What are the nine best shirts in Brighton history?

What are Brighton’s nine most best kits of all time? That’s the question we recently had posed to us by the good guys at Art of Football.

Art of Football are working on a range of designs for every Premier League and Championship club based on classic kits and wanted our opinion on the Albion’s best efforts from the past 118 years.

This is actually a lot harder than it sounds. Brighton have had plenty of kits down the years that come under the classic banner for a variety of reasons.

Some are intricately linked with successful times, like the 1977-80 home shirt which Alan Mullery’s men wore on their rise from third tier to top flight.

Some have become classics with the passage of time but were much derided when they were actually worn, such as the Chewitt wrapper away kit. And others were just cool, like the first Skint shirts for the return to Withdean.

After much deliberation, we’ve narrowed it down to these nine. And we can only apologise to the many great kits that missed out.

Bukta Seagull Sleeve Kit

The shirt of Peter Ward, Brian Horton and Mark Lawrenson. It was introduced during Mullery’s tenure in 1977 when the Albion were an ambitious club who had just won promotion from Division Three and three years later it bowed out with the club sitting pretty in 16th position in the top flight.

It was the first Brighton kit to include the seagull badge and the sleeve design still looks fantastic 40 years on. The club have re-released this shirt on a number of occasions and it always sells well, highlighting its enduring popularity.

The yellow away kit that went with it was nearly as iconic, especially given the fact it was worn on the final day of the 1978-79 season when Brighton won 3-1 away at Newcastle United to secure promotion to the top division for the first time ever.

That we haven’t had room to include that one on the list tells you everything about just how bloody hard cutting it down to nine was.

FA Cup Final Kit

Given that Brighton have worn blue and white stripes for 99 of the 118 years that the club have existed, it’s a little strange that the Albion’s most famous day came while wearing all blue.

We’re talking of course about the 1983 FA Cup Final, when Jimmy Melia’s side took the might of Manchester United to a replay under the twin towers of Wembley. They might have even lifted the trophy were it not for the legs of Gry Bailey in the United goal.

This kit was synonymous with that cup run. From beating Manchester City 4-0 in round four to Jimmy Case’s thunderbolt at Liverpool as the Albion became the first side to win a cup tie at Anfield for nine years.

Every kit that Adidas made during their six season partnership with Brighton were beautiful, which is why many Seagulls supporters wish that if we are going to have one of the world’s biggest brands as technical supplier, it was the German brand rather than Nike.

We could have picked anyone of Adidas’ three home kits as the 1985-87 shirt in particular was also a classic, not to mention the red away version of it which is a real collectors item. But because of that day at Wembley and the romantic memories it still stirs in Albion fans, it had to be the FA Cup kit.

Chewitt Wrapper Kit

A staple in any worst kits in football history list, the Chewitt Wrapper Kit has gone onto achieve cult status over the last few years as garish designs from the early 90s are finally receiving the recognition they deserve. As a result, this particular shirt sells for big money on eBay on the rare instances it crops up for sale.

Worn with matching shorts, it was paired with the nearly-as-famous home kit which featured blue and white striped shorts. Somebody in the Ribero design team must have been taking some serious acid when they came up with those designs.

The Chewitt Wrapper was sadly only used for two seasons, but it did at least get a big day out for its debut in the 1991 play off final against Notts County.

There haven’t been many more ‘Brighton’ moments in the Albion’s history than the team strolling out at Wembley in a pink kit that looked like a sweet wrapper and had NOBO plastered across the front in big letters.

Inter Milan Kit

The football world was shocked when lowly Division Two side Brighton appointed Liam Brady, one of the greatest players of his generation, as manager midway through the 1993-94 season.

Not only had the Albion pulled off quite a coup in their replacement of Barry Lloyd, but Brady’s arrival was also responsible for one of the club’s best ever kits.

In honour of Brady’s links with Inter Milan, Admiral brought out a blue and black striped away number. The practicalities of having a blue away kit and a blue home kit became readily apparent when the Albion travelled to blue-wearing Wycombe Wanderers in the fouth game of the season and had to wear a hastily produced third kit of red.

As a result of nine other Division Two teams including Wycombe wearing blue in the 1994-95 season, the Inter Milan kit was only used on two occasions we think – away at Swansea on the opening day and in the annual defeat at Brentford. But despite it’s pretty pointless existence, it remains a classic.

Last Goldstone Shirt

This was the shirt worn through some of the darkest moments in the Albion’s history. Relegation into the bottom division, the sale of the Goldstone and finishing 91st out of 92 in the Football League.

But it was also there for the most important days as well. Without Robbie Reinelt’s goal at Hereford United or Stuart Storer’s volley against Doncaster Rovers in the final game at the Goldstone, we probably wouldn’t have a football club to support.

This shirt is intwined with those moments. If you ever hear someone shout “STOOOORRRRRREEERRRRRR STUART STOOOOORRRERRRRR”, you think of it. Picture Reinelt slamming in the loose ball at Hereford and it’s there too. That’s what makes it a classic.

First Withdean Home Shirt

The 1999-00 season was peak Brighton kit. Gone was 1998-99’s chunky blue and white effort made by Superleague and sponsored by an Italian restaurant and in came the coolest kit ever made with Italian sophistication and design and with an international record label on the front – very aptly called Skint, given the Albion’s financial troubles at the time.

Anyone who doesn’t think that Errea were the best kit supplier Brighton has ever had is either a liar or a philistine. And this was the best season of their 14 year association with the club.

Darren Freeman’s hat-trick in the first game back in Brighton after exile in Gillingham, the rise of Bobby Zamora and Micky Adams turning the club into a force on the pitch after so many years in the doldrums all happened in this beautiful number.

Supporting Brighton was suddenly cool again, on the pitch and in the fashion stakes.

AC Milan Away Kit

Even better than Errea’s first home kit was their first away effort, a replica of AC Milan’s famous red and black stripes.

Such was its popularity that it lasted three seasons and the club have had two subsequent red and black away shirts in the 17 years since it was replaced by that black Batman monstrosity.

There isn’t really much to say, other than this is Brighton’s best kit ever for our money.

Last Withdean shirt

The Albion marked their last year at Withdean by bringing out a one-season shirt for 2010-11. It was a hark back to those glory days of the early 1980s by being largely blue with only a few thin white stripes on it.

The somewhat radical change in design was of the reasons behind its popularity. The other was that it will forever be associated with one of the most enjoyable seasons many of us will ever have as Brighton fans as Gus Poyet‘s side tore through League One, winning the title with four games to spare and playing some breathtaking football along the way.

The first Amex kit

14 long years after leaving the Goldstone, Brighton finally had a home to call their own at the start of the 2011-12 season as the club moved into the Amex.

Errea once again delivered the goods, producing two kits that were up their with their very best efforts to leave the Albion looking nearly as impressive as their new stadium.

The green and black away kit was bright and bold and we loved it, although it admittedly wasn’t to everyone’s liking. The home shirt however was an instant hit, even before Will Buckley wrote his name into Albion folklore with that 96th minute winner against Doncaster Rovers.

It says much that Nike have twice tried to eke the design of blue and white stripes with a subtle bit of yellow, yet they’ve never come close to making it work in the same way that Errea did.

What are your top nine Albion shirts? Let us know using the comments form below or by posting on our social media pages and we’ll pass your opinions to Art of Football for their latest Albion collection.