Following a summer of breathtaking international football, the opening weekend of the 2024/25 Premier League season is finally upon us.
First up for Brighton and Hove Albion and new boss Fabian Hürzeler is a trip to Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon, where they will be looking for a fourth consecutive opening day victory.
Last season saw the Albion put four past newly promoted Luton Town in a game that provided fans with a more than memorable opening day.
From last-minute winners to giant killings, Brighton have had many opening day displays to remember over the years. So, let us delve into the past and look back at those opening games that live most prominently in the memory.
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Manchester United 1-2 Brighton, 2022/23
Following a record-breaking ninth-placed finish the season before, Brighton were full of optimism heading into the 2022/23 season and first up for Graham Potter’s side was a mouthwatering clash against Manchester United at the Theatre of Dreams.
It had been a summer of considerable change for the Red Devils with Erik Ten Hag and a plethora of big-money signings making their way through the doors, so despite their miserable end to the previous season, which included a 4-0 hammering to Brighton at the Amex Stadium, fans were somewhat confident about their prospects.
While Brighton had convincingly beaten Manchester United in that victory on the south coast, in nine previous league visits to Old Trafford, they had managed only one draw.
However, a different result was on the cards this time for the travelling Seagulls as up stepped Pascal Groß with a first-half brace that stunned the home fans and clinched a historic 2-1 victory.
With only 15 seconds gone, Leandro Trossard came close to opening the scoring after he fired a volley into the side-netting, and it was only a sign of things to come as a fluid Brighton side took full advantage of a lacklustre first-half showing from United.
Twice towards the end of the half, Groß found himself completely unmarked within the six-yard box, and twice, he fired the ball past David de Gea into the back of the net.
Despite a late onslaught from ten Hag’s side, which saw Alexis Mac Allister put the ball into his own net, Brighton hung on for a famous victory, starting the season with a huge statement to the rest of the league.
The elated visiting fans cemented their opening-day triumph with a spirited rendition of “Can we play you every week?”
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Watford 0-3 Brighton, 2019/20
The 2018/19 Premier League season was challenging for Brighton, who, then under Chris Hughton, were locked in a fierce relegation battle which saw them survive by a mere two points.
Despite his team surviving, Hughton did not and with that, the 2019/20 season marked the beginning of Graham Potter’s Brighton reign, with his first Premier League task being an arduous trip to Vicarage Road to face a Watford side that had finished an impressive 11th and reached the FA Cup final the season before.
However, the two sides’ conflicting fortunes in the campaign before meant nothing when the referee’s whistle blew in Hertfordshire as Potter’s men ensured a new season meant a fresh start by stunning the Hornets with a 3-0 victory.
Following a cagey opening 45 minutes which saw little between the two sides, Watford’s Abdoulaye Doucoure turned the ball into his own net from a wonderful Pascal Groß cross to send the visitors into the break with a slender advantage.
While it was the hosts who came out for the second half with more vigour about them, the Seagulls doubled their advantage after Florin Andone latched onto Davy Propper’s cross before Neal Maupay sealed victory twelve minutes later after expertly rounding Ben Foster and calmly slotting home.
Not only had Potter ended a string of opening-day defeats for Brighton, but he also established hope within a fanbase that was doubting whether they belonged at the pinnacle of English football.
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Brighton 2-1 Doncaster Rovers, 2011/12
The first game of the 2011/12 season against Doncaster Rovers gave Brighton two reasons to celebrate before a ball had even been kicked: it was not only their first game back in the Championship following a five-year spell in League One, but it was also the club’s first at the Amex Stadium.
Desperate to start life in a new league and stadium in style, the Albion were handed a favourable opening fixture, with the Rovers having narrowly avoided the drop the season before.
However, the party atmosphere was dampened early on when Brighton boss Gus Poyet was sent to the stands after reacting furiously to his side being denied a penalty before Billy Sharp’s shot sneaked over the goal line to put the visitors ahead.
With only a matter of minutes left on the clock, it looked as if Brighton’s big day was to be spoiled, that was until summer signing Will Buckley stepped up and took the game by the scruff of the neck.
Buckley put the sides level with a thundering effort from the edge of the box in the 83rd minute before sending the crowd into a rhapsody of joy in the eighth minute of injury time with a composed finish to secure a fairytale victory for the Seagulls.
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Reading 3-2 Brighton, 2004/05
Seventeen seconds was all it took for newly-promoted Brighton to score their first goal of the 2004/05 Championship season as Maheta Molango calmly slotted the ball home to take the lead against promotion hopefuls Reading.
However, it took only a minute for the Royals to respond and level the contest in what is undoubtedly the most breathtaking start to a season you will ever see.
Unfortunately, this game’s inclusion on this list is heavily reliant on these electric two minutes as, for Brighton fans, there was little else worth remembering other than this absurd beginning to a season.
Reading remained largely in the driving seat from the second minute onwards and rarely looked troubled as they scored either side of half-time to create a two-goal cushion.
While Brighton refused to bow down to their hosts and responded with a goal of their own, the final score of 3-2 can certainly be forgotten, but those opening minutes will undoubtedly live long in the memory of the fans who had managed to take their seat in time.
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Brighton 6-0 Mansfield Town, 1999/2000
After two years of exile playing their home fixtures in Gillingham, the Seagulls returned to Sussex for the 1999/2000 season with Withdean Stadium officially their new home.
Just under 6,000 people crammed into the converted athletics stadium on the opening day of the season to see the Albion open a new chapter in their history by putting six past Mansfield Town.
A stray elbow left the Stags a man down with only eleven minutes gone, and from there on out, the floodgates well and truly opened.
Brighton-born Darren Freeman, who had joined from Brentford that summer, was at the centre of the action, scoring a brilliant first-half brace which was made all the sweeter when Thin Lizzy’s hit ‘The Boys are Back in Town’ was played through the tannoy at half-time.
Freeman's teammates chipped in with goals after the break; however, he was not finished himself as he completed his hat trick in the 70th minute, cementing his name in the club’s history books in arguably the most memorable opening day game Brighton will ever have.
