Cast your votes in the WeAreBrighton.com Awards 2019-20

Brighton & Hove Albion’s 2019-20 season is at an end and that can mean only one thing – it is time to vote in the 11th annual WeAreBrighton.com End of Season Awards.

There are nine categories for you to have your say on. The coveted WeAreBrighton.com Brighton Player of the Season 2019-20 is the pick of the awards and the that they all want to get their hands on, although rumours that is is cursed have refused to go away.

Previous winners including the likes of Inigo Calderon, Andrew Crofts, Glenn Murray, Liam Bridcutt and Stephen Ward, who all left within the following year – and last year’s winner was Shane Duffy who seems likely to be sold this summer.

All your favourite accolades are up for grabs again, including Comedy Moment of the Season, Look-a-like of the Season and Sexiest Player of the Season. Bruno’s retirement gives somebody else a shot at that particular award for the first time in three seasons.

There is also one new category at the 2019-20 awards. We are giving you the chance to have your say on Brighton manager Graham Potter’s Strangest Tactical Decision of the Year – and there is plenty of competition for that one.

Voting closes on Sunday 9th August at 8pm. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts on what has been a pretty good year for the Albion.

WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Season 2019-20

Dan Burn
Big Dan Burn has been one of the first names on the team sheet this season. Be it at centre back or left back, he’s hardly put a foot wrong all year and it was no coincidence that Brighton’s worst run of performances came with him on the sidelines with a fractured collarbone.
Lewis Dunk
It is astonishing to think that Lewis Dunk has never won a Brighton Player of the Season award. He has every chance of changing that in 2019-20 after a stunning first campaign as club captain in which he has become of the best English centre backs in the Premier League.
Neal Maupay
For a 23-year-old striker stepping up from the Championship to play Premier League football for the first time, Neal Maupay’s return of 10 goals represented an excellent debut season. He has also gained himself a deserved reputation as a first-class wind up merchant.
Aaron Mooy
Aaron Mooy has had a curious first year at the Amex. His form tailed off slightly after Brighton paid £5 million to turn his loan deal into a permanent move, but he still deserves a place on the shortlist for a first half of the campaign in which he was unplayable at times.
Maty Ryan
The goalkeeper has come in for his fair share of criticism, a lot of it harsh. Despite what some Albion supporters may think, the statistics show that Maty Ryan has saved Brighton six additional goals this year. That looks like a good year from where we are.
Leandro Trossard
Leandro Trossard had what is more commonly known as a Paul Brooker season – good at the start, hibernated in winter, excellent at the end. A fine campaign in general was rounded off by him just pipping Own Goals to finish as second top scorer behind Maupay.

WeAreBrighton.com Goal of the Season 2019-20

Aaron Connolly v Tottenham Hotspur (H)
Aaron Connolly made quite the splash on his full Premier League debut, scoring twice against Tottenham Hotspur. His second had shades of a young Wayne Rooney as he raced onto Lewis Dunk’s brilliant pass out of defence to hit a first time drive across Paulo Gazzaniga.
Lewis Dunk v Liverpool (A)
If there was an award for Brighton & Hove Albion’s cleverest goal of the 2019-20 season, then Lewis Dunk would be winning it. The defender caught Liverpool goalkeeper Adrian napping with a quickly taken free kick which nestled into the unguarded net, much to the anger of Jurgen Klopp.
Aaron Mooy v Plucky Little Bournemouth (H)
A sublime goal from a sublime player as Aaron Mooy channelled his inner Dennis Bergkamp with a chest, a flick and a volley to score what proved to be the winner in Brighton’s 2-1 win over Plucky Little Bournemouth.
Alireza Jahanbakhsh v Chelsea (H)
Having scored once in 27 previous appearances for Brighton, Alireza Jahanbakhsh pulled a beautiful, unstoppable bicycle kick out of nowhere late on against Chelsea to earn the Albion their first ever point against the Blues. So good that it even won the Premier League Goal of the Month competition for January.
Leandro Trossard v Liverpool (H)
Two goals in the opening seven minutes ruined Brighton’s hopes of taking anything from Premier League champions Liverpool at the Amex. Leandro Trossard did score the goal of the game though, a cracking distance effort which gave Allison no chance.
Yves Bissouma v Burnley (A)
Yves Bissouma snuck onto the 2019-20 awards shortlist for Goal of the Season on the final day of the campaign as Brighton won 2-1 at Burnley when his 25 yarder recovered the situation after a short corner routine went very badly. To generate so much power with a side footed effort was extraordinary.

Memorable Moment of the Season 2019-20

Watford 0-3 Brighton
A sunny summer day in Watford with Graham Potter in the Brighton dugout for the first time. We were told to expect a more positive brand of football, but nobody in their right mind could have expected the Albion to hammer the previous season’s FA Cup runners up 3-0 on their own patch.
Brighton 3-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Brighton delivered arguably their best performance as a Premier League side when Champions League finalists Tottenham came to the Amex in October. Spurs couldn’t deal with Aaron Mooy, Aaron Connolly scored twice and Mauricio Pochettino was collecting his P45 a little over a month later.
Arsenal 1-2 Brighton
Brighton had made 16 visits to the Premier League’s big six without victory. On a cold December night at the Emirates Stadium, they finally notched a win away from home against one of England’s biggest clubs when defeating Arsenal 2-1. It was a magical evening in North London.
Alireza Jahanbakhsh breaks his duck
Has scoring a goal for Brighton ever meant more to a player than when Alireza Jahanbakhsh broke his duck against Plucky Little Bournemouth? The Persian Prince ended a barren run of 18 months and 26 games without netting and celebrated by sinking to his knees and bursting into tears. Even his harshest critics – and we were among those – couldn’t help but like the guy after that.
Glenn Murray scores against West Ham United
Graham Potter’s reluctance to use Glenn Murray has proven to be a real source of frustration this season. Which is why there was such delight at Murray scoring away at West Ham United to rescue a point on his first start in four months. Underrate Glenn at your peril.
Brighton 2-1 Arsenal
We bloody love a game with Arsenal, don’t we? The Gunners receive their second nomination in the 2019-20 awards category of Memorable Moment of the Season for losing 2-1 against Brighton at the Amex in the first game after the Premier League season restarted. Neal Maupay’s last minute winner, Matteo Guendouzi throttling Maupay after the final whistle… it was a fixture that had it all.

Flair Moment of the Season 2019-20

Florin Andone’s red card against Southampton
Oh Florin Andone. The Romanian liability was given his first chance under Graham Potter against Southampton at the Amex. Andone marked the occasion by getting sent off inside of 30 minutes for a horror tackle which Potter told the media he was unable to defend. Talk about making a good impression.
Dan Burn’s touch is applauded by Sergio Aguero
Sergio Aguero knows a thing or two about good football. So when he began applauding Big Dan Burn bringing a ball under control as it dropped from 60 feet out of the sky in the Albion’s 4-0 defeat at the Etihad Stadium in August, you knew it was a flair piece of skill.
Neal Maupay’s goal celebration at Crystal Palace
There is no better way to endear yourself to the Brighton fan base than by winding up Crystal Palace supporters, something which Neal Maupay certainly did with his celebrations when scoring the opener at Selhurst Park in December.
Brighton charge supporters £20 for a cardboard cut out
When it comes to finding new ways to rip off supporters, Paul Barber has come up with some ideas during his time as Brighton. The decision to charge supporters £20 for a cardboard cutout of themselves which would neither be seen on television nor would fans be allowed to keep afterwards was extraordinary even by his high standards.
Neal Maupay gets throttled by Matteo Guendouzi
It’s that Arsenal home game again. So good was Matteo Guendouzi strangling Maupay that we have decided to give it its own special nomination in this category too.
Ezequiel Schelotto versus Andy Naylor on Twitter
It has been some time since we saw a decent Twitter spat between a player and pundit, probably stretching back to 2015 when David Stockdale and Adam Virgo had an enjoyable tiff. Ezequiel Schelotto’s departure from the Albion saw him and Andy Naylor exchange an ongoing war of words on social media after Naylor’s “sources” reported that the club didn’t want to keep Schelotto, whereas the Argentinian full back tried to make it very clear him leaving the Amex was his decision. Handbags at dawn.

