Cast your votes in the WAB Brighton Awards 2021-22

Brighton & Hove Albion enjoyed a record breaking 2021-22 campaign and now comes your opportunity to recognise the key players and best moments with voting open in the 13th WeAreBrighton.com End of Season Awards.

There are 11 categories for Seagulls supporters to vote in. The one everyone wants to get their hands on is obviously the coveted Look-a-Like of the Season WAB Player of the Season Award, won in the past by some of the greatest players in Albion history.

Previous recipients include Andrew Crofts (left Brighton a month later), Glenn Murray (left Brighton a month later), Liam Bridcutt (left Brighton six months later), Stephen Ward (left Brighton a month later), Inigo Calderon (left Brighton a year later) and Shane Duffy (sent on loan to Celtic a year later).

The Albion’s penchant for striking late this season means that the Last Minute Goal of the Season Award returns for the first time since 2016-17, whilst the most popular categories from 2020-21 all remain.

That means Miss of the Season is back for a second year running and Graham Potter’s Strangest Tactical Decision makes its third appearance.

The competition in that particular field is a little thinner than normal, reflecting the fact that the Albion manager has stopped doing quite as many batshit crazy things.

Voting closes on Sunday 12th June. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts on a year in which Brighton scaled heights in English football they have never previously reached.

 

WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Season 2021-22

Moises Caicedo
Can a bloke really be a candidate for Player of the Season if he only made eight Premier League appearances? Yes is the answer when he makes an impact like Moises Caicedo. The Albion’s campaign was petering out into nothingness until Caicedo was thrown into the starting XI at Arsenal in April after a run of six losses and one draw in seven matches. Five wins, two draws and one defeat followed for that record-breaking ninth place finish.

Marc Cucurella
Arrived from Getafe for £15 million in August as a rampaging left wing back. Ended the season being able to play as a central defender in a back three equally comfortably. An absolute revelation who was taken to the Premier League like a duck to water and genuinely has the potential to become one of the best all-round left backs in the world. Oh, and he has lovely hair as well.

Pascal Gross
You write the great man off at your peril. A lot of supporters assumed this would be Gross’ last season in a Brighton shirt. And yet the Albion still have no way to replace his creativity. Four official assists only tell half the story about his contribution, whilst both his goals came in a blistering final month in which he looked better than ever.

Alexis Mac Allister
It took Mac Allister a while to become a regular and he spent the first half of the season drifting in and out of the starting XI. Now though he is one of the first names on the team sheet, capable of operating as a number 10, a number 8 or a holding midfielder. Provided an important contribution of five goals, including as the only Albion player to score two in a single game during the January win at Everton.

Leandro Trossard
The Vampire of Genk has enjoyed his most productive season in a Brighton shirt, scoring eight times and assisting another three. When Trossard is on form, even the best defenders in the world struggle to contain him – as Liverpool, Manchester United, Spurs and Arsenal have all found to their cost in 2021-22.

Joel Veltman
You can count on one hand – maybe even one finger – the amount of mistakes Veltman has made in a Brighton shirt in 2021-22, giving him every chance of walking away from these awards as WAB Player of the Season. Whether it be right wing back, right back, right sided centre back in a three or as part of a defensive four, he always delivers.

 

WeAreBrighton.com Goal of the Season 2021-22

Enock Mwepu v Liverpool (A)
The Computer showed exactly how he earned that nickname when Brighton went to Anfield in November. In a matter of seconds, he figured out that Alisson was off his line and that the low sun above the Kop would cause a problem for the Liverpool goalkeeper’s sight. Mwepu then proceeded to produce the perfect looping shot from 25 yards to just dip between crossbar and Alisson’s outstretched hand.

Leandro Trossard v Liverpool (A)
Brighton’s second goal at Liverpool that day was a spectacular team effort which would have been shown on a 24 hour loop for four days by Sky Sports News if Manchester City had scored it. Robert Sanchez stroked the ball out to the left, where it was worked further forward by Cucurella and Adam Lallana before Trossard glided past Andrew Robertson and Virgil van Dijk to finish into the bottom corner.

Neal Maupay v West Ham (A)
Oh, Neal! If Maupay ever needs an alternative career away from football, he should give working in the circus as a contortionist a try. La Petite Shithouse Francais displayed incredible flexibility to arch his body into an unnatural shape with his back to goal, pulling off a stunning bicycle kick to level the scores late in the day away at West Ham.

Leandro Trossard v Brentford (H)
Trossard’s second Goal of the Season entry in our Brighton 2021-22 Awards comes from Brentford at the Amex. Mwepu hit a beautiful 40 yard pass up the pitch, which Trossard timed his run to perfection to spring the Bees offside trap and lob the ball first time over Alvaro Fernandez.

Alexis Mac Allister v Everton (A)
Brighton’s third goal in their 3-2 win at Everton was a brilliant example of how to turn defence into attack in double-quick time. Dan Burn won possession, Trossard delivered a low cross pulled back to the edge of the box where Mwepu backheeled to Mac Allister who twatted into the top corner.

Neal Maupay v Watford (A)
Oh, Neal! When Maupay does not have time to think about what he is doing, he can be quite the striker. West Ham was exhibit one and Watford away provided exhibit two, when he spooned an effort on the turn over Ben Foster from outside the Hornets box.

 

Last Minute Goal of the Season 2021-22

Leandro Trossard v Brentford (A)
The Albion hardly ever win away at Brentford. Another winless trip looked on the cards until Trossard struck with a low curling effort from outside the Bees area, giving Brighton three points from a game which they had spent most of playing second fiddle to their hosts.

Neal Maupay v Crystal Palace (A)
Oh, Neal! 2021-22 saw Maupay score a plethora of important last minute goals, the first of which came in September’s 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace. Everything about it was splendid, from the shit goal kick from Vicente Guaita to the finish from Maupay to the celebration in front of the home fans to the “Why did you let it bounce?” video.

Neal Maupay v West Ham (A)
Oh, Neal! This one has been covered in our Brighton 2021-22 Awards Goal of the Season category. An unbelievable strike to secure a point from the London Stadium and spark complete bedlam in the away end – all achieved with only 10 men on the pitch after Potter had used all three substitutes and there were injuries to Jeremy Sarmiento, Adam Webster and Adam Lallana.

Neal Maupay v Southampton (A)
Oh, Neal! Four days after Maupay struck for 10-man Brighton at West Ham, history repeated itself at St Mary’s. Trossard was stretchered off leaving the Albion to complete the final 10 minutes shorthanded. Not that it mattered as Maupay intelligently stole a yard and clinically despatched Jakub Moder’s ball into the box.

Danny Welbeck v Chelsea (A)
Brighton deserved a point after dominating large stretches of their visit to Stamford Bridge. They duly earned one when Cucurella crossed in stoppage time and Welbeck headed past Edouard Mendy.

Leandro Trossard v Spurs (A)
In any season other than 2021-22 when Brighton do not score anywhere near as many quality goals, Trossard’s effort at Spurs would be good enough to warrant a spot on the WAB Awards Goal of the Season shortlist. He danced his way past an in-form Eric Dier as if the ball was glued to his feet and then bent an effort past Hugo Lloris into the opposite corner of the Tottenham goal.

 

Miss of the Season 2021-22

Neal Maupay v The Leeds United (H)
Oh, Neal! Brighton squandered so many chances in their 0-0 home draw with The Leeds United that a small section of the Amex crowd booed them off afterwards, sparking Potter’s infamous “history lesson” comment. Maupay was guilty of the worse miss of the lot, putting the ball over the bar when presented with an open goal after only eight minutes.

Enock Mwepu v Wolves (H)
A miss that defied all the known laws of physics. Mwepu was essentially stood under the crossbar in the 1-0 home defeat to Wolves and yet he still managed to find a way to get the ball up and over the frame of the goal.

Pascal Gross v Crystal Palace (H)
Not even Germans are immune to whatever is in the water at the Amex which makes players miss penalties. Gross saw his first half effort against Palace kept out by Jack Butland, although in fairness he did have the excuse of having to wait an age to take the kick after visiting fans launched a flare onto the pitch.

Neal Maupay v Spurs (A)
Oh, Neal! The Albion might have lasted a little longer in the FA Cup had Maupay taken his shooting boots to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. With Brighton trailing 2-1, Maupay found himself in one-on-one with Hugo Lloris. Maupay attempted to dink the ball over the top of the Spurs goalkeeper captain, only for it to sail harmlessly into the arms of Lloris.

Neal Maupay v Norwich City (H)
Oh, Neal! Having not scored at home for approaching three months, Brighton were handed a golden opportunity against rock-bottom Norwich with a first half penalty. Cue Maupay sending the ball into orbit with a spot kick posing more danger to the International Space Station than Tim Krul’s goal.

Alexis Mac Allister v Wolves (A)
The third and final penalty to make our Brighton Awards 2021-22 Miss of the Season shortlist comes from the trip to Wolves in April when Mac Allister saw his effort strike the post. He did at least make amends when converting a second penalty nine minutes later.

