Issue 9 October 2017
The Editor As I write, the full-time whistle has just sounded at Dean Court, the Albion losing to AFC Bournemouth for the second time in four days, in the League Cup. It may be a competition we could realistically win, but most of us, I think, will settle for the old cliché of ‘concentrating on the league’. The away end was completely sold out but almost half the seats were left empty as supporters gobbled up the loyalty points – but not the Hampshire sea air. There were people who genuinely wanted to go but missed out because they didn’t have enough points. We’re where we want to be and everyone, it would appear, wants a piece of the big-time pie. I understand the need to rack up ‘loyalty’ points, but spare a thought for your fellow fan. Buying a ticket and not attending the match simply isn’t cricket. The club’s historic first Premier League victory was also the last Saturday 3pm
home kick-off until DECEMBER 2nd, a wait of almost of three whole months. Sundays and Mondays it is until Liverpool visit the coast then. Thanks Mr Murdoch. But, let’s be positive. The Albion Mag is growing. We now have a website, www.thealbionmag.com (work-in-progress so please be gentle!), plus a radio show – hosted by the excellent Dean Kilford and featured on page 17 of this magazine – on 1BrightonFM every Saturday morning at 11am on 101.4FM, DAB and online at www.1BrightonFM.co.uk. Has it sunk in that we’re a Premier League club yet? Not quite for me, unless I think of kick-off times and loyalty points…
ontents C P3 – Editorial P4/5 – The beauty of blue and white stripes P6/7 – Where are they now? P9 – Are Women Equal? P12/13 – Two of our own P14/15 – Premier League pinball P19 – Whole different ball game P20/21 – Joe McBride’s Match Reports P22/23 – An Evening With Booker & McGhee P25 – Brighton & Hove Albion in (almost) 1,000 words P26/27 – The real deal P29 – A star in the making P30/31 – Different is good P33 – Kilimanjaro P34- Cont... Brighton & Hove Albion 35/37 – in (almost) 1,000 words(almost) P38/39 – Jeff Minton P41 – Non-League matters P42/43 - When football meets show business P44/45 – Away days have changed a bit P46/47 – Brighton But Only at Home’s – ‘classic away ground’ P50/51 – A letter (sort of) from America P53 – Booker review P54/57 – Albion in the Community P58/59 – Goldstone Wrap P60/61 – Seagulls and Magpies – A rivalry in programmes P63-65 – Grabbing the headlines P66 – An overreaction
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Always and forever. UTA. Dan Tester
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Disclaimer: Opinions are of the contributor, not necessarily The Albion Mag.
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It’s All About The Stripes Are you a collector? For some people it’s antiques, for others it’s paintings. But it could be snowglobes, stamps or even old chocolate bar wrappers. Seriously. However, my friend Carl collects something that readers of this august publication will, no doubt, find it far easier to understand: blue-and-white striped football shirts. Okay, you say, I’ve got a few Albion shirts. Me too. I’ve got the NOBO one, the Donatello and the Skint centenary model. But Carl didn’t stop there. He
from Sussex. But when he looked closer, it was a Real Sociedad jersey. He liked it and found one in his (somewhat larger) size in a local sports shop. And a quest was born. If you can name a major European club that wears blue and white stripes, Carl’s got one of their shirts. Espanyol, Deportivo, Malaga? Check. Hertha Berlin, Heerenveen (the one with the red hearts), Porto? Check. HJK Helsinki, IFK Gothenburg, Odense BK? Check. FK Mlada Boleslav away? Czech.
“ It took two seasons for the penny to drop at the Goldstone but, sure enough, we changed to stripes in 1971 and went up instantly, from division three to division two.”
has shirts from all over the world of clubs lucky enough to share the Albion’s glorious colours. It all started for Carl on a holiday in northern Spain, when he saw what he took to be a Brighton shirt, worn, he presumed, by a fellow tourist
Europe could not hold him. His current pride and joy is a Guangzhou R&F FC jersey from the Chinese Super League, although he has a soft spot for a nice Danish number from Esbjerg fB. Only one of each, of course. He doesn’t update
when, say, Nuneaton Town move from Umbro to Nike. He’s not a completest. Or crazy. He has rules, though. No hoops, no pinstripes. No shirts from potential rivals, which originally ruled out Hartlepool and Colchester, then Huddersfield and Sheffield Wednesday. Back in 1968, that wouldn’t have been an issue. Hard as it may be to believe, only one of the 92 Football League clubs wore blue and white stripes in the 1968/69 season, and that was West Bromwich Albion, whose blue was navy, so perhaps shouldn’t count. Even those clubs long associated with the design had abandoned tradition. Huddersfield had plain blue shirts, Wednesday and ourselves sported blue shirts with white sleeves. The only time you’d see proper blue and white stripes in Goal! or Football Monthly magazines would be the occasional shot of a Kilmarnock player. I’ve heard it said that it was because striped shirts were more expensive to produce, but that didn’t stop Southampton,
Nick’s latest book is out now: Brighton Up: The Inside Story of Brighton & Hove Albion’s Journey From Despair to Triumph and the Premier League tells the story of how the Albion bounced back from the heartbreak of missing out on promotion to the Premier League by the narrowest of margins last season, to achieve the ultimate goal.
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(Image: Pinterest)
in stripes. We’ve been promoted to the elite twice, both times in stripes, and relegated from it once, in plain blue. QED. Every summer there seem to be debates on the message boards about what the new kit should be, and some posters are always keen to push the merits of plain (i.e. boring) shirts. Luckily, I think Tony Bloom prefers the stripes. And why wouldn’t you? It’s a great colour scheme for a seaside club. Deckchairs. The big sky. The sea (on a very good day) and the white sand (okay, I made that up). Alternative histories are a popular fiction genres. You know, novels such as SS-GB, Fatherland and others, in which the Nazis won the Second World War, or The Guns of the South, about a Confederacy victory over the Union in the American Civil War. More
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terrifying would be one in which the Albion wore red, or yellow. Not that you can’t go wrong with blue and white stripes. The 1993/94 thin stripes were horrible, and the kit with the broad central stripe worn in the first season at Gillingham didn’t work for me at all. The Andy Pandy kit with the striped shorts of 1991/93 proved that you can have too much of a good thing. Like many people, to judge from comments on North Stand Chat, I’m not a big fan of the current Nike offering. The sleeves look odd, and the blue patch for the numbers is too wide. But it could be worse. At least we’ve got some stripes on the back again. And I have to admit that the Premier League patch on the right sleeve looks pretty good… TAM. (Image: Nike)
Stoke or Sunderland. Or the aforementioned other Albion or Newcastle. Others thought it was because teams in stripes rarely, if ever, won cups or league titles. Tell that to Barcelona, AC Milan or Argentina. The Terriers reverted to striped tradition in 1969/70 and were immediately promoted to the top flight, which should have been a lesson to all owners and chairmen about the power of lucky kits (although having Frank Worthington in their team might also have had something to do with it). It took two seasons for the penny to drop at the Goldstone but, sure enough, we changed to stripes in 1971 and went up instantly, from division three to division two. And came back down just as instantly, but that’s another story. All our promotions but one (from the old fourth division) have come
Nick Szczepanik
@NickSzczepanik
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Where are they now? Colombia. Argentina. Australia. Germany. Austria. The Netherlands. Brexit may mean Brexit may mean Brexit, but that hasn’t stopped the Albion signing players from all four corners of the globe in the last transfer window. All four corners of globe that is, except for Britain. Not one Englishman, Irishman, Scotsman or Welshman arrived at the Amex in the summer. We truly are a global club in a global game. This is all a far cry from the dream that Dick Knight and Dean Wilkins had a decade ago. They championed the idea of an entire team not just of British players, but Sussex players running out every week at a new community stadium at Falmer, all of whom would’ve come through the Albion youth system. Far-fetched? Yeah, it was really. But to say so at the time was akin to heresy. Under Wilkins’ guidance, the youth team of 2005/06 had embarked on a remarkable run to the FA Youth Cup quarter-finals, knocking out
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Premier League sides Chelsea and Blackburn Rovers along the way. That led to virtually the entire squad being handed professional contracts en masse for the 2006/07 season, with Wilkins being promoted to first team coach, replacing boss Mark McGhee by September. Understandably, Wilkins leaned heavily on this ‘golden generation’ and, alongside the likes of Adam El-Abd, Dean Hammond, Adam Hinshelwood, Jake Robinson and Dean Cox – who all came through the system a few years earlier – the home-grown XI dream took hold. The ultimate moment for them came when Northwich Victoria visited Withdean in the FA Cup first round in 2006. Ten of the 13 players Wilkins used that day were youth-team products. The Albion
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won 8-0 against their Conference opponents and seven of those goals were scored by former youth-team players: Robinson with a hat-trick, Cox with a brace and Sam Rents and Joe Gatting with their firsts for the club. But it was that FA Youth Cup clash with Chelsea that really got people excited. In a typical Albion cock up, the club heavily advertised the game at Withdean and then were completely shocked when over 3,000 people turned up to pay on the gate. The North Stand overflowed, then the North West, and eventually supporters were sprinting around the running track to take up seats in the South Stand. That Chelsea side was managed by Brendan Rodgers and contained a host of players who would go on to make it in the Premier League. Ryan Bertrand, Scott Sinclair and Jack Cork are all household names while Sam Hutchinson and a certain Liam Bridcutt are solid Championship performers.
We’ve carried out some painstaking research (30 minutes on Google) to find out where the Albion XI who beat Chelsea 2-1 that evening are now, a decade down the line in terms of time, but a million years in terms of the Albion’s progress. John Sullivan: Played 13 times in 2008/09 before spells with Millwall, Charlton and Portsmouth and a host of loans. He retired in 2015 with depression. We’re delighted to report he beat the black dog and is now an estate agent in Las Vegas. Paul Hinshelwood: Released in 2007 without playing a first-team game, he moved to Torquay United before dropping into non-league. Tommy Elphick: Played 153 times for the Albion before moving to AFC Bournemouth, whom he captained to the Premier League in 2014. Now at perennial underachievers Aston Villa. The popular defender was Player of the Season in 2007/08.
Tommy Fraser: Captain of the side, he played 78 times until being released by Russell Slade. Spells at Port Vale and Barnet followed and he has recently been on a non-league tour of Sussex including Whitehawk, Lewes, Peacehaven, Burgess Hill and Bognor. Has lost his hair at an alarming rate.
Scott Chamberlain: Played once in the Johnstone Paint Pot or whatever it was called in 2007, away at Bristol City. Now at Southern Combination League’s big spenders, Haywards Heath Town.
Sonny Cobbs: Left-back never played a game for the first team. It was actually easier to find out he passed his driving test on November 30th 2006 than it was to discover what he has been up to since. (Congratulations Sonny).
