Month: May 2023

It was tough for Gardner to grow in Sami’s barren patch

A GARY GARDNER goal ended a winless Albion run of 12 league matches under Sami Hyypia in the autumn of 2014.

Just 54 seconds of the game against Wigan Athletic on 4 November had passed when the Aston Villa loanee netted for the Albion.

He got on the end of a Sam Baldock cross to give the Albion an early lead which they managed to hold onto for the entire match, in spite of several close shaves as the former Premier League opponents tried to salvage a point.

Gardner in action for Forest with Albion’s Jiri Skalak

The game also saw the return of Elliott Bennett, on loan from Norwich City, a first match (as sub for Bennett) for Greg Halford, on loan from Nottingham Forest, and a home debut in goal for teenage stopper Christian Walton.

It wasn’t the first time Gardner had scored at the Amex, though. That had come three years earlier, on his professional debut, when on loan at Coventry City a game which saw Albion beat the Sky Blues 2-1.

Gardner was no stranger to loans away from parent club Villa: he’d already been to Coventry and Sheffield Wednesday, and after Brighton he had temporary moves to Nottingham Forest, Barnsley and Birmingham City.

Indeed by the time Albion took on Forest at the Amex on 7 February 2015, Gardner was on the opposing side as the visitors gave new boss Dougie Freeman a winning start, edging it 3-2.

Gardner’s early development had encountered major setbacks caused by two cruciate knee ligament injuries.

Although he had made his Premier League debut for Villa in the 2011-12 season, the 15 starts and five sub appearances he made for Brighton was the first real regular run of football he’d enjoyed – and he was still only 22 at the time.

He scored again for Albion only four days after that Wigan winner, when the Seagulls were held 1-1 by Blackburn Rovers at the Amex. But with the brief Hyypia reign having come to an end, his appearance in the home Boxing Day 2-2 draw against Reading was his last in a Brighton shirt.

Inigo Calderon salvaged a point with a last-minute equaliser against a Royals side who had gone 2-0 up in 26 minutes courtesy of goals from on loan striker Glenn Murray!

Gardner had been Albion’s tenth new signing of the summer back in August, following in the footsteps of Villa teammate Joe Bennett, who’d joined on a season-long loan a week earlier.

“Gary is a quality midfielder who we have been aware of for some time,” said Hyypia, who explained the club was keen to have more options in that area of the side, especially with Dale Stephens out with a long-term injury.

“More importantly, given the considerable demands of the Championship, I want to be able to rotate the squad,” he said.

“Gary has had a tough couple of seasons due to injury, but he showed during a spell with Sheffield Wednesday last season that he is over those problems. We hope this loan spell will benefit everyone: Gary, us and Aston Villa.

“He is the type of midfielder who is active and mobile, but very importantly he has real quality on the ball – and is also capable of producing things from set pieces.”

Another midfield slot opened up during his time with the Albion when fellow midfielder Andrew Crofts suffered a cruciate injury against Watford.

“I am absolutely gutted for him. Having gone through exactly the same injury as him, with the two cruciate operations, I know exactly how he is feeling,” he said. “I know he will come through this.

“He is a strong guy, a model pro and he’ll be extra determined to get back playing for the club.”

Born in Solihull on 29 June 1992, Gardner was one of six brothers, and in a programme article he said the football-daft family had divided loyalties between Villa and Birmingham.

Just as well, because both Gary and eldest brother Craig ended up with the Blues having started off at Villa. Craig made 80 league and cup appearances for Villa, but later played for Sunderland, West Brom and Birmingham, where he became technical director after his playing days ended.

Gary was on Villa’s books from the age of seven and progressed all through the ranks until Alex McLeish gave him his first team debut as a substitute in a 3-1 win away to Chelsea. He made a total of five starts and 11 appearances off the bench in that 2011-12 season.

But it wasn’t until Villa were back in the Championship in the 2016-17 season that he had his longest run of games for his parent club, making 19 starts and eight appearances off the bench.

That squad, led by former Albion centre-back Tommy Elphick, thwarted already-promoted Albion’s hopes of winning the title in the final games of the season at Villa Park when a late, speculative long-range Jack Grealish shot squirmed through David Stockdale’s grasp to gain Villa a draw.

Gardner was a non-playing sub that day and when he fell down the pecking order in 2017-18, he spent the season at Barnsley.

Gardner followed his brother to Birmingham City

After spending the entire 2018-19 season on loan at Birmingham, he then made the switch permanently (in a swap with Spaniard Jota) and has been there since.

In July 2021 he signed a new deal to extend his stay at St Andrews until June 2024.

Gardner earned international recognition at various levels and made his England under 21 debut as a substitute in a 4-1 win over Israel at Barnsley on 5 September 2011 and the following month replaced Ross Barkley as England won 2-1 in Norway.

A month later he scored twice in a 5-0 win over Iceland after going on as a sub for Jason Lowe at Colchester. Four days on, his involvement was once again off the bench when young England were beaten 2-1 by Belgium in Mons.

His last appearance was against the same opponents the following February when England exacted revenge at the Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough. In a 4-0 win, Henri Lansbury scored twice before Gardner replaced him.

His contemporaries in the side at that time included the likes of Jack Butland, Jordan Henderson and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

How the gaffes of goalie González worked both ways

DAVID GONZÁLEZ might well have been an experienced international goalkeeper but conceding a soft goal on his debut didn’t go down well with the Albion faithful.

Brighton fans were a whole lot happier when the same player shipped five AGAINST the Seagulls four months later.

Columbian González, who’d spent two years as a Manchester City back-up ‘keeper, only played twice for the Seagulls during a short-term deal in 2012.

After signing him in January that year, manager Gus Poyet finally gave him a chance at the end of the season after Peter Brezovan had conceded six in a thrashing at West Ham. González was one of six changes to the line-up that had capitulated at the Boleyn Ground.

But, against Watford at the Amex three days later, there were only six minutes on the clock when the Colombian saw Sean Murray’s cracker of a free-kick sail over him into the net.

