The fourth edition in our series of previews ahead of the new campaign
BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION
Home ground: Amex Stadium
Capacity: 30,750
Manager: Chris Hughton
2014/15 league position: 20th
2014/15 top goalscorer: Lewis Dunk (seven in all competitions)
After experiencing a somewhat testing campaign throughout the course of the 2014/15 season, Brighton & Hove Albion will be hoping to put their recent troubles behind them and once again challenge for promotion this term.
Play-off semi-finalists in consecutive seasons between 2012 and 2014, many expected the Seagulls to once again challenge towards the upper reaches of the Sky Bet Championship table following the arrival of Sami Hyypia as manager last summer.
The Finn’s tenure in the Brighton hotseat however wasn’t as successful as many had hoped, and following just three league victories prior to Christmas – one of which came against Wanderers early on in the campaign – Hyypia departed the club with Chris Hughton replacing him.
Spending the majority of the campaign down in the lower echelons of the division, the south-coast outfit did eventually pull themselves away from the mire inside the final weeks of the campaign, with Hughton’s men finishing six points clear of relegated Millwall.
Since the season’s conclusion, the club have allowed Craig Mackail-Smith, Aaron Hughes, Paddy McCourt, Vitalijs Maksimenko and Kemy Agustien to depart following the expiration of their contracts, but have tied vice-captain Inigo Calderon and goalkeeper Casper Ankergren to new deals.
Loan players Joe Bennett, Leon Best, Greg Halford, Mustapha Caroyal and Joao Teixeira also returned to their parent clubs, with Hughton keen to put his own mark on the side he inherited just six months ago.
With the Seagulls no doubt keen to banish any memories of last term as quickly as possible, they will be hoping to recapture their form of previous seasons in Hughton’s first full season in charge.
FIXTURES V BOLTON IN 2015/16
Saturday 26 September 2015 – 3pm kick-off at Macron Stadium
Saturday 13 February 2016 – 3pm kick-off at the Amex Stadium
RESULTS V BOLTON IN 2015/16
Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 Bolton Wanderers – 23/8/2014 (CLICK HERE for highlights)
Bolton Wanderers 1-0 Brighton & Hove Albion – 28/2/2015 (CLICK HERE for highlights)