)
FA Cup: Arsenal 1-2 (H) R4, Luton 4-0 (H) R3.
Aug: not really where steady Eddie wanted to be positioned but the div was tight as a cork in a bottle from 8th place downwards.
Oct: in among big group of teams hanging on to shirt tails of leading six by end of start Q1.
New Year: slipped into d-z but thru for FAC4 draw.
March: 18th place in d-z when Prem suspended.
July: in big trouble and it got worse on last day despite winning - relegated. Howe then resigned.

Season8 FA Cup 3rd rnd (A) Sat 5/1/19 - w 1-3 ~ Knockaert, Bissouma, Andone.
This tie took place merely two weeks after Albion had rocked up in suburban Boscombe for their regular PL away fixture. The 3rd rnd FA Cup draw had pitted south-coast rivals against one another and this year many other knockouts were also kicking off at lunchtime instead of the traditional 3pm start. Brighton fans were well aquainted with such changes by now and also knew the Vitality Stad quite well, also from two games here last term (see season7 below), apart from very many contests in previous campaigns at lower level (scroll further down). Pre kickoff the big question on B'fans lips was whether Chris Hughton, our well respected boss of 4 years at BHA, would field a recognised 1st or 2nd team against Cherries. In the event he elected the latter choice. Jason Steele made his debut in goal, while Dan Burn who had come back from on loan at Wigan, sat on the bench.
*** match report: Albion went two up around the half hour mark, were pegged back in the second half but scored again to see it out in fine style. Knockaert got the opener after good work by Locadia (31min). Then Bissouma doubled the lead quickly with a long range punt to just inside a post (34min). In the second period Cherries soon got back into the tie with an effort from outside the area (55min). But Andone finished off a tell-tale set piece routine after Duffy headed back over a Knockaert corner (64min). Late subs kept pedal to the metal as tired legs got removed from the sudden death fray. It was a fair result and VAR wasn't needed in any possible dispute at either end.
Chris Hughton said, 'I am delighted to go through - we've got a tough period coming up but I've rather be in the next round than not. We didn't start the game too well, had some problems early on but probably were 2-0 up against run of play. But we managed the game well in the second half and it's a great result for us.'
Stats; ht 0-2, goals 55-31,34,64, shape 4411-433, poss 49%-51%, on target 3-3, off target 11-7, corners 8-1,
fouls 6-7, yellows 2-1 (Stephens), subs 3-3 . MoM - Knockaert. Gate 10,522, away 2190 . Weather - cold, dry & cloudy.
23 Steele, 2 Bruno (22 Montoya 86), 4 Duffy, 14 Balogun, 3 Bong, 11 Knockaert (42 Gyokeres 91), 8 Bissouma, 6 Stephens,
7 Kayal, 9 Locadia (20 March 73), 10 Andone . Bench: 27 Button, 33 Burn, 24 Propper, 17 Murray.

Season8 2nd Premier League (A) Sat 22/12/18 - L 2-0.
Approaching Xmas & New Year fixtures for halfway into this second PL campaign, Albion turned up in Dorset during a very busy month. Away form was nothing to write home about once more and Seagulls had missed a trick for picking up precious points at both Cardiff & Burnley recently. A meagre tally of 7pts gained on the road to date was not really sufficient to bolster those already collected at fortress Amex - for the final figure to ensure survival in May. Seagulls away record was, lld lwl lwl so it appeared we merely picked up points from one game in three. Chris Hughton had yet to find a method of play to keep a clean sheet consistently and score up the other end - results had been 2-0, 1-0, 2-2, 2-0, 0-1, 3-1, 2-1, 1-2, 1-0. On the day he chose a varied line-up to that fielded regularly beforehand.
*** match report: Albion crashed to defeat once more and flattered to deceive when going a goal behind. Early play from Seagulls looked the part in build up but chances created were saved, parried or blocked. Then Cherries scored with a drive from down-range and wind went out easily from beneath visitors wings (21min). After a pep talk at halftime, visitors were no better and around the hour mark Dunk got booked. Knockaert came on to try and up the ante but soon Dunk collected another yellow and the subsequent red card (73min). Bong arrived as travellers reshaped to defend with ten men. Moments later hosts doubled their lead with a fluke back header on the run high over Ryan's reach (77m). Murray next joined the fray but the game was well and truly up for BHA as they went thru motions in yet another loss. Hughton said, 'chances are the pinnacle moments of any game but on the balance of play I thought we deserved more.' TV replays showed Dunk unfortunately got the first card when actually Bissouma brought the man down... Hughton was philosophical, knowing there was no appeal process. Brighton fans felt frustrated but with two fixtures just ahead between Xmas & New Year, there wasn't too much time to dwell on continuing negatives prior to massed Yuletide festivities.
Stats; shape 442-4141, h-t 1-0, goals 21,77, poss 57%-43%, on target 3-5, off target 7-4, blocks 4-1, crosses 13-19, corners 6-5, tackles 12-19, fouls 8-18, yellows 2-2, red 0-1 (Dunk), subs 3-3 . Gate 10,491, away 1296 . MoM - Bissouma . Weather - mild & settled.
1 Ryan, 22 Montoya, 14 Balogun, 5 Dunk (C), 30 Bernardo, 9 Locadia (11 Knockaert 70), 8 Bissouma, 24 Propper,
20 March, 13 Gross (3 Bong 76), 10 Andone (17 Murray 80) . Bench: 23 Steele, 2 Bruno, 6 Stephens, 7 Kayal.
Prem P18 . W4 D2 L2 . F13 A10 . W2 D1 L7 . F7 A16 . Pt21 Po13 = 1.16pt/gm. Wins = 33.3%, Loss = 50%

Quatr: Pl . W D L . F A GD . . . Pt Po pt/gm . . W% L%
Total; 38 . 13 6 19 . 56 70 -14 . 45 14 = 1.18 . 34.2 50.0 - E Howe
3qtrs; 29 . 10 4 15 . 39 54 -15 . 34 12 = 1.17 . 34.4 51.7
Hfwy; 19 . 08 2 09 . 27 33 -06 . 26 12 = 1.36 . 42.1 47.3
Start; 10 . 06 2 02 . 19 12 +7 .. 20 06 = 2.00 . 60.0 20.0 - Howe.
EFL Cup; q-f - Chelsea 1-0 (A), 4th rnd - Norwich 2-1 (H), 3rd rnd - Blackburn 3-2 (H), 2nd rnd south - MK Dons 3-0 (H)
FA Cup; 3rd rnd - Brighton 1-3 (H)
Aug; Howe has managed to stay on positive sides of PL fine lines but any dip in form could be a step too far.
October; started very well, easily inside top ten and 6th to date. Still in EFL Cup.
New Year; suffered dip in form and left in mid table mediocrity. Out of FA Cup.
March; holding a regular middle order berth.

