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Why Roman’s roubles spelled bad news for Alexis Nicolas

A PROMISING young midfielder edging towards first team football at Chelsea had his dreams extinguished when Roman Abramovich arrived with lorry loads of cash.

Manager Claudio Ranieri had let Alexis Nicolas know that he was heading in the right direction after he’d broken through to the fringes of the first team.

But when Abramovich took over at Stamford Bridge, big name signings started to arrive and Nicolas was left way down the pecking order behind the likes of Juan Sebastián Verón, Claude Makélélé, Geremi and Scott Parker.

New boss Jose Mourinho informed the youngster he should look elsewhere to make progress, and Brighton, newly promoted to the Championship, offered a refuge for the talented London-born Cypriot under-21 international.

Albion’s midfield options were depleted at the beginning of the 2004-05 season with Simon Rodger a long-term absentee, stalwart Richard Carpenter recovering from close-season knee surgery, and Charlie Oatway also sidelined through injury.

It meant Nicolas had a chance to show what he was made of and he played 15 games on loan from the start of the season through to October.

Enthusiastic Albion boss Mark McGhee said: “He has brought energy and he has got quality. He is a certain type of player, similar in many ways to Charlie Oatway.

“He is not a box-to-box goalscoring midfielder but what he does brilliantly is that he is always in the area around the ball where you need him.

“He breaks things up quickly and, when we win possession, we go more quickly from defence into attack with Alexis in there than we did previously.”

Nicolas clearly relished the opportunity he’d been given and, as the prospects of a permanent move grew stronger, he told the Argus: “It’s flattering that Brighton want to keep me. I like it here. I am happy with the club and the manager and I don’t see why it can’t be permanent.

“If everything can come together, and I think it will be a good move, then I don’t see why it won’t go ahead.”

He added: “There is a lot of stuff to be sorted out with a lot of different people.

“All I can say is I am happy here and I like the club. They are good people and the fans are great. Anyone with an offer to come here has got to be chuffed with that, because it is a great set-up.”

McGhee made no secret of his admiration for the 21-year-old, saying: “He’s been a fixture in the team and that says it all. He is improving week in and week out and I think he has got a good future.

“He has a terrific little engine and attitude. He quietly goes about his job and he has been really important for us so far this season.

“The boy himself is modest and unassuming. He loves Chelsea, he loved being there and I am sure he will be very disappointed to leave, but he wants to be a footballer more than he wants to be a Chelsea player. That is the important thing for us.”

McGhee explained the difference Nicolas made to the side. “He has that knack of being in the right place at the right time; he seems to cover such a big area. For a physically small lad, he is everywhere.

“He anticipates where the next ball is going and gets there early, puts people under pressure, wins the ball back and activates us going forward. He wins it and, before you know it, we’re going forward.”

When he signed permanently, Nicolas said: “It feels great. You are always sad to leave a club and I have been at Chelsea for a while, but I am excited and glad that I have signed for Brighton.

“The role I play is similar to Claude Makélélé’s and I used to speak to Claude regularly. He used to give me a lot of good advice. I’ve learned from all of the players at Chelsea, but now it’s time for me to open another chapter in my life and learn some other stuff.”

Nicolas said breaking into the Chelsea first team had whetted his appetite to return to that level and he told the Albion matchday programme: “Having played in the Premiership, I would like to achieve it here at Brighton and I don’t see why one day Brighton can’t be a club in the Premiership.”

Unfortunately, he joined an injury and suspension hit squad that couldn’t compete with better-resourced clubs in the second tier because of crowd-restricted home gates at the Withdean Stadium.

While Nicolas impressed in his first season, playing in a further 19 games, McGhee was forced to sell star players Danny Cullip and Darren Currie to bolster the club’s perilous finances, and the side only just managed to avoid the drop.

The following season, with Dean Hammond and Carpenter the mainstays in central midfield, Nicolas too often watched on from the bench and missed several weeks because of ankle and knee injuries.

Asked about his watching brief from the sidelines, he said in a matchday programme article: “It’s been very frustrating for me this season and I’m upset about it. I’d like to think that a lot of the fans would like to see me out there. The manager can only pick eleven players and he’s the boss – what he says goes and I respect that.”

His frustration was barely disguised in an interview with the Argus on 23 Feb 2006, after a reserve match he was due to play in was called off.

“It seems impossible for me to get 90 minutes at the moment,” he said. “I was out for six weeks injured and have only managed 60 minutes football against Millwall in a reserve match since because of postponements.

“Before that I was mostly on the bench. I have hardly played this season.

“Even though I am not fully match fit, I have been training hard and have enough about me to be able to cope. I am not thinking of myself when I say this. I have put personal goals to one side.

“After all, I pulled out of international squads with Cyprus earlier in the season even if it meant I could just be on the bench for Brighton. I feel I have a lot to offer.”

