Albion shouldn’t fear failure as they approach the run-in

This week saw Albion’s first win over Crystal Palace since 2019, and the first win over their arch rivals at the AMEX since 2018. A truly special evening capped by the Sussex born and bred Solly March scoring the winner.

So now with 13 games to go Albion sit primed for a European place challenge, along with a first home FA cup quarter final since 1986 this weekend. This is shaping up to be one of the most remarkable seasons in the club’s history, but how good can it get?

Roberto De Zerbi was quoted by Andy Naylor in The Athletic this week talking about how his Brighton players are regarding themselves as Champions League contenders, saying: “I speak as a coach and I’m proud of their words, because to fix a high target is right.”

Stating high targets are somewhat Albion’s thing too (Premier League ready, anyone?) and remarkably they have a good record of achieving them, but not always. In 2015 Albion’s women set a target of Champions League football within 5 years. 8 years later they still haven’t achieved that and are currently more concerned with maintaining their WSL status, as opposed to competing at the top-end of the table.

That’s not to say we shouldn’t aim big. Let’s go for it, let’s dream big. But, let’s also remember targets and achievements often vary.

Just as RDZ went onto say in The Athletic this week. “It isn’t a problem if we don’t arrive at our target, I repeat, the most important thing is to fight to arrive at our target when this target is higher, because it’s important for your way.” Sadly, that kind of nuance is often lost on people.

And when he says it’s not a problem, it’s not to say it’s not disappointing, but rather that it’s not a failure to not always break new ground. Losing is as much a part of sport as winning after-all.

Whilst we make aims of breaking further ground, we should still celebrate the more modest successes, even ones we’ve maybe begun to take for granted.

For example, one thing that shouldn’t be lost among everything else following Wednesday’s win over Palace is that it meant Albion passed the 40-point mark. And that’s with 13 games still to play. With that foundation now set, so much is still possible.

But history shows us to be wary of disappointment. In the 1981/82 season, the club were right in the mix for Europe until 7 defeats in the last 8 matches of the season meant they missed out and finished 13th. The following season Albion famously and narrowly lost the FA cup final, in-turn again missing out on Europe (along with their topflight status). Europe’s not been on the clubs radar ever since, so the fact that we are here again competing for it should be celebrated.

In contrast to my more reserved attitude, Warren Aspinall said on this weeks Albion Unlimited for BBC Sussex that we should “forget” the struggles of the past and “focus on the future” rather than being led by history. However, changing our outlook when so much of that history is ingrained in the culture and traditions of the club, is easier said than done.

Warren is right though in many ways. Outlook and mentality have a huge impact on a teams success or failure. A pessimistic or negative outlook can lead to a self doubt and anxiety that then leads to hesitation and poor decision making. In the words of Shakespeare’s Hamlet “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”

Us football fans often demonstrate how the fragility of outlook and mentality with our reactionary opinions after a good or bad result. If enough people express an opinion on Twitter it appears to then become fact in some circles and I have no doubt that this can affect a teams mentality and in turn their performances.

Look at Solly March’s recent turn-around. Suddenly he’s the best thing since sliced bread. But prior to the return of the Premier League, and especially after that disappointing defeat to Charlton in the League Cup, of which his misses were a huge part of, he was a pariah for many Albion fans.

This can particularly be true for a low-scoring sport such as Football, which is won and lost on such small margins. Who knows what would have happened had Odsonne Edouard found the corner of the net with his early header on Wednesday night, which instead went wide of the post. It is moments such as these that games are decided upon and at times it’s these moments that the momentum of a season can also hinge upon.

The American Philosopher William James once said “The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.” And maybe it’s that discovery which we are witnessing at Albion right now, the next few months will be a significant test of the club’s mental development.

If Albion can go into their final 13 league games and this Sunday’s FA Cup quarter final believing they have a genuine opportunity as well as an ability to make club history, that could make all the difference. Especially with the peace of mind that if they fail to do so, this season will still likely be considered a relatively success.

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Brighton vs Hull (2014) – A missed opportunity for cup glory

When it comes to missed opportunities for cup glory, Albion have their fair share of tales to tell. Lest we forget, that the most notable moment in Albion history is one of the most famous moments of missed cup glory in English football history.

Included in that history of missed opportunities for cup glory is their FA Cup run from 2014.

This was an Albion team that had missed out on promotion to the topflight via the playoffs the season before, and were building up another (ultimately fruitless) promotion push that season.

Albion entered the competition in the third round, winning at home to fellow Championship promotion chasers Reading 1-0. And followed that up with a comfortable 3-1 away to Micky Adams’ Port Vale side in Round 4.

Round 5 saw them get another home draw, against then Premier League side Hull City. A draw which led Albion centre back Matt Upson to claim that Albion could go “all the way” in the FA Cup.

The former England centre-half said to the Argus: “We can go all the way, why not? There’s no point us thinking otherwise, or else don’t turn up for the tie and we all stay at home.

“We can win and we can keep winning. It’s a one-off game and on that day or night anything can happen.”

Some will find this idea rather far-fetched. But when you consider that Wigan were the current FA Cup holders, who had been relegated from the topflight the same season and would finish just a place and a point above Albion in the Championship table that season, it becomes a far more plausible outcome.

Hull were then managed by Steve Bruce, a manager who has more recently become a bit of a pariah, particularly with Newcastle fans. But back then his work at Hull, as well as with a number of his previous clubs was well regarded, and he’d even recently been on the shortlist of the England job, a job which ultimately went to Sam Allardyce.

Under Bruce, Hull were promoted to the top flight the previous season and eventually finished a respectable 16th in this their first Premier League season back, alongside a memorable cup final appearance (spoiler alert).

The Hull Team that night included the now Hull City manager Liam Rosenior, a player who’d go on to sign for Albion the following year.

Rosenior played 51 times for Brighton and became a firm fans favourite despite only making 16 appearances across his second and third season with the club.

Albion built up to the game with a 1-0 win at home to Leeds the Tuesday before, courtesy of a Leo Ulloa goal, which put them into 7th and just a point off the Championship play-off places.

With Premier League strugglers Sunderland awaiting the winners in the quarter finals, there was an incentive for both clubs, especially for Brighton given who the Sunderland manager was. A certain Gus Poyet, who’d left the club under something of a cloud the previous summer.

In his place came Spaniard Oscar Garcia. A manager who whilst relatively young, came with pedigree, having both played for Barcelona and then go on to manage their youth team.

He’d joined Albion straight from a season with Maccabi Tel Aviv, where they’d won the Israeli Premier League, qualifying them for that season’s Champions League. But instead of staying and enjoying their European football adventure, he took the managers job at Brighton in the second tier of English football.

His team selection that night included 7 changes from the win over Leeds, including rare starts for Peter Brezovan, Adam Chicksen and a certain Lewis Dunk.

Dunk hadn’t featured for Albion in the league all season, and had spent some time early on in the season on loan at League One Bristol City. He’d in fact only played twice for Albion in the league since getting sent off at Selhurst Park early on in what ended up being a heavy 3-0 defeat to rivals Crystal Palace in December 2012. A period that probably not coincidently coincided with him being embroiled in a sexual assault trial, before later being cleared of any wrongdoing.

Dunk had played in the previous two rounds and was trying to use the competition to rejuvenate his Albion career, featuring a further eight times for Albion that season before being reinstated as a first team regular the following season upon the appointment of Sami Hyypia.

