Every word from Tony Bloom's interview with BBC Sussex

Main Club Sponsor

TICKETS

SHOP

2025-10-15T06:00+01:00

Albion chairman Tony Bloom. 📷 by Paul Hazlewood.

Albion chairman Tony Bloom sat down for an in-depth chat with BBC Sussex's Johnny Cantor to discuss a range of topics, including the start to the season, the club's recruitment policy and his hopes of bringing the women's team back to Brighton.

JC: Do you still feel the excitement that you that you had when you were young and first started watching Albion play?

TB: That excitement, that passion for the Albion hasn't dimmed at all. It's only got bigger over the years. There's always big excitement for every game.

JC: It's the club's ninth season in the Premier League. Do you have to pinch yourself or has it all become familiar, even though in the Premier League you can't take anything for granted can you?

TB: Absolutely we can't take it for granted. We've always got to work really hard to make sure we've got the squad so we stay up each season. Things can go wrong very quickly, so we absolutely don't take anything for granted. We're always looking upwards. We're always looking to improve, but absolutely we want to be in the Premier League season after season if we possibly can.

JC: It's a bit stop-start at this stage of the season with the international breaks, but what have you made of the first seven matches and the League Cup as well?

TB: In the League Cup we have started really well: two scintillating performances with much changed teams. In the Premier League we've had some really good games, scored some really good goals and had some difficult moments. We're doing absolutely fine but I think we will improve. It’s been a steady start.

JC: You've had great wins against Manchester City and Chelsea. There's been more familiar results against teams towards the bottom. How do you feel about that situation?

TB: We have overachieved against some of the best teams in the Premier League. Certainly in terms of results, we’ve underachieved against teams that people expect us to beat, but I think that's just normal variations. I don't read anything into it.

JC: How was the summer transfer window? Obviously a lot of signings with a lot of potential arrived at the club...

Stefanos Tzimas joined Albion in the summer. 📷 by James Boardman.

TB: The positive thing is we always try - but normally it's not always possible - to do a lot of business early. Every head coach obviously wants that so that was positive. We did get a few niggling injuries in pre-season. The Greek boys were injured at the end of last season, so that was difficult. But we’ve got a really good blend of young players in the squad, who are going to improve month on month, year on year, with some really solid and experienced pros. I like the balance and I think that's really important.

JC: Do you feel patience is required in terms of the development of young players?

TB: Absolutely, patience is required. Every young player develops at a different rate and Fabian will know when to bring those players in. Obviously it depends on the player's development. Even though we sometimes spend significant sums on young players there's no pressure for them to play immediately. We've got a very good squad. The depth is superb so that takes the pressure off, whereas with perhaps some clubs they buy a young player for a lot of money and the expectation is for them to get in the starting line-up quickly. As far as I'm concerned they'll get into the first team when Fabian deems them to be ready and when the situation merits it.

JC: Has there been any change of focus in terms of recruitment?

Yoon Doyoung signed for Albion from South Korean club Daejeon Hana Citizen. 📷 by Paul Hazlewood.

TB: For recruitment, we are looking globally, whether it's South America, Asia or in other countries in Europe for the right type of player for the age profile and for the money. We don't care where it is. Hence why we have a huge amounts of nationalities in the building. Everything about the Premier League every year becomes more difficult. We have to always look to improve and innovate because you can't stand still. It's talked about a lot in many businesses, but particularly in football and the Premier League where our rivals are fiercely competitive. They are looking to overtake one another and get stronger all the time. So we have to do likewise and ideally we are going ahead even faster than the other teams.

JC: Analytics has set you apart in the past. Do you feel like other teams are catching up or do you have to continue to innovate? How challenging is that for you?

TB: I don’t know exactly what other clubs are doing. They don't necessarily talk about it, but you can assume they're spending a lot of time trying to improve in all areas, particularly analytics and their recruitment processes. We have to innovate and aim to get better every season, which we are.

JC: David Weir has gone, you've brought in Jason Ayto in a different role and promoted Mike Cave. Tell us about that decision-making process and why you made that change.

TB: David was with us for eight years or so in different roles and he did really well and was very popular at the club. Sometimes you look to go one stage more and to innovate in different areas. It was time for a refresh, to look at all areas of the club. I think bringing in Jason and promoting Mike has helped do that.