Ashley Jarvis: Is currently plying his trade in Hampshire with AFC Totton. He has also represented Sholing and Salisbury in that part of the world.
Wes Fogden: Did remarkably well to appear even the three times for the Albion given he had to have an operation to remove a tumour from his spine in mid-2006. Played professionally at AFC Bournemouth, Portsmouth and Yeovil and is now in non-league with Havant and Waterlooville.
Dan Taylor: No idea. Answers on a postcard, please
Joe Gatting: Some Albion fans were working themselves up into a frenzy before they’d even seen him in the flesh because of his scoring record at youth-team level. Made his debut away at Southampton at 18 but unsurprisingly never lived up to the expectations and instead took up cricket with Sussex and then Hampshire. Danny Leach: Now in his second spell at Hailsham Town in SCFL Division One, his goalscoring exploits have made him a firm fan favourite at the Beaconsfield. Took a year out the game to run the Brighton Marathon last year for a local hospice. TAM. Scott McCarthy
@wearebrighton
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ARE WOMEN EQUAL? Trying to be objective is difficult when you are heavily invested in a project that is close to your heart. I have long been an advocate of the women’s game and the promotion and elevation of it to the general public. Ever since I played a ‘co-ed’ match when I was working in the United States where I had the chauvinistic thought of ‘taking it easy because it’s a girl’ and then getting chopped to the floor by a crunching challenge from the aforementioned girl – I knew there was more equality to the sport than I had been taught and brought up on. You see, across the pond, women’s ‘soccer’ is a very popular sport and grew initially at a far greater rate than the
men’s game, and it is also the most popular game among young children, which encourages boys and girls to play to together. How does this relate to the Albion? Well essentially, we’ve been promised so much from the club about how they are promoting the women’s game and there is a grand plan in place to elevate the side to the equivalent level of the men’s team. In reality, there has been no real focus or publicity of the goings-on this pre-season and two big examples of this are: 1. There is no record of the first pre-season game played by
the team – try and Google it… nothing. 2. Two major players left the club recently and it took nearly three weeks for their profiles to be removed from the website – just imagine if Stockdale’s profile had remained prominent on the men’s website for three weeks after his departure! There are probably reasons unbeknown to me for the above and I understand the incredible pressure the club are under from all areas of the world following their promotion, but to me until there really is a presence and continued commitment to the women’s game it will always be an afterthought and never given the opportunity to flourish as it should. Maybe Hope will make the difference? TAM. Dean Kilford
@TAMRadioShow
(Image: Paul Hazlewood, BHAFC)
New signings Fern Whelan and Aileen Whelan display their new colours
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TWO OF OUR OWN Lewis Dunk. Solly March. Two graduates from our academy to make it to the first team. It’s a real inspiration to the hundreds of thousands of kids who want to grow up to be a professional footballer in the Premier League.
They are an exception to the top-flight norm where money and demand for instant success curtail the careers of many talented players. What are the chances of actually making it? Sadly, it is very small the higher you go up the leagues, but there is always that chance. Rashford at Man United, Davies at Everton and Ward-Prowse at Southampton are three making a name for themselves as local boys coming good and playing key roles at their local club. But, as I said, it’s very much – sadly – as rare as a rocking horse you-know-what! On a recent visit to the training ground at Lancing I had a look at the whole set-up. The youth academy is a huge operation, a brilliant one in fact, with nearly
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200 players across the age groups. In the canteen/relaxing area is a wall, with a mural of all the players who’ve made first team appearances since 2001. It features just 26 players. That’s not many at all – 26 players in 16 years, which averages at less than two a season. As We Are Brighton lament on page six, in 2006 Dean Wilkins went with the ideology of trying to get out of League One with a team made up largely of academy graduates. It was great to see, but if we were realistic and continued with that approach, we would probably still be knocking around mid-table in League One. That year against Northwich Victoria, 11 of the 16-man squad who triumphed 8-0 in the FA Cup fixture came through our system. Hinshlewood, Lynch and Mayo lined up in defence. Tommy Fraser, El Abd, Cox and
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Hammond made up the midfield, with Jake Robinson up front. A team of Sussex lads doing well for their local team. It was the stuff of dreams! It was never a team good enough to go up, but seeing that chance given to youngsters was inspiring. Fast forward to today. The first-team squad is made up of 15 different nationalities, and cost nearly £60 million to assemble. It means we can play
Lewis-Dunk
division, will he feature? I’m not sure… Nearly every week we see the Development Squad make signings from Scandinavia or Eastern Europe, which again further reduces the chances of the ‘local boy made good’ story happening again. Connolly and Mulumby played in the Carabao Cup game against Barnet, but they are from Ireland. Alzate is another one who has got the scouts excited, scoring goals at youth level and even playing League Two football for Leyton Orient’s first team. What
players in the first team. It is a tough ask, but one Dunk and March have proved can be done! The first-team squad are low on numbers in midfield and strikers so with the transfer window closed, this is the best chance for someone to make the step up. I genuinely believe we have a young, fearless wonderkid amongst our ranks, but feel their opportunity will be limited. We have invested heavily into our youth set-up, so why not give them a punt? TAM. Brett M
@BrettMendoza
are the chances of seeing him soon? Who knows? Again he isn’t a Sussex lad. Lots of kids get hyped up and never get near the first team. Look at Jack Harper, Hambo, Bjordal. I guess if a kid really wants it, they will do what it takes. So attitude, as well as talent, plays a huge role. Even with the £15 million Bloom investment into to the training complex and academy, a Sussex lad would need to come through the age groups, then do well in the Dev Squad, who scout and sign players from the world over, and then be good enough to get a spot amongst multi-million pound
Solly March
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(Image: Daily Echo)
Premier League football, but the chances of a local youngster making it are very small. Obviously Dunk and March are in, although they technically started their development at other clubs. But after that, what are the chances of someone stepping up from the academy? Forster-Caskey and Rohan Ince had a good stint in the first team, but progression to a higher level proved too much for them. Walton seems to be the next one to be hyped up. A beneficial loan spell is what he was given after signing a new long-term deal, but if we stay in the
Premier League Pinball Approximately 12 minutes in to our first-ever game in the world’s biggest league, the ‘Benny Hill’ theme music entered my mind. My head was starting to feel like that of a nodding dog in the back of a 1996 Ford Sierra. I was looking left-to-right, then up-and-down, then repeating it countless times as Manchester City moved the ball around at a pace that teams in the lower leagues of English Football could only dream of. It was abundantly clear very early on during the opening stages of our historic campaign that if you don’t get the ball and move it on, you lose it. Every mistake carries a very real risk of being punished. That is the basis for my latest TAM offering. It was of no surprise to any Albion fan that both the speed of play and the sheer intensity of each game was to increase. The curtain raiser against the team favourites to be crowned champions proved this to be more than true. On the subject of the Manchester City game, I personally thought that to last 70 minutes with the score level against a team that dwarfed the cost of the stadium they were playing in, was a great showing from our players. Two defensive errors cost us what could have been an incredibly newsworthy point. Only conceding two still shows a statement of intent – in this humble fan’s opinion. Some stats for you now… In our
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last game in the Championship promotion campaign, we managed 47% possession and 15 shots on goal against Steve Bruce’s Aston Villa (I won’t recap anything further from that day). If you compare that to the game against Pep Guardiola’s men the gulf is not only clear, but quite simply astonishing. A one-sided split in the possession numbers of 22-78 and our six shots to City’s 14. It was no surprise the pace was going to move up a gear or two and this trend certainly continued with our first away outing in the 2-0 defeat to Leicester City. It’s clear to see that some players have massively improved between this game and our next two results. Then came Watford away. A game in which we (again, in my humble opinion) let the rest of the Premier League know we aren’t simply here to make up the numbers. We aren’t here to be cannon fodder to the 19 other teams to take aim and fire at. We’re here to compete and we’re here to stay up. I thought it would be good to do this article before and after
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a game – almost in two parts. As a result of this, I’m now sat back down revelling in the glory of our first Premier League win. What a win it was. Goals can be like buses in the top flight of English Football. We waited over 310 minutes for one and then three seemed to arrive at once… After Pascal Gross scored a fantastic brace to put the Albion 2-0 up, when Tomer Hemed snuck the ball past Ben Forster in the West Bromwich Albion goal for our Albion’s third, something inside me said “that was it”. Watford was the range-finder, but West Bromwich Albion at our Amex fortress was the pinnacle of our baptism to the Premier League. Everything was present and correct in a performance that just needed a bit of time to arrive. The players moved the ball around with total confidence. They looked sharp, they looked focused. Most importantly, they looked like they BELIEVED. The full-time
cup runs and I’d therefore love to see Albion string some decent results together away from the Premier League. Looking at the stats from that game, the win was deserved. It was warranted. It was even admitted by Tony Pulis in his post-match interviews that “the better team won on the day”. We had six attempts on target (12 in total), which was equal to the total amount from the previous three games. The atmosphere was electric and I echo exactly what Chris Hughton said in his programme notes: “We’ve all had an indication of how difficult the Premier League
(Image: The Teleggraph)
whistle was a fantastic moment to be a part of and I will cherish it forever, as I’m sure we all will. Our next two fixtures involve the same team – AFC Bournemouth. We meet the Cherries at the Vitality Stadium in both Premier League and Carabao Cup action. Both games are sure to be incredibly different due to both the chance to rest regular first-team players and the totally different mentality managers have towards the cup competitions. I’m not saying that’s wrong but I’m quite the traditionalist when it comes to
can be and we’ll certainly need you backing the team every step of the way. I’ve said it before, your support really can make a difference…” UTA. TAM. Anthony James
@AJ_BHAFC
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Whole different ball game Sun shining! Fires raging! Crowds roaring! The scenes at Leicester’s opening home game of the season felt more like the beginning of the Olympics or a music concert. It was the weirdest experience as I walked up the stairs to view our first Premier League away game, and I had to take a moment to make sure I wasn’t at a Kasabian gig, with the booming sounds of the Leicester band’s Club Foot, which all football fans will recognise from the theme music for Sky’s Super Sunday programme. It was quite a spectacle and even as an away supporter, this really revved me up for another 90 minutes of Premier League football that would be added to the club’s CV. This was a complete change to what Brighton supporters had seen in previous fixtures in the Championship. Opening home games were always special because there was so much hope. Every team started at the same place with
promotion to the Premier League being the potential aim come the end of the season. No club ever felt it necessary to place 12 fire cannons around the pitch to celebrate their opening fixture. But that was the Championship and this is the Premier League. There were many aspects of the best league in the world that Albion fans were aware of and were anticipating for the first time in their life of supporting the club – although we mustn’t forget Albion were in the top division for four years from 1979. Monday night fixtures, Super Sunday and Match of the Day all being the aspects of the league
Cain Suleyman, 18, is a student at the BRIT School, London, studying Musical Theatre and Photography.
that first come to mind. But fireworks and fireballs? We knew that one of the biggest differences in the Premier League would be the money and this is shown in the pre-match build up. Manchester City’s opening game ended in a large smog cloud that filled the pitch due to flares being set off around the stands. As we are adjusting to life in the Premier League, we are very much made aware of how different the league is both during the match, and before the game has even started. TAM.
