2022–23 Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. season

Brighton & Hove Albion

2022–23 season
Chairman	Tony Bloom
Head coach	Graham Potter (until 8 September)[1] Roberto De Zerbi (from 18 September)[2]
Stadium	Falmer Stadium
Premier League	6th
FA Cup	Semi-finals
EFL Cup	Fourth round
Top goalscorer	League: Alexis Mac Allister (10) All: Alexis Mac Allister (12)
Highest home attendance	31,746 vs Chelsea (Premier League – 29 October 2022)
Lowest home attendance	29,415 vs Grimsby Town (FA Cup – 19 March 2023)
Average home league attendance	31,476
Biggest win	6–0 vs Wolverhampton Wanderers (Premier League – 29 April 2023)
Biggest defeat	1–5 vs Everton (Premier League – 8 May 2023)
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2021–22 2023–24 →

The 2022–23 season was the 121st season in the existence of Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club and the club's sixth consecutive season in the Premier League. In addition to the league, they also competed in the FA Cup and the EFL Cup.

Brighton finished the league season in sixth place, qualifying for European football for the first time in club history into the UEFA Europa League.

Brighton's opening game of the Premier League season made history, with The Seagulls recording their first ever win at Old Trafford in the 2–1 victory over Manchester United. Pascal Groß scored a brace, taking his tally up to four goals in total against the Red Devils. The win also recorded back to back victories, having won 4–0 in the last home game of the previous season.^[3][4] Brighton set a club record of nine consecutive top-flight matches without defeat after their 1–0 home win over Leeds on 27 August.^[5] However, any chance of extending this was ended in their next match after losing 2–1 at Fulham with Lewis Dunk scoring his sixth Premier League own goal of his career.^[6]

Five days later, Brighton beat Leicester 5–2 at Falmer Stadium, with this being the first time the Seagulls have scored five goals in a Premier League fixture.^[7] On 8 September, Graham Potter left Brighton for Chelsea following the sacking of Thomas Tuchel. Andrew Crofts former Brighton player and current under-23's head coach took over as interim head coach with current player Adam Lallana acting as interim first-team coach.^[8]

On 18 September 2022, Brighton announced Roberto De Zerbi as the club's new head coach on a four-year contract.^[9] His first match in charge came on 1 October, which ended in a 3–3 draw away at Liverpool with Leandro Trossard scoring all three of Brighton's goals, becoming the first Brighton player to score a Premier League hat-trick. Brighton had led Liverpool 2–1 at the break before going 3–2 down, with Trossard scoring an 83rd-minute equaliser.^[10] De Zerbi lost his first match at Falmer Stadium on 9 October, losing 1–0 to Tottenham, but the Italian highly praised his team's performance.^[11]

On 10 October, Enock Mwepu announced he had been forced to retire due to a hereditary heart condition.^[12] Brighton thrashed Chelsea 4–1 on 29 October, beating Graham Potter's men on his first return to Falmer Stadium since he left for the Blues, with De Zerbi claiming his first Brighton win.^[13]

During the mid-season break for the World Cup, Brighton headed to Dubai on a training camp where they later played a friendly against Aston Villa on 8 December. They drew 2–2 with the fellow Premier League opposition with Deniz Undav scoring a brace.^[14]

Brighton were sixth in the Premier League for player representation at the 2022 FIFA World Cup with eight players heading to Qatar for the mid-season competition starting on 20 November.^[15]

• Jeremy Sarmiento – Ecuador (Group stage exit)
• Moisés Caicedo – Ecuador (1 goal scored, Group stage exit)
• Pervis Estupiñán – Ecuador (Group stage exit)
• Alexis Mac Allister – Argentina (1 goal scored, Winner)
• Kaoru Mitoma – Japan (Round of 16 exit)
• Tariq Lamptey – Ghana (Group stage exit)
• Robert Sánchez – Spain (Round of 16 exit)
• Leandro Trossard – Belgium (Group stage exit)

