24 December 2023 , 10:15
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After keeping Brighton in the Women’s Super League by a slim margin last season, manager Mel Phillips admitted that was only the first phase of a long project.
"You can't go from the bottom to the top of the mountain in one step, you have to chip away at it. That is what we will do," she said back in May, only a few months after arriving on the south coast having left Hollywood club Angel City, co-owned by Natalie Portman.
So where, Mirror Football asks, are Brighton up to on the mountain now? In basic terms, they head into the traditional winter break in the WSL sitting in 10th spot with eight points, perhaps where many expected them to be.
But with competition in the top flight so fierce this season, the answer is a lot more nuanced than that. This is a league that has already seen Liverpool and Tottenham shock Arsenal, Leicester hold Manchester United and newly promoted Bristol City hold their own.
“There are some days it feels like a snowy, stormy mountain more than others," Phillips tells Mirror Football. "But we are always chipping away to take that next step. And that is very much the mentality of the group. We want to recognise where we can move forward, but that it will take time.
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"We need to be a little more competitive at home at times, but there is a lot we can already take from the first half of the season that we then need to implement in the second half of the season, to make sure that we can be a team that is capable of getting a result against any team in the league.
"Some games will be more difficult than others. Like going away to Arsenal or getting Chelsea in your home environment. But ultimately it is just about chipping away to get to the next step."
On their day, the Seagulls have already shown they can mix it with the best teams around. Manchester City go into the break second place in the table, but would have been level on points with league leaders Chelsea. At least they would have been, only to be beaten by a Phillips masterclass back in November.
Brighton stunned Manchester City to claim a vital win last monthThe title hopefuls were left stunned by the visiting Albion, with Lee Geum-min firing in a late winner after combining perfectly with Pauline Bremer. Phillips' team defended expertly, soaking up pressure before hitting on the counter attack when the game opened up. It was vindication for a Brighton team going places.
The likes of Bremer, Vicky Losada, Nicky Evrard and Tatiana Pinto have all jelled to form a squad with huge international experience. When you throw in exciting young players like Katie Robinson and Sophie Baggaley, the head coach now has a team capable of challenging anyone in the league on their day.
Albion also boast the competition’s joint-second highest scorer in prolific Norwegian forward Elisabeth Terland. As Phillips explains, the combination is the result of a focused recruitment drive with some honest post-game analysis.
“In the summer when we brought in the players we did,” she explains. “We didn’t waver on the quality of character, or the players who are driven, take ownership and are ambitious.
"That’s exactly what we get after games when we reflect on how we've performed. But how to frame the conversation is important. It’s about speaking about it objectively and saying how we feel after the game.
“It (the WSL) is becoming a lot more competitive, but there is so much goal scoring and attacking quality in this league that clean sheets are difficult to come by. We just need to make sure we take our chances and manage opposition chances a bit better."
With Phillips at the wheel, Albion fans can look towards 2024 with genuine optimism, after a rocky ride last year with four managers in the managerial hotseat over the course of the campaign. And it is not just on the pitch, where things are looking up.
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Brighton and Hove city council has voted to build a new football stadium for the club, which is set to be the first of its kind in England. CEO Paul Barber has already said the project will "fuel the growth" of the sport on the south coast.
Brighton faced Tottenham at the Amex Stadium earlier in the WSL seasonIn the long-term, the hope is for the women’s team to make the Amex the home in the way Arsenal have with the Emirates Stadium. For now though, simply getting them back in the city, with the team currently playing most home games in Crawley, is the priority.
“Brighton has always tried to be at the forefront,” added Phillips. “Look at the resources and investment they’ve put into the women’s side. They (the club) were very quick to bring them into the men’s training facility, then build our own women’s specific building.
"And they are working towards our ambition off the pitch, every single day. This stadium is just another step towards that. You know when the Amex Stadium was built it took years and years of lobbying to get that land secured. You’ve now seen in the ten or so years since that stadium was built the positive impact that has had on the community and the trajectory of our men’s side.
"It is fantastic to see, the motion is now down to the council rather than the club. The best part if that the club is already prepared to do this, because we want to grow the women’s game sustainability. The plans are certainly in place for that. It’s just a matter of when and where now."
If Brighton can continue to progress on and off the pitch in the New Year, Phillips might have her team approaching the mountain summit ahead of schedule.