Season7 (A) 19/9/17 - League Cup r3, L 1-0 aet.
Merely four days after their initial Premiership clash (see below), Albion visited Cherries again, for an EFL Cup round3 tie. As anticpated Chris Hughton made almost a complete alteration to the teamsheet produced for the league fixture. And furthermore he played a brand new 343 formation. Apart from Rosenior, many second string squadies turned out as in round2. Recent August transfer window signings Tim Krul (gk) and Ezequiel Schelotto, plus U23 kid Dessie Hutchinson, made their debuts. Jose Izquierdo also started a match for the first time. The bench was a mix of first teamers and U23 players.
*** match report: Albion were knocked out by a single goal scored in extra time. They had chances to score but the makeshift strike force flattered to deceive. At the back 3 central defenders did well, supported by a young midfield pair and wingbacks running length of the touch line. Despite useful possession & build up play, Seagulls were well adrift of Cherries in registering on/off chances. Over 120 minutes, by law of averages, hosts proved atute enough to edge thru to the next round. Hughton made all 4 subs in extra time, soon after BHA conceded. They were finally broken down by a 1-2 in the area (99 min). Hughton said, 'it was about getting as many positives out of the game as we could. We knew we'd have to defend well and for large periods we did. Overall I'm delighted with the performance, not the result. I'm disappointed for the lads because of the effort they put in. We executed the system (343) well.'
Stats; shape 4411-343, ht 0-0, ft 0-0, goal 99 aet, poss 42%-58%, on target 9-3, off target 20-5, corners 14-5, o/s 2-4,
fouls 10-11, yellows 1-1, subs 4-4. Gate 10,372 (away 1285)
26 Krul, 23 Rosenior (Capt) (36 Mateju), 18 Goldson, 4 Huenemeier, 21 Schelotto (24 Propper), 47 Hutchinson, 49 Molumby,
3 Bong, 8 Skalak (20 March), 15 Murphy, 19 Izquierdo (11 Knockaert)

Season 7 1st Premier League (A) 15/9/17 - L 2-1 ~ March.
Unusually Brighton fans went west rather than travelling north, although for a Friday evening k-o due to Sky tv coverage. These two south-coast sides were meeting in the Premier League for the first time but were well know to one another in EFL divisions this century - see below and prevous encounters during the Withdean era. Cherries were now in their third straight term in the elite, while new boys Albion were quickly adjusting to higher level contests. Chris Hughton more or less had the registered 25 man squad to select from, albeit Sam Baldock, Beram Kayal & Steve Sidwell were out long-term injured and Bruno was missing due to a bad back. New signings, winger Jose Izquierdo & full back Ezequiel Schelotto had yet to start, or loan keeper Tim Krul get a place on the bench. There were no new strikers in the group, although Championship 442 heroes Glenn Murray & Tomer Hemed were supplemented up front by versatile Pascal Gross operating as a no.10 in a 4411 shape. That evening Hugton put out the regular eleven.
*** match report: Albion led but lost the match. The first half was uninspiring and remained at stalemate. Seagulls went forward early into the second period and opened the scoring. March headed home from a Gross centre (55min). But BHA failed to keep control and were never a threat thereafter. Cherries subbed to attack and soon broke through with a 1-2 move (67min). Then they went ahead with a similar thrust from more pressure around the area (73min). Hughton immediately put Murray & Izquierdo into the fray but the game was up by then. Hughton said, 'losing is hard to take on the balance of play but that is what you are up against at this level. There is no doubt they have quality, which will always be a threat and we have to see that right through to the end.' Once again Albion came up short, especially up front where making & taking chances means points are taken if the defence is also solid. On this occasion both elements were found lacking.
Stats; shape 4411-4411, h-t 0-0, goals 67,73-55, poss 62%-38%, on target 3-2, off target 5-5, corners 6-4, o/s 1-1, fouls 5-11, yellow 0-0, subs 3-2. Attendance 10,369 (away 1231)
1 Ryan, 23 Rosenior, 22 Duffy, 5 Dunk (Capt), 29 Suttner, 11 Knockaert (19 Izquierdo), 6 Stephens, 24 Propper,
20 March, 13 Gross (17 Murray), 10 Hemed.
Prem P 5 . W 1 D 1 L 3 . F 4 A 7 . Pt 4 Po 15 = 0.80pt/gm . Wins = 20.0%, Loss = 60.0%

Quatr: Pl . W D L . . . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . . W% L%
Total; 38 . 11 11 16 . 45 61 -16 . 44 12 = 1.15 . 28.9 42.1 - Eddie Howe.
3qtrs; 29 . 08 09 12 . 34 44 -10 . 33 12 = 1.13 . 27.5 41.3
Hfwy; 19 . 04 04 11 . 15 28 -13 . 16 18 = 0.84 . 21.0 57.8
Start; 10 . 02 01 07 . 06 14 -08 . 07 19 = 0.70 . 20.0 70.0
Aug - the difference in also-ran clubs is marginal and by definition this outfit has more water to tread by default.
New Year - club was embroiled in a massive fight for PL survival.
March - mid table. EFL Cup Q-F. FA Cup 3rd rnd exit to League One club.