On 20 December, Brighton's first match since the conclusion of the World Cup, they faced an away trip to League One side Charlton Athletic in the fourth round of the EFL Cup. The game finished 0–0, with Solly March firing over his penalty in the shootout to miss the opportunity to send Albion through to the quarter-finals, with Brighton eventually losing.^[16] Six days later on Boxing Day, March redeemed himself, scoring his first goal in over two years with a 20-yard thumper in the 3–1 away win over Southampton, where he also assisted Adam Lallana's goal against his former club.^[17] On 31 December, in the 4–2 home defeat against league leaders Arsenal, Albions' 18-year-old Evan Ferguson scored his first Premier League goal, becoming Brighton's youngest ever goalscorer in the league.^[18] After the turn of the year on 3 January 2023, Ferguson scored again on his first Premier League start, also assisting March's second goal of the season in the 4–1 away victory over Everton. Brighton graduate Andrew Moran made his Premier League debut as a substitute in the game.^[19] On 29 January, Brighton beat defending champions Liverpool in the FA Cup fourth round to advance to the fifth. This victory meant that Brighton had gone three games unbeaten – one draw, two victories – against Liverpool in the 2022–23 season.^[20] In the fifth round of the cup competition, on 28 February captain and hometown boy Lewis Dunk made his 400th Brighton appearance, helping the Albion progress into the quarter-final after a 1–0 away win over Championship side Stoke City.^[21] On 4 March, long term back-up keeper Jason Steele made his second Premier League appearance of his career – his first coming in November 2021 – keeping his first top flight clean sheet in the 4–0 home win over West Ham.^[22] After being selected ahead of Robert Sánchez against the Hammers, the 32-year-old was given a run of game time and preferred to than the Spanish keeper with De Zerbi saying that "maybe he [Steele] is closer than Robert in my style."^[23] On 15 March, Pascal Groß made his 200th Seagulls appearance, helping Brighton defeat their bitter rivals Crystal Palace at Falmer Stadium with former Palace youth player Solly March scoring the only goal of the game.^[24] Dunk became the first Brighton player to make 200 Premier League appearances on 8 April in an away match at Tottenham, scoring an equaliser in an eventual 1–2 defeat. The refereeing of that game was mired in controversy and several calls were questioned by the media.^[25] Brighton were knocked out of the FA Cup at the semi-final stage on 23 April, losing on penalties to Manchester United at Wembley Stadium. Solly March was reduced to tears after firing over his second spot kick in a shootout of the season.^[26] After the game, De Zerbi spoke that Brighton "have to close the page," putting their Wembley disappointment behind them and focus on the fight for Europe.^[27] Three days later, Brighton were not able respond to their FA Cup semi final defeat and lost 3–1 away at Nottingham Forest. However, Facundo Buonanotte scored on his first Premier League start, with Julio Enciso making his first league start, and later Odeluga Offiah coming on for his first Premier League appearance.^[28] Three days after that, Brighton's first home game in four weeks, they recorded their highest Premier League win, a 6–0 thrashing over Wolves. Deniz Undav scored his first and second league goals in an Albion shirt, with Pascal Groß and Danny Welbeck also scoring braces.^[29] On 8 May, Brighton suffered one of their worse Premier League defeats, a 5–1 thumping at home against Everton, with the Toffees scoring within 34 seconds.^[30] On 21 May, after a 3–1 win at home over Southampton, Brighton secured a top six finish meaning they had qualified for Europe for the first time in their history.^[31] Three days later, Brighton got a 1–1 draw with Manchester City with Enciso scoring a stunning 25-yard equaliser to sealing sixth place and a place in the 2023–24 UEFA Europa League.^[32] Brighton's successful season ended in a 2–1 away defeat at Aston Villa on 28 May.^[33]

Date	Pos	Player	Transferred from	Fee	Team	Ref
17 June 2022	CF	Julio Enciso	Libertad	£9,500,000	First Team	[34][35]
20 June 2022	LW	Benicio Baker-Boaitey	FC Porto	Undisclosed	U21s	[36]
24 June 2022	LW	Simon Adingra	FC Nordsjælland	£6,900,000	U21s	[37]
5 August 2022	LB	Imari Samuels	Reading	Free Transfer	U21s	[38]
12 August 2022	MF	Luca Barrington	Manchester City	Undisclosed	U18s	[39]
16 August 2022	LB	Pervis Estupiñán	Villarreal	£14,900,000	First Team	[40]
1 September 2022	MF	Billy Gilmour	Chelsea	£9,000,000	First Team	[41]
4 January 2023	AM	Jamie Mullins	Bohemian	Undisclosed	U21s	[42]
13 January 2023	AM	Facundo Buonanotte	Rosario Central	£5,300,000	U21s	[43]
26 January 2023	CF	Mark O'Mahony	Cork City	Free Transfer	U21s	[44]
30 January 2023	MF	Yasin Ayari	AIK	£3,500,000 [45]	First Team	[46]

