Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club /ˈbraɪtən ən ˈhoʊv/ is an English football club based in the coastal city of Brighton & Hove, East Sussex. It is often referred to just as Brighton. They currently play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system, hosting games at the 30,750-capacity Falmer Stadium, known for commercial purposes as the American Express Community Stadium, or simply the Amex.

The team is nicknamed the "Seagulls" or "Albion". The team has historically played in blue and white stripes, though this changed to all white briefly in the 1970s and again to plain blue during the club's most successful spell in the 1980s.Crystal Palace is considered the club's main rival, although the grounds are 40 miles apart.

Founded in 1901, Brighton played their early professional football in the Southern League before being elected to the Football League in 1920. The club enjoyed greatest prominence between 1979 and 1983 when they played in the First Division and reached the 1983 FA Cup Final, losing to Manchester United after a replay. They were relegated from the top division in the same season. Mismanagement brought Brighton close to relegation from the Football League to the Conference which they narrowly avoided in 1997 and 1998. A boardroom takeover saved Brighton from liquidation, and following successive promotions they returned to the second tier of English football in 2002 and have played in the second and third tiers ever since.

Brighton and Hove (/ˈbraɪtən ən ˈhoʊv/) is a city in East Sussex, in South East England. At the 2011 census, it was England's most populous seaside resort with a population of 273,400.

The towns of Brighton and Hove formed a unitary authority in 1997 and in 2001 were granted city status by Queen Elizabeth II. "Brighton" is often referred to synonymously with the official "Brighton and Hove" although many locals still consider the two to be separate towns.

History

Brighton and Hove is the result of a number of historic local government reorganisations:

Brighton & Hove operates most bus services in the city of Brighton and Hove in southern England. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group.

History

Brighton & Hove was established in 1884 as Brighton, Hove and Preston United Omnibus Company. In November 1935 it was formed as the Brighton Hove and District Omnibus Company. In January 1969 it merged with Southdown Motor Services as a subsidiary of the National Bus Company. In January 1985 in preparation for privatisation, Brighton & Hove was separated from Southdown. In May 1987 it was sold in a management buyout. In November 1993 Brighton & Hove was sold to the Go-Ahead Group.

Operations and routes

The company's routes cover a large area encompassing the whole of the city, some parts of West and East Sussex and a single route into Kent. There are 40 separately-numbered standard routes. Frequencies range from every 5 minutes to two journeys per day. In addition, there are nine night bus routes and 19 school bus routes. In September 2005, the company took over many routes previously operated partly or entirely by Stagecoach South, the best example being the Coaster services 12 and 13X to Seaford and Eastbourne.

Brighton ⁱ/ˈbraɪtən/ is a seaside resort and the largest part of the City of Brighton and Hove situated in East Sussex, England. Historically in the Rape of Lewes in Sussex, Brighton forms a part of the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation. Brighton is at the heart of the Greater Brighton City Region, a partnership of local authorities and other organisations that signifies Brighton's wider regional economic significance.

Over half of the city's area is open downland, most of which lies within the South Downs National Park and forms part of the UNESCO-recognised Brighton and Lewes Downs biosphere reserve.

Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age, Roman and Anglo-Saxon periods. The ancient settlement of "Brighthelmstone" was documented in the Domesday Book (1086). The town's importance grew during the Middle Ages as the Old Town developed, but it languished in the early modern period, affected by foreign attacks, storms, a suffering economy and a declining population. During the modern period, Brighton began to attract more visitors following improved road transport to London and becoming a boarding point for boats travelling to France. The town also developed in popularity as a health resort for sea bathing as a purported cure for illnesses.

Brighton was a parliamentary constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 until it was divided into single-member seats from the United Kingdom general election, 1950. Covering the seaside towns of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, it elected two Member of Parliament (MP) by the bloc vote system of election.

History

The constituency was created by the Reform Act 1832 for the 1832 general election. The constituency was based on the south coast seaside resort town of Brighton.

When it was proposed to enfranchise Brighton a Tory observed in Parliament that it would represent merely "toffy (sic), lemonade and jelly shops". Charles Seymour suggests he "obviously feared the Whig proclivities of the numerous tradespeople established there".

The first representatives of the constituency were of radical opinions. Isaac Newton Wigney (MP 1832–1839 and 1841–1842) was described as being of "Whig opinions inclining to radicalism, in favour of the ballot, and pledged himself to resign his seat whenever his constituents called upon him so to do". His colleague, the Nonconformist preacher and attorney George Faithfull (MP 1832–1835), went much further. He advocated "the immediate abolition of slavery, of all unmerited pensions and sinecures, the standing army, all useless expense, the Corn Laws, and every other monopoly. He said that if the extent of suffrage at that time was not found efficient he would vote for universal suffrage: and if triennial Parliaments did not succeed, would vote for having them annually; he was an advocate of the ballot".

Brighton Collectibles (Brighton) is an accessories manufacturer and retailer, with over 180retail stores in the United States. Brighton products are also sold in more than 5,000 boutiques nationwide.

The concept for Brighton began when Terri Kravitz and Jerry Kohl, high school sweethearts, opened a specialty retail store. In 1991, Terri and Jerry launched Brighton Collectibles with a single collection of belts. Over the years, Brighton has expanded their products to include a line of coordinating accessories and footwear. A customer might choose a lipstick case that matches a wallet, earrings that match a pair of sunglasses, a handbag that matches footwear, or an entire coordinating collection consisting of multiple accessories. Luggage and home accessories are included in Brighton's home line.

Brighton is headquartered in the City of Industry, California, and is a division of Leegin Creative Leather Products, also based in City of Industry, CA. For more than 30 years, Leegin has been manufacturing belts and other leather accessories at a California factory that has expanded from a shop with five employees to a plant employing more than 600 people. Components for some of the products are manufactured in countries such as France, Italy, Spain, China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan.

Coordinates: 50°50′07″N 0°10′33″W / 50.8352°N 0.1758°W / 50.8352; -0.1758

Hove /ˈhoʊv/ is a town on the south coast of England, immediately to the west of its larger neighbour Brighton, with which it forms the unitary authority Brighton and Hove. It forms a single conurbation together with Brighton and some smaller towns and villages running along the coast. As part of local government reform Brighton and Hove were merged to form the borough of Brighton and Hove in 1997. In 2000 the conjoined towns officially attained city status.

Hove is bordered by Brighton to the east and Portslade-by-Sea in the west, the distance between the boundaries being some 2.25 miles (3.75 kilometres).

History and development

Pre-Roman evidence

During mid 19th-century building work near Palmeira Square, workmen levelled a substantial burial mound. A prominent feature of the landscape since 1200 BC, this 20 feet (6.1 m)-high tumulus yielded – among other treasures – the Hove amber cup. Made of translucent red Baltic Amber and approximately the same size as a regular china tea cup, the artefact can be seen in the Hove Museum and Art Gallery.