The 2019–20 season was Brighton & Hove Albion's 118th year in existence and third consecutive season in the Premier League. Along with competing in the Premier League, the club also participated in the FA Cup and EFL Cup. The season covered the period from 1 July 2019 to 26 July 2020.
On 14 March 2020, The FA made the decision to suspend the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The season recommenced on 17 June, with Brighton's fixture against Arsenal rescheduled for the 20 June.
Summary On the back of four wins in five matches in pre-season, Brighton began their league campaign with a 3–0 away win over Watford, which was Potter's first competitive game in charge of the club. The Seagulls drew 1–1 with West Ham in their first competitive home game of the season. Brighton's first defeat came in the third game of the season in a 2–0 home loss to Southampton where Florin Andone was sent off for a wild challenge on Yan Valery. On 5 October, Brighton stunned Tottenham Hotspur by beating them 3–0 at Falmer Stadium with Aaron Connolly scoring 2 goals in his first ever Premier League start.
Brighton's first cup game came away against Bristol Rovers where the Seagulls won 2–1 in the EFL Cup. They were knocked out in the next round on 25 September, losing 3–1 at home to Aston Villa where 10 Albion players made their debut in the youthful side of an average age of just over 21.
After reaching the quarter-final and the semi-final of the FA Cup in the previous two seasons Brighton were knocked out in their first match (third round) of this season's competition to Sheffield Wednesday, losing 1–0 at home.
Brighton's goalless draw at Wolves on 7 March 2020 was their last until 20 June due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Seagulls first game back came against Arsenal at home on 20 June 2020, where they achieved their first ever double over the London side, winning the match 2–1. This, like the rest of the upcoming matches was played behind closed doors.
Brighton secured their Premier League status on 20 July in a 0–0 home draw against Newcastle, earning a 4th consecutive season in the top flight. The Seagulls beat Burnley 2–1 on the final game of the season finishing the season with 41 points, their highest tally in a Premier League season, also finishing with their highest number of goals scored (39) and their joint highest finish (15th).
Players
Squad
(Captain)
(Vice-captain)
Out on loan
Note
All loan spells, except Percy Tau's loan at Club Brugge extended to the end of each respective league season due to the breaks enforced as a result of COVID-19. Tau returned to Brighton on 30 June 2020 as Club Brugge were announced as the Belgium champions in May, with the league permanently suspended with one remaining match.
Fulham took up their option to buy Anthony Knockaert on 9 July 2020.
Reserves and Academy
Transfers Transfers in Date Position Nationality Name From Fee Ref. 1 July 2019 CB Matthew Clarke Portsmouth Undisclosed 1 July 2019 LW Leandro Trossard Genk £18,000,000 18 July 2019 CM Taylor Richards Manchester City Undisclosed 19 July 2019 RW Todd Miller Colchester United Undisclosed 27 July 2019 CM Andrew Crofts Yeovil Town Free transfer 29 July 2019 LB Lewis Freestone Peterborough United Free transfer 3 August 2019 CB Adam Webster Bristol City £20,000,000 5 August 2019 CF Neal Maupay Brentford Undisclosed 8 August 2019 RB Romaric Yapi Paris Saint-Germain Undisclosed 11 January 2020 MF Markus Ifill Swindon TownUndisclosed 24 January 2020 CM Aaron Mooy Huddersfield Town Undisclosed 31 January 2020 RB Tariq Lamptey Chelsea Undisclosed
Loans in Date from Position Nationality Name From Date until Ref. 8 August 2019 CM Aaron Mooy Huddersfield Town 24 January 2020
