Billy Lane

Billy Lane is a name those of you who have some knowledge of Albion history will no doubt have heard of. Having managed the club for ten years, the second longest tenure in Albion history, he achieved the club’s first Football League promotion and steered the club through one of its greatest eras. One recently recognised with a smart new clothing range in the club shop.

The fifties was a decade of great transition in the UK. The times of rationing and fear of war were ending, and the freedom, prosperity and excitement of the swinging sixties were just around the corner. And there was possibly no team that represented this change better than Billy Lane’s swashbuckling Albion side.

Billy Lane was born in Tottenham in 1904, starting his playing career at his local team where he made a limited impact on the first team, before spells and Leicester and Reading where he had similar difficulties to get playing time.

It wasn’t until be move to Brentford where he scored 84 goals in 123 appearances that he was able to demonstrate his talents. And then again at Watford where he scored 70 goals in 125 games, including a hat-trick against Clapton Orient in two-and-a-half-minutes.

His playing career was ended abruptly by the outbreak of the Second World War, in which Lane served as a Physical Training instructor.

After the war he took this penchant for goals and his experience from the war into his managerial career, to turn Albion into a swashbuckling side that would pull in huge crowds and lead to ground-breaking success on the pitch.

Billy Lane was initially appointed assistant manager to Don Welsh and was put in caretaker charge when Welsh left the club to take the Liverpool job.

Albion had been going through some tough times in the Division Three South. A division they’d been in since joining the Football League in 1920 and a division Billy Lane would eventually see them promoted from for the first time.

The past two seasons under Welsh were about rebuilding from the low ebb of the club finishing bottom in 1948, which required it to seek re-election to the Football League. Don Welsh, brought stability and steadiness, albeit with a rather defence minded side.

But Lane’s attacking style was quickly effective, overseeing a 9-1 win against Newport County, a club-record for the biggest ever Football League victory. A result that helped get him the job full time and a decision that led to him spending ten years with the club.

With Lane now at the helm on a permanent basis, attendances continued to rise, and goals continued to flow throughout the 1951-52 season, with the club scoring 87 goals that season, equalling their then best ever football league total, one they’d soon break.

Albion would break the 80 goal-scored mark in six of their next seven seasons, a mark they’d only broken three times in their previous 25 Football League seasons.

Albion were embarking on an unprecedented period of success, which culminated in the winning of the Division Three South title in 1958 at the 31st attempt.

Lane wanted his team to play with the purpose and flair that had characterised his own game. And that style was regularly demonstrated by some of the great names in Albion history that represented the club during this time. His message to the players was simply “go out and enjoy yourself.”

One of those greats was Albert Mundy who was Albion’s leading scorer for three seasons from 54/55 to 56/57, but who missed out on promotion after leaving for Aldershot midway through the promotion season. In total he scored 90 goals in 178 outings in his four seasons at the club. Putting him equal 6th with a certain Bobby Zamora in Albion’s all-time goalscoring chart.

Another player who thrived under Lane was Johnny McNichol, considered by those who saw him as one of the best who played for the club. He was made club captain by Lane in 1951 and was a huge part of the initial improvement in the club’s fortunes during Lane’s early seasons at the club, before McNichol left for Chelsea where he would win the First Division Championship.

In his place came Jimmy Leadbetter, who signed from Chelsea as part of a £12,000 deal for Johnny McNichol. Leadbetter scored 33 goals in 115 appearances at Brighton beginning with a debut goal in the 4-1 home win over Crystal Palace. But he also proved too good for third division football and moved on after three seasons at the Albion, going onto play an important part in Alf Ramsey’s successful Ipswich Town side.

Throughout the 1950s the club played attacking football, attracted big crowds, and made several bids for promotion under manager Billy Lane. In 1955/56 they won 29 league games, scoring 112 goals, but could still only finish second to Leyton Orient, missing out on promotion by just a point.

The breakthrough finally came in 1957/58 when promotion was secured in spectacular fashion, with a bumper crowd seeing Albion go 5-0 up by half time.

Appearing in only his seventh League match, Adrian Thorne, scored five goals in this famous 6-0 win over Watford. A win which sent Albion into the Second Division for the first time.

Adrian Thorne recalled to the Argus that Billy Lane adopted a fatherly approach in his early days at the club. “I had come from a sheltered environment and when I first went into the senior dressing-room and heard all the swearing I thought, what have I got into? Billy was aware of this and would ask the players not to use bad language when I was there. That was rather embarrassing for me but Billy could be a bit touchy about language.”

Glen Wilson, Albion’s record goalscorer who was a key figure during Lane’s tenure described Billy Lane in the Book ‘Albion – The first 100 years’ as “a very shrewd man”. Going onto say: “He could frighten the life out of you, but he could also be very nice. He never gave any tactical talks, he felt players should know their opposition. He would only come into the dressing room before kick-off to shake everyone’s hand.”

Lane gave his promotion winners the chance to prove themselves at the higher level, and they did just that finishing a respectable 12th in their first season in the second tier.

But Lane’s swashbuckling free-scoring style was not as effective at the higher level and the four seasons that followed saw Albion’s goalscoring ability diminish.

After two seasons of relatively comfortable mid table finishes, Albion started the 1960/61 season badly with a 4-1 defeat away to Derby County the first of six defeats in their opening nine games. And by the end of October Albion were bottom and staring relegation in the face.

In response, Billy Lane persuaded the board to pay a club record £15,000 fee to Chelsea for inside forward Tony Nicholas, who had fallen out with Chelsea manager Ted Drake, along with the signature of centre forward Dennis Windross from Middleborough.

But the season continued to go badly for Albion. While Nicholas boosted the attack, Windross’s move from Middlesbrough to the Goldstone left the crowd unimpressed and relegation worries persisted all season.

A 3-0 win at home to Liverpool in January provided some joy, but no wins in the next ten games meant Albion were right in the relegation mix and only a 2-1 win at home to Huddersfield in their penultimate game secured Second Division football for the club the following season.

Nonetheless, at the end of the season Billy Lane decided it was his responsibility and after ten years in the job, the club’s close-shave with relegation prompted his resignation. The players were not happy to see him go, and many were shocked. But the club reluctantly accepted his resignation.

When he left, he was fourth longest serving manager in the Football League. His longevity at the club meant Billy Lane is one of the oldest to manage the club in its history. He was 57 when he left in 1961. Only Chris Hughton (60) and the great Charlie Webb (60) have been older as Albion managers.

It was somewhat fitting that Billy Lane’s final game in front of the Goldstone faithful secured another season in the Second Division. A League Billy Lane spent so much of his time at the club fighting to get into.

He was replaced by George Curtis who in the face of a very restricted budget, led the club to relegation back down to the Third Division. And worse was to come in his second season, which saw Albion again struggle. Not helped by the number of experienced names who had left and were being replaced by youngsters. A trend which led to his team being dubbed “Curtis’s Cubs”, but unlike Man United’s “Busby Babes” of the previous decade this Albion side contained nowhere near a comparative level of quality or talent and continued to struggle on the pitch leading to a second consecutive relegation.

As Tony Nichols said to the Argus, “There is a complete difference between managers and coaches and George was definitely a coach. When George took over he told all the players, ‘any problems, don’t see me, see Joe Wilson’. George just didn’t want to know. Once, when I went to see him for the refund of a taxi fare of 9s.6d., he handed me a ten shilling note. I started to walk out of the office and he called me back and asked for the change. He wasn’t joking.”

In many respects Billy Lane was indeed regarded highly and is regarded higher than most Albion managers, not just his unfortunate successor.

This was even the case with some of those who he rejected. Gordie Howieson was one of those and on getting the news he dreaded, said: “Billy Lane was very kind. After telling me that I couldn’t really kick a ball properly he said I should make my way commercially. Later he offered me £6 a game to play on a match basis. Some of the senior pros were not easy on the likes of us. I used to knock around with Peter Martin and Don Bates and we were resented for using the courtesy facilities available at Brighton Tigers matches.”

Sadly, following the subsequent demise in the wake of Lane’s departure it would take Albion a further decade to return to the Second Division, after which they were immediately relegated back to the third tier.

In some ways you could say this shows the frail legacy of Lane’s time in charge at Albion, with his great side quickly undone. But that would be an unfair summary of his time with the club.