When González did make a routine save, supporters in the North Stand greeted it with sarcastic applause, which incensed Poyet. In his post-match interview with the Argus, he said: “If David had let a goal in through his legs I wouldn’t agree but I would understand that sometimes we take the mickey out of somebody, but it wasn’t like that so they need to be careful.

“I don’t like it because they are being unfair to an unbelievable group of players who are bringing plenty of joy to this football club and attacking any single person is attacking the whole club.”

The ‘keeper’s debut hadn’t got much better when Troy Deeney put Watford 2-0 up with a penalty a minute before half-time. Thankfully Albion hit back in the second half and forced a draw with goals from captain Inigo Calderon and former Hornet Will Buckley.

Ironically, the Watford ‘keeper that night, Tomasz Kuszczak, was brought in by Poyet that summer and González ended up at Barnsley – the side he made his only other Albion appearance against in the last game of the season.

González keeps goal for Albion at Barnsley and, below, sees five go past him when playing FOR the Tykes at the Amex at the start of the next season

At least he didn’t concede at Oakwell, although the 0-0 bore draw was a dire spectacle: a typical end-of-season encounter.

Almost the only things of note were that Barnsley included a young John Stones in their line-up together with David Button in goal and former Albion flop Craig Davies was up front.

In one of those strange quirks of football, González was back at the Amex at the end of August having been drafted in by the Tykes to cover a goalkeeping injury crisis.

It was not a happy return. As the Yorkshire Post reported: “Brighton were 2-0 up after only 14 minutes, with goals from Ashley Barnes and former England defender (Wayne) Bridge, with Barnsley goalkeeper David González at fault on both occasions.”

González dropped a free-kick by Craig Noone for Barnes to tap in after three minutes and the Colombian was “simply a bystander” when Bridge beat him to his left with a low drive from 25 yards. It was Bridge’s first league goal for nine years.

Ashley Barnes wheels away after scoring past Albion’s former ‘keeper

Barnsley pulled a goal back with a 36th-minute penalty from Davies after Andrew Crofts fouled Jacob Mellis, but Craig Mackail-Smith got the final touch on Barnes’s shot a minute later.

Mackail-Smith scored again four minutes after half-time with a close-range header and Barnes made it 5-1 10 minutes from time, slotting home Kazenga LuaLua’s cross.

Barnsley boss Keith Hill said afterwards: “We had 12 players out but I have no excuses whatsoever. It was inept and I include myself in that. The opposition were excellent and it could have been up to 10-1.”

Born in Medellín on 20 July 1982, González began his career at his hometown club Independiente Medellín and he played more games for them than any other club he subsequently joined (he returned for a four-year spell between 2015-19). And in June 2022 he was appointed their manager.

González also had two separate spells with another Columbian side, Deportivo Cali (he ended his playing career with them in 2020) and left South America for Turkey in 2007, spending two seasons with Çaykur Rizespor.

After failing to make an impression with Argentinian side Club Atlético Huracán he had a successful trial at Manchester City in late 2009 during Roberto Mancini’s reign. He wasn’t named in their 2010-11 Premier League squad but he was the reserve side’s regular ‘keeper until, in the second half of the season, he was sent on loan to Leeds, where he remained back-up behind Kasper Schmeichel and Shane Higgs.

He was unlucky not to get a chance back at City when he sustained an injury at the same time as Shay Given and no.2 Stuart Taylor. Marton Fulop was brought in on loan from Sunderland instead.

At the start of the following season, González was sent on a six-month loan arrangement to Aberdeen, where he hoped his performances would catch Mancini’s eye.

“I want to have a good spell at Aberdeen and to show Mancini that I should be considered for the team,” he told the Daily Record. “But Man City have so much money they can go out and buy just about any player they want.

“The way things are going they will become the best team in the world and I see that happening sooner than a lot of people think.”

The goalkeeper featured in 14 games for the Scottish Premier League club when first choice Jamie Langfield was sidelined following a seizure. On his return to Manchester, his contract was terminated by mutual consent and the free agent was taken on by Brighton, where Poyet had just dropped Casper Ankergren and installed Brezovan as his first choice ‘keeper.

Poyet told seagulls.co.uk: “David is an international with an excellent pedigree, playing over 300 senior games at the top level in South America, Turkey and Scotland. He has won the league in Colombia and has been capped by the national team.

“The idea is for David to compete with Peter and Casper to be first choice. Peter has come in recently and done very well, and is currently number one, but it’s now up to both David and Casper to put pressure on him to be first choice.”

That mauling at the Amex in August 2012 was one of only three Championship games González played for Barnsley and in Albion’s matchday programme he had admitted he saw his time with the Tykes as a shop window.

“I want people to come and have a look, to see what I’m capable of, but nothing else has been said really,” he said. “I’m just here for the time being while the boys are out with injury and suspension, so I’m just going to enjoy it and try to do the best I can.” Oops!

The following year he moved back to Columbia, initially playing for Deportivo Pasto, then Águilas Doradas before returning to Independiente Medellín in 2015.

The midfield pivot in Albion’s rise to the Premier League

DALE STEPHENS spent nearly seven years at the Albion and was a pivotal cog in the club’s rise from the Championship to the Premier League.

He got his first taste of life at a big club playing alongside Adam Lallana and Dean Hammond….for Southampton!

That was back in 2011 when Saints won promotion from League One as runners up behind the Albion although he was an unused sub when Saints left Withdean on St George’s Day with all three points from a last gasp 2-1 win.

Stephens had gone on loan at St Mary’s from Oldham Athletic to cover an injury to Morgan Sneiderlin. “It was a strange one actually, there were only six or seven weeks left of the season,” he told the Albion matchday programme.

“Oldham weren’t really in any fear of going down or making the play-offs, so when Southampton came in for me, I was allowed to leave.”

The loanee played in six of the final 10 games of the season, making his debut against future employer Charlton Athletic alongside Lallana and Hammond.

“I looked at it almost as a trial period for being at a big club,” he said. “It was a chance for me to showcase myself. Playing for a club like Southampton at that level, with the players they had, was good for my experience and I really enjoyed being in a big-club environment.

