Comparing Brighton 2023-24 to other first-time European qualifiers
Five wins in 20 Premier League matches. Out of the FA Cup. An injury list running to a greater number of pages than War & Peace. 2023-24 is turning into a more difficult season than most Brighton fans imagined.
To explain away the recent struggles, the theory that “Every club who qualifies for the Europa League for the first time drops off the next season” has been getting considerable more airtime.
But is it actually true? Whilst Albion supporters can see the impact European football has had on the squad, is it something others suffered when they either made their bow in continental competition or returned after a lengthy absence?
We decided to take a look by analysing how seven unfashionable English clubs who qualified for the Europa League over the past 15 years fared in terms of coping with the additional workload.
Wolves 2019-20
Wolves took the Premier League by storm in the 2018-19 season following their promotion from the Championship, climbing straight up the table to finish seventh and qualify for the Europa League.
The Old Gold went onto prove that was no fluke by finishing seventh again in 2019-20. That was despite 14 additional European games from second qualifying round to quarter final.
Wolves were given some pretty incredible trips in their Europa League adventure. Crusaders of Northern Ireland, Pyunik of Armenia and Torino of Italy were accounted for in the qualifiers.
Nuno’s side then progressed from a group containing Braga, Slovan Bratislava and Besiktas. They beat Espanyol and in the round of 32 and drew the first leg of their round of 16 tie with Olympiacos before Covid-19 brought football to a halt.
The Europa League eventually resumed in August, with Wolves eliminating their Greek opponents followed by a one-legged quarter final defeat against Sevilla.
Whilst the Old Gold’s Premier League form suffered little to no impact from competing in Europe, Wolves were eliminated from the third round of the FA Cup and the fourth round of the League Cup.
The three-month pause through lockdown should also be taken into account when comparing how well Wolves coped with Europe to Brighton’s 2023-24 season so far.
Burnley 2018-19
Stone Cold Sean Dyche led Burnley to a seventh place Premier League finish in 2017-18, bringing European football to Turf Moor for the first time in 51 years.
Two years earlier and 66 percent of Burnley had voted for Brexit. It was somewhat apt the Clarets made their own early exit from the Europa League, failing to make it past the qualifying rounds.
Burnley played six times across three two-legged ties against Aberdeen, Turkish outfit Başakşehir and Olympiacos. The Greek giants eliminated the Clarets in the final playoff stage.
Domestically, Burnley experienced quite the drop off. They ended the 2018-19 season six points clear of the relegation zone in 15th spot and bowed out of the FA Cup in the fourth round and League Cup in the third round.
Southampton 2015-16 and 2016-17
Brighton’s continued success in recent seasons despite selling a lot of family silver has led to plenty of comparisons with Southampton, who did likewise circa 10 years ago.
A seventh placed finish in 2014-15 under Ronald Koeman secured Europa League football for Southampton in 2015-16. It was short-lived European campaign, however. The Saints were knocked out in the qualifying rounds by Danish side Midtjylland after overcoming Vitesse Arnhem.
Koeman went onto lead Southampton to sixth in 2015-16; an improved finish which would probably have not been possible if the Saints enjoyed an extended European campaign.
Their second crack at the Europa League in 2016-17 saw a group stage exit under Koeman’s successor, Claude Puel.
Southampton fans enjoyed matches against Sparta Prague, Israeli club Hapoel Be’er Sheva and an unforgettable evening watching their side take on Inter Milan in the San Siro.
Playing in the Europa League had little to no effect on the Saints domestically, either. They finished eighth and reached the League Cup final, although all those player sales did eventually catch up with Southampton as it was largely downhill from the 2017-18 campaign onwards.
Hull City 2014-15
Unfortunately for Europe’s finest, only two clubs got to travel To Hull and Back in the 2014-15 Europa League before the Tigers were knocked out in the playoff qualifying round.
Hull saw off Slovakian side AS Trencin before elimination at the hands of Belgian outfit Lokeren. The Tigers had made it into continental competition on account of reaching the FA Cup final in 2013-14.
It seems unlikely Hull’s domestic form would have been overly impacted by four games played before the end of August.
Relegation from the Premier League and exits at the earliest stages of FA and League Cups should therefore be put down to Steve Bruce’s side being not very good.
Wigan Athletic 2013-14
After becoming the first ever club to be relegated and win the FA Cup in the same season, Wigan Athletic found themselves combining a gruelling Championship campaign with Europa League football in 2013-14.
The Latics’ European adventure did not extend beyond the group stage as they found a pool containing Rubin Kazan, Maribor and Zulte Waregem too tough to get out of.
In the Championship, Wigan finished fifth before tiredness caught up with them and they lost their playoff semi final to Queens Park Rangera.
Remarkably, the Latics almost retained the FA Cup. They eliminated Crystal Palace and shocked Manchester City for the second season running on their way to a semi final defeat to eventual winners Arsenal.
Whilst Wigan may have shown little signs of struggling in 2013-14 until right at the end despite a ridiculous 62 competitive games, the Latics were relegated into League One at the end of the following season.
Birmingham City 2011-12
Wigan are not the only Championship outfit to have played European football in the past 15 years. After winning the League Cup in 2011, Birmingham City were Europa League participants under Chris Hughton during the 2011-12 campaign.
The Blues made it to the group stage after knocking out Portuguese side Nacional in the final qualifying round. They then finished third in a group with Braga, Club Brugge and Maribor.
Also like Wigan, Birmingham ended the Championship season in the top six to secure a playoff place despite their European commitments. Hughton did not end overseeing promotion, the Blues losing to Blackpool in the semi finals.
Although not really related to their Europa League adventures, Birmingham finished the campaign in a sense of total chaos amid financial turmoil, a transfer embargo and owner Carson Yeung being arrested to face trial in Hong Kong on money laundering charges.
Stoke City 2011-12
Stoke City qualified for the 2011-12 Europa League on account of being losing FA Cup finalists to Manchester City the previous campaign.
The Potters enjoyed a rather jolly time in Europe, playing 12 matches from third qualifying round to round of 32 against Hajduk Split, Thun, Dynamo Kyiv, Besiktas, Maccabi Tel Aviv and finally Valencia.
Stoke started the Premier League season in good form, going unbeaten through their first four matches. Europe though took its toll, the Potters only winning four times out of 19 in the second half of the season.
Included in that barren run were poor defeats against the likes of Bolton Wanderers, Sunderland and Queens Park Rangers. It led to a 14th placed finish, whilst Liverpool accounted for the Potters in both FA and League Cup.
Fulham 2009-10
With Bobby Zamora banging in the goals, Fulham embarked on one of the most memorable Europa League runs of any English team ever in the 2009-10 season.
It took them on a 19-game adventure from third qualifying round to runners up. Their opponents were – deep breath – Vetra, Amkar Perm, CSKA Sofia, Basel, Roma, Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus, Wolfsburg, Hamburg and finally, Atletico Madrid.
With the Europa League effectively adding another half-a-Premier League campaign to their workload, Fulham dropped from seventh place in 2008-09 to finish 12th in 2009-10.
You will not find a single Cottagers fan complaining about that though; not when European memories to last a lifetime were made.
And that rather sums up the situation Brighton find themselves in. Okay, so the Albion have tailed off domestically this season and may even end up finishing in the bottom half of the Premier League.
But that is a price worth paying for nights like Marseille, Ajax, Athens and a trip to Rome. Right?