CHERRIES @ Home; Prem.
Seasn . W D L . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm %Pt . . W% . L%
24/25 - 07 4 7 . 21 16 05 .. 25 11 = 1.38 47.1 . 38.8 38.8 - Andoni Iralola @ 24/5/25
23/24 - 07 6 6 . 27 28 -01 . 27 12 = 1.42 56.2 . 36.8 31.5 - Andoni Iraola
22/23 - 06 4 9 . 20 28 -08 . 22 15 = 1.15 56.4 . 31.5 47.3 - Gary O'Neil & Scott Parker
20/21 - 21/22 not Premier League.
19/20 - 05 6 8 . 22 30 -08 . 21 18 = 1.10 61.7 . 26.3 42.1 - E Howe, finish 27/7/20.
18/19 - 08 5 6 . 30 25 05 .. 29 14 = 1.52 64.4 . 42.1 31.5 - E Howe.
17/18 - 07 5 7 . 26 30 -04 . 26 12 = 1.36 63.4 . 36.8 36.8 - E Howe.
16/17 - 09 4 6 . 35 29 06 .. 31 09 = 1.63 67.3 . 47.3 31.5 - E Howe.
15/16 - 05 5 9 . 23 34 -11 . 20 16 = 1.05 47.6 . 26.3 47.3 - E Howe.
11/12 - 14/15 - not Premier League, see scroll below seasons 3 & 4.

CHERRIES PREVIOUS PREM;
Prem points: - - - - 42 46 44 45 34 - - 39, 48
recent managers; Gary O'Neil (22-23), Scott Parker (21-22), Jonathan Woodgate (2021), Jason Tindall (20-21),
Eddie Howe (12-20), Paul Groves (2012), Lee Bradbury (11-12).
Gary O'Neil (22-23) . Experience: ex-EFL player and U21 coach latterly came thru Cherrie's staff.
Scott Parker (21-22) P50 W = 54% @ July '22 . Experience: had a losing spell before at this level.

Seasn . W D L . . . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . . W% L%
24/25 - 00 00 00 . 00 00 00 . 00 0 = 1.00 . 00.0 00.0 - Andoni Iraola @ 25/5/25

23/24 - 13 09 16 . 54 67 -13 . 48 12 = 1.26 . 34.2 42.1 - Andoni Iraola @ 20/5/24
New manager made a big difference and got biggest points for this small club.
22/23 - 11 06 21 . 37 71 -34 . 39 15 =
1.02 . 28.9 55.2 - S Parker & G O'Neil
Struggled from early and changed manager after start. Mid season in drop zone but good run-in to escape relegation.
20/21 - 21/22 not Premier League.
19/20 - 09 07 22 . 40 65 -25 . 34 18 = 0.89 . 23.6 57.8 - E Howe. PL SUSPENDED, complete @ 27/7/20.
Fighting a drop zone battle all season but it ended in tears on the final day, although winning away. Howe resigned shortly afterwards.
18/19 - 13 06 19 . 56 70 -14 . 45 14 = 1.18 . 34.2 50.0 - E Howe
Punching above their weight with a brand of football that gets enough points to keep a middle order berth.
17/18 - 11 11 16 . 45 61 -16 . 44 12 = 1.15 . 28.9 42.1 - Eddie Howe.
The top English boss last term and where would Cherries be since 2012, when the prodigal son returned to light up their meagre lives at the waters edge. He continued to deliver miracles of more loaves, fishes & points.
16/17 - 12 10 16 . 55 67 -12 . 46 09 = 1.21 . 31.5 42.1 - Eddie Howe.
Eddie upped the ante and somehow the south-coast minows were out of the deep and swimming with the big fish.
15/16 - 11 09 18 . 45 67 -22 . 42 16 = 1.10 . 28.9 47.3 - Eddie Howe.
Cherries were the 47th club to join the Premier League and nine months later were still members. That was no mean feat and essentially due to the outstanding leadership of Eddie Howe.
11/12 - 14/15 not Premier League - see below, seasons 3 & 4.

FA CUP from 11/12; 1st rnd, 2nd, 4th, 4th, 5th, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 4th, QF, 4th, 3rd, 5th, QF
LEAGUE CUP; 2nd rnd, 1st, 2nd, QF, 4th, 3rd, QF, QF, 3rd, 3rd, 2nd, 4th, 4th, 2nd
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Bournemouth away, Falmer years: 2011 to 2017 - Championship.
C'ship 13/14, 14/15 . Seasons 3-4.

Cherries v Albion (A) from 11/12 @ C: -, -, 1-1, 3-2, -, - . . W = 0 D = 1 L = 1
memorable match: Season3 (A) - some positive developments under Oscar Garcia.

Seasons 5-6 - not C'ship.

Season4 Championship (A) 31/10/14 - L 3-2 ~ Colunga, Baldock.
Eleven months had passed since Albion visited last autumn and of the two clubs, it was Cherries who had really improved, currently being fourth in the table. Meanwhile BHA were on a downward spiral. Sami Hyypia was in charge now and Albion also got a new squad, care of Bloom & Burke, in early weeks of the season. But results were poor, especially at home and Seagulls had not won in ten league fixtures. B'ton had just been knocked out of the League Cup r4 at Spurs, while B'mouth in contrast, got past WBA at Dean Court to reach the q-f stage. They'd put 8 past B'ham on travels recently and were quite enjoying an unbeaten run. Hyypia was pursuing a method of play that involved wingbacks providing crosses - if that didn't happen then,strikers were starved of chances. In truth, no forward or m-f player had scored since back in summer.
*** match report: About fifteen minutes in, Hughes was helped off with an ankle injury. More probs followed when Greer put thru Seagulls net (25min). But Colunga quickly equalised from a neat Teixeira thru ball (28min). Just when you thought it would be even steven at coffe time, an unmarked Cherry netted from distance (38min). After turn around, Albion got level again on the hour mark when Baldock went 1-on-1 from route one (60min). Just when you thought again it was gonna be even steven until the end, Seagulls gave Ref an easy penalty decision (76min). Sami brought on LuaLua and CMS to keep up momentum in the last half hour but all to no avail, although more chances to restore parity presented themselves. Sami said, 'I am frustrated. We were talking about the plan and then go and give those kind of goals away. You would think we can react and adapt.' 1200 Brighton fans who attended could see it was tough to take once more, especially as two forward players got off the mark in the same match but at end of the day, Albion were heading for the drop zone if that elusive victory couldn't be gained very soon.
Al-Habsi, Hughes (Calderon), Greer, Dunk, Bennett, Gardner, Holla, Forster-Caskey, Teixeira, Baldock (Mackail-Smith), Colunga (LuaLua).
Champ's P15 . W2 D7 L6 . F15 A19 . Pt13 Po21 . W = 13.3% L = 40%

