The Goldstone Wrap

Aug 13 2013

‘I expect the bullet’ – Cattlin’s confession

In this revealing interview from 1983, Chris Cattlin shows a mixture of realism and determination as he replaces Jimmy Melia as Brighton boss:

Chris Cattlin has no illusions about the struggle he faces in trying to steer 1983 Cup Finalists Brighton back to the First Division.

“I shall do my best until the bullet comes,” he says bluntly.

Cattlin, the former Huddersfield, Coventry and Brighton defender who has spent recent years building up a thriving rock selling business (see image below) in the Sussex seaside town, has move into his new job as successor to Jimmy Melia with such caution that a casual observer could be forgiven for believing that the Goldstone Ground has been relayed with mines left over from the Falklands war.

Chris Cattlin is arguably the most unpopular manager to be appointed in the history of the game. And none of it is his fault.

Appointed last summer as chief coach, he was given Melia’s job when the Brighton manager walked out last month.

“I didn’t ask to do the job. I was given the job, and having got used to it, I’ll do it to the best of my ability,” explains Cattlin.

“I want to let the dust settle, and then try to get the club straightened out.”

His priority is to win promotion to the First Division and get the club into Europe. But he confesses that the current side, unless stiffened up by two or three new players, is not good enough to gain promotion this season.

“They said Watford didn’t have potential to do anything. Look what happened. Look what Bobby Robson did for Ipswich Town in his time there. One of the best things that happened to Brighton was to get to the Cup Final. It has given us tradition, and Jimmy Melia and the team must be congratulated for that.”

He is looking for new players of “substance” and will not confine his scouting to Brighton. His priority is to find a defender and midfield player.

In the meantime, he confesses to being happy with the quality of many of the Brighton team.

Cattlin’s coach-like appraisal of his squad is fascinating:-

Goalkeeper Joe Corrigan – “Marvellous professional.”

Full-back Kieran O’Regan – “infectious enthusiasm with a will to win.”

Steve Gatting – “A First Division player who needs a kick occasionally. Educated left foot.”

Eric Young – “Lots of potential. He has played against Frank Stapleton and Mark Falco and learns with every game.”

Graham Pearce – “A steady player. Won’t let you down.”

Tony Grealish and Jimmy Case – “Two great professionals. Dedicated.”

Neil Smillie – “Pacey Winger. Doesn’t always produce what he is capable of.”

Gerry Ryan – “Scores goals. He’s lost half a yard of pace. At 28, he has stopped working at his game. I want to get more out of him – and I will.”

Terry Connor – “A shy lad, he has done well, but can improve. Great potential.”

Gordon Smith – “Cost £400,000. Needs to play with more passion. Can score goals.”

Alan Young – “Aggressive striker.”

“I want to pour some concrete into the club to give it the solid foundations it needs. I want to do that before I get the sack, as I inevitably will. Most managers do.

“I have no fear of the sack. I was invited back to the club by the chairman and now i have got the bit between the teeth.”

Chris Cattlin, one of the few managers to be appointed without a fanfare of trumpets, deserves to be given a chance.

But with the smell of cordite fresh around the Goldstone, the most sceptical Brighton supporter would not give much for his long term future.

Cattlin certainly steadied the ship in 1983/84. A side that had fallen to 16th position in the Second Division in October 1983, Melia’s last as manager, recovered to 9th by the end of the campaign. The new manager, with assistant Sammy Nelson, had instilled a new discipline into the running of the team, something that bore fruit in a famous, handsome 2-0 win over Liverpool in the FA Cup in January. All was set for a promotion push the following season.

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Aug 12 2013

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Media Coverage

Mike Tiddy, Brighton’s manic feet preacher, says: ‘Play the game hard but play it straight’

“Tiddy’s late! Tiddy, Tiddy, where can he be?”
“Sorry I’m late, I was preaching in Patcham”

When he wasn’t dashing down the flank as an outside-right for Brighton in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the grey-haired (at least in the middle!) Mike Tiddy was a Methodist lay-preacher. He had spells at Torquay, Cardiff and Arsenal before joining Brighton in October 1958. Because of his role as a preacher, he did not figure in Christmas and Easter fixtures.

In this article, from Charles Buchan’s Football Monthly, he discusses the manner in which his work for the Church colours his personal attitude towards football, how he is treated by other players and what he thinks of spectators:

I work for the Church when I am not playing football, and many people cannot understand how I can combine the two. They ask me why I take part in professional football when there is so much talk of matches being fixed and of players taking bribes.

