CHRIS Iwelumo played a vital cameo role in Brighton’s 2004 promotion from the third tier via that memorable play-off final in Cardiff.

After his playing days were over, he was a regular TV studio pundit offering his opinions on games, and he obtained a first class honours degree in sports writing and broadcasting from Staffordshire University.

Of the many clubs he played for – and there were EIGHTEEN of them – he obviously still has a deep affection for his first English club, Stoke City, and he continues to live in the area.

Born in Coatbridge, Scotland, on 1 August 1978 of a Nigerian father and Scottish mother, Iwelumo joined St Mirren as a youngster, and worked his way through the youth ranks before heading to Denmark and spending two years at Aarhus Fremad.

It was from there that he joined Stoke in 2000. His four-year stay on their books was the longest spell at any of his clubs, although it included three loan spells – the last of which saw him play 13 games for the Seagulls.

Iwelumo reckons his proudest moment as a Stoke player was being part of the City side who beat Brentford 2-0 in a play-off final in Cardiff in 2002 (pictured above). It was to be useful experience to take to the Albion.

I can remember being at Saltergate on 16 March 2004, the evening he made his Brighton debut – and what a start he made. Iwelumo lashed in a long-range thunderbolt of a goal (below) seven minutes from time which earned the Seagulls a 2-0 win over Chesterfield on an unbelievably windy night.

Guy Butters had given Albion the lead with a header from a Nathan Jones corner just after half time, and very nearly repeated the feat with a carbon copy of the move but second time round the ball struck the bar.

Iwelumo’s strike was the first of four goals in his 13 Brighton appearances but undoubtedly the most memorable was that game at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff.

Here’s how bbc.co.uk saw it: “At the start of the second-half, City camped inside the Brighton half as Doherty and Tinnion took control of the midfield, though Danny Wilson’s side were unable to convert that possession into chances. But Brighton survived that period of pressure and gradually Iwelumo began to come into the game.

“His first contribution was not too impressive as he rushed his shot after being released by Adam Virgo’s wonderful diagonal pass. He went closer when his flicked header from John Piercy’s superb cross momentarily worried Steve Phillips.

“With seven minutes to go Iwelumo broke into the City box and as he prepared to shoot the striker was upended by (Danny) Coles’ clumsy tackle.

“(Leon) Knight calmly slotted his spot-kick into the corner past Phillips’s despairing dive.”

Iwelumo described what happened in a subsequent matchday programme article. “It was a clumsy challenge. I’d played a little one-two and nicked the ball in ahead of him and he’s just swung a leg and taken me out – it was a blatant penalty.”

Albion’s victory meant McGhee finally banished play-off disappointment – he had lost out in the play-offs three times as a manager and once as a player. Iwelumo, meanwhile, was keen to make the move to Brighton permanent – but he wanted Albion to pay relocation costs.

McGhee suddenly went under the radar on holiday in America and couldn’t be contacted to try to resolve the impasse and, in the meantime, Iwelumo was offered the chance to go to Germany, and Alemannia Aachen, who had qualified to play in the UEFA Cup.

In a subsequent matchday programme interview with Iwelumo, the Scot told Spencer Vignes that he loved his time at Brighton and had hoped to stay. “I was devastated at the time because the whole club was perfect for me,” he said.

An irritated McGhee made some unwise comments suggesting Iwelumo probably wasn’t good enough to play at the higher level anyway. What followed in the striker’s career certainly proved that theory wrong.

In 2005, he returned to the UK to join League One Colchester United and was part of the promotion-winning side who went up to the Championship, rattling in an impressive 37 goals in 103 games in two seasons.

He then spent the 2007-08 season in the Championship with Charlton Athletic, scoring 10 in 50 appearances for the Addicks.

Cost cuts at The Valley saw him made available and Mick McCarthy took him to Wolverhampton Wanderers where he notched 16 in 35 appearances, although he missed out on the end of season promotion run-in after sustaining a medial ligament injury. In the autumn of 2008, though, his performances for Wolves had caught the eye of the Scotland selectors.

Mind you, what happened on his Scotland debut on 11 October 2008 has haunted him ever since and is the stuff of YouTube legend. After coming on as a substitute in what was a World Cup qualifier, as the Daily Record reported: “On his debut in a 0-0 draw v Norway at Hampden, he missed from two yards out. Manager George Burley turned away in disbelief.”

