WOLVERHAMPTON - Home, Falmer Years: 18/19 - 20/21 Prem, seasons 8 -10 . 12/13, 14/15 - 16/17 C'ship, seasons 2, 4 - 6.
Manager; Nuno Espirito Santo (2017) - Wins = 51.5% @ Aug '20 . Ground: Molineux 32k . Nickname: Wolves . Shirt: old gold.
Prem record from 11/12 to 20/21; 20, (23 @ C'ship), (1 @ L1), (7, 14, 15 / 1 @ C), 7, 7, 14 @ 18/1/21 . . . . Best = 7th, Worst = 20th,
Top ten - '19, '20 . Relegated - '12.
C21: top ten - '19, '20 . Stayed up - 2 times in bottom six '10, '11, relegated - '04, '12.
Recent Managers; Kenny Jackett (2013-16), Walter Zenga (2016), Paul Lambert (2016-17), Nuno Espirito Santo (2017).

20/21 odds at start: top four 6/1, top midlands 5-6, bottom half 9-4 . Sack Nuno 20/1.

WOLVES away; Prem.
Seasn . W D L . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm %Pt . . W% L%
20/21 - 03 1 5 . 09 16 -7 .. 10 14 = 1.11 45.4 . 33.3 55.5 - NES.
19/20 - 07 7 5 . 24 21 03 . 28 07 = 1.47 47.4 . 36.8 26.3 - N E Santo, finish 25/7/20.
18/19 - 06 5 8 . 19 25 -6 .. 23 07 = 1.21 40.3 . 31.5 42.1 - Nuno Espirito Santo.
13/14 to 17/18 - not Premier League (see below, season 4-6).

Albion v Wolves (H) from 17/18: -, 1-0, 2-2, 3-3 . . W = 1 D = 2 L = 0

Season10, 4th Premier League (H) Sat 2/1/21 - 3-3 ~ Connolly, Maupay, Dunk.
Coronavirus restrictions - Tier 3/4 = 0 fans. Attendance originally selected by ballot for 2000 home fans as per Tier 2 rating in Sussex during pre-Xmas December. We'd gotten to New Year but not yet to the usual halfway stage of this season due to that delayed Prem start back in mid September. The exclusive Prem merrygoround was revolving again and Albion initially intened to turn this season's ride into something like sensations Wolves had enjoyed since returning to the elite. Our history with visitors from the west midlands was diverse this century (see scroll below) but currently, Seagulls needed much more elevated flying to reach dizzy heights of Wanderers rise from lower levels. Object of the Prem exercise, handed by Tony Bloom to Graham Potter, was to get positive results from such meetings, push up the table and eventually establish inside the top ten. However Albion were emmersed in a different kind of ball game in merely fighting to stay in the division by next May. New Year resolutions from Brighton fans included: obtaining a profuse goal scorer or two, keeping clean sheets, beating the drop and returning to the Amex in '21.
Albion got a point in far from typical circumstances. Hosts led inside quarter of an hour when Connolly slotted home Trossard's assist (13min). Then they sat back and visitors of course got into top gear and quickly equalised while Seagulls flapped (19min). By halftime it was 1-3 following a Burn og (34min) and Wanderers pen (44min). At start of the second period Potter put on two tactical subs - Connolly off injured and Bissouma on a fifth yellow card and therefore suspended anyway. Immediately Maupay was floored in the area, got up and converted the spot kick (46min). Then Dunk later nodded a leveller, so parity was restored and still all to play for (70min). Lallana had come on and also booked Burn went off, resulting in more attacking options as Wolves strengthened rearguard action. At end of the day each outfit obtained a point - probably a fair result as per stats. Potter said his squad showed personality but aside from our dramatic comeback, Brighton fans posted plenty of opinion about what should happen both on & off pitch right from now. The fanbase seemed polarised, or split to measurable degree, between those ok to continue status quo and others wanting radical change. But if such alterations were soon deemed necessary in order to ensure BHA were still in the Prem come May, only Tony Bloom could decide.
Stats: ht 1-1, goals 13,46,70-19,34,44, poss 54%-46%, on target 4-4, off target 3-4, blocks 6-3, o/s 1-0, crosses 20-14, corners 5-8,
tackles 20-13, fouls 13-8, yellows 2-1, subs 3-2. Weather: cold.
Team: 26 Sanchez, 34 Veltman, 4 Webster, 5 Dunk, 33 Burn Y (14 Lallana 69), 20 March, 3 White, 8 Bissouma Y (24 Propper 46),
7 Connolly (29 Zeqiri 46), 9 Maupay, 11 Trossard . Bench: (from 9 subs) 23 Steele, 30 Bernardo, 49 Molumby, 13 Gross, 10 Mac Allister,
16 Jahanbakhsh . Squad: 1 Ryan, 15 Moder . Injured: 2 Lamptey, 14 Lallana, 17 Alzate, 18 Welbeck . MoM: Webster.
Prem: P17 . W0 D5 L4 . F10 A15 . W2 D3 L3 . F11 A13 . Pt14 Po17 = 0.82pt/gm. Wins = 11.7%, Loss = 4.1%

Wolves:
Quatr: Pl . W D L . . . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . . W% L%
Total: 30 .
3qtrs: 20 .
Hfwy: 19 . 06 04 09 . 21 29 -08 22 14 = 1.15 . 31.5 47.3
Start: 10 . 05 02 03 . 11 11 00 . 17 7 = 1.70 . 50.0 30.0
EFL Cup: Stoke 0-1 (H) R2.
FA Cup: Chorley (A) R4, Palace 1-0 (H) R3.
Nov: when the first quarter ended, Wolves were 7th in the Prem table, 4pts off the top two.
Jan: at the halfway stage...