The midfielder added: “What matters is Albion. I love the club, the lads and the fans and want to do my best for them.”

Unfortunately, after playing only 12 matches in 2005-06, he wasn’t kept on after the Seagulls were relegated on 30 April 2006, and he never played league football again.

Born in Westminster on 13 February 1983, Nicolas went to Trent CE Primary School in Cockfosters, where he first showed a talent with a football. He also enjoyed long distance running and tennis.

He played football for a decent Sunday League side in Colliers Wood alongside two other future professionals, Steve Sidwell and Leon Britton, and eventually became part of Arsenal’s youth set-up. But he ended up as an apprentice at Aston Villa, and got taken on as a professional. He was in the same under-19s squad as future Albion goalkeeper Wayne Henderson and defender Liam Ridgewell.

But in December 2001, he joined Chelsea on a free transfer, and with 24 starts plus one as a sub, he missed only one of the reserves side’s 26 matches in the 2002-03 season.

He was handed the no.27 shirt for the 2003-04 season and made his Chelsea first team debut in their 1-0 FA Cup win away to Scarborough on 24 January 2004.

John Terry scored the only goal of the game and Nicolas played in midfield alongside Frank Lampard and Emmanuel Pettit in a side also featuring Joe Cole and Wayne Bridge.

Guardian football reporter, Paul Wilson, noted: “Alexis Nicolas made an encouraging debut, but time and again Cole, in particular, would attempt something complicated when a simpler option was available.”

Nicolas made his Premiership debut a week later in a 1–0 win over Charlton Athletic. His only other appearance was as a 90th minute substitute for Lampard as the Blues rounded off the season with a 1-0 home win over Leeds United.

Nicolas spoke about those early years at Chelsea in an interview with Simon Yaffe of planetfootball.com.

“Ranieri called me into his office at the end of 2002-2003 and told me the club didn’t have a lot of money to invest and that he didn’t have too many midfielders at his disposal, so I would be in his plans for the following season,” Nicolas said.

Even as the oligarch’s takeover was going through in the summer of 2003, the youngster was part of Ranieri’s team which beat Newcastle United 5-4 on penalties in the final of the FA Premier League Asia Cup in front of a crowd of 41,500 in Kuala Lumpur’s national Bukit Jalil stadium. It was the first piece of silverware of the Abramovich era.

“It maybe wasn’t the most glamorous of trophies, but it was still the first of many under the new owner,” Nicolas said.

It wasn’t long before a flurry of big-name signings soon changed the picture for Nicolas; the arrival of five midfielders in particular being somewhat ominous.

“I had planned to go out on loan because I had fallen so far down the pecking order,” Nicolas added. “But some of the midfielders, like Makélélé and Petit, were picking up injuries, so I stuck around.

“Looking back, it was easy to think, ‘He’s signed, so that is why I am not playing,’ but it was really a turning point in Chelsea’s history, and it was nice to have been part of it.

“I was pleased for the club when Abramovich took over but also a little bit disappointed for myself.”

After relegated Brighton released him, Nicolas tried to continue his league career and had a trial with Bradford City, but after an unremarkable game for their reserves side, manager Colin Todd told the Bradford Telegraph & Argus: “At the moment I can’t guarantee him anything. His fitness levels aren’t the best but if he wants to continue to train with us and try to improve on that then it’s up to him.”

In fact, he decided to join St Albans City on 26 September 2006 and made his Nationwide Conference debut in a 2-1 defeat at Weymouth four days later.

On 12 November, the St Albans City website noted: “A knee injury restricted Alexis to just six appearances for St Albans City but, with a number of League One and League Two sides showing an interest, the player has decided to move on.”

Nicolas said he was grateful to manager Colin Lippiatt for giving him the opportunity and added: “I was not in the best of states when I joined the club but everyone has been a great help and when fully fit I hope to join one of the League One or League Two sides who are showing an interest in me.”

But it was a career in property investment that opened up for him instead and in 2012 he set up his own business in partnership with Ryan Springer.

He wasn’t completely done with football, though, and, also in 2012, Nicolas had a spell as player-manager of Hadley FC, a Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division side, and in 2014-15 he was part of the club’s management team under former Spurs and Chelsea player Micky Hazard.

Pictures as featured in the Albion matchday programme and from various online sources.

Transfer makeweight Storer became all-time Seagulls hero

STUART Storer cemented his place in Brighton’s history when he scrambled home a last-gasp winner in the final ever home game at the Goldstone Ground.

When a seemingly goal-bound header from Mark Morris bounced off the south stand end’s crossbar, fortunately it fell into the path of the onrushing Storer who managed to scramble it over the line among a sea of flailing Doncaster Rovers legs.