“It was a good experience but just a shame that it was cut short by the season coming to an end.”

Explaining that everything was a level above what he’d previously been used to, Stephens added: “I didn’t feel out of place, though. I felt comfortable in that environment and it gave me the belief and the confidence that I could reach the next level.”

That didn’t turn out to be with Southampton, because his next club turned out to be the Addicks, where Chris Powell was building a side to try to get back into the Championship. Stephens found them to be similar to Saints, and like in his stint in Hampshire, he once again became a League One promotion-winner.

“I had a great first season there, helping the club win the League One title,” he recalled.

He then established himself as a Championship player before switching to the Albion in January 2014 when Andrew Crofts was ruled out by injury.

It was Nathan Jones, the former Albion player who had returned to assist Oscar Garcia, who recommended the move for Stephens, having seen him close-up when working as a coach at Charlton.

“Dale was one I recommended very strongly to the club and staked my reputation on, really,” he told the Argus. “When I was at Charlton, I saw Dale in probably three or four training sessions and a friendly at Welling and I knew then he could play at the highest level.”

Garcia needed little convincing and told the newspaper: “He’s a midfielder who can do everything and he does it all well. He’s got great physical capacity, a very good strike, he gets into the opposition box, and he is aggressive without the ball.”

It would be fair to say he was something of a Marmite player for many fans, often accused of being too slow and favouring a sideways pass. I’d say I wasn’t a fan at first but grew to appreciate his importance to the way the side played.

By his own admission, Stephens said: “With the sort of player I am, I’m not going to get fans on the edge of their seat. I’m not going to be a crowd pleaser, but I know my job and the levels I need to hit.”

Credit to him that his time at the club actually spanned the reigns of four different managers: Garcia; Sami Hyypia – although injuries prevented him appearing under him; Chris Hughton, who successfully paired him with Beram Kayal, and the early part of the Graham Potter era which saw him partner Dutchman Davy Pröpper.

Stephens’ arrival pretty much put the tin hat on the progress Rohan Ince had been making as a defensive midfielder with the Albion and, together with Kayal, he formed the key midfield duo as Albion sought to climb from the Championship under Chris Hughton.

A rare goal from Dale Stephens, this one away to West Ham

Once the promised land had been reached, Pröpper took over from Kayal but Stephens retained his place, proving a few doubters wrong about his ability to play at the higher level.

It was only with the emergence of Yves Bissouma as the consummate holding midfielder that Stephens found himself gradually edged out.

Born in Bolton on 12 June 1989, Stephens was football daft from an early age and although he had a try-out at Manchester City when he was 12, nothing further came of it.

After his final year at Ladybridge High School, he went onto a building site to do plastering and joinery.

But the coach of North Walkden, the local side for whom he was playing weekend football, wrote to Bury asking if they would take him on trial. After impressing in a work-out involving 28 triallists in front of youth team coach Chris Casper, he was invited back on a six-week trial basis.

Young Dale at Bury

“After two weeks, I played for the reserves and was offered a two-year scholarship,” Stephens explained. “I then became a first-year pro, making my debut as a sub against Peterborough, and never looked back. I was actually a striker when I joined but was quickly converted to a midfielder and I went on to play 12 first team games.”

Out of contract in 2008, he had the opportunity to step up a league and join Oldham Athletic. When game time was limited in his first season with them, he had loan spells with Droylsden, Hyde United and Rochdale, where he played alongside Will Buckley.

Back at Boundary Park, he became a regular for 18 months, in a side managed by former Brighton loanee striker Paul Dickov, and when Oldham visited Withdean in the 2010-11 season, a matchday programme article drew attention to him. “He is a big player for us in midfield,” wrote contributor Gavin Browne, sports editor of the Oldham Advertiser. “He has a great range of passing and has the ability to play at a higher level.”

A serious ankle ligament injury sustained when Albion beat bottom-of-the-table Yeovil 2-0 on 25 April 2014 sidelined him for 10 months but he returned to play a part in helping Hughton’s relegation-threatened side maintain their Championship status in 2015.

The promotion-deciding match at Middlesbrough in May 2016 will live long in the memory of those who saw it and witnessed referee Mike Dean’s controversial dismissal of Stephens four minutes after he’d brought the Albion back level with a narrow-angled header.

Once Brighton finally got to show what they could do amongst the elite, Stephens declared: “I was always confident of competing at this level but the more you play the more confident you become and the more belief you get.”

He ended up playing 99 Premier League games for the Seagulls out of a total of 223 appearances and perhaps as a mark of respect when he finally left the club for Burnley in September 2020, chairman Tony Bloom said: “He was key in both our promotion from the Championship and in establishing the club in the Premier League. 

“Albion fans will have great memories of Dale as a regular in the midfield in that promotion-winning campaign, and also for the way he comfortably adapted to life in the Premier League – where he has been a model of consistency.”

His last game for Brighton saw him wear the captain’s armband in a 4-0 Carabao Cup win over Portsmouth.

Things didn’t pan out as expected when he moved to Burnley. Due to injury, he was limited to 14 appearances in two seasons, and he told talkSPORT’s Sunday Session programme: “It was disappointing on both sides. When I initially went there I was excited for the challenge, but for whatever reason it didn’t work for me or the football club.

“It probably sums my time up there, but I found out on Twitter, of all places, that I wouldn’t be getting a new contract.”

Stephens expected to find a new club, probably at Championship level, who would be interested in using his experience, and although he came close to joining Middlesbrough, and there was some interest from Watford and West Brom, nothing materialised.

“I’d played in the Premier League for the last five years, but I understood I hadn’t played much for two,” he told Andy Naylor of The Athletic. “I thought people would see the reasons behind it and that I’d get the opportunity to play at a club that wants to try to get promoted.”

Apart from being allowed to join in pre-season training at Brighton and spending six weeks with his former Bury captain Dave Challinor at Bury, he trained alone to keep up his fitness level, but, when he was unable to get fixed up with a club, in March 2023 he announced his retirement from playing.

Ongoing problems with the ankle injury suffered during his time at Brighton also contributed to his decision to retire.

