Tony Bloom backs Brighton to win Conference League with best squad
Tony Bloom says Brighton & Hove Albion have their best ever squad and a genuine chance of winning the Conference League this season. The chairman made the claim in an interview with The Argus, framing it as a target rather than idle hope. Bloom’s comments follow our earlier report on his plans for the club’s future. He believes this Brighton Conference League campaign gives Fabian Hurzeler’s squad a realistic route to silverware.
Chairman urges Albion to embrace pressure as European favourites
Bloom wants Albion to treat their favourite tag as motivation rather than a burden.
“I’m hoping that we will have many good performances and many good results,” he said in an interview with The Argus.
He was direct about the scale of the challenge.
“Obviously, winning leagues, winning trophies is really difficult, but I do think, for the men’s side, we’ve got a real chance,” Bloom said. He went further on the tournament itself, adding: “Obviously, the Conference League is a very winnable tournament compared to other tournaments we’ve played in.”
On expectations, Bloom said the club should not shy away from it.
“We’re really looking forward to it. We know there’s an element of pressure; we should embrace that pressure,” he said. “We should look forward to it. Our fans definitely are looking forward to it.”
Managing squad rotation across Premier League and European schedule
Bloom pointed to Albion’s earlier continental run when asked how Hurzeler’s squad will cope with a packed calendar.
“We’ve got the experiences of three years ago,” he said.
That campaign, he suggested, left the club better placed to handle the demands of European football alongside a full Premier League programme.
The Thursday to Sunday turnaround remains the toughest part of the schedule.
“We know how difficult it is, playing the Thursday night and then Sunday afternoon,” Bloom said. “We’re a bit more used to it as a club.”
He believes that familiarity, built up through previous seasons in Europe, will matter as fixtures pile up through autumn and winter.
Bloom also addressed the run of games waiting after the international break.
“We know what the schedule’s like. We know, after the international break, what a tough run of fixtures we’ve got, but I think we are fully prepared for it,” he said.
His comments tie the club’s Conference League ambitions to a wider belief that this squad can rotate without dropping standards.
Kauno Zalgiris opener and away trips ahead
Albion open their Conference League campaign at home to Kauno Zalgiris at the Amex. Away fixtures follow against Jablonec and Getafe as the league phase continues through the autumn.
Those European nights sit alongside a demanding Premier League block. Albion are due to face Liverpool and Manchester City twice before the turn of the year, on top of their usual domestic schedule. Bloom’s remarks suggest the chairman sees the strength of this squad, and the club’s recent European experience, as the difference between coping with that run and thriving in it.
