A lot has changed in football over the past 30 years. The names and incarnations of leagues and cups, the way we used to get results on Teletext, and the now endless streaming on smartphones. There have been changes to the laws and (say it quietly) the arrival of VAR, plus everything else in between.
But no matter how much the game and everything around it evolves, one thing will never change – fans always dare to dream.
As a supporter, you never know what’s around the corner, and that’s why we all keep coming back for more. It’s the tales of glory and heartbreak that unfold in every campaign that keep us all hanging on.
In the first season after FourFourTwo launched, Brighton & Hove Albion were in the third tier and finished 16th in the table. There will not be a single Albion supporter who will have predicted that three decades later, Brighton would have just played their first season in European competition after finishing sixth in the Premier League.
It hasn’t been a smooth ride, however, and Seagulls supporters will tell you of the heartache they’ve suffered over the years to get to this point. As a kid in the Nineties, my memories of the club were pretty negative. Brighton struggled through financial woes and mismanagement for long periods.
In 1997, they were minutes away from relegation from the Football League, but one Robbie Reinelt goal against Hereford kept them up. That same year they were forced to sell their home, the Goldstone Ground, in order to pay off debts, with the team having to groundshare with Gillingham, a 150-mile round trip, for two seasons.
Thanks to a fan-led campaign, investment from local businessman Dick Knight and unwavering support, the club was kept alive.The turn of the millennium sparked a revival that has continued in an upward trajectory since Tony Bloom took over his boyhood club. The Amex opened in 2011, finally providing Brighton with a stable home again.
But it still wasn’t straightforward getting to the Premier League – as a fan, nothing ever is. There were three failed attempts in the Championship play-offs between 2012 and 2016, one of which I was covering on local radio as a broadcaster. That was rough.
Glory finally came in 2017, when Brighton confirmed promotion to the Premier League – a day I and thousands of others will never forget. Even then, playing in Europe only six years later seemed unthinkable.
Leicester winning the Premier League title in 2016 is and always will be the definition of a football miracle, and without a doubt has given all football fans a reason to believe that anything is achievable. They started the season as 5000-1 outsiders, a team that many predicted would get relegated, yet they defied all the odds to complete one of the greatest sporting victories any of us will see in our lifetimes.
Bournemouth and Luton have similar stories of rapid rises to the top flight, and journeys that seemed improbable but then became a reality. Luton went all the way from non-league to the Premier League in the space of just nine years. I was working at Wembley for their play-off final win – to see those celebrations and tears of joy from everyone in orange, you couldn’t help but feel emotional – as a supporter, you know what a day like that means.
Similarly, Bournemouth secured three promotions in just six seasons under Eddie Howe, taking them from League Two to the Premier League for the first time in their history. That unimaginable quest to the top will always give their fans hope.
Stockport and Wrexham could be the next teams wondering just how far they can go, after both clubs’ climb to League One in a short space of time.
Wrexham’s Hollywood story has captured the attention of those even outside football. Their successive promotions have given their global fanbase belief that the fairytale will only continue.
Stockport have had an amazing few years, after more than a decade of difficulty. They lost their League status for the first time in 106 years when they were relegated in 2011, but they returned to the EFL in 2022 and have now secured three promotions in six seasons, winning League Two last term.
With regular gates at Edgeley Park of nearly 10,000 fans, the optimism is clear as they dream of what could be next.
Being a football supporter has taught me that anything is possible. Comparing where Brighton are now to my earliest memories of watching them, at the Withdean Stadium with its running track around the pitch, it’s a reminder that any club can go on a similar adventure with the right backing and support.
No matter how much the game changes, romance will never leave football. If it’s the hope that keeps us hanging on, let’s hope it stays that way for the next 30 years.
