What a year to have a Brighton season ticket for the first time

Having been a Brighton fan since I first went to the Goldstone Ground as a 10-year-old in 1965, this 2021-22 season has been the first time in my life that I have had an Albion season ticket.

I could not have picked a better year to finally join as a season ticket holder, could I? And thanks to the support of WAB, I have been able to share the journey with all of you through my weekly perspective of each game.

Hopefully, you have found it interesting to read about the thoughts and feelings of somebody who until now has never been able to attend home matches regularly.

Away games remain a no-go, so instead I have reported back on all the different efforts I have made to listen, watch, receive text updates and even place a rare sports bet to keep up-to-date with the Albion on the road.

With the assistance of WAB, I am going to try and put all my pieces together in a book covering the entire 2021-22 season.

It will serve as a reminder of the best season that Brighton have ever had, recall some tremendous games and also the sad times we went through. Watch out for it in the coming months.

And so to West Ham at home, the final day of a memorable season. The form of the last few weeks gave me confidence going into the game that it would be Brighton “forever blowing bubbles” and not Hammers fans come the full time whistle.

Our visitors from London might have thought otherwise at half time, but a brilliant Brighton effort turned around a 1-0 deficit to win 3-1 thanks to 45 minutes of 120 percent effort.

As many pundits have already written, it was the togetherness of the Albion squad that got them over the line for a fifth win in eight matches.

What a shame that the season has to end now. But hey, the players need a break and as Johnny Cantor said on the final Albion Unlimited podcast of the season, it is only nine weeks until the 2022-23 season kicks off.

With a winter World Cup in Qatar between November and December, it is going to be an even busier year of football than normal in the next campaign.

The Amex once again looked splendid in the late afternoon sun and Brighton fans were in very good voice, as they had been in that unbelievable 4-0 win over Manchester United.

Before the start, there was a presentation for West Ham legend Mark Noble as this was to be his final game ahead of retirement.

As far as I know, I am no relation to Mark even though we share the same surname. Interestingly, my father was born around the corner from the old Boleyn Ground in the East End of London in the 1920s.

His first love as a boy was therefore West Ham, until he moved to Brighton as a young lad. Maybe there is a connection between this Noble and that Noble?

The perfect send off for that Noble would have been a Hammers win to qualify them for the Europa League.

They had everything to play for as our good friend Mr Kevin Friend blew the whistle to signal the start of the game.

Brighton though were not interested in Noble or West Ham’s dreams of the Europa League. Alexis Mac Allister made a quick start, finding Marc Cucurella.

His dinked cross towards Moises Caicedo resulted in a shot at goal which was well saved by Lukasz Fabianski.

That set the tone for some good Albion play. Significant build-ups led to goal scoring opportunities and one could say Brighton were unlucky not to go ahead.

The Albion were the better team until the final five minutes of the half. A shot from Michail Antonio following a coming together with Lewis Dunk rocketed straight into the back of the Brighton net.

It was clear from a replay from a certain angle that Dunk had been pushed by Antonio. Our friend Kevin Friend did not agree though; no free kick, the goal stood and Brighton went into the break trailing.

I was certain West Ham would look for a hammer blow second goal soon into the second half. To the amazement of most watching, it was actually the Albion who scored within five minutes.

Once again there was nice approach play from Cucurella and Pascal Gross down the left hand side playing towards the North Stand.

A ball across goal found its way to the back post where Joel Veltman arrived to fire along the floor and past Fabianski, making it 1-1.

One-touch football from Brighton was now starting to open up the West Ham defence. Neal Maupay showed real skill to almost make it 2-1 shortly after the Veltman goal as the team continued to work hard to move ahead.

The teamwork and the style of football played were a credit to Graham Potter and his coaching team, as it has been for much of the season.

Caicedo intercepted again to find Danny Welbeck in a great position. Unfortunately, the angle was just a little too tight and Welbeck curved the wrong side of the post.

Goal number two for the Albion eventually arrived on 80 minutes. Gross produced a turning swivel and fired off a shot with his supposedly-weaker foot to beat Fabianski.

The three-quarters of the Amex filled with Brighton fans erupted. What a goal from Gross, his second in as many home matches. Pascal Gross, we want you to stay!

An entertaining final 10 minutes were now in store. West Ham needed to find a way back for the Europa League, the Albion needed to hold on or score another goal to take the three points.

Tariq Lamptey crossed for Welbeck whose header was held by Fabianski. When the board flashed up to show three minutes of injury time, the game still could have gone either way. I was thinking the Hammers would claw one back…

Brighton won the ball in midfield to force a corner in the dying minutes. I was so excited that I cannot remember who took the corner, although I can say with certainty Welbeck met it with a brilliant header to make it Brighton 3-1 West Ham.

The Hammers had been taken apart and the Amex went mad. A wonderful afternoon was rounded off by the players and their families doing a lap of honour around the pitch.

I was quite emotional by the end, seeing the effort the players put in and what it meant to everyone as we all came together to celebrate a record breaking season.

To those Potter non-believers, Brighton have shown that they are building a great squad and the future looks brighter than ever. Let us just hope we do not need to sell the family silver this summer.

Who will stay and who will go remains to be seen. I do know that I will not be on the Fan Advisory Board as I was not one of the lucky ones elected; but good luck to all the folks who did. I know they will all do us proud over the next two years.

All that remains for me to say is what a roller coaster this season has been. To the Albion, thank you for the entertainment. To everyone else, thank you for reading.

Roll on nine weeks time when we get to do it all again for my second year as a Brighton season ticket holder.

Tony Noble @Noble1844Tony