In his interview with Naylor, he said he aimed to take the UEFA B licence course to try to become a coach, having spent time out following ankle surgery watching Sean Dyche’s managerial methods, as well as opposing bosses.

Fiery Ian Baird saw red in crucial last Goldstone game

FIERY Ian Baird was no stranger to yellow and red cards – in five games for Newcastle United he was booked three times!

And in Brighton’s last ever game at the Goldstone Ground, against Doncaster Rovers, Baird was sent off long before the game had even reached half time.

Something of a disciple of Joe Jordan, the tenacious centre forward who starred for Leeds United and Manchester United, Baird was his teammate at Southampton and played under the Scot at Hearts in Scotland and at Bristol City.

Baird didn’t fear incurring the wrath of supporters, happily playing for arch-rival clubs in his pursuit of goals. Indeed, on Teesside he earned a place in fans’ folklore by scoring two goals in an end-of-season clash that not only kept Middlesbrough up but prevented their noisy north-east neighbours Newcastle from getting automatic promotion to the elite (to make matters worse, they then lost a play-off semi-final to Sunderland).

Baird scored twice in that 4-1 win over United on the final day of the 1989-90 season at Ayresome Park, and earlier the same season he’d scored a winner for Leeds United against Newcastle at Elland Road.

Baird played on the south coast for both Southampton and Portsmouth before making the Albion his 10th and last English league club. He joined for £35,000 from Plymouth Argyle when the club was in turmoil off the field and floundering at the bottom of the basement division. But he went on to net 14 goals in 41 games.

He spoke about the move to Tim Ashton of the Sutton and Croydon Guardian in July 2016. “I was at Plymouth, and Jimmy Case took me on and explained all the problems to me about the likes of (David) Bellotti,” he said.

“To be honest, as a player, all you are bothered about is making sure you get your wage, and you’re not really taking any notice of what he is saying.

“I played at Brighton on many occasions, I have been there with Leeds and Middlesbrough, and it was always a favourite place of mine to go – and as soon as I got there as a player, I knew the importance of survival.”

Baird continued: “Brighton are a big club, and I could not believe what was happening. It took a strain on Jimmy, that’s for sure, and he was not the man he was normally with all the pressure.

“Then he was sacked and we were 12 points adrift at Christmas – they brought in Steve Gritt, and he brought a different kind of management.

“It got to February and March time, then all of a sudden Doncaster Rovers and Hereford were sucked into it – we had to beat Doncaster in the final (home) game.”

Sent off 11 times in his career, it was his dismissal just 18 minutes into that game in 1997 that threatened the very existence of the club – and he was captain that day!

Baird later told portsmouth.co.uk: “It was just a natural thing really. Sometimes my enthusiasm got the better of me. There were plenty of times I chinned someone or got into trouble.

“The most stupid one was when me and Darren Moore had a fight. He was playing for Doncaster and I was playing for Brighton in the last game at their old Goldstone Ground.

“He came through the back of me, there was a bit of afters and I ended up trying to give him a right hook, and there was a bit of a ruck.

“We had a bit of rough and tumble and I was just lucky he didn’t chase me up the tunnel because he’s huge!”

Thankfully, Albion famously still won that match courtesy of Stuart Storer’s memorable winner. Because red card bans were delayed for 14 days back then, Baird was able to play in what has since been recognised as the most important game in the club’s history: away to Hereford United.

As the history books record, it was Robbie Reinelt, on as a sub, who stepped into the breach to rescue a point for the Albion, enough to preserve their league status and to send the Bulls down.

In November of the following season, Baird still had six months left on his Brighton contract, but a surgeon told him he should not play pro football any more because of a troublesome knee, so he decided to retire.

But, when he had turned 35, he said: “I had a phone call from Mick Leonard (former Notts County and Chesterfield player) who played in Hong Kong, and he said they were desperate for a striker.

“I went for a month’s trial and ended up signing an 18-month deal. My knee flared up again and they offered me a coaching role, and it ended up with me managing the side.”

He added: “Then I was put in charge of the national side for the Asian Cup qualifiers and we played in Jakarta in front of 75,000 people, and then in Cambodia in front of 1,200 people – it was certainly an experience that is for sure.”

Over the 17 years of his league career, Baird commanded a total of £1.7m in transfer fees; £500,000 Boro paid Leeds being the highest.

Although born in Rotherham on 1 April 1964, the family moved first to Glasgow and then Southampton when Baird was small, his father having sailed from the south coast port when working on the Queen Mary.

The always comprehensive saintsplayers.co.uk notes the young Baird survived meningitis as a six-year-old and later came to the attention of Southampton when appearing in the same boys team, Sarisbury Sparks, as their manager Lawrie McMenemy’s son, Sean.

The excellent ozwhitelufc.net.au details how Baird’s footballing ability saw him play for Bitterne Saints, St. Mary’s College, Southampton, Southampton and Hampshire Schools, before earning England Schoolboy caps in 1978-79 alongside the likes of Trevor Steven and Mark Walters.

He was offered terms by Swindon Town but he chose to stay closer to home and Southampton took him on as an apprentice in July 1980. He turned professional in April 1982 but McMenemy’s preference for old stagers Frank Worthington and the aforementioned Jordan limited his opportunities and he made just 21 appearances for Saints, plus three as a sub, scoring five times.

He was sent out on loan a couple of times: to Cardiff City in November 1983, where he scored six goals in twelve League games, and that spell at Jack Charlton’s Newcastle in December 1984 where aside from a booking in each of his four starts and one appearance from the bench, he scored once – in a 2-1 defeat at West Brom on Boxing Day.

Taking the advice of former teammate Jordan, Baird signed for Eddie Gray at Second Division Leeds in March 1985 and undoubtedly his most successful playing years were there, in two separate spells.

He played more than 160 matches and scored 50 goals. In the 1986-87 season, Gray’s successor, Billy Bremner, made him captain. The Yorkshire Evening Post spoke of “the powerhouse striker’s fearless commitment, no-holds-barred approach and goalscoring ability”.