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(Image: goal.com)
Joe McBride’s match reports ALBION 0-2 MANCHESTER CITY 12/08/2017
LEICESTER 2-0 ALBION 19/08/2017
Back in the big time
Foxes capitalise on timid Brighton A slow start from the Albion left them chasing right from the off after a first-minute goal from Shinji Okazaki gave Brighton a mountain to climb. Other than a goal disallowed for offside from Glenn Murray, Albion weren’t much of a threat and after the break, new Leicester signing Harry Maguire doubled the home side’s advantage. The result sees Brighton slip to their second successive top-flight defeat. However, they have faced two recent champions in a tough start.
(Image: Paul Hazlewood)
Brighton’s 34-year absence from top-flight football came to an end with a defeat at home to Manchester City. An emotional day was matched with an admirable effort from the Albion, frustrating City for 70 minutes. A resilient Albion were punished after a mistake from Dale Stephens lead to a Sergio Agüero opener and it was quickly followed by an own goal from Lewis Dunk. There were many positives to take from a spirited performance.
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ALBION 1-0 BARNET (CARABAO CUP) 22/08/2017
Tilley grabs first senior goal Substitute James Tilley opened his account as a rotated Brighton side did enough to progress into the next round. The young winger was first to react and tap in Liam Rosenior’s parried shot. Against the run of play, Barnet almost forced extra-time after an effort deflected on to the post. Anthony Knockaert got a good 45 minutes under his belt as he continued his comeback from an ankle injury and seems to be available for his first start of the season ahead of Watford.
(Image: Sky Sports)
WATFORD 0-0 ALBION 26/08/2017
ALBION 3-1 WEST BROMWICH 09/09/2017
Two points lost on the road
Gross shines as Brighton claim first victory (Image: Foxes of Leicester)
Brighton won their first top -flight match for 34 years as Pascal Gross scored a brace, and set up the third, in an emphatic win. A tidy finish at the end of the first half and a low driven effort at the start of the second gave Albion a comfortable lead. Hemed nodded in Brighton’s third as they ended their goal-drought. West Brom pulled one back via substitute James Morrison but it was just a consolation. continued on page 37 >
(Image: You Tube)
Brighton earned their first Premier League point on a day they should’ve claimed their first win. Watford were reduced to ten men early on after a disgraceful challenge from Miguel Britos on Anthony Knockaert, who was fortunate not to be injured. Albion hit the post twice through Knockaert and Hemed but a fortunate Watford held out. The wait for the first goal continues.
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Booker and McGhee As this very publication which you’re currently reading will attest, Brighton & Hove Albion – the club and its supporters – do like to do things a little differently. It’s not the guiding reason as to why we all support the club, but it does add an extra layer of satisfaction to the whole zeitgeist we are currently going through. So to that end, why would you put on a radio show where one of the features is to visually identify a football shirt? Why would you have a football biography launch and booksigning where the main subject dresses up as a rock star and mimes to a Queen record? Because this is the Albion. And this is what we do. Former Albion assistant manager Bob Booker has had his biography written and
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published by lifelong Brentford fan Greville Waterman (Ooh Ahh – the Bob Booker Story: see our review on page 53), and they were looking for ways to promote and sell it. For our part, Ady and I had long wanted to have serial raconteurs Booker and McGhee up on stage to entertain the audience. A perfect opportunity presented itself. One issue: how would Mark McGhee, still plying his trade in senior management within international football, feel about coming along merely to tell old stories? As a matter of fact, although not apparently noted for returning phone calls quickly, he immediately jumped at the chance to spend some time with his old mucker. On 6th September they teamed up for an night of hilarity, joviality and reminiscing at Komedia in Brighton to record ‘An Evening With Booker & McGhee’ for The Albion Roar, in front of an attentive audience. Over 120 headed into town to listen to tales of yore, scenes behind the scenes, and mischievous mirth-making from
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the days at Portakabin Central. It was fascinating watching the dynamic of two old friends as they caught up properly for the first time in quite a while. Naturally, for a strapping 6’4” London geezer, and a hardened Weegie, the first thing they did immediately post-rehearsals (yes, we did rehearse – a bit...) was to head to the pub. The nearby William IV on the corner of Bond Street and Church Street has had a recent clear-out and facelift – of decor and clientele alike – and Booker and McGhee parked themselves in the corner, almost ready to hold court. Incredibly, no-one recognised them. Except us, of course. What became apparent very quickly is how much time, respect and affection they both still have for each other. Bob still looks up to Mark, if not physically, while there is an almost imperceptible, though definite, air of McGhee looking out for his wee brother. Indeed, while we were downing our first pint of the evening (our only one before the show began, thank you), we felt we were intruding
on two long-lost souls catching up on something private. The evening itself was a riotous bout of Booker’s stories: “Hey Mark, do you remember that time when...?”, “Let me tell about the time when me and Micky...”, “Oh, don’t get me started on Leon...” (pot of salt to hand, if you please). Mark’s dour but brilliantly-timed comic interventions, serious stories from the training ground (his ongoing respect and appreciation for Adam Virgo was a story in itself), and daft impersonations. At one point during the show, McGhee firmly denied he could ever do impressions, only for him to later be impersonating a former player whom he once threw off the team bus... We managed to get over two hours of outrageously tall stories (some taken straight from Booker’s biography), tales of
derring-do, together with a masterclass from Mark McGhee in football tactics and awareness. Our show sponsor, Phil Shelley of oldfootballshirts. com paraded two ‘Shirt of the
Week’ offerings. His catwalking skills do need polishing, mind... The evening was finished off – but of course – with Bob Booker resurrecting his Freddie Mercury impersonation. The
sweat-charged rendition of We Will Rock You at such close quarters is something to behold. And a little scary. At the end, he announced that that was going to be the last-ever public performance of Booker-doesMercury. The clothes are heading back to the costumehire shop, and the mic prop will be hung up, pride of place, for all to see, but none to touch. We recorded the evening for posterity, and we’ll broadcast the best (and most allowable) bits on air sometime during the autumn. Our thanks to Bob, Mark, Greville, Phil and all staff at Komedia for their assistance in putting the show on, and to all who came along to support the event. We hope you had a good evening. TAM. Alan Wares
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The Albion Mag Radio Show is broadcast live, every Saturday at 11am, on 1BrightonFM. Covering all things Brighton & Hove Albion, host Dean Kilford welcomes special guests each week and brings us up to speed with the local non-league scene too. Music on the hour-long show is brought to you by local label, Jalapeno Records. Listeners can interact with the show on North Stand Chat, or via the Shoutbox on www.1BrightonFM.co.uk. Listen: www.1BrightonFM.co.uk DAB 101.4FM
Brighton & Hove Albion in (almost) 1,000 words
(Image: The-Argus)
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club’s history is illustrious, bizarre, tragic, tumultuous and heart-warming. Endeavouring to fit all the promotions, relegations, ups, downs, boardroom struggles, protests, ground moves and sheer do-or-die tension into a thousand words is going to be tricky! The club played their first Premier league game, a 2-0 defeat, on Saturday 12th August, 2017 – against the planet’s richest club, Manchester City – at their world-class stadium in Falmer. Back in 1897, the first whiff of professional football circulated in the twin towns when Brighton United were formed and competed in the Southern League. Interest was low and they folded before completing their
Charlie Webb
second campaign, to be usurped by Brighton & Hove Rangers. The amateur outfit played at Withdean but dissolved before their inaugural season in the Southern League in 1901/02. On Monday 24th June 1901, United’s former boss John Jackson decided to go for third time lucky and chaired a meeting at the Seven Stars public house in Ship Street: Brighton & Hove United were born. Taking up Rangers place in the Southern League, ‘United’ became ‘Albion’ before a ball was kicked, due to rumblings from Hove FC, who they would eventually oust from the Goldstone in 1904 – the same year the famous blue and white stripes were adopted. In 1910, Albion lifted the Southern League title, which meant a Stamford Bridge date with Aston Villa to contest the Charity Shield – much more important in those days and played between the winners of the country’s two professional leagues. A late goal from club legend Charlie Webb and the Albion were crowned the ‘Champions of England’.
(Image: The-Argus)
I was recently asked to condense Albion’s colourful history into a thousand words for September’s Preston Pages. It wasn’t easy!
