Brighton and Hove Albion’s season was full of up and downs. 

However, despite this they achieved their goal of staying up for a third season of Premier League football and had the bonus of making it all the way to the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

Transfer Business

The Seagulls made some shrewd signings last season, spending over £65 million on 15 players for both the senior team and under 23's. 

Included in that price was the record signing of Alireza Jahanbakhsh from AZ Alkmaar for around £16 million.

There were also deals which saw Yves Bissouma, Bernardo, Alexis MacAllister, Florin Andone and Martin Montoya arrive, to name just a few.

Story of the season

Brighton's season began with a tough away trip to Watford, which saw them lose 2-0. 

Their first home game of the season looked to be even tougher, having to take on Jose Mourinho's, Manchester United. 

However, Brighton won the game 3-2 at the Amex, with the standout moment coming from Glenn Murray, who opened the scoring with a skilful, deft flick at the front post.

August finished with a 1-0 away loss to Liverpool and then 1-0 defeat at home to Southampton in the Carabao Cup.

September started with two 2-2 draws, firstly at home to Fulham and then away to Southampton.

The month then finished with narrow defeats at home to Tottenham Hotspur and away to Manchester City.

October was a real standout month for Albion with three 1-0 wins at home to Wolves and West Ham United, and away to Newcastle United.

November was then a tough month with Brighton losing to Everton and Cardiff away before drawing at home to Leicester City.

December was an up-and-down month starting with two wins, firstly away to Huddersfield and then a big 3-1 success over bitter rivals Crystal Palace at home, with Albion only having ten men for most of the game.

The next three games saw narrow defeats away to Burnley and AFC Bournemouth, before a close defeat Chelsea at home 2-1.

Brighton rounded off the month with a 1-1 draw on Boxing Day at home to Arsenal, before a 1-0 win over Everton

The Seagulls started January with a 2-2 draw away to West Ham, before a 3-1 win over Bournemouth in the FA Cup third-round.

They then rounded off the month with narrow defeats at home to Liverpool and away to Manchester United. 

This was followed by a draw against West Bromwich Albion 0-0 at The Amex in the fourth round of the FA Cup, and then a tough 4-2 defeat to Fulham at the end of January.

February started with a draw at home to Watford, which saw Brighton denied three points by a fabulous performance from Ben Foster

They then followed this up with a 3-1 win away in the FA Cup to West Brom, thanks to a 26-minute brace from Murray.

Hughton’s men were then beaten 3-1 at home to Burnley, courtesy of former strikers Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood.

Albion bounced back with a 2-1 win at home to Derby County in the FA Cup fifth round. 

February finished with a 2-1 win away to Leicester City.

March started with a 1-0 win over Huddersfield at home, before a 2-1 win away to Palace to complete the double over their arch-rivals. 

This was followed by a 2-2 draw in the FA Cup Quarter-Final away to Millwall, before winning on penalties 5-4 to set up a trip to Wembley.

March finished with a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Southampton.

April kicked off with a 3-0 defeat away to Chelsea.

This was followed by a day out at Wembley, which saw Albion put in an outstanding performance however ultimately lost 1-0 to eventual winners Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-finals.

Next up were two defeats at home to Bournemouth (0-5) and Cardiff (0-2), which saw fans worried about their chances of survival.

They bounced back however with a 0-0 draw away to Wolves, before a narrow 1-0 defeat to Tottenham.

The month ended with a 1-1 draw at home to Newcastle.

Albion headed into the final two games of the season knowing they were safe after Cardiff could not mathematically catch them.

This saw Brighton draw again with Arsenal 1-1 away at The Emirates.

Then came the final day of the season against Manchester City, and there was the tension of City still fighting Liverpool for the title.

Brighton's skipper Bruno then announced his retirement at the end of the season, meaning the City game would be the final game of his career.

The 38-year-old captained the side as the Seagulls lost 4-1 despite Murray giving them the lead.

Player of the season

The player of the season is too hard to narrow down between these two players.

Shane Duffy and Lewis Dunk have both been outstanding this season, and have been a major reason as to why Brighton are still in the league.

Defensively they were solid, throwing themselves in front of each other and putting their bodies on the line to protect their goal. However, they have also contributed ten goals between them this season due to their aerial prowess from set pieces.

What's to come next season 

Firstly the Seagulls will have to find a new manager, with Chris Hughton having been sacked at the end of the season. 

However, it looks as though Graham Potter will be the man to take over the position.

So in terms of what to expect next season is a younger and more attacking Brighton side, who will not just sit back and contain, but go out there and attack sides.

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