Issue 7 July 2017
THE EDITOR
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enjoy the close season.
It’s the perfect time to switch off from the game – just like the players – and do all the things you don’t get around to between August and May. That’s easier said than done when you run a magazine dedicated to a football club, and they achieve promotion to the Premier League for the first time! I must have had the same conversations a hundred times: ‘why haven’t they signed someone yet?’, ‘don’t think much of the new kit’, ‘ticket prices are a bit steep’, ‘TV companies are running football these days’, ‘what happened to Dodge?’ etc etc. And my current favourite; ‘do you think they’ll stay up?’ I probably sound like a miserable old git but I crave
the ‘time off’. It makes the season starting again that much more exciting, the summer more exciting, and life in general more exciting. Or maybe it’s just me? Our new website is live – www.thealbionmag.com – and we’re looking for bloggers to share their Albion supporting lives with us and the world. Drop me a line: editor@thealbionmag. com if you’re interested.
P3: Editorial P4/5: Nick Szczepanik P6/7: Albion Roar P9: Pascal Groß P12-15: AITC P18: Kerrie Mayo P19: Cain Suleyman P20/21: Brett Mendoza P22/23: We Are Brighton P24/25: Mike Ward P26/27: Steve Brewer P28/29: Sandra Murphy P31: Leon Cox P32/33: Brighton But Only at Home’s Classic Away Days P36/37: Cult heroes P39: Dean Kilford P40/41: Claire Byrd P42/43: Simon Levenson P44/45: Nic Outterside P48: Network Albion P50/51: Joel Essex P52/53: Mark Brailsford P54/55: Goldstone Wrap P56/57: Ian Hine P59: Anthony James P60/61: BHAWFC Report
The 2017/18 season promises to be right up there as one of the most exciting in the club’s 116-year history. And I can confidently say that before a ball has even been kicked.
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I
know that, like me, you shed a tear when it was announced that Joey Barton might be lost to the game over a minor transgression of some trifling betting rules. The 18-month ban will take football’s 34-year-old philosopher prince well past the normal sell-by date for scuffling midfield players, so we may no longer be privileged to witness the little scamp’s graceful dives and noble stamps. The FA admitted last month – by ending their commercial deals with Ladbrokes Coral and FTSE 250 – that when football and gambling mix there can be distressing results, from the mid-1960s match-fixing scandal, through jokes about Stan Bowles being unable to pass a betting shop as successfully as he could pass a ball, to Ray Winstone menacingly inviting us to “Bet in play – nahhhh!” Not that any Albion fan should get on a high horse about betting, bearing in mind how Tony Bloom made some of his fortune. I certainly
won’t, having once worked as a ‘football expert’ (I know) for a betting website, which managed to confound the perceived wisdom that the bookies never lose money by going bust. My experiences as a punter are bitter-sweet. I may have mentioned in a previous edition of TAM that there is one club in the Premier League I have always disliked. Fortunately, I have always managed to keep this dislike secret and no-one will ever know who they are. So forgive me if this next bit is rather hard to follow for the simple reason I don’t feel I can name names. Back in 1999, there was a serious danger this club might win a treble of Premier League title, FA Cup and Champions League. The prospect was so grim I began thinking about taking steps to mitigate the horror if they actually pulled it off. Was there some form of insurance you could take out in case the worst happened? Finally, it occurred to me that betting on the very
outcome I most feared, in the sincere hope of losing the bet, offered the best potential return. So I worked out how much I was willing to pay to ensure the mystery club would stumble somewhere along the way. And then I put together a series of bets that would net me around £600 profit if – by any chance – they should win all three trophies. Back then I happened to work with a supporter of one of this club’s great rivals and I mentioned my plan to him. He was aghast. “I could never do that!” he said. “It’d be blood money!” “That may be,” I replied. “But just imagine if they actually do it? The next morning, we’ll both feel as sick as dogs, but I’ll go to Ladbrokes and collect 600 quid compensation.” Well, dear reader, the worst DID happen and this club did win the treble, or so I’m told. I took Mrs S out for dinner on the night it was all decided because I couldn’t bear to watch. And I collected my £600,
Nick Szczepanik is a football and NFL writer whose byline has appeared in every national daily paper (yes, even that one) but mostly in The Times and The Independent. An Albion fan since the 1960s, his ambition is to report on the club in Europe.
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Jinxing it?
The principle, though, seemed a good one. Betfair, Ladbrokes and the others are more uncomplicated insurance brokers than Aviva or the Prudential or whoever, and you don’t have to pay in for years with no obvious reward. And, now I notice from a well-known Albion message board that quite a few of us backed our promotion rivals, often in a series of complex accumulators, in the hope of losing our stakes or at least softening the blow if they all win on a given day. Investing in their failure, in fact. But, the problem is that it didn’t seem to work very well, just as it didn’t for me. And this all points to a dreadful conclusion.
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not that it brought me much pleasure. It was better than nothing, and certainly better than what my colleague was feeling, but all I could think was: “It’s not enough.”
The way Huddersfield, in particular, racked up the points made me wonder whether betting on something you hope won’t happen actually makes it more likely – by offending the Gods of Football in some karmic fashion? Did I, in fact, make the team I hated win the treble by backing them to do it? This way lies madness, of course – but in betting there are more questions
than answers. What is ‘When the fun stops, stop’ all about, for instance? A reference to the party atmosphere so often found inside most high street bookmakers’? And what does ‘Bet responsibly’ mean, exactly? Don’t spend more than you can afford? Or, don’t bring bad luck down on the Albion by betting on our rivals? @NickSzczepanik
Nick has a book out, Pulp Football. Football is about goals, great players and glory. But it’s also about own goals, goats and the game gone wrong. The book looks at the comedy rather than the beauty of the world’s favourite sport.
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CLOSE SEASON Join Ady and Al on the Albion Roar, a Brighton & Hove Albion fans’ independent radio show, on Radio Reverb 97.2FM every Saturday from 12-1pm. You can listen in on FM, via www.radioreverb.com, and on DAB. Alternatively, catch the podcast at www.albionroar.co.uk.
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h, the close season. Or, as the creeping Americanisation of our mother tongue would have it – the ‘off-season’. No, let’s stick with ‘close season’. It’s the temporal no-man’s land between the beginning of May and the start of August when the obsessive football fan takes stock of the season just gone, the season ahead, and their handbrake-on lives generally. May is also the time when the real obsessive finally realises their partner left them the previous September.
It’s great the fine city of Brighton & Hove has so many distractions, not least the Festival and Fringe Festival, sunshine, beer and, of course, cricket. Many lucky souls also head off to the Med for a couple of weeks in order to look at a different set of four walls.
One (160mph banking advertisements), athletics (a glorified pharmaceuticals conference), or tennis (two ghosts hitting a ball to each other to a porn soundtrack). I suppose for the truly, madly, deeply adventurous, there’s always tombstoning.
In taking a keen interest in both football and cricket, both Ady and I have something to look forward to, or at least, look out for. For those not into the wonderful game, sporting spectator lives tend to grind to a halt, unless they’re into Formula
What we’re left with is the timeless pursuit of summerlong thumb-twiddling, mercifully alleviated by the publishing of the fixtures in mid-June. Even then – and it is very exciting to read us playing against Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal et al – given Sky’s predilection for fouling up the agenda on a whim, the fixture list isn’t so much a schedule by which we can all plan our nine months from August to May, more an outline document to be used as a basis for negotiation.
(Image: www.premierleague.com)
It is entirely the broadcasters’ fault when fans who understandably wish to purchase cheaper train tickets for a match a few weeks ahead find them worthless because the fixture has been arbitrarily moved. For all that football as a sport (or is it a ‘brand’?) has supposedly benefitted from the extra money thrown at
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“ What we’re left with is the timeless pursuit of summer-long thumbtwiddling, mercifully alleviated by the publishing of the fixtures in mid-June.” a small part of the game, the hundreds of thousands of fans who criss-cross the country every year to follow their team aren’t even low on the broadcasters’ considerations. They’re actually nowhere to be seen at all. Whether ‘football’ has benefitted is, of course, an entirely separate argument; one for another edition. The fixtures are out but, at the time of writing, we’re still waiting for confirmation as to what havoc Sky might wreak for the opening day. Or indeed for the first few weeks. We’re also going to have to do a tad more thumb-twiddling this season as we lose eight matches from the schedule. Indeed, we only have one home match before September 9th. But, in the great scheme of things, this is nit-picking. We’ve had a brilliant past two seasons, broken several club records, and got used to a cohesive, winning mentality. It’s an almighty leap from where we were to where we’re going to need to be for next
season, but the anticipation alone is enough to keep the thumb-twiddling at bay. Many outside observers (forget the bookies, they said Wolves/Leeds/Derby County would be challenging for the top spot last season) believe Brighton, as a club, are as ready as they can be for the next chapter in their history. We shall see. We have all things ready off the pitch, and we’re in a good position to acquire what’s necessary on it. What the club seriously needs next season is for the fans to be patient and understanding in the face of some serious hostility when we finally give up our all-conquering attitude. Everything will change, and it does no-one any good to lambast a club who are going to have a tough fight on their hands. We will lose a few snowflakes on the way; some people were even grizzling when we beat Wigan to secure promotion in April, but
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those people themselves are the problem, not the club. It’s vital we maintain an air of stability, even if things aren’t going well. It’s new territory for almost all of us except, most notably, Chris Hughton. Of all the people I’d happily have at the forefront of our campaign, it’s him. Forget what Norwich fans think of him and his supposedly conservative methods, this is a man who knows what he’s doing. Put it this way, no-one in the stands knows more than him, so in pre-empting any howling from disappointed supporters right now, Hughton needs to stay, with our full support – even in the unlikely event of relegation. My thumbs are beginning to tire now, so though we may regret saying this, considering the possible pasting we may well receive but… roll on August 12th. TAM. Alan Wares @albionroar
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New Albion midfielder Pascal GroĂ&#x; celebrates promotion with FC Ingolstadt 04.