“That miss against Norway was a low which ultimately, I like to think, represented a bump in the road of an otherwise successful journey through professional football lasting over two decades,” he told the Terrace Scottish Football podcast.

“Representing my country, enjoying five promotions, and collecting two cup winner’s medals. You cannot dwell too much on any single moment because it will impact upon the next performance.

“The highs are to be celebrated but, like the lows, are also to be learned from.”

He added: “I’ve looked at it over and over. The reason I missed that? I have no idea. I went back and scored ten goals in the next six or seven games for Wolves. I was on absolute fire. I’d already scored a few in the games before the call-up.

“The media were very harsh over the next two or three weeks. I think I was fortunate because I was playing down in England. I missed a lot of it.

“It is one of those things that haunts you. It was the highest and lowest moment of my career rolled into one. I got to go out and represent my country but then I’ve got that miss on my debut.”

As he pointed out in an interview with one of his former clubs, Scunthorpe United: “I was a centimetre away from being a national hero and I’m a very proud Scot, so that would’ve been a dream come true had it been the other way round.”

Although he played 15 league games and two cup games following Wolves’ promotion to the Premier League, he didn’t manage to score and in 2010 he was loaned out to Bristol City in the Championship, where he scored twice in seven matches.

For the start of the 2010-11 season, he was at yet another new club, in newly-relegated Burnley’s Championship side under Brian Laws (replaced by Eddie Howe in January 2011). Iwelumo made a total of 31 starts for the Clarets, plus 19 appearances as a sub, and got on the scoresheet 11 times.

After just one season at Turf Moor, Iwelumo was on the move again, this time joining Sean Dyche’s Watford on a two-year deal for an undisclosed fee. By now he was 32. In his first season he played 39 games but managed only three goals and endured a five-month barren spell in front of goal.

The following season he played just eight times for the Hornets and was sent on loan to two League One sides, Notts County and Oldham Athletic, only managing one goal in a total of 14 games at that level.

At Oldham, Iwelumo found himself playing under a manager – and a former Bristol City teammate – who was three years younger. Lee Johnson, at 31, had become the youngest permanent manager in English football in 2013 when he was appointed by the League One Latics.

“Chris actually wanted the job as well when I went to Oldham, so we were having discussions about the job and the club,” Johnson told The Athletic. “One of my first conversations with Chris — remembering he was my friend and helped me get the job — was literally to say: ‘Listen mate, I think your legs have gone, I’m not going to play you’.

“He was saying, ‘This guy has got a bit of b******s to tell me that’. I asked him to effectively be one of my assistants, still come on, still make a difference. He did that fantastically well. That was important. I had to get him onside.”

On his release from Watford, Iwelumo joined League Two Scunthorpe United for the 2013-14 season but only scored twice in 14 games and, after six months, he moved on to Scottish Premier side St Johnstone for a six-game spell but didn’t get on the scoresheet.

In June 2014, Iwelumo signed for Conference side Chester but after scoring just once in 10 matches decided to call it a day. Chester chairman Grenville Millington (who was once Brighton’s back-up goalkeeper to Brian Powney) said: “Chris has had a glittering career in football for over 20 years. I’m sure that he retires with a heavy heart but I’ve no doubt that he will continue his relationship with professional football for many years to come.”

Prescient words because a couple of years later he was back at the club as an assistant manager and then striker coach after stints doing media work for Stoke City and a week-long stay as coach of Wolves’ under 18s.

Albion picture from  Bennett Dean / Pitch Publishing’s We Are Brighton / Play Off Special; celebrating a goal from the Stoke City programme;  appearing on Channel 5’s Championship programme, and, as seen on the PFA’s website, graduating at Staffordshire University. 

FOOTBALL might well have changed a lot over the years but there are few sights that please fans more than seeing a great pair of strikers doing the business for their team.

The first excellent striking duo I witnessed playing for the Albion were Peter Ward and Ian Mellor, who complemented each other ideally in the mid ‘70s.

Kevin Bremner and Garry Nelson provided a potent third tier pairing, especially in the promotion-winning season of 1987-88, and Brighton’s next top pairing nearly took the Albion back to the top, only for Wembley play-off final heartbreak to dash all our hopes.