JC: What does Jason bring?

Jason Ayto was appointed sporting director in September. 📷 by James Boardman.

TB: Jason's been in football for a long time. He had the interim sporting director role at Arsenal for nine months and did a really good job. He got very close to getting the full-time sporting director role there. He has got a skillset that covers many different areas. Working for Edu at Arsenal, he saw how things work so he can bring so many different experiences. He's a great personal man manager. Working in different areas in a sporting context of a football club takes a lot of different skills and we believe that Jason has got those and he has started really well. He has only been with us for a few weeks while Mike's been with us for quite a long time. They’re working very well so I am optimistic for the future.

JC: You mention the future, tell us about Vision 2030.

TB: This is going back 12-18 months. You need to energise the football club on a regular basis. It's about having goals and breaking them down into different areas. So Paul Barber and the management team, over many, many months, talked to our staff about how we can improve in their particular areas. Obviously on the football side, we've had our long-term vision of regularly competing for the top ten in the Premier League and top four in the Women's Super League. That stays, with the additional goal on the men's side to be pushing for Europe every season as well. We also talk about really pushing every season, which we do anyway, to bring a trophy to the club. That would mean so much to our fans, to the club and to the city.

We look at each individual area to get to a level of gradual improvement, because we are doing lots of things very, very well but we must never stand still. We've brought in a chief technology officer for the first time and he's been a breath of fresh air. He’s had lots of innovative ideas, which can create efficiencies in different departments. Obviously the football side is the most important because what happens on the pitch generates the excitement and the revenues for everywhere else. I know that Fabian in particular is very happy with certain innovations he's brought in, like on the training pitch to help communicate his thoughts to the players.

JC: You mentioned revenues. Obviously PSR is a big factor when it comes to the Premier League. There's been discussions about alternatives. What are your thoughts on changing that system? I know it hasn't really impacted on you necessarily for the last couple of years, but going forward what do you think that impact might be if that switch is made?

TB: There's a vote coming up in the next few weeks to change that system. There'd be a year, if it does get voted through, of having both systems and then it will be fully amended with the Squad Cost Ratio [SCR] which would be a lot more similar, but with differences to the UEFA system. We don't have a view yet on which way we'll be voting. There's also the top to bottom anchor and sustainability votes. So there's a lot for us to go through, but we will know a lot more when the votes happen in the next month or so.

JC: How important is that decision?

Tony Bloom has said the club are still undecided which way they will vote on Premier League spending rules. 📷 by Paul Hazlewood.

TB: I think it's really important. There has to be some kind of financial sustainability. PSR has worked to an extent. It's far from perfect, but it has stopped clubs being able to spend whatever they want. No system is perfect. The advantage of the Squad Cost Ratio is it’s more real time. It's looking over a season rather than looking backwards over a three-year period. But there's pros and cons of both and we are looking at it in detail as we speak. [Chief finance and administration officer] Lee Cooper is all over the details, and we're going to be having a meeting towards the end of the month.

JC: Other leagues have decided to take their football abroad. Serie A going to Australia and La Liga to America. What's your view on taking games outside of the UK?

TB: Certainly taking teams abroad, like the Premier League Summer Series in pre-season, is superb. Taking Premier League games abroad I am personally not in favour of. I like the system where you play 19 games at home, 19 games away. The Premier League is becoming bigger and better every season and more and more popular. So I don't feel it's like other leagues who are falling behind to some extent. We don't need to create more noise and create more fans. I think we can do that within the existing system.

JC: Are there any updates on the new women's stadium?

TB: There have been delays. We would like to have made the announcement by now and I can't put a time on it. Things have been outside of our control, but we are really committed to bringing the women's team back with their own designated stadium, but I can't say anything more at this stage.

JC: Where did the burning desire to have the women right up there and challenging for that top four come from?

Dario Vidosic guided Albion to a fifth place finish in the WSL last season. 📷 by Kyle Hemsley.

TB: When we made the announcement 5-6 years ago of the vision for the men's team to be competing in the top ten of the Premier League we wanted to bring the women into that as well. So we put a really tough target. It was before Manchester United were in the WSL. This season we've got the challenge of London City Lionesses putting huge investment in, so it's probably becoming even tougher, but women's sports are rightly becoming more and more popular.