Tug Wilson
Another crucial bit of Albion history materialised around this time: a march written by William Ward-Higgs – Good Old Sussex by the Sea – became the club’s anthem. It’s still played to this day as the teams run out at the American Express Community Stadium. Albion entered the Football League, in Division Three (South), in 1920 and it’s fair to say they didn’t exactly set the world alight over the next four decades. Apart from Tommy Cook’s net bulgers, Hugh Vallance’s confidential indiscretion that cost him his job (after banging in over 30 goals in one season), and club secretary continued on page 34 > 1910 Charity Shield Winners
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The real deal Four points from our opening four games in the Premier League - at the time of writing sitting comfortably above the relegation zone at this admittedly early stage, and four points clear of our friends from Croydon – I think, overall, we’d all have taken that start to life among the big boys. Literally while I was writing that sentence, the news broke that Palace have sacked Frank De Boer after an epically pointless, and indeed goal-less, 77-day spell in the hot seat. That makes him the shortest-reigning manager in Premier League history, and comes just a day after the ‘mighty’ Eagles became the first top-flight club since Preston in 1924/25 to open the season with four straight defeats and no goals. Compared to that, I think we as Albion fans can find plenty to be cheerful about right now. Sure, there was the much talked about failure to add a new striker or two to the squad on Deadline Day but, given what we saw from Pascal Gross at the weekend and Davy Pröpper for the Netherlands last week, plus the fact that we haven’t really seen what Jose Izquierdo can do yet, I think there are enough options among the players we do have to keep us going until January. As well as the Albion being four games into life in the
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Premier League, I’m also four games into my new life as a long-distance fan and it would be fair to say that, before Saturday at least, I was struggling to settle into my new role about as much as Albion had struggled to settle into their new division. As much as I’m obviously happy about us getting off the mark and getting that first crucial win in the bag, I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a tinge of regret that I wasn’t there myself to experience it. That said though, from seeing us featured heavily on Football Focus right the way through to watching the highlights of our win on Match of the Day, Saturday did serve as a timely reminder that following a Premier League club from afar isn’t quite as difficult and isolating as it might once have been – it may not be quite the same as being there, but there are plenty of ways in which I can stay close to what is going on. As I have been reminded just a couple of times though, we may have started better than some clubs, but there are also plenty, including my neighbours of a Magpie persuasion, who have got out of the blocks a little quicker than we’ve managed to. I mentioned in a previous column of having heard at least a few Toon fans talk about how they’re
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aiming for European qualification this season and what we’ve seen so far doesn’t seem to have dampened that enthusiasm. Perhaps, if they were to lose to a fellow newly-promoted club in the near future, it might bring them back to reality slightly, as well as giving me some useful bragging rights! Speaking of coming back to reality, I was reading a thread on North Stand Chat over the weekend where numerous posters were talking about how us being in the Premier League somehow doesn’t seem quite real yet, and I have to say I understand that view. Perhaps it’s different for those Albion fans who remember the last time we were in the top flight, but for those of us from a younger generation (I was born in 1984, so a year after our last relegation from the then-Division One), who have mainly seen lower league football and an occasional glamorous cup draw, the Premier League has always seemed to be almost on a different planet. Even over the last few years where our strong performances in the Championship had made it a more realistic possibility, there was part of me that just couldn’t quite imagine seeing Brighton at the pinnacle of English football (outside of Football Manager, at least). Even now, it all seems like a strange novelty – seeing our name on the fixture
list opposite the biggest clubs in the country, being able to see our highlights on Match of the Day rather than Channel 5, and seeing major newspapers like Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport publish their European Team of the Week which shows Pascal Gross getting a better rating than Lionel Messi or Neymar! Of course, there will be times during the season when there isn’t so much positivity – where that novelty will very much have worn off – but in those times just consider the words of Tim Carder on Football Focus: “Even if the worst does happen at the end of the season, at least we’ve still got a club.” Oh, and at least we’re not Crystal Palace. TAM. Steve Brewer
@SteveJB84
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A star in the making Albion fan Elliott Hasler, one of the UK’s youngest up and coming film directors, has completed his first feature film, Charlie’s Letters, aged 16, after a three-year production. The film premiered in Brighton as part of the Fringe Festival, selling out six of the seven showings, and was also as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Shot over five countries, Charlie’s Letters is an epic depiction of his great-grandfather Charlie Standing’s wartime experiences. Brightonian Charlie was a Private in the Royal Hampshire Regiment and in 1943 he was sent to Tunisia where he was subsequently captured during the ferocious and unsung battle of Sidi Nsir. He was then sent to various camps in Italy as a POW and after the signing of the Italian Armistice, simply walked out of the camp; alone and in an alien world, miles from home. Over
the next 18 months he journeyed south, evading Germans, living with peasants and fighting with the underground resistance, while his wife and young son anxiously awaited news back in Brighton. In August, the film was shown on the Brighton Beach Big Screen alongside La La Land, T2 Trainspotting and Beauty and the Beast. Later that month Elliott took the film to the Edinburgh Fringe where he became the youngest ever feature film director to participate in the festival, thus making him one of, if not the, youngest feature film director in the UK. The film itself has been hailed as ‘a great achievement’ that is ‘way beyond his years’.
New York film critic Graham Fuller said in his review for Culture Trip magazine; “Hasler has pulled off a miracle” and that in “five years” time, he could be a “world beater”. Charlie’s Letters is a film about very ordinary people forced to make harrowing and remarkable journeys in pursuit of ordinary, peaceful lives. Watch the film, and experience some of Hasler’s other work, which includes a documentary about the former Mayor of Brighton and a short film about the Syrian Refugee Crisis (which has been selected for the Camden Roundhouse ‘And Now What?’ Festival), at www.relsahproductions.co.uk. TAM.
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Different view Along with many thousands of the Albion faithful, we went along to the Amex for the last of the pre-season friendlies against Atletico. It was great to be back after an absence of some three months and as usual we had an excellent time; our first chance to see the new signings and to welcome world-class players like Griezmann and Torres to our amazing stadium. Sadly, for the first 15 minutes or so, for me it felt as if
routine. We weren’t in our usual seats in the East Stand but were over in the wild West and it wasn’t just me and the teen at the match, we’d taken a few friends along too. With this realisation and a swift adjustment to my own, scarily blinkered, mindset, Bruno, Dunk and Duffy all miraculously moved back into their rightful positions. But, it did get me thinking about how we are often disinclined to see things from a different perspective, how even
“ It’s very uncertain what the next eight months hold for us; definitely an adventure into the great unknown, but let’s enjoy this journey and celebrate the achievement of getting to the Premier League”
something was not quite right. And I couldn’t work out what it was. We were defending well, if not necessarily playing havoc with the Atletico defence. But Bruno was on the wrong side of the pitch, Duffy and Dunk had swapped positions and there were four faces playing in the rather fetching (in my view) Albion alternative kit who I didn’t instantly recognise. It was all a bit disconcerting. And then the penny dropped, we’d changed our matchday
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a seemingly unimportant change can leave us feeling out of sorts. And for our kids, autumn is a time of great change; some starting school, others making the transition from primary to secondary, venturing into the great unknown of independent living as they head for university, or into the world of work. From the moment our babies are born we are encouraged to get them into a routine of sleeping, eating, even playing at defined times. To live life
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according to boundaries and parameters. For many of us that continues into adulthood; how many breakfasts, lunches and dinners have you eaten out of habit not hunger? When our kids head off to school they’re expected to conform to institutionalised behavioural norms. It’s a known – and sad – fact that creative thinking is replaced by analytical processing as kids progress through the education system. Something likely to get worse at a time where the arts are seen as incidental to English, maths and science in the core school curriculum. Our bright, sparky kids who continually ask why, where and how are often labelled as challenging. But isn’t questioning the norm a good thing? Isn’t this the basis of invention and progress? How can we develop our leaders and entrepreneurs of the future if they’re taught from an early age that habit and routine are the way to go.
How can we support our kids to see something different as a good thing? And what impact does this have as they grow up because let’s be honest, it’s not just an age thing. We all know adults who will go to any lengths to avoid being out of their comfort zone. As a child, the teen was fairly adverse to change – now he takes it in his stride. This was wonderfully demonstrated during the summer when he spent two weeks in London on work experience at the Football Republic, an online media channel celebrating all that is good – and often hilarious – in the beautiful game: thefootballrepublic.com. Two weeks among complete strangers in a completely foreign
environment, something that a year ago would have caused him great anxiety. So what’s changed? He lives in a household where not only is it OK to challenge and to ask why but it’s actively encouraged. He has a strong network of friends and family, he knows it’s OK to say ‘I don’t understand’ without fear of ridicule. He lives among people prepared to admit when they get things wrong, apologise when they do, learn from the experience and then move on. Above all, he’s encouraged to try and see life from the ‘other side of the pitch’, to recognise the view you get just depends on where you’re sitting at the time, that different doesn’t equate to wrong. It’s enabled him to see
change simply as life from a different perspective rather than something to be feared, an adventure rather than a threat. It doesn’t feel dissimilar to the situation currently facing the Albion. It’s very uncertain what the next eight months hold for us; definitely an adventure into the great unknown, but let’s enjoy this journey and celebrate the achievement of getting to the Premier League. And as for those new faces sporting the Albion kit, let’s just say that after the West Brom match this weekend I’m starting to rather like them!. TAM. Sandra Murphy
@BizDocSxCoast
Sandra loves living in Brighton, where she works as a Business Doctor. Now heading for her second year as an Albion season ticket holder, she’s optimistic the success she brings to local businesses, working with them to build teams and achieve goals, will be replicated on the pitch.
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This is Doug Lawson at the peak of Kilmanjaro with his dad after a six-day hike to the summit. “We trained using the 114 stairs up to WSU every fortnight for the past six years!�
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Albert Underwood forgetting to enter his team into the 1932/33 FA Cup, resulting in entry at the preliminary stage and heavy victories over local rivals, including a 12-0 trouncing of Shoreham, Albion plodded along quite happily until 1958, when promotion to the Second Division was finally secured for the first time when local lad – and reserve-team striker – Adrian Thorne smashed in five to beat Watford 6-0 at the Goldstone. Fans were flocking to Hove and 36,747 – the largest ever home gate – welcomed Fulham on December 27th 1958. The momentum on the pitch couldn’t keep up with the growing attendances and Albion suffered consecutive relegations and ended up in the bottom tier by 1963. With the club in the doldrums,
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something rather spectacular happened: a full England international, Bobby Smith, signed for manager Archie Mccaulay. In today’s footballing landscape, it’s the equivalent of Jamie Vardy signing for Forest Green Rovers in League Two. The big striker’s goals played an important part in promotion, which was achieved again in 1972. One season in Division Two and it was back to familiar territory in the third tier. Then Brian Clough arrived briefly, and left, to be followed by ex-England captain Alan Mullery – and Peter Ward. Two promotions, plus the Palace rivalry intensifying, and Albion made it to the top flight for the first time in 1979 – and were duly thrashed by Arsenal.