In many ways this contrast in fortunes instead highlights the assured and shrewd nature of Lane’s leadership, which ensured the club achieved great things during his time with the club. All whilst doing so in an exciting and entertaining way. His time as manager truly is one of the great periods of Albion history.

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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.

Chelsea add to Albion’s relegation worries following Scheuer’s sacking

Following the sacking of Jens Scheuer on Monday, Wednesday nights trip to Kingsmeadow marked the beginning of the second spell of the season as interim-manager for Amy Merricks.

My initial reaction upon hearing the news of Scheuer’s sacking was shock, but not surprise. After all Albion’s heavy defeats to Leicester and Villa, which recently took place under his management, have left them with real relegation worries. But, whilst he made some questionable decisions during his time in charge, like dropping reigning player of the season Megan Walsh, many of Albion’s problems originate from before his appointment.

The problems spawn from the summer and it’s been catch up ever since. After failing to retain their best players, failing to replace them adequately and failing to build on the momentum of the Lionesses last summer.

Altogether this season feels like a huge missed opportunity, an opportunity that Albion were uniquely placed to build on, having hosted two sell out matches during England’s run to becoming European Champions.

When you look at some of the results this season it’s pretty damming. Losing 8-0 to Spurs, 3-0 to bottom placed Leicester (who hadn’t even earned a point prior to then all season) and the more recent 6-2 defeat to Villa. These aren’t WSL clubs Albion should be considered inferior to like Chelsea. Those are clubs they should see as their competition, but instead Albion are being made to look like relegation fodder.

There’s been a great deal of positivity coming out of the camp since Jens Scheuer’s appointment back in December. But the reality is, despite the abundant optimism and copious talk of hard work, unfortunately for Scheuer Albion didn’t demonstrate that enough on the pitch.

So, with all that going on in the background, a trip to Champions Chelsea was the last thing Albion needed. And if we’re honest, the subsequent 3-1 defeat was probably better than many feared. Especially after going 2-0 down so early on.

Chelsea dominated from the off and would have taken the lead earlier had a shot from Kaneryd not been cleared off the line. As it was, Chelsea were two-nil up in around twenty minutes. The first scored by Guro Reiten from the penalty spot, with the second scored from close range by Jess Carter off of a corner.

Trailing the mighty Chelsea two-nil away from home at half time, you’d be forgiven for fearing the worse. But Albion came out and made a game of it in the second half, most notably Terland hitting the bar with a somewhat speculative shot from outside the box.

But soon after Chelsea, not for the first time in the second half, found space in behind the Albion backline and Sam Kerr played the ball across the face of the goal for Kaneryd to make it three-nil. A third goal that was a real sucker punch just when Albion were coming back into the game.

The aforementioned Terland was substituted shortly after for Danielle Carter, who then became the second Carter to get on the scoresheet and score a late consolation goal for Brighton. One that gave a much-needed boost to their goal difference, which following this defeat is now the worst in the division.

This defeat takes Albion’s total conceded goals tally for the season in the WSL to 42. More than any other club so far this season and more than they’ve conceded in the entirety of either of the last two season, and that’s with ten matches still to play.

The previously discussed mass departure of first team players last summer has certainly taken its toll: Departures that have left huge issues which Albion are still trying to resolve.

Whilst Victoria Williams, who played her 100th game for Brighton last night, has given the defence some steadiness, the loss of the defensive talents of Kovisto, Le Tissier, Gibbons and Kerkdijk have been noticeable this season, as Albion continue to struggle to rebuild their defensive stability after this summer’s mass exodus.

At the end of Sky Sport coverage, Karen Carney said she thought that Brighton would stay up, but fellow pundit Kelly Smith said she wasn’t so sure.

And you can see why. Albion’s defensive frailties were on show again. If Albion are to stay up, their defence needs to shape up. That will be the number one task for whoever is given the reigns to take over as manager from interim Merricks.

Albion sit second bottom of the WSL, just two points above the relegation place. And their task doesn’t get easier as they play Man City this weekend and then don’t next play in the WSL until the 26th, when they face a huge six-pointer against 9th placed Reading.

With bottom placed Leicester playing twice in between now and then, they may well find themselves bottom going into that six-pointer against Reading, which would make it even more of a must-win for Albion, a game that may well be the first in the WSL for their new manager. A baptism of fire awaits.

A look at Albion’s Pathway to the WSL Top 4

It’s been a tough season so far for Albion’s women, their senior team sit 10th in the WSL and are caught up in a real relegation battle. Whilst Brighton’s Academy sit bottom of the WSL Academy League Southern Division, with 11 defeats and no wins out of their 13 games so far this season.

But as is often the case, results at Academy level don’t always equal success at senior level and the last decade of investment by the club at academy level means, in contradiction to the academy team’s league position, that there’s plenty of reason to be optimistic about the future of Albion’s women’s team.

A bigger sign of the success of Albion’s youth system is the success of its products at senior level. But it has to be said, there are currently only a small number of first team members who have come through Albion’s academy, most prominently Libby Bance. The 19-year-old has played 8 times so far this season, 4 from the start. Whilst fellow academy products Lulu Jarvis and Chelsea Ferguson have made first team appearances from the subs bench.

Nonetheless, Albion are still very much focused on youth, but more prominently right now through talented young players brought in from other clubs. Most notably demonstrated on Sunday when Katie Robinson made her first start for England’s senior team, along with another former Albion youngster Maya Le Tissier.

And it’s not just at senior level where Albion are being represented by England in international Football. Jorja Fox (on loan from Chelsea) and Poppy Pattinson both featured for England U23s in their goalless draw with Italy last week.

Whilst Albion’s academy is a key part of its strategy, it must be noted that the thing that connects all these players is that they didn’t start their footballing journey with Albion, but all joined Albion at a young age. With Poppy Pattinson aside, all joining the Albion as a teenager, not necessarily signed as players initially intended as first team starters, but players who would soon become that.

Pattinson spoke in an interview with Live Score recently about the motivations to join Brighton this summer being in part to help her overall ambition of playing for England, saying: “It’s just about getting that consistency in my game. I’ve been at different clubs, gained different experiences and I’m still relatively young.”

Going onto say: “Hopefully getting regular game time with Brighton, in a team beginning to find their flow, will help to do that.” The ability to offer young talented players regular football is certainly something the men’s team have benefited from in enabling it to attract top young prospects, and it seems the women’s team are following the same model.

Last summer Andy Naylor spoke about the “three layered player development strategy” for the men’s team. And whilst the third element of “buying young players not yet ready for the first team, but who can quickly be loaned out at a good level” is not apparent or particularly feasible in the operations of women’s football right now. The first two elements he described of nurturing academy talent and bringing in players identified as having potential are very much apparent in its senior team’s recruitment model.

That said, it’s not all about youth. Whilst Albion have an average squad age of 26.6 compared to a WSL average of 27.1, there’s still plenty of experienced players, some of whom were recently added to the squad which goes against the club’s trend of focusing on budding young talent.

Albion’s recent January signings have brought up the age average of the squad significantly and reduced the reliance on youth. Namely Bergsvand (28), Morse (24), Williams (34), Stefanovic (25) and Visalli (27), who all add some much-needed experience to a previously young and weakened squad following a long list of summer exits by senior players.

This focus on youth is instead a part of a long-term project for the club. Albion launched its first-ever female specific football academy in conjunction with Worthing College in 2015, opened up to 16–18-year-old budding footballers. Set up to help the club secure a WSL franchise license.

Then in August 2022, the club officially opened the “Elite Performance Centre 2”, which is the main hub for the women’s team. The result of a £8.5million investment by the club, giving the women’s set up world-class training facilities, including space for its various age-group academy teams, which go as young as U12s, with plans to expand that to even younger age-groups in the future.

When opening the new facilities, the then first team manager Hope Powell told the Daily Mail: “I would like to think we’ve got one of the best facilities in the country and we’re hoping players come in.”

Adding: “The better players in the world expect to play on good pitches and have good facilities accessible. I think we can show them that and say, ‘this is what we’ve got’ and that is really appealing.”

