A rollercoaster season deserves to end in Europe for Brighton

What a rollercoaster of a season it has been. That first weekend victory at Old Trafford back in August seems years ago. What highs and lows we have had, some famous wins, some huge goal tallies, and some incredible strikes that will make picking a Goal Of The Season a very tough call.

The delight of beating Leicester City 5-2 at the Amex was followed by the gloom of no football for a month and the departure of Graham Potter and his backroom team to Chelsea.

Then came the tragedy of Enock Mwepu’s brilliant career being cut prematurely short. Next, the dream of Alexis Mac Allister returning from the World Cup with a winners medal.

We have witnessed incredible attacking football under Roberto De Zerbi, a run to the semi finals of the FA Cup and a trip to Wembley, wins over most of the Big Six and of course, losses to the relegation battlers.

There are now four games to go, and I do not want the ride to end. What is clear is that we are not getting off this rollercoaster in the same place we boarded it nine months ago.

After our down-to-the-wire, skin-of-the-teeth grab of a top 10 place last season, I think a lot of us looked to consolidate that this time around.

Yes, qualifying for Europe was a goal that was out there, but becoming an established top 10 side seemed like the more realistic and immediate target.

That was BDZ – before De Zerbi. He has unleashed a confidence and a style that has won praise from every quarter, every pundit and surely every fan of the Albion.

It is high-risk, high-octane stuff that can – and does as we saw against Everton – go wrong. But it has gone right far more often than not, as the ‘bigger’ teams have learned to their cost. And win or lose, it has been a thrill to watch.

Now just a few points from our remaining fixtures separate us from that historic first qualification for European competition.

We can look back in anger at the confessed and apologised-for PGMOL refereeing errors that could have seen us already there, or even potentially challenging for a Champions League place. But instead, let us look forward with hope and excitement.

What are the Europa League and Europa Conference League? You may already be very familiar with these tournaments, but for those who are not, I’ve searched Wikipedia so you don’t have to.

The Europa League has been around since 1971, previously under the name of the UEFA Cup. The UEFA Cup itself replaced the Fairs Cup, a name I remember from schoolboy football annuals.

It was upgraded from the third tier of European competition to the second when the UEFA Cup Winner’s Cup ended in 1999.

The UEFA Cup became the Europa League after merging with the oddly named Intertoto Cup in 2009, presumably nothing to do with the supergroup that had a hit with ‘Africa’. Or Dorothy’s dog from The Wizard of Oz for that matter. “Toto, we’re not in League One anymore.”

There is a group stage followed by four rounds of two-legged knockouts leading into a final at a neutral ground, which in 2024 will be the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

Broadcast rights are held by BT Sport, soon to become TNT Sports (sic). The kind of teams we could face are Feyenoord, Bayer Leverkusen and Juventus.

The winners of the Europa League qualify for the Champions League the following season. Clubs who have lifted the trophy in recent times include Sevilla, Chelsea and Eintracht Frankfurt.

If our remaining fixtures go badly wrong, we could end up in the recently added UEFA Europa Conference League, the tournament West Ham have enjoyed themselves in these past two seasons.

The Conference is still in its infancy and is probably the competition we do not need to worry about due to the all-Manchester FA Cup Final, the complexities of European qualification in England and the opportunity for the Albion pick up further points.

We are yet to play home games against a Southampton side who are already relegated and Manchester City who, thanks to us, will have secured the title before coming to the Amex.

Pep Guardiola and his players may well be either on the beach or resting for the Champions League final, should they overcome Real Madrid.

Our other two opponents are Newcastle United and Aston Villa. Both have Europe to play for too and will be stern tests, but any sterner than title chasing Arsenal at the Emirates?

Are we ready for Europe? Some question our squad depth, the ability to play extra games, our relative lack of experience at the top level. I would counter with an American-style “Hell yes, we are ready”.

We compete with and beat the best in Europe’s biggest league. We are still taking apart the Big Six despite a gruelling FA Cup campaign and an extensive injury list. When called upon, our younger squad members have stepped up brilliantly.

New signings like Joao Pedro and James Milner are incoming to supplement a group which already has a lot of European experience through people like Joel Veltman, Adam Lallana and Danny Welbeck.

We are not going to qualify for Europe, only to say: “Terribly sorry Mr Ceferin, we are not quite ready for the UEFA Europa League just yet, let Villa or Spurs do it”.

When the opportunity presents itself, you jump aboard. It is a bigger, faster, scarier rollercoaster, but we are here to ride.

Warren Morgan @WarrenBHAFC