In the blurb introducing his autobiography Bairdy’s Gonna Get Ya! (written by Leeds fan Marc Bracha) it says “he’s best remembered for his spells at Leeds, where goals, endless running, will to win and fearless approach ensured he was adored by the fans”.

In the 1987-88 season, though, he was wooed by the prospect of playing at the higher level he had just missed out on with Leeds (they’d lost in end-of-season play-offs) and signed for Alan Ball at Portsmouth for £250,000; he later described it as “the worse move I ever made”.

The season was disrupted by injury and disciplinary problems, and he returned to Leeds the following season, being named their Player of the Year in 1989.

But when ex-Albion winger Howard Wilkinson, then manager of Leeds, signed Lee Chapman, Baird sought the move to Boro. He told Stuart Whittingham in 2013 for borobrickroad.co.uk:

“I felt a little aggrieved and basically I spat the dummy out and asked for a move.

“He (Wilkinson) said that he didn’t want me to go but I insisted and within 24 hours I was speaking to Bruce Rioch and Colin Todd and I was on my way to Middlesbrough.”

Curiously, though, when Leeds won promotion at the end of the season, Baird picked up a medal because he had played his part in the achievement.

At the end of the 1990-91 season, Baird spent two years playing for Hearts under Jordan, although a torn thigh muscle restricted the number of appearances he’d hoped to make and at the end of his deal he moved back to England and signed for Bristol City, initially under Russell Osman and then Jordan once again.

After his experience in Hong Kong, Baird returned to Hampshire to put down roots back in Southampton, and pursued business interests in vehicle sales/leasing and the sports gear industry. He also spent five years managing Eastleigh before becoming Paul Doswell’s assistant at Sutton United. He then followed him to Havant & Waterlooville in May 2019.

Chuba Akpom’s watching brief in Albion’s promotion

AFTER Chuba Akpom finally made his mark on England’s Championship, he earned a €14m move to Ajax where he initially struggled to make an impact.

But three goals in two wins after new manager John van’t Schip sent him on as a substitute made life look a lot better.

The forward got 28 goals in helping Middlesbrough to the Championship play-offs in 2022-23 but the move to Ajax began badly and he had few chances as the side struggled under former coach Maurice Steijn.

“It was a terrible first two months here if I am being honest,” Akpom told AFC Ajax. “The new manager has made me feel more at home than I have ever felt since arriving. We are footballers, we are human beings first.

“He spoke to me as a human being, not as a footballer. Ever since the new manager arrived, I feel much lighter, back to myself.”

The early season form sounded a lot like the unhappy spell when he was on loan to Brighton from Arsenal in 2017.

Akpom spent 16 years at Arsenal and one of his major inspirations was Tottenham Hotspur’s Chris Hughton, who took him on loan at Brighton. Hughton had been to the same inner city school, St Bonaventure’s in Newham, as the young striker from Canning Town and in an Andy Naylor exclusive for the Argus, Akpom revealed: “When I was in school there used to be pictures of the gaffer there.

“The kids used him like an inspiration and motivation. I did as well. Seeing someone come from the same area and the same school as me to become such a big and successful person.”

But the alma mater link did little to help the Arsenal loanee – in spite of high hopes when he signed in early 2017, Hughton gave him only one start and the rest of his involvement was as a substitute.

“He is a young talent who gained valuable experience with Hull in the Championship last season, will give us really good pace in the forward areas and complement the other strikers at the club,” said Hughton.

“We fought off competition from other clubs to sign Chuba and we would like to thank Arsenal for the opportunity of working with him for the rest of the season.”

Akpom was in effect a replacement for Dutch flop Elvis Manu, who left the building on loan to Huddersfield after a disappointing five months on the south coast.

It was to his disadvantage, though, that he joined the club at a time when Glenn Murray, Tomer Hemed and Sam Baldock were the preferred forward options, and, from the outset,he was aware of the challenge they posed.

“All three are experienced players; they know the Championship and they’ve shown what they can do with the goals they’ve scored, so it’s going to be good to learn from them,” he told the matchday programme.

“I’m going to be an addition to what we’ve already got here. We’ve all got something different to offer and I like to play at a fast intensity, try to get at defenders and get some shots off – basically be as much of a threat as I can. I’m also a team player, which is important.”

As it turned out, the young loanee’s only start was against Blackburn Rovers, on April Fool’s Day, and he was hooked on 58 minutes, with Hemed going on his place. Murray won it for the Seagulls with the only goal of the game nine minutes later netting past Jason Steele in the Rovers goal.

Akpom made nine appearances off the bench but he didn’t manage to get on the scoresheet. He made his debut as a 63rd minute sub for Hemed in the 3-1 defeat at Huddersfield on 2 February and replaced Jamie Murphy in the next match, when fellow substitute Hemed netted a last-gasp equaliser in a 3-3 draw at Brentford.  

“I know the Championship is a tough, tough league to play in,” he told the programme. “It’s really competitive and unpredictable, so you’ve got to get your head down and take each game as it comes.

“The team’s been flying high at the top of the league this season so you can see they’ve got the winning mentality in this league, and they’re playing the right kind of football, so I just want to be a positive addition to the team and help boost the bid for promotion.”

Akpom’s arrival at the Amex promised so much more, because he had already scored four goals at the stadium in previous matches: he scored a hat-trick for Arsenal’s under-21 side there and scored for England under 21 in a win over Switzerland in October 2015.

“I like playing here,” he told the programme. “The stadium’s nice, the pitch is great as well, so you can’t complain.

“It’s always good to score goals, no matter who it’s against, but hopefully I can now score a few goals here for Brighton.”

Even though his involvement in Albion’s promotion was peripheral, the club’s automatic elevation to the Premier League as runners up behind Newcastle meant he’d gone one better than the previous season when he’d been part of Hull City’s promotion via the play-offs.

That had been his fourth loan experience having previously gone on temporary moves to Brentford, Coventry City and Nottingham Forest.

Born in Canning Town on 9 October 1995, Akpom was playing football on local streets from the age of five but soon moved on to the Wanstead Flats, where he played for Rippleway United. An Arsenal scout spotted him at the tender age of six.