 

Memorable Moment of the Season 2021-22

Tony Bloom in the away end at Brentford
The rivalry between Tony Bloom and Brentford owner Matthew Benham is so strong that Bloom refuses to go in the director’s box whenever Brighton visit the Bees. That led to him sitting amongst the travelling Albion support at the Brentford Community Stadium in September, going utterly ballistic when Trossard hit the winner.

Coming from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at Liverpool
Not many clubs came away from Anfield with a point in the 2021-22 season. Even fewer did so having fallen 2-0 behind inside of 20 minutes. The comeback draw at Liverpool was a magnificent afternoon of football, when even a man with as many excuses as Jurgen Klopp was forced into admitting how good Brighton had been.

A point away at Chelsea
Brighton had never scored a competitive goal against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge until their December visit to West London. The European Champions appeared to be heading towards a 1-0 success until Danny Welbeck broke the Albion’s duck, sparking wild scenes in the away end and a Thomas Tuchel meltdown.

Owning North London
Alexa, show me the best way to end a run of seven games without a win? Winning 2-1 at Arsenal followed by a 1-0 win at Spurs, meaning that North London well and truly belonged to Brighton.

Brighton 4-0 Manchester United
An entire generation of children in Sussex grew up in the 1990s surrounded by Manchester United fans at school. To see Brighton hammer the mighty Red Devils in the Premier League was the definition of a dream come true – one which scarcely would have seemed possible even five years ago. Should it win, 2021-22 would not be the first WAB Awards where Brighton beating United has taken the Memorable Moment accolade.

Finishing above Crystal Palace
The Albion had only finished above their arch rivals in two previous seasons out of the past 35 – and both times, the Eagles took bragging rights anyway by becoming the first visiting side to win a league game at the Amex and then eliminating Brighton from the playoffs. For the first time in a generation, the Seagulls are on top in the rivalry.

 

Flair Moment of the Season 2021-22

Neal Maupay celebrates away at Crystal Palace
Oh, Neal! Maupay lived up to his reputation as a world class shithouse with the celebration of his last minute goal at Selhurst Park. Nobody else would go insane in front of the Palace family stand and disabled area, running around like a complete loon with their hands cupping their ears.

Robert Sanchez tries to fight the Holmesdale End
In nine months as Brighton number one, Sanchez had barely shown an ounce of emotion. Every save no matter how good or Albion win no matter how impressive was greeted with a blank expression. It seemed like nothing could faze or get under his skin. That was until the final whistle blew on his first visit to Selhurst Park, where Sanchez was booked for getting involved with several Palace players and then tried to fight the Holmesdale End as he made his way off the pitch. What the hell happened?

Lewis Dunk in goal v Newcastle
There is no better sight in football than an outfield player having to go in goal. A late red card for Sanchez after Brighton had already used all three of their substitutes against the Saudi Sportswashers meant we were treated to Dunk donning the gloves for the final few minutes. Glorious.

Robert Sanchez and Shane Duffy have a fight
Brighton 0-3 Burnley was an interesting afternoon in many aspects. Sanchez and Shane Duffy having a spot of handbags with each other just prior to the Clarets taking the lead set the tone for what was to come.

Robert Sanchez decapitates Luis Diaz
Maybe we should rename Flair Moment of the Season at our Brighton 2021-22 Awards as the Robert Sanchez Award? The Spanish goalkeeper is involved in his fourth nomination for charging out of his goal and decapitating Liverpool forward Luis Diaz as the Reds won 2-0 at the Amex. Remarkably, Mike Dean somehow concluded it was not an offence worthy of dismissal.

Double Gross Turn bamboozles Fred
The Gross Turn is a thing of absolute beauty. A double Gross Turn followed by a backheel down the line to release Marc Cucurella whilst leaving Manchester United midfielder Fred totally bamboozled was a work of art. Hang it in The Louvre.

 

Comedy Moment of the Season 2021-22

Brentford home attendance announced as 30,141
An 8pm kick off on Boxing Day at a stadium which relies on 90 percent of fans getting in and out via public transport was the worst idea since Mr and Mrs Hitler decided to get a little frisky. Only 12,000 or so Brighton supporters bothered to turn up, making the club’s policy of announcing tickets sold rather than physical bodies through the turnstile look even more ridiculous as they claimed a 30,141 attendance.

