The key facts

  • Brighton under Hürzeler sit third in the Premier League with six straight wins, including a 5:0 over Crystal Palace
  • Hürzeler is the youngest head coach in Premier League history (31), with his contract extended until 2029
  • Pascal Gross, back from Dortmund, has 7 goal involvements in the first seven matchdays

Winning streak and revenge for last year's slump

Brighton & Hove Albion under German coach Fabian Hürzeler sit third in the Premier League, having won six matches in a row, including a 5:0 thrashing of arch-rivals Crystal Palace. The match was a repeat of last year's fixture, when a 0:1 home defeat formed part of Hürzeler's worst spell at the club — one win in 12 matches. Back then the coach said: 'There are only two options: give up or keep pushing harder — and in my life I always choose the second.' Ben Parker, co-author of the fanzine Dogma, admits that after that game there were unhappy fans shouting 'You'll be sacked in the morning,' but, in his words, Hürzeler himself welcomes such feedback, advocating a two-way relationship with supporters.

An unconventional path to the top

Hürzeler never played at the top level and never coached in the Bundesliga. He represented Germany's youth national teams and Bayern's reserves, and at 23 became player-manager of Pipinsried, a club in Germany's fifth division, while also working in art dealing in Bavaria. He was born in the USA, from where his family moved to Germany when he was two. After St. Pauli's promotion to the Bundesliga in 2024, he took over Brighton and became the youngest head coach in Premier League history — at 31. In Germany he was sometimes called 'the laptop coach' in the mould of Julian Nagelsmann, but players and Hürzeler himself do not confirm this perception: 'I want to be myself, and my age helps me understand players. I speak their language.'

Emotions and the bond with the city

Hürzeler is known for his temper on the touchline: in St. Pauli's promotion season he received seven yellow cards, and at Brighton — nine cautions and one sending-off. 'Emotions are part of the game,' he commented. According to Parker, fans like his eccentricity and the 'countercultural' attitude of challenging the establishment, which suits Brighton's spirit: the coach rides an e-bike, walks along the seafront, drinks coffee in town and held fan meetings in pubs which, according to Parker, he paid for himself.

The second German favourite — Pascal Gross

In January, 35-year-old Pascal Gross returned to the club from Borussia Dortmund, having retired from the Germany national team after the World Cup. In the first seven matchdays he scored three goals and provided four assists. 'I missed the special connection with people here. I spent seven years here, got married, both my children were born in England,' he told Sky Sports. Parker calls Gross 'everyone's favourite' and notes that thanks to these two figures there is a warm attitude towards German football in Brighton.

The club's model and plans for the future

Brighton's success is built on a strategy of recruiting coaches and players under owner Tony Bloom, under which the best players sooner or later move to bigger clubs. According to Parker, Hürzeler supports Bayern and sees it as the benchmark of standards, and Parker himself suggests that in a couple of years the German could suit the Munich side — while, in his view, Liverpool or Chelsea do not attract him. Bayern's current coach Vincent Kompany, however, faces no threat of dismissal for now. Hürzeler has extended his Brighton contract until 2029. Ahead of the team is a Conference League match, in which Brighton are considered one of the favourites, followed by an away trip to Liverpool — the club where Jürgen Klopp was the first German coach to leave a significant mark in the Premier League. 'If he wins us our first trophy, he will go down in history as the greatest,' Parker concluded.