Season9, 3rd Premier League (H) Sun 8/12/19 - 2-2 ~ Maupay, Propper.
A busy month lay ahead with 3 games during the run up to Xmas then another 2 more before New Year. Five of all six December fixtures were selected for broadcast on pay tv, consequently majority of kickoff times got rescheduled. Wanderers were BHA's eighth home match to date and domestic form so far was: P7 W3 D2 L2 F10 A8 = 1.57pt/gm. But that was merely part of this seasonal story. Spurs were previously entertained back in October but rest of the big six giants wouldn't visit the Amex until immediately after the clock struck 12am on last day of December. Chelsea were first up here in '20 on New Year's Day. The proverbial run-in from mid March next took care of hosting Arsenal, Man Utd, Liverpool & Man City in quick succession up to end of April. All this meant, where were neccessary survival points to come from? For obvious reasons Brighton fans hoped the Amex would redevelop as a Falmer fortress and see us hold out against all manner of marauding Prem invaders to superior effect. One problem ongoing was getting strikers into scoring form to hit the net regularly. BHA record holder Murray was now in his twilight year, so the recognised replacements had to step up pdq. Trouble was, new Prem guys Maupay, Trossard & Connolly were inexperienced in the extreme, each with merely a handful of apps at this critical stage. Izquierdo was still long-term injured, March, Gross & Bissouma weren't always picked or fit to play, while Jahanbakhsh wasn't regular in the match-day squad. Die hards Stevens & Propper 'never' scored anyhow and on loan Mooy also had zero to date. Defenders like Webster, Duffy & Dunk were quite capable at set pieces but again there remained duck eggs for Burn, Montoya, Schelotto, Bong, Bernardo & Alzate. All these facts & figs pointed to Potter asking Tony Bloom to fund fees for a proven goal-scorer in the forthcoming January window. But perhaps that was Brighton fans merely wishful thinking.
Maupay & Propper (who knew?) scored from open play during a hectic fifteen minutes prior to the interval (34 & 36 min). Wolves went ahead a little too easily when our defence evaporated (28min). And they netted a second giveaway when Seagulls lost possession and were opened up again with ease (44 min). Potter put on Murray & Jahanbakhsh with twenty minutes left but Albion were clueless how to open up Wanderers massed ranks once more. It all hung in balance, even VAR kept it on a knife edge when dismissing a WW pen appeal. Stephens got booked late on for a 5th card and subsequent suspension. Brighton fans felt it was unlucky not to win for all our possession but also lucky not to lose given visitors threats & chances. Potter was resigned to take a point knowing we'd again met tougher opponents here today than those clubs positioned below mid table. So thinking was we were getting better but not as yet the real deal by a long way. But another pukka striker would still be nice in the January window.
Stats; shape 4321-541, h-t 2-2, goals 34,36-28,44, poss 61%-39%, on target 4-5, off target 9-8, corners 3-4, o/s 1-3,
fouls 10-7, yellows 3-0, subs 2-3 . MoM - Mooy . Gate 30,189, away 3038 . Weather - cold & breezy.
1 Ryan, 46 Alzate, 15 Webster Y, 5 Dunk Y, 33 Burn, 13 Gross (16 Jahanbakhsh 68), 6 Stephens Y, 24 Propper, 18 Mooy,
11 Trossard (17 Murray 68), 7 Maupay . Subs - 27 Button, 22 Montoya, 30 Bernardo, 4 Duffy, 8 Bissouma.
Squad - 3 Bong, 14 Balogun, 21 Schelotto . Injured - 19 Izquierdo, 20 March, 44 Connolly.
Prem P16 . W3 D3 L2 . F12 A10 . W2 D1 L5 . F8 A14 . Pt19 Po12 = 1.18pt/gm. Wins = 31.2%, Loss = 43.7%