Chelsea fan boots ball into his own friend’s face
One of the funniest things ever seen at a Brighton away game happened at Stamford Bridge in December. Chelsea fans were desperate to help their side hold onto their 1-0 lead in the face of Albion pressure, and so decided to start timewasting. This went badly awry when one bloke attempted to boot the ball high into the main stand, only to succeed in smashing it into the face of his own friend from point blank range. To complete this comedic sequence, Welbeck equalised shortly after.

Brighton 0-3 Burnley
Sometimes, a game of football is so bad that it becomes funny. If you did not laugh after seeing Burnley win only their second game of the season when destroying Brighton 3-0 the Amex at the end of February, then you would have had to cry.

Adam Lallana’s eight minutes against Liverpool
For the second season running, Adam Lallana getting injured against Liverpool is up for Comedy Moment of the Season. He did at least manage to last for seven minutes and 30 seconds more than his brief 30 second cameo against the Reds in 2020-21, although if you were delayed retaking your seat for the second half by an overrunning pint (or Amex Stadium wine) then you would have missed his contribution entirely. As happened to the WAB Team.

Graham Potter tells Brighton fans to stop shouting SHOOT
Okay, so Graham Potter telling Brighton fans to stop shouting SHOOT was a story that ended up being embellished. But the thought of a professional manager believing his highly paid Premier League superstars could not cope with instructions from the Brighton crowd is a worthy candidate for Comedy Moment of the Season in the End of Season Awards.

Joel Veltman rescues a seagull from his chimney
It’s the last thing you expect to see on Instagram on a Sunday afternoon. Veltman uploaded a video of himself turning into a Dutch version of Steve Irwin, rescuing a seagull who had become stuck in the chimney of his Hove home using nothing but his own intuition and a pair of gardening gloves.

 

Villain of the Season 2021-22

Brighton Season Ticket Sharing Scheme
It might be #Clickbait to point this out, but the Albion’s Season Ticket Sharing scheme left hoards of empty seats across the Amex throughout the year. Fans refused to pay £20 to be able to pass their ticket onto friends or family, who also had to fork out £25 to become a MyAlbion+ Member if they wanted to be the recipient. The club prioritised making what they thought would be a quick quid over filling seats and it backfired.

Al Ahly SC
The hopes and dreams of thousands of Brighton supporters and millions of South Africans of Percy Tau scoring the winner for the Albion in the Champions League final were crushed thanks to Egyptian club Al Ahly SC buying the Lion of Judah. Bastards.

Dan Ashworth
Brighton lost their technical director Dan Ashworth when the Saudi Sportswashers offered him a serious amount of blood money to take up a similar role at Newcastle. Piece of advice, Dan – do not go visiting the Saudi Embassy if you get an invite.

Yellow Away Kit
Two seasons. Zero Premier League victories. One extra time success with a near-full strength team out in the FA Cup against West Brom Reserves. Thank the Lord that we will never have to see Brighton in that yellow away kit ever again.

Peter Bankes
Referee Peter Bankes had decided that a yellow card was sufficient punishment when Dunk fouled Anthony Elanga at Old Trafford in February. Had Mr Bankes possessed some sort of spine, then he would not have changed the decision after being surrounded by Man United players and taking a look at the pitchside monitor.

Gareth Southgate
A regular fixture in the Villain of the Season shortlist at our Brighton awards, Gareth Southgate is once again nominated for the 2021-22 season. His charge sheet this season reads not picking Dunk for any England squad and overlooking Lamptey, who now could be set to switch international allegiance to Ghana as a result.

 

Graham Potter’s Strangest Tactical Decision of the Season 2021-22

Pascal Gross left back v Burnley (A)
In terms of strange tactical decisions, Potter peaked for the 2021-22 season in the opening game at Burnley which offers up two candidates for this category in the awards. The first was to start Gross at left back, the sort of decision that not even Mark McGhee tanked up on pints of whiskey would have dreamt up.

Adam Webster right back v Burnley (A)
Slightly less bizarre than Gross at left back was kicking off with Adam Webster at right back. Webster had been outstanding in the 2020-21 season as a central defender, so to start the new campaign with him out-of-position in a winnable fixture was interesting to say the least.

Subbing off Tariq Lamptey and Marc Cucurella v Aston Villa (A)
Brighton seemed to be heading towards a valuable point from Aston Villa in Steven Gerrard’s first game in charge. Villa only looked threatening down the flanks, and so Potter decided to haul Cucurella on 64 minutes and Tariq Lamptey on 79. Within nine minutes of Lamptey departing, Villa had scored twice to win the game.

Playing Jurgen Locadia v The Leeds United (H)
Not only did Potter play everyone’s favourite DJ and Instagram influencer when the Albion needed were chasing a goal against The Leeds United, but he gave him a whole 32 minutes. And do you know what? It was one of the most entertaining 32 minutes of the season.