“I had a few training sessions for Arsenal and then signed for the club. I’ve been there ever since,” he told the programme. His best friend, who was developing alongside him, was Alex Iwobi, who also made it through to the Arsenal first team before moving on to Everton.

Akpom made his senior debut for the Gunners as a late substitute in a 3-1 win away to Sunderland in September 2013 (the match when Mezut Ozil made his debut).

The young striker went on to make a further nine first team appearances (mostly in the FA Cup and League Cup) but couldn’t claim a regular starting place under Arsene Wenger.

Akpom returned to Arsenal as Albion prepared for life in the Premier League and the following January made another loan move, linking up with Belgian First Division side Sint-Truiden on transfer deadline day in January 2018. He scored six goals in 16 games.

His association with Arsenal finally came to an end that summer when he signed a three-year contract with Greek Super League club PAOK Salonika.

Akpom told the BBC he consulted former Arsenal teammate Lucas Perez before moving to the club, based in Greece’s second largest city of Thessaloniki, and by the season’s end he had helped them win their first league title in 34 years.

“Perez said that I wouldn’t want to leave PAOK if I signed,” he said. “Thessaloniki is a beautiful city by the sea, the people are friendly, the climate is nice and, when I’m not training, I’m sometimes able to go to nearby beaches.

“I’m living in an apartment about 10 minutes from the ground and I drive along the coast to training.”

In May 2019, Akpom was the delighted but emotional scorer of the winning goal for PAOK in the Greek Cup as they beat AEK Athens.

After scoring 18 goals in two years for the Greek side, Akpom returned to the UK to sign for Neil Warnock at Middlesbrough, the effervescent Warnock declaring: “I’m delighted to finally have got him. He’s been my number one choice. I’ve wanted him for a long time.”

The deal gave Arsenal an unexpected £1m windfall because they had inserted a clause into the contract when the striker was sold to PAOK Salonika stipulating they would be entitled to 40 per cent of any fee if he was sold back to an English club.

Such an arrangement was frowned on by the football authorities and earned a fine and censure from FIFA, but Arsenal challenged that decision and got it overturned on an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Although Akpom scored on his Boro debut to secure a 1-1 draw at QPR and followed it up with a goal in his second game, a 2-1 home win over Barnsley, he went on to score just five in 40 appearances and in August 2021 returned to PAOK on loan.

The manager castigated the club’s recruitment team for having signed the player on the strength of watching videos, saying: “We really have to go into everything a bit more when we’re looking to sign players. I don’t think we’ll be signing another player on the recruitment (team’s) say after just watching a video, we need to watch players live.”

Warnock was typically forthright when asked why it didn’t work out for Akpom on Teesside, telling BBC Tees: “I think it’s a mixture of things. I think at the end of the day he didn’t show enough during the games to warrant him getting a place and you have to play games to get yourself fit.

“I never really thought he deserved a run of games because whenever I used him he didn’t perform and it’s one of those things.

“When I spoke to him we all agreed it’s best to go and I think he’s quite happy to go back there.”

Akpom had been expected to leave Boro in the summer of 2022 after returning from his loan in Greece, as Warnock’s successor Chris Wilder looked for other forward options.

But he impressed the boss in pre-season and started in their first game against West Brom, and again when coming off the bench in a defeat at QPR.

“It’s no secret that people would probably have thought I’d be gone by now, and maybe me too,” Akpom told BBC Tees. “It has been a rocky few months for me, which is no secret.

“I don’t know what the future holds. I just have the mentality of staying professional and enjoying it. Who knows what tomorrow brings?”

After Akpom scored both Boro goals in a 2-2 home draw with Sheffield United, Wilder said he was keen for Akpom to remain part of his squad.

“He’ll rightly get the plaudits. For him to come back into the group and show a great attitude… He’s just done an interview and said it’s one day at a time but for me it isn’t that unless he wants it to be, and I don’t think he does,” Wilder said.

“It’s his job to convince me that he wants to stay at this brilliant football club and he’s done enough. He has to keep going of course but we’ve all seen enough that he sees his medium to long-term future here. We’re delighted to have him here.”

In a quite extraordinary turnround in fortune for the player, he scored 28 goals in 38 games for Boro in the 2022-23 season, ending a 33-year wait for a striker who could score more than 20 goals in a season.

gazettelive.co.uk said of him: “He has gone from also-ran to one of the most feared strikers in the league.”

Comparing his goalscoring prowess to the likes of former Boro heroes like Brian Clough, John Hickton and John O’Rourke, the newspaper said: “Akpom has shown what any decent player can achieve if they stay fully focused.

“He already looked a different player before the arrival of Michael Carrick but has since climbed another few rungs up the ladder.”

Reporter Eric Paylor wrote: “The marvellous thing about Akpom’s goal sprint is that we didn’t see it coming. Two years ago he looked a very ordinary striker indeed.

“He managed to sneak into the side this season only as an afterthought, because Chris Wilder was short of strikers. So it’s to his eternal credit that Akpom has grabbed the nettle and shown what a massive threat he is in the box.”

When Carrick succeeded Wilder, he selected Akpom in a no.10 role rather than as an out and out centre forward, and it paid off.

Carrick told gazettelive.co.uk: “You go on your eye, your instincts, how well he takes the ball, how fluid he is moving with the ball in a bit of space. Technically coming through the ranks at Arsenal he’s had that foundation. I just wanted to free him up a little bit and play to his strengths. Thankfully he’s been able to do that. I think it suits him.

“It’s difficult for me to speak about the turnaround because I don’t know how he was playing before that before I came through the door.

“Certainly, from my first training session and the games leading up to me taking over, I saw encouraging signs from him. I said it from the start, we have tried to play to the strengths of our players and put them in positions that benefit them and the team. Chuba is definitely one of them. He’s found his role and he’s suited it; he’s doing great.”

Akpom himself said: “I wish I’d been playing in a deeper role throughout the whole of my career! I’m enjoying it.

“Playing in a nine previously helps me with my movement up top and with my back to goal, but I feel like coming to feet is when you can see the real me – getting on the half turn, playing one-twos, connecting the play and dribbling – this is what my game is all about.”

