It was officially confirmed this morning that Brighton & Hove Albion women’s Head Coach Dario Vidosic would be leaving the club to pursue a new opportunity.

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SheGulls would like to make a statement in our capacity as an official supporters’ club:

SheGulls would like to place on record our sincere gratitude and appreciation towards Dario Vidosic for his time here at Brighton & Hove Albion. During his tenure the club has achieved their highest league finish, their highest league points total, and perhaps more importantly, played in a prestigious cup final in front of tens of thousands of Albion fans.

To say he will be missed is an understatement. Dario was honest, forthright and sincere whilst maintaining and instilling belief in the players and fans that anything was possible. It is a rare person who inspires such loyalty and dedication in those they encounter.

From a media perspective Dario was always happy to answer our questions, never treated us as less than and went out of his way to be as open as he could. We will never forget that he contacted us to be part of the 100th episode of the SheGulls Podcast knowing that we needed help and answering that call. That interview is undeniably the pinnacle of the show so far and it will live forever in our hearts.

It wouldn’t be right to say goodbye to Dario without mentioning his father Rado, Head of Women’s and Girl’s Coaching, who sadly passed away during his time at the club. Just as we won’t forget the contributions of his son, we will remember Rado the coach, but more importantly the man.

As fans we must now rally round the team that Dario built and ensure our support doesn’t wane or falter, despite how we may be feeling in the moment. The players need us, the new manager will need us and the club needs us.

One chapter closes and another opens, the book of Brighton & Hove Albion women’s team continues to be written.

However this came to pass, it would be naive to think that the situation won’t affect the players, the staff and the fans. The news comes just 8 days before the start of the WSL season and a fixture against one of the top teams in the country – if not the world. All we can hope for is a speedy appointment to the managerial vacancy and dare we say it, some backing for him in the remainder of the transfer window. I don’t think anyone wants this to become a ‘lost season’ purely due to circumstance.

We will be live on the SheGulls YouTube channel tonight (Fri) at 9pm with an emergency podcast to discuss the situation and we’d love to hear from you in the chat.