Well, there is good and bad in everything, in sport no less than in other aspects of life. As a Christian I try to live up to my beliefs in a practical way, and I feel should be interested in trying to do some good in whatever activities I follow.

One of the great lessons to be learned in life is to play the game the straight way. Play it hard if you like, take knocks and give some back – but always in a fair manner and without vicious retaliation.

There was a time – not so very long ago – when I didn’t play Soccer hard enough. Maybe I was trying to be too much of a gentleman. But some of the fans began to think I was afraid of getting “stuck in”.

Now I play the game hard. Football, after all, is a man’s game, the finest in the world when played in the right spirit of keen competition. These days I go into the tackle with more zest and bite, and I am enjoying my game even more.

Call it muscular Christianity if you like…

I can’t help feeling that I have a first-class opportunity of trying, in my small way, to get over a message – through example – to thousands of people. I don’t have to say a word. If I can play the game hard and fairly then I have achieved something.

Sometimes I hear a spectator shout something and perhaps refer to me as a ‘parson’. That makes me feel good, and gives me something to live up to.

I remember playing against a back who hit me right, left and centre. Eventually, we both sprawled on the turf, and he grunted: “You amaze me, Tiddy. I keep kicking you, but you don’t do anything about it.”

At the end of the game he came over for a handshake and we have been pals since then.

Mark you, I am often tempted to lose my temper but I am certain that my Church upbringing helps me to keep it in check.

The great majority of professional footballers are fine fellows. They are healthy sportsmen with good morals. Ignore the tales you hear of drinking and immorality among players.

Take it from me that most of the lads live for their football, and keep themselves fit in the mind as well as body.

How do they react to my views? I receive respect from them, int he dressing room and on the field.

Some people might think of chaps like me as being prudes or cissies. Well, I can only say that I have always felt I have been one of the boys with all the clubs I have played for.

I like to join in the fun and leg-pulling. I like to play in the card ‘schools’ on long away trips.

I get a lot out of football, but the biggest thing is learning to take defeat as as well as success. We haven;t started to conquer life until we can do this in the right spirit.

And here I think I ought to pass on this same advice to certain spectators! They take defeat with far less grace than most players.

I don’t think television will take most of the fans from the terraces, for there is nothing quite like the real thing… the electric Soccer atmosphere and letting off steam.

That’s a good old British safety valve!

My advice to young players is: Play football the best way by doing the easy thing slickly and accurately. But I must warn you that the easy things in football can be the most difficult.

Interesting to read Tiddy’s dismissal of the impact of television on football. He must have been thinking of the rather ropey TV coverage of the FA Cup game between Brighton (in the dark shirts) with Bath (stripes) which managed to – scandalously! – miss his winning goal:

The record attendance at Twerton Park, 18,020, also ably demonstrated that there is no substitute for seeing a game in person.

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Aug 11 2013

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Around The Goldstone

European Sky Blues – the future Albion stars that beat Bayern Munich

The proof-readers must have been on holiday, because the matchday programme for Brighton’s recent pre-season friendly with Norwich City carried this juicy blunder:

Norwich are the only English side to have beaten Bayern Munich in European competition.

Well, apart from Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Manchester United and Tottenham, of course. Three of those were in the final of the European Cup (or Champions League), so it was a sizeable gaffe that deserves to be squelched. And, in an act that might inspire some Jimmy Hill chin-stroking style incredulity, Coventry City have also defeated Bayern Munich. Yes, that’s right. And it was in the decade when Bayern were crowned champions of Europe three times. What is more, the Sky Blues did it with a quite a few players who went on to ply their trade with Brighton & Hove Albion several years later.

Autumn 1970. Ex-Eire international midfielder Pat Saward had recently left the coaching staff at Coventry City, where he had nurtured the youngsters of Highfield Road to the FA Youth Cup Final for the second time in three seasons. However, now a much bigger challenge loomed, as the prospect of relegation threatened to engulf his first campaign as Brighton manager. Having finished fifth in the previous campaign under Freddie Goodwin, Albion had started 1970/71 with a measly two wins in ten matches. So Saward went back to old club to replenish his side in the face of an injury crisis. He emerged with the reserves’ tough centre-half Ian Goodwin on loan. As John Vinicombe wrote of Saward in the Evening Argus:

He well remembered Goodwin, a 6ft central defender, who at 20 was still learning his trade. Goodwin, all 13st of him, had lost his first team place after four appearances when City splashed £100,000 on Wednesday’s Wilf Smith.

