Wayne Bridge spent just a single season on loan at Brighton & Hove Albion. But it is a year which sticks happily in the memory for a player with a career record most other players can only dream of.
Bridge won one Premier League title, one FA Cup and two League Cups. He played for two of the biggest clubs in England, representing both Chelsea and Manchester City.
He racked up 36 England caps. A number which would have been many more had Bridge not been on the scene at the same time as Ashley Cole, the Three Lions’ greatest ever left back.
Still, Bridge went to two World Cups and one European Championship. His talent was such that at times, he and Cole would be selected in the same XI. Cole at left back with Bridge on the left wing.
Yet for all that, Bridge looks back on his time as a Seagull as one of their happiest of his career – crediting it with revitalising his love for football and wishing he had spent longer than nine months at the Amex under the management of Gus Poyet.
Here is what Wayne Bridge had to say in a chat with WAB on behalf of 10bet about being a Brighton player.
Wayne Bridge at Brighton
Wayne Bridge joined Brighton in the summer of 2012 from Manchester City. Signing an England international left back on loan from the Premier League champions was a marquee acquisition for the Albion.
A sign of the growing confidence of a club only entering their second season at both the Amex and in the Championship. But one which had aspirations to make it to the top flight.
Not that everyone saw the arrival of Bridge like that at the time. There was a fair amount of scepticism about Brighton bringing him to the Amex and picking up even a fraction of his rumoured £90,000 per week City wage.
You see, Bridge spent the second half of the 2011-12 season on loan at Sunderland. The move though did not go well.
Of 15 Premier League matches he was eligible to play for the Black Cats, Bridge started only three. He made five appearances from the bench and was an unused substitute seven times.
Some Sunderland fans warned their Seagulls counterparts that Brighton were signing a player either totally disillusioned with football or even worse, who did not care about playing anymore.
Hence the scepticism. Many people assumed Bridge was just coming to Sussex to put his feet up and enjoy the weather in the twilight years of his career.
How wrong can you be? Bridge ended up playing 42 times, scoring three goals. His Brighton highlights included a brilliant 30 yard strike in a 5-1 home win over Barnsley and pocketing Wilfried Zaha when Crystal Palace were hammered 3-0 in the St Patrick’s Day Massacre.
Bridge was named in the PFA Championship Team of the Year. He also finished runner up behind Liam Bridcutt in the much more prestigious WAB 2012-13 Brighton Player of the Season Award.
It was quite the turnaround from both that disappointing spell with Sunderland and injury issues leading to a lack of game time at City.
Bridge has a simple explanation for it: “I went to Brighton at a time when I was falling out of love with football. And when I went there, I loved it again.”
Wayne Bridge on Gus Poyet and Brighton Premier League ambition
That love of football was rediscovered thanks to the efforts of multiple people – with Bridge particularly keen to talk about Poyet and Tony Bloom.
“We had a great manager in Gus Poyet,” said Bridge. “He had all the players believing and we played really well that season.”
“Gus was one of those managers who drilled into players that they should want the ball and get on it. There was a lot of movement, so you always had options.
“The team we had, there were a lot of players who had come from the lower divisions. So, for Gus to have us playing like that in the Championship was a credit to him.”
“I wouldn’t say it was obvious back then that Brighton would become an established Premier League side.”
“But the owners are obviously great owners. They have done fantastic things. We were close to going up when I was there. We made the playoffs, obviously, but sadly lost to Palace.”
“I didn’t realise back then that Brighton would get to where they are now, that is for sure. But they have some very good owners.”
Mixed feelings over Brighton departure
The Albion were keen to keep Bridge beyond the 2012-13 season. The reason cited for a permanent deal never materialising has always been wages.
Along with the Albion, Bridge had interest from recently relegated duo Reading and Queens Park Rangers.
In a straight decision over money, Brighton were always going to struggle competing with two clubs benefitting from parachute payments and recent Premier League riches.
Bridge ended up choosing Reading. But not just for the money. Had Poyet remained Brighton manager, Bridge may well have stayed at the Amex.
When asked if he wished had spent more than one season with the Albion, Bridge does not need a second to think.
“Yeah, definitely. I had the option of maybe doing another year. But Gus was leaving and I wasn’t sure how things would land.”
Regret though is mixed in with relief that Bridge left when he did. Meaning he did not tarnish his reputation or standing amongst Brighton fans by spending an injury-hit 2013-14 with the Seagulls.
“At least nobody thinks I was terrible the next season!”
To get through those 42 Brighton matches in 2012-13, Bridge revealed he was playing through the pain barrier.
“I was having a lot of injections during the season I played at Brighton,” he said. “I ended up having an operation in the summer and then my body just caved in the next season.”
Bridge managed just 12 appearances for the Biscuitmen before retiring at the end of the 2013-14 campaign.
“With what happened at Reading and although I would have liked another season with Brighton, I am probably glad I left when I did.”
“Because hopefully everyone at Brighton just remembers the better parts of my game rather than thinking I was terrible the next season!”
No Albion fan would ever think that, Mr Bridge.
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