Brighton & Hove Albion are about to take part in the Conference League for the first time, entering the 2026/27 edition after finishing seventh in the 2025/26 Premier League. The Seagulls had to come through a qualifying tie to get there, and Fabian Hurzeler now leads the club into his first European campaign as head coach.
Brighton & Hove Albion are preparing for their first ever Conference League campaign in 2026/27, having earned a place in the competition by finishing seventh in the 2025/26 Premier League.
The Seagulls then had to clear a qualifying hurdle, meeting Norwegian club Tromso over two legs in the playoff round. A decisive home victory carried Fabian Hurzeler’s side through to the league phase.
It is the coach’s first European campaign in charge, although Brighton are not newcomers to continental football. The club previously reached the last 16 of the Europa League in 2023/24, their first appearance in Europe.
How the league phase works
The format gives every club six matches in the league phase, each against a different opponent, with the fixtures split evenly between home and away.
Finishing positions then decide what comes next. The top eight sides in the table go directly into the round of 16, while teams placed ninth to 24th drop into a knockout phase playoff played over two legs, with the winners joining them in the last 16. Anyone who ends the league phase 25th or lower is out of Europe for the season.
Brighton squad and the English presence
Brighton have registered their squad for the league phase. Clubs are also able to make List B submissions until midnight before each match, which cover players born after 1 January 2005 who have been eligible to play for the club for an uninterrupted period of two years since their 15th birthday.
Albion are the only English club in this season’s competition. Their rivals Crystal Palace won the Conference League last season.
Final venue and where to watch
The final will be staged at Besiktas Stadium in Istanbul, Turkiye, the home ground of Turkish Super Lig club Besiktas. The same venue hosted a European showpiece last season, when Aston Villa beat Freiburg 3-0 in the Europa League final.
For viewers in the United Kingdom, matches are shown on TNT Sports and can be streamed through the HBO Max app. Subscriptions start at £30.99 and include Eurosport and entertainment, with access available across a wide range of devices, among them smart TVs and gaming consoles.
Brighton’s first taste of Conference League football comes with a straightforward task in the league phase: six matches, six different opponents, and a top eight finish enough to skip the playoff round entirely. With Hurzeler at the helm and Palace’s success last season showing what the competition can offer an English side, the Seagulls now have the platform to make their own mark on the continent.