Loans out Date from Position Nationality Name To Date until Ref. 1 July 2019 AM Alexis Mac Allister Boca Juniors 31 January 2020 1 July 2019 CB Ben White Leeds United 30 June 2020 18 July 2019 CB Leo Skiri Østigård St. Pauli 30 June 2020 21 July 2019 RW Anthony Knockaert Fulham 30 June 2020 23 July 2019 CM Jayson Molumby Millwall 30 June 2020 23 July 2019 GK Christian Walton Blackburn Rovers 30 June 2020 24 July 2019 CF Jan Mlakar Queens Park Rangers 30 June 2020 24 July 2019 GK Robert Sánchez Rochdale 30 June 2020 25 July 2019 CF Viktor Gyökeres St. Pauli 30 June 2020 29 July 2019 CF Percy Tau Club Brugge 30 June 2020 2 August 2019 CB Matthew Clarke Derby County 30 June 2020 5 August 2019 GK Carl Rushworth Worthing 30 June 2020 5 August 2019 GK Roco Rees Worthing Work experience 8 August 2019 CM Beram Kayal Charlton Athletic 30 June 2020 23 August 2019 RW Anders Dreyer Heerenveen 5 January 2020 29 August 2019 CF Jürgen Locadia Hoffenheim 3 February 2020 1 September 2019 LM Soufyan Ahannach Union Saint-Gilloise 19 January 2020 2 September 2019 CF Florin Andone Galatasaray 30 June 2020 2 September 2019 LB George Cox Fortuna Sittard 30 June 2020 2 September 2019 CM Max Sanders AFC Wimbledon 30 June 2020 2 September 2019 AM James Tilley Yeovil Town 15 January 2020 16 January 2020 DM Tudor Băluță ADO Den Haag 30 June 2020 24 January 2020 GK Tom McGill Crawley Town 30 June 2020 31 January 2020 GK Fynn Talley Burgess Hill Town 31 May 2020 31 January 2020 CB Leon Balogun Wigan Athletic 30 June 2020 31 January 2020 CB Kacper Łopata Zagłębie Sosnowiec 30 June 2020 31 January 2020 CF Jan Mlakar Wigan Athletic 30 June 2020 31 January 2020 CF Bojan Radulovic Deportivo Alavés B 30 June 2020 3 February 2020 CF Jürgen Locadia FC Cincinnati 5 July 2020 20 February 2020 CM Marcus Dackers Lancing 30 June 2020
Transfers out Date Position Nationality Name To Fee Ref. 1 July 2019 CM Jordan Araujo GD Bragança Released 1 July 2019 CB Ben Barclay Accrington Stanley Released 1 July 2019 GK George Bentley Horsham Released 1 July 2019 RB Bruno Retired 1 July 2019 CB Julien Carre Brentford Released 1 July 2019 CM Will Collar Hamilton Academical Released 1 July 2019 GK Billy Collings Lewes Released 1 July 2019 CB Ben Hall Partick Thistle Released 1 July 2019 CB Josh Kerr Airdrieonians Released 1 July 2019 FW Stefan Ljubicic Grindavík Released 1 July 2019 RB Aleš Matějů Brescia Undisclosed 1 July 2019 RB Owen Moore Free agent Released 1 July 2019 LB Joe Tomlinson Hungerford Town Released 1 July 2019 CM Richie Towell Salford City Free transfer 1 July 2019 CB Matthew Weaire Colchester United Released 1 July 2019 GK Piotr Zalewski Hellas Verona Released 26 July 2019 LB Cameron Tutt Worthing Free transfer 30 July 2019 LB Markus Suttner Fortuna Düsseldorf Undisclosed 19 August 2019 CF Tomer Hemed Charlton Athletic Released 7 January 2020 RW Anders Dreyer FC Midtjylland Undisclosed 15 January 2020 AM James Tilley Grimsby Town Undisclosed 20 January 2020 LW Soufyan Ahannach Go Ahead Eagles Free Transfer 30 January 2020 LB Gaëtan Bong Nottingham Forest Undisclosed 21 April 2020 CB Tareq Shihab Retired 9 July 2020 RW Anthony Knockaert Fulham Undisclosed
Pre-season friendlies In June 2019, The Seagulls confirmed their pre-season schedule.
Competitions Premier League
League table
Results summary
Results by matchday
Matches On 13 June 2019, the Premier League fixtures were announced.
FA Cup
The third round draw was made live on BBC Two from Etihad Stadium, Micah Richards and Tony Adams conducted the draw.
EFL Cup
Squad statistics
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Goalkeepers
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Defenders
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Midfielders
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Forwards
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Players who left the club permanently or on loan during the season
References