From the Sacré-Coeur Basilica on the hill near Marseille’s old port to the screams Sacre Blue It took quite a few days for Albion in the south of France as Brighton pushed the Stade Velodrome to within a win. Mes Amis.
The first away game in Europa League history was a big deal. There were so many great stories from the Brighton fans who traveled from Marseille and I enjoyed hearing them all back home in Sussex. How lucky we are to be experiencing this unprecedented period in Albion’s history.
Preparation began Tuesday night with the Albion Unlimited podcast. BBC Radio Sussex. Some supporters who had already arrived early in Marseille, Nice and other cities in the region were posting on social media.
This seemed like a good plan as I have visited Marseille on non-football occasions, touring the city and visiting the cathedral. That’s even though the Old Port area is officially off limits to Brighton fans on advice from French police.
PC Darren Balcombe, Sussex Police’s long-serving football liaison officer, was interviewed at lunchtime on Thursday. sky sports news.
PC Balkham has spent 25 years in the role, from Withdean to Amex to Europe. He explained how much planning and effort had gone into ensuring things went as smoothly as possible for the 2,800 visiting supporters who attended the match.
But even if you plan ahead for events like this, you won’t always be able to cover all your bases. After the game it took a very long time to leave the stadium on the bus.
When the bus finally arrived, it was reported that it was overcrowded. In all of that, we appreciated the service provided by Seagulls Travel. Practically a VIP compared to the French.
Getting to the match was not without its problems for fans who flew from Heathrow to Marseille that day, including chairman Tony Bloom.
Because of the delays, Bloom arranged for a bus to pick up supporters directly from Marseille airport. He even got on the PA system when the plane landed to explain what the club was doing.
How many other clubs go to such lengths for their supporters? There aren’t many. Paul Barber OBE was then interviewed on the touchline. TNT He went on to explain that the club is doing everything possible to support its fans.
What surprised me at kick-off was that even though there were over 60,000 Marseille supporters in the Velodrome, I could still hear the Albion chants.
Even the most hostile crowd in European football couldn’t drown out good old Sussex-by-the-Sea. It was great.
Regardless of the result, we went into the match knowing that playing in Marseille would be an unforgettable experience for the players and the fans.
The fact that Brighton improved in the second half and came back from 2-0 down to grab a point can only be described as good for the development of our young team.
I still think that as these players gain this kind of European experience, we need to try harder to keep them at Albion.
Otherwise, all that experience will go to other clubs and we will have to start all over again. Brighton’s approach to transfers has worked so far, but does it need to be tweaked a bit now that they’re in Europe?
In terms of experience, I was very happy to see Pascal Gross recover from his injury. His expertise was definitely needed inside the Stade Velodrome as Albion lacked for it in their 6-1 defeat to Aston Villa.
Now, we all know that when Brighton make a mistake, they tend to concede big goals. Will Albion get through 90 minutes against Marseille without barking?
Unfortunately, the answer was no. I’m not going to dwell too much on the two goals conceded within two minutes of the 2-0 win over Brighton.
Roberto De Zerbi said the team has spent several weeks learning how to play three games a week, with physical and physical demands.
Mistakes happen when players are tired. More important is how Albion responded. He could easily have played another game at Villa.
But instead, by full time we were so proud of our team. The heart and soul and passion they had to show to come back and tie it 2-2 was something else.
In the second half, Brighton showed even more energy and speed. Maestro Gross pulled one back in the 54th minute, and Tariq Lamptey was fouled in the box with two minutes remaining.
Lamptey, all the way back to 2020, had a great performance throughout the evening. It was as if these injury problems never happened.
Joao Pedro was ‘Captain Cool’ once again, converting the penalty and scoring his third goal in the Europa League this season.
This gave Albion their first point. A 1-1 draw between Ajax and AEK Athens leaves Group B wide open and there is hope that they can make further progress in the competition.
And even if it wasn’t possible, Marseille showed that these are memories that will last a lifetime.
Tony Noble @Noble1844Tony
Seagulls Best Ever Season Volume 2 charts Brighton’s record-breaking 2022-23 season through the eyes of American Express Stadium East Stand Upper season ticket holder Tony Noble. The book is available from Waterstones, WHSmith, Amazon Bookstore and all good bookstores, as well as Amex’s Albion Superstore and this link.