The transfer struck a chord with Saward, who during his career at City had tried to sign Goodwin’s younger brother. Ian only turned up at Highfield Road as a driver for the 15-year-old kid. Saward recalled: “We happened to be short of a player and asked Ian to show us what he could do and he turned in such a good performance that he had a month’s trial and stayed.”

Two years later Goodwin answered Saward’s SOS and breezed into the office, declaring: “Have no fear, Goodwin is here.” That self introduction was typical of Goodwin, who became a breath of fresh air to Albion’s dressing room.

“You can relax,” he beamed. “From now on it’s going to be wins all the way.” Now Saward was no mean motivator himself, but with Goodwin having joined the ranks, initially on a short-term arrangement, spirits began to soar.

Goodwin’s boast proved empty as Albion continued to fall, from 17th place in early November to as low as 23rd in late March 1971 before rallying to finish a respectable 14th position.

As for Coventry, the Sky Blues had much, much bigger fish to fry. The Midlanders had finished sixth in the First Division in 1969/70, which opened the way to the first and only European campaign in their history, in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. Once they progressed past the first round, having beaten Trakia Plovdiv 4-1 in Bulgaria before a 2-0 win at Highfield Road, Coventry then drew mighty Bayern Munich.

The Sky Blues line-up at the Olympic Stadium in Munich was:
McManus, Coop, Cattlin, Machin, Blockley, Strong, Hunt, Carr, Martin, O’Rourke, Clements.

So that’s three players there that went on to join Brighton. Left-back on the night was the ever-dependable Chris Cattlin. He had a distinguished career at Highfield Road after signing from Huddersfield for a record fee for a full-back, £80,000, in March 1968. On the Sent From Coventry blog he said recently: “I was a long, lanky lump and I wouldn’t dive in. I’d trap the attackers in the corner then wallop them. I had a great relationship with the fans at Coventry. They knew what they were going to get from me.” He was transferred to Brighton for no fee in summer 1976 as Peter Taylor’s last signing for the Albion, and his stiffening of the defence (when ousting Ken Tiler from right-back mid-way through the season) made such a huge contribution to Brighton clinching promotion to Division One in 1978/79.

Midfielder Ernie Machin also played in Germany on that evening. This energetic and skilful player eventually came to the Goldstone Ground via Plymouth in summer 1974. Although he was appointed captain, he never settled on the south coast, and still lived in Coventry and trained in the Midlands. Released at his own request in 1976, he eventually returned to Coventry briefly as youth team coach.

Coventry’s lanky striker Neil Martin also didn’t last very long as an Albion player. Signed by Taylor in summer 1975 as a freebie from Nottingham Forest, he left for arch rivals Crystal Palace in March 1976 after losing his place.

In the first leg, Coventry went down 6-1 to Bayern.

For the return leg, Neil Martin kept his place and scored the winner in a famous 2-1 victory. Cattlin and Machin dropped out, and Wilf Smith and Dennis Mortimer were promoted to the side:
Glazier, Coop, Smith, Mortimer, Blockley, Hill, Hunt (Joicey sub), Carr, Martin, O’Rourke, Clements.

Wilf Smith had been born as Wilfred Schmidt in Neumünster, Germany before his parents decided to Anglicise his name. He had joined Coventry from Sheffield Wednesday for £100,000, a record fee for a full-back, in summer 1970. It was this move that led to unsettled Goodwin joining Pat Saward’s Albion. The classy Smith also came to Albion on loan from Coventry in October 1974, but Albion could not afford the fee to make the deal permanent.

Finally in this exodus-of-sorts to the Goldstone, Dennis Mortimer. At the time of the Bayern clashes, he was just eighteen years old, eventually playing 193 Division One games for the Sky Blues before a successful move to Aston Villa. He joined Albion much later in 1985, signed by Chris Cattlin, now Brighton manager, on a free transfer. By that time, Mortimer was reaching the end of his career and yet his powerful performances with Brighton made him a firm favourite at the Goldstone Ground. The influential midfielder had already notched up another victory over Bayern Munich, in the 1982 European Cup Final as Villa skipper.

Tagged chris cattlin, dennis mortimer, ernie machin, ian goodwin, neil martin, pat saward, wilf smith

Aug 10 2013

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Around The Goldstone, Media Coverage

The Albion directors sue Gull’s Eye fanzine

I think this is from When Saturday Comes. Atilla The Stockbroker had been kind enough to give me permission to reprint this article by him:

I suppose it was going to happen to some fanzine or other eventually, but it still feels very strange. As Gull’s Eye editor Peter Kennard and myself met up with FSA lawyer Peter Jackson on the steps of the High Courts of Justice in London, I could hardly believe it could come to this, even more so as we sat in the stiffly formal atmosphere of Court 14 as a public apology was made on behalf of the fanzine while Brighton and Hove director John Campbell looked on. The ponderous sledgehammer of the British libel laws descended with all its force on, well, a nut: sixteen sides of erratically typed A5 sold by a bunch of enthusiasts outside the Goldstone on alternate Saturdays.