Season3 (A) 30/11/13 - 1-1 ~ Barnes.
A late autumn trip down the coast, not too far from home, was just what the doctor ordered for Brighton and our enthusiastic travelling fans at this stage of the campaign. After all, runs to Leeds, Birmingham, Ipswich, Doncaster and Wigan had already stretched those so devoted to keep the faith. Albion's away record was good, where three wins, three draws and merely two losses were sum total to date. And hey, the gd was 6 against 5 - which was small but neat for a club pushing toward play-off places. Oscar Garcia too was pretty pleased with a developing unbeaten run thru Oct & Nov. Top squad members were available again after injury and he was probably not fielding his best team as yet.
*** match report: Before the half hour mark, Cherries went in front due to a teed-up f-k blasted thru Seagulls packed area (29mn). Albion suffered with a poor display during the opening forty-five minutes and OG subbed JFC for fit-again Bridcutt on turnaround. Visitors had to go forward of course, so took the game to thier hosts in fine fashion. Barnes snatched a fantastic equaliser ten mins into the second period by controlling and smacking a hum-dinger past the hapless keeper (55min). Orlandi also returned to action a little over the hour and later Andrews came on to keep up professional performance. A draw was probably the fairest result all round. Barnes said, 'I reckon it was the best goal I've ever scored. They usually end up in the trees.' OG said, 'we wanted three points but kept the momentum going and it was a good point.' Travellers ended behind on most stats, although ahead on negatives like fouls conceded and offsides. There was plenty of room for improvement to go get a full ninety minute display on the road in future. Then we'd be like a top-six outfit.
Kuszczak, Calderon, Greer, Upson, Ward, Crofts, Ince (Andrews), Forster-Caskey (Bridcutt), David (Orlandi), Barnes, Conway.
Champ's P17 . W6 D7 L4 . F20 A15. Pt25 Po9 . W = 35.2% L = 23.5%

Seasons 1-2 - not C'ship.
* * * * *

Withdean Era: 12 seasons from 1999 - 2011 -
Seasons 3 01/2, 5 03/4, 8 06/7, 9 07/8, 12 10/11 - League One.
Season1 99/00 (A) - League Trophy .

Withdean era: Cherries v Albion 1-1, 1-0, 1-0, 0-2, 1-0 . . . W = 1 D = 1 L = 3
L 1-0 EFL Trophy.
memorable match: Season9 (A) - a night when Seagulls scored two goals in Dorset.

Noughties last there: 22/1/11 (A) League One.
Our last 'derby' visit of this decade, prior to us moving to Falmer, at what older B'fans still call Dean Court.

11/1/00 (A) EFL Trophy . see Season1 for clubs/stadiums background.
Both south-coast clubs had and would further experience various ups & downs. At this time we were at lower level.

see: Seasons 3, 5, 8, 9, 12 for club & stadium info. Also Peter Taylor, Dean Wilkins & Gus Poyet.

Bournemouth - Home, Falmer Years: Prem 17/18-19/20 22/23-25/26, seasons 7-9 12-15 . . C'ship 13/14-14/15, seasons 3-4.
Albion record @ Amex: W = 3 D = 2 L = 2

Albion v Cherries from 17/18: 2-2 0-5 2-0 - - 1-0 3-1 2-1 . . W = 4 D = 1 L = 1 . F10 A9
scorers: Knockaert Murray Jahanbakhsh Mooy Mitoma Pedro Welbeck 3 og.
memorable match: Season8 (H) - when Brighton fans received a wake up call.
note: for away Falmer Years results & reports scroll further up.

Season14, 8th Premier League (H) Tue 25/2/25 - 2-1 ~ Pedro Welbeck
This reciprocal mid-week late Feb '25 fixture was the 13th of 19 at home, coming during mid-season (Q2-3). The reverse game was 23 Nov '24 after an international break in the second quarter (Q2) - see away scroll further above. Last term we'd met here during late Sept '23 when coming back strongly from a goal down at halftime. We had lost the away match last season during Apr '24, from a disappointing run-in sequence. At the halfway stage (Q2) we had 27pts and they had 30pts. Now at this later stage (Q3) we had 40pts and they had 43pts. Our Prem record at the Amex versus Cherries was; dlw ww - over five seasons to date since '17. Results were good on our patch. Current home form was; W4 D6 L2 F17 A14 - needs improving. Visitors away form was: W6 D4 L3 F27 A20 - good returns. At the moment Brighton were 9th, while B'mouth were 6th from 26 games played. At the halfway stage we were 10th and they were 7th. In the last three campaigns we'd been 9, 6 & 8 at the halfway stage and finished 9, 6 & 11. Albion were looking to add a fourth straight victory over Cherries. Their boss Andoni Iraola had added 5 new players in the January window. In the forthcoming FA Cup R5; B'mouth drew Wolves (H), while we got Newcastle (A) next weekend. Headline news this week was could Albion win 3 Prem matches in a row with anticipated victory tonight?
*** match report: yes, Albion did win and make it www for our last three fixtures. The final result came from a dogged display where either side threatened to take all points at various stages. Hosts got off to a positive start when Ref gave us a penalty after Pedro got illegally tackled. He duly stepped up and sent the keeper the wrong way (12mins). Brighton went toe to toe with visitors but neither scored again before halftime. On re-start B'mouth attacked in search of an equaliser. Just after the hour mark they netted an unstoppable fierce strike from down range (61mins). So Hurzeler made a trademark triple change with 20+ mins to go. Immediately Welbeck's effort from a Rutter thru ball hit the post and crossed the line (75mins). Cherries upped the ante and you could hear the pips squeek. Albion hung on to see it out and deny the Dorset outfit a point they probably deserved on stats at least. Brighton fans went home happy and Hurzeler thought we'd got lucky anyhow. Whatever the analysis BHA did the biz tonight and at end of the season only the result really matters in the great scheme of the Prem table final places. Maybe Europe was a reality after all.
stats: ht 1-0, goals 12,75-61, poss 43%-57%, on target 4-5, off target 7-14, corners 1-9, fouls 12-14, yellows 2-1, subs 5-4, shape 4231-4231
weather: mild . gate: ? . MoM: Webster - captains innings
team: 1 Verbruggen 2 Lamptey 29 van Hecke 4 Webster 30 Estupinan 17 Minteh 20 Baleba 25 Gomez 22 Mitoma 14 Rutter 9 Pedro
subs: 18 Welbeck 72 (9), 26 Ayari 72 (25), 41 Hinshelwood 72 (30), 27 Wieffer 85 (20), 7 March 90 (14)
bench: 39 Rushworth (gk) 8 Gruda 11 Adingra 33 O'Riley
squad: 16 Cashin 37 McGill (gk) . injured:.5 Dunk 24 Kadioglu 34 Veltman
rehab: 3 Julio 6 Milner 23 Steele . ool: 10 Enciso 28 Ferguson .
left: 15 Moder 32 Peupion 44 McConville 45 Boaitey 46 Ifill 47 Samuels 48 Turns
Prem P27 . W5 D6 L2 . F19 A15 . W6 D4 L4 . F25 A24 . Pt43 Po8 = 1.59pt/gm . W = 40.7% L = 22.2%

