Soccer-Brighton will not slip up again, says club CEO

By Alan Baldwin

LONDON, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Brighton and Hove Albion have learned from the past and are not going to let the chance of a Premier League promotion payday slip through their fingers yet again, chief executive Paul Barber said on Tuesday.

"This is our time, again," he told a Sport Industry breakfast.

Brighton are second in the Championship, a point behind Newcastle United and seven clear of third-placed Huddersfield Town, who have a game in hand, with 14 matches remaining. The top two are promoted automatically.

The Seagulls have featured in the playoffs in three of the last four seasons, losing each time in the semi-finals, so nervous fans will hope they can hold on to second place.

Barber said promotion would mean more than 100 million pounds ($124 million) overnight, with the first tranche of 35 million coming on July 1, and securing it was the club's sole focus.

"We screwed up the other three (seasons) so we need to do it this year," Barber said.

"Players, coaches will inevitably beat themselves up for not getting what they set out to achieve but there is also a huge amount of learning. Certain things we might have done in the playoff campaign in 2012-13 we didn't repeat in 2013-14," he added.

"Some of the players within the squad probably realise that it might be their last opportunity...so they are determined to do it."

Brighton have grown from crowds of 7,000 in 2010 to just under 30,000 in their Amex Stadium, which they moved into in 2011.

The club have grown a local support base with initiatives such as free replica shirts for seven-year-olds and pricing to encourage families. They now have 23,000 season ticket holders.

($1 = 0.8062 pounds) (Editing by Ed Osmond)