The judge certainly felt the occasion worthy of humorous comment: “We don’t need the jury, do we?” he smiled as the court rose after the proceedings, total duration around two minutes. The court reporter was grinning too. Rather less funny, though, was the cost for £6,000 in legal costs…

That was the final act in a long-running saga, an apology in open court being just one of the conditions imposed on Gull’s Eye as of an out-of-court settlement, leaving the fanzine’s co-editors, Ian Hart and Peter Kennard, to pay the legal costs of the Brighton directors.

The libel consisted of a series of allegations about the directors’ activities, couched in humorous language but taken oh, so seriously by the board; better leave it there, I am advised, although I was not aware that my phrase “there is a stench of decomposing flounder in the air” could possibly be viewed as libellous. It is certainly true that, these days, an ancient and dilapidated flatfish would make a far more appropriate symbol for our beloved Brighton and Hove Albion than the soaring seagull of popular legend.

There can be no doubt that the club has enormous potential. In the 1970s, as the Seagulls hovered near the top of the Third Division with Peter Ward and Ian Mellor leading the line, crowds of over 30,000 poured regularly into the Goldstone. Just two years ago, when the club bounced back from relegation to the Third Division at the first attempt, 20,000 people saw the final game of the season against Bristol Rovers. All it takes is a sniff of success for the crowds to start pouring in – and this is hardly surprising since Brighton is the only League club in Sussex, one of the largest (and wealthiest) counties in England.

However, such sniffs have been few and far between since Gordon Smith’s famous 1983 Cup Final miss, and now gates are averaging well below five figures, with debts of over £3m. As usual, the powers that be refuse to discuss the clubs financial position with supporters, and appear unable or unwilling to attract new faces onto the board. Huge debts continue to be cited as the reason for Brighton going absolutely, and spectacularly, nowhere.

All very frustrating – and that’s where Gull’s Eye comes in. They have consistently campaigned for a change in regime and for a dialogue with supporters (personally I’d like to see the club taken over by Brighton Council a la Halifax, but anything is better than the present situation). Gull’s Eye is caustic, passionate and occasionally way over the top, but its editors have spoken out in a way which has certainly struck a chord with the fans (average sales are currently around 2,000 per issue). It is without doubt a thorn in the side of the board, and this ridiculous libel action is a clear attempt to intimidate it out of existence.

The action of a bunch of wealthy businessmen who seek to squeeze £6,000 out of a couple of young fans, one of whom is currently unemployed, leaves a very big nasty taste in the mouth indeed; and I am sure directors of other clubs are following the case with interest.

So please support the Gull’s Eye Fighting Fund. And if you’re a band, comedian, Lithuanian nose flute virtuoso or other top entertainer willing to perform at a benefit concert, please get in touch also. We need all the support we can get; and remember, an injury to one is an injury to all. Fanzine readers of the world, unite!

Happily, the matter was resolved speedily. As Lenny Rider said on North Stand Chat a couple of days ago:

Our readers rallied round: bucket collections, benefit gigs, the odd dinner and a charity auction including donations from Robert Maxwell and Stuart Hall, proving there’s a little bit of good in everybody. Paid it all off inside 18 months, but a lesson in life learnt: it’s not about whether you are right or wrong. It’s about who’s got the most money. Nearly a quarter of a century later, if TSLR got sued, if I believed what they were writing was true, I would back them every way possible.

Tagged fanzines

Aug 09 2013

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Media Coverage

Heady Edwards!

In a piece by Mike Donovan for 90 Minutes magazine (Issue 127) 31 October 1992:

OK, it’s quiz time. Name four players to have left Spurs since the end of last season. Well, you got Gazza and Lineker straight away, and remembered Paul Stewart without too much trouble – but you’re stuck now aren’t you? But come on… what about Matthew Edwards?

Just to jog your memory, he’s the 21-year-old striker who joined Brighton on a free from Tottenham in the summer – and hasn’t looked back since. Legend has it that he decided to leave White Hart Lane the day his then-boss, Peter Shreeves, couldn’t remember who he was. Now his pace and skill have got the Goldstone fans singing his name, with the Seagulls making an encouraging, if unspectacular, start to their Second Division season.