As part of this investment in the women’s and girls’ set up at the club, a new strategy was announced: “Pathway to top 4”. With its investment in the academy a big part of that, designed to aid the club’s aims to become a top-4 WSL side.

The club have had a great deal of success in developing a pathway for young, talented players to thrive in its men’s senior team. The difficulty with the approach, as this summer demonstrates, is that in women’s football contracts on offer are of less value and of less length than in men’s football, meaning transfer fees are rarely paid and players often leave clubs at the end of a season on a free transfer.

A recent investigation by The Telegraph showed that in the WSL “current salaries range from as little as £20,000 per annum to as much as £250,000, plus bonuses, across the 12 top clubs.” And whilst Albion pay more than many, they can’t compete with the top clubs. So, if a big club comes calling, the differing opportunities of earning potential would have far more effect on a player than it would on a Men’s senior team player leaving the club.

But despite these difficulties, Albion’s new Elite performance centre is an investment for the future, and the future of Women’s football looks bright. Matt Dorn, CEO, at Albion in the Community, said to Sussex World last year: “Women and girls’ football has had a huge boost this summer. We’ve seen a 100% increase in girls football participants compared to the same period in 2021; double the amount of girls wanting to take part in our activities. On top of this we’ve seen a 73% boost in girls joining our Talent Pathway and Advanced Centres – girls who are taking a serious interest in football and want to play at the highest level.”

When the club opened their new Elite Performance centre, they were fifth in the WSL and had an FA Cup semi-final with Arsenal to look forward to. Today they sit 10th in the WSL and are at real risk of relegation.

Some would therefore assume Albion find themselves at a potential crossroads in terms of its Women’s team. Especially when you compare the opposition and stature of the WSL, to the Championship. Albion’s senior teams potential home next season.

But what is clear from Albion’s investment in the Women’s set up and the way they have constantly spoken about its equity with the Men’s team, is that this is a long-term investment of passion and belief, rather than a sprint for success that could quickly be derailed.

It is often said, but is always worth repeating that this is the benefit of having an owner like Tony Bloom in charge of the club. He’s a fan of the club, one who’s followed the club all his life and whose family have been involved in it for decades. There is no reason to doubt his intentions, which are always good and unwavering.

He said to the Argus last summer amongst the turmoil of the large number of first team players leaving: “It is tough. The top three, particularly the top four clubs in the WSL are very strong and they have got big club names behind them.”

Going onto say of the club’s top 4 ambitions: “We don’t change. It is a long-term ambition for us. We aren’t changing it. We know it’s going to be tough, but it is always good to aim very high. Being realistic, it is not going to happen in the short to medium term but certainly that is what our aim is, and we will continue to have that tough ambition.”

Albion’s investment in its academy for women’s and girls’ football is important, and a huge community asset as well as a huge asset to the club.

The model at Brighton to attract young prospects is an exciting one and could see the club develop into a top side in the future, particularly in Women’s football. It’s a model that has given the men’s team so much success in recent times, but the unique characteristics of the women’s game will make it harder to replicate that success in the WSL, in the short term at least.

Matchday 4 – End of the season

This is part 4 of “Matchday”, a fictional series. To go back to the start, click here

“Are you sure you don’t want to come, Rachel?” Dave asked. “There’s still a spare ticket if you’ve changed your mind?”

“No thanks.” Rachel said whilst keeping her head down, engrossed in her book.

“Ok” Dave replied dejectedly. It wasn’t ok though. Dave had a growing concern about Rachel. According to Mel, she’d been very upset after coming home from school one day last week and ever since had been very distant and quiet.

Dave left the room and headed upstairs to chat to Mel. “She’s definitely not going. Are you sure you’re ok to stay with her?” Dave asked.

“It’s fine, I wouldn’t want the tickets to go to waste and one of us has to.” She replied. “Anyway, it’s an opportunity for some mother-daughter time, maybe I can get to the bottom of what’s wrong?” She said optimistically.

“Ok… I will text Steve and see if he wants the spare tickets.” He announced.

…

“Alright Dave?” came the unmistakable voice of Steve from behind.

Dave turned to face Steve. “Hey!” He replied with a warm smile “… and good to see you too Mikey!” Mikey shyly grunted whilst stared down at his feet.

“Sorry it was so short notice. Was it ok with the others that you only had one extra ticket?” Dave asked Steve.

“Yeah, the others were fine, said I’d try to take them all next season.”

“Might be a bit easier to get tickets if today doesn’t go out way!” Dave replied gloomily.

Steve just laughed before turning his attention to Mikey “…you going to say hi to Peter, mate?”

“Hi” Mikey said sharply with little enthusiasm.

Peter just responded with an awkward smile before they both returned to staring at their feet.

“Must be nervous!” Joked Dave. “I know I am, win or bust today!” He added with enthusiasm.

“Come on Dave, relegation isn’t bust! Steve said unconvincingly. “There’d be the derby against Rovers, and they might actually win a few!” He said mockingly.

“And Sanchez might score a few.” Peter chirped…. They all chuckled.

“Don’t count on it!” Replied Dave.

All of a sudden there was some noise from

a bit further down the platform. Dave turned to see a small group of youngsters scuffling. “Come on, let’s head to the other end and avoid those idiots.” He said pushing Peter in the other direction.

“Reminds me why I stopped going.” Said Steve. “Back in the day though…” he added looking at Dave with a smirk.

“We’re all young and stupid once.” Replied Dave. He stopped himself and looked at the kids and was grateful to notice that they weren’t paying too much attention. ‘Need to reign it in a bit’, he told himself.

Just then the train pulled into the platform, letting out a loud gust of air, seeming to puncture the tension that had built up.

“Mind the people!” Steve shouted as Mikey and Peter forced their way through the crowd to get some seats… “sorry” he added with a regretful smile as an elderly gentleman clutched onto the handrail to stay upright… the old man looked back with a scornful grimace.

“We were all young and stupid once.” Repeated Dave, looking at Steve with a smile.

…

*peeeeep* went the referees whistle which sounded louder and sharper than usual. The game was still scoreless, and Town needed to win to have any chance of staying up.

“Not looking good”. Said Steve despondently.

“Does this mean we’re relegated, Dad?” Asked Mikey.

“If it stays like this, yes.” Steve responded with an air regret in his voice.

Dave looked at Peter who was sat there looking at his feet in what he assumed was disappointment, but it could well just be boredom. ‘Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea’, he thought to himself.

One of Dave’s first memories of football was of going with his dad to see Town’s great escapes from relegation on the last day of the season, he had hoped to give Peter that same experience, but right now he was worried the disappointment would put him off for life.

“Oh well, win some, lose some.” He said trying to pep up the mood. “Fancy any snacks kids?” He asked.

…

“Those toilet queues are a nightmare!” Dave said to Steve rather exasperated.

“Tell me about it, the only time I wish I was a woman. That and the getting out of all the DIY.” Steve replied cheekily.

“Mummy does all our DIY.” Peter replied with an enthusiastic smile

“Cheeky sod!” Dave retorted with a grin… “She does though to be fair. Fat sod like me, I don’t have the energy these days anyway!” He added with a grin.

They all laughed. “How’s the health kick going?” Steve asked.

“Badly” Dave replied. “Bad habits die hard.” Dave said before taking a bite into his burger and turning to Peter. “Don’t tell your mother.” He said with a wink.

Peter smiled back awkwardly. Dave sensed it too. Mel had been giving him more of a hard time about his latest blood test results. High blood pressure, high cholesterol, his GP had said he was at high risk of diabetes and heart disease, but he just couldn’t help but over indulge himself from time to time.

“There’s always tomorrow!” Steve said with a smile.

Dave felt even worse with Steve showing genuine interest. ‘Yes, tomorrow! he told himself.

“These lot aren’t doing the old ticker any good.” He said light-heartedly.

“Tell me about it!” Steve replied. “What do you think Mikey?” He asked, but Mikey was too indulged in his phone to notice. Steve shrugged awkwardly and then suddenly announced: “Right! Let’s get back to our seats shall we.”

…

“F*cking show some passion you lazy c*nts!” Came a voice from behind them.

Dave looked round in fury and stared at a guy who was now standing up and aggressively gesticulating at the players.

The guy caught his glaze and Dave continued to give him a furious stare.