Quart: Pl . W D L . . . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . . W% L%
Total: 38 . 15 14 09 . 51 40 11 . 59 07 = 1.55 . 39.4 23.6 - NE Santo, finish 27/7/20
3qtrs: 29 . 10 13 06 . 41 34 07 . 42 07 = 1.44 . 34.4 20.6 PREM SUSPENDED
Hfwy: 19 . 07 09 03 . 29 24 05 . 30 07 = 1.57 . 36.8 15.7
Start: 10 . 02 06 02 . 13 13 00 . 12 11 = 1.20 . 20.0 20.0 - N E Santo.
Europa League: q-f - Seville L 1-0. Last 16 - Olympiakos 1-1 (A) 1-0 (H). 32 - Espanyol 3-2 (A) 4-0 (H).
group - Besiktas 0-1 (A) 4-0 (H), Braga 3-3 (A), 0-1 (H), Bratislava 1-2 (A) 1-0 (H),
p-o - Torino 2-1 (H) 2-3 (A), qual 3 - Pyunik 4-0 (H) 0-4 (A), qual 2 - Crusaders 2-0 (H), 1-4 (A)
EFL Cup: 4th rnd - Villa 2-1 (A), 3rd rnd - Reading 4pen2 1-1 (H)
FA Cup: Man Utd 1-0 (A) 0-0 (H) R3.
Aug: curse of previous Europa League qualification impacted opening Prem results.
Oct: still a full schedule and in crowded mid table mix by end of first quarter Q1.
New Year: outside top six, qual for last 32 of Eu Lg and in FAC4 draw via replay.
March: in 6th when PL suspended. Last 16 Eu Lg.
July: consistent form to chase top five. Edged out of Europa '21 qualifying.

Season8 2nd Premier League (H) Sat 27/10/18 - 1-0 ~ Murray.
Two years and a week previously Albion entertained the historical ex-Prem outfit during Championship days (scroll to Season6 below). Now it was billed a PL contest but just as significant ongoing to both teams. Today marked the first quarter stats on final whistle and thus set targets for immediate future this term. The Amex was a difficult place to gain three points for travellers, outside of the top six giant elite clubs. Only top-ten finishers Leicester had managed that last season but wiley Chris Hughton realised the threat carried now by progressive big-spending Black Country Wanderers. Albion needed the community stadium to be a fortress once more in the quest to consolidate in mid table if at all possible.
In the event, on a very cold afternoon, Murray scored his 100th goal for BHA to become the club's post war record holder. It was just enough to register victory in a contest Seagulls could so easily have lost. Glenn had wanted to start following being knocked out the previous Saturday up at Newcastle. Hughton duly went with that starting eleven but the first half home performance was dire. Soon after the interval our hitman notched his century when unmarked, clipping in a Bruno miscue across the area (48min). Kayal, Dunk & eventually Knockaert were booked while hosts kept unlucky visitors at bay. Bissouma came on in later stages to bolster two lines of defenders as Wolves pressed for an equaliser. Knockaert got on late to join in with with backs to the wall mentality. Hughton said, 'to win three in a row for a club like us is very difficult. We are more pleased with that than the performance. A club in its second season is always looking down, so to be nine points clear of the bottom three at this stage is good.' Most Brighton fans would agree, although realised without Murray still here we would definately be in trouble down there right now.
Stats; shape 4411-343, h-t 0-0, goal 48, poss 40%-60%, on target 1-7, off target 5-8, blocks 1-10, crosses 9-36, corners 1-10, o/s 0-1,
tackles 21-12, fouls 11-8, yellows 3-0, subs 2-3 . MoM Murray . Gate 30,654 ground record, away 2992 . Weather - cold, sunny intervals.
1 Ryan, 2 Bruno, 4 Duffy, 5 Dunk Y77, 3 Bong, 16 Jahanbakhsh, 6 Stephens, 7 Kayal Y52, 19 Izquierdo (11 Knockaert 81 Y90),
20 March (8 Bissouma 71), 17 Murray . Subs - 23 Steele, 30 Bernardo, 14 Balogun, 9 Locadia, 10 Andone.
Prem P10 . W3 D1 L1 . F8 A6 . W1 D1 L3 . F3 A7 . Pt14 Po11 = 1.40pt/gm. Wins = 40%, Loss = 40%

Quatr: Pl . W D L . . . F A GD . . . Pt Po pt/gm . W% L%
Total; 38 . 16 09 13 . 47 46 01 .. 57 07 = 1.50 . 42.1 34.2 - Nuno Espirito Santo.
3qtrs; 29 . 12 07 10 . 37 35 02 .. 43 07 = 1.48 . 41.3 34.4
Hfwy; 19 . 07 05 07 . 20 22 -02 . 26 11 = 1.36 . 36.8 36.8
Start; 10 . 04 03 03 . 09 09 00 .. 15 10 = 1.50 . 40.0 20.0 - Santo.
EFL Cup; 3rd rnd - Leicester 1-3 pens 0-0 (H), 2nd rnd north - Sheff Wed 0-2 (A)
FA Cup; s-f - Watford 3-2 aet, q-f - Man Utd 2-1 (H), 5th rnd - Bristol C 0-1 (A), 4th rnd - Shrews 2-2 (A) 3-2 (H), 3rd rnd - Liverpool 2-1 (H)
Aug; know any top agents? Wanderers got a theme working and are hopeful of making it continue at highest level. Plus a 'little percentage' to do the deal.
October; excellent start to make the top ten in first year back for a while. Out of EFL Cup on pens.
New Year; top ten and cutting the mustard without killing the old gold goose. FA Cup progress.
March; in a scrap for seventh place. FA Cup semis.