“It’s been a great move for me,” he says. “It’s just fantastic to be a regular part of a first team squad.

“At Spurs I didn’t get a look in. The nearest I got was when I went to Everton last year as a member of the squad. It seemed that no matter how hard you tried, no matter what you did, it wouldn’t get you anywhere. And that’s not a nice feeling.

“Also, Spurs had so many players that we were divided up at training, but at Albion there’s a smaller squad and we all train together. There’s a great team spirit.

“And it’s helped me come out of my shell. At Spurs I was a bit in awe of the stars and really you had to be full of yourself to make your face fit.

“It’s hard to motivate yourself in front of an empty stadium with the reserves. But at Brighton it’s totally different.

It certainly was different when the Seagulls met the mighty Manchester United in the second round of the Coca-Cola Cup recently. Over 16,000 packed into the Goldstone ground as Albion held United to a 1-1 draw in the first leg, before going down 1-0 in the return at Old Trafford. Guess who scored Brighton’s goal…

“I loved getting the headlines against United,” admits Edwards. “Now, I want lots more!”

The utility forward was in the limelight again when he scored the only goal in a south coast derby in the Third Round of the FA Cup against Portsmouth.

However, he was released at the end of the 1993/94 campaign.

Edwards later had spells with Kettering Town, Walton & Hersham and Enfield. He is currently Business Development Manager at Advanced Ticketing, a position he has held since November 2010.

On LinkedIn he says “I am responsible for new business helping professional sports clubs and venues implement TALENT our integrated Ticketing and CRM solution.” As many fans know, Talent Sport are responsible for the Albion’s ticketing system. I wonder what part he has played in all of this…

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Aug 08 2013

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Seagulls Shop

An Albion lampshade, the ultimate ’70s accessory

Gordon, a Brighton & Hove Albion fan who I had the pleasure of playing football with on Friday evenings a few years ago, has a wonderful Albion artefact to show. He asks, provocatively:

‘Can someone date my Brighton & Hove Albion lampshade? I don’t mean take it out for a few drinks… I mean hazard a guess as to its era. It’s made of off-white card, with a mid green edging top and bottom, that wraps round the metal wire rings, the top one having the mounting for the bulb holder…

Printed on it is a little football, a larger football, a BHA player challenging a goalkeeper, who is on the floor, four (4) Cups, which I take to be The FA Cup, The League Cup, The 1st. Division Trophy and possibly the European Cup and ‘BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION FC’ with the old double heraldic symbol above this text…’

Here are some photos of this lavish item:

So it was a decorative article to commemorate the time when Brighton & Hove Albion had triumphed in four major club competitions… yes, that would certainly narrow it down. Sadly, I believe that the trophies were mere wishful thinking. But that doesn’t mean we can’t get pretty close to when the lampshade went on sale…

As a connoisseur of the typefaces of Albion programmes from the 1970s (no, not really! I promise), I can exclusively reveal the font on the lampshade is Compacta SB-Regular. This font was used on the cover from the early 1970s up to the end of the 1973/74 season, which doesn’t narrow things down by that much. However, matching the graphical style of the illustrations, with its mixture of a blue spot colour and black, with those in vogue on the cover of the programmes, I’d offer an educated guess to suggest the lampshade came from the 1972/73 campaign:

With that in mind, it was perfect for reading your programme or League Football (formerly Football League Review) in the fading light. But this small pleasure was soon in doubt. The restrictions to electricity consumption caused by the Three Day Working Week made this a luxury during the following season.

Tagged lampshade

Aug 07 2013

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Media Coverage

‘The Leatherhead Lip’ strikes Brighton

The goal that put Brighton out of the FA Cup: Leatherhead’s Chris Kelly (right) hits the 65th minute winner

If you thought Brighton’s defeat to Newport County last night was bad enough, you’d be right. Still, at least the capitulation wasn’t against non-League opposition. Yesterday, Brighton failed to silence Justin Edinburgh who had been mouthing off about the Albion in the media before the match. Thirty eight and a half years ago, it was Leatherhead’s Chris Kelly who was adding spice to a cup competition by making some brash statements in the media.

Below is John Vinicombe’s report from the Evening Argus in January 1975, reporting on Albion’s humiliating 1-0 defeat to Leatherhead at the Goldstone Ground in the FA Cup:

Albion, perhaps more than most clubs, are now all too painfully aware of the narrowing gap between those in and outside the Football League.

Last season it was Walton and Hersham who cut them down to size in that traditional leveller the FA Cup. While the Walton defeat numbed everyone at the Goldstone, it was put down to several reasons that had little or nothing to do with how the team actually played.

The new managers had only just arrived and there was an air of upheaval scarcely conducive to getting minds right, as the saying goes. There was a degree of truth in this, and so Walton was written off as “one of those days.”

Well, Leatherhead have knocked the bottom out of that argument. They deservedly ended Albion’s hopes of a fouth round place and now face Leicester City – either at Crystal Palace or at Filbert Street.

When a manager says afterwards that he is both disgusted and ashamed of his team on the day, it leaves very little for me to say.

I think the best course of action is to quote Peter Taylor verbatim, and then add my own two cents worth on an extraordinary day that saw all five non-League clubs survive the round, with Leatherhead and Wimbledon, the real shock performers at Burnley, going through.

This is what Taylor said after the 1-0 defeat that dazed most of a 20,491 crowd who paid £11,035.15.

“We were outfought and outplayed. I am disgusted with the Brighton side and full of admiration for the opposition. We didn’t play five minutes’ football. Leatherhead played it honestly, and showed plenty of heart and fight.

“We have no excuses whatsoever. The onus was on us to win it by heart, and then show our skills. But we didn’t put two balls together. Leatherhead fought cleanly and fairly.

“Beforehand, I thought the mood was right. Leatherhead played exactly as we anticipated. But when it came to matching them by heart and taking them by skill, it didn’t work. I don’t mind getting beaten, but I don’t like being outfought. Cup football is a different game. I am ashamed of them.”

Mr Taylor went on to pinpoint character deficiencies, and how honest Leatherhead were in their approach. He then made this important point:

“What advantage Leatherhead had was that they appreciated what hard work means. All their players have a job in the week. It would be good for my players to clock in at eight and leave at five in the evening… which some of them might be doing shortly. Having a job makes players outside the League realise what it is to work for a living.

“I thought we had seen the last of the Walton days at Brighton. Evidently, we have not, but it is not the end of the world.”

Dave Reid nips in and robs Ian Mellor as he streaks forward.

Brighton starting line-up for that day was Peter Grummitt, Ken Tiler, Harry Wilson, Tommy Mason, Steve Piper, Graham Winstanley, Tony Towner, Peter O’Sullivan, Fred Binney, Ian Mellor and Jim Walker. Substitute was Marlowe who came on for Mason in the 70th minute.

On North Stand Chat, one user going by the name ‘Freddie Goodwin’ said:

Having suffered to Walton the previous year there was no way this would happen again as the team, under Peter Taylor, was taking shape. Over 20,000 turned up to see us thrash this motley crew from Surrey but, as mentioned above, it just didn’t happen. We were poor but everything we tried failed to come off and there was that air of inevitability that they would score. It was a really depressing game and I was of the opinion that those players should never play for Albion again…except that team had the likes of Sully, Rollings, Piper and more who went on to be part of the glory years.

Tagged peter taylor

Aug 06 2013

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Media Coverage

Blimey O’Reilly… Gary’s back at Goldstone!

From the Argus ‘Go For It Seagulls!’ pre-season preview of 1991/92:

There is a touch of Blarney about Gary O’Reilly’s return to Albion on a free transfer from arch rivals Crystal Palace. Believe it or not, the 30-year-old defender played for both England and the Republic of Ireland as a schoolboy.

The reason? Gary’s father hails from Dublin, but his mother is English.

Isleworth-born O’Reilly, who joins a strong Eire contingent at the Goldstone, took his first significant step towards stardom in an Essex Boys team.

Arsenal wanted him on associate schoolboy form, but their North London neighbours, Spurs, snapped him up at the age of 13. Among O’Reilly’s youth team-mates at White Hart Lane were Kerry Dixon and Mick Hazard. Nobody’s fool, he had the offer of a sports scholarship at Columbia University before signing for Spurs as a full pro.

O’Reilly made 45 first-team appearances in five seasons at Tottenham, including the Charity Shield at Wembley against Liverpool and a quarter-final victory in the UEFA Cup over German giants Bayern Munich.

But the arrival of Gary Stevens, ironically from Albion, and the now-retired Danny Thomas, led to him requesting a transfer, even though he still had two years of his contract remaining.

A willing listener, O’Reilly’s mentor during his stay at White Hart lane was Osvaldo Ardiles, now manager at Newcastle.

“Fear is a big killer in the game, and I learned a lot about that from playing against Ardiles in practice games and listening to him afterwards,” he said.

Albion’s then manager, Chris Cattlin, bought O’Reilly for £45,000 in August 1984. Cattlin recalls: “I watched him eight times before signing him, and six times with Tottenham Reserves he had stinkers. But I thought then he had great potential.”

He made 79 appearances in three seasons with Albion, scoring three goals. He was virtually an ever-present for the first two seasons, but injuries, including a worrying hamstring condition, restricted him to just eight games in the ill-fated 1986-87 season.

O’Reilly was a popular figure at the Goldstone with a social conscience. He led a campaign to help youngsters fight drug addiction and was president of the Junior Seagulls.

Supporters were upset when he joined Palace for £40,000 on January 3 1987.

Albion were in dire need of cash at the time, and his move came just two days before Alan Mullery was sacked in his second spell as manager.

O’Reilly played 70 times in his first four seasons at Selhurst Park and scored Palace’s opening goal in the 1989-90 FA Cup Final against Manchester United.

But he did not figure in Steve Coppell’s plans once last season and had just one game on loan with Birmingham City.

Now the versatile 5ft 11in. defender, who has been given a two-year contract by Barry Lloyd, is intent on holding down a regular place in Albion’s line-up.

“There’s no substitute for first-team football,” he said. “There is nothing like playing regularly to give a player the right degree of confidence.”

On returning to Brighton, Gary O’Reilly played in the crazy 5-4 friendly victory over mighty Steaua Bucharest in August 1991:

gary o'reilly

The classy defender then made 31 appearances for the club in the highly disappointing relegation season of 1991/92. He scored three times, including the only goal against Plymouth in November 1991, but a series of unsuccessful knee operations led to him retiring from the game in April 1993. Since hanging up his boots, he embarked on a successful broadcasting career for Sky, BBC and Trans World International’s Premier League international feed.

O’Reilly had underlined his credentials as a man of principle by supporting the fans’ campaign against the Albion board in 1996/97. As he said to the Argus in 2001:

“I recall going back (to the Goldstone) as a broadcaster for the Fans United match against Hartlepool in February 1997. I twisted Sky’s arm to be there because I knew it would be a great day. It was. There were 10,000 fans from Europe as well as all over the country to show support for a club going through bad times. The Goldstone was special. When it was full it was vibrant, full of excitement and possibilities until the last game. After they pulled it down I couldn’t bring myself to go to the retail park they built in its place until I had to take a bike back for my daughter Grace, who was born on a Saturday Albion beat Swansea. When the bulldozers went in it was devastating.”

No wonder in 2009, while on Radio 5 Live’s ‘Fighting Talk,’ when asked “Who is the one person whose hand you would refuse to shake?”, he said “Ex-Brighton and Hove Albion Chief Executive, David Bellotti.”

Well said, Gary.

Tagged alan mullery, barry lloyd, chris cattlin, gary o'reilly

Aug 05 2013

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Stickers & Cards

Albion top trumps

On Wikipedia, Top Trumps is described as this:

Top Trumps is a card game. Each card contains a list of numerical data, and the aim of the game is to compare these values in order to try to trump and win an opponent’s card. For example, in a pack based on cars, each card shows a different model of car, and the stats and data may include its engine size, its weight, its length, and its top speed. The cards may deliver camouflaged learning, or learning through play, as reading about the facts on the cards, and enhancing memory and maths skills through the use of comparing the data, adds an educational benefit.

So, was this the gateway drug to statto-esque nerdism or an exciting, social way to develop knowledge of the world?

Oh, definitely the latter!

If you were playing Top Trumps in the late 1970s, you’d have had a chance to play with not just one, but two Peter Ward. The first features the young rapscallion showing off his dribbling skills in the yellow Bukta away kit, and also looking pleased as Punch in his towelly blue hooded top in the inset…

Then, curiously, although Ward added another sixteen League goals in 1979/80, not to mention his one international appearance in the close season, his total only went up by fifteen goals here…

Perhaps, the card came out in mid-April 1980, then.

But just to show that the Albion team wasn’t just the Peter Ward show, Teddy Maybank is also featured on a card…

In his biography, Ward said:

Teddy was a good player and Mullery loved him. I was struggling to score when Teddy came into the side but I was playing OK. We were only scoring a goal a game, whereas we had been used to getting two, three or four goals every time we played at the Goldstone. The defenders were better and we weren’t getting as many chances, but I didn’t doubt that I would start scoring again.

Finally, boo!

