Brighton’s six-win run puts Hürzeler’s bond with supporters in focus
Brighton are third in the Premier League after a run that includes a 5-0 win over Crystal Palace, a sharp reversal from last season’s struggles in the same fixture.
Fabian Hürzeler’s Brighton are third in the Premier League after six consecutive wins, Deutsche Welle reported on 21 October. The run includes a 5-0 victory over rivals Crystal Palace at Brighton on 18 October, giving supporters a striking reversal from a difficult spell in the same fixture last season.
According to the Premier League, Brighton scored three times in the opening nine minutes and 30 seconds against Palace. No team had reached three goals so quickly in a league match since April 2023. The league described the result as Brighton’s biggest victory over Palace in 70 years.
How Brighton turned the Palace fixture around
The corresponding home fixture last season ended in a 1-0 defeat that left Brighton with one win in 12 matches at that point, Deutsche Welle reported. This season’s sequence also includes a 3-0 victory over reigning champions Arsenal. Together, those results help explain why the Palace win has drawn attention beyond the rivalry itself.
Hürzeler said after last season’s Palace defeat that he would keep pushing harder rather than give up, according to Deutsche Welle. Ben Parker, co-editor of Brighton and Hove Albion fanzine Dogma, told the broadcaster that some supporters had called for the coach to be sacked during that low spell.
Hürzeler’s relationship with Brighton supporters
Parker told Deutsche Welle that Hürzeler had welcomed a two-way relationship with fans when he joined the club, including criticism when performances fell short. Parker described that exchange as healthy. He also portrayed Hürzeler as approachable around Brighton, citing encounters in town and fan events in pubs.
The coach’s route to the Premier League was unusual. He led St. Pauli into Germany’s top division in 2024 before moving to Brighton, where he became the youngest person to manage a Premier League team at 31, Deutsche Welle reported. He had never played at the top level; earlier, he combined a player-coach role at fifth-tier Pipinsried with a job at an art dealership.
His touchline manner has also attracted attention. Deutsche Welle reported that Hürzeler has received nine bookings and one sending-off since joining Brighton. Asked about his conduct, he said emotions were part of the game. The club has extended his contract to 2029, the broadcaster reported.
Midfielder Pascal Gross returned to Brighton from Borussia Dortmund in January, according to Deutsche Welle. Gross told Sky Sports, as quoted by the broadcaster, that he had missed his special connection with people at the club and in the town. His return adds another familiar figure to a team whose recent results have given supporters considerably more to celebrate.
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Sources and context
- Fabian Hürzeler and Brighton riding high in Premier League thanks to special relationshipDeutsche Welle
- What we’ve learned from Sunday’s matchesPremier League
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.