Yearly Archives: 2013

Jun 14 2013
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Around The Goldstone

Bert Murray discusses the changing roles of wingers and full-backs

bertmurray

From Brighton v Bristol City, August 1972:

“I was really surprised to be voted Player of the Season. It was a great honour and one I shall always remember. But I thought it could have gone to any of the players as we have such a marvellous season. There was Eddie Spearritt, who was so consistent… Willie Irvine, who always scored vital goals… and Peter O’Sullivan, who started off like a bomb.

“As I have said, it wouldn’t have surprised me if the award had gone to any member of the first team squad. But naturally, I was very thrilled to be voted to the title.

“It will help me to remember last season even more. Once again, as I was at Birmingham, I was switched from my right-wing position to play right full-back. The move didn’t bother me. I don’t have any special preference for either position. I enjoy them equally.

“Nowadays, of course, wingers don’t play like the old-fashioned wingers and neither do the full-backs. I remember when I was at Chelsea and at Birmingham that if you were selected to play on the wing you had to stay out there. It was frowned upon if you wandered to the other side.

“But it’s all changed now. As long as you are aiming at something positive anything goes. A winger is allowed to move inside or drop back to help in defence and it’s commonplace to see full-backs go on runs. That’s what makes today’s game so exciting.”

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Jun 13 2013
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Around The Goldstone, Media Coverage, Photo Opportunities

Brian Eastick and the imaginary football

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Brilliant anecdote from Gordon Smith’s ‘And Smith Did Score’ autobiography, page 123:

The players look at each other and wonder if they should believe what they have just heard. Standing on the training ground, they look askance at the Brighton youth team coach, Brian Eastick, who is taking the first-team training for he first time.

‘Right lads,’ he has just told us, ‘We’re going to have a game of football, so pick two sides. But what’s different about this game – and if you take this seriously it will be a great help to you – is that we’ll be playing with an imaginary ball.’

‘It’s twenty minutes each way – a practice game with a pretend ball.’

He senses a reluctance from the players and nobody moves. ‘Look,’ says Brian, ‘the boss is watching and it’s either this or he’ll have you running all morning – what’s it to be?’

Since anything’s better than running round a track for a couple of hours, we decide to go along with this rather unconventional training method. We’re about to start the 1982-83 season and this is undoubtedly the weirdest training session I have ever taken part in and that would go for the rest of the Brighton players as well.

We get ourselves into teams and line up to kick off. The former Arsenal star, Charlie George, has joined Brighton on a month’s loan and he’s in my team. I kick off by touching the imaginary ball to Charlie who makes an imaginary pass to our winger, ex-Manchester United player, Mickey Thomas, Mickey then makes a 20-yard run at full pace, slides along the touchline and jumps up to shout, ‘For fuck’s sake, Charlie, play it to my feet, will you?’

The players can hardly stand up for laughing and that’s the end of the game. Brian Eastick is not happy and, since we’re not taking his game with the imaginary football seriously, it’s back to running round the track.

Brian had been on the continent looking at how the European teams train and noting their coaching methods. He must have seen some foreign team trying out this practice match with no football and decided to introduce it to the British game. Brian had persuaded Brighton’s then manager, Mike Bailey, to let him take the first-team training for a morning and try out these new methods. Unfortunately, the British footballers weren’t quite ready for such progress and diversity of coaching methods.

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Jun 12 2013
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Club Colours, Media Coverage

Random fan photo from the Evening Argus in the 1980s

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I wish I could explain what this photo was all about but sadly it’s become detached from the story in the local newspaper. If anyone knows or would like to guess, feel free to add a comment!

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Jun 11 2013
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Media Coverage, Photo Opportunities

Michael Robinson, Albion’s sharpshooter, guns for Malcolm Allison

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Over three seasons, Robinson scored 37 First Division goals for the club, more than any other Albion player. He joined Brighton in a £400,000 deal in the summer of 1980. In March 1981, he returned to Maine Road with the Seagulls to play in the First Division fixture against his old side. By that point, it was clear that his move to the South Coast had been a success. Although his new club was facing a relegation battle, Robinson was ever-present and his seventeen League goals so far had rebuilt his confidence and reputation as a centre-forward.

On the eve of the match, he spoke to Peter Gardner of the Manchester Evening News:

Michael Robinson returns to Maine Road today for the first time since his transfer to Brighton last summer with the controversial admission: ‘I had to leave City to get away from Malcolm Allison and save my career.’

Robinson lines up against a City side now without the man whose views forced him to leave the Blues. And the man who had earlier handed Preston a then-club record fee of £750,000 for the striker’s talents. Robinson says: ‘Malcolm Allison and I just didn’t see eye-to-eye – it became inevitable that I would have to leave the club. It was a total conflict of ideas. Malcolm wanted me to do things I didn’t think I was capable of doing. He was asking me to play wide up front, on my own or on the wing… crazy things like that. It just wasn’t me. All I ever wanted to do was to be successful for City as a centre-forward, my best position. But Malcolm somehow got these ideas that I should play everywhere except that one, and I could never agree. Being messed about like that was making me a poorer player. In those circumstances I just had to leave.