Season13, 7th Premier League (H) Sun 24/9/23 - W 3-1 ~ og, Mitoma 2
Back during mid summer's pre-season build up Bournemouth only visited an ex-Prem opponent; Southampton w 2-3 (A) for away game practice. But went off to Marbella: Hibs w 4-0, Maccabi L 0-1. Then hosted Atalanta 1-3 and Lorient 2-0 in Boscombe. Today's fixture followed Seagulls first flight into Europe on a Thursday nite at the Amex against AEK Athens - in the event an inaugral loss.. So after much foreign-induced domestic excitement we all turned up again on the following Sunday lunchtime for more emotional ups & downs. Albion finished 6th (62pts) and the Dorset outfit 15th (39pts) last term, giving us a 23pts +ve difference. Since joining the elite, Brighton had finished 15, 17, 15, 16, 9, 6, while B'mouth were 12, 14, 18 x x 15. Hosts had ambitious owners who wanted a second extended stay in the elite. Our Prem record at the Amex versus Cherries was; dlw w over four seasons to date. That one early loss does kinda stand out. We usually scored goals, tho an April '19 result proved the exception! Going into this Sept match BHA were 5th and B'mouth were 15th after 5 played. Also our south-coast rivals had gotten a brand-new coach on board for their latest campaign to remain a PL club. The small coastal outfit had spent 79m in the Aug transfer window on 5 buys, plus 2 undisclosed and 2 on loan. Visiting rookie manager Antonio Iraola had a remit to work miracles on the road this term. Based on previous meetings Brighton were now looking for a third straight win entertaining unpredictable B'mouth on home soil.
*** match report: the result was not exactly straightforward as Albion trailed at halftime. Domination of possession amounted to zip when Cherries netted into an open goal after Verbruggen lost the ball during playing out from the back - oops! (25mins). Hosts looked lost as how to get the ball rolling and actually attack opposition in the final third. It was only from visitors og just prior to halftime that fortunately got hosts back in the game from a turgid 45mins (45+mins). De Zerbi realised his tactics were hopeless and put on Mitoma & Fati immediately after the interval. Within seconds these two combined and the Japan star put blue & white ahead (46mins). He later added another from heading in Estupinan's lofted cross (77mins). De Zerbi said words to effect that the first half was one of the worst since he'd arrived here a whole year ago. He wasn't far wrong on this opinion as far as Brighton fans were concerned. But alls well that ends well - thanks to Mitoma. Baleba got his first run out for Seagulls, while a number of others increased essential minutes on the field and also obtained valuable Prem experience to boot. Its a tough league and there are bound to be steep learning curves for players trying to get up to speed from limited apps thus far. The thing about rotation is that you can't expect to duplicate the first eleven of multiple apps with bit-part players from off the bench. Those guys have to do their time on the pitch and reach the required level whatever the occasion. Over a period De Zerbi will work them on training-ground drills with a view to reproducing pukka team performances to fit any particular Prem fixture, cup tie or indeed Europa League game. He has a squad and shall use it accordingly with 4 competitions in play.
stats: ht 0-1, goals 35,46,77-25, poss 62%-38%, on target 4-4, off target 9-8, corners 4-4, fouls 12-17, yellows 3-3, subs 5-5, shape 4231-4231
weather: sun . gate: 31,617 . MoM: Mitoma - super, super sub
team: 1 Verbruggen 34 Veltman 4 Webster 5 Dunk 30 Estupinan 40 Buonanotte 8 Dahoud 11 Gilmour 24 Adingra 18 Welbeck 28 Ferguson
subs: 22 Mitoma 45 (40), 31 Fati 45 (28), 9 Pedro 64 (18), 20 Baleda 74 (8), 2 Lamptey 87 (24)
bench: 23 Steele 3 Julio 7 March 14 Lallana
squad: 29 van Hecke . injured: 6 Milner 10 Enciso 13 Gross 15 Moder
Prem P6 . W3 D0 L1 . F11 A6 . W2 D0 L0 . F7 A2 . Pt15 Po3 = 2.50pt/gm . W = 83.3% L = 16.6%