Comedy Moment of the Season 2019-20

Winning two games in 19 after giving Graham Potter a new six-year contract
Brighton giving Graham Potter a new six-year contract after just four Premier League victories seemed a little odd. Two wins from the next 19 games – the exact same form that cost Chris Hughton his job – turned into a decision that you had to laugh at. All turned out alright in the end though.
Players inhale balloons while on warm weather training
The Premier League introduced a winter break for the 2019-20 season with Brighton winning awards for how not to spend it by flying the players off to Tenerife, where several were filmed inhaling balloons while enjoying themselves in a bar.
Paying £500,000 to sign our own player
Not many clubs in football history have had to negotiate a deal and then pay £500,000 to sign a player they actually own from a club that they have loaned him to. The Alexis Mac Allister transfer saga was a spectacular cock up even by the high standards of Brighton & Hove Albion.
Ezequiel Schelotto makes Wilfried Zaha cry
There wasn’t much to cheer about Crystal Palace’s visit to the Amex in February. Ezequiel Schelotto did manage to wind Wilfried Zaha up to the extreme however, firstly by launching a ball at the head of Palace’s golden child and then by mocking him with a crying gesture. It was the best thing Schelotto did in his three years as an Albion player and even earned him our WeAreBrighton.com February Player of the Month award.
Maty Ryan throws the ball backwards
When you are in desperate need of points and playing away against a team chasing Champions Leaguq qualification, the last thing you want to see is your goalkeeper accidentally throwing the ball towards his own goal. Which is exactly what Maty Ryan did when Brighton went to Leicester City. Luckily for Ryan, he rescued the situation just before Jamie Vardy could take advantage.
Raheem Sterling’s hat-trick goal at the Amex
Raheem Sterling is one of the best players in the world and he certainly doesn’t require any help scoring goals. He still received a lot of it at the Amex though for his hat-trick goal as Brighton defenders fell over each over, Sterling headed the ball through Maty Ryan’s legs as he tumbled to the ground and then Dan Burn’s attempt to clear off the line smashed onto the post in. It was comedy-fending straight from the School of Colin Hawkins.

Villain of the Season 2019-20

VAR
Everyone seems to have hated VAR in 2019-20 and so it seems like a natural nomination in our Brighton End of Season awards – even though the Albion have been one of the main beneficiaries of the technology. The bods have worked out that without it giving decisions such as the penalty won by Aaron Connolly in the 3-2 win at home to Everton, Brighton would have finished perilously close to relegation in 17th spot.
Jake Humphrey
“Having watched Brighton today, and I know I’m not impartial, but you really should be pleased about the prospect of an expansive, exciting, ambitious Norwich team…full of home-grown talents…joining the Premier League.”
John Barnes
The WeAreBrighton.com team met John Barnes at the Albion’s FA Cup first round replay against Woking back in 2010 and he was a lovely bloke. It is a shame that he doesn’t know much about football, as his continued comments about Brighton being wrong to sack Chris Hughton despite Graham Potter improving league position, points and playing style over the course of the season have shown.
Wilfried Zaha
Poor ickle Wilf. Threw a tantrum because Ezequiel Schelotto mocked him for being a crybaby and then managed to miss an open goal from two yards at the Amex. He also scored Crystal Palace’s equaliser in the 1-1 draw at Selhurst back in December, the bastard.
Matteo Guendouzi
It’s that Sideshow Bob look-a-like again, who spent the whole of Brighton’s 2-1 win over Arsenal telling the Albion players that they would never earn as much or have the football career that he will. All of which makes the irony that Mikel Arteta wants to sell Guendouzi this summer because of his performance at the Amex that today so much sweeter.
Gareth Southgate
Lewis Dunk has had an outstanding season at the heart of the Albion defence and anyone who has watched him can see that he is deserving of an England call up – except the one man whose opinion matters the most. Just what is Gareth Southgate’s problem with Dunk?

