The Brighton fans booing myth shows Potter needs a thicker skin to survive at Chelsea

Saturday 27 November 2021. The final whistle blows at the Amex Stadium, where Brighton & Hove Albion have just drawn 0-0 with Leeds United, despite having 20 shots in 90 minutes. The result makes it eight without a victory for the Seagulls (a run which would eventually stretch to a club record 11 top flight matches) with no goals scored at home from open play in four games.

A handful of people in the 31,166 crowd booed at the full time whistle. These boos were not at the Albion’s performance. They were not at Potter or his players. They were born from frustration that Brighton could not score a goal for love nor money, thanks largely to the club failing to invest in attacking reinforcements during the summer transfer window. Jurgen Locadia played the final 20 minutes against Leeds as the Seagulls sought a goal. That is how desperate the situation had become.

And yet here we are, nearly one year on from that Leeds game with pundits and fans of other clubs still obsessing over Brighton and Potter being booed. Some have even cited it as one of the reasons why Potter left the Albion to take over at Chelsea. The five-year, £60m contract probably had more to do with it than 50 people booing a 0-0 draw with Leeds, but let’s not allow that to get in the way of this agenda against Brighton supporters.

Every weekend across English football, at least one team gets booed. Brighton under Potter know this better than most – their performances and results away from home normally garner that response from opposition fans. Manchester United, Arsenal, Spurs, West Ham, Wolves…supporters of all those clubs have booed their team off after losing to the Albion. In their thousands too, rather than the tiny percentage of the Amex crowd who did so after that Leeds game.

Within a few days, the booing has been completely forgotten about. Why or how then is Boogate from Brighton v Leeds United in November 2021 still being talked about? Talked about so much, in fact, that it has been blown out of all proportions. What was in reality a small number of Albion fans expressing their frustration has become mythicised into…