Tag Archives: chris ramsey

The Boys in the Old Brighton Blue

Here are the the 12″ and 7″ versions of Brighton’s 1983 FA Cup Final song, with ‘The Goldstone Rap’ as the B-Side, released on Energy Records:

theboysintheoldbrightonblue

With superb attention to detail, the front and back covers had lavish designs that helped to soften the blow to club sponsors British Caledonian Airways, whose name would not feature on the players’ shirts on Cup Final day, due to TV regulations at the time:

boysin1

boysin2

Back row: Michael Robinson, Steve Gatting, Gordon Smith, Graham Moseley, Perry Digweed, Gary Stevens, Steve Foster, Jimmy Case;

Middle row: Sammy Nelson, Giles Stille, Neil Smillie, Tony Grealish, Graham Pearce, Gary Howlett, Gerry Ryan;

Front row: Terry Connor, Chris Ramsey.

I originally bought the 12″ from one of the second hand record shops on Trafalgar Road, Brighton. Not sure how much it cost me, but it was considerably less than the £50 forked out by one of The Seagulls Love Review fanzine lads, Stefan, at a BHACHS auction at Withdean about five years ago!

You can see a dance performance to this song here:

The song can be heard in its entirety below:

In case you want to have a sing-a-long, the rather corny lyrics are:

Chorus
come on you seagulls, we’ll follow you
come on you seagulls, we’ll see you through
come on you seagulls, we’ll follow you
the boys in the old Brighton blue

verse 1
we are the boys in the white and the blue
football’s our game, Brighton’s our name
we are the team who’ll be out there for you
the boys in the old brighton blue

verse 2
here we are on the road to wembley way
fighting hard for our place on that day
for the pride of our town down by the sea
we’ll do our best to bring them victory

verse 3
cause we are the boys in the white and the blue
football’s our game, Brighton’s our name
follow the flag we’ll be flying for you
the boys in the old Brighton blue

reprise chorus

verse 4
as we go on our way to meet the best
once again we’ll be put to the test
but we’ll play like we always try to do
we won’t give up until the game is through

verse 5
we are the boys in the white and the blue
football’s our game, Brighton’s our name
follow the flag we’ll be flying for you
the boys in the old brighton blue

verse 6
follow the boys in the white and the blue
football’s our game, Brighton’s our name
follow the flag we’ll be flying for you
the boys in the old Brighton blue (twice)

reprise chorus with last line sang twice

I have been told that the lyrics of Albion’s FA Cup final song were reproduced on an A4 sheet which was distributed over the counter at the Seagulls Shop.

In the end, the song reached number 65 in the UK singles chart. Not a bad achievement considering the song wasn’t all that good!

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Chris Ramsey – not exactly a star of the screen

chrisramsey1982

Taken from the Brighton v Stoke programme from February 1983, here is Tony Norman’s portrayal of the life and times of Albion’s young right-back:

The first time I met Chris Ramsey, he was a quiet, shy apprentice at Bristol City. Since then, City have fallen on hard times, but Chris has realised the ambition he talked quietly about at that first meeting.

‘Like any other young apprentice, my dream was to play in the First Division,’ he says. ‘I must admit that even after coming to Brighton, I had times when I wondered if I’d make it. But now I’ve got my chance and I’m keen to make the most of it.’

Regular fans at the Goldstone will have enjoyed seeing the progress Chris has made this season. His confidence has grown. He looks to have all the makings of a top class full-back. He has pace and agility, but can tackle like a demon too. Beneath that shy smile there is a sharp competitor.

Not that Chris is often shy at the Goldstone. When he does look serious, a joke from friends like Steve Foster, Michael Robinson or Andy Ritchie will soon bring a huge grin to his face. Chris is a popular member of the first team squad.

‘I think the Albion is a happy club,’ he says. ‘I like Brighton, but I still live at home with my family in Islington, London. There are five girls and two boys in all. At the moment, five of us are still living at home with mum.’ Needless to say, there’s never a dull moment!

‘I’m always joking around at home with my younger brother, Kevin.

He’s my best mate too. We spend a lot of our free time listening to music. I like Motown and reggae. We get records on import. I could tell you the names of reggae bands, but to be honest, I don’t think you would know any of them!’ Has Chris ever thought of joining a group himself?

‘Well, I did have a go at learning the drums once,’ he grins, ‘but I didn’t get very far. I think I’m better at listening than playing!’

One of his other interests is watching movies from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

‘I like the old musicals with stars like Gene Kelly, Fred Astair and Ginger Rogers, but my favourite actor is James Cagney. He made some great films.’ Chris is one of many talented black players making their name in the game. Does he think racial prejudice still exists in football?