That moment on 26 April 1997 is often brought up with Storer via media interviews or simply when bumping into Brighton fans while on his travels. The goal is featured in the pre-match video montage shown on the TV screens at the Amex, so it has been seen by various generations of fans.

“I’m proud that people hold me in so much esteem and I’m very fortunate to be part of the club’s history,” Storer told Brighton & Hove Independent in an April 2017 interview. “Younger people that I teach watch the video and take the Mickey but they’ll never kill my pride. I’m very proud of that moment.”

Storer provided the photographers with plenty of action shots

The goal ensured a vital three points were secured in the fight to avoid relegation from the lowest tier in the Football League. In the one remaining game the following week, Albion managed to get the point needed to stay up while simultaneously relegating Hereford United.

Those crucial matches were just two of more than 150 games Storer played for the Albion under six different managers during an extraordinarily turbulent time for the club.

It was, though, a rather curious playing career all round that saw some of the game’s biggest names – Liam Brady, Alan Ball, Howard Kendall and Ron Saunders – sign him for their clubs. And he carried on playing until he was 42.

In 2006 and 2007, he was part of Everton’s Masters’ six-a-side team in the televised tournament featuring veteran players. Storer’s teammates included the likes of Neville Southall, Adrian Heath and Alan Harper.

Storer had been at Goodison Park the last time the Toffees were the English league champions. However, he didn’t make a first team appearance, invariably being the 13th man in the days when there was only one substitute.

He’d arrived on Merseyside as a transfer makeweight in a £300,000 deal Kendall struck with Birmingham City to sign Wolverhampton-born striker Wayne Clarke – the youngest of five brothers who played league football.

Clarke’s former club, Wolves, were convinced Storer had been included in the deal simply to lower the sell-on amount they were due as part of a previous agreement.

Clarke scored five goals in 10 games – including a hat-trick in a 3-0 win over Newcastle United on Easter Monday – to help Everton win the League Championship. Storer had made only 12 appearances for City in three years so his chances of making an impact with the title-chasers were slim.

Although Storer was on Everton’s books for nine months, he never crossed the white line for the first team and went on loan to Wigan Athletic, making his debut on the opening day of the 1987-88 season in a 4-4 draw away to Notts County (Garry Birtles scored two of County’s goals).

Storer was no stranger to a 4-4 draw. He played in two for Albion in 1997 – on 8 March at home to Orient and on Boxing Day later the same year when they drew at Priestfield against Colchester United (Paul Emblen got a hat-trick for the Seagulls).

Storer started nine games for the Latics and came on as a sub three times under Ray Matthias but they didn’t have the funds for a permanent transfer. Instead, the loan was cut short and, on Christmas Eve 1987, Everton sold him to then Fourth Division Bolton Wanderers for £25,000. He scored his first goal for the Trotters four days later in a 2-1 home win over Stockport County.

He enjoyed seven seasons at Burnden Park as they progressed from the basement division to the third tier under former Liverpool and England full-back Phil Neal.

His time with the Trotters included two trips to Wembley. He was a late substitute in the Wanderers side captained by Phil Brown who beat Torquay United 4-1 in to win the Sherpa van Trophy in 1989. And he was a starter in the Wanderers side who lost the 1991 Third Division play-off final to Tranmere Rovers.

Having broken an ankle and seen Neal switch to become Steve Coppell’s assistant manager at Manchester City, Storer was sold to Exeter City in March 1993 by Neal’s successor Bruce Rioch. Storer made 177 appearances for Bolton, but Rioch’s signing of David Lee had signalled the beginning of the end of his time there.

It was former World Cup winner Ball, then boss of Exeter City, who paid £25,000 for Storer’s services. He made 75 appearances (plus two as a sub) for the Grecians, initially under Ball and then his successor, former Leeds and England left-back Terry Cooper in the 1994-95 season.

Financial problems at the Devon club led to his departure. Early negotiations with a view to a transfer to Brighton initially broke down but Brady finally managed to secure his services for £15,000 in March 1995.

Ironically, he then suffered an injury during his first day’s training with the Seagulls, delaying his first appearance until 29 April. But it was memorable as he scored in a 3-3 draw away to his former club, Birmingham.

He recalled in a March 2019 interview with Michael Walker for the Daily Mail: “I was in an untenable situation at Exeter because they were going into administration. I had to get out. It was from the frying pan into the fire.”

However, Storer said, at the time he signed, he was unaware of the tensions going on around the Albion, although he knew he was the first player signed after a transfer embargo had been lifted. Not for the first time in the club’s history, fans dipped into their pockets to help buy the player.

“I think the fans just wanted to buy a player, any player, and they chipped in,” said Storer.

Born in the village of Harborough Magna, just north of Rugby, on 16 January 1967, he was raised in the village of Dunchurch, just south of Rugby, attending its local junior school before moving on to Bilton High School, where his footballing ability was recognised with selection in the Rugby Boys and Warwickshire Boys representative sides.