Here’s a Top Trump card of Mickey Thomas, in his Wales garb, and it’s not surprising considering his short stay at the Goldstone. If points were given for turning out to be poor value for money for us, at £350,000 from Everton, then the undoubted talented but troubled midfielder would have been hard to have trumped. As long as his card didn’t go AWOL…

Tagged mickey thomas, peter ward, teddy maybank

Aug 04 2013

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Media Coverage

Peter Sayer, Justin Fashanu and Alan Mullery in the new Backpass magazine

It’s a lovely feeling to be filled with expectation about a new edition of a magazine that’s about to hit the newsstands. I don’t know about you, but football-wise, I haven’t felt this way since 90 Minutes magazine died a death in the 1990s and Tuesday mornings were never quite the same again. In a previous post, I have documented the excellent coverage Brighton & Hove Albion has received in past issues.

With its first edition of the new season, a refreshed Backpass Magazine is now up to issue 30, and now defines itself as ‘the retro football magazine with a modern-day bite.’

In terms of Brighton interest, there is a great interview with Peter Sayer. A substantial part of the article recalls his wonderful winner for Cardiff against Tottenham in the FA Cup in 1977:

Albion fans chiefly remember Peter’s magical wing-play in the late 1970s while playing in Brighton’s blue and white stripes. Even so, I have found an FKS Soccer ’82 sticker of Peter in the B-Cal Brighton shirt of the early 1980s:

However, Albion fans didn’t get much of a chance to see him in it as he was an unused substitute on the opening day of the 1980/81 season against Wolves and made no further appearances for the first team before departing for Preston.

Nevertheless, he speaks well of his years at the Goldstone Ground:

It was an excellent time at Brighton. There were some very good players at the club and I was playing well. I especially remember when we won promotion to the old First Division at Newcastle in 1978-79. We had our own train which we used to travel to away games on! It was great for team morale.”

When Albion struggled to maintain their place in the First Division, Peter lost his place in the side:

I ended up in the reserves even though I was playing well. I got asked to go to Newcastle but failed the medical. The club then had an opportunity to sell me to Preston and they perhaps felt they needed to offload some players. Maybe I should have dug my heels in and fought.

Elsewhere, Jim Read’s fascinating biography of Justin Fashanu covers the latter part of the striker’s career and strongly argues against the myth that seems to be grown that some of the main facts known of Fashanu:
a) He was a promising footballer (as shown by the ‘Goal of the Season’ against Liverpool)
b) He came out as gay
c) His manager at Nottingham Forest, Brian Clough, and his brother John were far from supportive.
d) He committed suicide

were somehow all linked and that coming out as gay led to his death as be became ostracised from the football community. The details of Fashanu’s life, especially his struggle with injury (he actually retired from the professional game when he was released by Brighton) and his particularly brand of religion, not to mention the varying social values of football fans and players, show that things were far more complicated than that.

Spencer Vignes writes a splendid piece about ‘football specials’, the trains that carried the team and supporters to away matches in the 1970s and 1980s. He mentions the Seagulls Specials and there is a lovely quote from Mark Lawrenson about the party on the train after Brighton clinched promotion to Division One with a 3-1 win at Newcastle.

As Alan Mullery said in his latter autobiography:

“We travelled home by train and The Seagull Special became The Paralytic Express. There was champagne everywhere. The journey back seemed to take a lifetime, but nobody cared. I walked the length of the train with the team, thanking the fans for their support. Everyone who was on that train will remember it forever.

Presenter Alan Mullery is also the ‘star’ of a low budget video nasty reviewed by Chris O from the Football Attic.

Finally, the magazine also charts the fall and heartwarming rise of Newport County, Brighton & Hove Albion’s League Cup opponents on Tuesday evening.

So, if this has whetted your appetite, feel free to nip off to the newsagent now. Or subscribe online via www.backpassmagazine.co.uk. Just £3.99.

Tagged alan mullery, justin fashanu, peter sayer

The Goldstone Wrap

The Albion Retro Blog

Yearly Archives: 2013

‘I expect the bullet’ – Cattlin’s confession

Mike Tiddy, Brighton’s manic feet preacher, says: ‘Play the game hard but play it straight’

European Sky Blues – the future Albion stars that beat Bayern Munich

The Albion directors sue Gull’s Eye fanzine

Heady Edwards!

An Albion lampshade, the ultimate ’70s accessory

‘The Leatherhead Lip’ strikes Brighton

Blimey O’Reilly… Gary’s back at Goldstone!

Albion top trumps

Peter Sayer, Justin Fashanu and Alan Mullery in the new Backpass magazine