Brighton today secured a return to the top flight and their first ever season in the Premier League.
A two one victory over Wigan Athletic at the Amex Stadium earlier today left Brighton on the cusp of being mathematically guaranteed promotion this season but we had to wait to see what Huddersfield Town did in their clash against Derby County.
With their tie finishing one all, failing to secure victory means Brighton are now guaranteed an automatic promotion spot for the campaign and the season of 2017/18 will be in the Premier League.
With performances and form this year under Chris Hughton, fans will be hopeful that returning to the top flight after 34 years of waiting will see consolidation and the side simply have to stay out of the bottom three so the club can continue to build with the riches of the top flight.
For anybody who cares, had Huddersfield won today we would’ve needed one more point to secure a return following relegation in 1982/83, but it was always likely given the superior goal difference.
Last season’s double disappointment of missing out on the automatic places and then the Play Off route more than served as a motivation this term and that disappointment can definitely be put behind us.
As for the simple statistics so far this year.
Attacking threat – Murray (22), Anthony Knockaert (15), Sam Baldock (11) and Tomer Hemed (11) have scored 59 of their 73 goals this season.
Home form – The Seagulls have picked up the most Championship points at home with 54, and won 17 of their 22 games there.
Unbeaten run – Brighton did not lose in October, November and December, winning 11 of their 15 games during that spell.
Tight defence – They have conceded the fewest goals in the Championship (36) with 21 clean sheets.
Stats from the BBC.
Manager Chris Hughton said post game.
‘It had something to do with how the season ended last season, but I think it was more the fact that the players enjoyed being up that end of the table, competing, getting into the play-offs. I think it was a conscious decision that they wanted that again, and the signs were there early in the season. We recruited well early in the season, in the summer, but it was a real steely determination from the group of players that wanted to do it again.’
