Hurzeler wants ‘dirty atmosphere’ at Brighton ahead of Conference League opener

Fabian Hurzeler revealed he does not want Brighton to be a "nice" club and has called on the fans to create a "dirty atmosphere" in their Conference League opener on Thursday.

Brighton host Kauno Zalgiris, hoping to carry their momentum from an excellent start in the Premier League, where they are third after six games, into their European campaign.

The Seagulls are participating in a major European competition for just the second time in their history after reaching the last 16 of the 2023-24 Europa League, where they were knocked out by Roma (4-1 on aggregate).

Brighton have kept a clean sheet in each of their previous five wins in major European competitions, with each of their last three such victories coming via 1-0 scorelines.

The club previously stated their ambition to win silverware this season, and Hurzeler believes that can only be done if they become "ruthless".

"I use this word, this dirty club or this dirty atmosphere – that's a little bit of what I meant by this phrase," said Hurzeler.

"It's like, keep building this fortress at home.

Kicking off our Conference League campaign… 

— Brighton & Hove Albion (@BHAFC) October 14, 2026

"Like, together with the fans, creating a loud, energetic atmosphere where they are our 12th player, and I think that's just an example for being not nice.

"Of course, we are known for being a well-structured club or having one of the best recruitments in the world, but these kinds of things don't help you to win anything.

"I think we need to have this mindset of, 'Focus on us, believe in our quality, believe that we can compete with every team, but with 'nice', you win nothing'.

"We are also not nice in personal duels. We want to be ruthless in personal duels. We want to create this energetic atmosphere, where it makes it so hard to come to this place.

"I think we made great progress, the last months. Great progress, the last year, and we have to keep building this together with our fans to be not the nice football club anymore."

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