IT’S THE SEASON of giving and with the days coming in twelves this In Parallel Lines ‘special’ gives you a dozen players who’ve played for the Albion and post-Christmas opponents Arsenal.

A bit like an advent calendar, and with the slightest hint of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, you’ll need to click on the link to see if the player has featured in a blog post of the past or is a blog post still to come!

Across several decades, there have been numerous connections between the clubs but with my own Brighton-watching journey beginning in 1969, I’m not looking at the likes of Irish international defender Jimmy Magill or manager Archie Macaulay because they were before my time.

Let’s start with goalkeepers. Over the years, there have been several who’ve worn the gloves at both clubs – Tony Burns, Nicky Rust or Mat Ryan for example. Younger readers will be more familiar with Ryan and, as an Australian international, he gets the nod as no.1.

If international status gives a player the edge, it would be tempting to suggest Ben White at right-back but ahead of him I’d have to pick Martin Keown. More familiar to today’s football watchers as a TV pundit, those of us with a few more miles on the clock will remember him as a youngster spending two spells on loan with the Seagulls before he got his break with the Gunners, Aston Villa and Everton and won 43 caps for England.

Another TV and radio pundit who wore Albion’s stripes with aplomb having once been a £2m signing by Arsenal is Matthew Upson. He was Brighton’s player of the season in 2013-14.

The late Willie Young, one of that rare breed who played for Arsenal and north London rivals Spurs, comes into contention alongside him but he didn’t cover himself in glory at Brighton so I am plumping for Colin Pates. Pates first made a name for himself as Chelsea’s youngest-ever captain before becoming a reliable back-up defender during George Graham’s reign at Arsenal.

Brighton manager Barry Lloyd had been a teammate of Graham’s at Chelsea in the mid-1960s and the connection served Albion well when he agreed for Pates to join the Seagulls on loan to become part of the side that reached the 1991 play-off final at Wembley. He later rejoined the club on a permanent basis before injury forced him to retire.

Mike Everitt might have merited inclusion at left-back but there’s really only one candidate for that position and that’s the seasoned Northern Irish international Sammy Nelson. He took over that spot at Arsenal from Bob McNab and made 339 league and cup appearances for the Gunners before losing his place to Kenny Sansom. He stayed in the top-flight, though, by joining Brighton under Mike Bailey. He had a spell as coach under Chris Cattlin before pursuing a career in the City.

Although he played most of his career in defence, for the purposes of this piece I’m selecting Steve Gatting in midfield – a position he was equally adept at filling. Another Bailey signing from Arsenal, Gatting remained at Brighton for 10 years and after his playing days were over returned to his first club as an academy and under-23s coach.

It is tempting to bend my own rules and select Liam Brady alongside him but, of course, while the mercurial Irishman was such a fine player for Arsenal, it was only from the dugout that Brighton enjoyed his influence.

Instead, I’ll plump for Steve Sidwell who, although never making a senior appearance for Arsenal, grew up in their academy and bookended his career playing for Brighton.

It’s out wide and in the middle of attack that the choices overwhelm although, to be honest, it is difficult to make a case for the lesser talents of Chuba Akpom, Graham Barrett or Raphael Meade over two of Mikel Arteta’s current picks – Viktor Gyökeres and Leandro Trossard (although Paul Dickov was in my thoughts).

Centre forward could have been Frank Stapleton who did his old Arsenal teammate Brady a favour by turning out twice for the Seagulls in 1994, but I’d have to settle for Danny Welbeck to lead the line. Let’s give Stapleton the no.12 shirt.

One old school indulgence would be out wide where, although Mark Flatts briefly impressed, and one day we might come to admire the talents of Amario Cozier-Duberry, perhaps there’s room for nippy winger Brian Tawse, who’d have had a field day supplying players of the quality of Gyökeres and Welbeck.

So, there you have it, the In Parallel Lines Arsenal-Brighton line-up is

Mat Ryan

Martin Keown   Colin Pates   Matt Upson   Sammy Nelson

Steve Sidwell     Steve Gatting

Brian Tawse    Leandro Trossard     Viktor Gyökeres

Danny Welbeck

Sub: Frank Stapleton

Thanks for reading. Enjoy the festive season and all the best for the new year. UTA!