Albion took the lead in the first half with a Leo Ulloa goal. Will Buckley started a quick breakaway, running through the middle of the Hull defence, before slipping the ball in behind for Ulloa to run onto. Ulloa calmly took it in his stride and coolly chipped the ball over Allan McGregor in the Hull goal.

Hull hit the woodwork either side of Albion’s goal, with Sagbo hitting the upright from a spectacular overhead kick just before and Curtis Davies hitting the bar shortly after with a header from a corner.

Just before half time, that man from Argentina Leo Ulloa headed a chance to make it 2-0 wide of the goal just before the break, but Albion held onto the one goal lead and were good value for it. However they would live to rue that missed chance.

Will Buckley, who created Albion’s goal, was replaced by a 19-year-old Solly March in what was primarily a tactical change. But given this was Will Buckley’s first start since the turn of the year, his fitness problems will no doubt have had an effect on Oscar Garcia’s decision making.

Will Buckley, the first million pound signing in Brighton history, was a player who regularly stared for the Albion down the wing, before Gus Poyet tempted him with a move to the Premier League with Sunderland, that coming summer for £2.5m. However, his time with the club was regularly inhibited by injury and despite his talent, he only contributed three goals and four assists that season.

The game continued in a tight and tense manner with both managers making attacking substitutions to try to make progress to the next round. With Hull bringing on George Boyd and Matty Fryatt whilst Albion’s goalscorer Ulloa was replaced by the on-loan striker Jonathan Obika.

Obika didn’t particularly impress during his time with the Albion, scoring just once in their 3-1 third round win over Port Vale. In total Obika had eleven separate loan spells during his time at Spurs, but failed to make a first team appearance at the London club. This was his 10th loan spell and if his performances in blue and white were anything to go by, he was probably sick of all the loan moves.

And it was Hull who benefited most from those substitutions when Sagbo shrugged off a helplessly sprawling Lewis Dunk to fire home a late equaliser. The goal came from a Sone Aluko’s cross, picking out Sagbo, who controlled the ball in an instant before drilling a low shot through Brezovan’s legs and into the back of the net.

In stoppage time Hull almost won the tie when David Meyler climbed highest from a corner to direct a header at goal, only for Forster-Caskey to clear off the line. That after Lewis Dunk had deflected a Robert Koran shot over the bar.

And with that went Albion’s best chance of having a cup run that year and a first FA Cup quarter final since 1986. In the replay Hull took a two goal lead inside the first half and despite a Ulloa goal twenty minutes from time, Hull held on to advance into the quarter-finals.

They went onto beat Sunderland 3-0, then beat Sheffield United 5-3 in the Semi-finals at Wembley. They even took a 2-0 lead in opening ten minutes of the final, before succumbing to Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal, losing 3-2.

Getting to be the final also meant Hull qualified for Europe the following season. An albeit a brief European adventure, which was over before the end of August.

They beat AS Trenčín of Slovakia in the Europa League third qualifying round 2-1 on aggregate, before drawing 2-2 and losing on away goals to Belgian side Lokeren, and so missed out on a place in the group stages.

Whereas for Albion, this game somewhat summed up where they were at this time. “Premier League ready” (as Paul Barber’s famous mantra went), but not quite managing it, and they would end up losing in the playoff semi-finals once again come the end of the season.

Brighton v Everton (1924)

Brighton and Everton aren’t teams who’ve come up against each other much in their respective histories. Prior to Albion’s promotion in 2017, and aside from their other brief spell in the topflight between 1979 and 1983, you have to go back to 1924 when the sides had last met, in the second round of that years FA Cup. A game that saw one of Albion most famous victories prior to the Second World War.

Brighton had played their first season after the First World War in the Southern League in 1919/20 finishing 16th, before joining the expanded Football League with the rest of the Southern League’s best club’s for the 1920/21 season.

Charlie Webb, who had scored the winner in Brighton’s 1-0 1910 Charity Shield win over Aston Villa, had since retired and taken over as manager in 1919, a position he would hold until 1947. And his first task was rebuilding the team after the horrors of the First World War.

Webb was known for his shrewd transfers, but this was in part forced upon him due to circumstance because of a relatively limited budget at the club. Restrictions which at times during his tenure led to bad relations between him and the board, and which were made worse due to accusations of undue influence on team affairs.

Until the 1920’s, Football Managers had been little more than trainers who picked the side and did little to influence how they played. But this was the decade of the emergence of the modern manager, largely influenced by Herbert Chapman’s success with Huddersfield in the 1920s and later more notably at Arsenal in the 1930s.

However, at the time Everton were still managed by the club’s secretary manager Thomas McIntosh, and it wasn’t until Theo Kelly was appointed in 1939 that the club appointed their first manager in the modern sense. Whilst for Brighton, Charlie Webb oversaw a period of great modernisation in the role, but the tales of conflict suggest it wasn’t a quick transition.

Although consistently in the upper half of the Third Division South table, Albion’s chief successes during the 1920s and 1930s were in the F.A. Cup, with its first and one of its most notable giant-killing successes coming when they beat Everton 5-2 in the second round at the Goldstone Ground.

Albion had already knocked out higher ranked opposition at home in a first round replay in the form of Second Division Barnsley, and the visit of Everton brought a then record crowd of 27,450 to the Goldstone.

Everton were a regular in the top half of the First Division before the war, which they had already won twice. But the club’s performances since the end of the First World War and the resumption of the Football league had been inconsistent. Their 7th placed finish that season being one of their better seasons until the great Dixie Dean was signed from local Third Division North side Tranmere Rovers and transformed their fortunes.

Nonetheless they were strong favourites and named no less than six internationals in their line-up. So it was no surprise when they opened the scoring through John Cock and despite Tommy Cook quickly equalising the visitors were back in front through Wilfred Chadwick on 25 minutes. However, Albion were giving as good as they got and a Wally Little penalty made it 2-2 at half time.

After the break the game turned quickly in favour of the hosts as Albion dominated the second half. Tommy Cook scored two in the first twenty minutes to complete his hat trick, before Andy Neil made it 5-2 to add a bit of extra gloss on a magnificent result for the club. A display manager Charlie Webb described as “the best Cup exhibition of any Albion team under my management”.

The Sunday Post exclaimed: “Brighton surprise Everton.” Going into state that the result “was one of the biggest surprises of the round, but none would deny that it was deserved.”

The Liverpool Daily Post said “Brighton’s best were Wilson, at outside left, Nightingale, in the second half, at outside right, and Coomber [Albion’s captain], at centre half, together with the snap-chance artist Cook” The aforementioned Ernie “Tug” Wilson had joined the club in 1922 and spent twelve years with the club in the inter-war years going onto become Brighton’s record appearance holder with 566 appearances, a record he still holds.

And he wasn’t the only prospective club record holder playing that day. Albion’s hat-trick hero Tommy Cook would go onto become the club’s record goalscorer with 123 goals, once again a total yet to be beaten. He had joined the club on an amateur basis in 1921 and became a regular in the first team the following season. Part of the reason for Cook’s prolific record in front of goal was that this hat-trick was one of eight for the club, his first coming against Gillingham in only his third appearance, after which he never looked back until leaving the club in 1930.

Cook was described that day by the Sunday Post as “one of the most dangerous centres in England”. And despite playing for Albion in the regionalised third tier he went on to win an England cap, in a 2-1 win against Wales in a Home International in 1925. However, despite being praised he was never chosen again for his country.

