Brighton are one of the most exciting teams in the Premier League. The club’s meteoric rise from the lower leagues to the upper echelons of the Premier League is one of the most impressive stories in recent footballing history. A lot of players have played a role in Brighton’s remarkable journey through the years. Let’s take a look at some of those players now by ranking the 10 best players in Brighton history.
Honorable Mentions
Brighton are a club with over a hundred years of history. Their history may not be as glorious as some of the bigger English teams–like Liverpool or Manchester United–, but the club has had thousands of players represent it on big stages. We couldn’t include them all in our list of the best players in Brighton history. Here are some that just missed the cut:
- Ernie “Tug” Wilson (1922-1936)
- Bert Stephens (1935-1948)
- Kerry Mayo (1995-2009)
- Vicente (2011-2013)
- Iñigo Calderón (2010-2016)
10. Michel Kuipers (2000-2011)
Brighton are one of the few teams in football right now to regularly rotate their goalkeepers. This wasn’t always the case. For a decade Michel Kuipers was the one man in goal for Brighton. Kuipers, a former member of the Dutch marines, made nearly 250 appearances for the club between 2000 and 2010.
Brighton were promoted in back-to-back seasons in Kuipers’ first two seasons at the club. After that, the Seagulls yo-yoed between League One and the Championship for most of Kuipers’ time at the club. Whatever division the Seagulls were in, Kuipers was Brighton’s number one.
Besides being reliable, Kuipers is probably most known among Brighton fans for saving a penalty in the Seagulls’ win over Manchester City in the 2008 League Cup. City weren’t the powerhouse they are today, but it was still a massive win for Brighton and an iconic moment for Kuipers which cements him as one of the best players in Brighton history.
9. Bruno (2012-2019)
Bruno was one of a few Spanish players who joined Brighton during their time in the Championship. Unlike Vicente and Iñigo Calderón, who also joined Brighton from Spanish sides, Bruno helped Brighton secure promotion to the Premier League. He played 42 matches in 2016-17, Brighton’s promotion season.
The Spanish right back went on to play 39 matches for the club in the Premier League. Bruno was also a part of the 2018-19 Brighton side that made it all the way to the FA Cup Semi-Final. This was just the second FA Cup Semi-Final appearance in Brighton’s history. The Seagulls lost 1-0 to eventual winners Manchester City. Bruno retired after this season.
In addition to his success on the field, Bruno was a leader off it. He was named club captain in 2015. He held the position until he retired in 2019. Post-retirement, Bruno joined the Brighton coaching staff.
Bruno left Brighton in 2022 when Chelsea signed Graham Potter and allowed him to bring along his coaching staff. This move left a bad taste in a lot of Brighton fans’ mouths, but alleged betrayal aside, Bruno is absolutely one of the best players in Brighton history.
8. Solly March (2013-present)
Brighton fans a few years ago were asking whether it was time to move on from Solly March. Now, he is undoubtedly one of the best players in Brighton history. The local lad has been at the club since 2011 when he joined Brighton’s academy from lower league side Lewes.
The versatile East Sussex native became a key player for the club just two years after he joined the club. He made 28 first team appearances in the 2013–14 season. Injuries derailed the following seasons for March, but they didn’t stop him in Brighton’s first ever Premier League season.
March played in 36 of Brighton’s 38 Premier League matches in their inaugural EPL season back in 2017-17. He scored his first Premier League goal against South Coast rivals Bournemouth. Unfortunately, injuries slowed March’s progress again in the following years. When he did reenter the first team, he was deployed as a left wingback or outright left back by former Brighton boss Graham Potter.
Now, under the guidance of Roberto De Zerbi, March has turned into one of the best right wingers in the Premier League. He helped lead Brighton into the Europa League for the first time in their history last season.
7. Peter Ward (1975-1980, 1982)
Peter Ward was an apprentice at a Rolls-Royce factory in Derby when he moved from non-league semi-pro club Burton Albion to Brighton in 1974. Ward took his time to get used to life at Brighton and Hove Albion. He started with the reserves team for one season. The season after that, Ward scored 36 league goals, setting a club record that still has yet to be broken.
In the 1978-79 season, Ward’s third at the club, his goals helped Brighton finish runner-up in the old Second Division. This was good enough to earn the Seagulls promotion to the top tier of English football for the first time in their history.
Ward scored 16 goals for the club in their inaugural top-flight season. He also received his one and only international cap during this period. Ward made a six-minute cameo against Australia on May 31, 1980, making him the second-ever Brighton player to earn an international cap for England.
He was sold the following season in October 1980 to the reigning European Champions Nottingham Forest. Ward came back on loan to Brighton in the 1982-83 season. Brighton were relegated that season. They wouldn’t return back to the top division until the 2017-18 season.
6. Glenn Murray (2008-2011, 2016-2021)
112 seasons in Brighton’s 123 years of existence have been played in the lower leagues. With that being the case, the club has attracted a lot of lower-league journeyman players. Almost none of which have left a bigger impact on the club than Glenn Murray.
The Maryport-born striker joined the Seagulls in the second half of the 2007-08 season for £300,000. Before that Murray had played for the Workington Reds, Barrow, Carlisle United, Stockport County, Rochdale, and even in the US for a third division side called the Wilmington Hammerheads.
Murray played three-and-a-half seasons for Brighton in League One before leaving to join their bitter rivals Crystal Palace on a free transfer ahead of the 2011-12 season. Murray was with Palace when they were promoted to the Premier League in 2013, but he never quite rose to the Premier League’s level while with the Eagles, so he rejoined Brighton in 2016-17 and helped the Seagulls gain promotion to the Premier League themselves.
Murray’s second bite at the apple with Brighton in the Premier League is where he really cemented himself as one of the best players in Brighton history. Murray’s 25 goals in Brighton’s first two seasons were probably the only things keeping the club from going right back down.
5. Alexis Mac Allister (2019-2023)
Alexis Mac Allister only played at Brighton for a few seasons, but his impact at the club makes him worthy of making this list. Not only is Alexis Mac Allister one of the best examples of Brighton’s scouting strategy, he’s the only Brighton player ever to win the World Cup, and probably will be for quite some time.
Besides the accolades, Mac Allister was genuinely a great player. He joined the club as a traditional No. 10, but later learned how to play as a holding midfielder, No. 8, and even a left winger.
Mac Allister was Brighton’s go-to penalty taker and capable of scoring absolute screamers from outside the box. He scored one of each in Brighton’s 5-1 win over Leicester last season. The free kick stood, but the screamer was ruled off by VAR. Even though it was ruled off, it was an example of just how good Mac Allister was for Brighton.
In his three-and-a-half seasons at the club before joining Liverpool, Mac Allister made over 100 appearances for Brighton, scored 20 goals, and, of course, won the World Cup. His performances at that World Cup helped put Brighton on a global stage for the first time ever. The club is still reaping the benefits of this to this day, and likely helped them sign Mac Allister’s compatriot and fellow ginger Valentin Barco.
4. Moises Caicedo (2021-2023)
Moises Caicedo is not a popular name at the Amex Stadium right now. The Ecuadorian midfielder left Brighton to join Chelsea, who had already poached multiple Seagulls players and staff, near the end of last summer. Before then, he had requested a transfer to Arsenal by posting a bizarre transfer request to his Instagram account saying goodbye to the club and its fans. Despite all of this, Moises Caicedo’s quality is undeniable. He belongs near the top of this list.
Caicedo looked like one of the best midfielders in the world during his final season at Brighton. He finished the 2022-23 season in the top three for tackles and interceptions in the Premier League. He also was among the top 10 midfielders in the EPL for progressive passes. Caicedo was so good that Chelsea were willing to break the English transfer record and sign him for £115 million.
Simply put, Caicedo at Brighton was world-class. The Seagulls would not have qualified for Europa League football without him last season. Longevity is the only thing keeping him from appearing higher on our list of the best players in Brighton history.
3. Bobby Zamora (2000-2003, 2015-2016)
Bobby Zamora is probably better known by casual football fans for his time at West Ham, Fulham, or QPR. For Brighton fans though, Zamora defined a generation of the club during its time at the now-legendary Withdean Stadium.
The iconic East London native joined the Seagulls in the 1999-00 season when the club was in the old Third Division, now called the EFL League Two. He scored six goals in six matches for Brighton on a short-term loan from Bristol Rovers. Brighton signed him to a permanent deal the following summer, and as they say, the rest is history.
Zamora helped Brighton secure back-to-back promotions in the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons, and did so in style. The twice-capped England international scored over 30 goals in each of Brighton’s promotion seasons. He played for the club one year in the Championship, scoring 14 goals for the club. Brighton were relegated that season, and Zamora left in the summer to join Tottenham in the Premier League.
Zamora returned to Brighton in the 2015-16 season, over a decade after he left the club. He scored 7 goals and played a key role in a Seagulls side who just missed out on automatic promotion from the Championship that season.
2. Lewis Dunk (2010-present)
Lewis Dunk is living every football fan’s dream. He’s the captain of his boyhood club and has been with them every step of the way as they moved up the divisions from League One into the Premier League. He then captained them on the European stage while in the Europa League this season.
Dunk has made over 400 league appearances for the club. Only five other players have hit that milestone, and he stands a real chance of breaking the club’s all-time record of 509 league appearances. Ernie “Tug” Wilson currently holds the record. Wilson played for the club between 1922 and 1936, which shows you just how impressive it would be for Dunk to break this record.
Besides his incredible longevity with the club and ‘one-club man’ status, Dunk is an outstanding footballer. He’s been able to transform his game with each new manager who’s come to Brighton.
The 30-year-old started his career as a no-nonsense center back and established himself as one of the Premier League’s most resolute defenders under Chris Houghton. In the Graham Potter era, Dunk became a genuinely good ball-playing center back. Now, under De Zerbi, he is the focal point of one of the most daring attacks in modern football. Everything starts at the back with Brighton. De Zerbi’s tactics wouldn’t be possible without a player like Dunk.
1. Pascal Groß (2017-present)
Lewis Dunk is Mr. Brighton. No one is disputing that, but when you are ranking the best Brighton players ever, Pascal Groß has to be at the top of the list.
The German international defines Brighton’s Premier League era. Brighton signed Pascal Groß from Ingolstadt for just £3 million in 2017 ahead of Brighton’s first-ever Premier League season. This shrewd signing is an example of the smart Brighton transfer strategy the club has used to reach where they are today. In fact, there’s a strong argument that Groß is the most underrated signing in Premier League history.
Groß scored the club’s first Premier League goal in a 3-1 win against West Brom all the way back in 2017. Since that goal, Groß has scored 28 more goals for Brighton and became the club’s top Premier League goalscorer. It’s not just goals though. Only Kevin De Bruyne has more Premier League assists than Groß since 2017 when he joined Brighton. For his efforts, Groß has also become a full German international after being called up by German national team manager Hansi Flick for friendlies against France and Kaoru Mitoma’s Japan.
Current Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi has called Groß one of the best players he’s ever managed. We’re inclined to agree with De Zerbi. Not only is he one of the best players De Zhas ever coached, we think Groß is the best player in Brighton history.