WOLVES PREVIOUS PREM;
Seasn . W D L . . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . W% L%
19/20 - 15 14 09 . 51 40 11 . 59 7 = 1.55 . 39.4 23.6 - NE Santo. PL SUSPENDED, complete @ 27/7/20
Another excellent campaign stewarded by NES. Equalled last term's placing but missed top six on GD.
18/19 - 16 09 13 . 47 46 01 . 57 7 = 1.50 . 42.1 34.2 - Nuno Espirito Santo.
Was a Prem team in waiting last term but more than hit the ground running for this elite campaign. Got a Europa League qualifing spot too for next season.
13/14 to 17/18 - not Premier League (see below, seasons 4-6)

Europa League from 19/20: q-f
Knockouts from 13/14;
FA Cup - 1st rnd, 3rd, 3rd, 5th, 3rd, s-f, 3rd,
EFL Cup - 1st rnd, 1st, 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 3rd, 4th, 2nd.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Wolves home, Falmer years - C'ship 12/13, 14/15 - 16/17.
Albion v Wanderers (H) from 11/12: -, 2-0, -, 1-1, 0-1, 1-0 . W = 2 D = 1 L = 1

Season6 Championshp (H) 18/10/16 - 1-0 ~ Baldock.
Brighton fans had witnessed a reversal of fortune in this fixture at very beginning of 2016, during an awful Xmas & New Year blip in the middle of last term's exciting campaign. Once again Albion were forecast for play-offs, having started this season well, being on target for enough points to make knockout phases. Chris Hughton now had a stronger squad on paper, signing Duffy, Norwood, Sidwell, Murray (loan) & Pocognoli (loan). And even allowing for injuries & suspensions, he had good quality cover in defence & across midfield. Maybe Seagulls were a little light up front but with the right service, both strikers (as 442 preferred at home) were more than capable of hitting back of the net. The question was, could they do it regularly? On the night 25k turned up, amid more rail chaos, to see if they could.
Seagulls won the match by a single goal and remained on heels of the top two. But victory came from the one they put away, while visitors missed their chances in an even contest. The winner came early when Skalak and Bong combined and Baldock headed in the cross off the bar (14min). And it wasn't all one way traffic thereafter as the away outfit had to come forward - especially in closing stages. Brighton defended well to earn another clean sheet, although Dunk received a 5th booking and ban next time out. Late in the evening Hughton withdrew Bruno injured and then Baldock as he went more defensive. In stoppage Pocognoli made up numbers as Wolves carried a threat with numerous corners. So Albion hung on to that slender lead and Hughton said, 'Sam is a team player, works hard and is at the right place at the right time.' Brighton fans were grateful he was and also happy to take three points, despite seeing lack of real chances created to abate that nervous ending.
Stats; ht 1-0, goals 14-x, poss 48%-52%, on target 3-4, off target 6-7, corners 9-10, o/s 0-1, fouls 14-11, yellows 2-3, subs 3-3 . att 25,231
Stockdale, Bruno (Goldson), Duffy, Dunk, Bong, Knockaert (Pocognoli), Norwood, Sidwell, Skalak, Baldock (Stephens), Murray.
Champ's P13 . W7 D4 L2 . F17 A9 . Pt25 Po3 . W = 53.8% L = 15.3%

Season5 (H) 1/1/16 - L 0-1.
New Year arrived and so we all turned up for community stadium entertainment on a Friday afternoon instead of at the weekend. Second half of the season was underway and if anything like the first was sure to be exciting. However, no matter what Albion had achieved in first half of this campaign, they were without a win in five fixtures and had just suffered two straight losses at the Amex. Those fine lines of Championship form had fortunately gone Seagulls way since August but lately last year's problem of not scoring goals came back with a vengeance. Every team was going to have a bad patch but if Albion's dreams of promotion were to stay on track, clean sheets and consistent strikers were essential. Somehow Chris Hughton had to rejuvenate a squad hit by injuries and maybe get others in, to increase quality all round, now the transfer window was open. On the day about 27k attended and the match was on tv too.
Albion crashed to a third successive defeat at the Amex, to bring them down to earth at very start of 2016. To compound present troubles they failed to keep a clean sheet or even score again when beat at home. Seagulls fell behind when new cent-def Goldson put a low cross past Stockwell at his near post (32min). This single goal then secured all points for visitors but BHA battered them throughout and could be considered a tad unlucky not to rescue a point at least. Hughton threw on Manu around the hour mark and later switched to 442 with introduction of Hemed up front. But all the huffing & puffing in the world could not alter the score after ninety or so minutes. Hughton said of our poor form, 'the run is obviously a concern and a frustration, we have to find ways of winning matches and scoring goals.' It was kinda stating the bleeding obvious and what Brighton fans wanted to know was, what was he going to do about it?'
Stats; poss 64%-36%, on target 6-4, off target 11-1, corners 10-4, o/s 1-1, fouls 9-9, yellows 1-1.
Stockdale, Bruno, Goldson, Dunk, Calderon, Stephens, Crofts (Hemed), Kayal, Wilson, Zamora (Manu), Murphy
Champ's P25 . W11 D11 L3 . F31 A25 . Pt44 Po4 . W = 44% L = 12%