The Liverpool Daily Post said of his performance that day “Cook did not stand out on his own in spite of his three goals. He just kept his position, kept the ball going, and shot instantly the chance showed itself. That was why Brighton scored so heavily.”

Albion went onto host another First Division team in the next round of the competition in Man City, but this proved one step too far as they were heavily beaten 5-1. They went on to finish 5th that season missing out on promotion to the Second Division by 8 points. And it would be another 34 years before they achieved their long awaited promotion into the second tier in 1958.

Everton and Brighton would have to wait 55 years before they met again, this time in the First Division, after Brighton were promoted into the topflight for the first time in their history.

Brighton’s 87/88 FA cup run

The 1987/88 season saw Brighton return to its spiritual home of the Third Division after ten seasons away, four of which were spent in the topflight.

The team was then managed by Barry Lloyd, whose previous managerial job was with Non-League Worthing and who was initially brought in by his predecessor Alan Mullery during his doomed second spell at the club to manage the reserves and youth team. But was promptly promoted into the job as first team manager after Mullery was sacked just a few months into the job during a period of severe cost cutting and player sales.

Lloyd’s task initially was one of remaining competitive in the Second Division amongst the costs cutting measures. So drastic we’re the measures that during this time The Brighton Argus featured a front page story saying that all the club’s first team professionals were for sale.

Somewhat inevitably amongst such turmoil, the club couldn’t avoid relegation back to the third tier. However, given the circumstances he was working under and after the club had sacked two high profile managers in just over a year, it’s little surprise that the club stuck with Lloyd, despite his inexperience.

Fortunately for Albion, Lloyd proved to be a more than competent coach and a shrewd operator of the transfer market. Despite the club’s financial limitations he began building an exciting, attacking side, focused on a passing style and he managing it despite having to sell high profile players. The likes Terry Connor and Dean Saunders were sold for a profit and replaced with cheaper options like striker Garry Nelson who was signed from Plymouth, and with midfielder Dean Wilkins, who had returned to the club after playing in the Dutch topflight with Zwolle for three years.

Due to their return to the third tier Albion joined that season’s FA Cup in the first round for the first time in a decade, but despite this handicap the cup finalist of five seasons earlier still managed a decent cup run in the competition.

Albion’s run started by beating Brentford 2-0 away from home in the first round, thanks to a brace from Garry Nelson.

Nelson’s first that day has gone down in Albion folklore and is one he described recently on the podcast “Football, Albion and me” as one of his best. He said: “The sad thing and funny thing about it was it was the only goal that season I scored out of the 32 – that and a penalty – that nobody filmed.” Also saying that “At the time the local paper at Brentford said it was one of the best goals they had ever seen at Griffin Park.”

But don’t just take Garry’s word for it. John Vinnicombe the then lead sportswriter of the Brighton Argus said of the goal: “Nelson rated his 68th minute strike as the best of his nine years in the game, and that is saying something. Albion were shading the second half when he took the ball off Keith Jones just inside Brentford’s half and then proceeded to bamboozle no fewer than five defenders before unleashing that rocket-powered left foot. The ball must have been a blur to Gary Phillips as it tore into the top corner.”

Nelson then rounded off the day with an injury time penalty that secured the 2-0 win before Albion faced another away trip to Northampton in round two. A match which they won 2-1, with goals from Kevin Bremner with another from Nelson, setting up a home tie in the third round with then Second Division Bournemouth.

Bournemouth were then managed by a young Harry Redknapp, who would lead the team to a 12th placed finish in the Second Division that season, which up until 2014 was the Cherries highest ever league finish. They had also caused a notable FA Cup shock beating the then cup holders Man United in round four, four years previously. But this Albion team were up to the challenge and deservedly beat the visitors 2-0 to make it into round four. Captain Doug Rougvie put Albion ahead, getting on the end of a Steve Gatting free kick, before Nelson scored his 4th goal of the competition to seal another 2-0 victory.

Albion’s reward in Round 4 was a plum draw at home to George Graham’s Arsenal. This was a highly anticipated tie and saw an attendance of 26,467, the biggest at the Goldstone since the 1983 quarter final against Norwich, and an attendance that earned the club a then record matchday gate receipts of £85k. This was indeed no ordinary game for the club and the Albion players and management prepared for it with a four day summer training camp in Spain the week before.

And the break appeared to have done Albion good, as they started the game well and created a flurry of chances on an admittedly poor Goldstone pitch. Those chances included one for that man Garry Nelson, but he put his shot straight at the Arsenal goalkeeper John Lukic. And despite the home sides pressure it was Arsenal who took the lead on the run of play through Kevin Richardson, a goal the Brighton programme described as “soft”.

But Albion continued to press and equalised after Garry Nelson turned in a Dean Wilkins headed cross with a spectacular flying volley scissor kick, to score his fifth of the competition.

That particular goal is said to have “caused one of the biggest terrace surges in North Stand history at the Goldstone Ground.” But despite all the excitement and anticipation, Albion couldn’t muster a second to take the lead. They did have their chances, including one for Nelson’s strike-partner Kevin Bremner who had probably the best chance of the game after being found at the near post by Alan Curbishley, but his cross come shot was fired harmlessly across the face of goal.

It seemed like the tie was destined for a replay at Highbury, which given the club’s mounting debts would have been a useful financial reward for the club. It would also have made for a special return to Highbury, the location of Albion’s most famous win in the competition, 2-1 over Sheffield Wednesday in the 1983 FA Cup semi-finals. That was until Perry Groves scored a 78th minute winner for the visitors. A victory the Brighton programme described as “rather fortunate” also commenting: “Now you know why they are known as lucky old Arsenal”.

Indeed Garry Nelson told the Brighton programme last year in a feature about this game that “we were gutted” and “we all felt we deserved a replay and gave a brilliant account of ourselves. They were more clinical but there wasn’t much between the teams.”

This may have ended Albion’s 1988 cup run, but there would be further success in the competition as the club made the 4th round in four out of the next five years. In fact from 1978 through to 1993 the club made it to at least the 3rd round every year making two quarterfinals, one further 5th round appearances and nine further 4th round appearances. A period of relative success in the competition unmatched until recent seasons.

A win in Albion’s following game away to Blackpool saw them move up to sixth. And a 2-1 win at home to Bristol Rovers on the last day of the season would see them finish second, behind Sunderland, securing automatic promotion back to the Second Division and avoid the dreaded playoffs, which had only been introduced the season before.

Including his five goals in the FA Cup Garry Nelson scored 32 goals in total that season. But despite this impressive season he eventually lost his place after promotion as the team pushed for a further promotion back to the First Division in the 90/91 season. However the success on the pitch led by Barry Lloyd’s management was masking the financial troubles off of it, which would come to a head later that decade.

In contrast, Arsenal would go on to beat Man United at home in round 5 before losing in the quarterfinals to Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest and finish 6th in the First Division that season, before going on to win the First Division the following season in that dramatic end of season decider against Liverpool, chronicled brilliantly in the documentary “89”.

Aldershot v Brighton (2000)

November 2000 was a busy time for sport in Brighton. Whilst Micky Adams’ Brighton side were beginning to flourish following the move to the Withdean Stadium, the newly rename Brighton Bears Basketball team were attracting significant crowds for their games at the Brighton centre, a venue which also hosted the 2000 Samsung Open indoor tennis tournament, which featured Great Britain’s top two men’s tennis players of the time Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski. Brighton was very much in vogue at the time and would be granted City status the following month by Queen Elizabeth II as part of the millennium celebrations.