“What!?” The guy asked aggressively.

“Leave it out, mate. There’s kid here!” Replied Dave.

“I’m not your mate.” The guy replied somewhat sternly.

Dave turned back to look at Peter and Mikey who were both awkwardly avoiding his glaze. “Nice one.” Steve said, clearly impressed by Dave’s put down.

“Well, you know. If you want to behave like that, don’t sit in the family stand.” Dave replied.

A few minutes passed and the guy was still stood up shouting aggressively at the pitch. Then a steward appeared and began to chat with him.

Dave looked round, intrigued. He caught the guy’s eye who looked at him with fury, before sitting down.

“Think you’ve made a friend.” Joked Steve.

“Jealous?” Responded Dave with a chuckle.

…

The ball rolled over the goal line rasping along the wet grass. The silence of the home crowd meant you could hear the crackle as it glided around the net.

“Bugger!” Dave exclaimed quietly, remembering to check himself in front of the kids.

Peter looked up at him despondently. Dave gave him a smile and put his arm round him in comfort. “Don’t worry, still time.” He said.

“Not much.” Replied Peter.

“We’re screwed now.” Added Steve with his head in his hands.

They all sat there in silence. Not knowing what to say to puncture the despondency of the moment. There were only a few minutes left on the clock and Town were 1-0 down and based on other results, needed to win to survive. They were indeed doomed

“Dad, can we go home now?” Asked Mikey.

“Let’s stay till the end.” Steve responded trying to hide his irritation. “Not long left now.”

Some Town supporters around them began to shout and cheer, encouraging the team on. But most knew this was a situation beyond hope, sitting there in a daze-like silence.

Dave felt numb and lethargic, sapped of his remaining energy. He looked over at Peter who was just staring at his feet.

A few minutes of this dumbstruck state passed. Town threw everything they had forward, but every desperate long ball into the opposition third was either cleared by a defender or caught by the goalkeeper. With the silence occasionally punctured by a smattering of groans.

After a few more minutes, the referee’s whistle sharply hit Dave’s ears. That was it, relegation.

He looked at Peter again and felt a huge sense of guilt. They didn’t speak. Dave just hugged Peter, Steve hugged Mikey and they filed silently out of the stand, on to the concourse and continued on their way out of the ground.

…

As they passed the main stand and headed down the main road away from the stadium. Dave felt a tap on his shoulder and before he knew it was being man handled.

“No one tells me to leave it out.” A voice said, pushing Dave up against a wall. It was the guy from inside the ground.

“Alright mate calm down.” Said Steve trying to hold the guy back.

But he was too strong and had a hand around his neck whilst pressing Dave up against the wall. “Don’t tell me to calm down!” The guy shouted.

Steve, initially focused on making sure the kids were ok, turned his attention to helping Dave and began to try to pull him off Dave.

Dave and Steve managed to push the guy off and he quickly ran away, realising it was now two against one.

“You alright?” Steve said putting his arm around Dave.

“Yeah, thanks.” Dave whimpered. Cleared in a state of shock. “The idiot just caught me off guard.”

“Dave tried to pull himself together. He was fine he told himself. He looked down and Peter was visibly upset, whilst Mikey was tightly gripping Steve’s hand.

Dave grabbed Peter’s hand and said: “it’s alright mate. Teach Dad not to be such a loudmouth next time, eh.” He said forcing a smile.

Peter just huffed and burrowed his head in Dave’s belly.

They were all just standing in a huddle on the side of the road, still in state of shock, standing up against the wall that Dave had been shoved up against. A few people had stopped and stared but in Dave’s surprise no one had stopped to help. ‘They must think we’re all a bunch of hooligans’ he thought to himself despondently.

“You think that was bad kids, you should have come in the bad old days… that would have been seen as a kind greeting compared to some of the things we used to have to deal with!” Steve said trying to lighten the mood.

“Yeah, back then I’d also have had your Grandad with me to scare idiots like him off.” Dave added, looking at Peter with a remorseful grin. Peter just continued to burrow his head in Dave’s belly.

“And to be fair, you’ve both said just as rude things as him.” Joked Mikey puncturing the tension and leading to crackles of laughter among the group.

…

The train pulled into the station and Dave breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Nearly home’ he thought.

“Dad?” Peter said inquiring.

“Yeah?” Replied Dave.

“Not sure I like going to the football. Today made me feel sad.” Peter replied regretfully.

“Don’t worry mate, they won’t get relegated every week!” Dave said teasingly ruffling Peter’s hair.

“Yeah, but that guy might be their next time.” Peter replied.

“Don’t worry about idiots like him Peter.” Added Steve.

Peter and Mikey wandered off towards their cars. Steve and Dave following slowly behind.

“Sorry mate.” Said Steve. “I’m sure he’ll change his mind.” He added.

“Yeah. Today was probably just a bad idea. Just had good memories from when my dad took me to see Town on the last day of the great escape season. You know?” … “I miss him.” He added. Tears suddenly streaming down his face.

Steve grabbed his arm and pulled him in to hug him. Holding him firmly and closely. It took Steve aback at first, but it shunted away his sorrow, making him feel warm and safe.

Steve pulled away and smiled. “Thanks mate.” Said Dave.

“No worries, mate. I miss my dad too, hard not to think of them on days like today. Sometimes we just need a hug. You know.”

There was a pause as they both smiled at each other. Dave and Steve had always been close friends, but not like this. Any kind of sharing of genuine emotion was uncommon. He trusted Steve, but it made him feel exposed.

“Anyway, better get back.” Dave said suddenly cutting short the moment. He wasn’t good at dealing with affection. Even with Mel.

“Yeah.” Said Steve. With an air of awkwardness, clearly sensing Dave’s discomfort.

“Wait up!” Shouted Dave, noticing in their distraction how far the kids had got ahead of them.

…

Dave tossed and turned in bed, unable to shut off his mind of the events of the day.

“You alright, mate?” Mel said drowsily, keeping her eyes shut and head firmly placed on the pillow.

“Sorry, can’t sleep. Full-on day.” He replied sharply.

“Maybe it’s a bit early to start taking the kids to the football?” She replied. “Too many idiots.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Dave replied sharply again, with an added air of frustration in his voice.

“Sorry Mate.” Mel replied leaning over and giving him a peck on the cheek before placing her head back on the pillow.

“I just wanted to replicate what I had with my dad; you know.” He said, suddenly feeling an unexpected tremble in his voice as he said it.

“Peter’s not you though, and you’re not your dad.” Mel replied, sitting up in recognition of the fact Dave clearly wanted to chat. “You have your own special relationship.” She said rubbing his back tenderly.

Dave paused, hesitating for a moment. “Yeah.” He said sheepishly, pausing again. “It’s just, I just… miss him, you know.”

The tears once again began to fall down Dave’s cheeks, but this time with Gusto. “Come here.” Mel said warmly, pulling him towards her and cuddling him in her bosom.

That’s when Dave really let loose. He cried. Cried like he hadn’t cried for years. It’s had been months since his dad died, and he’d mostly just tried to get on with things. Not show emotion around the kids for fear of upsetting them.

But clearly, he’d stopped himself from properly grieving. And today had opened up all those wounds that he’d been covering with plasters and trying to not think about. So he just laid the for a while crying into his wife’s bosom and letting it all out.

“It’s alright.” Said Mel whilst tenderly kissing him on the cheek again. “Good thing he wasn’t around to see today, eh! Imagine?”

Dave laughed. It felt good to laugh, release all that tension that had built up. He gave Mel a squeeze before sitting up and smiling at her.

Mel wiped away a pool of tears that had accumulated on his cheek. “Think Peter might take some convincing to be taken back, mind”. She said with a rueful grin.

“Yeah” Dave replied. “And the worst part is, I agreed with him. I don’t really want to go back either.” He added with a chuckle.

“There’s always Rachel.” She replied. “She seemed keen to know what was happening in the game today. Annoying really after making such a fuss of not wanting to go.”

“Probably for the best. She would have hated it too.” Dave replied. “I meant to ask, how was she today?” He asked.

“She was ok. Let’s talk about it tomorrow.” she replied dismissively, clearly not wanted to get into another discussion so late at night.