Date	Pos	Player	Transferred to	Fee	Team	Ref
10 June 2022[a]	CM	Jayson Molumby	West Bromwich Albion	£900,000	First Team	[47]
17 June 2022	DM	Yves Bissouma	Tottenham Hotspur	£25,000,000	First Team	[48]
25 June 2022	LB	Alex Cochrane	Heart of Midlothian	Undisclosed	U21s	[49]
30 June 2022	DM	Tudor Băluță	Farul Constanța	Released	U21s	[50][51]
30 June 2022	CB	Lars Dendoncker	Unattached	Released	U21s	[50]
30 June 2022	GK	Adam Desbois	Hartley Wintney	Released	U21s	[50][52]
30 June 2022	CF	Ulrick Eneme Ella	Angers	Released	U21s	[50][53]
30 June 2022	RB	John Lucero	Worthing	Released	U18s	[50][54]
30 June 2022	LW	Jaami Qureshi	Unattached	Released	U18s	[50]
30 June 2022	RB	Ayo Tanimowo	Unattached	Released	U21s	[50]
18 July 2022	CB	Leo Skiri Østigård	Napoli	£4,200,000	First Team	[55]
4 August 2022	LB	Zak Sturge	Chelsea	Undisclosed	U21s	[56]
5 August 2022	LB	Marc Cucurella	Chelsea	£56,000,000	First Team	[57]
25 August 2022	CB	Matthew Clarke	Middlesbrough	£3,500,000	First Team	[58]
26 August 2022	CF	Neal Maupay	Everton	£15,000,000	First Team	[59]
1 September 2022	CF	Florin Andone	UD Las Palmas	Released	First Team	[60][61]
1 September 2022	CF	Zak Emmerson	Blackpool	Undisclosed	U18s	[62]
10 October 2022	MF	Enock Mwepu	Retired[b]		First Team	[63]
20 January 2023	MF	Leandro Trossard	Arsenal	£21,000,000	First Team	[64]
31 January 2023	CB	Shane Duffy	Fulham	Undisclosed	First Team	[65]

Date	Pos	Player	Loaned from	On loan until	Team	Ref
5 August 2022	CB	Levi Colwill	Chelsea	End of Season	First Team	[66]

