In 1990–91 Brighton spent the campaign pushing for promotion to the First Division and ended in sixth position. They reached the play-off final after defeating Millwall 4–1 at home and 2–1 away but suffered defeat to Notts County in the final at Wembley 3-1. If the disappointment of missing out on a first division position was traumatic for Brighton supporters, it was nothing compared to the traumas that the club would encounter over the next few years.

The club's supporters were hoping for a push for promotion to the upcoming new Premiership for the 1991–92 season, but instead they watched their side battle against relegation. The fight was lost and Brighton started the 1992–93 season in the new Division Two.

Barry Lloyd left the job in December 1993, having failed to mount a major challenge for promotion to Division One, and was replaced by Liam Brady. Brady survived just two years before being replaced by Jimmy Case, but the transition came too late to prevent Brighton from going down to Division 3 at the termination of the 1995–96 season.

Meanwhile, the club's financial position was becoming increasingly precarious and the club's directors had come to a decision that the Goldstone Ground would have to be sold in order to pay off some of the club's large debts.

1997-98 saw Brighton endure more unfortunate form but they were never in any real trouble of going down because Doncaster Rovers seemed set for the drop long before Christmas due to exceptionally dreadful form. But the board of directors wanted to move the club forward, and knew that they could not go on hoping forever that another team would do even worse than them. So Gritt was dismissed in February 1998 and replaced by former club captain Brian Horton, who already had experience as a manager with Hull, Oxford, Manchester City and most recently Huddersfield.