Lewis Dunk: I want to retire at Albion

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The club captain wants to see out his career with the club.

Nick Szczepanik

2022-05-28T05:00:00Z

The skipper is delighted to have led Albion to their highest ever league finish.

Steve Foster led Brighton to 13th place in 1982 but you’ve finished 9th, making you the most successful captain in the club’s history?

It’s a great feeling. It’s been a long old season with ups and downs, but to finish it so strongly has been unbelievable. We have spoken about our aims as a club and where we want to get to, we talked about the top ten and we have done it. It is a great accomplishment but we have got to go again next year.

The chairman saying that about the top ten – does it put pressure on, or do you relish that ambition?

Of course – you have got to have high ambitions. You want to win every game of football. But you are in the Premier League and it’s difficult. It showed, that little bad spell that we had, that it is hard in this league if it doesn’t go your way. But we came out the back of that and the international break came at a good time. We went away, worked hard and finished the season strongly. Credit to the staff and the boys in that dressing room. We stuck together and kept fighting.

One-club man so you've seen the good and not-so-good?

Yes, we’ve come a long way as a football club and I have been lucky enough to be on the whole journey from training at the University to the new training ground, and Withdean to this stadium and from League One to the Premier League. I’ve been on the ride and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it the whole way through. Hopefully we can keep building and pushing on.

Mark Noble? Could that be you one day, retiring after a career with one club?

Hopefully, yes. I’m at my home town club, I’m enjoying my football under this manager and enjoy having my friends and family around me so I’m happy here and I want to try to stick to this club and retire here. Hopefully I can do that.

I spoke to Mark after the game and said ‘Congratulations on an unbelievable career and all the best on retirement’ and I’d spoken to him a few times during lockdown. He helped me as a new captain dealing with things so I had a few good chats with him during that time. Obviously he has had an incredible career and he is a great guy as well to go along with that.

Lewis Dunk took over from Bruno as club captain.

Was that in the Premier League captains’ zoom meetings?

Yes, but also we were having conversations with our own clubs and I wanted to get some advice. I got his number, gave him a call and he was more than happy to sit down for however long and have a chat.

So you could be Brighton’s Mark Noble one of these days?

Maybe. Let’s see what the future holds.