‘Yes, it’s still there. You get stick from away fans. But the way I look at it, if they weren’t shouting about that, they’d find something else. Like, you’re too fat or too thin. They’ll always find something, so it doesn’t really bother me.’

Chris Ramsey has had his share of hard times, but like any good Hollywood movie, his story looks like having a very happy ending… here at the Goldstone.

Ramsey had a chequered history in front of the TV cameras that season. He was sent off against Spurs in April for some very reckless tackling:

Then, while feeling down about being suspended for the FA Cup Semi-Final, he had his pockets picked by Everton’s Kevin Sheedy for the Toffees’ first goal a week later:

Finally, in the second-half of the FA Cup Final against Manchester United, Norman Whiteside’s horrific tackle put Chris out of the game and the replay:

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Happiness in the bath at Newcastle, 1983

Neil Smillie, Peter Ward, Steve Gatting, Chris Ramsey, and especially that japester Andy Ritchie (!), are all smiles following the surprise replay victory at St James’ Park on 6th January 1983. The result sets Albion’s historic FA Cup run on its way…

newcastleaway1983a

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FKS’ last hurrah: Soccer 83-84 stickers

Poor FKS. They once dominated the ’70s football sticker scene with fabulously grandiose album titles such as ‘The Wonderful World of Soccer Stars Gala Collection.’ Which suitably sideburned and flared young kid wouldn’t want to be in on that? By 1983/84, probably due to the intense competition from Panini, FKS had reached the end of the line with the rather dubious ‘Soccer 83-84’ series. Following on from their ‘Soccer 82′, it appears that they were trying to cover two seasons’ worth of top flight soccer with this inept collection. Here are the Brighton players:

Graham Moseley

Graham Moseley

Chris Ramsey

Chris Ramsey

Graham Pearce

Graham Pearce

A stray ball seems to be trying its darnedest to try to muscle in on the limelight behind Moseley’s shoulder. But is this really true? As you can see, the grass behind Moseley and Ramsey looks suspiciously unnatural in its greenness, especially as the unaltered green on the side of Ramsey’s arm rather gives the game away. The mixture of the head and shoulders shots of these players and the zoom-in on Graham Pearce’s head bestow an untidy look for this collection. No wonder Chris Ramsey looks uncomfortable.

Steve Gatting

Steve Gatting

Tony Grealish

Tony Grealish

Steve Foster

Steve Foster

Similar gripes with Messrs Gatting, Grealish and Foster here. Given where FKS had appeared to have swiped their photo shot of Tony Grealish from, you can understand why they had to put on a faux-grass background.

Gary Stevens

Gary Stevens

Jimmy Case

Jimmy Case

Gary Howlett

Gary Howlett

A nice, genuine photo of Jimmy Case, fresh from the barbers, follows another manipulated one of Gary Stevens. And whoa! An intensely dim shot of a young and rather frail-looking Gary Howlett. Suffice to say, if you met him in a dark alleyway, I don’t think you’d be that scared.

Michael Robinson

Michael Robinson

Gordon Smith

Gordon Smith

Gerry Ryan

Gerry Ryan

Some more bog-standard and doctored head and shoulders shots of some of Albion’s attackers follow. It’s like FKS were trying very hard to emulate Panini here, whereas some of the action shots that the company had previously used would probably have been more interesting to the young collector.

Neil Smillie

Neil Smillie

And then the final insult! Sticking in a shot of a player in a Crystal Palace kit on a Brighton page. Yeah, thanks, FKS! A bit like putting a sticker of Mo Johnston in a Celtic shirt within a Rangers sticker double-spread, I don’t think that would have gone down too well on the south coast at the time.

No need to be too resentful to FKS, though, after a stay that had lasted since the late 1960s. The company had introduced new ideas such as actual albums for affixing your stickers, something we take for granted today. Now, though, the game was up.

soccer83-84

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Brighton players training at Hove Park, 1983

1983-training-brighton

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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Fancy dress party

Fancy dress party

There was certainly an air of fun and excitement around the Goldstone over the festive period, and everyone entered into the spirit of things. The players’ traditional fancy dress party took place, and most of the lads started the evening at the Lottery Draw at Brighton’s Lewes Road Inn.

Among the classic outfits were those of Steve Foster, in traditonal Tyrolean costume, Neil Smillie as an American footballer, and former Goldstone favourite, Gary Williams, who arrived dressed as a nun.

Also look out for the garb of Gary Stevens, Steve Foster, Gerry Ryan, Peter Ward and Chris Ramsey. Photo from the Brighton v Newcastle FA Cup programme of January 1983.

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