Season4 (H) 14/3/15 - 1-1 ~ Bruno.
There was a mighty battle for auto promo, let alone p-o places, at top of this division but Albion were far from actually being involved - unlike Wanderers. As a disappointing campaign extended into the run-in, Seagulls were stuck in lower third of the table and hoping at least to win a few fixtures at the Amex until the early May climax. In fact four of the last five home matches were against top-eight clubs and would be a useful test of how far the current squad had come under Chris Hughton. He had indeed managed to reverse poor domestic form under 2014 failure Sami Hyypia and fans were latterly beginning to enjoy games at the community stadium once more. The 50pt target for safety was 10pt away before k-o but Brighton fans were not too worried about threat of relegation at this stage. On the day 27k was the official attendance with over 2k travelled from Wolverhampton.
On stats alone it was pretty even and both goals were scored late in the day. Each side huffed & puffed and if Albion had taken a couple of first-half chances, might have got all the points. But with recognised BHA strikers out of form, perhaps Brighton fans expected too much. There was plenty of pressure on visitors third and Seagulls defended fairly well but couldn't get a breakthrough until flooding forward on a counter attack. Bruno ended the move with a low drive after a Wolves clearance rebounded (70min). Within five minutes opposition restored parity when Stockdale palmed a cross into the net (74min). Despite this setback the ex-Fulham keeper made three crucial saves to prevent visitors nicking a win. Hughton elected to leave changes late and injected O'Grady & LuaLua into the fray immediately after conceding. New boy Ledesma got a few seconds at the end. Hughton said, 'all we can do is keep working. CMS gives us great running ability and a good outlet. First and foremost you want a striker to be a team player - you can't fault his efforts.' Supporters went home thinking that when our finishing was finally up to speed, somebody was gonna get a right beating at the Amex.
Stockdale, Bruno, Greer, Dunk, Bennett, Holla (LuaLua), Teixeira (Ledesma), Kayal, Calderon, Mackail-Smith (O'Grady), Stephens.
Champ's P37 . W9 D14 L14 . F42 A46 . Pt41 Po19 . W = 24.3% L = 37.8%

Season2 (H) 4/5/13 - 2-0 ~ LuaLua 2.
Brighton had qualified for play-offs in our previous match at Leeds but Wolves were second from bottom and in deep trouble. Albion had not lost at the Amex since very end of 2012, while poor away form nudged Wanderers nearer to relegation. Gus Poyet said, 'the Championship is becoming more and more difficult so we are delighted to be in the play-offs.' Meanwhile WW supporters had been in this position before but in elite days of the Prem! The old gold and black club appeared to have a losing mentality, so would have to rely on results elsewhere to get a similar miracle as per B&W devoted at Falmer.
There was 30k (ground record) crammed into the Amex because Wolves had a full contingent of fans to witness their demise. The end came quick, if painful and by 5pm they were in League One for '13/14. Meanwhile Albion would face Palace in play-offs for half a chance at the Prem. After five minutes LuaLua shot Seagulls ahead and we never looked back. Not long before the interval he did it again with skill (39min). Wanderers were down and out and produced a performance to confirm their rapid decline. Brighton fans were there to celebrate a super season and so didn't rub visitors nose in on a very happy afternoon for home support. Gus Poyet wanted to manage in the elite and said, 'we are in a great moment as a team and as a club.' And so say all of us.
Kuszczak, David, Greer, Upson, Painter (Hammond), Crofts, Bridcutt, Vicente (Barker), Barnes, Ulloa, LuaLua (El-Abd).
Champ's P46 . W19 D18 L9 . F69 A43 . Pt75 Po4 . W = 41.3% L = 19.5%
* * * * *

Withdean Era: 12 seasons from 1999 to 2011.
Seasons 4 02/3, 6 04/5, 7 05/6 - Championship.

Wolves - Away, Falmer Years: 18/19 - 20/21 Prem, seasons 8 - 10 . 12/13, 14/15 - 16/17 C'ship, seasons 2, 4 - 6.
WOLVES home; Molineux.
Seasn . W D L . F A GD . Pt Po pt/gm %Pt . . W% L%
20/21 - 03 3 3 . 10 10 00 . 12 14 = 1.25 54.5 . 33.3 33.3 - NES.
19/20 - 08 7 4 . 27 19 8 . 31 07 = 1.63 52.5 . 42.1 21.0 - N E Santo, finish 27/7/20.
18/19 - 10 4 5 . 28 21 7 . 34 07 = 1.78 59.6 . 52.6 26.3 - Nuno Espirito Santo.
13/14 to 17/18 - not Premier League (see below, seasons 4-6).