So it was apt that it’s football team was on the up. As well as flourishing in the league, Albion were beginning to get national attention for the team which Micky Adams was building. Following the clubs demise in the late 80s and 90s, the early 2000s were glorious for Albion fans and Adams’ teams, which was spearheaded by a young goalscorer named Bobby Zamora was a key part in their rise out of the abyss.

After a slow start to the season, the 1983 FA Cup finalist had lifted themselves to 2nd in the Third Division. So, when they were drawn away to Isthmian Premier Division side Aldershot in the first round of the FA Cup, it was no surprise that it was the chosen tie to feature on the BBC’s Match of the Day.

Especially given Brighton were the first league team to visit Aldershot since the club went bust in 1992, after a number of years of winding up orders and mounting debts at the club. It’s a similar story to that of Brighton in the late 80’s and 90’s and they could have followed Aldershot out of the football league or even out of business just 5 years later.

For Albion it was the investment of Dick Knight in 1997 that meant they avoided this fate. And just two and a half years on from being a game away from losing their league status, they were now back in Brighton at their new home Withdean Stadium and with some much needed stability.

Despite those similarities in the recent histories of their clubs, some fans were evidently not interested in unifying over their kinship. As evidenced by some trouble between a small number of opposition supporters in Aldershot town Centre before game.

But the game itself was played with a well-mannered spirit by both teams and most supporters who witnessed would enjoy a captivating cup tie.

It was Albion midfielder Richard Carpenter who opened the scoring in the first half with a trademark free kick, of which Match of the Day’s commentator Tony Gubba said that David Beckham “won’t have scored many better himself”. It was Carpenter’s third goal in seven games and he would make a name for himself at Albion for the spectacular goal from distance scoring 22 times in 279 appearances for Albion. He was particularly well known for his ability to score from set pieces and perhaps most famously scored in that manner for Albion in an FA Cup Third round tie away to Spurs in 2005 that ended in a 2-1 defeat.

But despite Carpenter getting Albion off to a good start, there was still a threat of an upset. And when Danny Cullip brought down Wayne Andrews to concede a penalty, which Gary Abbott scored to level the scoring, many will have feared the worse.

Even more so after Abbott’s strike partner Wayne Andrews then gave Danny Cullip another fright as he had the Albion captain scampering to stop his run into the penalty area to no avail, but Andrews’ resultant shot hit the side netting.

Andrews certainly caught the eye for Aldershot that day, he had been released by Watford the year before and ended up playing for a handful of non-league clubs before being given a second chance in the football league by Oldham in 2002. He would go onto make nearly 200 appearances in professional football for a number of clubs, including Colchester United and Crystal Palace, for whom he made 9 appearances in the Premier League.

Albion had a difficult recent history coming up against non-league sides in the FA Cup, having lost to conference side Hereford at this stage of the competition as recently as 1997. The 1990s saw the club have a spate of defeats to non-league sides in the FA Cup, of which Hereford was the last and least embarrassing. There was the 2-1 defeat away to Isthmian Premier League side Kingstonian in 1994. Then there was a defeat to Southern League Premier side Sudbury Town in a replay on penalties in 1996. As well as fellow non leaguers Canvey Island taking the club to a replay in 1995.

But despite a spirited performance from Aldershot, today wasn’t to be another repeat of Albion being on the wrong end of a cup upset. They took the lead again when the Shots ‘keeper Andy Pape brought down Bobby Zamora and Paul Watson scored from the spot to give them a 2-1 lead at half time. But it was in the second half where Albion would show their superiority.

They quickly extended their lead through future club captain Charlie Oatway. Whose fine side-foot strike from outside the box left commentator Tony Gubba exclaiming, “Oh well done Oatway!.”

Then the Shots ‘keeper Andy Pape was in the thick of the action again as he brought down an on rushing Nathan Jones to give away a penalty, a decision the BBC match report described as “controversial”. But from the highlights, it is more a case of clumsy and ill-advised goalkeeping. So for the second time Albion’s right back Paul Watson stepped up and scored from the spot.

Paul Watson scored 19 goals in total for Brighton over his 221 appearances, an impressive record for a right back. He was also a key avenue for Albion goals via his fabulous crossing ability that was a key part in Zamora’s goalscoring for the Albion, having assisted more of his goals than any other player during Zamora’s Brighton career.

Whilst the 4-1 lead Albion now held had all but won them the tie, Aldershot kept pushing and had a goal ruled out for a foul by Aldershot substitute Adedeji on Michel Kuipers.

But it wasn’t long before Aldershot’s woes were to mount after a Gary Hart cross was put away by Bobby Zamora. As well as Watson, Gary Hart was another regular assister for Zamora and the number of goals he went onto score would be in no small part down to his strike partner Gary Hart doing a lot of the legwork that allowed him to shine. In Spencer Vignes “A Few Good Men”, Bobby recognised this himself when he said “I was scoring a lot of goals. But that was down to the running of a lot of other guys in the team… ‘my bitches’ I used to call them!”

And Gary Hart turned provider again for Albion’s sixth goals when he knocked on a Oatway corner which was turned in defender Matthew Wicks, son of the Chelsea and QPR defender Steve Wicks.

Aldershot did pull another goal back through Gary Abbott’s second of the game when he turned in Jason Chewin’s cross, but it was far too little too late for the non-leaguers. Abbott was a prolific non-league goalscorer and managed a remarkable 120 goals in 156 appearances for Aldershot, scoring an impressive 45 goals that season alone, but the Shots problems at the other end of the pitch meant his goalscoring that day was in vain.

This was an impressive victory for a brilliant Brighton side who went onto win the Third Division that season. But despite their success in the league a defeat to fellow Third division side Scunthorpe followed in round 2, the club’s eighth successive failure to make the third round of the FA Cup, the club’s longest run since joining the football league in 1920 and a record that has thankfully since much improved.

Monday Musings – Calamity and heroics add more volume to Albion’s goalkeeper debate

As was pointed out after the final whistle of Brighton’s 3rd round FA Cup tie with Newport on Sunday night by Opta Joe, Brighton goalkeeper Jason Steele made just one save in the 120 minutes preceding the penalty shootout and made an error that led to Newport’s 96th minute equaliser, but saved four penalties during the shootout. A story of personal redemption, but also one that highlights Albion’s ongoing goalkeeping issues.

Steele admitted it was his fault for the goal after the game. And fan site We are Brighton posted on Twitter in their usual deprecating way: “Would now be a good time to remind everyone that Graham Potter thinks Jason Steele is a better goalkeeper than Maty Ryan? 👀”.

It’s a fair point and I would add fellow Albion goalkeeper Christian Walton to the debate too. It’s a subject I discussed just last week and one I suspected that we haven’t heard the last of.

Nonetheless I’m gutted for Jason Steele for his mistake, but he’s shown over his career that he’s got that in his makeup. Anyone who watched him play for one of his previous club’s can confirm that. A fact most infamously demonstrated at Sunderland during a difficult period for Steele captured in the Netflix series “Sunderland Till I Die”.