Step forward Mike Small and John Byrne, forever etched in the memories of those Albion followers who go back as far as the 1990-91 season. Small scored 21 goals in 49 games that campaign while Byrne chipped in with 11 in 38 (plus four as sub).

The history books haven’t always looked favourably on Barry Lloyd’s time in Brighton’s managerial chair but few could deny him the plaudits for bringing together two players who had drifted away from the UK in pursuit of developing their careers.

Small had what could only be described as a nomadic career. Born in Selly Oak, Birmingham, on 2 April 1962, his talent on the football field earned him England Youth international honours and he joined Luton Town under David Pleat.

His first team chances were limited with the Hatters because of the form of Brian Stein, Steve White and Paul Walsh although in December 1981 I witnessed, along with one of the smallest crowds ever seen at the Goldstone – 2,282 – a brief substitute appearance Small made for Luton.

It was in the 1981-82 season when I was briefly a news reporter on the Luton Herald. In what was quite a bad winter, several postponements left certain teams with empty Saturdays. Division 2 Luton and Division 1 Brighton filled one of these with a friendly at the Goldstone Ground.

Knowing my affiliation with Brighton, the editor kindly allowed me to dust off my sports reporter notebook and take myself off to Hove. It was my one and only time in the Goldstone press box, sitting alongside that Argus veteran, John Vinicombe, and I dutifully recorded how Small got a run-out as a sub for the last 20 minutes of a game which finished 1-0 to the Albion.

With playing time limited at Kenilworth Road, Small had a brief loan spell at Peterborough before taking himself off to Europe where he started showing his goalscoring capabilities.

In two spells with Go Ahead Eagles (1983-85 and 1986-87) he scored 22 goals in 78 appearances either side of 25 games for Standard Liege in Belgium.

The goals dried up in 23 games on loan to NAC Breda but at Vitesse Arnhem in 1987-88, he scored 12 in 26.

From the Low Countries, he travelled to Greece and had two years with PAOK Salonika, where he encountered some unwanted fanaticism from their supporters, on one occasion ending up with a cut eye after an attack by 50 local ‘fans’ at a practice session and also receiving letters threatening his life.

In an article about the striker’s arrival at Brighton by the aforementioned Vinicombe, he wrote: “Nobody knew much about Small save a thumbnail history of his low-key wanderings in Europe. Even the fee to PAOK Salonika was undisclosed, but the grapevine whispered £70,000 and Lloyd issued no contradiction.

“It was as if Small had returned to his native land by stealth after an absence of nearly ten years and Lloyd, through a close-linked chain of overseas contacts, soon realised he might be on to something good.”

His return of four goals in pre-season friendlies having joined on a trial basis were a good indicator of what might follow and he turned down offers from overseas clubs to re-establish himself in the UK with Brighton.

Vinicombe summed up the goalscoring Small’s contribution thus: “A muscular six footer who weighs over 13 stone, he cuts a fearsome figure for opposition defences. Off the pitch he’s a remarkably quiet guy who doesn’t really relish the ‘big target man’ tag.”

Small told the Argus man: “I like it when the ball is played through and not just lumped up the middle. John Byrne is a great foil and a good link-up player and I don’t think I should be in there crowding him out.

“John is a real showman. When he takes a breather, I take over and we work as a team.”

Of Small’s 21 goals in 1990-91, seven were from the penalty spot.

“His coolness and accuracy in one-for-one situations has served Albion well on many an occasion and the only interruption during the season was recovering from a pulled hamstring,” Vinicombe observed.

The story of Small’s partnership with Byrne was told in the short-lived Seagull News magazine, when an interview with the pair revealed some of the chemistry that produced what it described as the “hottest Goldstone striking duo for over a decade”.

In a relatively parlous state at the time, Albion had been forced to sell ‘keeper John Keeley to Oldham (£238,000) and Keith Dublin to Watford (£275,000), but it meant Lloyd had funds to pay reasonable fees for Small and Byrne; a £120,000 fee acquiring Byrne’s services from Le Havre, where he’d been playing up front with his Republic of Ireland teammate, Frank Stapleton.

“I knew of a John Byrne in France but didn’t know what he was like or how he played,” Small told Seagull News. “But we soon hit it off. He’s such a good player on and off the ball and he’s got bags of experience which helps me a lot.”

The two got to know each other well when staying in the same Brighton hotel after their respective moves, before finding homes for their families.