Wolves v Albion (A) from 17/18: -, 0-0, 0-0, ? . . W = 0 D = 2 L = 0

Season10, 4th Premier League (A) Sat 8/5/21 15:00
Covid restrictions - tba, no fans attending @ Tier 3/4.
We'd gotten to May but not yet to the last fortnight of this season due to that delayed Prem start back in mid September.
Wolves had an ultra long season last year beginning with Europa League matches in July '19, until eventually ending that extended competition in August '20. Their record on returning to the Prem was also something Albion would love to emulate but reality says we have got to grow from the bottom up. Three previous consecutive lower order finishes were basic to say very least, so Seagulls were tasked with vastly improving on those places.this term.
Post match report to follow.
Stats: ht, goals, poss %-%, on target, off target, corners, fouls, yellows, subs . Weather:
Team: . Subs: .
Squad: . Injured: . MoM:
Prem: P35 . W D L .F A . W D L . F A . Pt Po = x.xxpt/gm. Wins = x%, Loss = x%

Season9, 3rd Premier League (A) Sat 7/3/20 - 0-0.
We'd reached completion of the three-quarters stage (Q3) of Albion's 3rd Prem season with a visit to Molineux. Brighton fans had been there on numerous occasions during these Falmer Years, especially through recent Championship campaigns but also for those three times when BHA played them in level2 out of Withdean. Fortunes of both clubs had risen since the noughties, perhaps more so for Wolves, who had enjoyed PL success plus European knockout phase football as well this term. Conversely Seagulls were in a bit of a flap at the moment, having failed to win since start of 2020 and struggling for points just above the drop zone. Away form was nothing to write home about and a point here would be regarded as an achievement like last term - see season8 below. In fact the situation today was very similar to previously, except Graham Potter was the man now tasked with managing the squad towards survival. All that pre-season big talk of being a future top ten Prem side had evaporated like puddles on a summer day since rain had well & truly set in this wet winter, both factually & metaphorically. Albion's history was full of trouble & strife anyway, so Brighton fans wanted to see the club fully justify all that effort they'd expounded just to get here from homeless days of yore at very end of the last century. Without assistance from that dedicated fanbase BHA might have remained a lower league outfit, merely dreaming of achieving elite status. Supporters needed to see the team prove capable of staying in the division or otherwise another big change in personnel was on the cards at end of this season.
For the second year running this match ended goalless. Both sides huffed & puffed but couldn't break down resolute defences. Albion were good value for the rare clean sheet but failed to score once more from few chances created. Potter said of the point Seagulls retained, 'of course we hope it will be valuable at end of the season.' He introduced Alexis Mac Allister as a sub on debut, who proved capable in the minimum time allowed to show South American skills. Otherwise Dunk & Bissouma took plaudits in a fighting display to hold Wolves at bay. BHA had enough possession to thwart hosts attacking spells, although neither side was on song in final thirds. Potter had replicated Chris Hughton's defensive mantra, which at end of last term had just been good enough to ensure survival. Brighton fans trusted that regime would endure once more during the forthcoming run in.
stats: shape 343-433, ht 0-0, goals nil, poss 43%-57%, on target 1-1, off target 7-4, blocks 3-2, o/s 0-0, crosses 13-18, corners 2-0, tackles 22-21, fouls 4-7, yellows 1-3, subs 2-3 . MoM - Bisouma . Gate - 31,490 . Weather - cloudy & windy.
1 Ryan, 22 Montoya Y, 15 Webster, 5 Dunk Y, 33 Burn Y, 8 Bissouma, 18 Mooy (6 Stephens 89), 24 Propper, 20 March (10 Mac Allister 80),
7 Maupay, 11 Trossard (16 Jahanbakhh 82) . Subs - 27 Button, 4 Duffy, 13 Gross,17 Murray.
Squad - 2 Lamptey, 21 Schelotto, 25 Kayal, 30 Bernardo, 44 Connolly, 46 Alzate . Injured - 19 Izquierdo.
Prem: P29 . W4 D6 L4 . F17 A15 . W2 D5 L8 . F15 A25 . Pt29 Po15 = 1.00pt/gm. Wins = 20.6%, Loss = 41.3%