Neal Maupay off, Enock Mwepu on v Norwich (H)
Yes, Maupay had earlier missed a penalty in the home game against Norwich. But it still seemed like a very unusual decision from Potter to try and end the Albion’s three month run without a home goal by hauling his top scorer in favour of putting on another midfielder in Mwepu.

Pascal Gross right wing back v Southampton (H)
Southampton were thriving thanks to pace and directness down the left flank as they came from 2-0 down to level pegging at the Amex in April. Potter’s response was to introduce Gross – the slowest man in the history of English top flight football – at right wing back. To be fair to Potter, he did realise very quickly what a cock up this was and moved Gross more central with another round of positional musical chairs 10 minutes after the initial change.

 

Look-a-Like of the Season 2021-22

Dan Burn – Princess Diana
Goodbye Brighton’s rose, may you ever grow in our hearts. Burn may have departed for Newcastle in a £13 million January move, but his uncanny resemblance to Princess Diana means he was the People’s Left Back and that is how he will stay, how he will remain.

Marc Cucurella – Joe Wicks
Joe Wicks probably thought he had a monopoly on people with long, curly hair changing the lives of people for the better in the 2020s. He was wrong as online PE lessons are not a patch on the difference Cucurella has made to the wellbeing of Brighton fans.

Lewis Dunk – Neil from The Inbetweeners
A serial winner of this category every year at the WAB Awards since it was introduced, Brighton captain Dunk looking like Neil from The Inbetweeners is chasing a record-breaking third success in 2021-22.

Alexis Mac Allister – Lionel Messi
The reigning champion. After he won Look-a-Like of the Season in last year’s WAB Awards, we wrote that Alexis Mac Allister resembled Lionel Messi but was not quite on a par playing wise with his fellow Argentinian… in 2021-22, Mac Allister’s performances for Brighton moved him closer to the talent of Messi.

Robert Sanchez – Duke of Hastings from Bridgerton
Bridgerton returned to Netlfix in March lacking two key ingredients. One was less of the lovely Phoebe Dynevor as her character Daphne barely featured. The other was that the Duke of Hastings was written out after departing the show, leaving Sanchez to focus on his football career rather than worrying about what Lady Whistledown would write about him in her gossip sheets.

Leandro Trossard – Derek Acorah
Trossard made the shortlist for Look-a-Like of the Season in our Brighton Awards a year ago for sharing vampire-esque features with Count Dracula – now he is back in 2021-22 for going all Derek Acorah when bleaching his hair at the start of the campaign.

 

Sexiest Player of the Season 2021-22

Shane Duffy
With Molly Malone’s closed and the Grosvenor Casino having undergone a rebrand, Duffy returned to Brighton after his disastrous loan spell at Celtic a new player. That was good news for Potter in the opening months of the season and even better news for those with a liking for rugged Irishmen.

Solly March
Having been nominated for Sexiest Brighton Player at every WAB Awards for the past half-decade, will 2021-22 be the year when March finally claims the crown? His boyish good looks have a certain appeal, but it is yet to be enough to take him to the title.

Neal Maupay
Oh, Neal! Maupay may be a bit of a bastard on the pitch and has missed his fair share of easy chances in 2021-22, as evidenced by all those nominations in the WAB Brighton Awards Miss of the Season category. But he still managed to finish top scorer – and did it whilst being a very attractive Frenchman.

Robert Sanchez
Sanchez will be looking to defend in the 2021-22 the Sexiest Player of the Season which he won at last year’s awards, taking the crown from Maty Ryan six months after ousting the Australian number one as Potter’s first choice goalkeeper. The Duke of Hastings from Bridgerton is considered a heartthrob and so too is Sanchez, seemingly.

Joel Veltman
There is only room for one attractive Dutchman on this shortlist and the departure of Handsome Davy Propper enables Veltman to enter the frame. A good looking bloke, as dependable a defender as you can hope to find in the Premier League and an animal lover based on his seagull rescue. What more could you want from a man?

Adam Webster
Webster has been a Brighton player for three seasons now and yet this is the first time he has been up for Sexiest Player of the Season. Is that a sign of the dwindling good looks amongst the Albion squad? Perhaps, but then what else did anyone expect when Propper and Maty Ryan were moved on in the space of a few weeks last summer?

Polls close at 8pm on Sunday 12th June. Thanks for voting in our WAB Brighton End of Season Awards 2021-22 and keep your eyes on WeAreBrighton.com for the results