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ALBION IN THE COMMUNITY
Powerchair teams enjoy superb season Brighton & Hove Albion Powerchair FC (BHAPFC) ended the 2016/17 season third in the Muscular Dystrophy UK Premiership – their highest-ever league finish. They won 17 of their 22 league games this season, losing just three and ended the campaign with 12 points more than they managed in
I am delighted for the players. They have worked very hard and for our national team to break into the top three in the top division is a fantastic achievement
the 2015/16 season, and 26 more than in 2014/15. They also beat defending champions Aspire – who went the entire campaign without losing a game – for the first time. Lewis Hammans finished top scorer for the team with 34 goals and also reached 100 career goals for the BHAPFC, while Matt Francis was named player of the match by the opposition in 17 of team’s 22 league games. Francis, who is in England squad and set to play at this year’s World Cup, which takes place in early July, is now just six away from his 100th award. The team went into the final round of fixtures desperate to secure a top-three finish but facing difficult games
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A 5-0 win against West Bromwich Albion Throstles got the weekend off to a brilliant start, followed by a 2-2 draw with West Bromwich Albion, who would finish the season just one place and one point behind BHAPFC.
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against both West Brom teams, Villa Rockets and Middlesbrough PFC.
Impressive wins against Villa Rockets (3-0) and Middlesbrough PFC (6-0) saw BHAPFC collect ten points from a possible 12 and guarantee the team that coveted third-place finish. That should be enough to see BHAPFC qualify for the Champions Cup – powerchair football’s equivalent of the Champions League. The side made their European debut earlier in the season and were the only side to beat eventual winners and current French champions Auch. The prospect of taking on the best that Europe has to offer for a second time has certainly motivated the team throughout their domestic campaign. And the team also celebrated
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Lewis Hammans
a South East Powerchair Football League Division One title after winning the regional league they also compete in for a second season in a row. AITC’s other regional powerchair squad also enjoyed a best-ever season, finishing second in South East Powerchair Football League Division Two. Season highlights included an 8-0 win over Crystal Palace, a first-ever hat-trick by Pablo Rees and another impressive campaign from Sam Elliott, who led the team with eight goals. AITC’s Stewart Teeder, who coaches the teams alongside
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(All image: AITC)
Chris Hammans, was full of praise for the players from both squads. He said: “I am delighted for the players. They have worked very hard and for our national team to break into the top three in the top division is a fantastic achievement. Our other team did brilliantly to finish second in their regional division and winning seven of their 12 games is a great record that shows real progress from last season. The players have responded well to the challenges we set them over the season and every member of both squads has improved their performance.�
Matt Francis
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Meet
Albion in the Community Vicky Franklin is Albion in the Community’s (AITC) apprenticeship manager. She started working with the charity in October 2014 and supports the growing number of apprentices AITC have placed either with the charity, the football club or local businesses.
Describe an average day in your role? My days are extremely varied. I am based at the American Express Community Stadium, although often out at meetings – which include seeing apprentices and employers in their workplace. My role is to make sure our apprentices are happy at work and complete the qualifications required within their programmes to a high standard.
What do you find inspiring about the work you do within apprenticeships? Watching our apprentices of all ages develop at work is extremely inspiring – in terms of confidence, knowledge and career opportunities. We can support their development
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with advanced level and management programmes, or even providing a route to university.
also has a lot of fun. I love working at the stadium, and I am excited by football for the first time in my life.
You currently have many apprentices employed within the charity and the club, what different benefits do you think apprentices bring to companies, as well as benefits to their future job opportunities?
How can people reading this get involved with the area of AITC you work in?
We have a growing number of apprentices at AITC and BHAFC. Some of them have obtained football coaching qualifications during their contract, enabling them to support at our football sessions in addition to their main roles. I am extremely proud of all our apprentices as their commitment and enthusiasm makes my job worthwhile. They are all integral to their teams providing support to managers, colleagues and delivery staff.
What is the best thing about working for Albion in the Community? Being part of a team which works extremely hard, but
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Please contact me directly if you would like to find out more about apprenticeships, via apprenticeships@ albioninthecommunity.org.uk.
As a charity AITC obviously encourages people to do some fundraising? What would you say to anyone thinking about fundraising for the charity? What difference does their support make? Fundraising for AITC enables our projects to continue across Sussex. Many of the programmes we run, including apprenticeships, receive separate funding to operate, but our disability department is reliant on your support to make a real difference to people’s lives. Any money that is donated is always greatly appreciated.
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Solly and referees attend AITC sessions Players from some of AITC’s Premier League Kicks sessions were given the chance to quiz Albion star Solly March and professional referee Tim Robinson. March was at the Crew Club in Whitehawk recently where players from AITC’s session were among the first people in the country to try out the new Nike Ordem V football, which will be used in the 2017/18 season. He took part in a question and answer session before becoming the first of his Albion team-mates to try the new ball. Speaking after the event, he said: “Brighton is a very community-minded club and as a player it is great to get out to sessions like this. It was brilliant to see so many young people out playing football and enjoying themselves. When I was younger I used to love seeing what the new football boots and footballs looked like, so it is brilliant that the players at AITC’s Kicks session got to try out the new Premier
League match ball before any of the professional players.”
best attitude during the tournament.
The following day, AITC welcomed Championship ref Tim Robinson to a local tournament for people who attend the charity’s Premier League Kicks sessions in Whitehawk, Moulsecoomb and Haywards Heath.
Speaking after the event, which took place in Brighton, Tim said: “I really enjoyed coming down, finding out about Premier League Kicks and the other work being done by Albion in the Community. It was good to see so many young people playing football and I was really impressed by their attitude and effort.”
He was also joined by Chris Foy, a former Premier League referee who now works for the Professional Game Match Officials Limited. Together they took part in a question and answer session with the young players, discussing the challenges of officiating at the top levels of the game, explaining the hard work that goes into preparing for a big match, and sharing stories from their careers in football. Once the football got underway, Tim helped AITC coaches referee some of the matches – including the final – before presenting medals to the winning team. Prizes were also given to the players who have shown the
premierleaguekicks@albioninthecommunity.org.uk
Premier League Kicks is one of the Premier League’s flagship community programmes and is currently celebrating its tenth anniversary. The aim of the programme is to use football to build stronger communities and here in Sussex, AITC currently runs around 40 different sessions. They were attended by more than 2,000 young people over the last 12 months. For more information, email: premierleaguekicks@ albioninthecommunity.org.uk.
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BOOK NOW OR JUST WALK IN.
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(Image: Alan Wares)
17 206 floodlight bulbs arrive at the stadium.
A TAM reader was surprised to see the Ginger Prince’s name adorning a bottle of yellow stuff in a supermarket on a recent trip to the Netherlands. “If you ever wondered what the great man was up to these days... he’s aged a bit, though!” explained Clive Wilkin, from Cowplain in Hampshire.
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Spreading the word Social media plays a big part in the public awareness of a club. During the 2015/16 season, many football fans knew about Charlton Athletic’s plight but they rarely spoke about it. This all changed after the final home game of the season when fans took to throwing toy pigs onto the pitch in protest in what had been a shambolic season, which saw the club relegated to League One. So what was the cause of Charlton’s name suddenly trending amongst fans? Websites such as The Sport Bible and Joe.com are well known among sports fans as a way to stay informed about current affairs and events in the world of football. We mainly see the likes of Chelsea, Barcelona and Bayern Munich receiving publicity on these platforms, all of whom are in the top league in their respective countries. This is a good feeling for younger football fans because they are seeing their club being spoken about and advertised on media that is visible across the world.
Steve Sidwell’s worldie against Bristol City, which got many fans talking about Brighton & Hove Albion. In light of recent events, our club will be spoken about worldwide across all social media platforms. This is brilliant for the club and it’s fans. For younger fans like myself, the club’s social media presence plays an important factor for us because it puts the club on the map. When promotion was confirmed, many articles and videos travelled across the internet informing fans of just how big this is for the club, and football as a whole, with the fact that 20 years ago, Brighton & Hove Albion almost became extinct.
that club that have never happened before. I went to New York over the summer and met an American football fan who began talking to me about Brighton & Hove Albion. Asking how they knew about the club, they replied by saying: “because they are in the Premier League”. There is no doubt the Premier League has, and will continue to, put our club on the map and social media has played one of the most important parts in ensuring that the club’s name continues to spread across the world. TAM.
Our story touched the hearts of many in the football world and evoked discussions about
As an avid Albion fan, I have always liked the surprise of seeing my club trending on Facebook and Twitter. The most recent event being
Cain Suleyman, 18, is a student at the BRIT School, London, studying Musical Theatre and Photography
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Grounds for hope
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The noisy neighbours at the Amex will be my 938th Brighton game, as I start my 30th season as a fan! More significantly, it will also mean I can say that I’ve watched Albion play live in all four divisions of English football. There can’t be too many fans of other clubs who can say that! Right from the gutter at Edgar Street, we are up in the stars, literally, with the Premier League stars. It’s just mad, surreal, unthinkable – but reality! The journey to the Premier League is probably better than the destination, but it is one we should all embrace and not get too critical when inevitably we don’t win many games.
(Image: The Albion Foundation)
The last two years under Hughton has been a revelation, playing well,
(Image: Wikimedia)
righton versus Manchester City. It still sounds ridiculous now. Promotion hasn’t sunk in for me yet, nor the enormity of what we are about to embark on. Little Brighton playing against all those teams off the telly!
scoring goals and winning with players playing with a swagger. We were spoiled more than guests at the ambassador’s party with a pyramid of Ferrero Rocher! By my reckoning, we have been rubbish in 23 of my 29 seasons, and I am fully expecting us to struggle again. I just hope our fans can understand we will struggle and not get on the manager’s or players’ back! It will be back to normal in the life of a Brighton fan as I’ve known it down the years! In the past when we’ve struggled, but that was because the players were
genuinely rubbish, so it was easier to take and understand. This time it will be our good players, struggling against great players! A world of difference but with the same result, and on a grander, more global scale. It will be all doom and gloom for some fans, mainly the Amex generation, but for me it is more realism. I’m going to enjoy watching top-flight football for the first time in my life. Vicente was the best player I’ve seen play for us and we need players of that calibre just to be competitive. It may cost millions, but then the money it will generate will be the lifeblood of our club in the future and allow us to flourish in the biggest pond. We’ve earned the right to be in the top division, now it’s time to earn the right to stay there. There’s lots about the Premier League to not like, but plenty to enjoy too!
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I’ve got four new grounds to visit; The Etihad, Goodison Park, The Hawthorns and St James’ Park, as well as new stadiums to watch Albion in, as previous visits have been for non-Albion games or the Olympics (Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, and West Ham). Looking at the new 92 for the upcoming season, somehow I’ve managed to watch Brighton play at 80 of them, which will rise to 85 by the end of the season, all being well. It’s that randomness I love as a football fan who goes to games, rather than watch on TV. A chance to tour the country, to some great – and some equally awful – places with your mates. It might even be cheaper to watch us this season. The home season ticket prices had a tiny price increase. A £30 cap on away tickets, a
mainly southern league and less games, all means the financial outlay of being a Premier League fan may not actually be that bad!
