Brighton's 125-year exhibition is opening with a clear message: this is a club story shaped by people, not just place. A specially commissioned stadium model sits at the centre of the Brighton & Hove Albion gallery, alongside fanzines, archive footage and personal memorabilia. One of the main scenes it points to is Bobby Zamora scoring against Halifax in 2000.

Supporter activism and club memory

The exhibition also reaches back to the mid-1990s, when supporter activism helped save the club. That period gives the anniversary display some real weight, because it treats Brighton's survival as part of the club's identity rather than a separate chapter.

Jody East, the gallery curator, said: "It's important that it's not just about the stadium. It's the people who bring it alive." She added: "It's a bit like Brighton & Hove Albion's journey. It's had a lot of ups and downs over the years".

Mark McGhee said younger visitors will be able to come in and hear stories that older supporters have passed down. Ian Hart, who has supported the club for 53 years, also has fanzines on display.

The tone here is right. Brighton's modern success is part of the club's story, but the exhibition understands that the emotional pull comes from the near-misses, the rescue, and the memories supporters kept alive.

What visitors see in the gallery

Paul Mullen, Brighton & Hove Albion's operations director, said: "We have to recognise both the highs and lows". The layout seems built around that idea, with the stadium model doing more than sitting there as decoration.

For a club that finished 8th in the 2025 Premier League season and took 53 points from 38 league games, the exhibition could have leaned on recent progress. Instead, it uses history better than that, with the model, the objects and the archive material all pushing the same point.

John Hewitt, the Hangleton and Knoll councillor, said: "The Albion is probably the greatest ambassador this city has known throughout the world and it's not only the city, but the club itself is very unique". He also said it brings civic pride.

The Brighton & Hove Museums exhibition is in the city now, and the main thing to take from it is simple enough: the club is being remembered through the people who kept it going.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →