‘It’s a fresh start’ – Baggaley confident that Brighton can kick on in 2024/2025

Brighton & Hove Albion goalkeeper Sophie Baggaley believes that the club can finally kick on this season after a period of change.

Since former boss Hope Powell stepped down in October 2022, four different coaches have led the team in what has been a turbulent period for the club.

Former Australian international Dario Vidošić became Brighton & Hove Albion’s fifth different leader since Powell’s departure when he was appointed the club’s new head coach over the summer. He has quickly got to work embedding his principles during the club’s pre-season programme.

When commenting on Vidošić’s arrival in a Barclays Women’s Super League media event, Brighton & Hove Albion goalkeeper Baggaley said that pre-season has brought a fresh start for the team.

“It’s a fresh start going into pre-season,” Baggaley said. “Everyone was new at the start of pre-season, Dario was new, we had a new team. It was good to get into pre-season and start building.

“It’s difficult when change happens during the season but at the start [of a season], it’s a fresh start for everyone. I think it’s a positive.”

Brighton & Hove Albion have been inconsistent with their results over the last couple of years, particularly at home. Baggaley believes that Vidošić’s appointment, combined with a successful summer in the transfer market, can bring stability and much more consistency.

She said “Dario’s come in, he’s implemented his style and we are all on the same page now. We had changes last year with the manager but hopefully this year, we can have a bit more stability.

“We’ve had good players come in, more experience and hopefully this year, we can really kick on.”

Going on to discuss aims for the upcoming season, Baggaley said that the team will be looking to entertain and be successful by playing the Brighton way.

She said “We want to play our style of football and win games by doing so. It’s a very Brighton way of playing, it’s exciting and hopefully, the fans will get excited by the way we are playing.

“We want to score some goals, win as many games as we can and obviously finish higher than we did last year.”

Brighton & Hove Albion kick-off the 2024/2025 Barclays Women’s Super League season with a fixture against Everton at Broadfield Stadium on Saturday 21 September 2024.