“Anything is possible, we just don’t dream big enough.” Do you know who said that? Noel Fitzpatrick, the Super Vet of Channel 4 fame!
My hopes for the season from the team, other than avoiding relegation are:
Some great words from an unlikely source, but ones that we can all adhere too. It’s a landmark season for us, one we need to enjoy, no matter what. Even relegation isn’t a total disaster!
A. Get to 12 points, so we don’t become the worst team in Premier League history. B. Beat Palace at home. I know they are better than us, and five years ahead of us, but getting a win would give us bragging rights for five months. C. S core a meaningful goal away at one of the big five teams, just so we can be in a stand of absolute euphoric scenes and limbs. I genuinely think we can avoid relegation. I mean we’ve made it this far, so why not believe we can stay up?
In times of doom and gloom this season, remember the late 1990s; remember losing at home to Darlington at the Priestfield; remember having Nathan Elder upfront; remember having to pay for players out of your own pocket money. It’s not all that bad. We’re Brighton & Hove Albion, we’re Premier League! TAM. Brett Mendoza
@BrettMendoza
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(Image: Olympic Delivery Authority)
“We’ve earned the right to be in the top division, now it’s time to earn the right to stay there.”
A strong and stable political XI The General Election may be done and dusted, but at We Are Brighton Towers we got pretty swept up in the excitement of it all. So swept up, in fact, we decided to come up with a Brighton & Hove Albion Political XI – a set of players who shared not just names with famous politicians, but characteristics too. Take Chris May for example. Five competitive minutes in goal for the Albion, one clean sheet, one win. That is the sort of strong and stable that Theresa can only dream of. We’re sure you get the picture. Just when you thought all that election talk was over, we present our Brighton & Hove Albion Political XI (and yes, of course, it includes THAT David Cameron).
(Image: Playbuzz)
) (Image: Goldstone Wrap
Boris Johnson
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Goalkeeper: Theresa Chris May Theresa May has laid a very bold claim to be ‘Strong and Stable’. But could she make her debut replacing an injured Michel Kuipers with five minutes remaining in a must-win game against Nottingham Forest, and
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keep a clean sheet to help secure a vital three points? Doubt it. Right Back: Tom Paul Watson As deputy to Jeremy Corbyn, Tom Watson has had to do a lot of work in preventing Labour veering off too much to the left. Paul Watson had no such trouble with the left, particularly his left foot which provided countless goals from set pieces – normally for Bobby Zamora – during his 197-game Albion career. Centre Back: Boris Ross Johnson Ross Johnson played 132 times and, given some of the rubbish we had at the back in the late 1990s, he was a surprisingly solid defender. That is more than can be said of Boris who, if he were a footballer, would shirk his defensive duties, abandoning teamwork in favour of hogging the limelight.
Centre Back: Robin Steve Cook
Centre Midfield: Philip Dean Hammond
Some would say the country was denied the best of Robin Cook after he resigned from the Cabinet over the Iraq War. And we were definitely denied the best of Steve Cook, sold on the cheap to AFC Bournemouth where he is now a Premier League regular.
Philip Hammond was forced into a U-turn on National Insurance contributions for the self-employed after March’s budget. Dean Hammond knows all about a U-turn himself, having wildly celebrated a Southampton goal in front of Withdean’s South Stand to earn himself a place as a genuine hate figure, before returning to the Albion a few years later for a season-long loan.
Yes, we know Alastair Campbell wasn’t actually a politician. But he was the spin doctor who helped Tony Blair to deliver election victories in 1997 and 2001. We’re not sure that even he could convince anyone that Jamie Campbell was anything other than a terrible left back, however. Right Wing: Neville Mark Chamberlain “Peace in our time” will forever be the line Neville Chamberlain is associated with after the Munich Agreement. Although not quite as bad as that, Liam Brady’s agreement to take Mark Chamberlain from Portsmouth was another poor one with the former England international lasting just one season and 19 games at the Goldstone Ground.
Centre Midfield: Harold Danny Wilson Harold Wilson had two spells as PM and Danny Wilson might well have had two spells at the Albion had things worked out differently. The popular midfielder played 135 times in the 1980s and was approached about a return as manager for 2002/03. Unfortunately, that never happened and we got, er, Martin Hinshelwood instead. Edwina counts her friends (Image: Liverpool Echo)
Left Back: Alastair Jamie Campbell
Left Wing: Edwina Darren Currie It was a crying shame we only got to see Darren Currie play 22 times in a Brighton shirt before
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Ipswich Town bought him, as he had one of the sweetest right foots we’ve ever seen. John Major may have had a similar love of Edwina Currie’s right foot given they had a four-year affair. Striker: David Dave Cameron Dave Cameron’s Brighton career came to an end when he was hauled off after 20 minutes at Hull City with assistant boss Alan Cork branding him “crap” in a post-match interview. Which is ironically what a lot of people think of the former PM he shares a name with – for being the man largely responsible for Brexit. Striker: David Craig Davi(e)s MK Dons away in 2008/09 best summarises Craig Davies’ time at Brighton – putting the ball over the bar from two yards, looking completely uninterested and being met with a ‘You’re not fit to wear the shirt’ chant from the 3,000-strong travelling support who largely expected us to be doomed to relegation. Let’s hope David Davis is more successful in his role as Minister for Exiting the EU. TAM. Scott McCarthy
@wearebrighton
@TheAlbionMag
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I’m a sucker for a Seagulls souvenir We have a ridiculous number of mugs in our house. I mean seriously. At the last count, it was something like 45. A lot of them have been sent by PR firms, keen for me to plug some TV show of theirs. Indeed, as I type these very words, I’m drinking my tea (matcha green, since you ask – that’s how Brighton I am) from a mug celebrating the wedding of Emmerdale’s Marlon Dingle and Donna Windsor. That was 11 whole years ago. Donna’s been dead, God rest her soul, since August 2014. Fell off the top of a multi-storey car park. But even older than that, and still the mug I prize the most, is one dating way back to 2002. It is, of course, an Albion mug, proudly emblazoned with the word ‘Champions’, celebrating us pipping Reading to the League One title, or whatever the third tier was called back then.
Actually, I tell a lie. It doesn’t say ‘Champions’. Not any more. These days this precious mug doesn’t say anything at all. It’s completely and utterly white. That’s dishwashers for you. Weirdly, though, I still treasure it, simply because I know what it USED to say. I know what it represents. I could never throw it away. That said, I could probably
Stuffed into the back of my wallet, you see, are two lovely £10 vouchers for the Seagulls Store, just crying out to be spent. I was actually sent these by the club some while ago, as I believe were all 1901 Club members, for reasons that entirely escape me – possibly just as a nonspecific goodwill gesture, possibly as a roundabout way of apologising for the ropey
Don’t ask me why, but I genuinely love all this stuff. In any other context I guess one or two of these products might seem a wee bit, er, unusual justify treating myself to an Albion mug of a more contemporary nature. And right now, as it happens, I wouldn’t even have to pay for it.
instant coffee (sorry, I need to get over that, don’t I?). But whatever the reason, I was hardly going to complain. Albion stuff for free? What’s not to love?
Mike Ward is TV Critic of the Daily Star and TV Editor of the Daily Express Saturday magazine. Hear him on talkRADIO breakfast with Paul Ross, read him at www.mikeward.tv and download his podcast, Learnt Loved Loathed, from iTunes. His ancient Albion diary Gullhanger, about the title-winning 2001/02 season at Withdean, costs next to nothing these days on Amazon.
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(Image: Pinterest)
I’m going to have to brace myself to do it, though, and sooner rather than later, because these vouchers of mine expire on very soon!
Miniature souvenir jug, commemorating Brighton and Hove Albion’s Southern League Championship 1909-10
(Image: The Argus)
What’s weird, though, is that despite my excitement at the prospect of spending these vouchers, I still haven’t got around to doing so. In fact, I haven’t even stepped inside the Seagulls Store in months. On matchdays it just looks too busy, and during the week, although it’s only a short drive from where I live, you have to go through that weird process of stopping at the entrance to the ground and explaining the purpose of your visit to the bloke on the gate. And for some inexplicable reason (I’m prepared to accept I may need psychological help here) I find that oddly unnerving.
Albion staff celebrate with souvenir copies of The Argus
If I don’t opt for a mug, though, what else could I blow them on? The store does all sorts of stuff these days, doesn’t it? Some of which you wouldn’t quite believe. I know this just by browsing at the website.
Gully gnome. Or five Albion bottle openers. Or four curly blue-and-white wigs. Or four foam hands. Or an Albion remote control cushion (I’d love to have been in the meeting where they came up with that one).
Obviously, £20 wouldn’t even go halfway towards a replica shirt – and to be honest, I’m not really a replica shirt kind of bloke these days in any case. That’s partly because they don’t look that flattering on me, what with me being a fatso and that, and partly because if I turn up wearing one to the 1901 Club, six burly security men will immediately leap on me and wrestle me to the ground and handcuff me and throw me in the back of a police van along with a trio of crazed, slavering Alsatians and DCI Gene Hunt from Life On Mars. Or something fairly strict along those lines.
Don’t ask me why, but I genuinely love all this stuff. In any other context I guess one or two of these products might seem a wee bit, er, unusual, but decorate anything with a Seagulls logo and suddenly it’s a different story. (“Can I interest you, sir, in our tasty new Brighton & Hove Albion blue-and-white striped bacon?” Too right you can! Yummy.)
But, £20 still leaves me oodles of other options, souvenir-wise. Some replica shorts, for example. Or two pairs of replica socks. Or a
So OK, what will it be? Well, despite this myriad of temptations, I’m afraid I’m going to be predictable here and go for an Albion mug. In fact, what am I saying – at £6 each, I can afford THREE mugs. And why not, eh? I’d hate us to run short. TAM. Mike Ward
@MikeWardOnTV
@TheAlbionMagUTA
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Howay the lad Since TAM6 was published, I have relocated to the Newcastle area on a permanent basis in order to live with my partner. Therefore, with permission from the editor, this column is going to be changing focus to offer a view of the Albion from the perspective of someone not only at the other end of the country, but in the vicinity of one of our Premier League rivals for the coming season.
M
I think both sets of fans saw promotion as the overriding aim of last season and, while the title would have been the icing on the cake, it wasn’t the end of the world we didn’t get it.
when considering games against some of the top teams in Europe? Yes, but then this is what the club have worked so hard for, so the least we can do is enjoy it now we’ve got it.
As I write this, its 24 hours or so after the release of the fixtures for next season, so now we can all see the scale of the challenge we’ll be facing right from kick-off against Manchester City – to the final whistle against Liverpool. Is it exciting to see our club in this position? Of course it is. Are there also a few nerves
A big factor in how balanced that mix of excitement and nerves will be by the start of the season is how our summer recruitment goes and, as we’ve become used to over the last ten months or so, we seem to be in direct competition with Newcastle on that front as well. The most notable example so far this summer has been the case of Tammy Abraham, who did so well on loan at Bristol City last season and was expected to spend this season on loan somewhere in the Premier League. As I write this we didn’t know exactly where that will be, but any media reports on the subject are painting it as a straight fight between
(image: Funny Football Stories)
y time living here didn’t get off to the most auspicious of starts… I boarded a flight to Newcastle about half an hour or so after the final whistle of the Championship season, where we’d come so close to pipping them to the title only for Jack Grealish to equalise for Aston Villa and deny us at the death. In the weeks since, there was been the occasional comment of ‘there’s only one Jack Grealish’ or similar if I’ve been wearing an Albion top, but only in jest.
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(image: www.abc.net.au)
The Seagulls face the Magpies at home on September 23rd, and away on December 30th.* Brighton and Newcastle. There were reports Newcastle had won the race, only for doubts to emerge about whether the player would be happy to be so far away from his home and family in London – understandable for a 19-year-old, I’m sure you’ll agree. Hopefully, that might help swing the balance in our favour and, if it does, I’m going to out on a limb and say that if were a choice between beating Newcastle to the Championship and beating them to Tammy Abraham, we may well end up with the better end of the deal. If the newspapers are to be believed, the Seagulls and Magpies are fighting over
more than just Tammy Abraham. Liverpool left-back Joe Gomez has been heavily linked with a move away from Anfield, either on loan or permanently depending on which report you happen to read, and which two clubs are said to be ‘leading the race’ for him? Yep, you’ve guessed it – it’s us and them again. It probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that newlypromoted clubs are fighting over the same potential additions to their squads. After all, now we’re both here we have exactly the same goal of wanting to remain! As we saw though with the
out-of-the-blue signing of Pascal Gross earlier in the summer, the Albion have become fairly adept at keeping their transfer targets under wraps until the deal is done and not even those pesky Magpies can do anything about it! Finally for this issue, if there is any fellow north-east Seagulls reading this article in the online edition of TAM, please do feel free to get in touch with me on Twitter (address below). It would be great to link up with fellow Albion fans in this part of the world and hear your views on following the club from afar as we start our journey into the Premier League. TAM. Steve Brewer
The Albion Mag is looking for regular bloggers for our new website: www.thealbionmag.com. Drop us a line: editor@thealbionmag.com. Or tweet: @TheAlbionMagUTA.
@SteveJB84 *subject to the whim of television companies
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A season of firsts I’m writing this on June 8th, for most people significant as GE2017 with ballot boxes wending their way to the Amex for vote counting after polls close. But for Albion fans it’s also the day we ‘officially’ become part of the Premier League, and as things currently stand we’re third in the table – I think we’ll take that! As newbies – 2016/17 was our first campaign as season ticket holders – we can’t share sacred memories of the Goldstone days, compare nightmare stories of the 150-mile round trip to Gillingham or wax lyrical about Withdean. So what was last season
Amex as and when we could get tickets. But back in August 2016 neither of us fully appreciated what the next nine months would hold and how much it would mean. Even now we’re still debating the ‘finer’ points of the Newcastle game. We’re used to being part of a community. We work, live and go to school in the city, the teen is a Brightonian born and bred. We meet people we know pretty much every time we set foot outside our front door. But ‘that’ day – you know the one I mean – was unlike anything we’d ever experienced before. No pitch invasion – yeah right! And a shout-out to the steward who,
I seriously considered giving up a weekend away on the French Riviera with friends, booked months before, rather than miss the Blackburn match. like for us and how was our experience different to that of a North Stand diehard?
having given up all hope of keeping us off the pitch, turned his hand to photography!
Regular readers will know that we became two of the Albion faithful in part to facilitate mother/teen son relations. Yes, we’re both footie fans and yes, we were previously visitors to the
Standing on the hallowed turf, watching the pure emotion pouring down from the West Stand was unforgettable. Trying – eventually – to make our way home via the North Stand
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concourse and being implored by complete strangers to stay and have a drink, keep on partying. And it didn’t end there, the endless stream of Twitter traffic showing fans and players united in celebrations at the Amex, on trains, through the city streets, gave me a sense of pride and sheer joy that I had never expected to feel.
The following week was another first, away to Norwich. I’d been reticent about going to an away game, an unexpected – and completely unfounded – fear of being among hostile fans, on unfamiliar ground. But the teen was adamant it was something I needed to experience so overcame my objections by producing a ticket for me as a Mothers’ Day present. And what a present it was. The atmosphere was just
(Image: Fly to let)
fab; streamers, flags, blue and white beach balls, even the odd plastic seagull working its way around the stand as we sang our way through defeat – are all away games like that? Well, next season I’ll find out. We’re now busy working out which matches we really have to be at and which we might swerve – not sure I have the courage for Selhurst Park just yet. When we signed up for season tickets the very least I expected was some good days out in the company of the teen and was quietly optimistic it would end well, we’d come so close in previous seasons, surely it was our turn? What I didn’t anticipate was how going to matches with the teen would completely take over my life. I seriously considered giving up a weekend away on the French Riviera with friends, booked months before, rather than miss the Blackburn match.
I didn’t anticipate just how all-consuming those last few weeks of the season would be. I could tell you the position, points and goal difference for most of the Championship clubs. I took almost personal offence at some of the ‘Will the Albion bottle it yet again?’ comments on social media and marvelled at Chris Hughton’s ability to simply ignore the madness around him and get the job done. Then came the glory that was the parade, 60,000 or 100,000 people on the streets, the numbers irrelevant, the cause for celebration was what mattered. For sure, our promotion to the Prem didn’t carry the same emotional weight of
history for me and the teen. And I know in my head, if not in my heart, that next season will be very different but for us, and I suspect for the North Stand diehards, it can’t come round fast enough. I‘m slightly horrified by how much I miss matchdays – maybe I just need to get out more! Until then we’re making do with avidly following the transfer rumours and spending hours in futile speculation of what the team line up will be, come August. And until I’m sure of 2017/18 fixtures I’m not setting any dates for future weekends away with friends! TAM. Sandra Murphy
@BizDocSxCoast
Sandra Murphy Sandra loves living in Brighton where she works as a Business Doctor. This is her first year as an Albion season ticket holder and she’s optimistic that the success she brings to local businesses, helping them to grow and thrive, will be replicated on the pitch!
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(Image: Parcel Hero)
A lick of virtual paint
M
y Mum recently told me she used to hate the start of the new football season. Not because of her dad, brother and me all obsessing over it, but because she knew she would be sat up until the small hours attending to diminutive plastic figurines with a fine paintbrush. She made a rod for her own back when she told 11-yearold me that – rather than finding money to buy the latest Subbuteo teams – she had the skills to hand-paint the changes to the kits for the new season. When Hummel added chevrons to Spurs’ sleeves, she painstakingly added them to the plain white shirts of my miniature effigies. When Umbro added red and black details to Watford’s she did the same, and so on. Fortunately, for my poor old mum, with her gnarled knuckles and encroaching myopia (all right she was only in her thirties), my passion for ‘flick to kick’ table footy was soon replaced by a love of digital football. Computer game incarnations of the sport became more compelling as the 1980s wore on, and I became infatuated.
caneandrinse.com
Problem was, Brighton were now a lower division club, and so even those games which did include club sides (many early games focused on internationals), the Albion was already flying below the radar.
Excitingly however, promotion to the Premier League means that when FIFA 18 comes out in September, Brighton & Hove Albion will be fully represented for the first time.
As customisation options evolved I learned to understand some of my mum’s anguish as I spent countless hours over the next 25 years diligently editing
The Amex will be crafted from millions of polygons, and Solly March (for example) will no longer be represented by ‘fair-haired white lad’, but
“She made a rod for her own back when she told 11-year-old me that – rather than finding money to buy the latest Subbuteo teams – she had the skills to hand-paint the changes to the kits for the new season.” names and kits so that I could play as my team in Emlyn Hughes’ International, Sensible and Pro Evolution Soccers. Of course, the videogame football behemoth is FIFA. It’s not always been the best, but for decades now it has been the most fully licensed. Some years back the EFL was added to FIFA’s impressive roster, and so we have been in there for some time, albeit with generic player likenesses and stadium.
instead will be captured by modelling technology and depicted accurately down to his last freckle. Bruno should even be resplendent with full beard. I may be 45-years-old, but I’m as giddy as a schoolboy about all this. And my Mum won’t even have to pick up her enamels. TAM Leon Cox @ratsoalbion
@TheAlbionMag
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(Image: Liverpool.com)
Anfield
BRIGHTON BUT ONLY AT HOME’S Classic Away Days
W
hen The Albion Mag began the idea for this column was relatively simple. Take a look at the supposed publishing date, glance at our upcoming games in that period and produce a memory of a past game against the same opponents. If it was totally obscure and in no way at all ‘classic’ all the better – a running joke would be established with my reader. Then we went and got promoted. You look at the list of Premier League clubs and the word ‘obscure’ doesn’t really come in to it. Though there are a number of so called ‘smaller’ clubs, with a growing number of ‘big’ clubs in the Championship, there are plenty around us in the top flight we’ve enjoyed some actual classic
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Liverpool
encounters with. Southampton? Check. Bournemouth? What about that day we got our protest on television there, before they turned the ground around 180 degrees? Palace? Absolutely. Then there are sides where we’re eagerly anticipating a first visit to a new ground or the rekindling of a VERY old relationship. When we go promoted there was an undercurrent of relief from men and women aged between around 30 and 48 who go to as many games as possible: “at last, I can go to Everton!” And, there’s their cross-city neighbours, Liverpool, who we’ll be playing last, and who we occasionally visit in the cup. There was a win, famously, in 1983. So bad was our league form that season our win at Anfield, on the way to Wembley, was
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regarded as a major shock, even though we were in the same division. I was too young to be there and heard the result while having a kickabout in Wish Park with my mates. No live TV games in those days, one of the dads had been listening on the radio. There was a loss, recently, under Gus but the less said about that the better. Then there was a draw in 1991. That season again with Small and Byrne and Walker. Many of these previous columns have involved a prolonged time in a licenced establishment, confident of getting to the away end by paying cash two minutes before kick-off and joining the 200 or so other poor sods that constituted our long distance away following back in the day. But Liverpool was a big deal.
I can remember organising (at the previous away game as it was before mobile phones existed) to meet my friends outside the Goldstone and queue for tickets for the away end. No fan numbers or points in those days; first come, first served, but we wanted to be together. In the end we split in to two groups anyway. Queuing down Newtown Road the talk was of how many we’d sell. On the day around 5,000 fans made the trip. For once, thoughts on the way up were all about the game. Us younger ones wondered if the Kop really was as big and loud as we’d heard. The older ones fretted about our line-up. And everyone discussed a topic that had obsessed Gull’s Eye in recent editions – would Johnny Crumplin (Football Genius) be able to
cope with Johnny Barnes (England winger and New Order rapper)? I’m sure we did go to the pub but for once that’s not where my memory resides. I recall walking in to the Anfield Road end, top-right corner, and being absolutely gobsmacked at the size of the place. I remember being amazed at how far apart our two groups were, even though we thought we’d got tickets in nearby sections. How it looked just like it did on the telly. The game? Well, despite later legend we weren’t in it much. Liverpool kept the ball excellently and we huffed and puffed. They scored a couple of simple goals and, I remember, only the second one really roused the Kop in to any noise. This was routine for them. But we still had
brightononlyathome.wordpress.com/
(Image: The Daily Mirror)
(Image: The Goldstone Wrap)
John Byrne
Walker, we still had Byrne and Crumplin wasn’t getting TOTALLY destroyed. In fact he was holding his own. Against Barnes! And then we got a penalty from nowhere and put it away. 2-1. At least we scored. Then Byrne put in an equaliser. In my mind now from close range but all I can really see is the Anfield Road end exploding with joy, a mini pitch invasion, Byrne disappearing in to our fans. Two-two! A draw away at Anfield. I’m sure our final Premier League game of the season will be a bit more orderly, what with fan numbers, points and the 3,000 away fan restriction but I hope it’s not defeatist to say I’d take a similar result in a heartbeat. TAM. Jason Thackeray
@TheAlbionMag
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M
y latest Cult Hero is someone I could comfortably write a book about given his utterly ludicrous career, outlandish personality and remarkable Twitter account. Leon Knight is certainly one of the most complicated – yet insanely talented – individuals ever to wear an Albion shirt. Knight had most of the physical ingredients to make a top-level player, but sadly had pretty much none of the mental ones. He may have been small, but he was sharp as a knife in the penalty area. He had great technique and, most importantly, had the ruthlessness and self-belief needed to be a top striker. Sadly, he was volatile, naughty and a poor trainer.
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Cult # heroes Leon Knight
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He was one of the most talented youngsters in the country when he was snapped up by Chelsea, where he rose through the ranks. He made just one appearance for the Blues but had impressed enough in loan spells with QPR, Sheffield Wednesday, and particularly Huddersfield Town, to mean he was a highly attractive prospect for many clubs in the country. Albion manager Steve Coppell was looking for a replacement for the outgoing Bobby Zamora and turned to Knight, initially on loan. He only played two
(All images: Paul Hazlewood - BHAFC)
games during this time (scoring four goals) before Coppell decided to part with £50k to bring Knight in permanently. What followed was striker’s best season in English football as he banged in the goals all year to help the Albion to a fourth-place finish. His form had started to dip slightly towards the end of the season and he was largely anonymous in the play-off semi-finals against Swindon Town which was dramatically won on penalties by the Albion. Mark McGhee, who had taken over from Coppell after the latter left for Reading, genuinely contemplated leaving his top scorer out of the final in Cardiff but had a change of heart and Knight was partnered alongside Chris Iwelumo for the clash with Bristol City. In the searing Cardiff heat, the Albion, then a thoroughly unspectacular, dogged side, had done well to limit City to a handful of half chances. Late in the game, Iwelumo was fouled in the box which resulted in a spot kick which was easily dispatched by Knight, whose immense self-confidence meant he was an excellent penalty taker. Brighton won the game and Knight had etched himself in Albion folklore forever. However, this was very much the highpoint in his Albion career and it was generally
downhill from that point. Knight didn’t find scoring as easy against the smarter defenders of the Championship and was very much feeding off scraps in what was an incredibly defensive Albion side playing to their strengths. Knight was moved to the wing at one point and the cracks between he and McGhee were beginning to show with a series of high profile bust-ups.
released or sacked each time. He left Brighton in January 2006 and by 2014, a mere eight years later, he’d played for the following: Swansea, Barnsley, MK Dons, Wycombe, Rushden & Diamonds, Thrasivoulos Fylis, Hamilton Academicals, Queen of the South, Coleraine, Glentoran and Barnton. Only Chelsea and Brighton received any sort of fee for him.
This was really where Knight’s evident attitude problems really became apparent and is something that would sadly follow him throughout his career. Albion stayed up that season against all the odds, but the following campaign was a shambles. The squad was torn apart with some very poor behaviour and many fingers pointed at Knight as being the main culprit/stirrer. He was thrown off the team bus en route to an away game at Southampton and was sold to League One Swansea not long after. He further endeared himself to Brighton fans by publically wishing they’d be relegated.
Later in his career, he managed to discover Twitter which has landed him in all sorts of trouble with his entertaining attempts at ‘trolling’. This had involved homophobic outbursts leading to his release from Glentoran and a public and bizarre online war of words with Jamie O’Hara and Danielle Lloyd.
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Cult # heroes Bas Savage
He had a great start at Swansea, scoring a hat-trick on his debut but it wasn’t long before his attitude problems surfaced again and he moved to MK Dons. He proceeded to move from club to club where his personality continued to let him down and he was either
Knight will always be remembered for his Millennium Stadium penalty and some fine goals whilst at Brighton, but also for his poor behaviour – sadly an all too common theme throughout his career. Ultimately, I think his size would have always prevented him from making it at the very highest level, but with some knuckling down and a better attitude he could have carved out a very good Championship level career TAM. Tom Stewart
@OfficialTStew
@TheAlbionMagUTA
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(Image: europeanfootballweekends)
(Image: Lewes Community Football Club)
The Football Alternative Football is still in its boom period, brought about by the financial riches of the Premier League.
W
hile the ‘product’ remains huge business, there is a new trend happening with fans starting to turn their backs on the so-called elite ‘superstar’ players, who wear their clubs’ colours, have no real connection to the club but most importantly, to them, the fan. This article is not to put a dampener on the Albion’s achievement of reaching the Premier League – or EPL as the brand merchants would have you call it – it is simply to highlight there is something fundamentally different about professional football which has taken away the true bond between fans, players and clubs. So where is the alternative? Non-League football crowds have been steadily rising, particularly in Sussex where we have a plethora of teams to choose from – and usually an exciting game, with some good football, to boot. I regularly speak to fans at these games who
www.1BrightonFM.co.uk
prefer to be able to have a drink whilst watching the game (unless it’s an FA competition of course!), can chat with the players and most importantly, feel a connection with the respective club. These clubs are often run by volunteers who give up their time so we have an alternative every other week if ‘our team’ is playing away (or on a Sunday which will be the case a lot more for the Albion now!) They want and need to make money in order to survive, but will not rip you off by charging £4 for a lukewarm plastic bottle of Carlsberg and instead offer food and drink at reasonable prices. There will be a clubhouse that’s open long after the game has finished
and kids can normally get in the games for free – or a nominal fee at worst. The realness of the game can be felt on the terraces as you stand behind the goal, with wisecracks and unique chants being made up every week. For me, and many others, it makes football feel real again and something I can be a real part of. Now I’m not saying pack away your blue and white stripes forever, I’m suggesting when you have a free Saturday because you can’t get a ticket at the Amex, go down to your local club and watch a game – you never know, you might just like it! TAM. Dean Kilford
@TAMRadioShow
Dean Kilford Dean is a presenter and football commentator who has his roots firmly planted in Sussex. He hosts The Albion Mag Radio Show on www.1BrightonFM.co.uk and 101.4FM which includes guests covering all things Albion, as well as shining a spotlight on our non-league clubs.
@TheAlbionMag
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Take a deep breath, fellow Albion fans, and savour every match on that fixture list.
to back their campaign to Bring Home The Albion.
F
or our fate was nearly such a very different story…
One last throw of the dice kept us playing football – but the price we paid for our previous greedy owners was playing home matches at the grim outpost of Gillingham. Our elation at league survival meant this was almost palatable initially – but not for long. Thankfully, the vision and passion of our fans kicked in and two well-intentioned, but clearly very nervous fans, came cap in hand to The Argus asking the paper
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I can barely believe that meeting was 20 years ago this year (I was clearly a child reporter). At that stage
was a different kettle of fish and had been known to almost blast people out of the office if he didn’t agree with what they were saying. While they lacked the polished performance of the club’s then general
“There is a loyal band of fans who gave their all for a long period of time to help save our beloved club and we all have a lot to thank them for.” I was the assistant editor, working for a larger-thanlife editor, who was a real ‘all or nothing’ merchant. They had done their research – I used to write a football column back in the Goldstone days so they were likely to get a sympathetic ear from me. But, the editor
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manager, Nick Rowe, they clearly knew their stuff. When they stopped talking there was a moment of silence. Ed jumped to his feet. It could have gone one of two ways as he slammed his fist down on the table. “We’ll need to get more people there,” he said: “We need more interest in the club
campaign then realised what they were letting themselves in for. Endless petitions and letter writing, political meetings, merchandise, arguments, an infamous TV documentary stitch-up… we were all on a fast learning curve. But that work pretty much set the pattern for our lives for years to come.
if we’re going to get support to bring them home. How many people go to Gillingham now?” he demanded. “Right, if we can get seven buses full of people we’ll add another 500.” Then, painting words in the air with his finger, he said: “I can see it now, we’ll get campaign buses and we’ll plaster them all over the front page – The Magnificent Seven Ride Again!” OK, he went off on a bit of a tangent – but the fans and campaign had his support. Don’t underestimate how important that meeting was. Social media was still in its infancy and Sussex’s daily newspaper was an all-powerful beast. The logo appeared on the paper every day in full colour, which was not the norm in those days, and we ran story after story to reignite passion in the club locally. I’m not sure if anyone involved in the
Planning permission for a temporary stadium at Withdean was eventually granted in June 1998 and I’ll never forget that first game at Withdean. I was still working at The Argus so travelled down early with Simon Dack, the photographer who has covered Brighton games almost since the dawn of time (yes, he must have been a child photographer too). I took my seat in an empty temporary stand next to an athletics track where I had run as a school child. It was a day we thought we’d never see and as strangers gradually took their seats around me we all spoke like old friends, sharing our excitement. That stand almost shook at times. End-to-end the view was awful. We had Albionbranded bin bags to shelter us in the winter rain and hospitality was a temporary Portakabin. When they finally built an away end it
was in a different postcode. But we didn’t care – we were home. At least we didn’t care, at first. Ironically, this year also marks another significant battle in our history – July is the tenth anniversary of the ultimate planning permission for Falmer being granted. If my excitement and butterflies were high for the opening fixture at Withdean they were through the roof for our first game at the Amex, when tears literally poured down my cheeks. There is a loyal band of fans who gave their all for a long period of time to help save our beloved club and we all have a lot to thank them for. Very sadly, some are no longer with us. Personally, I’ll always be grateful to the two nervous stattos who braved that meeting at The Argus 20 years ago – and I didn’t realise until some time after that introduction that, apparently, it wasn’t just the editor who was supposed to be scary. Still, I can’t have been that terrifying as, many years later, I married one of them. We really did Bring Home The Albion! TAM. Claire Byrd
@clairebyrdcoms
Claire was a journalist at The Argus throughout the 1990s and wrote a football column, alongside her main role in news. She introduced her first child to home games at just seven-weeksold and all three of her children are season ticket holders.