Over in Holland, Akpom struggled to get a starting place as Ajax found themselves at the wrong end of the Eredivisie.

After the departure of Steijn as Ajax coach, Akpom made a brief appearance as a sub when the Amsterdam side lost 2-0 to Albion in the first leg of their Europa League tie in October 2023 under caretaker boss Hedwiges Maduro.

But in Schip’s first Eredivisie game against Volendam, Akpom was sent on and scored in a 2-0 win.

He went one better against Heerenveen, joining the action off the bench again and this time scoring twice in a 4-1 win for Ajax.

In January 2025, Akpom secured a loan move to French side Lille, who secured a place in the last 16 of the Champions League after thumping Feyenoord 6-1.

Talent spotter John Doolan now eyeing forwards for Brighton

THE SCOUSER searching for Brighton’s next Evan Ferguson had Everton blue coursing through his veins from an early age.

But John Doolan’s long association with the Merseyside club came to an end in February 2023 when he swapped places with another backroom man, Lee Sargeson, who joined Everton as their head of scouting operations. Sargeson spent more than five years working in Albion’s much-admired scouting set up.

Now Doolan, a former Everton academy player, has been tasked by another well-known Evertonian, Albion technical director David Weir, and head of recruitment, Sam Jewell, with scouting forwards for the Seagulls.

Although not making it into Everton’s first team himself, Doolan helped to develop the likes of Shane Duffy, Tom Davies and Ross Barkley at Finch Farm.

During more than a decade working behind the scenes, he coached youth teams, worked on player and team development and rose through the scouting and recruitment departments.

After being released by the Toffees on a free transfer, Doolan’s own playing career spanned 550 matches for six clubs in the lower leagues, starting at Mansfield Town. His former Everton coach, Colin Harvey, took him to Field Mill where he’d become assistant manager to another ex-Evertonian, Andy King.

Simon Ireland (Albion’s under 21s coach for 21 months between June 2013 and February 2015) was a teammate at Mansfield. In a matchday programme pen picture of Doolan, when the Third Division Stags visited the Goldstone, it said: ‘Big things are expected of this stylish midfield player.’

He played 151 games for Town in a four-year spell before moving on to Barnet for a £60,000 fee in 1998. In five years with John Still’s Barnet, Doolan made one short of 200 appearances and was a teammate of skilful wideman Darren Currie, who later proved a popular signing for Mark McGhee’s Albion side in the Championship.

He was also at the club when they lost their Football League status in 2001 and became regarded as one of the best midfielders in the Football Conference.

Doolan switched to fellow Conference side Doncaster Rovers for a small fee in March 2003 and helped them gain promotion back to the League via the play-offs.

Described on Donny’s website as “a combative but skilled midfielder” he was a key member of the side that won the Third Division championship in 2003-04 and, in total, made 92 senior appearances for Rovers, scoring three goals.

In a Bred a Blue podcast interview reflecting on his career, he said: “Donny was the best. We won the league twice. The lads were great. It was like Kelly’s Heroes; a bunch of misfits put together and we went on a double promotion. There were some very good players in there.”

The only period of his playing career he regretted was when he was drawn to League One Blackpool by money. By then he was 31, and the move only lasted six months. “I had to play 25 games to get a new deal and I played 24,” he said.

He went on loan to League Two Rochdale in January 2006 and made the move permanent within 10 days. Doolan had already begun to think ahead and had taken some coaching badges while still playing. In just short of two and a half years with Rochdale he clocked up 90 appearances before, aged 34, taking his next steps in the game.

When he left Dale in May 2008 to take up a player-coach role at Blue Square North side Southport,  

Dale boss Keith Hill said: “John is a fantastic character and will be missed. He always gave 100 per cent and provided a fantastic example to the young players in the dressing room.”

He added: “I cannot speak highly enough of him and I am sure he will make a real success of coaching because he is a natural.”

Neil Dewsnip, who worked at Everton’s academy for 17 years, had already taken Doolan back to Everton as a part-time youth coach after they’d met on a coaching course. It was at the time Everton’s youth development centre was moving from Netherton to Finch Farm, and Doolan started coaching a couple of days a week while also fulfilling his duties at Southport before returning full time.

In the years that followed, he worked with all the different age groups and, under Kevin Reeves (the chief scout during the reign of Roberto Martinez) he moved into talent identification, watching promising young players across the region.

Born in Liverpool on 7 May 1974, Doolan joined Everton as a 14-year-old schoolboy, having been picked up after playing for Liverpool Schoolboys.

He started training two days a week – David Unsworth and Billy Kenny were contemporaries – before signing as a youth trainee. “My YTS days were the best days of my footballing career,” he told the podcast. “I loved every single minute of it.”

Doolan described to Bred a Blue the enjoyment he got when getting involved with the first team in training but, as a right-back, he had stiff competition and when Everton signed Paul Holmes he saw the writing was on the wall.

“I realised I wasn’t good enough,” he said. “They brought in Paul Holmes and that was like a kick in the teeth. They paid a fee for him (£100,000 from Birmingham City) and they were always going to prefer him.”

There was a momentary glimmer of a chance under Howard Kendall, but he broke an ankle in a youth cup game and the opportunity was gone.

He was sent to Bournemouth for a brief loan spell under Tony Pulis and on his return to Merseyside was told he wasn’t going to feature. “I still had a year on my contract but I decided to leave,” he said. “When I left Everton and went to Mansfield I changed position and went into midfield. I never played at the back again.”

Bred a Blue says of Doolan: “His is a story of how the adversity of being released can be overcome by resolve, hard work and confidence in your own ability.”

Doolan was one of a trio of senior scouts (Pete Bulmer and Charlie Hutton were the others) who were made redundant by the Albion in November 2024 as part of a shake-up of the recruitment department.

Andy Arnott’s United dream dashed by injury

A PLAYER who was on the brink of signing for Man Utd for £100,000 ended up playing for the Albion in exile.

But for an untimely hernia injury, Andy Arnott would have been an Alex Ferguson signing at Old Trafford.