Season8 2nd Premier League (A) Sat 20/4/19 - 0-0.
There were five fixtures left, 3 away & 2 at home. At this stage Albion were 17th and in a dogfight to stay alive in the div for next term. A bad run of form, five straight losses (including FA Cup) with no goals scored, had severely dented hopes of making the cut again. Home form had collapsed, which paired with poor results on the road made for bleak reading of seasonal stats to date. The 25 man squad didn't look up to the task, no matter who got chosen to play on any given day. Chris Hughton was pragmatic but realised there was a crisis that required to be fixed somehow. He said, 'we have no choice but to get on with it, roll our sleeves up and show the quality that we've got. We need to show the fighting spirit and togetherness we know we have.' Of course, once the team kicked off he could only watch and his words and influence kinda stayed in the technical area & dressing room. It was up to the selected match-day players to go get points or let everybody, at the club & also watching, down again.
Albion got a point to break their duck and somehow prevented hosts scoring. Propper limped off after 10 minutes but Kayal played very well thereafter and was part of a backs to the wall team performance. Bruno lasted as long as he could prior to Bernardo relieving him to take up the sword with 20 mins to go. Ryan made a couple of saves and fortune favoured Seagulls when a brace of hosts efforts hit woodwork. Hughton said, 'we had to show a work ethic and determination. We are lacking confidence in front of goal and a bit of creativity. The reaction out there showed we are not such a bad team after all. It feels like a really good point for us.' Brighton fans congratulated green shirts at the end, pleased with the clean sheet and battling defensive display. The side had gone back to basics, using much of the old promotion team today. And they did ok too by any standards. So rot was effectively stopped at this juncture... with four games to go.
Stats; shape 352-451, poss 68%-32%, on target 5-0, off target 13-4, blocks 4-1, crosses 38-8, o/s 0-1, corners 14-1, tackles 12-24, fouls 0-8, yellows 0-1, subs 3-2 . Gate 31,096, away 2748 . Weather - warm & sunny . MoM - Kayal.
1 Ryan, 2 Bruno (30 Bernardo 70), 4 Duffy, 5 Dunk, 3 Bong, 13 Gross, 6 Stephens Y, 24 Propper (7 Kayal 10), 20 March, 17 Murray, 19 Izquierdo. Subs - 27 Button, 33 Burn, 16 Jahanbakhsh, 9 Locadia, 10 Andone.
Prem P34 . W6 D4 L7 F17 A23 . W3 D3 L11 F15 A30 . Pt34 Po17 = 1.00pt/gm. Wins = 26.4%, Loss = 52.9%
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Wolves away, Falmer years - C'ship 12/13, 14/15 - 16/17.
Wanderers v Albion (A) from 11/12: -, 3-3, -, 1-1, 0-0, 0-2 . W = 1 D = 3 L = 0

Season6 Championship (A) 14/4/17 - w 0-2 ~ Knockaert 2.
It was Good Friday and tv schedules set the kick-off for this run-in clash to 5pm. Albion hadn't been back to Molineux for over 18 months but of the side then that had got an app here, merely Zamora & Greer were no longer at Seagulls. The 15/16 squad had finished 3rd with 89pts, although beaten merely by goal difference. But now with five fixtures to complete, Albion were vastly superior on gd to play-off contenders and occupied first place by 2pts from title favourites Newcastle. A large group of 2.7k travelling support went up to the midlands to see if Albion could win after 3 draws there in previous Chapionship campaigns. In build up to the Easter fixtures people in the city of Brighton & Hove were asked to wear blue & white. On the day Seagulls wore home kit - as they were to for those four remaining matches.
In the event Albion reached the same number of points as last term when registering a record 11th away victory. Visitors weathered hosts opening gambit and got into the game. At the psychological moment prior to the interval Seagulls took the lead. Stockwell booted up field and Knockaert collected before driving in low from outside the area (45min). Hughton replaced injured March with 20 minutes left, as well-supported travellers continued to counter attack locals threats. It was such a move involving Murphy & Murray that gave Knockaert his second goal from another low strike (82min). Norwood took to the field, as rain poured at Molineux, to help BHA see it out and get a first win there to boot. Hughton said, 'four points will do it. We would like to do it as quickly as possible but you have to keep level-headed because if you lose the next game then it all changes. The focus will be on trying to win on Easter Monday.' Brighton fans were hoping that would be the case and the team would go on and lift the championship title on or by the last fixture in early May.
Stats; h-t 0-1, goals 45,82, poss 51%-49%, on target 4-2, off target 4-7, corners 6-3, o/s 0-2, fouls 13-10, yellows 1-0, subs 2-3 . att 23,221
Stockdale, Bruno, Huenemeier, Dunk, Pocognoli, Knockaert, Stephens, Sidwell, March (Murphy), Hemed (Norwood), Murray.
Champ's P42 . W27 D8 L7 . F71 A35 . Pt89 Po1 . W = 64.2% L = 16.6%