Season12 6th Premier League (H) Sat 4/2/23 - W 1-0 ~ Mitoma
This early Feb match was to be the first time we'd played Cherries this term due to the initial away game in Sept being postponed - see home scroll above. The Prem now resumed after a short interlude for FA Cup R4 ties in late Jan. Ok, concerning the league, we did concede goals here during very early elite days; 5 to Liverpool, 4&5 to Man City and 4 to Chelsea for a kickoff. In Jan '18 we'd first got a score draw versus Cherries at the Amex. But seeing 5 picked out of our net in Apr '19 was abundance enough for fans fruitful nightmares during formative Prem campaigns. In Dec '19 we finally won against 'em (seasons 7-9). The truth was our record overall against this small Dorset outfit at Falmer wasn't exactly prolific for seeing lotsa points gained (see C'ship scroll below). So perhaps no better time than to step up now and properly do the biz. Compare team-sheets from those first three inaugural terms with Seagulls current squad to assess whether these later guys could successfully cut the mustard on home turf. Albion head coach Roberto de Zerbi inherited from Graham Potter a small and fairly inexperienced group overall with many young players making up numbers. Facundo Buonanotte was added from Rosario in Argentina during Jan. Of 1st 11 regulars only Dunk, March and Gross were still on books from apps in our first PL season. Duffy signed to Fulham from beginning of Feb. At close of the Jan transfer window Leo Trossard had gone to Arsenal for 21m. Caicedo stayed coz BHA turned down Gunners 60+m bid. And 19yo Yasin Ayari joined the squad from AIk in Sweden for 3.5m. Otherwise it was all quiet on the southern front.
*** match report: the result hung in balance for vast majority of those ninety-plus minutes before finally Mitoma headed home a cross by Sarmiento right in front of away fans hoping to take a point back to Dorset (88mins). Albion attacked the north stand end during the first half, which was unusual for the Amex crowd more accustomed to seeing play begin the other way about. But as the clock ticked steadily thru this stalemate it appeared nil-nil would be recorded for both directions of a dour contest. Cherries soaked up a lot of pressure and thought they'd contained Seagulls, hitting us on the break when at last they got on the ball. Ref made some questionable decisions, although wasn't favouring either side. He twice turned down visitors pen appeals and let a fair bit of rough & tumble go unpunished. Albion didn't take several good chances to score, while Cherries missed a fair couple themselves. Roberto De Zerbi said of Mitoma, 'I can never take him off as he can score at any time. He's making a habit of it.' In truth others might have netted much earlier too but were not clinical enough in more straight-forward situations. Those formative days of watching Murray notching from a traditional striker's role seemed long gone now to Brighton fans. The free-scoring no.9 question was still to be answered.
stats: ht 0-0, goal 88, poss 71%-29%, on 6-2, off 14-10, corners 7-3, fouls 14-7, yellows 3-1, subs 5-3, shape 3421-4411
weather: cloudy . gate: 31,600, away 2555 . MoM: Mitoma - coz he broke deadlock
team: 1 Sanchez 2 Lamptey 34 Veltman 5 Dunk 30 Estupinan 7 March 13 Gross 27 Gilmour 22 Mitoma 21 Undav 18 Welbeck
subs: 25 Caicedo 57 (27), 19 Sarmiento 57 (18), 20 Enciso 75 (21), 40 Buonanotte 75 (2), 4 Webster 89 (7)
bench: 23 Steele 29 van Hecke 42 Offiah 49 Moran
injured: 6 Colwill 14 Lallana . rehab: 15 Moder . squad: 0 . left: 11 Trossard
Prem: P20 . W5 D2 L3 . F17 A10 . W5 D2 L3 . F21 A17 . Pt34 Po6 = 1.70pt/gm . W = 50.0% L = 30.0%

Seasons 10-11 (4th-5th) (H) - not Premier League.

Season9 3rd Premier League (H) Sat 28/12/19 - W 2-0 ~ Jahanbakhsh, Mooy.
We'd at long last gotten to this final game of the calendar year, that ott one jammed between Boxing Day & New Year - with a lunchtime kickoff to boot, thus completing playing all nineteen opposition PL clubs. But this was also first match of second half of the season - which now for the very first time had an official break during February. At the pre-halfway stage: P19 W5 D5 L9 F22 A28 GD-6 Pt20 Po15 = 1.05pt/gm. Last term Cherries brutally exposed Seagulls weakness on home territory (from January to May) and Brighton fans certainly didn't want to witness anything like that traumatic debacle ever again in a hurry (see Season8 below). But wishing & hoping has to be based in reality and home form pre-ko: P9 W3 D3 L3 F12 A11 = 1.33pt/gm. Pressure was on get the victory and all three points to ease further decline toward that cut off line above the drop zone.
*** match report: Albion scored very early (their fastest Prem goal to date) and took most of rest of the ninety minutes to add a second. Jahanbakhsh started for the first time this season and netted from Maupay's pass to put hosts in the driving seat (3min). The expected follow up goal didn't happen during the whole remaining first half and visitors coulda levelled before the break. VAR got involved after turnaround, chalking off a BHA score and dismissing a travellers pen shout to boot. AFCB put on attacking subs into the second period but it was Seagulls who appeared better placed to snatch the next goal. Mooy then showed great skills to control Trossard's centre, turn and clip a super shot inside the far post (79min). Visitors were reduced to ten men due to injury, so late BHA subs were merely seeing the game out for a clean sheet. Brighton fans went home happy, knowing a five point gap now kept us clear of the d-z. Stats looked ok too and most of those fit & available from the squad had been used over Xmas games. There were tough tests to come but every player seemed up for the fight and ready to take their chance when selected. You couldn't ask more from the squad at this stage. The January window would next show any active intent the club had to improve its status beyond merely being a regular bottom six outfit.
Stats; ht 1-0, goals 3,79, shape 433-442, poss 55%-45%, on target 6-2, off target 6-3, blocks 4-5, crosses 24-8, corners 9-2, o/s 3-0, tackles 22-17, fouls 8-11, yellows 0-2, red 0-0, subs 3-3 . Gate 30,441, away 1786 . Weather - dry . MoM - Mooy.
1 Ryan, 22 Montoya, 4 Duffy, 5 Dunk, 33 Burn, 8 Bissouma (17 Murray 88), 24 Propper, 18 Mooy (6 Stephens 84), 16 Jahanbakhsh (46 Alzate 84), 7 Maupay, 11 Trossard . Bench - 27 Button, 30 Bernardo, 13 Gross, 15 Webster.
Squad - 3 Bong, 14 Balogun, 21 Schelotto, 44 Connolly . Injured - 19 Izquiedo, 20 March.
Prem P20 . W4 D3 L3 F14 A11 . W2 D2 L6 F10 A17 . Pt23 Po14 = 1.15pt/gm. Wins = 30%, Loss = 45%