@TheAlbionMag
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A GOOD BET TO STAY UP
S
(Images: The Wallpaper Cave & www.brightonandhovealbion.com)
o, the celebrations are over, the fixtures are out and now it’s time to work out how the hell the Albion will reach the magic 40-point mark by next May. Actually, looking at three of the last four fixtures of the run in, we may need to be fairly close, if not already at that mark, by the end of March. I remember a tremendous sense of excitement around the town (as it was then) in 1979 when the fixture computer picked Arsenal to be the visitors on the opening day of the season. A big name team then, as now, they were members of the so called ‘Big Five’ as they were known, along with Tottenham, Liverpool, Everton and Manchester United. Curiously, European Champions Nottingham Forest, despite all they achieved under Brian Clough, were never mentioned in that bracket. Given the successes of the previous three seasons the Albion feared no-one, and while there was no talk of winning the title, there was plenty of optimism that the team would be able to compete in the top flight. Not
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so much optimism this time round, with the bookies offering 8-1 against us beating Manchester City in the opening game and making us 5-1 second favourites ahead of Huddersfield Town to finish bottom of the pile. To replicate the start of the 1979/80 campaign with a 4-0 home defeat to Guardiola’s team would be a disappointment, but not a disaster. The way I see it, the ‘Big Five’ have expanded to become the ‘Super Seven’, with Chelsea and Manchester City now amongst a group that will almost certainly occupy places one to seven next season. While we may surprise one or two of the elite teams, it would be a foolish man who bet on us doing the double over Chelsea or Spurs. The key to Albion’s survival will not be results against teams who are paying £10,000 a week to teenagers who haven’t a hope of ever making the first team, but against the likes of Huddersfield, West Bromwich Albion and Watford. In effect, it will be a 24-game season. Getting an average of two points per game against the lesser
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teams in the Premier League and we can look forward to a second season in the top flight. The Amex has to remain the fortress it was last season as Turf Moor was for Burnley. Winning ten home games was the single biggest factor in them reaching 40 points. And they still only finished six points above Hull City who took the final relegation place. It’s going to be easier said than done, though. For the record, the Albion won just eight home games in that debut First Division season, but crucially beat relegated Bristol City, Bolton Wanderers and Derby County at the Goldstone. Only two points were gleaned from the Big Five – goalless draws with Everton and Manchester United, both at the Goldstone. The summer transfer window will be crucial as unlike in 1979 there will be no chance to strengthen until January when it may already too late if things have started to unravel. Back then Alan Mullery kept faith with the players who had taken the club to the top flight. There were only two changes from the team that won at
Newcastle to the one that started against Arsenal. John Gregory replaced Chris Cattlin, while Mark Lawrenson – who missed the Newcastle game – returned in place of Paul Clark. With the defence leaking goals for fun, and the club bottom of the league, Mullery was able to sign Blackpool defender Peter Suddaby to steady the ship just in time for him to make his debut in the famous win at the City Ground over Nottingham Forest in November. The move worked and the team never looked back, comfortably avoiding the drop. We don’t have that early option this time around. Five of the first six games are against teams in my
24-match league. Beating Newcastle and West Bromwich Albion at the Amex would be a massive boost and picking up points from matches at Leicester, Bournemouth, and especially Watford, is by no means impossible. Whilst a good start is not essential, putting together two or three good results early on in the season would do wonders for the confidence of both fans and players alike.
Ever the optimist where the Albion is concerned, I am far more confident of the club staying in the Premier League than I was of us staying the Football League during the half-time interval at Edgar Street 20 years ago. Talking of confidence, where’s that tenner? Suddenly I quite fancy us at 8-1 on August 12th. After all it is a two-horse race! Simon Levenson
@sasta68
Simon Levenson @sasta68 An Albion fan since 1962, Simon worked as a matchday producer for BBC Sussex at the Amex for five years. Nowadays, he concentrates on writing for Brighton’s Treason Show and London’s Newsrevue. He has also written two shows; Mein Kampervan and recent Fringe sell out Southern Fail the Musical.
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A day and a life following the Albion – with a little help from a friend
I
t was 50 years ago today Sergeant Pepper taught the band to play… and 50 years since my very first Albion game. Lucy was in the Sky with Diamonds, but at the end of the so-called ‘Summer of Love’ I was about to begin a love affair that would give me greater highs than any acid trip. I was a wide-eyed 11-year-old kid when a neighbour in my home suburb of Mile Oak offered to take me to my first proper football match, at a place I had only ever seen from the top deck of a bus on the Old Shoreham Road.
David Knott was 32, and as an Albion nut he seemed cursed to have a daughter who hated football. So, I became his Saturday surrogate son, at least for the purposes of having someone to take to matches at the Goldstone Ground. My first Albion game was on a bright and sunny Saturday, 2nd September 1967; and it was a trip into dreamland as I witnessed a 1-0 home win against Bury in front of a bustling 13,413 crowd. I stood with David near the front right of the North Stand and watched in awe as these 22 men battled it out on the sun-kissed grass.
I soaked it all in, including the fact Bury were captained by Scottish international Bobby Collins, who was hard in the tackle and ran the show from midfield – until we scored. Our scorer was a touslehaired inside forward named Kit Napier. He became my immediate hero, and along with Brylcreem-blonde crowd favourite Charlie Livesey, they remain personal Albion legends. Others in our team that day were the solid Norman Gall, John Napier (no relation to Kit), George Dalton, the emerging midfield dynamo John Templeman and two wingers Wally Gould and Brian ‘Tiger’ Tawse, who would match Knockaert and Skalak for trickery, but maybe not pace! I was hooked for life and began a routine of a bus ride on the number 26 from Mile Oak to the ground for a home match every fortnight, and a Football Combination (reserve game) on alternate Saturdays – the matches when you got to talk with the keeper during the game!
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Then there came the waiting-in-line at the North-West corner gates for players’ autographs after training, during the school holidays, scrapbooks of match cuttings from The Argus and the obligatory club scarf and a matching Subbuteo team. It was an all-consuming schoolboy passion. And a passion, which over these 50 years has endured living in Scotland, Yorkshire and the North East, the hellish fight for the survival of our club in the mid1990s, the Gillingham and Withdean years and, at last, the glory of the Amex and our promotion to the promised land of the Premier League. In 1967, England were world champions, Harold Wilson was Prime Minister, the newest ‘must-have’ car was the Ford Escort, mods still
fought rockers on Brighton beach, man had yet to land on the moon and colour TV was still just a dream. Yep, times have changed… My return bus journey to the Goldstone in 1967 was 8d (about 3p), admission to the North Stand was 2s 9d (13p) – a lot less for the reserve games – the match programme was 1s (5p), a cup of Bovril 2d (1p) and a bag of crisps the same!
so I’ll let you do the maths and comparisons. Now, aged 61 and sitting in front of a state-of-the-art PC with Sergeant Pepper’s playing on iPlayer, the years come tumbling back and memories of that sunny Saturday in 1967 will never leave me. TAM. Nic Outterside
@seagullnic
So to travel and watch my heroes every Saturday, and enjoy a half-time snack, cost a stately 22p! To put things in perspective: in 1967 a man’s average annual wage was £900, the average mortgage was £80 a year and a loaf of bread was just 5p… a season ticket to watch the English champions Manchester United was £8.50. To allow for inflation, £1 in 1967 is worth £16.80 today,
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(All image: Network My Club)
Network Albion
N
etwork Albion Business Club is Brighton & Hove Albion’s official business networking group – powered by Network My Club. We host a networking breakfast at the Amex each month, giving our members the chance to network with other guests, local businesses and Albion fans. A company listing is featured in each matchday programme. At each meeting at the
stadium, our guests get the chance to mingle with new and existing contacts, enjoy a delicious English breakfast, hear what’s going on at the football club, and listen to an inspirational speech from a special guest. Previous speakers include former Olympian, Derek Redmond, journalist and author, Nick Szczepanik, the UK’s youngest CEO, Brandon Relph (pictured), and ultra-running record -holder, and former AITC employee, Dan Lawson.
With over 120 members, Network Albion networking breakfasts are regularly sold out and attract businesses of all shapes and sizes, from a range of different sectors. To find out more, join, or book onto an upcoming event: visit www. networkalbion.co.uk. TAM. @NetworkAlbion
Network Albion is part of the Network My Club group, who currently manage and run business clubs across four locations in Sussex, London and Hampshire. With groups also at Fontwell Park Racecourse, Portsmouth Football Club and Surrey County Cricket Club, being part of the group allows businesses to easily expand their network into other regions.
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www.networkmyclub.co.uk
A GAME FOR ALL SEASONS?