Looking back on his move to Brighton, Mike says: ‘Alan Mullery told me from the outset that he wanted me to play just as I always wanted to play, and I shall always be grateful to him for that. I am thoroughly enjoying my football once again. And that is certainly a relief after all the agonies and frustrations I went through in the later part of my stay at City.’

Robinson admits to still being baffled by the Allison strategy: ‘I couldn’t understand it then and I still can’t work it out now,’ he says, adding: ‘The season before Malcolm bought me he had Peter Barnes and Mike Channon drifting wide down the flanks, but no centre-forward to take advantage of the service. Then, when I arrived as an orthodox centre-forward, he sold Barnes and Channon. So where was I expected to get the service form? Since I have left City, I feel I have come on leaps and bounds. My game was deteriorating at Maine Road where Malcolm, in his time, blinded the players by science. Their minds were blank by the time they went out on the field. Here at Brighton I have found a new lease of life.’

The match at Maine Road ended in a 1-1 draw. Although Robinson didn’t score, he headed a long clearance by Digweed to give goalscorer John Gregory, in oceans of space, an excellent chance to make it two points rather than one, but Gregory stubbed his toe and the ball ran wide. Nevertheless, Robinson added two more goals to bring his League total for the season to nineteen. He also received the Albion Rediffusion ‘Player of the Season’ award.

Years later, Robinson was much more receptive to what Allison was conveying to his players as a coach. He said: “”I used to think Malcolm Allison woke up in the morning wondering how to complicate my life. He would speak to me about angles and zones. And I wasn’t the only one. Mick Channon didn’t understand a blind word either. But I archived it somewhere. Later, what Malcolm had been saying fell into place.”

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Jun 10 2013
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Media Coverage

Fans warned by Bamber to turn up early

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From Shoot! magazine in 1979:

Brighton fans get a warning from chairman Mike Bamber as they prepare to welcome the First Division big boys to the Goldstone Ground.

The Seagulls start life in the top flight with a glamorous home game against FA Cup winners Arsenal – and Bamber makes it clear the fans must get there early. “I’m afraid they are going to have to change the habit of a lifetime and turn up at the ground with plenty of time to spare now we are in the First Division,” he says.

“The days when they could turn up ten minutes before kick-off and stroll through the turnstiles are over. If they do that now there’s a fair chance they won’t get within a mile of the ground. Our promotion to the First Division has created tremendous interest down here and everyone is excited about seeing some of the great names and some of the great teams of football at Brighton.

“We have all got to make adjustments to meet the new challenge and I beg the fans to get here in plenty of time in future. We’v had problems in the past on big-match days trying to pack in everyone who turned up late and many have complained it’s taken them ages to get through the turnstiles.

“It will do. It you get lots of people arriving together – and late. They will have no chance at all this season if they leave it late. So my message to fans is – please be early.”

In the end, Bamber was both right and wrong. A huge crowd of 28,604 came to see Brighton trounced 0-4 by Arsenal in a First Division baptism of fire in August 1979. All but one home league game hit the 20,000 mark, which was understandably the Stoke match shortly before Christmas. (If fans had to miss one, they chose wisely as it was a 0-0 stalemate). At the same time, the attendance at the Arsenal match was still five-thousand short of the capacity at the time. There was not one 30,000 attendance at the Goldstone Ground by the end of 1979/80.

By the following season, the novelty of top flight football had waned, with Brighton mostly struggling to keep their head above water. With the onset of recession and much higher ticket prices than in the old days of the 1970s, home attendances began to dip.

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Jun 09 2013
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Photo Opportunities

Brighton players training at Hove Park, 1983

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Minus a proper training ground, Brighton players used to practise their skills at the nearby park in Hove. Still, they seem in pretty good spirits here. Neil McNab, Gerry Ryan, Jimmy Case, Gary Stevens, Gary Howlett, Chris Ramsey and Terry Connor all smile for the camera in their classic adidas apparel.

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Jun 08 2013
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Around The Goldstone, Media Coverage

Des Tennant – the original ‘Tank’

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Several Brighton players down the years have been known as ‘The Tank’ for the power of their play, but I think Des Tennant was the original.

He signed from Barry Town in the summer of 1948, as a 22 year old, and made a whopping 424 appearances for the club.

His lion-hearted forays down the touchline made him a favourite at the Goldstone. He initially lined up as a right-winger, also playing as inside-right before become a ferocious tackling right-back with a lot of attacking intent. No wonder that Des Lynam, in his autobiography, referred to the other Des as ‘a favourite player of mine.’

In the ten years when he was a fixture in the side, Tennant was also captain for three seasons, including in 1953/54 when Brighton were runners-up in Division Three (South). Unfortunately, in those days, only the champions were promoted. He also scored 47 goals, 23 of which were penalties.