As it turned out, the moment passed and the opportunity didn’t arise again. He later made 28 appearances for the Seagulls during the 1998-99 season when home games were played at Gillingham’s Priestfield Stadium.

It was a ground Arnott was familiar with. Born in nearby Chatham on 18 October 1973, he joined Gillingham as a trainee and had only served one year of his apprenticeship when he was taken on as a professional.

Manager Damien Richardson gave him his debut for the Fourth Division club only four games into the 1991-92 season when he was just 17.

It couldn’t have gone better because he scored the Gills’ opening goal in a 2-0 home win over Scarborough.

This was a Gillingham side that included summer signing Paul Clark, who had been part of Alan Mullery’s successful Brighton side in the late 1970s, and Mike Trusson, who’d won promotion from the Third Division with the Seagulls under Barry Lloyd. A young Richard Carpenter was also breaking through.

Arnott scored three goals in 23 appearances by the season’s end although one goal and two appearances against Aldershot were later expunged from the records because the Shots were expelled from the league.

Nonetheless, the youngster’s emergence hadn’t gone unnoticed higher up the football pyramid and the offer of the chance to join United came along, ostensibly so that he could feature in their youth team’s involvement in the end-of-season Blue Star youth tournament in Zurich.

This was the era of the famous ‘Class of 92’ and Arnott found himself playing alongside David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt.

“After impressing during his spell with United, Ferguson made a £100,000 offer to Gillingham which was turned down by the then manager Damien Richardson,” Albion’s matchday programme noted.

In action for Gillingham against Albion’s Nicky Bissett

The player then suffered a hernia injury that put him out of the game for a year, putting paid to any further interest from United.

“I was gutted at the time, but it was a case of just getting on with returning to fitness and playing football,” Arnott said.

Back at Gillingham, he played 50 matches and scored 12 goals but then, in January 1996, got a £15,000 move to Leyton Orient. He spent a season and a half with the Os under manager Pat Holland and played in every position to help out the team, including goalkeeper in one emergency.

Arnott played under Micky Adams at Fulham

In the summer of 1997, after Fulham’s promotion from Division Three under Micky Adams, Arnott moved to Craven Cottage for an undisclosed fee (thought to be £25,000).

Within a few months, Mohammed Al Fayed took over the club and sacked Adams.

“All of a sudden Fulham went from being an ordinary Second Division outfit to a multi-million pound club,” he said. “I felt sorry for Micky as he had done a fantastic job, but he did foresee what was coming and sorted out long term contracts for most of the players.”

The new management duo of Ray Wilkins and Kevin Keegan brought in their own players and Arnott found himself confined to the reserves with the likes of Mark Walton, winger Paul Brooker, and forward Darren Freeman.

He scored twice for Fulham Reserves in a 3-0 win over Albion’s reserve side on 21 October 1998, and that persuaded Brian Horton to take him on.

“A few clubs had shown an interest around that time, but Brighton were the first that I spoke to and I liked what I was hearing so I signed straight away,” he said.

Horton signed him by the end of the same month for £10,000, plus another appearance-related £10,000, and said in the matchday programme he was “absolutely tremendous” on his debut. It came in a 1-0 win in pouring rain at Barnet when Charlton loanee defender Emeka Ifejagwa scored the only goal of the game on his debut. “He (Arnott) and Jeff Minton forged a good partnership and I am looking for that to flourish,” said Horton.

In his player-by-player commentary of performances, programme columnist Paul Camillin said: “Brilliant debut. He showed a good array of passing skills and he might have the bite we’ve been lacking.”

It was the wrong kind of bite he displayed in only his fourth game, though, when he was shown a red card in the 55th minute of Albion’s 2-0 win at Horton’s old club Hull City.

Defender Ross Johnson also went for an early bath for a second bookable offence but Albion’s nine men hung on for 35 minutes to complete their fourth successive away League win: the best such run for 62 years!

There’s little doubt Arnott’s arrival coincided with an upturn in the side’s form and in the matchday programme he took time to praise Albion’s loyal followers. “It is a fantastic advantage to have the number of away supporters we do,” he said. “It makes you want to play that little bit more to give them something back. They are absolutely magnificent.”

Arnott and Jamie Moralee

In the absence of Gary Hobson and Ian Culverhouse, Arnott was given the captain’s armband although that discipline was a bit questionable at times. He saw red for a second time, after Jeff Wood had taken over from Horton, for a second bookable offence at home to his old club Orient – Os captain Dean Smith (manager of relegation-threatened Leicester) also went for a second yellow – although Wood and Orient boss Tommy Taylor both slammed referee Rob Styles for his officiating.

Man of the Match

Wood declared: “Too many officials want to stamp their authority on the game early and flash cards like they are going out of fashion.”

Although Arnott saw out the season in the starting line-up, when his old boss Adams took over from Wood, by the time the new season got under way back in Brighton, Adams had signed Paul Rogers and Charlie Oatway as his preferred midfield pair.

By the end of September, Arnott had been snapped up by Second Division Colchester United; initially on loan and then permanently when their new boss Steve Whitton completed a direct swap that saw Warren Aspinall join the Seagulls.

However, Arnott made only four starts plus eight appearances off the bench in that first season and his time with United was blighted by a long-standing groin injury.

“The whole thing has been an absolute nightmare. I have been struggling with the injury for 14 months and despite loads of rest, two operations and four cortisone injections, the problem is as bad as ever,” he told Colchester’s Daily Gazette in January 2001.

“I was really struggling just before Christmas and I visited the specialist who told me I’m pretty near to exhausting my options.

“When it’s at its worst the injury is unbearable, especially when I turn or attempt to hit a long ball.

“I’m still only 27 with what should be many years left in the game.”

Unfortunately, though, he was forced to call time on his professional playing career and dropped into non-league initially with then-Conference side Stevenage, then Dover Athletic, where he was captain, Welling United and Ashford Town.

After his playing days were over, he settled in Rochester and became a project manager for Dryspace Structures while retaining his football links as a coach for Ebbsfleet United’s under 16 team.