Brighton chairman says FA Cup semi-final will be full of emotion and a proud moment

Bloom became Albion chairman in 2009 and has seen the club rise from League One to the Premier League.

Brighton take on Manchester City in their first appearance in the semi-finals of the FA Cup for 36 years at 5.30pm this afternoon.

Speaking at Albion's BoxPark event at Wembley, Bloom said: "Right now it ranks very high to see so many Brighton fans here at Wembley and we're going to have 35,000 here later.

"Promotion to the Premier League when we beat Wigan is right up there but hopefully we can get a victory today and it would rank just as high.

"It will be full of emotion. I'll feel proud of what we have done as a club over the last ten years."

Asked about his memories of Albion's 1983 FA Cup run, Bloom said: "Unfortunately I missed the semi-final for a family holiday but the two finals I remember well, especially the first one but let's forget about the second one."

Albion reached the last four after scoring twice in the closing stages at Millwall when they were 2-0 down with just two minutes to go.

The Seagulls eventually triumphed on penalties and Bloom said: "The first 88 minutes, like everyone here, we weren't enjoying it much and weren't playing at our best.

"We weren't that confident but got a goal back and then Solly (March) got the equaliser before the great penalty shoot-out.

"We mustn't forget the penalty shoot-out against Manchester City ten or 11 years ago, so if it goes there again we'll be very hopeful."

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