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Gordon Smith scores
Gary Stevens celebrates his equaliser
(Images: MediaStoreHouse)
(Image: VintageFootballers.com)
Dan Kirkwood
Now the Seagulls, a combination of negative management, nationwide hooliganism and simply not being good enough and the four-year sojourn was over. Not before Jimmy Melia, and his white shoes, flew into Wembley Stadium by helicopter in 1983 for one of the most unlikely FA Cup final appearances in the famous competition’s history. Gordon Smith missed a glorious chance in the last-minute of injury time to beat Manchester United. It finished 2-2 and the Red Devils scraped through the replay, 4-0. The subsequent relegation saw an inexorable decline, punctuated by a Barry Lloydinspired trip to Wembley in 1991, and a play-off final defeat to Notts County. In 1995, fan Paul Samrah discovered the club’s articles of association had been altered by despised chairman Bill Archer to allow the sale of the Goldstone Ground for profit. All hell broke loose. A riot, protests, marches through London and Brighton, Fans United, walk-outs and pitch invasions: 1996/97 in a
(Image: MediaStoreHouse)
Tony Grealish
Adrian Thorne
(Image: The Goldstone Wrap)
nutshell. Robbie Reinelt – who will never have to buy a drink in Brighton again – scored in the league-saving final-match-ofthe-season draw at Hereford United, relegating the hosts to the Conference. But where would homeless Albion compete in the fourth tier during 1997/98? Two completely soul destroying years ground -sharing at Gillingham followed, watching appalling football and campaigning vigorously to return home to Sussex. Led by Dick Knight, a diligent band of supporters started the Bring Home the Albion campaign. It worked, and in 1999 home games were to be played in Brighton again; at Withdean Stadium. Micky Adams built a team of winners and back-toback divisional championships were secured – with goalmachine Bobby Zamora leading the line – to bring second-tier football to the coast for the first time in a decade in 2002. Off the pitch, chairman Dick Knight was leading a diligent, passionate and dedicated team of supporters as they set about convincing the council, residents, and government that a new stadium should be built. Thousands of letters were
Brian Clough
continued on page 36 >
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(Image: The Goldstone Wrap)
John Crumplin
written, a political party was formed, countless leaflet drops, flowers to Downing Street from 91 clubs, postcards… A solitary season 2002/03 was spent in the Championship, under Steve Coppell, before a play-off final triumph at the Millennium Stadium in 2004. Meanwhile,
BOURNEMOUTH 2-1 ALBION 15/09/2017
Cherries blossom late Jermain Defoe’s first goal in his second spell for Bournemouth was enough to claim their opening Premier League win of the season. Brighton made the breakthrough in the second half, Solly March
(Image: Daily Mail)
Bobby Zamora
due to a minor detail involving a pie (yes, really), Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott’s decision on the new stadium was deemed invalid and it was back to the drawing board. A public inquiry lasted months and a second concluded Falmer was the only viable location for a new ground – ten years after the site was initially proposed in 1997. Tony Bloom took over from Dick in 2009, personally financing the Albion’s new home to bring down the curtain on 12 years – of no roof, rain, ponchos, an away end in Worthing, temporary seats, badgers, etc – at the
Theatre of Trees (aka Withdean). An emotionally charged crowd of over 20,000 witnessed the grand opening of the Amex – a 2-1 victory over Doncaster Rovers – on August 6th, 2011. Three failed play-off campaigns, Gus Poyet’s glass ceiling, Hyypia’s ineptitude, Bobby’s return, Vicente’s skills, the Palace coach driver’s bowels, Stockdale’s saves, pulsating atmospheres, and last -day heartbreak at Middlesbrough last year and Brighton & Hove Albion are finally back in the big time after a 34-year wait. There is an incredible team spirit and camaraderie at the club and among the fans; borne from the troubles, and exile in Gillingham. Calm and calculated manager Chris Hughton perfectly complements the shrewd business acumen and unbridled enthusiasm of Tony Bloom. Can the Albion stay in the Premier League? I think so. TAM. Dan Tester
heading in Pascal Gross’ in-swinging cross. However, substitute Jordan Ibe changed the game, teeing up Surman and Defoe to see off a valiant Albion. The away side created chances, but were unfortunate as Stephens hit the bar and both Duffy and Pröpper had efforts cleared off the line.
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M
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Cult # heroes Jeff Minton
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y latest cult hero is probably going to be the only one to have played at the Goldstone – the ultimate ‘diamond in the rough’, a vaguely skilful midfield in an era featuring some of the poorest Albion players of all time. The one and only Jeff Minton. Minton started his footballing life at Tottenham where he actually scored on his debut but only managed a single appearance after that and was released in 1994. He joined Brighton for free that summer and would go on to play over 170 games during the most dramatic and memorable period
good Division Three midfielder with a reasonable amount of technical prowess that can go a long way at that level. He scored a fair amount of goals and finished top scorer in the 1997/98 season with seven goals. He probably played his best football under Brian Horton during the club’s stint at Gillingham where he often found himself in a three-man midfield with Andy Arnott and Rod Thomas. Arnott was the grafter, Thomas was the ultimate enigmatic playmaker, and Minton was tasked with keeping the ball moving with his relatively good passing ability. He was given the opportunity to make the step up when Brian Horton signed his former player for his new side Port Vale, who at the time were playing in Division One. In truth he struggled to make the step up to that level. He managed to make just over 30 appearances in two seasons but never really established himself in the starting line-up despite moments of brilliance. He was placed on the transfer list in 2000 and left for Rotherham. He made a handful of appearances in South Yorkshire as his side secured promotion to Division One but left for Leyton Orient that summer. This is where his league career ended and in 2002 he moved to non-league Grays Athletic and wound down thereafter.
(Image: North Stand Chat)
in the club’s history. The Albion were in Division Two when he was signed by Liam Brady. I was fairly young at this time and was only really just starting to get into football. Some of the lads at my school kept on going on about this ‘amazing midfielder’ who played for Brighton with a snazzy haircut and a hooped gold earring… When I first saw him play I think I was a bit underwhelmed. I’d only really watched football on TV at that point and I quickly established that my friends’ assessment of this ‘amazing midfielder’ was largely based on his ability to occasionally control a football, sometimes being able to successfully pass to a team-mate – and attempting a ‘Cruyff turn’ from time to time. Of course, these attributes placed him absolutely lightyears ahead of his colleagues. One thing you could certainly say about him was that he at least looked like he’d actually played football before. He was probably our most talented player in the five seasons represented the club and was even voted into the PFA Team of the Year after Albion finished 17th, in Division Three (fourth tier) in 1999. Minton stood out from the crowd purely because he had a bit of nous and finesse surrounded by fairly untalented ‘grafters’ and was the only real shining light of that era. Was he actually that good? Well in truth, he was a pretty
Perhaps Minton is a tale of a player with unfulfilled potential, or perhaps he is a player who was decent at Division Three level but struggled to make an impact at a higher level, or perhaps he was just an alright player in an awful team. Or is he a combination of the three? This was an era when supporting Brighton was a never-ending struggle, an exhausting and borderline soul destroying process week in, week out featuring some of the worst Albion teams in the club’s history, and possibly some of the poorest teams in Football League history. Minton, alongside a very select few others, did manage to make the experience vaguely enjoyable and offered a slight glimmer of hope for fans, particularly those who trudged up to Gillingham for each home game. In today’s era when we’re paying to watch players that are actually quite good at football, it’s easy to forget those that paved the way and helped us out in tough times. TAM. Tom Stewart
@OfficialTStew
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The season hasn’t started too brightly for many of our clubs in Brighton and the surrounding area. As I write this, there are three teams – Whitehawk, Worthing and Shoreham – who have yet to pick up a league victory between them in a combined 17 games. Worse still, Shoreham and Worthing are yet to pick up a single point! As a result, we’ve had our first managerial casualty of the season with Jimmy Dack stepping down as Whitehawk manager after just seven games in charge. This should come as no surprise to Hawks fans with the club going through six different managers, and temporary managers, in 2016/17. Worthing’s problems have stemmed from having to play all their fixtures away from home due to their ground failing a FIFA safety test. This has caused great instability at the club which has seen a number of last season’s key players. Shoreham’s poor start is simply down to a step up in class. Even at
(Image: Cray Wanderers)
Non League Matters
Shoreham’s Middle Road this level of the football pyramid, the difference in standards and size of teams (both financially and technically) means mistakes get punished and you are allowed no time to settle. It’s not all doom and gloom though! Lewes have made an unbeaten start and look like a good entertaining team. They currently sit just two points off the top, under the guidance of a certain Darren Freeman. You know, that Darren Freeman, who famously scored the first goal of the millennium for the Albion against Exeter on 3rd January 2000! Horsham, are another club who are on the rise, sitting mid-table in the league but they stormed to the second qualifying round of the FA Cup after thrashing Ashford United 6-0 and face fellow divisional rivals Herne Bay at Culver Road on 16th September. It’s a contest I recommend, especially as Albion are away to Bournemouth next
Friday so your Saturday will be football free! Elsewhere, it’s been a mixed bag of results but what remains consistent is the entertainment provided by our non-league sides. Whenever the Albion are away and you can’t get a ticket, or the game has been moved to a Friday, or Sunday, or Monday, pop along and support your local club. They need our support to survive and the whole structure of a pyramid is that it is based on a solid foundation and our non-league clubs are that foundation. Without the bottom, there would be no top and we could be left in a crazy alternate realm of having a ‘super league’ with no promotions and relegations and essentially killing the excitement and competitiveness. Lecture over for now but… Remember – non-league matters! TAM. Dean Kilford
@TAMRadioShow
Dean Kilford 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 with guests covering all things Albion, as well as shining a spotlight on our non-league clubs.
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When football meets show business Every club seems to have supporters who just happen to be in show business and the Albion is no exception. You probably know some of them. The likes of Danny Baker (Millwall), Nick Hancock (Stoke City), Frank Skinner (West Brom), Stephen Fry (Norwich City), and Eddie Izzard (Crystal Palace), more of him later. Being a football fan in the arts wasn’t always as cool as it seems now. There was a time when admitting to be being one in an arts environment was like admitting to being lamb strangler at a vegan convention. In the 1980s, when football hooliganism was at its zenith, you simply didn’t discuss football on set or in the rehearsal space if you didn’t want to appear uncultured or touched by Neanderthal tendencies. Now, there are more JCL ‘luvvies’ on a film set than you can throw a foccacia tapenade at. So how does being an Albion fan impact a career in the arts? Well, for a start having football in common with fellow artists has often been the salvation of many an exhausting tour and had the capacity to affect my performance, depending on whether or not the Albion had won that week. During the tour
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of Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, fellow cast member Dave Mayberry would have a quick change and take a moment to listen to Final Score offstage during Saturday matinees. He would then leap back on stage next to me and tell me the result (between harmonies). To this day, if I hear a song from Joseph I think of Garry Nelson banging in the goals in our promotion season of 1987. More recently, I was working on a feature film with the brilliant Timothy Spall. It was a full on three weeks of filming, which isn’t long for a feature-length film, so
played Peter Taylor. I told him I liked the film and he asked me how I knew about Peter Taylor – I mentioned my being a fan of the
“ Mark, I’m not sure you and me are going to get on, you see I’m a Palace fan,” which broke the ice, especially when I pretended to phone my agent to get me out of there.”
time was tight and the pressure was on. Tim was great to work with but we hadn’t really had any meaningful conversations that weren’t script related or technical. Then three days in, we got chatting over a cup of tea about The Damned United, a film about Brian Clough in which he
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Albion. He looked at me with a wry grin and said: “Mark, I’m not sure you and me are going to get on, you see I’m a Palace fan,” which broke the ice, especially when I pretended to phone my agent to get me out of there. We had a good laugh and got on brilliantly from then on
(Images: WAMC, In Touch Weekly, Bucks Free Pres)
(even if he was a Palace fan). I was chippy with Eddie Izzard one Edinburgh Festival, even though I know he’s an excellent comedian. It baffled him at the time. He wasn’t to know it was because I was offended that he was a Palace fan who had the temerity to support the enemy even though he hailed from Sussex! (Sorry Eddie). Another example: I only got my FA Cup final ticket in 1983 thanks to doing sketch comedy with Roy Smiles, who is now an award-winning West End theatre playwright. We’re still friends now and this friendship led, over 30 years later, to my awardwinning turn playing Tony Hancock in The Lad Himself. This led to getting a good agent, which led to the Tim Spall film and its director then offering me
a role in a production working with Steven Berkoff (out this year). And all because of my beloved Albion. Without the combination of my job and my passion, I would probably not be writing this piece, I would not have the amazing friendships and connections I have now and at times it’s possible to think that without football, I may not even still be in show business. But, by far the most influential and beloved link, I have saved until last. When I started The Treason Show 17 years ago, there was a technician on the show named Dave Blake. He then introduced me to Paul Hodson
www.treasonshow.co.uk
and a host of wonderful people who I love dearly and still sit with at the Amex. Paul and Dave asked me to be in Brighton Til I Die which many of you saw. Being asked to perform in this much-loved production brought my professional life and passion together with perfect synchronicity. Thanks Dave, thanks Paul (not so much Eddie Izzard) and thanks to show business meeting the Albion, you helped make me the ‘luvvie’ I am today. Kiss kiss. Mark Brailsford
@Treason_Show
Mark is the founder and head honcho of The Treason Show, Brighton’s favourite satirical show. For details of forthcoming events, please visit: www.treasonshow.co.uk
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Away days have changed a bit singing all the way to London, arriving outside Brisbane Road around 90 minutes before kick-off. I made sure I had kept the admission money in a separate pocket so I could get into the ground, but in the event that precaution was totally unnecessary. Around 500 (maybe more, maybe less
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this day I have no memory of any violence at Brisbane Road. I suspect that what Leyton Orient fans were there just ran off. The crowd was just 4,664. For the record Albion won 2-1 with Brian Tawse scoring from the penalty spot and the legendary Kit Napier scoring a second-half winner, none of which I can recall. Thanks
“ For the record Albion won 2-1 with Brian Tawse scoring from the penalty spot and the legendary Kit Napier scoring a second -half winner, none of which I can recall.”
– I couldn’t give you an accurate figure) decided to smash down the gates and thus forego the admission fee. ‘We took the West Side, Orient’ was the chant. Back then, with no segregation, for most matches the challenge for the ‘hooligan element’ was to take over the home end and then sing their support from there. And if there was a fight to secure that vantage point then their day out was indeed worthwhile. As a confirmed coward I never got involved in fighting and to
(Image: Photobucket)
I think I can now officially confirm my status as an old fart, although those who know me probably confirmed that moniker some time ago. The reality is that Saturday 23rd September 2017 was the 50th anniversary of my first Albion away game. I’d seen my first match at the Goldstone in 1962, but it was only the 1965/66 season when I was first allowed to go to the ground alone. I would tell my parents that I stood on the vast East terrace, but always ended up behind the goal with those “hooligans in the North Stand” as my old mum used to call them. Going to away games was out of the question – subject not only banned but not even up for discussion. Well, sod that, I thought, as an away game at Leyton Orient loomed. In those days you could look at a British Rail timetable and rely on it, so I worked out in my 12-year-old mind that all I needed to do was get the six o’clock train back from Victoria and I would be home before dark and neither parent would be any the wiser. I took a mid-morning train to Victoria with loads of Albion fans
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to Tim Carder for the statistics. I got home as scheduled and my parents appeared to have no idea where my day out had taken me. From that moment on I was smitten with travelling to away fixtures. Sometimes by train, and occasionally on Mrs Fowler’s supporters coach, which used to leave from St Peter’s Church on Friday nights at eleven o’clock for trips to the furthest northern outposts. There were times that I even used the long forgotten art of hitchhiking to get to matches, It’s probably difficult to imagine today’s squad jumping off the team coach and handing out tickets to those who had taken the trouble to travel to the far flung outposts of Rochdale and Halifax to watch their team. But they did.
(Image: NoStanding)
From memory, Kit Napier was the man to target and we would all give him a special cheer as he exited the team coach. Tickets would be handed out and gratitude expressed that we had come this far to watch our team. Fast forward 50 years and it’s not so easy to get a ticket for an away game, especially if you don’t have a season ticket. And if you’re not driving, then you need to book your train ticket well in advance or you’ll have to explain to the spotty oik who poses as your bank manager why there were not enough funds in your account to make the mortgage payment. Oh, and you might have
to check that the game hasn’t been moved for the benefit of Mr Murdoch. If you have planned ahead and booked a reasonably priced train ticket then don’t expect a refund from the train operator if the game is moved for the Aussie’s benefit.
(Image: www.virginexperiencedays.co.uk)
The football world has changed for the fan and not for the better in my humble opinion. The days when I could queue up 90
minutes before kick-off and watch Hurst, Moore and Peters pit their skills against Charlton, Law and Best are long gone. Oh, and back then every game kicked off at three o’clock on a Saturday, which may come as a shock to younger readers of this nonsense. Don’t get me wrong – the Albion have achieved much since Hereford 1997 – and I love the football that we are playing. But the experience of the 1960s when fans and players interacted at away matches have gone forever. 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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(Image: VICE Sports)
BRIGHTON BUT ONLY AT HOME’S Classic Away Days In this column I usually pick an up and coming away game and try to recall things that happened in a long forgotten previous encounter. Often this is simple but, especially in the Premier League, it may get harder. Sure there are plenty of grounds with a wealth of stories, but there are also plenty where we’ve never actually played. Cases in point: Arsenal and West Ham United. We’ve played the teams of course but not in their current, reasonably new, homes. Do I recall a classic away at Arsenal? No. I’ve never been. We haven’t played them away since 1983 and my first ever away game was in 1987 at Southend: we lost a dreadful match and stood on an open terrace behind a goal; our coach was late; there was trouble inside and outside the ground and their burger nearly hospitalised me. I was hooked! I’ve been to West Ham plenty of times though and Upton Park even more, as it is
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Upton Park
one of three grounds where I’ve seen us play Charlton. Typically, I missed the most recent, which is just as well as it was anything but classic. On 14th April 2012, Gus Poyet’s tika taka was tika taken apart by, ahem, Sam Allardyce. A Brighton team including Gary
tactic was to drink in the pubs near Victoria and head over on the District Line as late as possible. Three things stick in the memory. Firstly, there’s the smell of a London away game. Because the Met Police tend to use horses for every game you rise out of the station at Upton Park – but also at
“ And thirdly, there was the proximity to the pitch. This is another thing Upton Park shares with QPR and a few others – you felt like you could reach out and touch the players, almost like you were on the pitch.”
Dicker were thrashed 6-0. I was at a toddler’s birthday party. It was one of those days when having kids was a blessing. My memories of Upton Park are mainly centred around the era that many of these stories are centred on, the early 1990s. Back then it was not for the faint hearted. Our
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Charlton, Palace, QPR, Brentford et al – to the smell of chips, onions and horse poo. Secondly, there was a pub on the corner that seemed to have half the East End hanging out of it, half an hour before kick-off. Not people whose eye you wanted to catch. And thirdly, there was the proximity
(Image: VICE Sports)
silly on live television in their own back yard. Meanwhile, for a Category A game, according to their website tickets START – for an under 16! – at £50. At the time of writing they sit below Brighton, and everyone else. What has not helped their start to the season is that, due to IAAF World Championships,
they had to play their first three games away. Are West Ham fans really loving their move? It’s easy to romanticise old grounds and denounce modern football. I’m a cynical old so and so. I remember turning up when you liked and paying a fiver to squeeze through a turnstile. The thrill of a surge when a goal went in, and you were on a terrace. Trips
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to away grounds where navigation was easy because their floodlights dominated the town. But we shouldn’t forget the dangerous conditions that led to Bradford and Hillsborough, the regular fights and confrontations with the law, the sometimes TERRIBLE attendances (under Mike Bailey the Albion’s home attendances plummeted – to under 10,000 – even though it was our highest ever finish). My son loves football. As a ten-year-old he’s been to Craven Cottage twice and to The Valley (which he called “unsanitary”). He knows, mainly, padded comfortable seats and ‘matchday experience’ and it’s all great with him. But his experience is also of us largely winning and having a lively Amex atmosphere. If he’d got to stand so close to the pitch he could smell it, to chant standing up, to eat his chips in THAT smell? Who knows? TAM. Jason Thackeray
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(Image: Pexels)
(Image: Evening Standard)
(Image: The Ball is Roundf) (Image: Metro)
to the pitch. This is another thing Upton Park shares with QPR and a few others – you felt like you could reach out and touch the players, almost like you were on the pitch. Then afterwards there was a long queue back to the tube station. In those days, away fans were often kept behind. By the time you came out you just hoped the home fans had been herded away from the station. A queue that was huge compared with the much maligned Falmer train queue and, by then, the horse stink had intensified. Also – we always lost. Now, of course, West Ham play at the former Olympic Stadium near Stratford. Forget, for a moment, the discussion over the finances and ethics of the move. There have been plenty of other discussions in the news. Seats too far from the pitch, ground too far from the station, poor segregation and a pitch dimension that meant Manchester City made them look
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A letter
(sort of ) from America Sorry, y’all, but you’ve now got an ugly American in your midst. My name is Josh Lewin, and I’m a radio presenter/commentator for the New York Mets baseball team and until recently, the San Diego Chargers NFL team. Having cashed out of my NFL assignment, I am now a dangerous man – a fortysomething American with time on his hands. Usually, that would mean eating huge amounts of nachos and burgers and talking loudly about things of which I have no knowledge. But, I’m going in a different direction: Embracing a side in the Premier League. Who else could it be but Brighton?? Consider my personal history, working backwards: Chargers: one Super Bowl appearance in 50 years, slaughtered the one year they went… but they have a wonderful bunch of supporters. Mets: perennial second-fiddle to the powerful Yankees; debut
season produced 120 losses and most of the team getting stuck in an elevator (lift?) on Opening Day. But… a fiercely loyal group of fans with a European-like temperament; they call themselves the ‘7 Line Army’ and follow the team from city to city, chanting and making various amounts of merry. Before the Mets: Texas Rangers baseball; in business since 1972, no championships. I attended Northwestern University; their basketball team had never made the post-season tournament until this past March; their football team once lost 33 games in a row. But… they always did things right, and the university itself was in a great area near both water and countryside. Sense a pattern? Oh, and in my high school years (age 12-18), I played a little soccer myself. Our school was called… Brighton. A suburb of Rochester, New York,
indeed named after your fair city. This was meant to be! Full disclosure – my first foray into following English soccer I chose (gulp) Aston Villa. Hung in there for a couple years, but… yeah. Last summer I even (please sit down) rooted for that red and blue side 70 kilometres north of you, since I’d been a fan of Benteke. Please, put down your pitchforks. I have realised the error of my ways. Pray for my soul. Obviously, I’ve got a lot to learn about Brighton, past and present. Honestly, at this point I don’t know Paddy McCourt from Patio Furniture. But, I’m ready for the challenge; and learning to say ‘Up the Albion’ rather than ‘Go Seagulls!’ I will happily accept any other help you care to offer. Love from America, TAM. Josh Lewin
@joshlewinstuff
Maybe it’s a midlife crisis. Maybe it’s the fact announcing 160 baseball games a year here in New York has curdled my brain. Whatever it is, it comes with a surge of energy. I am loyal to the Albion, having started following English soccer just a few years back. It started with a trip to London, announcing an NFL game from Wembley. The path has wound from there to Birmingham to Brighton. I have found my side and have ordered my scarf!