“Sure.” Dave said. “Anyway, let’s get some Kip, eh?” He declared, leaning over and kissing Mel on the lips.

Dave laid there for a while, still unable to stop the thoughts running through his head. Thinking of the day, of his dad and their times going to the game together. ‘Love you Dad’ he thought to himself. Thinking that he wished he’d told him that more often.

…

Albion’s defensive problems and relegation worries worsen

Sequels are usually worse than the original, and this was certainly the case for Albion’s second consecutive meeting with Aston Villa in the WSL on Saturday. As following last weekend’s commendable 1-1 draw in the midlands, a 6-2 defeat saw them stumbling towards a potential relegation.

It‘a a result that’s left some serious questions to be answered, one in particular regarding Jen Scheuer’s team selection.

In their previous match, Albion put in a top defensive performance to earn a point away to Aston Villa. With goalkeeper Megan Walsh putting in an immense display to keep an impressive Villa team down to just one, helping earn Albion a vital point.

This week Albion manager Jen Scheuer surprisingly dropped her and brought in new signing Lydia Williams. A shocking selection before the result, and one brought under greater scrutiny afterwards following the scale of the defeat.

To be fair to Lydia Williams, this wasn’t a one off, this was yet another heavy defeat by Albion in the WSL this season, with 39 goals conceded so far. That’s an average of over 3.5 goals conceded per game.

And with bottom placed Leicester City beating Liverpool, Albion are now just 2 points and 2 places off the relegation spot. So, these are indeed worrying times. This was such a huge defeat and felt like a massive step backwards in Albion’s season.

Albion have definitely made progress in recent weeks under Scheuer and the noise coming out of the club has been hugely positive. But it feels like much of that good work could be undone by this result, following a return to the sort of defensive performance the club hopes were behind them following his appointment.

Scheuer certainly made some very questionable decisions on Sunday. But I can’t place too much blame on him despite him still searching for his first WSL win, it is still early days. Two defeats and a draw, ten goals conceded. Especially given their record up to that was of 5 defeats in their first 8 WSL games this season, with 29 goals conceded. This is a problem that’s been building for a while.

If Albion survive relegation this season, it will be as much by luck than by judgement. I don’t enjoy saying it, but it’s hard to not conclude that the women’s team have somewhat been let down by the club this season.

Yes, the club has recently brought in a flurry of new signings, a new manager, and even a new managing director of Women and girls’ football, but it may well be too little too late.

The problems spawn from the summer and it’s been catch up ever since. After failing to retain their best players, failing to replace them adequately and failing to build on the momentum of the Lionesses last summer. Altogether this season feels like a huge missed opportunity, an opportunity that Albion were uniquely placed to build on, having hosted two sell out matches during England’s run to become European Champions.

Part of this is down to the nature of the women’s domestic game, and the nature of players being under short contracts. But when you look at some of the results this season it’s pretty damming. Losing 8-0 to Spurs, 3-0 to bottom placed Leicester, and now the 6-2 defeat to Villa. These aren’t WSL clubs Albion should be considered inferior to, unlike the likes of Arsenal or Chelsea. These clubs should be their competition, instead Albion are being made to look like relegation fodder.

I understand why these comments may come across as harsh, given the commendable investment made by the club in women’s and girls’ football in recent years.

The infrastructure that the club has built both in terms of its new state of the art training facilities, the growing number of personnel running the show at the club and the specific commercial deal with American Express for Women’s and girls’ football, have all enabled the Women’s senior team to excel and achieve club record league finishes of 6th and 7th place in the WSL in the past two seasons respectively. All of which makes this season’s performance more striking.

But if we look at the club’s first teams, and compare the success of the men’s team, which has been built on its widely praised strategic planning and attention to detail, and compare it to some of the recent events surrounding the women’s first team, it’s clear that the standards set are worlds apart.

When you look at the investment made by the club and look at its stated ambition, it’s clearly not a lack of vision. The club have huge ambition for the women’s team, with its “Pathway towards top 4” strategy.

But there doesn’t appear to have been a sufficient operational strategy in place for the team to meet that ambition ahead of the new season.

That said, as previously mentioned, at least the club has made changes at the top of late in the shape of the appointments of Jen Scheuer as the new first team manager and Zoe Johnson as the new Managing Director of Women and Girls. The summer was clearly a disaster, so bad they weren’t able to name a full bench for much of the season so far, naming just 5 out of a possible 9 subs for their first two fixtures.

Zoe Johnson said in an interview for Sunday’s matchday programme about meeting the club’s goals, that: “There is a lot of work that needs to be done off the field to make sure that happens, and there is a lot of work that needs to be done on the field”.

Going onto say: “The facilities definitely give the club a platform to go and perform; there are no excuses when they’ve got these facilities to use every day. They should relish that opportunity and it will help them put in the performances that we need to achieve that top-four vision.”

But then again, given all these top of the range facilities, playing so many games at Crawley and not at the AMEX (a subject I wrote in detail about last summer), does begin to undermine some of that good work to a degree.

On a day like this, particularly on a weekend where the men’s team were playing away from home, it could have brought in a decent crowd at the AMEX. And consistently doing so over the course of a season would no doubt build momentum and could make a huge difference to the prospects of the women’s team.

Women’s football is probably going to be THE growth area in football over next decade. If we want to be at the forefront of it (and we can be), we have to make the investments now. Or be left behind. The club have gone a significant way in doing that, but let’s not leave the women’s team in their current state of limbo.

Just look at the examples of big crowds other WSL teams are getting, like the 21,940 at Tottenham on Sunday for their WSL game, or better yet, the sell-out Lionesses games at the AMEX this summer.

Let’s be level-headed about things however, as far as thing go for the women’s team, they aren’t on their own in playing most home games away from their club’s main stadium and given their track record on the pitch in recent seasons, if the results turn around in the second half of the season these past few months will just be written off as a minor blip.

That’s not to undermine the severity of the situation. As Zoe Williams pointed out in her interview, given the top of the range facilities at the club, there is a lot of reason to be optimistic about this team and no excuse for this level of underperformance. So, the team need to start repaying that investment on the field or risk it being all for nothing.

Megan Connolly said in her post match interview that: “Everyone is disappointed especially after last week. We’d had a good week’s training and were ready for the game.” But the reality is, despite the abundant talk of hard work on the training field and optimism in the camp, if Albion don’t start demonstrating that on the pitch, it’s all for nothing.

Moreover, last summer was not just a huge advert for women’s football in the country, but for Brighton and Hove Albion as a vehicle for it. Making the potential of relegation feel all the more like the first team are missing a huge opportunity.

We are lucky to have a club that had invested so heavily in Women’s football and wants to treat it as equal to the Men’s team. And in Paul Barber as CEO, the club has someone well versed in the intricacies and importance of Women’s football. But, even with all that Albion could very well find themselves relegated from the WSL this season.

Following the three-week international and FA Cup break, it’s Chelsea and Man City up next in the WSL for Brighton respectively. So, they could well be bottom and in that dreaded relegation spot by the time their massive trip to fellow relegation threatened Reading takes place at the end of March.

As Albion manager Scheuer admitted after the Villa match: “We have got some harder games coming. We know the situation now [in the table]. We have to stay together and make it better.” And he’s not wrong to put things as frankly as that.

Albion will be many people’s favourites to go down right now, the momentum is against them. And with only half the season gone, it says a lot about the severity of the situation that Albion find themselves in, that the upcoming game with Reading already looks like a must win.

Albion once again caught up in a County Cup storm

Brighton have once again ended up in the middle of a County Cup storm after the Sussex FA ordered their Sussex Senior Cup Quarter Final tie against Littlehampton Town to take place on Thursday 23rd February.

With this being less than 48 hours before Littlehampton’s next League fixture, it’s caused some understandable consternation from the non-league side.

Particularly given this move was following a request from Albion for the fixture to be moved from the originally suggested date of Wednesday 23rd for the same basis. Due to their u21s having a Premier League 2 fixture against Blackburn on the preceding Monday night.

Littlehampton Town released a statement saying – “We are baffled by this disappointing decision made by the Sussex FA. With such a big game at Ashford to focus on, we will now consider whether this Senior Cup tie will even be a first team fixture for us.”

If the Sussex FA make allowances for Albion, they must then also do so for Littlehampton. Otherwise how can you claim it’s a fair playing field?

I can appreciate how decisions like these happen. At risk of being big-headed, Albion are of course the big draw in the competition and host the final, so I understand why the Sussex FA would want to keep the club onside.

But the competition and the Sussex FA more generally, lose integrity if these things keep happening. As do Albion to a degree.

So, whilst Albion are well within their right here to make the request that to move the fixture with two games in 48 hours. They have ended up in the middle of a storm, once again.

Of course, this isn’t the first time a Sussex non-league club has taken a swipe at Sussex’s Premier club. In 2019, Albion were given the right to postpone their Semi Final against Bognor, which caused a bit of a stir. To quell the frustration of the Rocks, they allowed them to host the Semi final, which would usually played on neautral ground.

Brighton were not winning themselves any friends in the Sussex Senior Cup that season. They’d already been allowed to delay their quarter-final with Eastbourne Town, much to the dismay of Town’s manager – who pointed out that earlier in the competition, Seaford Town had been unable to get a team together to play at Bognor on the given date and were instantly removed from the that years competition.

Steve Bone said in Sussex World said at the time: “This just stinks of preferential treatment for the county big boys. Wonder why? Perhaps it’s because the Sussex FA are scared to upset Brighton.”

I’ve never been a fan of Albion’s involvement in the Sussex Senior Cup anyway. In my view it devalues the competition, along with the Sussex non-league scene, every time we win it, which all just adds to a sense of decline in the Sussex Senior cup.

Some may think “who cares”, but it’s a competition which I remember not that long ago being being a highlight in the Sussex football calendar.

I used to love Sussex Senior cup when the final was on a bank holiday Monday and at a packed Sussex non-league ground, as it was prior to it moving to the AMEX.

Don’t get me wrong, the AMEX is a fantastic venue, but any venue as big as that, which is 90% empty AMEX on a weekday evening, as has been the case in recent years, is going to struggle to produce the excitement of a final.

I have particularly fond memories of the 2002 final at a packed out Priory Lane between Eastbourne Borough and Lewes. That’s what the County cup as it should be, not as it is now, a glorified reserve team competition, prioritising the interests of a professional sides youth team.

I’m not criticising the club here, more the management of the competition by the FA. Something that I don’t think does Albion many favours. The Sussex Senior Cup is hardly the club’s priority. Neither is it Littlehampton’s, as their threat to play a reserve team in the quarter final shows. Both teams could do without this aggro.

This will be a big blow for Littlehampton too. Getting Brighton in the Sussex Senior cup for a club of their size can produce a significant increase in attendance. And for clubs like them who usually rely on a couple of hundred people paying entry fee as one of its main sources of income, that’s a huge bonus.

We shouldn’t forget either that the world of Sussex football is a small one and one Albion regularly use as a source for talent and as part of its loan network. Many of Albion’s young prospects have, are or will be cutting their footballing teeth in the Sussex non-league scene, you just have to take a look at Mr Solly March as an example of what’s possible.

So whilst to many this may seem like a storm in a tea cup , the preferential treatment from the Sussex FA does Albion no favours. And counter intuitively may ultimately lead it to deciding that the County Cup isn’t worth its trouble.

Since publishing, Littlehampton filed and won an appeal with the Sussex FA over the date change of the tie and it was reinstated to its originally agreed date of Wednesday 22nd Feb.

The Cult of the individual

It goes without saying that Roberto De Zerbi is doing a fantastic job at the Albion, with the team currently sitting 6th in the Premier League table and picking up a number of notable scalps of late.

Since he joined the club, the team have been maintaining a level of performance that could see it qualify for Europe, a feat unprecedented in Albion’s 122-year history.

But that being said, the rather excessive level of devotion to the club’s new manager from day one has been rather striking.

There is a flag with his face on it that has covered the North stand pre-match at the AMEX since his arrival, whilst the unanimous acclaim for everything he said and did was practically instantaneous. It’s almost cult-like and makes me feel a tad uncomfortable.

He’s the manager of our club, so us Albion fans will support him, that’s a given. Especially during periods of success such as this. That said, plenty of managers have been taken to heart by the Albion faithful in the Bloom era and that devotion has been quickly transferred to the next incumbent.

If recent history has taught us anything, it’s not to overvalue the impact of individual staff, as Paul Barber recently said: no one is indispensable.

When Graham Potter left many were panicked and thought it might spell the end of Albion’s progress, but the club have gone from strength to strength.

After all, the club was already doing very well before De Zerbi’s arrival. Under Tony Bloom’s ownership there has been a near continuous period of progression. In my eyes, De Zerbi’s managerial reign is the next chapter in that progression.

This success has been built on Tony Bloom and the board’s leadership, strategy and vision. Of primary importance to that strategy is its recruitment policy and more recently, its succession planning, which has been seriously tested.

Each manager has come in and fulfilled their brief, continuing the progression from where Tony Bloom’s ownership began, as League One relegation battlers, up to where the club is now, as Premier League European place challengers. At the time, many of his predecessors had felt indispensable, but with time we can now see that they were far from it.

Bloom’s first managerial appointment Gus Poyet, professionalised the culture and transformed attitudes, both on and off the pitch, nearly taking the club into the Premier League in the space of three and a half years.

Oscar Garcia, then took that good work on and continued the club’s push for promotion, whilst maintaining the team’s entertaining football. But again, the club narrowly missed out in the playoffs.

Chris Hughton later came in and finally took the club to that next level. Creating a consistent promotion worthy side that went onto maintain topflight status for two consecutive seasons.

Most recently Graham Potter then came in and took a team that was just about managing in the topflight and transformed it to one that was mixing it with the best. Achieving a club record-breaking ninth placed finish last season, along with the club’s first ever wins away against Arsenal, Manchester United, Everton and Aston Villa along the way.

Roberto De Zerbi is now next in line; his job is arguably the hardest. To take Albion to that next step. A step unprecedented in Albion history, establish it among the top ten and challenge for Europe. It’s still early days, but so far so good.

Alongside all the recent on-pitch success, I can see why De Zerbi has garnered such a dedicated following. As in addition to his obvious coaching talents, he is an enigmatic personality. And that goes beyond his wild and emotive touchline celebrations.

De Zerbi cam is here! 🎥🍿

— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) February 6, 2023

In his pre-Bournemouth press conference, De Zerbi made a point of saying he was being “honest” in his comments about Moises Caicedo. Not for the first time explicitly stating his sincerity, and you can feel that sincerity in his words.

There were some pointed and firm comments from De Zerbi that day too: “I spoke a different way for the other players, but for Moises it is different. We need the performance of Moises… and I don’t want to listen to criticism.”

I suspect it’s partly as a consequence of speaking (and only recently learning) English as a second language, but he doesn’t mince his words. He certainly did speak differently about Trossard, who claimed De Zerbi “humiliated” him after he stated Trossard left training before it was finished without permission, adding: “I explained this attitude [and] behaviour, I don’t like.”

It was level of criticism that led to Trossard’s representatives putting out an equally firm rebuttal of their own, criticising De Zerbi’s treatment of the Belgian international.

And yet, despite it being only a few months after Trossard scored that iconic hat-trick at Anfield and that he still remains the team’s top scorer so far this season, it was De Zerbi who has received unwavering support from the fans rather than the Belgian international.

In part, because in a world of media training and evading the question, De Zerbi’s attitude with the media is very refreshing. And also, because he was on the right side of the argument in us supporters’ eyes, being the loyal party to the club over personal ambition.

But we shouldn’t forget that, just as appears to currently be the case with Albion’s first team stars, the shelf life of a football manager is often short.

The average Premier League managerial tenure is about 2 years, whilst the average of permanent Albion managers appointed by Tony Bloom is around 2 and a half years.

On the face of it De Zerbi should outlast those timespans given the team’s success. But, when you consider the turnover in personnel of late, along with De Zerbi’s public criticism of the club’s transfer policy and his public fallout with Leandro Trossard, so early on in his tenure, then you could argue things are less stable than results suggest.

Despite that public criticism from De Zerbi, the club didn’t abandon their recruitment model in January. But if the current level of performance continues, will they show the same resolve in future? And if they do continue to show that resolve, will De Zerbi stick around? I doubt he will be short of offers in the near future if Albion’s recent form continues.

This is all rather speculative of course, but either way the lifespan of a managerial reign is forever uncertain and as the last 12 months have shown, things can change significantly over a short space of time.

Whilst I’m all in on the current level of excitement surrounding the club, I find it hard to get into this growing cult of De Zerbi.

A cult probably best summarised by a recent Dogma article which said of De Zerbi: ”How many managers bring with them an entire ecosystem of devotees, followers not of a football club but of a man, a tactician, le divinità? Six months on from Roberto’s arrival I understand why. Who can resist worshipping at the church of De Zerbianism?”

All rather over the top for my liking. In fact I’ve never known anything like this cult-like fever surrounding Roberto De Zerbi at the Albion. But then again, we’ve rarely, if ever, seen days like this at the club.

But context is everything. Just as with his predecessors, De Zerbi is indebted to the work of others, which has enabled him to carry on the club’s expectation-defying levels of success. Even owner Tony Bloom is indebted to his predecessors for their stewardship of the club, well most of them.

It’s easy to get caught up in the emotion of it all, particularly when your team is doing so well and scoring dramatic late winners. But there is only one cult for me. The cult of Brighton and Hove Albion. Up the Albion.

Give Fergie time – a tale of unfulfilled attacking talent

As the old saying goes, goals change games. And don’t we know it, us Albion fans have been starved of game changing moments for the majority of our time in the Premier League. Having scored 181 goals in their 190 Premier League games prior to the beginning of this season. No Premier a league team ever-present during that period has scored less.

In Evan Ferguson Albion may have found just the man to provide those all important game changing goals. He may have missed a couple of good chances to score against Liverpool and limped off injured at the end, but once again he showed his talent and ability to go up against the best. Here’s hoping that injury isn’t serious.

Some goals can change the momentum of an entire season, or simply ensure that momentum is kept on track. When we are looking back come the end of the season, I suspect Evan Ferguson’s equaliser against Leicester the other weekend will be one of those goals, if Brighton do qualify for Europe this season (still a BIG if).

I’m now fully convinced that Evan Ferguson is already exactly the player that Albion been crying out for during most of their Premier League tenure. And huge credit should go to Roberto De Zerbi in particular, for trusting him with so many first team opportunities, it’s really paid off.

After his goal against Everton, at Aged 18 years and 76 days, Evan Ferguson became the youngest player to score in consecutive Premier League appearances since Federico Macheda in 2009. Macheda went onto score just 4 goals in 22 Premier League appearances, and has subsequently had a rather journeyman-like career, currently playing for APOEL FC in Greece. So he hardly sets a high benchmark

History shows we should have reservations about throwing Ferguson in too much too soon and placing too much responsibility on his shoulders. We have seen too much wasted attacking talent in recent years at Brighton, so let’s not waste another.

There are indeed many tales of warning of unfulfilled attacking talent in Albion’s recent past, none less so that Aaron Connolly.

After scoring three goals in his first three starts for Albion’s senior team, Aaron Connolly went the next 21 games without a goal. Going onto score just 3 goals in his subsequent 43 appearances for Albion.

He has subsequently been on an array of loans that until his impressive performance and brace for Hull on Saturday, have yet to see a return to the standard of performances we saw from him initially. His test now will be to do that consistently, which is still another one of those big ifs.

But it’s far from just Evan Ferguson’s countryman Connolly who fulfils that tag of unfulfilled talent. The list of attacking talent that came with such promise and failed to live up to the hype is long, during Albion’s relatively short 5 and a half year Premier League tenure…

First came the then record signing of Jurgen Locadia for €17m from PSV in 2018. He was described by then manager Chris Hughton as “strong, powerful and quick centre-forward, with a real eye for goal”, having scored 45 goals in 127 Eredivsie games, he managed just 6 goals in 46 games for Albion, and was released on a free transfer midway through last season.

After him came Alireza Jahanbakhsh, another record-breaking transfer for €19m, coming off the back of top scoring in the Eredivsie in 17-18 season, with 21 goals. And whilst his attitude and passion caught the heart of many Albion supporters, he largely underwhelmed, scoring just 4 times in 61 appearances.

Then came Percy Tau, also signed in the summer of 2018, who was initially loaned out due to an inability for the club to gain him a UK work permit. Tau was such a big star in his homeland that upon his loan to Belgian football, South African television bought the rights to broadcast Belgian League. With the South African finally making his competitive debut for Albion 905 days after joining the club, as a substitute in the penalty shoot-out victory away to Newport County in January 2021. Going on to make two further substitute appearances before being sold Al Ahly in August 2021.

Then there’s Florin Andone, who was signed for what was seen as a snip at €6m from Deportivo after their relegation from La Liga triggered a release clause in his contract, particularly after they’d rejected a €16m bid from Albion the previous January.

Andone will be remembered mostly for his disruptive attitude along with scoring a spectacular third goal in Albion’s 3-1 win at home to Palace in 2018. Otherwise, Andone’s goalscoring contribution was limited to the 2nd goal in a 3-0 win over Watford on the opening day of the 2019/20 season, and scoring two winners against eventually bottom placed Huddersfield. Before he was ousted for being bad news. Not exactly representing great value after all, especially on a reported 40k a week salary.

However, Evan Ferguson has already scored 4 first team goals in an Albion shirt in just 9 appearances, which is more than some the aforementioned names even managed. Whilst all of whom had far more minutes and more opportunities than the Irish striker to make an impression.

It says a lot about the height in which Evan Ferguson’s talent and potential is held that he hasn’t been sent out on loan like so many of the other young talented players at the club.

He’s jumped to the front of a long list of talented strikers including the Swiss international Andi Zeqiri, Senegalese international Abdallah Sima, along with the former development player and Swiss youth international Lorent Tolaj, and this summer’s new signing, Ivorian winger come forward Simon Adingra.

Back in the summer, then manager Graham Potter said of Ferguson’ talent: “He is an intelligent player for someone so young.

“You look at him and you have to remind yourself he is only 17, so he’s got an exciting future, I think. He’s level-headed and a humble guy who again wants to just play football, wants to score goals, help the team, so he has got lots of nice attributes, good movement, intelligent, so we are happy with him.”

There is even talk of fellow striker Denis Undav going out on loan due to a lack of game time, in part caused by the rise of Ferguson. Although that looks less likely now with Ferguson’s potential injury lay-off.

Undav was one this seasons exciting new additional to the first team, and many anticipated him making a real mark on this season, particularly following his success in Belgium with Tony Bloom’s other team USG. But he has struggled for form and game time, and now finds himself below the upcoming Ferguson in the pecking order.

Undav said prior to this season: “I will not say a number [of goals], I will just try and score maybe not 26 (the amount he scored for USG last season) but a little bit less. I can score inside the box, outside the box, I can score from the middle line, I can score from everywhere.” However, so far, his only two goals in competitive fixtures have come in cup competitions against lower league opposition.

Along with the underperformance of Undav and the injury-proneness of Danny Welbeck. Albion have now lost their top scorer, Leo Trossard. And with Danny Welbeck having only scored once in 15 appearances this season. There is a growing pressure to play Ferguson more. A pressure that could grow if the sides recent glut of goals dries up.

Some Albion fans showed their frustration at Even Ferguson only being given a place on the bench away to Leicester the other week, with Danny Welbeck being picked ahead of him. But it’s clear neither the club nor De Zerbi want to place too much weight on Ferguson’s shoulders too soon. With De Zerbi saying after the match: “I want to help Ferguson to progress, to grow up without too much pressure.”

You don’t make your senior debut at 14 if you don’t have the talent, even if it was in a friendly for a League of Ireland side. As Albion’s recent history shows, players like Ferguson don’t come along very often.

Evan Ferguson has shown from his recent performances that he’s got what it takes to deal with all the expectation along with the pressure and fulfil his talent. Time will tell if Albion enable him to do that or if his name is added to a growing, unwanted list of Albion’s unfulfilled attacking talent.

Brexit and Football (revisited)

It’s been over four years since I published a piece looking at the potential effects on football of the UK leaving the European Union, so I thought it would be a good time to revisit the subject and take a look at both the challenges and opportunities that football clubs face.

