Tag Archives: mark lawrenson

Mar 31 2013
Leave a comment
Around The Goldstone, Media Coverage

Brighton’s ‘Preston mob’

prestonmob1

From Shoot! Magazine in 1978/79:

Mark Lawrenson and Gary Williams have always been certain Brighton will win promotion to the First Division this season.

They are both stars in a team which has been in top form in the League since November and neither player regrets moving from Preston nearly two years ago.

“Things are great at Brighton with the club at the top of the Second Division.” says Lawrenson.

“We have no qualms about leaving Preston North End because with Brighton we have joined a club that is just as good and which also has more money.

“We only just missed getting promotion last season when we took 15 points out of the last 16 only to be pipped by Tottenham Hotspur on goal difference.”

“The team had a sticky patch after the 5-1 win over Preston in September, probably because we thought we were better than we were.”

“But Alan Mullery got the Divisional Bell’s Manager of the Month award for December, in a great Christmas when we took six points out of six, and we have not lost many matches since.”

In 1978/79, just like Lawrenson and Williams at Brighton, bustling centre-forward Michael Robinson had hoped to get into the First Division himself with Preston. However, the Lilywhites suffered a terrible start. Nevertheless, he was sure he had nothing to fear. As he said to Football Handbook (Part 31): “I can’t see how we are going to go down. We have only the poor sides to play.” Speaking of the 5-1 score at the Goldstone, he added, “There’s nothing to fear because only Brighton have hammered us.” Preston eventually finished seventh, helped by winning the return match at Deepdale 1-0 in February.

robinsonpreston

The Preston holy trinity was complete when Williams and Lawrenson were eventually joined at the Albion in the summer of 1980 by Robinson who arrived at the Goldstone via an unhappy spell at Manchester City.

prestonmob1600

Tagged , ,
Mar 30 2013
Leave a comment
Around The Goldstone, Photo Opportunities

The video age arrives at the Goldstone

john king films

In a scene befitting a ’70s sci-fi movie, Alan Mullery goes over footage of a recent match with some of his star players. As the Brighton v Nottingham Forest programme from 1979/80 reports:

Every home game at the Goldstone is recorded on video by John King Films and Manager Alan Mullery spends a considerable time looking through the replays for tactical purposes.

John King are now marketing a brand new form of television. It is the biggest screen on the market operating on a sophisticated projection system. Our picture shows Alan with players Mark Lawrenson, Peter Ward and Brian Horton viewing the action of a recent match and envying the chance of such a set at him.

If the picture quality was really as good as that, JKF were really ahead of their time. And whatever happened to all the video footage from Albion’s first in the top flight? If only it still survived…

Tagged , , ,
Mar 20 2013
Leave a comment
Around The Goldstone

Cheerleaders!

And if you thought Gully’s Girls were Albion’s first cheerleaders, this might cause you to do a double-take.

cheerleaders

The Albion team come out of the tunnel in their last match of the 1970s, at home to Manchester City, to an enthusiastic welcome from this troupe.

Brian Horton looks as pleased as punch. It seemed to do the trick. Albion triumphed 4-1.

Tagged , , , , ,
Mar 11 2013
Leave a comment
Around The Goldstone, Media Coverage

Beamish winds up Lawrenson

Here’s Ken Beamish, bought in March 1972, posing in PE shorts before the ill-starred 1972/73 season.

beamish

The all-action striker was Albion’s top scorer, with ten goals, as the team slid back into the Third Division.

Fast forward eight seasons to 1980/81 and Beamish was back at Tranmere, the club from which Pat Saward had signed him. Rovers were a Fourth Division side by then but they had the matter of a two-legged 2nd Round League Cup tie with Brighton & Hove Albion, now a top flight club.

