‘What on earth have I got myself into?’ – The story of Brighton’s great escape

Neil Johnston, BBC Sport

“A fan handcuffed themselves to one of the goal posts,” says Steve Gritt. “It was my first game and there was graffiti about me scrawled all over the walls.”

Former Brighton & Hove Albion boss Gritt is describing the toxic atmosphere that engulfed the club when he was appointed in 1996.

Brighton are in the semi-finals of the FA Cup this weekend and challenging for a place in Europe, but the Seagulls were heading for disaster 27 years ago.

Eleven points from safety at the bottom of the Football League, the 1983 FA Cup finalists were set to drop into non-league and soon-to-be-homeless.

Brighton were in their last season at their beloved Goldstone Ground after directors decided to sell the venue to a retail developer, much to the fury of supporters.

The very existence of the club was under threat and fans were at war with the board – and anyone else associated with deeply unpopular chairman Bill Archer and chief executive David Bellotti,” Gritt tells BBC Sport.

“All I could hear at the press conference to announce my arrival were fans outside shouting about the club, shouting about me.

“I thought ‘what on earth have I got myself into?’.”

As Brighton, seventh in the Premier League, prepare to face Manchester United at Wembley on Sunday – kick-off 16:30 BST – this is the story of their dramatic fight for Football League survival in 1996-97 told by those who lived it.

Read Neil Johnston’s full piece on Brighton’s great escape here