But Steele has constantly shown more than enough stoicism in his career to pick himself up and keep coming back for more. So the fact that after the error for the Newport equaliser he managed to refocus on the task at hand in the shootout should come as no surprise either. Rather than losing his head like some others would in the circumstances, he refocused, remembered his research and followed it to the letter, saving four of Newport’s seven penalty kicks.

Andy Naylor stated in a recent piece for The Athletic: “The club believe a No 2 goalkeeper requires a different skill set. Steele is experienced and was signed as a back-up, which makes him more suited to a place on the bench than Ryan, who is accustomed to life as a No 1.”

It’s a fair point and suggests Graham Potter doesn’t necessarily think that Steele is better than Ryan as per We are Brighton’s tongue-in-cheek suggestion, but rather that he’s seen a good back up keeper to have around. Highlighted by how Robert Sanchez jumped Steele in the pecking order when Maty Ryan was dropped earlier in the season leaving him remaining to warm the bench alongside Albion’s other substitutes.

Steele was generous in his moment of glory after the game in praising Albion’s goalkeeper coach Ben Roberts. Who is credited with much of the improvement that’s been seen in many of Albion’s goalkeepers in recent years, including that of David Stockdale in Albion’s Championship promotion winning season.

In Steele’s defence, Goalkeepers often make mistakes after being exposed by their defence. In many cases where Steele has struggled in his career he’s been playing in a struggling teams, last night being no exception. For the equaliser, Albion should have stopped the cross from occurring in the first place. No cross, no error.

We can focus on Steele’s mistake, just like many did Dan Burn’s from the week before. But how did Albion even give Newport the chance to put a cross in the box from their left-hand side whilst defending a 1-goal lead in the dying moments of injury time, having had a throw in on their right-hand side at halfway less than 30 seconds before? As has been far too common this season, it was a case of naive play from Albion whilst in possession that again cost them a crucial lead.

Moreover, as one person on Twitter also pointed out to me, Albion had just switch their left back too, replacing match winner March for Bernardo. Something which adds to the Potter “over-tinkering” debate, but that’s another can of worms entirely.

Overall, a calamitous 30 seconds for Albion and a 5-minute period from scoring to conceding the equaliser that encompasses almost everything which Albion’s season has been about so far. As Graham Potter said after the game “Traumatic”.

Brighton v Newport (2013)

Newport County just keep causing cup upsets. It’s helpful not just for the South Walians but also for Albion, with each one making Albion’s defeat at their hands in 2013 look ever less embarrassing.

Back in the early stages of the 2013/14 season Albion were still reeling from the aftermaths of the previous season’s playoff semi-final defeat to rivals Crystal Palace. Following the very drawn out and public sacking of manager Gus Poyet which followed over the summer, the former Barcelona B team manager Oscar García had been brought in as his replacement to manage the team and finish the job that Poyet almost managed but ultimately fell short of, get Albion into the Premier League.

So a weeknight League Cup tie against a League Two side recently promoted to the Football League hardly seemed like a priority, but nonetheless was an opportunity for García to get his first win in charge of Albion after a 2-1 defeat in his first game away to Leeds. But despite that, Albion made a number of changes to a team that featured then young prospects and now current Albion regulars, Solly March and Lewis Dunk as unused substitutes.

Albion started the game the dominant team and quickly had the ball in the Newport net after a Kemy Agustien cross found Jake Forster-Caskey, but the goal was ruled out for offside. Not long after Albion did go 1-0 up with Ashley Barnes putting away a Will Buckley cross at the end of a typically aesthetically pleasing quick passing move. This was exactly the type of football that Gus Poyet had spent his time at the club working towards, and why Owner Tony Bloom had decided to bring in the former Barcelona man Oscar Garcia to replace him so he would continue that work.

Newport battled and created a couple of chances of their own, but Albion continued to have the better of the game and again had the ball in the net but it was again ruled out for offside. However, the game changed on the 67th minute when a 50/50 tackle between Albion’s right back Inigo Calderon and Newport Captain Byron Anthony resulted in a red card for the Albion man and a double leg break for Newport captain. It was an injury that took a while to treat on the pitch so you couldn’t say it was more serious than it looked, but that didn’t stop some unwelcome boos from a minority in the home crowd.

With that the game swung in Newport’s favour and constant swathes of Newport attacks followed. And with nine minutes to go Newport equalised through a Danny Crowe header.

And with the game into extra time Danny Crowe double his tally with a spectacular finish from outside the box to make it 2-1 to the visitors. And as Albion pushed forward in search of an equaliser Newport made it 3-1 as Connor Washington capitalised on some absent Albion defending to break clear, take it round the helpless Albion ‘keeper Casper Ankergren and put the ball into an empty net.

Ultimately an impressive win for the Football league newbies and despite the shock of the serious injury to their captain Byron Anthony, they impressively rallied to win the game with some gusto. As then Newport manager, the late Justin Edinburgh suggested after the game his side “won the game for Byron”.

However in his typically honourable style he showed no resentment towards Inigo Calderon also saying in his interview about the incident that: “I don’t think there was any malice in it – I know there wasn’t – but we’re really disappointed for Byron and it takes the gloss off tonight’s result really.”

A statement backed up by Calderon’s manager Oscar Garcia who said: “I know Calde. He went to the ball and it was a 50-50 challenge. It was unlucky for the Newport player. We have seen the video and we can see the action of Calde was legal.”

The Albion manager went into say “We had many, many chances to finish the game and win it before and they had three or four chances and they scored them all.” A cruel game for Albion to lose, but it’s a lesson that Albion have since learnt too many times this season too, having dropped 12 points from winning positions so far in the 2020/21 Premier League season. If you don’t finish off your opponent’s, you’ll pay for it.

Although Byron Anthony made a brief return to playing the following season, the injury would eventually result in his retirement. Following that, he was appointed as a youth coach at Newport and was eventually promoted to academy manager after a brief spell as the interim manager, but resigned in 2018.

For Albion, 2013/14 was another season that would result in a Playoff Semi-final defeat and a subsequent summer of managerial recruitment following Oscar Garcia’s resignation after that semi-final defeat, this time at the hands of Derby. Even more unfortunately was that in his place came Sami Hyypia, but that’s another story…

Subsequent links between the two club’s are mostly through Albion defender Ben White, who is set to return to Rodney Parade after a loan spell there in 2017/18. As the 2017/18 season drew near and being on the fringes of the Albion first team at the time, White was sent on loan to Newport for the season to get some game time.

Whilst there, he came up against England striker Harry Kane in Newport’s impressive run to the 4th round of the FA Cup that season, which also saw them beat his future loan club Leeds in the 3rd round. A 1-1 draw in the original tie against Spurs saw White mark Kane admirably as Newport pulled off a shock draw at home to earn a replay at Tottenham’s temporary home, Wembley Stadium.

Ben said of his time there: “The cup run was amazing, what we achieved and the manner in which we secured the game with Tottenham Hotspur was brilliant. Then we nearly beat them in the home tie, but to then play at Wembley Stadium was a dream come true. Facing Harry Kane was great for me and I feel like I more than held my own against him.”

White came to the attention of many clubs and many Albion fans during this loan spell at Newport. Whilst the club had finished a fairly underwhelming 11th place in the league, he had greatly impressed. Both to the masses in the cup run and the locals throughout the season, winning four of Newport’s player of the season awards, the Doc Heffernan Shield for Young Player of the Year; the Brian Tom’s President’s Cup Player’s Player of the Year Award; the Supporters’ Club Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year. County’s manager Mike Flynn described him as an “outstanding talent” and the best loan signing the club had ever made.

