Brighton reach Women’s FA Cup final and set ambitions high: ‘We want to be historic’

Everyone is sprinting. Tears stream. Knees kneel in grassy altars as history collides with the present.

Brighton & Hove Albion’s first ticket to Wembley Stadium has been punched, substitute Nadim Noordam’s last-gasp stoppage-time winner sealing a breathless 3-2 comeback victory against Liverpool in the Women’s FA Cup semi-finals. The prerogative of those in blue and white is that of joyful abandon; the unpolished celebrations of players, staff and fans unfamiliar with these moments.

It’s at this point Dario Vidosic becomes noticeable. The Brighton head coach is shaking hands with the Liverpool staff, watching the celebrations from an angle. He momentarily points up to the sky, a gesture to his father, Rado, once the club’s head of coaching for women and girls, who died of cancer in January, before striding calmly towards the embrace of the maelstrom.

As far as visual motifs go, this one was pretty on the nose. In the two years since the former Australia international’s appointment in July 2024, Vidosic has been Brighton’s bastion, the calm constant in an ambitious club project that is continuing to go from strength to strength.

And it is worth taking a moment to appreciate the stability instilled by Vidosic. Brighton are not a project that could ever be accused of lacking ambition or investment, but in the years since their arrival into the Women’s Super League (WSL) in 2018, clear direction and identity were often wanting.

The last time Brighton reached the FA Cup semi-finals, they suffered a 3-2 defeat by Manchester United in 2023, succumbing to an 89th-minute Rachel Williams winner. On the touchline stood Melissa Phillips, Brighton’s fourth manager of the season, having already sacked Hope Powell in October after five years and Jens Scheuer after three months (Amy Merricks served as interim manager).

The result was a sense of instability and drift. When Arsenal and Canada winger Olivia Smith was considering a move to the WSL, the frenetic managerial merry-go-round and lack of clear identity on and off the pitch led her to choose Liverpool, then led by the late manager Matt Beard.

Fran Kirby arrived at Brighton from Chelsea a month before the unveiling of Vidosic as manager in 2024. Since then, Brighton have invested shrewdly, signing players to fit the high-octane, fluid style of football that Vidosic has espoused.

In his first season, Vidosic led Brighton to a fifth-placed finish on 28 points, the team’s highest tally in the WSL.  But the past few weeks have showcased the bigger fruits being sowed under Vidosic and the club’s backing of him.

To reach the FA Cup semi-finals, Brighton first had to dispose of Arsenal. They followed that result up with a 3-2 league victory over Manchester City, sending the title race into a frenzy. Draws with Arsenal and Manchester United followed, ultimately tipping the WSL title back into City’s hands and European qualification out of United’s.

The style of Brighton’s displays have made the results more impressive. This is a team fearlessly going toe to toe with their opponents in both boxes.

Which is why Sunday’s first-half display felt so peculiar, Brighton being overrun and overawed by Liverpool, who deservedly went 2-0 up inside 23 minutes and seemingly had their ticket to Wembley in hand.

A minute later, Manuela Vanegas cut Brighton’s deficit in half, making the most of shoddy six-yard-box defending from Liverpool following a corner. The goal was testament to the belief and composure that has come to define Brighton lately. Against City, Brighton went a goal down, only to muster a 3-2 victory.

“Before the game, we spoke about moments,” Vidosic said post-match. “Irrespective of a good or a bad moment, we have to always focus on the next one because it’s easier to get caught up, go 2-0 down and think it’s over. But we know this team has it in us.”

The second half brought a more familiar vintage of Brighton: high energy, greater physicality and slick, easy interplay. Madison Haley seized an equaliser in the 54th minute with a header at the back post but, even at their sharpest, Brighton lacked a cutting edge, setting up a tense final 10 minutes in which goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie was called into three big saves as chances were spurned at the other end.

Yet, in the dugout, Vidosic cut a figure of tranquility. Questions about extra-time and mitigation plans were waved away.

“I just had that feeling, the momentum was with us,” Vidosic said. “We kept going, we stayed brave when it’s easier to say, OK, 90th minute, it’s 2-2, let’s just see it out. But we continued.

“So on the free kick, as I went to sit down, I said, it’s coming here. It’s coming.”

The winner was emblematic of both Brighton and Liverpool’s season. A free kick in a dangerous area gifted by a moment of naivety from Liverpool’s Mia Enderby and taken advantage of by Brighton.

For Liverpool, one year into their project under new manager Gareth Taylor, Brighton serve as evidence of what can happen if a project and philosophy are not only invested in financially but with time and faith.

For Brighton, Wembley is the latest step in their ongoing journey to the top, on and off the pitch. Last month, the club announced plans for Europe’s first purpose-built women’s football stadium, to be unveiled in the 2030-31 season. Victory over Tottenham Hotspur this coming weekend could see Brighton eclipse last season’s points tally, another moment of history secured. Victory at Wembley, which would be the club’s first major trophy, is more than plausible.

And while Brighton will need to reckon with the novelty and splendour of occasion in real time, perhaps there shouldn’t be much surprise if, in the end, Brighton emerge triumphant, the latest laurel of a team that feels like it is finally stepping into itself, feeling the comfortable swagger of its movements, the stability of its foundations.

“Since I’ve come in, we’ve always spoken about history,” Vidosic said. “We want to be historic. Last season’s team was able to write their name in history. Now this team’s starting to write its own. We’ve got two very important games where we could really put our names there forever.”

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

Brighton & Hove Albion, Women's Soccer, FA Cup

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