Date	Pos	Player	Loaned to	On loan until	Team	Source
13 June 2022	GK	Fynn Talley	Cliftonville	End of Season	U21s	[67]
4 July 2022	LW	Simon Adingra	Royale Union Saint-Gilloise	End of Season	U21s	[68]
8 July 2022	GK	Carl Rushworth	Lincoln City	End of Season	U21s	[69]
9 July 2022	CB	Haydon Roberts	Derby County	End of Season	U21s	[70]
13 July 2022	RW	Abdallah Sima	Angers	End of Season	U21s	[71]
14 July 2022	CF	Aaron Connolly	Venezia	6 January 2023[a]	First Team	[72][73]
22 July 2022	AM	Taylor Richards	Queens Park Rangers	End of Season	First Team	[74]
25 July 2022	CM	Marc Leonard	Northampton Town	End of Season	U21s	[75]
25 July 2022	DM	Jensen Weir	Morecambe	End of Season	U21s	[76]
26 July 2022	SS	Reda Khadra	Sheffield United	10 January 2023[b]	U21s	[77][78]
29 July 2022	AM	Teddy Jenks	Crawley Town	End of Season	U21s	[79]
2 August 2022	CF	Andi Zeqiri	Basel	End of Season	First Team	[80]
4 August 2022	RB	Michał Karbownik	Fortuna Düsseldorf	End of Season	First Team	[81]
5 August 2022	CB	Shane Duffy	Fulham	31 January 2023[c]	First Team	[82][65]
16 August 2022	GK	Kjell Scherpen	Vitesse	End of Season	First Team	[83]
23 August 2022	CF	Lorent Tolaj	Salford City	31 January 2023[d]	U21s	[84][85]
25 August 2022	CM	Kacper Kozłowski	Vitesse	End of Season	U21s	[86]
1 September 2022	LB	Leigh Kavanagh	Derby County	End of Season	U21s	[87]
9 September 2022	DM	Steven Alzate	Standard Liège	End of Season	First Team	[88]
2 January 2023	GK	Killian Cahill	Bognor Regis Town	End of Season	U21s	[89]
6 January 2023	CF	Aaron Connolly	Hull City	End of Season	First Team	[73]
10 January 2023	AM	Reda Khadra	Birmingham City	End of Season	U21s	[78]
13 January 2023	RW	Todd Miller	Doncaster Rovers	End of Season	U21s	[90]
13 January 2023	CB	Ed Turns	Leyton Orient	End of Season	U21s	[91]
18 January 2023	GK	James Beadle	Crewe Alexandra	End of season	U21s	[92]
31 January 2023	LB	James Furlong	Motherwell	End of Season	U21s	[93]
31 January 2023	CM	Jack Spong	Crawley Town	End of Season	U21s	[94]
31 January 2023	CF	Lorent Tolaj	Dundee	End of Season	U21s	[85]
31 January 2023	CB	Antef Tsoungui	Lommel	End of season	U21s	[95]

On 17 June, Brighton announced details for their pre-season friendly games. Two matches against Union SG and Brentford will take place at the club's training ground, the American Express Elite Football Performance Centre and an away fixture was announced against Reading at the Madejski Stadium.^[96] Espanyol was later confirmed as the pre-season finale.^[97]

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixtures

Brighton & Hove Albion v Union Saint-Gilloise

9 July 2022 Friendly	Brighton & Hove Albion	0–0	Union Saint-Gilloise	Lancing
18:00 BST		Report		Stadium: American Express Elite Football Performance Centre Attendance: 0 (behind-closed-doors) Referee: Keith Stroud

Estoril Praia v Brighton & Hove Albion

16 July 2022 Friendly	Estoril Praia	1–4	Brighton & Hove Albion	Lisbon, Portugal
18:30 WEST	Martins 23'	Report	Maupay 1', 12' Mitoma 65' Undav 85'	Stadium: Estadio Pina Manique

Reading v Brighton & Hove Albion

23 July 2022 Friendly	Reading	1–2	Brighton & Hove Albion	Reading
15:00 BST	Méïté 59' (pen.)	Report	Groß 19' March 47'	Stadium: Madejski Stadium

Brighton & Hove Albion v Brentford

26 July 2022 Friendly	Brighton & Hove Albion	0–1	Brentford	Falmer
15:00		Report	Toney 78'	Stadium: Falmer Stadium Attendance: 0 (behind-closed-doors)

Brighton & Hove Albion v Espanyol

30 July 2022 Friendly	Brighton & Hove Albion	5–1	Espanyol	Falmer
15:00	Webster 17' Dunk 47' Trossard 54', 63', 69'	Report	Joselu 77'	Stadium: Falmer Stadium Referee: Stuart Attwell

Aston Villa v Brighton & Hove Albion

8 December 2022 Friendly	Aston Villa	2–2	Brighton & Hove Albion	Dubai, United Arab Emirates
17:00 GST	Ings 67' Dunk 87' (o.g.)	Report	Undav 73', 81'	Stadium: Training Camp Attendance: 0

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixtures

On 16 June, the Premier League fixtures were released.^[105]

Brighton joined the competition at the third round stage, and were drawn away to Middlesbrough.^[106] In the fourth round a home tie against Liverpool was confirmed.^[107]

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixtures

Brighton entered the competition in the second round and were drawn away to Forest Green Rovers, the first time the senior team have played there.^[108] In the fourth round, another away tie was drawn, against Charlton Athletic.^[109]

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixtures