Barber’s ‘vision’ to make Brighton ‘regular top-10 club’

Brighton chief executive and deputy chairman Paul Barber says the club has to “carry on being smarter” if they want to “compete financially” in the Premier League.

After securing European football for the first time in 2022-23, Brighton finished 11th under Roberto de Zerbi last season.

Barber says his “vision” under new manager Fabian Hurzeler is to “maintain a top-10 position” in the English top flight.

“We very much enjoyed playing in the Europa League last season – it was a great experience for the club,” Barber told the media during Brighton’s pre-season tour in Japan. “It was the first time in our 123 year history that we have played in that competition.

“The Premier League is the most competitive league in the world, so we have to work particularly hard to maintain a top-10 position. That is our vision: to be a top-10 Premier League club on a regular basis.

“So we have to carry on being smarter. We are never going to be able to compete in terms of huge football club brands like Manchester United or some of the bigger names like Liverpool.

“We have to use the resources we do have. We can’t waste any time, money or energy. We have to keep competing in the best way we can and we are confident we can do that.

“But there are always bumps in the road. It is never a straight line of progress and it hasn’t been through the past 12 years – but we have built resilience, learned a lot from last season, and now we are very excited to go into another Premier League season.

“It is a very exciting time to be a fan of the club.”