Watson aims to hit the ground running

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Former Sunderland player reflects on start to life with Albion.

Bruce Talbot

2025-07-15T16:00+01:00

Tommy Watson came through the youth ranks with Sunderland. 📸 by James Boardman.

Tommy Watson loved that his last contribution for Sunderland was to score the goal that got them into the Premier League.

But the 19-year-old said it didn’t take him long after the glory of his Championship playoff winner at Wembley to reset and focus on his next challenge – establishing himself in the Premier League with Albion.

“It was obviously a brilliant moment for me,” he said. “I think I only had seven touches when I came on in the final and the seventh one was the goal!

Tom Watson has put Sunderland in the lead in the 95th minute of the Play-off Final 💥😱 pic.twitter.com/E7gm18kknC
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) May 24, 2025

“But a couple of days after the final I went on holiday, did fitness work while I was out there and then I was with England under-19s at the Euros. I haven’t had much of a holiday but that’s fine, I wanted to make sure I was ready for pre-season with Brighton.”

Watson is with the squad at the training camp in Spain this week and is enjoying getting to know his new teammates. “It’s a really good mix,” he added. “The more experienced guys have been great and of course Steely (Jason Steele) is from the north-east so that helps. But there are also lads my age and a bit older too.”

Head coach Fabian Hurzeler is delighted to have a player who can provide more competition in the wide areas and who loves to take on defenders one v one.

He said, “I was very happy for him when he scored in the final because I know that he suffered a little bit before, but he showed a great reaction and I was really happy that he finished at Sunderland like he did because I think it's very important to say goodbye to club in a positive way.

“We are really looking forward to working with him. He is a young guy with big potential. He needs to be very humble and grounded. He needs to get integrated into the team, but then I'm sure that he will help us with his freshness and his skills, his ability to go one on one and to score goals and make assists.”