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WELCOME TO THE CLUB The Barber Club was founded by Dimitri Loizi, previously a partner of the UK’s largest growing hair dressing group. Dimitri has formed The Barber Club with an experienced team of barber’s to provide the best quality haircuts, cut throat shaves and beard trims. They are here for their exceptional skills and are carefully trained to guarantee you always receive the best experience possible, whilst within a warm and welcoming environment.
BOOK NOW OR JUST WALK IN.
T: 01273 271 660 | W: thebarberclub.net A: 4 Bartholomew’s, Brighton, BN1 1HG
Booker Review There was a moment during ‘An Evening With Booker & McGhee’ where Bob stopped himself halfway through a point he was making by pondering “... it feels funny, even after all these years, to call him ‘Mark’ rather than ‘gaffer’...” McGhee, with customary lightning speed, responded “no, don’t call me Mark...” McGhee disarmed a potentially over-revealing moment with fine diplomacy. Booker’s unnecessary pause sought to highlight the deference, even 12 years on, in which he holds McGhee. It was a similar recurring theme which I came across as I read through Greville Waterman’s excellent Ooh-Aah – The Bob Booker Story. Added to this is the fact that Booker, former assistant manager at the Albion under six different managers, feels humbled and grateful to have worked with each and every one of them. Booker started his playing career at Brentford, before a surprise Indian summer was offered to him by Dave Bassett
at Sheffield United. He gained legendary status at Bramall Lane, where there’s a hospitality box bearing his name. He returned to Brentford where injury finally put paid to any hopes of continuing his playing career beyond the age of 35. He joined the Albion as assistant manager in 2000. It’s very tempting as a Brighton fan to flick through the Brentford and Sheffield United pages, and catch up with the juicy bits from his days at Withdean. But to do this would be to undermine the very essence of the story, and render the reasons behind Booker’s longevity here largely meaningless. We all know Booker to be a gentle giant, a clown prince, the good cop in the rough-tough partnerships. What Waterman’s book does is to get to the heart of his subject’s personality, and to reveal what makes him tick. On so many pages, in amongst the professionalism, the courtesy and the humour is the vulnerability, the self-doubt and the anxiety of a man who,
by his own words, doesn’t feel he deserves the accolades. Booker instead treats everyone he feels helped him along the way – family, friends and colleagues – with such good grace and dignity. In the book, Waterman deals with the ups and downs skilfully, and with care, without lingering on the worries for too long. He wants the book to be a celebration; we all do. And it is. Booker ultimately feels very proud of his career – and so he should. If there’s one thing you’ll take from this book it’s that no matter how highly you respected, appreciated and acknowledged what Bob Booker brought to Brighton & Hove Albion during the noughties, you’ll love him even more after you’ve finished reading it. TAM. Alan Wares
Ooh-Aah – The Bob Booker Story by Greville Waterman is published by Bennion Kearny and is available for £12.99 from Amazon and City Books, Western Road, Hove.
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ALBION IN THE COMMUNITY
Meet
What do you find inspiring about the work you do?
Albion in the Community Sue Brown Sue is AITC’s cancer prevention co-ordinator and runs the charity’s Speak Up Against Cancer campaign that looks to increase early detection rates for cancers in Brighton and Hove. She has worked for AITC since 2012, is a season ticket holder in the North Stand and says her favourite ever Albion player is Íñigo Calderón.
Describe an average day in your role? Every day is different. I might be participating in community events, recruiting and training volunteers, designing
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or delivering community presentations or conducting tours of an inflatable breast.
Do you have any special qualifications for your job? I started work as a medical secretary, so have always been interested in health. This eventually led to community engagement work, helping volunteers to improve the neighbourhoods they live in. I have an advanced qualification in motivational interviewing, a technique used to encourage people to think about behaviour change.
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The commitment of our Speak Up Against Cancer volunteers. They are all cancer survivors or have seen someone close to them survive due to early detection. They give up their time and energy to tell their stories, giving something back to help others who may be experiencing signs and symptoms but not yet sought medical help.
What is the best thing about working for Albion in the Community? Are you an Albion fan? I have followed the Albion since the late 1970s but recently I’ve attended more rugby than football matches – to watch my son play! I am glad to be back in the North Stand now.
How can people reading this help? Can people volunteer? People can contact us for a chat about what being a Speak Up volunteer involves but most importantly, I would encourage fans to check out our website at www.speakupagainstcancer.org. uk to increase their own awareness. People can also ask us to visit their workplace/ community group/event in Brighton and Hove to help spread the word.
How important is the Speak Up Against Cancer campaign locally? What impact do you hope to have? Found early, cancer can be cured, treated, managed and lived with. We encourage people to take time to get to know their own body and the signs to watch for; be aware of changes and if a change lasts, see a doctor. This will impact locally with earlier detection and better cancer survival rates in the city.
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? Just do it – there are many different ways to support us and every contribution will make a difference to people in Sussex.
Albion fans attending the home game with Everton are being asked to bring £1 with them to donate to AITC. The club’s official charity will be fundraising before and after the game and all money raised will help fund its award-winning football sessions for people with a disability. AITC currently runs around 25 regular sessions across Sussex, helping hundreds of people with a disability to play football each month. The charity also runs a range of health programmes and campaigns; works with more than 120 local schools; holds soccer schools throughout the county; provides free football in to more than 2,500 young people living in deprived communities; and has a thriving further education department helping people access nationallyaccredited qualifications. However, much of the charity’s fundraising efforts focus on supporting the disability department and staff, and volunteers will once again be out in force for a bucket collection when the Albion host Everton at the American Express Community Stadium on Sunday 15th October. A similar collection before and
after last season’s home game with Norwich City proved particularly successful, with fans donating more than £9,000 outside the stadium and on Seagull Travel buses to and from the game. Sales of the match-day lottery; fans signing up to regular giving; and a silent auction in the stadium lounges helped push the total to more than £18,000. This was then generously match-funded by a long-time supporter of the charity, which allowed AITC to purchase a new fully-accessible minibus. This season AITC is collecting money to help fund its inclusive football sessions – with the charity also celebrating 20 years since the club’s first offered a session for people with a disability. It costs around £5,000 a year to deliver a weekly inclusive session and AITC also run a growing number of impairment-specific sessions, including a fortnightly session for young players who have cerebral palsy or who use a frame; a new session for players who have Down’s syndrome; and another for people with autism. Many of these take place at the club’s American Express Elite Football Performance Centre, while AITC also has sessions in Worthing, Eastbourne, Horsham,
cont... www.speakupagainstcancer.org
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ALBION IN THE COMMUNITY
Burgess Hill, Eastbourne, Chichester and Brighton. AITC also runs five disability-specific teams that compete under the Brighton & Hove Albion banner, including the hugely-successful Brighton & Hove Albion Powerchair FC; Brighton & Hove Albion Cerebral Palsy FC; and Brighton & Hove Albion Amputee FC. Matt Dorn, the charity’s chief executive officer, was confident Albion fans would prove as supportive as ever come the Everton match. He said: “Every single season we are overwhelmed by the generosity of Albion fans and the money donated at our designated match has a significant impact in what we are able to do that season. As a charity we work with around 30,000 people across Sussex every year and much of that work would simply not be possible without the generosity of our supporters. Every pound donated by supporters helps us continue to make a difference to local people’s lives – both through our inclusive football for people with a disability and our other programmes. If every fan coming to the Everton match donated £1 it would pay for the equivalent of five or more of our regular inclusive football sessions for an entire year.”
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Captain Sam Earlier this summer Brighton & Hove Albion Powerchair FC (BHAPFC) captain Matt Francis made his full debut for England at the powerchair World Cup – helping the team to a third-place finish. However, Matt isn’t the only member of AITC hugelysuccessful powerchair set-up to recently receive international recognition. His BHAPFC teammate Sam Elliott was invited to an England development squad training camp and then captained the team during a friendly competition. Sam only started playing powerchair football three years ago, at the age of 11, but in that relatively short period of time he has impressed playing regionally with BHAPFC and recently progressed to AITC’s national league squad. He is certainly relishing the prospect of playing in the country’s top powerchair league. “When I started playing powerchair football,” he explained, “I thought I had finally found an exciting sport I could take part in. The fact I could play a competitive sport was amazing. Now I am really looking forward to my debut season with the national league team. I think I am going to adapt to the league pretty well, especially because all my team-mates have helped me so much. I have had to change from being the middle man to being a
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winger and those two positions are completely different. I have had to work on my positioning on the pitch and the speed that I play at. We have all been working hard at training though and hopefully it will pay off.” Sam’s recent international experience should also help him adapt to the higher standard of opposition he will find himself up against in the Muscular Dystrophy UK Premiership. But what was it like finding out he had been identified as a potential future international? Sam explained: “When my dad told me I didn’t believe him. Once it sunk in I was so pleased and proud. I felt like I was a step closer to where I aspire to be, which is to play for England in the World Cup. Being told that I was captain was amazing. My time with England was incredible. I made so many new friends and the training has helped develop my
game. The fact that we won the tournament made it even better.” And if Sam’s England call-up was a proud moment for the player, it was equally special for his family. As Sam’s dad Peter revealed: “It was an incredibly proud moment for the whole family. The day they decided to pick Sam as captain was amazing and I’m afraid that much to Sam’s embarrassment, I cried. We are all so proud of Sam and his achievements. We hope he continues to improve and go on to represent his country in the full national team at the sport he loves.” For more information on AITC’s powerchair football sessions, email: disability@ albioninthecommunity.org.uk.
disability@albioninthecommunity.org.uk
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Brighton & Hove Albion 1980/81 Back row:
Middle row:
Front row:
Paul Clark. Midfield. 21. Played his first Albion game in over a year as sub against Villa in December.
Glen Wilson. Kit manager. Long servant at the Goldstone, having previously been a left-half at the club.
Peter Ward. Forward. 25. Scored just twice in 14 games before being sold to Forest in October.
Gary Williams. Defender. 26. Scored a last-gasp winner in a crucial 2-1 win at Sunderland in April.
Ken Craggs. Assistant manager. Served as Alan Mullery’s right-hand man, after being on Fulham’s coaching staff.
Gordon Smith. Midfielder. 25. Grabbed a 23-minute hat-trick at Coventry as Brighton stormed back from 3-0 down.
Mark Lawrenson. Defender. 23. Had an outstanding season in defence. Sold to Liverpool for £900,000.
Moshe Gariani. Midfielder. 23. This Israeli played just 17 minutes for the Seagulls, as a sub at Southampton in September.
Brian Horton. Midfielder. 31. Inspirational captain who was sold to Luton at the end of the campaign.
Gary Stevens.
Defender/midfielder.