Both made the most of the limelight of a high profile FA Cup tie between Liverpool and Brighton and got themselves on the scoresheet.

“It’s been a tremendous season for us so far,” said Mike. “We’ve developed a great understanding but it’s Budgie who leads. He’s involved a lot more in the play linking midfield and attack and creates a lot of openings and situations – far more than people realise – by dragging players away.

“Opponents have been finding it difficult to cope with us because we both like to run at defences and get behind them.”

Byrne added: “We hit it off from the very beginning. We’re great mates off the pitch and that helps. But the big boost for us and the team is that we always feel we can score.

“Mike’s impressed me immensely. He’s got great touch for a big man, he scores goals and is a real handful for any defender – I wouldn’t like to mark him!”

Small’s last goal for the Seagulls came in one of the most memorable games: the 4-1 play-off first leg win over Millwall at the Goldstone.

Sadly, Albion’s failure to win the play-off final spelled the end of the glorious goalscoring partnership and, in that canny way he had in the transfer market, Lloyd managed to get a sum of £400,000 for Small – quite amazing considering the club’s initial outlay barely a year earlier – but West Ham were prepared to stump up the readies and Brighton were more than happy.

Likewise, Byrne was sold to Sunderland for £235,000, delivering a sizeable profit on the club’s original investment.

Manager Billy Bonds must have thought he was a managerial genius when Small continued his rich vein of goalscoring form in the top division. He scored 13 goals in just 19 starts.

A West Ham side that included future Albion boss Chris Hughton in its defence had been promoted but was in need of new firepower after only Trevor Morley (12) and Frank McAvennie (10) had hit double figures. Iain Dowie and Jimmy Quinn had also chipped in but, with Dowie departed, Bonds needed a physical presence up front.

Writer Sid Lambert on thewesthamway.co.uk takes up the story.

“Small fit the bill perfectly. He was in-form and, more importantly, very affordable at just £400,000.

“Incredibly, Small took that red-hot form straight into the top tier. He took just two games to get off the mark, scoring in a 1-1 draw at Sheffield United. In the next home game he scored as the Hammers beat Aston Villa 3-1.

“We had five points from our first four games and had only suffered defeat once. Things were looking promising. As is the West Ham way, that promise started to fade. But Small’s ruthlessness in front of goal didn’t. He scored in successive games against Chelsea, Norwich and Crystal Palace, where a precious three points kept us out of the relegation zone.

“It wasn’t just sheer volume, Small was scoring every type of goal: tap-ins, headers, one-on-ones. The Birmingham-born man was brimming with confidence. Everything he hit turned to gold.

“A seven-day spell at the end of October 1991 was Small’s finest hour in claret and blue. He scored the equaliser – cancelling out an early strike from Gary Lineker – as we beat Tottenham 2-1 at Upton Park. In midweek a penalty helped us to a 2-0 League Cup win at Sheffield United before we travelled to Highbury to face George Graham’s Arsenal.

“After absorbing heavy pressure throughout, the marauding Mitchell Thomas led a rare Hammers’ break into the Arsenal half. Tim Breacker fed the ball to Small, who easily eluded Tony Adams before unleashing a left-foot screamer past David Seaman. In a split-second he’d embarrassed two of England’s very best.”

West Ham were 14^th place and Small could seemingly do no wrong.

“By now, he was the country’s in-form striker and there were even whispers that Graham Taylor might consider him for England duty,” said Lambert.

“The only thing to match his meteoric rise was the fall that followed. It took three months for Small to score again, a winner at Luton Town. By now, we were mired in the bottom three. Small’s confidence, like the team, had completely evaporated. The first touch was less assured and the finishing hesitant.”

A niggling back injury was thought to have contributed to Small’s malaise but he and the team failed to replicate their early season form and finished rock bottom of the division.

When Clive Allen arrived at Upton Park, Small fell down the pecking order and towards the end of 1993-94 was sent out on loan to Wolves and Charlton.

After leaving the Hammers, he played briefly for BK Häcken in Sweden, Stevenage Borough, then Sligo Rovers and Derry City in Ireland, but the heady days were well and truly over.

A brief foray into coaching and management saw him involved with non-league clubs Haringey Borough, Kingsbury Town and Waltham Forest but all were shortlived.

Further reading

http://www.thewesthamway.co.uk/2016/11/22/forgotten-man-mike-small/