We are now three years on from the UK formally leaving the EU, and more than six years on from the UK voting to leave the EU, so we should at least have begun to see what the effects are on football, compared to what we anticipated at the time.

An overriding theme throughout my last piece was uncertainty, something that has continued to this day.

The UK government is still trying to implement many pieces of permanent legislation to replace much of the old legislation aligned with the EU, which has caused some concern amongst opposition parties over what they have described as “a bonfire of EU law”, but what government ministers have described as ensuring that laws inherited from the EU do not become an “ageing relic dragging down the UK”. You’ll just have to pick a side on that one.

Meanwhile disagreements over the Irish backstop have contributed towards a breakdown of the Northern Ireland assembly, which has led to concerns over a constitutional crisis, and has in many’s view contributed to recent reports of increasing levels of unrest in the country. So the uncertainty surrounding Brexit seems unlikely to end soon.

Brexit has so far had (and is expected to continue to have for now) a minimal impact on football clubs’ revenue sources. As Premier League clubs continue to dominate the list of the richest clubs in the world, with eleven clubs making up the top 20 in the recent Deloitte Money League study from the 2021-22 season.

Post Brexit clubs are instead more concerned with the possibility of further new regulatory controls in the UK, which may restrict their ability to bring in overseas players to join their squad.

Clubs are now not able to sign players freely from the EU. Players from EU countries who want to play in the Premier League or EFL are required to gain a Governing Body Endorsement (GBE), as was the case for all other overseas players without the right to work in the UK.

English football’s GBE is a FA and operates as a points-based system, which has been revised, where points are scored based on International appearances, club appearances and a ranking of the selling club.

The FA stated the new system will enable: “allowing access to the best players and future talent for clubs, as well as safeguarding England teams, by ensuring opportunities for homegrown players.”

However, Darryl Rigby warned in a blog for the World Football Summit about new post Brexit legislation, that: “the country’s divorce from the European Union has particularly added hurdles to talent acquisition, with new rules impacting the football industry in the transfer market.”

Going onto say the new rules make things more difficult for football clubs in some instances: “International player recruitment is now more complicated under the new laws as a result of Brexit ending the freedom of movement between the UK and the EU. This policy change added bureaucratic steps to international football transfers.”

That said, Europe still remains a large market where Premier League clubs’ source their players: since Brexit:

• No other league spent more on Belgian, French, Greek, Portuguese, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish or Dutch players than the Premier League.

• Only Bundesliga Clubs spent more on German, Austrian or Czech players than Premier League clubs,

• Only La Liga Clubs spent more on Spanish players than Premier League clubs,

• Only Serie A and Serie B Clubs spent more on Italian and Croatian players than Premier League clubs,

It is not all about added bureaucracy. Post Brexit, As Bill Gerrard said in the Economics Observatory “The new and much expanded points-based system will make it easier for British clubs to sign non-EU players who did not previously qualify for a work permit.”

As an illustration, figures taken from transfermarkt.co.uk earlier this month show that post Brexit, Premier League clubs have spent more on South American players than ever before. Spending €600m on Brazilian players and €257m on Argentinian players, more than any other league over that period.

In fact, in that period the Premier League has spent more on Columbian, Uruguayan, Ecuadorian and Paraguayan players than any other league. Becoming the main buyer of South American talent despite currently doing little business in Peru and Chile. Although I suspect that may change too.

Compared to the same length period pre-Brexit vs Post Brexit, Premier League clubs spending on South American players increased by 44% Post Brexit. Meanwhile spending on players from the major European Economic Area countries has remained at the same level since before Brexit.

Spending on South American players is now approaching around half that of spending on players from major European Economic Area countries, compared to only around a third pre-Brexit.

Albion’s own spending on South American players has been noticeable in recent years, but has only increased by 20% over the same period. Although this reflects in part the club’s move to buy lower-value younger players rather than more experienced internationals. A strategy that would have been much harder pre-Brexit.

Before Brexit, the majority of money spent on South American players focused on two high profile arrivals who had already spent time in Europe, Jose Izquierdo and Bernardo. However, Post Brexit Albion have bought a multitude of South American players, including players directly from South American clubs, including Moises Caicedo from Independiente del Valle in Equador, Facundo Buonanotte from Rosario Central in Argentina and Julio Enciso from Libertad in Paraguay.

Under FIFA’s rules, the UK’s exit from the EU will also mean that clubs will not be able to sign players from overseas until they are 18 whether from inside or outside the EU. Which will by necessity lead to a focus exclusively on home-grown talent up to that point.

Furthermore, as the newly introduced GBE still allows for the best talent from across the world to come into the country and compete, the Premier League will likely still see the best talent arriving from the EU alongside this increase of non-EU talent. With lower ranked countries inside the EEA likely to be the ones that miss out on Premier a league opportunities for their players, which is arguably more costly to them than the Premier League.

As Darryl Rigby said in the World Football Summit: “Transfer roadblocks can also be advantageous for young talent at home and the UK has the opportunity to improve its national teams by limiting foreign transfers and investing more on domestic players.”

But with the continuing and likely increasing arrival of the best talent from across the world, will it improve young players chances?

Albion CEO Paul Barber said at the recent fans forum “Brexit is complicated, not so much for younger players going out but more about bringing players in because the new rules will make it much, much, much harder to bring in young players from other countries where they don’t have the status that FIFA grants within the top positions of the football-playing countries in the world or the requisite international caps which invariably young players don’t have for obvious reasons.”

Going onto say: “So it is going to have more of an impact on us there. But again, although we didn’t foresee this for this reason, the fact that we have invested heavily in our academy really gives us a certain amount of protection from the new rules.”

“For a long time, we have been committed to developing our own young talent, developing young English players where we can, it makes absolute sense for us to do that.”

Meaning overall, through a combination of investing in a broad and increasingly praiseworthy scouting network overseas, and it’s own academy at home, Albion are probably set up (at least in the short term) to take advantage of the effects of Brexit better than most other clubs.

Aside from this, the effect of Brexit in football specifically appears to be, at first at least, fairly minimal. The Premier League is so internationally successful, and its clubs so internationally integrated with European and international bodies, that diverting too greatly from international norms and adding too many additional legislative restrictions, would likely be disadvantageous to the league’s competitive advantage. Especially given that English football and specifically the Premier League is one of the countries biggest brands across the world.

One subject that I previously discussed that has since gained greater prominence is the possibility of a European Super League.

It was fought off primarily by UK resistance. Resistance which was supported by the UK Government who claimed that Brexit helped stop the European Super League attempts. Although many, including Match of the Days presenter Gary Lineker called that statement “disingenuous” and many credit the powerful supporters groups for scaring the six English club’s into backing down.

As I said in the last piece about the potential of a European Super league “if Brexit were to harm the commercial viability of the Premier League it’s no doubt something that would become more of a threat.” As it stands, there’s no evidence to suggest that it’s on the cards as yet, but in terms of Brexit, these are still very early days. And the vociferous objection towards a European Super League appears to have put it out of the question for now at least.

The subsequent Coronavirus pandemic that has overshadowed every part of daily life does however make it hard to draw too many conclusions on the effects of Brexit and comparisons pre-Brexit

The first post-Brexit transfer window saw unusually low levels of transfer spending by Premier League clubs. But this was almost certainly due to the loss of revenues caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. It is estimated by Deloitte that the Big Five leagues lost €1.9 billion (over 11%) of total revenue in 2019/20, largely because of the restrictions on spectators attending games.

It will take many years, possibly decades, to properly be able to fully analyse the effects of Britain leaving the EU. Partly because the UK government are still trying to agree and implement post-Brexit legislation four years on.

But what is clear from the increasingly dispersed nature of international player recruitment, is that there is little appetite from inside the football industry for further restrictions that would limit the potential success of sourcing the best footballing talent from around the world. As the increasing amount spent on South American talent by English clubs demonstrates, despite calls for clubs to focus more on domestic talent.

So far the legislation brought in that has effected football has only had a relatively small impact, mostly on the recruitment of players. But in a game of small margins, Brighton’s example shows that being flexible, proactive and adaptive to change (and as Paul Barber admits being lucky), can lead to a club gaining an advantage over the competition.