Season5 (A) 19/9/15 - 0-0.
Albion's start to the season was breaking records. It seemed it was way back in the fifties that BHA last opened their campaign with such success. And Brighton fans were loving it, especially after much disappointment from last term (see below and compare points tally). Chris Hughton appeared to be working wonders, selecting from an almost fully fit squad that included many signings to help boost a once supposed mere top-ten finish. An unbeaten side went to Moilneux brimming with confidence, being five points clear at top of the table prior to kick-off. On a nice September afternoon, 20k turned up to see if there was going to be a shock on the cards.
It was yet another draw with Wanderers and Albion failed once more to beat the West Midlands outfit on their turf. For the first time this term Brighton failed to find the net but not without trying very hard (see stats). Wolves goalie proved to be the hero with a man of the match performance, thwarting scoring chances again & again. With twenty mins gone, Murphy was upended in the area but Hemed's spot kick was blocked twice by the keeper. Hemed then cleared off the line ten minutes later to keep parity continuing. In the second period Wolves had a player sent straight off, only a few moments after resumption of play, for a foul on Rosenior. Seagulls maintained one-way traffic thereafter but couldn't break down the home defence. Hughton said, 'we could have done more in the final third. We needed that one moment. You have to give them credit but we made it too comfortable for their keeper. But after the disappointment we still have to realise we have done great so far this season.' And Brighton fans would drink to that amazing revelation as well.
Stats; poss 44-56, on target 1-8, off target 4-4, blocked 1-7, corners 3-4, fouls 10-18, o/s 2-3, yellow 1-2, red 1-0.
Stockdale, Bruno, Greer, Dunk, Bong, Rosenior, Stephens, Kayal, LuaLua (Zamora), Murphy, Hemed (Manu).
Champ's P8 . W6 D2 L0 . F11 A5 . Pt20 Po1 . W = 75% L = 0%

Season4 (A) 20/12/14 - 1-1 ~ Bent.
It was the last Saturday before Christmas when hard core devoted made tracks to the west midlands instead of shopping in Churchill Square. Although the season of goodwill reached climax soon, a lot of Brighton fans were a tad disappointed by later stages of 2014. Instead of anticipating a play-off push during 2015, we were now faced with a relegation battle of titanic proportions. Albion had one win in seventeen and went up to Moly off the back of three straight defeats. The team had accepted collective responsibility for lack of points, backing Sami Hyypia as the man capable of saving the day. That pointed the finger of blame toward Tony Bloom and his sidekick David Burke for their disastrous turn-round of players in the summer.
Bruno started in midfield for once but it was his sending off for a two-footer around the hour mark that was one factor in preventing Albion taking all three points in the black country. Seagulls were out of the blocks like they intended to fly free and took an early lead. Calderon was able to find space down the right and put his centre onto the head of ex-England striker Bent (10min) on loan from Villa. It was a crucial opener, albeit actual chances were still few & far between. By contrast Wolves had to put two subs on from beginning of the second period to get a grip on the game. And they were awarded a pen soon after when Stockdale collided with a gold-shirt - but lino flagged for a dive by the local hero, so Ref reversed his decision. Gardner (61m) and later Ince (74m), shored up defence for ten good men as visitors attempted to hold on and grind out a one-nil victory. Colunga got on with five minutes left but then Wanderers snatched a point following a corner two mins from time (88min). Stockdale made some excellent saves, especially when pressure became intense at end of each half. On stats alone, Albion were still way short of looking like winners but it's goals that count and with a little more luck and 11 men, might just have keep it clean until the final whistle from a battling display. As a consequence, Sami Hyypia resigned as manager early in the following week - just before Christmas.
Stockdale, Calderon, Halford, Dunk, J Bennett, Bruno, Forster-Caskey, Holla, March (Gardner), Bent (Colunga), Teixeira (Ince).
Champ's P22 . W3 D10 L9 . F22 A30 . Pt19 Po22 . W = 13.6% L = 40.9%

Season2 (A) 10/11/12 - 3-3 ~ CMS, Buckley, Dobbie.
It had been a few years since Albion last visited Molineux. We were first a Championship club during the early to mid noughties, while Wolves had plenty of Prem history on their resume. The wheel of fortune had brought us together again and our future looked promising now that we'd finally got the Amex and were managed by Gus Poyet. He assembled a better second season squad for BHA, although results to date were mixed. The problem was Seagulls looked ok in flight but lacked bite when zeroing in on target. Also we lacked a goal-scoring midfielder and Spanish ace Vicente hadn't gotten over injury or played any sort of game since last term. On the positive side we didn't concede many but an average of 1.5pt/gm wasn't gonna get us into play-offs come next May.
In the event this fixture ended with six goals scored and a point apiece in bizarre circumstances. Wanderers opened both their account and our defence to take the lead a tad easily (22min). Calderon replaced injured Bridge fifteen minutes later. Just before halftime CMS struck the equaliser in superb fashion (43m). Then WW had a bloke sent off for excessive foul play on Bridcutt. After the interval Brighton pressed for a winner but ten men hit back and fired one past Kuszczak from distance (61m). Barnes and Buckley subbed immediately and Will pulled us level again after a decent forward move (72m). BHA went for the winner but were only ahead on stats. At the death Ref gave us a dodgy pen, duly dispatched by Dobbie after he ran to grab the ball (89m). In stoppage Wolves got a point when netting with a soft header from a f-k (90+). Poyet was furious with the result and said, 'It is not good enough. you need to do the basics and we didn't do it.'
Kuszczak, Bruno, Greer, Dunk, Bridge (Calderon), Crofts (Buckley), Bridcutt, Orlandi, Lopez (Barnes), Mackail-Smith, Dobbie.
Champ's P16 . W6 D6 L4 . F22 A14 . Pt24 Po8 . W = 37.5% L = 25%
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Noughties last there - Withdean era, 22/4/06 (A) Championship.