One particular goal is remembered fondly on North Stand Chat by the user nobody’s dupe. He recalls the days when clubs would play home and away fixtures against the same opposition over Christmas. Brighton gave Newport an unhappy present on Christmas Day 1952, thrashing the Welsh side 3-0 on their own ground. Two days later, in the return fixture at the Goldstone, Albion were 1-0 up at half-time but then surprisingly found themselves trailing 2-1. It took a long-range effort from Des to save the day.

Des enjoyed a benefit match against Brentford in May 1954. He retired in 1959 to join the coaching staff.

Sadly, he died in January 2009. His niece, Gillian Marsh, of Derwent Drive, Cwmbach, said: “My uncle was a wonderful character who loved life and valued his family and friends above all else.”

The image above, from a magazine, in a football shirt that buttons all the way down the front, is used to form the crest of the Brighton & Hove Albion Collectors and Historians Society.

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Jun 07 2013
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Around The Goldstone, Media Coverage

Neil McNab is sure Brighton will stay up

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From Match Weekly in February 1980:

A 5-1 defeat at Southampton doesn’t make for the best of debuts for your new club, but ex-Bolton midfield man Neil McNab is delighted with his £200,000 move to Brighton.

“Yes, it was a big disappointment, but the lads never gave up and I was delighted with the spirit in the team,” McNab said after the game. “Southampton played extremely well on the day.”

Speaking of Alan Mullery, McNab said:

“As soon as I met the manager, I decided to make the move,” says Neil. “He was a great player and now he can relate to players. He understands them. His record, since taking over at Brighton, has been unbelievable. So I was very happy when he came in for me.”

After playing for Spurs in the infamous promotion game with Southampton in April 1978 (which Brighton fans deem a ‘fix’), McNab had found himself frozen out of the side by the signings of Osvaldo Ardiles and Ricardo Villa. He joined Bolton Wanderers in November 1978, Second Division Champions in 1977/78, but by 1980, they looked certain for the drop from the First Division.

McNab’s personal life had been clouded by the death of his father at the age of 43. Mike Bamber, Brighton chairman, promised to be a ‘second father.’

On the pitch, McNab brought some much needed class to the Goldstone. His busy, methodical play, with an excellent range of passing, did much to help the club secure top flight status comfortably.

neilmcnab

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Jun 06 2013
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Club Colours

Great Albion kits: 1985/86 Home

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A much loved home shirt design from the mid-1980s. It was mostly worn with white shorts and blue socks, but even in some home matches, such as the FA Cup 5th Round Replay with Peterborough in 1986, Albion wore this with white shorts and socks. Looked great either way! This shirt design lasted two seasons at Brighton, one with the Phoenix Brewery sponsor and then with the NOBO lettering.

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The thin blue and red stripes on the V-neck collar and shirt cuff were retained from the previous design, as were the classic three white stripes down the sleeves. With those magnificent three bold vertical stripes on the sides of the collar, though, this showed adidas still had striking new ideas to play around with. Perhaps with such a range of elements, it might have looked a mess. Here, though, it is neatly executed and makes for a winning, pleasing combination.

On the pitch, with this home kit, Brighton, under Chris Cattlin, also seemed to have found a winning formula. With Terry Connor and Dean Saunders firing all cylinders up front (even though Justin Fashanu wasn’t), they were pushing for a return to Division One before a slump from late March 1986 onwards sent them to a chastening mid-table finish. The fall cost Cattlin his job.

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Still, the team looked pretty stylish, even as they waved their promotion dreams goodbye! If you look closely, you can see that the badge and the sponsor logo were embossed. Another nice touch! Much more than this, the balance and positioning between adidas logo, club crest and shirt sponsor show a degree of thought and taste that is often missing from many replica shirts nowadays.

Also, I rather love the horizontal pinstripes at the bottom of the shirt – a contrast to the vertical, thinner ones of the previous jersey. The horizontal stripes reprise those of the shirt that France wore during the European Football Championship in 1984 on their home turf. While Steve Penney, Danny Wilson and Dennis Mortimer (below, righteously winning the ball against an opposition player who dared to go for the now outmoded vertical pinstripes!) made immense contributions to that 1985/86 season, there’s no doubt about it: we could have done with Michel Platini, Alain Giresse and Jean Tigana in our side!

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Jun 05 2013
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Media Coverage

Internationals On The Spot: with Mark Lawrenson

Taken from the pages of Shoot! Annual 1980:

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What do you remember most about your international debut?
The fear down my spine when I walked out with the international side for the first time against Poland, at Dublin in 1977. My family couldn’t get there and I felt totally alone.

Cripes!

His first cap was while with Preston North End. Hopefully, Brighton would have looked after him better. Although Mark was born in Preston, his mother was from Eire. The defender (and sometime midfielder) went on to make 39 appearances for the Republic of Ireland, scoring five goals from 1977 to 1987.

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