That was just one season of many that has featured Newport’s cup upset exploits and it’s lazy to typecast Newport as some archetypal long ball League Two club either. Anyone who has been paying attention lately will know they are having a great season and sit one point off top of the league. And having beaten Watford in the League Cup earlier this season they then gave Newcastle a fright in the next round only to lose on penalties.

That said, the Rodney Parade pitch is often in a terrible state at this time of year due to its use by multiple sports teams, and the recent postponements due to a waterlogged and frozen pitch respectively are a cause for concern. Whilst many will be aware of Newport’s cup exploits in recent years, those still involved at the Albion who remember that defeat in 2013 will want to make sure Albion don’t become serial victims at the hands of the South Walians.

Monday Musings – two draws and an England international adds competition up front

Two draws on Sunday left Albion 16th in the Premier League with 4 points from 5 games and 8th in the WSL with 5 points from 5 games

A derby draw that raised more questions than answers

Let’s be honest, Sunday afternoons 1-1 draw in the (don’t call it the M23 Derby) Derby left neither party happy. Whilst hosts Palace walked away underwhelmed with a sum total of zero XG if we exclude the debatable penalty, Albion walked away frustrated after a domination of a total of twenty shots to Palace’s one resulted in only a draw and only Albion’s fourth point from their opening five games.

Those opening five fixtures were always going to be tough and the impressive win over Newcastle as well as some notable injustices and unfortunate defeats have left plenty still feeling optimistic despite the disappointing results recorded. But, didn’t we feel the same way this time last season?

Brighton opened last season with a similarly impressive run of performances in their opening games which gained a similarly disappointing points total, with one impressive 3-0 win away from home propping things up. Sound familiar?

Graham Potter was given the benefit of the doubt then due to his newly appointed status as manager. But what is also different is the level of opposition, which this time around was comparatively much higher. As such the upcoming home games against West Brom and Burnley respectively are likely to give a better barometer of Albion’s progress under Potter to date and answer a number of those still unanswered questions that remain from the end of last season.

An impressive away point on a satisfactory Sunday

If Albion’s draw in the Premier League was underwhelming, the impressive nature of Hope Powell’s teams 2-2 draw away to in-form Everton in the WSL was far from it. In fact Albion remain the only team not to have been beaten by Everton women’s team so far this season ahead of their next match in the belated Women’s FA Cup final against Man City.

Albion took a slightly fortunate lead when Everton‘s Sevecke inadvertently turned in a dangerous Kaagman free kick. The Dutch international player took the plaudits as she came up against her old club Everton for the first time since signing for Albion this summer.

Albion were then unfortunate to not go in ahead at the break after a deflected Christiansen free kick flew into the top corner and evened the scores as well as the luck. Albion’s ‘keeper Walsh was then once again this season forced to make a number of important saves to keep Albion level before getting a hand but not managing to keep out a Gauvin header from an Everton corner which gave the Toffees the lead.

But Albion saved the best goal of the game until last as a brilliant team move was finished off by the team’s top scorer last season Aileen Whelan, as she slid home the equaliser to get her first of the new season.

It’s a draw that not only puts the teams cup disappointment as well last weekend’s heavy defeat to Arsenal behind them, but also suggests the impressive win over Birmingham and draw with Man City were more of an indication of the team’s potential this season than that heavy defeat.

The game was slightly spoilt by some questionable refereeing after Albion’s Kayleigh Green appeared to be awarded two yellow cards but no red, in what was presumably an unfortunate case of mistaken identity. Mistakes happen, but ones of the officiating kind happen far too often in the women’s game. This one however is one which as it came to Albion’s aide, I am willing to tolerate as the luck swung once in Albion’s favour.

Are Maupay’s chances running out as Welbeck signs?

Albion striker Neal Maupay certainly had and missed his chances against Palace on Sunday (6 shots – 2 on target, 1 off target, 3 blocked). But with the announcement pre-match of the Club’s signing of former England, Arsenal and Man United striker Danny Welbeck now adding to Connolly and Zeqiri waiting in the wings, there is now genuine competition for the starting striker role to keep him on his toes.

The signature of Danny Welbeck on a free transfer is another feather in the cap of Albion’s highly regarded recruitment team and further financially prudent transfer business from the club in these uncertain times.

This one in particular however could be the best signing of the “summer” transfer window as the addition of proven quality in attacking areas appears to be just what Potter’s squad needs right now. Especially after such an excruciating period of wasted chances that has held back much of the progress made by the team during Graham Potter’s period of management.

Up Next

As this week sees the beginning of the Champions League, Albion’s men’s team have a valuable midweek off and don’t play again until the visit of West Brom on next Monday night, which is live on BBC Sussex Radio (and apparently some new Pay Per View TV thingy).

Meanwhile the Women’s team don’t play again in the WSL until they host Aston Villa on 8th November, due to international fixtures taking place next weekend being followed by the aforementioned belated Women’s FA Cup final the following Sunday.

Fear not, if you can’t wait a whole week your next Albion fix the men’s development team are in action on Friday night at home to Leicester. A win would put Simon Rusk’s ever impressive young side top of Premier League 2, after a goal scored by Reda Khadra (his second in two matches) gave them a notable 1-0 win over Liverpool. A starting eleven that also featured a 45-minute cameo from a certain Jose Izquierdo.

Brighton vs Preston (2002) – A demonstration of progress and a sign of the struggles that were to come

Brighton went into their 3rd round FA cup tie at home to Preston in 2002 with plenty reason to be optimistic. Having won the Division Three title the previous season, the club were on their way to a second consecutive title in Division Two as well as promotion to the second tier of English Football.

But whilst there was optimism, they faced a tough test having been drawn at home to Preston North End of the second tier. Albion’s opponents had been catching the eye for a little while. Then managed by David Moyes (who two months later would be appointed Everton manager), Preston had narrowly missed out on a second consecutive promotion themselves the season before having lost the Playoff final to Bolton Wanderers to miss out on a place in the topflight. And they would only narrowly miss out on a playoff place this season too despite Moyes exit.

Brighton had recent lost their own highly rated young manager, after Micky Adams had left the club in the October of that season for Leicester City and had been replaced at the club by the former Leicester City manager Peter Taylor.

The team Taylor had inherited from Adams was full of players that are still well renowned by Albion supporters. No less so than star striker Bobby Zamora who during this period would enter his best goalscoring spell at the club and break a longstanding goalscoring record.

The team were on a high when they went into their first round tie at home to Shrewsbury. Having won five out of their previous six games, new manager Peter Taylor now had his feet placed firmly under the managers desk. And this one went the same way as the last three, as Albion achieved a 1-0 win with the only goal coming from Zamora.

A further five points followed for Albion in their next three league games ahead of their second round tie. This run predictably included three more Zamora goals in as many games. One in a 2-0 win away to Bury which has gone down in club legend. The in-form Zamora chipped the Bury goalkeeper from midway inside their half to score a goal ranked by many as the best he ever scored for the club.

It was a goal that showed both his brilliant technique and his superiority over Albion’s third tier opposition. By this point it was clear it was when rather than if that Albion’s star striker would get a big move to the topflight but despite interest, Albion would hold onto Zamora for another 18 months before he moved to Tottenham in the summer of 2003 following the club’s relegation straight back down to the third tier.

