Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club's home ground is the Falmer Stadium. Founded in 1901 and nicknamed the "Seagulls" or "Albion", Brighton played their early professional football in the Southern League, when they won their first and still to this date their only major domestic trophy, the FA Charity Shield (later known as FA Community Shield) in 1910 which they won 1–0 over Aston Villa in the final. They were later elected to the Football League in 1920. Between 1979 and 1983, 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 First Division in the same season. By the late 1990s, Brighton were in the fourth tier of English football and having financial problems. After narrowly avoiding relegation from the Football League to the Conference in 1997, a boardroom takeover saved the club from liquidation. Successive promotions in 2001 and 2002 brought Brighton back to the second tier, and in 2011, the club moved into the Falmer Stadium after 14 years without a permanent home ground. In the 2016–17 season, Brighton finished second in the EFL Championship and were thus promoted to the Premier League, ending a 34-year absence from the top flight. In the 2022–23 season, Brighton finished sixth in the Premier League, their highest top flight finish ever, and qualified for the UEFA Europa League; their first participation in European club football.

Falmer Stadium, known for sponsorship purposes as the American Express Stadium and more commonly referred to as the Amex, is a football stadium in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex. With a capacity of 31,876, it is the second largest stadium in all of South East England, and the 31st largest stadium in the United Kingdom. The largest in South East England is St. Mary's Stadium (Southampton) with about 800 seats more. It serves as the home of Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion, and was handed over from the developers to the club on 31 May 2011. The first competitive game played at the stadium was the 2010–11 season final of the Sussex Senior Cup between Brighton and Eastbourne Borough on 16 July 2011. The first league game was against Doncaster Rovers, who were also the opponents in the last game played at Brighton's former stadium, the Goldstone Ground, 14 years earlier. Falmer Stadium hosted Premier League football for the first time in August 2017, following Albion's promotion at the end of the 2016–17 season. Falmer Stadium hosted European football for the first time on 21 September 2023 when Brighton played against AEK in the UEFA Europa League. The stadium was designed to allow hosting for other sports and events. It hosted some matches from the 2015 Rugby World Cup and the UEFA Women's Euro 2022. It will also host some 2025 Rugby World Cup fixtures.