In Mark Lawrenson’s ‘The Autobiography,’ he takes up the story on page 152:

“You learn, sometimes the hard way, the steps you need to take to protect yourself physically and psychologically. Opponents will always be testing you to see if you can be conned into losing your temper and, with it, your self-control. Ken Beamish certainly caught me out playing for Tranmere. We won the first leg comfortably, but I fell for the five card trick in the return. I can honestly say he tried to tackle me just below the hip and for the next five minutes I just went crazy. Ken, an old pro who had played for a lot of clubs including Brighton, obviously set out to try and unsettle me. If that tackle did not do any lasting damage it certainly wrecked my concentration and I was eventually sent off for a remark to a linesman. I was still fuming as I headed for the tunnel and looking across at Beamish who gave me a sly wink. Sure, the laugh was on me, but it was a lesson I have never forgotten.”

marklawrenson

Tagged ,
Mar 02 2013
Leave a comment
Club Colours, Photo Opportunities

Hostess tackles Lawro and Nobby

This is from an edition of ‘Roy of the Rovers’ magazine. A spot of foul play by Nobby, I suspect:

bcal-lawrenson-horton

From the Brighton v Bristol City programme of April 1980:

bcal-lawrenson-horton 2

Last Wednesday we held a very successful buffet lunch for the firms that have helped the club during the year with sponsorship and advertising.

With us for the first time were our new sponsors British Caledonian and we have reproduced here a novel action picture that shows Brian Horton and Mark Lawrenson in the new Albion kit that will be worn next August.

The Caledonian hostess seemed to enjoy the action in front of the North Stand and we hope that supporters will equally enjoy seeing the team play in its new strip next August.

It was certainly a radical change. Nothing quite screams top flight Albion football as that all-blue Adidas kit with the British Caledonian sponsor, making Brighton the first side in the south to be involved in shirt advertising. The Brighton v Nottingham Forest programme from March 1980 says that:

the colour change was decided upon after consultation with the players and they were virtually unanimous about the new strip. To many the stripes associate the club with the Third Division days and we are determined to be a First Division club in every way.

The Albion vs Forest matchday programme also includes this image:

bcal mike bamber

Here you can see Albion chairman Mike Bamber shaking hands with Adam Thomson, the Chairman of British Caledonian Airways, as a helicopter waits to whisk Mr Thomson back to Gatwick. Yes, the 1980s had certainly arrived!

Tagged , , ,
Feb 27 2013
1 Comment
Stickers & Cards

Topps bubblegum cards

topps

We knew we had made it as a football club when Topps issued cards of eight first-teamers in 1978/79. Enclosed in a daring pink border, Topps cards perfectly captured the vibe of the 1970s with its use of bright garish colours and popular typefaces of that time.

So enjoy Peter Sayer’s quite magnificent perm, the rare sight of Graham Moseley with a beard and Sully proving himself to be the Welsh answer to Tom Selleck, never mind Rivelino. But, wait, no Brian Horton?

The backs of the cards featured all the vital career stats up to the end of the 1977/78 season plus some bullet points:

topps back

Tagged , , , , , , ,
Feb 23 2013
1 Comment
Media Coverage, Photo Opportunities

Brighton’s teddy bear

Alan Mullery is holding Albion’s one-time mascot…

teddy bear with alan mullery

Mark Lawrenson and teddy bear

…and so is Mark Lawrenson.

Why, you may ask, is Mark Lawrenson sitting holding a giant, cuddly teddy bear?

“After all the injuries I’ve had lately, any mascot is welcome,” explains the Brighton star. “I was out for ten weeks at the start of the season with severed ankle ligaments.”

Mullery is one of Mark’s greatest admirers, and Alan’s sure the kid from Preston can go to the very top.

“When I signed him I knew the lad had tremendous potential. Now people can see what I was talking about. I said he could be another Beckenbauer… and I stand by that.”

At 22, Mark is one of Britain’s rising young stars. To reach his full potential, he needs to steer clear of more serious injuries, And that’s why you’ll find him holding that teddy bear mascot down at the Goldstone!”

To read the full article of ‘Mark Lawrenson – Brighton’s Beckenbauer’ from the 1979/80 campaign, just click on the photo.

Tagged , ,
Newer posts →