According to a report on the Brighton and Hove Albion club website, German defender Uwe Huenemeier sees a potential promotion to the Premier League as something of a clichéd ‘dream-come-true’ moment.
German defender Huenemeier joined the Seagulls on a £2.3 million transfer from German side SC Paderborn, who currently ply their trade in Germany’s third-tier competiton. He grounded his footballing whilst at Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund, joining their youth set-up at the start of July 2001, leaving die Schwarzgelben nine years later in a transfer to fellow Germans Energie Cottbus.
Since his arrival on England’s south coast, Rietberg-born Huenemeier has found game time hard to come by, featuring only 22 times for the Seagulls since his arrival at the club. With injuries beginning to bite, and after having overcome early season injuries such as an abductor tear and a fractured hand, the 31-year-old has appeared in Brighton’s last two games – both clean sheet victories against Rotherham (2-0) and Derby County (3-0).
Speaking to the club website, Huenemeier said: “When I came to Brighton, it wasn’t really my goal to get to the Premier League, because the season before they’d ended up close to the relegation zone.”
However, Brighton’s surge of form and general levels of consistency have convinced him to raise his sights and aspirations a little higher, with the Premier League being what is seen as a dream becoming ever more realistic. Looking at how Brighton performed last season led the German to add: ““But after last season, you could see what the club is made of. It would be a big dream for every one of us to get to the Premier League.”
A big step towards achieving that dream comes tonight when second-placed Brighton head to Elland Road for what will be a tough encounter in front of 30,000+ Leeds fans who will no doubt be looking to create a bear-pit atmosphere for the visit of Huenemeier and the Seagulls.