18. Showed great versatility
during the campaign, making 33 League appearances. Peter Suddaby. Defender. 33. Released in May, having made no appearances after suffering a slipped disc 12 months earlier. Peter Sayer. Midfielder. 25. Scored against Maccabi Nethanya to clinch the Jewish Chronicle Cup before being sold to Preston.
Neil McNab. Midfielder. 23. Was suspended for four games in October for pushing referee Eric Read in the Norwich game. Graham Moseley. Goalkeeper. 26. Made some costly mistakes in 1980/81, and was dropped in favour of Perry Digweed in January. John Phillips. Goalkeeper. 29. Made his only Albion appearance in a 3-2 win over Crystal Palace in December. Steve Foster. Defender. 22. His injury on the opening day against Wolves led to the trademark headband.
Other players who made appearances for the Albion in 1980/81 were Jacob Cohen, Perry Digweed, Peter O’Sullivan, Chris Ramsey, Andy Ritchie, Michael Robinson, Giles Stille and Tony Vessey. Ages correct on 1st August 1980.
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George Aitken. Coach. Arrived in Hove as trainer/coach for Peter Taylor in the summer of 1976. Mike Yaxley. Physio. Joined the Albion staff in 1968/69. A fully qualified FA coach.
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Alan Mullery. Manager. Resigned in June 1981 after disagreements over coaching staff cuts and the sale of Mark Lawrenson. John Gregory.
Defender/midfielder.
26. Scored twice at Crystal
Palace in a thumping 3-0 win in April.
Gerry Ryan. Forward. 24. A quiet season, starting just two league games and coming off the bench eight times. Ray McHale. Midfielder. 29. Found the pace of top-flight football tough. Sold to Barnsley in March. @GoldstoneRapper
www.thegoldstonewrap.com
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Seagulls v Magpies
– A history in programmes The modern-day match programme is a magnificent thing. In Albion’s case, it is an 84-page monster, full of features, statistics and information. The editorial team and contributors work hard to provide a publication that is informative and unique. They face competition from many other sources in this instant, digital age. This wasn’t the case in days gone by when the programme was much smaller, both in size and number of pages. In many respects, however, old programmes give the reader much more. For many fans, they were the only source of information from the club and match-goers eagerly awaited the week’s issue.
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I love both versions, but one of the reasons the older programmes bring so much pleasure, is the snapshot they provide of life in a bygone era. For this article, and in celebration of games against Newcastle United, I’m going to have a look at one from our league game in 1961/62, as well as a rare glimpse of some major programme porn. This comes in the shape of the FA Cup tie in February 1930, when Third Division (South) Albion travelled to St James’ Park. In October 1961, we were struggling to maintain our position in Division Two, after promotion three years earlier. Newcastle were also struggling, as they tried to recapture the glory days of the previous decade. The programme was a 16-page issue printed on what appears to be tissue paper. The cover has a fantastic illustration of a packed St James’ Park, although the perspectives need a bit of work! Inside, the ‘Comment’ page welcomes Albion and also mentions Newcastle goalkeeper Dave Hollins, an ex-Albion player. Opposite, the fixtures illustrate
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the Magpies’ stuttering start to the season, with some indifferent results. Ominously though, the previous game brought a 7-2 away win at Bury. Elsewhere, adverts abound, including a full-page request for Engineer Officers from the British India Steam Navigation Company Limited. Programme photos were rare in those days, but Newcastle oblige with a couple of action shots. More adverts surround a shot of forward Alan Suddick, including an intriguing request for people to join the ‘support to the teams fighting tuberculosis and other chest and lung diseases’. The Mass X-Ray unit at Newcastle General Hospital was open for business, promising ‘No undressing, no waiting and no appointment needed’. The programme is magnificent, as were Newcastle, who showed no mercy on the pitch, dealing out a 5-0 thrashing in front of 24,408 fans. On to 1930 and our trip north in the FA Cup. The Newcastle programme that day was 16 pages of pure nostalgia, starting on the cover with an advert for The Evening Chronicle. Inside, we are straight into an ad for
Lockhart’s Cafes. With a few branches close to St James’ Park, punters were spoilt for choice. One shilling (5p) would get you a pot of tea, a veal, ham and egg pie, chips and two slices of bread and butter. If you really wanted to push the boat out, one shilling and four pence (7p) meant fried ham and egg, instead of the pie. Moving further into the publication, the team listings are shown in the traditional 2-3-5 formation. The iconic number nine shirt at Newcastle was worn by Scotsman Hughie Gallagher, a great player of the time. On page six is a fascinating advert for some new technology, the ‘All-Electric radio’. With ‘no batteries of any description’, you ‘simply plug into the nearest electric lamp socket’. The prices of this technology were eye-
watering. A Pye, all-electric three valve radio was yours for £25, which equates to nearly £1,500 today, allowing for inflation. ‘What’s on in Newcastle’ offered a glittering array of entertainment, with the ads sponsored by Lawson’s Shops, purveyors of fine chocolate caramels and other sweetmeats. The Theatre Royal was putting on ‘A Scrape of the Pen’, a ‘Scottish Comedy in three acts’ while the Empire Theatre (opposite the Lawson’s Shop) put on ‘The New Moon’, a ‘romantic play in two acts’. Cinema was an innovation in 1930 and the Stoll Picture Theatre, billed as ‘Tyneside’s TALKIE Theatre’ was screening ‘The Awful Truth’, a comedy with admission from 6d (2½p) to 2s4d (12p). Electricity was still not in widespread use throughout the country and gas lighting was still
common. This is illustrated by the full-page advert for ‘Vitreosil Heat-Proof Gas Globes’. The wording sounds a little desperate, with claims of ‘they brighten the home’, are ‘handsome in appearance’, with ‘an endless variety of artistic designs’. They promise ‘a brilliant diffused restful light, [which is] ideal for sewing, reading and other purposes’. Gas lighting was fighting a losing battle with electricity but The Thermal Syndicate Limited were doing their best! Albion lost that game 3-0 with Hughie Gallagher scoring a hat-trick. The crowd of 56,469 is the highest crowd to watch an Albion away game, apart from FA Cup and Play-Off finals. I suspect it will be beaten this season. Ian Hine
@Hiney2708
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!
www.seagullsprogrammes.co.uk
@TheAlbionMag
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GRABBING THE HEADLINES The Seagulls Have Landed, All Things Brighton Beautiful, Brighton Rock, Seagulls Are Flying Tonight
But that’s exactly what national newspaper headline subs have been doing about our beloved club for more than 100 years.
efeat Brighton D Chelsea the Villa at Brighton 1 Villa 0 r 1910 Septembe
Here is a collection of some of their finest and corniest efforts over that time, which may reignite a few memories:
Brighton’s Victory in Second Replay of Great English Cup Tie Struggle
Brighton 7 Newport 1 September 193
5
Corinthians 0 Brighton 1 January 1923
Six – And Out
ghton Bright Bri s ie rr o W Win er Villa Manag
Brighton 5 Norwich 1 954 1 December
Brighton is so Breezy
Rotherham 0 Brighton 6 February 1960
Brighton Up with Six Goal Rush Brighton 6 Watford 0 May 1958
Clough Takes Brighton Bait
Brighton Equal Best Ever
Brian Clough becomes Albion manager November 1973
Brighton 9 Southend 1 November 1965
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Brighton Rock Brighton 3 Spurs 1 April 1978
Brighton Hit Seven
Brighton 7 Walsall 0 October 1976
The Seagulls Have Landed
Liverpool 1 Brighton 2 February 1983
Revenge Robbo
Brighton 3 Palace 2 December 1980
All Things utiful Brighton Bea
All Bright on the Knight
Brighton 2 Liverpool 0 January 1984
High Flying Seagulls on the Way Up
Brighton 3 Cheltenham 0 September 2000
Brighton 1 Doncaster 0 April 1997
Zamora the Merrier for Seagulls
Brighton 2 Rotherham 0 March 2003
Leon Makes it Knight to Remember
Bristol City 0 Brighton 1 May 2004
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www.thealbionmag.com
Pauper Tiger s
Brighton 2 Manchester Ci (5-3 on pens ty 2 ) September 2008
Gus Stop
Southampton 1 Brighton 3 November 2009
Ell of a Win
Brighton 2 ednesday 0 Sheffield W 11 20 April
Toon and Out Brighton 1 Newcastle 0 January 2012
ely That’ll Do Nic Brighton 2 Doncaster 1 August 2011
Leo Slayer
Brighton 3 Palace 0 March 2013
Hem Going Goal Mad Brighton 5 Fulham 0 April 2016
lt! Ull of a Resu rest 1 Fo Nottingham 2 n to Brigh May 2014
Shockin’ Stephens
Brighton 2 Derby 0 March 2015
Nic Outterside
@seagullnic
Nic was a newspaper and magazine journalist for 28 years – 17 of those years as an editor.
@TheAlbionMagUTA
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Relegated on September 1st then. Game over. Record breakers. Well, we didn’t sign a striker, did we? The club’s incompetent recruitment team along with Paul Barber and Tony Bloom didn’t get their act together. There is literally no point in Brighton & Hove Albion taking to the field for the remainder of their 35 matches. Let’s start preparing for life back in the Championship in 2018/2019. Utter cobblers of course, yet this is what one could be forgiven for thinking was the reality of the situation from 1am on The Morning After the Night Before – obviously I’m referring to the closure of the transfer window – based upon numerous hysterical reactions from supporters on Twitter, Facebook and North Stand Chat. Such was the ferocity of the response to the fact the club had not secured the signature of this supposedly all-important missing piece of the puzzle that both the chairman and the CEO felt moved to issue statements the following day. Barber has also since followed up with a typically lengthy – if not wildly revealing – piece for NSC’s Bozza to post publicly for all to see. Meanwhile, heartfelt (and I interpret as slightly wounded)
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messages have been forthcoming from some of our more articulate players such as Liam Rosenior and Uwe Hünemeier in the wake of, what I believe, can be described as a ‘total meltdown’. Despite staying up until gone one in the morning in the hope that we were about to announce an exciting addition to the squad, and going to bed somewhat concerned and disappointed when we didn’t, this was light years away from a rip-up-theseason-ticket moment. I was – and remain – embarrassed by the online tantrums of some of my fellow supporters. This is not about being sycophantic towards the establishment regardless of how they operate (I certainly wasn’t that 20 years ago). Clearly things could have gone markedly better.
www.thealbionmag.com
However, it is about showing a little faith, and perhaps a modicum of gratitude, for the circumstances in which we now find ourselves. Gratitude towards the backroom staff and faith in the players who got us to the Premier League, and who now deserve their chance to shine. Some say there’s no room for sentimentality in football, but without the emotional side of things what is the point? I wonder if those who ranted about how Bloom should sell up to richer foreign owners are some of the same people who will cheerfully employ the #together hashtag on another, brighter day. 35 games to go, at the time of writing, 39 more points required. Impossible now, right? TAM. Leon Cox
@ratsoalbio
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