I
’ve always thought summer is the time true a football obsessive reveals themselves. At one stage I would have considered myself part of that tribe having had many a summer family holiday punctuated by a trip to the nearest local pre-season friendly. I’ve seen a young Jurgen Klinsmann lead the line for Stuttgart (yeah I know, who goes on holiday to Stuttgart?), Alan Sunderland and Eric Gates strut their stuff for Ipswich in a friendly in Denmark, and there was the time, much to my mum’s chagrin, when my dad and I, along with my best mate, managed three pre-season friendlies during a holiday in Italy in 1990. These days I need a break. It must be an age thing but the more ubiquitous football has become, the more I
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yearn to experience it in the autumn, winter and spring, although no doubt this will be tested when Atletico Madrid and Manchester City sprinkle their stardust over the Amex in August. But, I could still claim to be living out my footballing adolescence when the prospect of watching European club football at the Goldstone in the summer of 1995 was strangely on offer. For those of a certain age, or just a modest appetite for football, the Intertoto Cup may mean absolutely nothing. It was conceived in the early 1960s by the then Swiss national manager Karl Rappan, as a pre-season summer league for Europe’s mainland, mid-ranking clubs and a collective attempt by them to introduce the concept of summer football whilst also
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giving pools companies the chance to make some money during the football-starved summer months. In an attempt to bolster flagging interest in the tournament, Uefa stepped in to run it in 1995 dangling the carrot of a place in their eponymous cup competition (now the Europa League) for the eventual winners. As part of their revamp and to entice clubs from Europe’s larger, more elite leagues, Uefa managed to persuade the FA and the Premier League to invite its top-flight clubs, who hadn’t already qualified for Europe, to take part. However, faced with the prospect of dragging their players back from various locations across the Med for an earlier than usual start to pre-season training, their enthusiasm was, well a little lukewarm. With less than a month to go before the start of all-new and shiny,
revamped 1995/96 Intertoto Cup, all of the clubs who had been invited had responded with a firm ‘non’.
tonking in front of 1,879 fans, ‘bolstered’ by a large contingent of TurkishCypriots from London.
Tottenham, Sheffield Wednesday and Wimbledon were eventually strong-armed when Uefa threatened each club invited with a £50,000 fine for not taking part and the expulsion from all European club competitions for English clubs the following season. With both White Hart Lane and Selhurst Park (the then home of the Dons) undergoing summer refurbishment both London clubs approached the Albion to host games and the Goldstone was written into Intertoto Cup folklore.
The lure of Spurs heading to town the following day to take on the Swiss side FC Luzern was enough to add a whopping 700 to the previous day’s gate, including yours truly. My memories of the game are as hazy as the sun that drenched the pitch and the crumbling East Terrace, but I do remember it being played at something slower than walking pace.
Now you can knock it, and pretty much everyone in footballing circles did, but at the time the Intertoto offered me a cheap fix for my summer football craving. And I mean summer time. Day two of Glastonbury was in full swing when Wimbledon ‘hosted’ Turkish outfit Bursaspor on Saturday 24th June. The Dons finished on the wrong end of 4-0
With most of their first-team squad either still on their sun loungers or simply disinterested, a makeshift side consisting mainly of reserves and emergency loanees, including Alan Pardew (exactly the sort of bloke you’d expect to see supping lager and peacocking around Puerto Banus in a cheap pair of espadrilles and chinos in late June), Spurs were no match for their Swiss opposition. The record books show that two second-half goals from Martin Fink and Petre Alexanadrov were enough and I may well have left to sun myself on Hove seafront by the time the latter had struck in the 87th minute. The remaining three games at the Goldstone were equally
uneventful, and to no-one’s surprise Spurs, Wimbledon and Sheffield Wednesday (who played their games at Rotherham) crashed out at the first group stage. The combined attendance for the four games at the Albion’s former home in Hove was 7,221, including 702 hardy souls who I can only presume endured Wimbledon’s goalless draw with Beitar Jerusalem. It came as no surprise when the cup’s final demise was confirmed in 2008. Given the Albion’s recent ascent we can live in hope that this bizarre series of games in the summer of 1995 won’t remain the club’s sole experience of European football. But, if and when it does happen again can someone make sure it at least kicks off in September? Joel Essex @Jsussex
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1979 and all that As we eagerly anticipate the first Premier League game at the Amex against Manchester City, yours truly couldn’t help but hark back to the last time the Albion were in the top flight. 1979. Punk is at its zenith, Not the Nine O Clock News is the funniest thing we’ve ever seen, The Clash release the iconic London’s Calling and the UK’s first nudist beach opened in Brighton. The sun shone. The Albion were in Division One. Deamland. Once the fixtures were announced the buzz started to build. The mighty Arsenal at home in the first game, this was it, the big time. The transfer speculation began in earnest. Will the Albion sign anyone? Will we sign an extra striker? Is the defence strong enough? The spine
was a strong one; Brian Horton the gritty skipper, the sublimity of Mark Lawrenson, the mercurial and much loved Gerry Ryan and of course, the striking genius that was Peter Ward. The squad looked settled and battle hardened, but the talk of the summer was whether Ward would be off, having handed in a shock transfer request. Thankfully, no-one came in with a substantial enough offer and he stayed. Phew! The big day, middle of August: Arsenal. People were locked out of the Goldstone. Horrible zoo-pen metal fencing, amazing atmosphere. The fact the Gunners beat Brighton that day wasn’t the surprise, it was the clinical way they did it, with the 4-0 away victory the biggest of any away team in the top division that season. Albion had been taught a lesson but it had a positive effect in one respect – the evolution of the team had to proceed apace. Players who had been given an opportunity to prove they were up there with the best slowly fell away. Eric ‘Teflon’ Steele gave way to Graham Moseley in goal, Neil McNab signed from Bolton Wanderers, Ray Clarke a
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former top scorer for Ajax no less, joined and Peter Suddaby come in to strengthen the defence. But, morale was still rock bottom as Albion just couldn’t get off the bottom of the table. Propping up the division in October, this 15-year-old fan got deeply upset when my favourite comedy show, Not the Nine ‘O Clock News made a joke out of our beloved Peter Ward. The nights were drawing in and the gloom spread amongst us, the fenced-in faithful. Resigned to certain defeat, Albion were away at Nottingham Forest, the reigning European Champions. Think playing Chelsea or either of the Manchester teams today. We thought we had even less chance then than now. Then the miracle. In the ninth minute, Gerry Ryan scuffs a shot from the edge of the area that beats the England goalkeeper Peter Shilton and the Albion cling on for a famous victory. The fight to stay up had begun in earnest. The mood improved along with Peter Ward’s form after his mooted transfer to Forest fell through. Then, Boxing Day. There have been other Boxing Day matches against
our arch rivals, but this was massive. We hadn’t beaten Palace in the previous ten meetings, the stakes had never been higher. Wardy played a blinder that day and scored two as we beat Terry Venables’ ‘Team of the Eighties’. Hark now sing indeed. The atmosphere at the Goldstone was brilliant that day and this seemed to translate to the players. In the New Year, performances picked up although points were still hard to come by. A narrow defeat to arguably the best team of the season, Liverpool, and wins against relegation rivals enabled the Albion to claw their way out of the relegation places. Then came the visit of Nottingham Forest to the Goldstone. Gary Williams dispatched the mighty Forest with an 86th-minute 25-yard chip, strike Brian Clough labelled a fluke which just so happened to win Match of the Day’s goal of the month
(Image: Seagulls TV)
Mark Lawrenson
competition. A decent run snaffled enough points to solidify the Albion’s place in the top flight, another point taken from Palace at Selhurst for good measure and safety was secured with a few games to go. Now, if anything the feeling is the same as back then. The same anxiety over transfer targets, the questioning of the squad’s depth, how will we do against the ‘top’ sides? If the result goes against us against Manchester City, I will cast my mind back to that utter spanking on day one against Arsenal in 1979, and remember the Albion eventually found their feet and stayed up.
and Everton whilst the relegated clubs were Bristol City, Derby County and Bolton Wanderers. Immediately below the Albion in 17th? Manchester City. Bring it on. TAM. Mark Brailsford
@Treason_Show
The final league table in 1979/80 placed Brighton & Hove Albion in 16th (out of 22). Below them were Stoke
Mark Brailsford
(Image: Wikipedia)
(Image: Peter Ward Soccer)
Peter Ward
As part of the Brighton Shakespeare Company, Mark appears in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, at the Brighton Open Air Theatre (BOAT), from August 2nd-6th, 2017. Tickets: www.ticketsource.co.uk
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Brighton & Hove Albion 1977/78 Back row: Ken Gutteridge.
Assistant manager.
Former Burton Albion boss who joined Brighton and encouraged Peter Taylor to sign Peter Ward.
Ken Tiler. Defender.
27. Dropped after 16 League games before returning to right-back towards the end of the season.
Mark Lawrenson. Defender.
20. A £111,111 signing from Preston in June 1977. Likened to Franz Beckenbauer by boss Alan Mullery.
Ian Mellor. Forward
27. Hit three goals in four games in October but dropped and sold by February.
Andy Rollings. Defender.
22. Tall and powerful centre back who made 24 League appearances.
Eric Steele. Goalkeeper.
20. Enjoyed a great first full season at the Goldstone, impressing with his reliability.
Peter Grummitt. Goalkeeper. 34. Forced to retire in December but played in his own benefit match in May.
Chris Cattlin. Defender. 31. Versatile and reliable defender who switched from left-back to right-back to accommodate Gary Williams.
Gary Williams. Defender. 23. A pre-season injury meant his Albion debut was delayed but he made the number three shirt his own.
Sammy Morgan. Forward.
21. Supersub scored four of his five goals from off the bench, including an unforgettable late brace against Sunderland.
Peter Ward. Forward.
22. Grabbed two hat-tricks, including one for England Under-21s against Norway, in September 1977.
Brian Horton. Midfielder.
28. His penalty against Blackpool gave the Seagulls victory on the final day.
Alan Mullery. Midfielder.
30. Did not feature in the season. Was sold to Cambridge United in August.
In his second season as Albion boss.
Graham Winstanley.
22. Scored a late equaliser at Southampton on opening day of Division Two campaign.
Defender.
29. Volleyed in the second goal of the 3-1 victory over Spurs in April.
George Aitken. Coach.
Originally arrived in the summer of 1976 as trainer -coach under Peter Taylor.
Front row: Tony Towner. Winger.
22. Towner regained his place against Spurs in November and was first choice thereafter.
Other players who made appearances for the Albion in 1977/78 were Gerry Fell, Graham Moseley, Malcolm Poskett and Peter Sayer. Ages correct on 1st August 1977.
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Eric Potts. Winger.
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John Ruggiero. Manager.
Peter O’Sullivan. Midfielder.
26. Voted Player of the Season after providing much creativity from midfield.
Glen Wilson. Trainer.