Graham Potter’s Strangest Tactical Decision of the Season 2019-20

Adam Webster as a right wing back v Burnley (H)
When Graham Potter named Adam Webster, Dan Burn, Shane Duffy and Lewis Dunk in the same starting line up for the home game with Burnley, nobody seemed sure how he was fitting four centre backs into the team. The answer was by playing Webster as a right wing back, a tactical master plan which was abandoned before the first half was out.
High defensive line v Manchester United (A)
When you are playing against lightning quick players such as Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, the one thing you don’t want to do is give them lots of space to run into. Potter didn’t seem to grasp this as he set Brighton up to play a high defensive line and press aggressively at Old Trafford. The result was a terrible first half performance on the way to a disappointing 3-1 defeat.
Davy Propper at right back v Sheffield United (H)
You might see a bit of a theme developing with the awards nominations for Potter’s Strangest Tactical Decision 2019-20 in that most of the them involve somebody playing out-of-position on the right back Brighton. In the second half of the 1-0 home defeat to Sheffield United, it was Davy Propper’s turn to have a go there.
Ezequiel Schelotto on the right of a front three v Sheffield Wednesday (H)
Potter’s team selection for the FA Cup third round tie against Sheffield Wednesday made it very clear that he didn’t care if the Albion were eliminated from the competition. The most incredible aspect of it was using Ezequiel Schelotto as the right sided player in a front three.
Two wingers crossing while Glenn Murray sits on the bench v Plucky Little Bournemouth (A)
A treble change on the hour mark at the Vitality Stadium was an acknowledgement that Potter had got his starting XI very wrong against Plucky Little Bournemouth. On came Leandro Trossard and Solly March, who began pumping crosses into the box. The problem? Those crosses were being aimed at the Hobbit-like attacking duo of Neal Maupay and Aaron Connolly while Glenn Murray sat on the bench. Work that one out.
Tariq Lamptey as a right winger v Liverpool (H)
Tariq Lamptey marked his Brighton debut with a man-of-the-match performance as the Albion drew 0-0 away at Leicester City. Potter’s response to that was to play him out-of-position on the right wing a week later when Manchester United came to the Amex. Brighton lost 3-0 and Lamptey was hauled at half time.

Look-a-like of the Season 2019-20

David Button – Tyson Fury
Tyson Fury enjoyed one of the greatest comebacks in boxing history in 2020, going from weighing 27 stone and on the verge of suicide to winning the world heavyweight title. His doppelganger David Button hasn’t managed quite the same feats as he is still to oust Maty Ryan as Brighton number one.
Aaron Connolly – Phillip Schofield
Has any 20-year-old ever gone into a barbers before and asked to be made to look like Phillip Schofield, other than Aaron Connolly? Who knew he was such a fan of This Morning‘s silver fox presenter.
Lewis Dunk – Neil from The Inbetweeners
A regular nomination on our WeAreBrighton.com End of Season awards for the best Brighton-related look-a-like, Lewis Dunk and Neil from The Inbetweeners actually won the crown last season – can they retain it in 2019-20?
Alexis Mac Allister – Lionel Messi
Brighton have high hopes for Argentinian forward Alexis Mac Allister. If he turns out to be half as good as the bloke that he looks strikingly similar to, then the Albion will have a decent little player on their hands.
Aaron Mooy – The Hood
We could have selected any generic bald man as Aaron Mooy’s look-a-like really, but there is just something about the antagonist from Thunderbirds and the Australian midfielder that makes them look the same.
Ezequiel Scehlotto – Captain Jack Sparrow
Ezequiel Schelotto has regularly featured on this list for his similarities to Jesus of Nazareth. Post-lockdown however he came back with his long locks made up like Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean. Not sure what that was all about.

Sexiest Player of the Season 2019-20

Shane Duffy
If you like rugged Irish charm, then Shane Duffy is the man for you. And the good news is he is usually quite easy to find if you want to try and chat him up – just visit Molly Malone’s or the Grosvenor Casino on a Saturday night and there he will be.
Neal Maupay
Neal Maupay is a bit of a bastard on the pitch, which makes him appear all the more attractive off it. He also gets bonus points for being French.
Solly March
A regular on this list for several years now, Solly March is yet to win the crown despite pushing Bruno and serial winner Inigo Calderon close since making his Albion debut way back in 2013.
Davy Propper
There is a reason he is known as Handsome Davy Propper. He has looked better than ever this season, especially since growing out his hair like some sort of Hollywood superstar.
Maty Ryan
It was an absolute crime that Maty Ryan didn’t take him the crown of Brighton & Hove Albion’s Sexiest Player at last season’s awards – we are hoping justice will be done in 2019-20. A ridiculously attractive man and a top bloke to boot.
Dale Stephens
A section of Brighton fans may despise Dale Stephens with the sort of passion rarely seen outside of the Balkans, but that hasn’t stopped him becoming a popular member of the squad with the ladies.

Polls close at 8pm on Sunday 9th August. Thanks for voting in our End of Season Awards 2019-20 and keep your eye on WeAreBrighton.com for the results