Women's football is the fastest growing sport in the country. It's going to continue to grow. Football is such a huge fabric of the community and women are 50% of our population, so it's not a surprise to me. I think if you look forward 10-15 years, women's football will be significantly bigger, more popular and watched not just in this country, but around the world. The WSL, with the equivalent in the USA, are going to strengthen and just get bigger and bigger compared to their rivals, in my opinion.

So we want to be at the forefront of it. It's really important for this football club and the community to give women and girls lots of opportunity. We don't have another stadium outside of the Amex in the Brighton and Hove area to be able to play the games. Unfortunately, the Amex, as wonderful a stadium that it is, can't host all the games because of conflicts with the Premier League schedule and it is too big a stadium. We play WSL games there sometimes because we want to play in Brighton, but having 4-6,000 in a 32,000-seater stadium isn't great for atmosphere. So a designated stadium for women’s players, for the fan base, which is a very different demographic to people watching our men's team, is vitally important to the football club and to the city.

JC: What is the biggest challenge for Tony Bloom as the owner of a Premier League football club in the next 12 months but also beyond that as well?

TB: There's always obstacles. It is very difficult for a club of our size to consistently punch above our weight and stay in the Premier League because you just need one season where things don't quite go right. Three teams get relegated each year – that's a lot of teams. When you look at it, you think at least six of the teams really shouldn't be anywhere close to ever being relegated. It doesn't mean they can't get relegated, so it's not easy.

We have to always be on top of our game, always be focused and not take anything for granted. Every transfer window is really important. The growth of our academy is key. When we loan players out, we are really careful that they get the right game time, play for the right head coach and in the right positions, which is not an easy one because you are relying on a third-party club, and sometimes they change head coach. That's happened a few times which has limited certain players’ minutes. But we want to try and get things which are within our control as right as possible.

The finances are really tough. The net spend of our competitors just keeps going up. If you look at our net spend over the last five years compared to our rivals we are spending a lot less, and most clubs lose significant sums of money. We want to be a sustainable football club. We will have seasons, obviously, where we lose a lot of money, as well as seasons when we make a lot of money. But over a consistent time, if we stay in the Premier League, we will be sustainable and we will be profitable, but most of our rivals are not.

Obviously the very biggest clubs' commercial and stadium revenues are so much bigger than ours. We have significant obstacles to overcome, but as a club and me as an individual we're happy to take on the competition and do the best that we can. And we have big advantages over other clubs. There will be clubs outside the top fight looking at our amazing full stadium of 32,000 and our training facilities. They will also think it's really difficult for them to compete with us. That is just the ecosystem. To be fair, we used to be in that position 15-20 years ago. It takes a lot of investment. You need the right people involved in clubs. But the great thing about the pyramid in England is any team in League Two, with a bit of luck and with the right investment, can have aspirations to get into and stay in the Premier League. That's why football is so brilliant and that's why there's so many fans of so many clubs across the country.

JC: I've got to ask you about two other clubs you have an interest in, in Hearts and Royale Union Saint-Gilloise who are both top of their division.

Sebastien Pocognoli spent the 2016/17 season on loan with Albion from West Brom. 📷 by Paul Hazlewood.

TB: I'm delighted. Union Saint-Gilloise has gone from strength to strength since they got promoted. We got very close to winning the league and last season we finally did. One of our ex-players is now the head coach. Sebastien Pocognoli has done an amazing job and it's just great to see them having a great start to the season and competing in the Champions League.

As for Hearts, I really think that Scottish football has gone under invested, under resourced, and is not particularly exciting to the outside world. I grew up watching or following Scottish football and to see two teams dominate and in the last 15 years one team isn't really good. So I thought I could help make a difference and I believe Heart of Midlothian are a great club. They are the biggest fan owned club in the UK and I'm delighted to be involved with them. It's great to see them top of the table and long may that continue.

JC: Is there a message to the Albion fans for the rest of the season?

TB: I don't think you can ever be confident of winning a trophy. We haven't won a major trophy so we don't want to get obsessed with it. We know how difficult it is. The latter stage of any cup competition means playing against some of the best teams in the world, but we absolutely aim every season to aim to win cup competitions, and that's the men's and women's teams as well. What's a bit more in our control is the league form. Our aim is to play in Europe. We loved playing in Europe a couple of seasons ago, and we want to be regularly pushing for those European spots.