Season8 2nd Premier League (H) Sat 13/4/19 - L 0-5
This fixture was a week after Seagulls appearance at Wembley in FA Cup semis, where they had played ok but still got knocked out. So now it was back to basics for the Prem survival race to beat the drop. And make no mistake, Albion were on the edge of disaster if they failed to pick up sufficient points at the Amex this month. Since January when Seagulls got beat by Liverpool, Watford had drawn here, while Burnley & Southampton both won. So writing was clear on the west stand wall for getting a positive result asap & pdq as kilroy was here to boot!
*** match report: Booing resounded thru the Amex as Brighton fans witnessed frustrating humiliation at the final whistle. A five goal thrashing represented their biggest defeat since the community stadium opened in 2011. And it plunged Seagulls to 17th place and facing a relegation battle unless rot could be stopped in the next fixture. Goals went in at 33,55,74,82&92 mins to complete a rout and embarrassing reversal. Knockaert received a straight red card to boot for a very bad challenge. Chris Hughton said, 'they know how poor the performance was here. We have no choice, we have a game on Tuesday and everyone will be looking for a reaction. There's not one player in that changing room who hasn't been through a bad defeat and had to go again, that's the nature of the game. It's our worst overall performance and we have no choice but to be better.' About the sending off he also said, 'it's a reckless, emotional challenge. When things are not going well as a team you have to deal with it. We didn't and certainly Anthony didn't. He is aware he has let the team down.' Hughton threw Murray & Izquierdo on around the hour mark when Albion had conceded a second goal but things then quickly went from bad to worse. All goals were scored from nippy interplay on the floor and ripped our hapless defence apart. Thousands streamed out of hosts stands and bus queues were already very long as BHA let in two late goals. Cherries fans just couldn't believe how easy it had been on an exciting day out in Sussex. Brighton fans hit social media and gave vent to their anger. Comments included a feeling that a new manager was needed before too long. It all seemed a long way from the successful Cup run and getting to Wembley. But the truth was we couldn't blame it on luck today, for Cherries or Albion.
Stats; ht 0-1, goals 33,55,74,82,92, shape 433-442, poss 50%-50%, on target 1-7, off target 3-4, blocks 4-3, crosses 21-7, corners 4-1, o/s 1-0, tackles 17-23, fouls 10-6, yellows 2-4, red 1-0, subs 2-3 . Gate 30,460, away 2410 . Weather - showers & sun . MoM - Bissouma
1 Ryan, 22 Montoya, 4 Duffy, 5 Dunk, 30 Bernardo, 8 Bissouma Y, 6 Stephens, 24 Propper (19 Izquierdo 63), 11 Knockaert R68,
10 Andone Y (17 Murray 58), 9 Locadia . Subs - 27 Button, 3 Bong, 33 Burn, 7 Kayal, 16 Jahanbakhsh.
Prem P32 . W6 D4 L6 F17 A21 . W3 D2 L11 F15 A30 . Pt33 Po17 = 1.03pt/gm. Wins = 28.1%, Loss = 53.1%

Season7 1st Premier League (H) Monday 1/1/18 - 2-2 ~ Knockaert, Murray
It had been a busy festive period as usual with 3 fixtures from the Xmas w/e up to end of the year and 7 games during December overall. Now it was the traditional New Year match today and something of a south coast derby to boot. Albion's sequence from the last month of 2017 was lll dwl d and they were positioned 12th in the table. But merely a 4pt gap existed to 17th place above the drop zone and further loss of form severely hampered prospects for survival during 2018. Home stats were p10 w3 d5 l2 which represented 64% of total points to date. So it was kinda important to try and make the Amex a place to at least maintain that bigger tally during second half of the PL season.
*** match report: The result was in doubt until the final whistle because both teams had opportunities to nick the win. Twice Albion led and then let Cherries back into the game. Knockaert opened scoring early when squeezing in a shot come cross by Izquierdo (5 min). But Albion were undone at a corner from a header that looped in at the far post (33min). Soon after turnaround Murray finished a neat move from Gross via Izquierdo who laid it on a plate (48min). But Cherries were always in the contest and Seagulls ran out of puff. Bruno replaced injured Schelotto with a little over 10mins to go. Immediately afterwards visitors got a second leveller when hosts failed to clear lines from a crowded box (79min). It was all hands to the pumps in final moments of a match with 42 total shots, which was the most for any PL game so far this season. Chris Hughton said, 'it is two points dropped and I'm hugely disappointed.' Brighton fans were entertained by action at both ends with never a dull moment. But the fact remained BHA were finding it hard to win at the Amex and several tougher fixtures on paper were scheduled between mid January and early May.
Stats; ht 1-1, goals 5,48-33,79, poss 49%-51%, on target 6-9, off target 3-6, corners 5-12, o/s 1-0, fouls 13-9, yellows 2-1 . Gate 30,152
1 Ryan, 21 Schelotto (2 Bruno), 22 Duffy, 5 Dunk, 29 Suttner, 11 Knockaert, 6 Stephens, 24 Propper,
19 Izquierdo, 13 Gross (37 Brown), 17 Murray
Prem P 22 . W 5 D 8 L 9 . F 17 A 27 . Pt 23 Po 12 = 1.04pt/gm . Wins = 22.7%, Loss = 40.9%