Former left-half who was caretaker manager for two games after Pat Saward’s sacking in 1973. @GoldstoneRapper
thegoldstonewrap.com
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(image: Sky Sports & The Independent)
THE LEGION OF FOREIGN ALBION PLAYERS
W
ith Atletico Madrid due to visit the Amex in August, I thought I would have a look at some of the previous visits by overseas teams. There has been a surprising number over the years…
to quell an uprising. The Hungarians included Hidegkuti and Zakarias, both of whom had played in the 1954 World Cup Final. This was followed with a game in March 1957 against Banik Ostrava of Czechoslovakia.
The first excursion by a foreign team was on Boxing Day 1904. Athletique Parisien, representing the French FA, were beaten 9-1 and we had to wait until 1950 for another foreign encounter, when Galatasaray came to the Goldstone (5-2). Later that season, the club celebrated the Festival of Britain with games against Nancy (France) and Hamborn 07 (West Germany).
Benefit Funds were popular in the late 1950s and two games were played in March and April 1960, with proceeds going to the Albion Players Benefit Fund, in the shape of more exotic opposition in Djurgarden (Sweden) and Fluminense from Brasil.
Spartak Brno from Czechoslovakia were the next visitors, in January 1966. A Czech works side, we were told in the programme notes that they ‘play very good, typical Czech football with short passes and technical high ability’.
Next up was the grand opening of the Goldstone floodlights in 1961. On 10th April, the Danish side Frem played the first illuminated contest at Hove – in torrential rain, Albion won 3-1. Three weeks later the brilliantly named Wormatia Worms travelled over for another
Just ten days after England’s World Cup triumph, the international spirit continued with a friendly against Maccabi Tel Aviv from Israel, and a 1-0 defeat. The next visitors came in 1969, when the Gibraltar national team were beaten 6-0 at the start of the 1969/70 campaign.
In December 1956, MTK Budapest turned up for a game in aid of the Hungarian Relief Fund, set up after the Soviet Union had moved into the country
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floodlit extravaganza. Albion beat the Germans 3-1. In 1961/62, despite relegation, we arranged another mid-season friendly, this time against seconddivision SSV Reutlingen from West Germany (1-1).
After promotion to the top flight in 1979, Den Haag came to the Goldstone for a game in October 1979. A 1-0 win followed, with Peter Ward scoring the goal. The 1980/81 season was busy, with no less than four overseas teams heading out onto the Goldstone turf. One of these games resulted in Albion winning the highly prestigious* Jewish Chronicle Trophy. The match against Maccabi Nethanya was arranged following the transfer of Moshe Gariani to Albion in May 1980 and was sponsored by The Jewish Chronicle newspaper – Albion won 2-0. The other three overseas sides to visit that season were Sparta Rotterdam, NAC Breda and FC Groningen, all from Holland. The Nigerian national side were beaten 5-1 at the start of the 1981/82 season and that was it for overseas visitors until October 1990 when Dinamo Minsk came
(image: Goal.com)
With a gap in the fixture list in February 1973, Albion entertained the Soviet Union team Spartak Moscow. This was the 174th overseas fixture for the Russian team but they were sent packing, Freddie Goodwin scoring the only goal of the game.
across from Russia. This was also as a result of a player transfer, this time Sergei Gotsmanov. We had been out to Minsk the previous summer and the return fixture saw a 2-1 defeat for the Seagulls, Mike Small hitting the target. The transfer of Stefan Iovan to Albion in 1991/92 also came with an international friendly as part of the bargain. Steaua Bucharest provided a stern test for Barry Lloyd’s men, but an entertaining game saw Albion win 5-4. In February of the same season, a New Zealand touring party came out 2-0 victors. The following season was the beginning of very difficult times for the club but we still found time to bring over the Croatian side
Inker Zapresic. This was a welcome respite from the troubles in their own country but we didn’t extend too much charity, winning 3-2! Fast forward 20 years and we have the next overseas team to play Albion, this time at the Amex. Villareal became the first Spanish side to play us in Brighton and over 12,000 saw the Spaniards win 3-1. Sevilla came to Sussex in August 2015, a Tomer Hemed goal giving Albion the victory. This was followed in 2016 with a friendly against Lazio. So there we have it, Atletico Madrid will continue a (very) long tradition of foreign sides coming to play Albion. Long may it continue. TAM. Ian Hine
@Hiney2708
Ian Hine Ian Hine is a self-confessed Albion anorak now living in Southampton. His first game was in August 1968 and he’s been collecting programmes ever since. In a moment of madness eight years ago, he thought it would be a good idea to digitise his whole collection. He’s still scanning! * this may not actually be true.
www.seagullsprogrammes.co.uk
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The ‘Stocko Saga’ has ended and we’ve signed a playmaker from the Bundesliga who last season created more goal scoring opportunities than Robert Lewandowski. Here’s my take on the rest of the current squad and their futures – Premier League or not.
Beram Kayal is my favourite player from the past few seasons. I love his desire, his forward thinking and how much this club means to him. We’ll almost certainly have to warn other clubs off of both Solly March and Anthony Knockaert more than once. Solly is such an exciting prospect the Albion hierarchy won’t let him out of their sight. ‘French Tony’ will honour his commitment to our club in the wake of his father’s passing and go nowhere. Jamie Murphy leaves me torn. He can run. He can finish. He can really affect a game. But, he can’t seem to hold down a regular spot in the Championship – I wonder how he’d do in the Prem? ATTACKERS Tomer Hemed is really working hard on his game. He doesn’t only train with the squad but also has one-onone training from the ‘superior strikers’ which we often see the results from on his Instagram. It does concern me a little sometimes that he’s just lacking a bit of pace which may have bagged him a few more goals last season.
(All images: Paul Hazlewood BHAFC)
(image: Paul Hazlewood, BHAFC)
MIDFIELDERS Since TAM6, we’ve tied down Steve Sidwell and Dale Stephens to new deals. We’ve been linked with John Terry, Jermaine Defoe and Robert Snodgrass…
the top-flight. His finishes against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough and the Amex against Ian Holloway’s QPR spring to mind. Glenn Murray has openly stated gaining promotion with the Albion would eclipse the same situation with our friends up the road. Need I say any more? In closing, I genuinely think the backbone of the squad is in place for us to pick up some serious points in the Premier League. We have leaders, level heads and a team spirit unlike any I’ve ever seen following the club. We have a manager who knows the challenge that awaits us, which could very well be the most valuable piece of this puzzle. See you at the Amex! UTA. Anthony James
@AJ_BHAFC
Sam Baldock showed his goalscoring prowess in 2016/17 and that he could do a job in
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WSL2
Brighton & Hove Albion vs Sheffield American Express Community Stadium Sunday 21st May
The final game of the spring season was certainly something to cheer for the Albion Women’s team as they ran out comfortable 3-1 winners over Sheffield.
in the first minute, which eventually led to a scuffed shot from the impressive Russo from the edge of the area that was comfortably saved by Draycott.
The match may also signal the end of George Parris’ reign as manager as Albion’s search for a permanent manager looks to be drawing to a close and George himself expects a new face in charge when the 2017/18 season kicks off in September.
Albion continued to dominate possession in the opening exchanges and great interplay on the left-hand side by captain Perry and Russo saw the latter curl a shot just past the upright.
A glorious, sunny day greeted the players inside the stadium – not to mention a crowd of over 1,200 cheering on from the sidelines – and it was clear the Albion Women wanted to put on a show. Brighton were on the attack from the first whistle, winning a corner
The home side were nearly caught short on eight minutes and only a last-ditch sliding tackle by Young prevented Cain a clean shot on goal having been put through. This was to be the only real scare Albion would encounter during the first half as they started to rally without really testing the Sheffield goal.
Vicky Ashton-Jones
They should have taken the lead on 13 minutes as Somes played in Natkiel, who rounded the keeper and squared to Russo on the penalty spot. With her back to goal, she swiveled but couldn’t direct her shot on target with the goal gaping. After 21 minutes Albion finally got the goal they deserved. Russo was played into the right-hand channel where she picked out Natkiel in the penalty area with a delightfully chipped cross in between two Sheffield defenders. If the delivery was brilliant, Natkiel’s cushioned curling volley back into the corner was exceptional and certainly one fitting the fine host stadium. A second goal followed on 32 minutes. A corner whipped into the six-yard box by Perry was headed into her own net by Owen, under great pressure by Young, who was initially credited with the goal. Two nearly became three just a couple of minutes later as a cheeky one-two between Natkiel and Thomas saw Thomas then play Russo through on goal only to be denied by a late flag from the official. Sheffield would have a couple of speculative shots as the half drew to a close but in truth, Albion should
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The second half was played at a slightly slower pace than the first, most likely due to the heat on the pitch, but it was still Albion creating the chances when they came, more often than not by Russo, who saw a lovely turn and solo run come to nothing, later on flashing a shot wide when through on goal. As the game was drawing to a close Byrne in the Sheffield goal really started to earn her money as she made a succession of good saves to deny Natkiel and Russo on more than a couple of occasions. On 86 minutes, Russo fittingly got the goal she deserved with a stunning 20-yard curling shot into the top corner, which left Byrne with no chance. This was to be Russo’s last game for the Albion as she leaves for the US where she has earned a ‘soccer’ scholarship. And it was a brilliant way for her to sign off with the club as all ten Albion players came to congratulate her.
(All images: Geoff Penn)
have taken a greater lead into the half-time break. A superb passing move from back to front, then left to right, eventually saw Thomas end up with the ball at her feet, and although her effort was on target, Sheffield had enough bodies in the way to prevent a goal.
Kirsty Barton
Sheffield won a penalty at the death. Faye Baker, the substitute keeper, was brought on to try and emulate the previous game where she saved a penalty against Doncaster Rovers Belles, but alas, it was not to be as Ward sent Baker the wrong way and dispatched her kick into the bottom left-hand corner with what proved to be the last kick of the game. Despite the late goal there is plenty to be positive about as the Spring Series draws to a close with the Albion finishing unbeaten in their last two games and ending up solidly in mid-table. There will be changes going into the 2017/18 season, but the
Laura Rafferty
players will take heart from how they have performed through the campaign. Captain Sophie Perry, spoke about the importance of the team taking their chances as they go into the new season, as well as how the team have settled at this level and know what to expect going forward. If Albion compete like this next season they may well be the team to watch in what promises to be an exciting division. TAM. Dean Kilford
@TAMRadioShow Alessia Russo
There was still time for some late drama as
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