As Sky Sports cameras rolled away from the anguish and agony of Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal side, they captured Brighton striker Deniz Undav kissing a fan outside ‘outside. It wasn’t just any fan.
It was Paul Samrah. You may not know his name. But as Brighton’s remarkable adventure nears a new European chapter, he is just as influential on the Seagulls’ modern run as Tony Bloom, Paul Barber, Roberto De Zerbi and all those who were in the hot seat before the Italian.
You can start the Brighton success story in several places. Perhaps it was the day at Hereford’s Edgar Street in 1997 when a loss would have relegated them to non-League and possibly financial oblivion.
It could be 2011 when they beat Doncaster in their first match in front of over 20,000 at Falmer to end a dismal decade of playing at Gillingham’s Priestfield Stadium and then Withdean Stadium, an athletics track with temporary grandstands and sloppy installations.
Since then they have been promoted to the Premier League for the very first time, have beaten every member of the ‘Big Six’ at least once, made two FA Cup semi-finals and are now within touching distance of a European tour.
Brighton’s Deniz Undav hugs the fans, including Paul Samrah, outside the Emirates Stadium after their 3-0 win over Arsenal on Sunday
The Seagulls are set to play European football – but all would not have been possible without the supporters’ campaign to save the club from ruin in the 1990s
Brighton ended Arsenal’s title chances on Sunday and boosted their own European ambitions
But none of those days would have been possible without Samrah. Indeed, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the club might not exist without the work of the accountant and other enthusiasts.
“The Goldstone Ground had been sold to developers in 1995,” he told Mail Sport. “I started looking in the club’s accounts and I made holes. What the admins were saying was not consistent with what the accounts were telling me.
“The original articles had been modified. The bottom line was that originally there was a non-profit clause which meant that if the club was dissolved any surplus would go to a sporting charity of similar description in Sussex. This clause has been carefully dropped.
Bill Archer, who bought the club for £56.25 in 1993, sold the Goldstone and would have destroyed the club if not for the hard work of the fans. In what was to be the club’s last game of 1996 against York, fans stormed the pitch and the match was abandoned.
Samrah noticed the charter change and galvanized fans to protest Archer’s ruinous ownership. David Davies, then at the FA, ensured accounts were extracted and resubmitted.
Dick Knight ousted the Archer regime as Brighton played at Gillingham’s Priestfield and found a club with very few tangible assets. Samrah then presided over a ‘Falmer For All’ campaign, set up by dedicated fans to build a new permanent home ground.
TV football host Des Lynam, left, and DJ Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim, centre, arrive in Downing Street with other supporters, from second left, Tim Carder, Paul Samrah and Lord Bassam to hand over a petition with 62,000 signatures calling for Brighton to be granted permission for a new stadium in 2003
Brighton’s home of 95 years, the Goldstone Ground, was sold to developers in 1997
Crowds flood the pitch after Brighton beat Doncaster in the final game to be played at the Goldstone Ground – a result that gave them a fighting chance in 1997
Robbie Reinelt’s spectacular goal secured Brighton’s league status at Hereford United in 1997
Reinelt turns away in celebration after scoring the most important goal in Brighton history
Popular Albion fan DJ Fatboy Slim deserves praise for his role in saving the club. His record label, Skint, rightly sponsored the club during his homeless years, while the album Palookaville – meaning a state of darkness or failure – was also on their shirt at one point.
“We played at Withdean Stadium from 1999, an athletics track – we had to hire the temporary stands for The Open Golf,” says Samrah. “But we needed a new site. As Brighton is surrounded by the South Downs and the English Channel, our options were limited.
“To spread our message, we did all sorts of things, from pouring watering cans on Des Lynam on TV to show how inhospitable the Withdean was to spoofing menus at the Lib Dem political party dinner like Porky Pies. “
While the Liberal Democrats in Lewes, Sussex initially opposed the stadium, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott was instrumental. “It could have been helped by the fact that we delivered thousands of bouquets of flowers to Prescott in Whitehall!”
“We visited his constituency office in Hull on the way to an away game in Grimsby with cards reading: ‘Roses are red, violets are blue, we need our stadium and it’s all up to you “.
“Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson sent letters of support and we distributed the slogan ‘I wish you were here’ and a picture of Falmer’s stadium to 16,000 fans.”
A packed Withdean Stadium pictured during a game between Brighton and Swindon in 2011
The club now plays its home games at the 31,800 capacity Amex Stadium outside the city.
They finally opened Falmer Stadium in 2011, now known as Amex, and the club’s fortunes have since improved, thanks to Bloom’s keystone.
Gus Poyet led Brighton to second place after five seasons in League One, then Chris Hughton did a fine job of taking Brighton to the Premier League for the first time in their history in 2017. Hughton stabilized the ship in the top flight, then Graham Potter took them to the next level.
But after finishing ninth last season, Albion lost several key men and entered this season with an air of uncertainty. They won at Old Trafford on opening day and haven’t looked back since, as they also beat Chelsea (twice), Liverpool and now Arsenal to end their title.
Now De Zerbi’s side need a maximum of five points from four games to confirm a Europa League. ‘Don Roberto’ will receive the applause, as will Bloom and Knight. But Samrah – and the rest of the fanbase – are just as responsible for Brighton’s success as anyone.
Roberto De Zerbi’s side need a maximum of five points from four games to reach Europe
“When we were playing at the Withdean, to think that we would ever approach the Premier League was fanciful,” adds Samrah. “So almost getting to Europe is even weirder. The only way for me would be to take a ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe!
“It’s a unique model of how a club operates. We have a damn good general manager, a great manager, local guys – we always look for the bad side! The charity arm of the club is huge and we provide a benefit community.
“Let’s hope that the generations will pass on our history. Every supporter says their club is special, but no club has gone through what we did and survived.