CHERRIES AWAY; Prem.
Seasn . W D L . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm %Pt . . W% . L%
24/25 - 7 7 5 . 35 30 05 . 28 11 = 1.47 52.8 . 36.8 26.3 - Andoni Iraola @ 24/5/25
23/24 - 6 3 10 . 27 39 -12 . 21 12 = 1.10 43.7 . 31.5 52.6 - Andoni Iraola
22/23 - 5 2 12 . 17 43 -26 . 17 15 = 0.89 43.5 . 26.3 63.1 - Gary O'Neil & Scott Parker
20/21 - 21/22 not Premier League.
19/20 - 4 1 14 . 18 35 -17 . 13 18 = 0.68 38.2 . 21.0 73.6 - Eddie Howe, finish 27/7/20.
18/19 - 5 1 13 . 26 45 -19 . 16 14 = 0.84 35.5 . 26.3 68.4 - Eddie Howe.
17/18 - 4 6 09 . 19 31 -12 . 18 12 = 0.94 40.9 . 21.0 47.3 - Eddie Howe.
16/17 - 3 6 10 . 20 38 -18 . 15 09 = 0.78 32.6 . 15.7 52.6 - Eddie Howe.
15/16 - 6 4 09 . 22 33 -11 . 22 16 = 1.15 52.3 . 31.5 47.3 - Eddie Howe.
11/12 - 14/15 not Premier League - see below, season 3 & 4

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Bournemouth home, Falmer years: 2011 to 2017 - Championship.
C'ship 13/14, 14/15 . Seasons 3-4.

Albion v Cherries (H) from 11/12 @ C: -, -, 1-1, 0-1, -, - . . W = 0 D = 1 L = 1
memorable match: Season4 (H) - aspiration is fine, realisation is knowing opponents were much better this term.

Seasons 5-6 - not C'ship.

Season4 Championship (H) 10/4/15 - L 0-1.
Cherries were right in the mix ok for auto-promo - so powers that be decided to put this fixture on tv for a Friday night south-coast derby. Believe it or not, for all the infrastructure that BHA had put in place over the last four seasons in the Championship, it was little old Dorset Cherries who could now possibly end up as title winners and gain a deserved place in the Prem next term. In truth Albion had been pretty crap at times this campaign and were still not mathematically safe from relegation either. But our worst defeat at home was 2-3 against Forest. In fact every loss had merely been by the odd goal conceded. Such were those fine lines in 7 defeats from 20 fixtures at the Amex... 6 wins, 7 draws. Before k-o the full sequence to date was; lwd ddl dwd lld lwl www dl - so would it next be w,d or l?
*** match report: Oh dear, Albion lost again and made it three defeats in a row - two at Falmer! but the thing was Seagulls were in the match for 70minutes until conceding from a set-piece o/s the area. During the first half there was ebb & flow in the contest but not too much in the way of goalmouth incidents. The scrap was mainly in middle of the park, with possession being won & lost regularly and neither side getting full control. Tackles were going in hard but Ref was letting most contacts go without whistling. And it was massed away fans in the south stand who were lifted as the second period ticked through. Kayal was injured and replaced by Ince and Cherries duly took advantage (70min). Twenty minutes before the end Hughton made a double change and went to 442 - CMS supporting Best up front. Ten minutes from time visitors doubled their score with a great finish from a quality striker (81min). It was what BHA lacked and everybody in the ground knew this. Ref denied Calderon a penalty and luck seemed to desert Seagulls on the night. So Hughton was left with further problems on-going and his biggest one was in finding a player with enough determination to force the ball into opponents net. Hughton said, 'to win a game you have to score.' Boom boom!
Stockdale, Bruno, Halford, Dunk, Bennett, Kayal (Ince), Teixeira (Mackail-Smith), Stephens, Calderon, Best, Carayol (LuaLua).
Champ's P42 . W10 D15 L17 . F43 A50 . Pt45 Po19 . W = 23.8% L = 40.4%

Season3 (H) 1/1/14 - 1-1 ~ Ward.
Weather over the Xmas and New Year period has been exceptionally wet to say the least and rivers throughout Sussex were swollen and flooded. But on a very windy & rainy afternoon, the superbly presented Amex pitch proved equal to withstand any such extreme conditions. Fans got dripped on as gales gusted across east and south stands, although the away supporters had remembered Withdean from years ago and came suitably dressed for a coastal storm. Brighton's home form this term had been a touch patchy and you never knew which kinda performance Seagulls would give on the day. Oscar Garcia was fielding a generally settled side, although key players were still to return to full fitness as competition for places hotted up. There was a feeling among devoted that a play-off push was on the cards and 2014 could become as good, if not better than when Gus Poyet took us into knockout phases in the previous season.
*** match report: Quite how Brighton snatched a point at the death was long debated. Ref award a penalty to Cherries inside 15 minutes and perhaps only he thought it clearly so - well, according to 25k Brighton fans anyway (14min). Play and possession was with Albion from the start but same old, same old for putting the ball away. Stats showed we had plenty of advantage, although that isn't the same as scoring - an ongoing BHA problem. Garcia tried to freshen things up after the hour mark when withdrawing hardworking Crofts and then David ten mins later. Agustien became playmaker and Barnes joined Ulloa up front. However any shape we used could not break a big fat 'failed to score' as final whistle approached. Then Ward nodded his first goal for us in a goalmouth scramble (89min). OG said, 'it was important because when you hit the bar three times and make ten chances, you deserve something from the match.' He sounded as if he knew what he was talking about.
Kuszczak, Calderon, El-Abd, Upson, Ward, Crofts (Agustien), Bridcutt, Ince, David (Barnes), Ulloa, LuaLua (Orlandi).
Champ's P24 . W9 D9 L6 . F29 A22 . Pt36 Po7 . W = 37.5% L = 25%

Seasons 1-2 - not C'ship.
* * * * *

Withdean era: seasons 3, 5, 8, 9, 12 - 01/2, 03/4, 06/7, 07/8, 10/11 League One.

Withdean era: Albion v Cherries *2-1, 3-0, 2-2, 3-2, 1-1 . . . W = 3 D = 2 L = 0
memorable match: Season3 (H - *celebrating BHA's centenary 1901-2001.
see Season8 for stadium background.

see: Seasons 5, 8, 9, 12 for club & stadium info. Also Paul Watson, Leon Knight, Alex Revell & Kasenga LuaLua.