The game against Albion’s eventual successors as Third Division champions Rushden and Diamonds in the 2nd round saw yet another goal from Zamora open the scoring after just five minutes, heading the ball home from close range after a messy goalmouth scramble. It was his ninth in nine games and meant he broke Peter Harburn’s 42 year old club consecutive goalscoring record. A record he then extended to ten games in Albion’s 2-2 home draw with Chesterfield later that month.

This tie was being broadcast live on Sky Sports and it’s no wonder given the club’s recent success and all the national media attention that Albion’s star striker was now getting. So when I say Albion extended their lead over Rushden with a goal described by the Argus as a “wonder goal”, I know many would expect him to have been the scorer. But it was instead through the unlikely source of Albion defender Danny Cullip, with his first goal since the headed winner over Chesterfield the season before that won Albion the Third Division title. It was indeed the type of goal we’d become accustomed to see Zamora score, as Cullip neatly turned his marker on the edge of the box and fired home in the bottom corner past the helpless Rushden ‘keeper.

Rushden piled on the pressure and pulled one back with a Richie Barker penalty that made things a bit nervy. But the Seagulls secured yet another one goal victory.

It was a win that secured the club its first 3rd round appearance for 9 years. After getting to that stage of the competition for 15 straight season previous to that. The recent decade had seen the club make a succession of early exits throughout what is inarguably the darkest period of the club’s history, many of which to non-league outfits. So this was yet another sign that things were on the up at the club.

But with the drainage of the Withdean Stadium pitch in the early years of Albion’s stay there particularly poor, this was one of a number of winter games that was postponed. So rather than it being played on the traditional first Saturday in January, it was eventually rearranged to a cold Wednesday night in mid-January.

The game represented a chance for this promotion chasing Albion side to pit their wits against a prospective second tier opponent the following season. But Albion would unfortunately have to meet this challenge without either first choice ‘keeper Michel Kuipers due to injury or the on loan Simon Royce who was cup tied. So the young back up keeper Will Packham made the second of his four appearances for the club and unfortunately it wasn’t one to remember.

First Kerry Mayo saved his blushes by clearing a shot off the line but not long after the visitors took the lead when Packham had been left exposed by Mayo and the rest of the Albion defence and Preston’s newly signed French striker Erik Skora got his first goal for the club.

Albion had a chance to get back in it soon after when on loan striker Daniel Webb was brought down in the area. But the usually dependable and in-form Bobby Zamora saw his spot kick easily saved by the Preston ‘keeper.

Brighton attacked rarely and when they did it was usually without much purpose, which was fittingly summed up when a Zamora volley was so wayward it nearly hit the corner flag.

When Preston got their second from Jon Macken it simply made certain a victory that was already looking likely. But unfortunately for Will Packham it wasn’t his finest hour as he allowed the ball to bounce off his arms, underneath him and into the net. Jon Macken’s goalscoring exploits were a huge part of what fired Preston to playoff success the previous season, and he would earn himself a move to topflight Man City later that year.

After beating Sheffield United at home in the next round, Preston’s FA cup run ended with a 3-1 win away to eventual runners up Chelsea. And despite making the playoffs in three out of the next six season are still awaiting a return to the topflight after a period away that will have been 60 years come the end of this season.

For Brighton this defeat on a cold January night won’t go down in history as a memorable one. It was mostly written off at the time as one of that season’s very few off nights against superior opposition. But this comfortable defeat was perhaps an indication of the clubs struggles that would follow in the second tier next season.

At the end of the season following the club’s promotion to Division One, the fans spilled onto the Withdean pitch chanting “Brighton are back!” But it wouldn’t be for long. Despite this team that Micky Adams had built being feared by all those in the football league’s bottom two tiers, as we would soon learn, the step up to the top half during the Withdean era was one that Albion unfortunately was not capable of making.

Ben White – a story of rejection and redemption

Ben White was previously profiled along with a number of Brighton’s other U23 team last summer by Tweeting Seagull contributor @seagullsacademy, which you can read here.

Like many footballers back stories Ben White’s begins with rejection. In 2014 the 16-year old born in Poole was released by Southampton. In such circumstances do many prospective football careers end, whilst a small selection of others are formed. Ben White fortunately falls into the latter category after he was given a second chance by Brighton. As he later said himself, “The club gave me a scholarship and took me all the way until now, so I’m very grateful for that.” 

For Brighton, 2014 was largely a disaster, instigated by some terrible recruitment over the year, along with the appointment of the soon to be found wanting new manager Sami Hyypia that summer. But the addition of Ben White would soon become a rarity for much of the club’s 2014 intake, in that they would begin to see the fruits of it.

White impressed so much in his first year as a scholar for the U18s that he was soon also involved with the U21s and by end of the season had earned himself a professional contract and a place in that summers 25-man first team pre-season training camp. After starting a first team friendly against Lewes, an injury halted any further involvement with the first team and he spent the remainder of the following season again in the U18s and U21s.

He was then involved as a substitute in a number of first team pre-season games ahead of the following 2016/17 season, including as a substitute in the club’s showpiece friendly at home to Lazio.

As the season started, with Albion struggling for number in defence because of injuries to Uwe Huenemeier and Connor Goldson, White was heavily involved with the first team squad. Being named as an unused substitute for the first four league fixtures of the season and making his debut in the first round of the EFL cup in a 4-0 win over Colchester alongside Rohan Ince in the centre of defence.

White impressed on his debut as a young Albion defence earned a clean sheet and he earned himself a second start in a 4-2 win over Oxford in the second round. But the signing of Ireland international Shane Duffy for a then club record fee and the continued progression of fellow Albion youth team product Lewis Dunk meant Ben White’s involvement with the first team was limited from then on and he spent most of the season playing for Brighton’s U23s in their inaugural season in Premier League 2 and helping the team get to the final of the Premier League 2 Cup, which they lost 1-0 to Swansea City.

As the 2017/18 season drew near White was again involved in first team pre-season training. But with opportunities in the first team continuing to be limited by the increased competition for places and Chris Hughton’s tendency to not make many changes to team selection, White was sent on loan to League 2 Newport for the season to get some game time.

Whilst there, he came up against England striker Harry Kane in Newport’s impressive run to the 4th round of the FA Cup, which saw them beat his future loan club Leeds in the 3rd round. A 1-1 draw in the original tie against Spurs saw White mark Kane admirably as Newport pulled off a shock draw at home to earn a replay at Tottenham’s temporary home, Wembley Stadium.

Ben said of his time there: “The cup run was amazing, what we achieved and the manner in which we secured the game with Tottenham Hotspur was brilliant. Then we nearly beat them in the home tie, but to then play at Wembley Stadium was a dream come true. Facing Harry Kane was great for me and I feel like I more than held my own against him.”

White came to the attention of many clubs and many Albion fans during this loan spell at Newport. Whilst the club had finished a fairly underwhelming 11th place in the league, he had greatly impressed. Both to the masses in the cup run and the locals throughout the season, winning four of Newport’s player of the season awards, the Doc Heffernan Shield for Young Player of the Year; the Brian’s Tom’s President’s Cup Player’s Player of the Year Award; the Supporters’ Club Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year. County’s manager Mike Flynn described him as an “outstanding talent” and the best loan signing the club had ever made.

