Brighton players who combine studies and football

Everyone knows the story about Kaoru Mitoma and his thesis by now, right? How the Brighton & Hove Albion winger turned down the first professional contract he was offered, instead opting to go to university and take a degree in physical education.

As part of that degree, Mitoma wrote a thesis on dribbling. The Japanese Bullet Train has since put his findings to good practice, becoming one of the most explosive and exciting wingers in the Premier League.

Footballers like Mitoma who prize education as much as the beautiful game are more common than you might think. Here are four Brighton players who combined studies with football.

Kaoru Mitoma

Seeing as Mitoma was the inspiration for this article, we cannot really start with anyone else. Mitoma had been in the academy of J-League side Kawasaki Frontale since the age of 11 when he decided to leave the club despite being offered a professional contract, instead heading for the University of Tsukuba.

He said he did not feel physically ready for the world of top flight Japanese football, so what better way to prepare than with a degree in physical education?

Mitoma played football for the university side at a standard far higher than European college football, combined with his studies. And we know he did not pay experts to write essays as his thesis has since turned him into one of the world’s best dribblers. But what exactly did Mitoma discover?

Speaking to The Athletic about his dribbling thesis, the Brighton winger said: “I learned that the good players weren’t looking at the ball. They would look ahead, trap the ball without looking down at their feet. That was the difference.”

“I was one of the better dribblers at that time, but not exceptional. Now the power of my characteristic dribbling has doubled.”

“I am conscious of shifting the opponent’s centre of gravity. If I can move the opponent’s body, I win.” And Mitoma has certainly won more than lost in his two seasons at Brighton so far.

Inigo Calderon

Not only is Inigo Calderon one of the most popular Brighton players of all time, but he is also one of the most academically qualified.

By the age of 24, Calderon had a sports science degree. At the age of 26, he gained a masters in sports psychology from the Basque Inistute of Physical Educaton in Vitoria.

Both qualifications were earned during his time playing in the Spanish third tier Alaves, prior to Gus Poyet bringing him to Brighton in January 2009.

Speaking of his education, Calderon said in 2015: “I did sports science for five years and afterwards I did a sports psychology Masters in Spain.”

“I was playing for Alaves at the same time. In England that seems quite complicated but I don’t know why? I don’t see a reason why you can’t study and play professionally at the same time.”

“Even if you are a footballer you have to have a Plan B because careers are short: five, six, 10 years. And after that what?”

“I don’t know why in England you have to choose between being a footballer and studying something. It’s a terrible mistake. I went to school in the morning and I trained in the afternoon – I am a footballer and I have a degree.”

Those qualifications were always likely to lead Calderon into coaching once his playing days were over and after a spell back at Alaves, he was appointed as manager of Brighton Under 18s in June 2023.

Alesia Russo

Before she was one of the most recognisable Lionesses scoring cheeky backheeled goals in the semi finals of European Championships, Alessia Russo had a brief spell with Brighton in 2017.

Russo was on the books of Chelsea as a youngster. She was offered a contract at 17 but to stay with the Blues would have meant several hours travelling between football training and education.

Instead, she decided to move to the United States on an athletic-academic programme at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

She combined her studies with playing college soccer for the wonderfully named ACC team North Carolina Tar Heels.

Despite the Covid pandemic striking prior to her final year in North Carolina, Russo managed to achieve a degree with a major in sport and exercise science.

In the gap between Russo leaving Chelsea and her beginning her studies in the US, she scored three times for the Albion in seven appearances. Included in that haul was the Seagulls’ first ever goal at WSL level in a 1-1 Spring Series draw against London Bees.

Peter Smith

Dreadlocked right back Peter Smith had quite the journey into professional football. Hailing from the Black Country, he played for a host of non-league sides in the Midlands as a winger or forward, attracting the attentions of Coventry City at one point.

Smith then worked in the building trade and went to New York as a voluntary social worker before returning to study urban and environmental studies at Greenwich University with the aim of becoming a community worker.

It was whilst Smith combined his studies with playing for Kent League side Alma Swanley that Brighton first became aware of his talents.

Spotted by Albion assistant manager Gerry Ryan, Smith joined the Seagulls in the summer of 1994 as a defender. His impact was such that he was voted Supporters’ Player of the Year at the end of the 1994-95 campaign, completing a fairy tale first season as a professional.

Smith went onto play nearly 150 times for Brighton before leaving the club in the summer of 1999. As for his studies, he swapped his full time course at Greenwich in favour of the Open University shortly after arriving at the Goldstone Ground.