After a successful loan Ben White received a new contract from the club until 2021, with Brighton manager Chris Hughton telling the club’s official website: “I’m delighted for Ben, and he is another example of a young player that has worked very hard to develop his game over the last couple of years. We have closely monitored his progress at Newport, and it is very pleasing to see him adapt so well to a very competitive standard of football in League Two. I was pleased to give him his debut for this club in the EFL Cup match against Colchester last season, and he thoroughly deserves this new contract.”

The following season, after White’s success at Newport, Hughton included White as a part of the 1st team squad, becoming the effectively now fourth choice central defender. At the start of the season Chris Hughton said of his central defence options beyond his top 3, “If I am looking within, the natural ones in that position would be Ben White” Going on to say: “Particularly in that position you would want as much experience as possible but on numerous occasions, not just myself but with other clubs, a young player comes in and surprises a few. So if that opportunity arose for him then you’d want him to take it with both hands.”

But unfortunately chances weren’t forthcoming. As after an injury ruled him out of EFL cup action, and the brilliant form of Shane Duffy alongside then vice-captain Lewis Dunk, plus the experience of new signing Nigeria international Leon Balogun meant he struggled to get a look in. Some were beginning to question by this point why the club wasn’t entrusting Ben with the back-up centre back spot, but as Hughton said in the earlier quote, his is a position where experience is key. And as many young talented English footballers have found to their cost, youth team football and one season in the lower leagues doesn’t fully prepare you for the rigours of the Premier League.

As a result, another loan move looked like a sensible option for White at the time. Especially with first team chances so limited and another centre back in Dan Burn being added to Brighton’s defensive ranks that January. So White that month was sent out on loan, this time to League One Peterborough. Chris Hughton said, “This move is one which allows Ben to play regular first-team football at a good level for his development. At this stage of his career it’s important that he continues to gain as much match experience as possible. He’s someone who we’ve had around the first-team squad for the first half of the campaign, but with competition for places increased with the return of Dan Burn from Wigan, this gives him the chance to go out and play regular football at a level higher than he experienced last season.”

It was a tough start to his loan stint, which saw a 5-0 defeat in a FA Cup 3rd tie away to Middlesbrough in his first game. But despite this White was described as “a ray of light amid the Middlesbrough gloom” by the Peterborough Telegraph and given a 7 out of 10. Once again whilst out on loan White impressed with his calmness, intelligence on the ball and awareness when defending. And as the season went on, he was a key player for Peterborough as they just missed out on the playoffs. Yet more signs of greater things to come.

Part way through that season Dan Ashworth was appointed Technical director at Brighton and soon started putting his stamp on the club. In particular with the club’s summer transfer business including a number of young talented English player to add to the first team competition for places. This included Adam Webster and Matt Clarke, both signed from Championship clubs adding competition to Ben White’s position at centre back. And with Graham Potter replacing Chris Hughton as manager and keen to not change too much too soon or introduce too many of Albion’s talented young U23s into the first team, another loan move for Ben White made sense.

And he would be one of a large group of youngsters at the club that were sent on loan that season. That summer Dan Ashworth, head of loans David Weir and head of recruitment Paul Winstanley attended an event as Stamford Bridge dubbed a “transfer speed dating event”, which they attended in order to promote its young loan players to other clubs. And given the clubs U23 team finished 3rd in the Premier League 2 and the team’s top scorer Aaron Connolly won the league’s player of the season it’s no surprise there was a lot of interest

But considering how well Ben had done at Newport and Peterborough there was no real need to advertise his availability, many clubs had already taken note of his talents. And a loan move to Leeds United in the Championship was agreed for the upcoming 2019/20 season. Like a number of clubs, Leeds had been tracking White’s progress for about two years, around the period of time which had passed since they were knocked out of the FA Cup by Ben White’s Newport County in fact.

White’s U23 boss Simon Rusk said of the loan: “This is an exciting move for Ben and one that make sense in his natural development. Ben will have to adapt once again, as he joins a new group of players and experiences an increased standard of quality and athleticism in the Championship.”

Brighton were only willing to sanction a temporary exit for White to Leeds, who were initially keen on a permanent move or a loan with an option to buy in 12 month’s time. To further protect their investment Ben White was tied down to a longer term deal until 2022, a big coup for the club given there was serious talk of Spurs amongst others being interested in signing the youngster that summer.

At Brighton it was the newly appointed head of loans David Weir who’d keep the club in contact with Ben. His role at the club is to manage the relationships with the club’s loan players. A role that’s been created by the significant amount of loan deals the club are sanctioning for its youth players to encourage their development with a view of them either being promoted to the first team or sold on at a profit.

David Weir said of his role: “It’s also about meeting people who might be interested in our players and find markets and clubs who might potentially be interested in taking our players. It’s a really good tool for me – to meet a lot of clubs in a relatively short period of time and open up some new avenues.”

Ben White’s loan was a real coup, not just for Leeds to get such a sought after player, but for Ben too. Having experienced mid table finishes in League’s 1 and 2, to now get the experience at a club in the Championship with the expectations that Leeds had was huge for his development. Having narrowly missed out on promotion the season before there were now increased expectations that the club would go one better the following season. Whilst being able to work with a manager of such global and almost mythical renown as Marcelo Bielsa too, it had the potential to be a massive season in his development.

So it turned out. It wasn’t long before heads were starting to turn toward Ben’s performances. He won widespread praise on his debut in a 3-1 win over Bristol City and never looked back. Sky Sports pundit that day Louis Carey described Ben White’s debut for Leeds as “one of the best Championship debuts I’ve seen.”

David Wier told the Athletic part way through season: “You could argue that he could play for Brighton now. He has got better and better, and has done better than anyone could have expected. He’s right up there in terms of the top defenders in the Championship. We’re all thrilled by how he is doing and the progression he has made. He’s a great example of a loan programme working well.”

And Ben White has been getting praise from far and wide for his performances at Leeds with Alex Stewart of the Athletic saying: “While White’s defending is intelligent and proactive, it’s his work with the ball that marks him out as an outstanding prospect.” Going on to say “What’s clear, though, is he has the skills to succeed almost anywhere.”

Ben White certainly left a lasting mark at Leeds United. As the fans celebrated the Championship title and promotion, Ben White joined his teammates on the steps outside Elland Road to join in the celebrations and Ben revelled in the moment as the fans urged him to join the club permanently. And the subsequent #FreeBenWhite social media campaign shows just how highly the young defender is thought of by the Leeds faithful. Something all those who have been involved in his development over the past 6 years at Brighton can take great pride in.

With the season now over, according to reports in the Brighton Argus, Albion have continued their stance that they held the previous summer by telling suitors that Ben White isn’t for sale. But just because of his recent success and hype, he isn’t simply going to walk into the Brighton first team next season. As David Weir said on the clubs official website recently, the reality that Ben White now faces at Brighton is: “Now he has to come back to us and prove that he is a Premier League player. He has shown that he is good enough to be promoted out of the Championship and be consistent.”

That said, the transfer window still has a long way to go and whilst Albion have said White is not for sale, every player has a price. Whether White is playing at Brighton, Leeds or another club next season, it’s almost certain that the Premier League will be his destination for the season ahead.

Whilst there is still plenty for White prove. If his track record tells us anything, it’s that he has continued to rise to every challenge he’s faced. It’s not been a completely smooth ride for him into English football’s top level over the last six years, but there’s plenty of reasons to believe that the 2020/21 season will see further success for Ben White.