Wolverhampton Wanderers scout John Jarman spotted him and he went along to Molineux during the Ian Greaves managerial reign. When a takeover at Wolves saw Jarman and Greaves depart for Mansfield Town, they took the young Storer on as a trainee at Field Mill.

He began playing for their youth side but he was given his Mansfield first team debut aged only 16 in a 4-0 win over Hartlepool.

Storer and Julian Dicks at Birmingham City

Released after only a year with the Stags, he was offered another chance to build a league career by Birmingham who he joined in July 1984, initially signing as a trainee and then becoming a professional. But after limited first team opportunities at St Andrews, Saunders’ successor, John Bond, sold him to Everton as part of the Clarke transfer.

After Storer’s crucial part in keeping Albion in the League, he remained at the club until 1999, playing a total of 152 games and being part of the side who had to spend two years playing home games at Gillingham.

He moved back to Warwickshire on the day the Seagulls played their first friendly at Withdean on 24 July 1999,signing for Southern League Premier Division side Atherstone United, but he was only there for two months before moving to Kettering Town, who were playing in the Football Conference, the tier just below the Football League.

In May 2000, Storer signed for Isthmian League Premier Division side Chesham United and spent a season with them, before moving nearer to his Midlands base and signing for Hinckley United in March 2001.

Storer was made club captain, and as he approached his late 30s, he got more involved with coaching. At the age of 40, Storer was a member of the Hinckley team that achieved their highest ever league position of fourth in the Conference North, losing in the play-off final to deny them promotion.

After eight seasons, he had made more than 300 appearances for the part-timers of Hinckley while working as a PE teacher at various colleges in Coventry.

Storer continued to play until he was 42 and since 2013 has managed Bedworth United, where he is still in charge and also runs academies for boys and girls and A Level courses. He said: “I played until I was 42 at Hinckley in the Conference and then my legs gave way and I had to do something else in football.”

There’s a Michael Portillo style to Storer’s attire here and he admitted in a matchday programme article to having a penchant for “having a bizarre choice in clothing” as well as being an avid collector of hats.

United ‘product’ Oliver Norwood eventually fulfilled expectations

IT LOOKED LIKE the so-near-and-yet-so-far story of Oliver Norwood’s flirtation with the Premier League would end in disappointment.

Twice the former Manchester United reserve helped teams to win promotion from the second tier, only then to remain in that division when the sides he played for didn’t see him as a Premiership player.

It happened first of all with Brighton in their 2016-17 promotion under Chris Hughton.

The following campaign Norwood went on a season-long loan to Fulham and was at the heart of their midfield as they won promotion.

Fulham didn’t look to retain him, though, and for 2018-19 he was once again loaned out by Brighton; this time to Sheffield United.

Halfway through the season, they turned the loan into a permanent transfer and, after helping the Blades to win promotion, Norwood finally got his chance to show his skills in what amounted to an impressive return to the top-flight of English football.

How BBC’s Match of the Day Tweeted Norwood’s record

Born in Burnley on 12 April 1991, Norwood was only six when he first came to the attention of Manchester United, spotted playing for Fulledge Colts in his home town.

“My earliest football memory is being on trial at the Manchester United academy aged six and being totally overawed by it,” he told the Albion matchday programme. “I remember standing there at The Cliff, biting my fingernails, and the coach, Paul McGuinness, saying ‘Are you going to join in?’ After that, I was fine and it was really exciting to be part of the club’s academy.” He joined the Red Devils on schoolboy terms at seven and spent 15 years on their books, playing in the same youth teams as Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard.

During the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons, Norwood made appearances for United’s under-18 team and, ultimately, he signed on as a trainee in July 2007.

He became an under-18 regular in 2007-08 and also made his debut for the United reserve side. After netting nine goals in 28 appearances for the under-18s in 2008-09, Norwood was signed as a professional.

He was a reserve team regular in 2009-10 and said he owed a lot to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who was in charge of United reserves at that time.

“I owe a lot to Manchester United for the experiences and education I had there,” Norwood told the matchday programme, United Review. “The club taught me not just about football but life. I was taught how to be a good person.

“Ole played a huge role in terms of my development as a footballer and a person. The lessons he taught me in the reserves have stayed with me throughout my career.

“I’ll always be grateful to Manchester United, to Ole, to (former reserves manager) Warren Joyce, for the upbringing they gave me in the game.”

Norwood got a sniff of the first team when Sir Alex Ferguson called him up to the first team squad for a Champions League match away to Wolfsburg. He travelled with the squad to Germany but didn’t get selected in the final matchday 18.

In search of a first team breakthrough, Norwood decided to gain experience on loan with lower league clubs and his first port of call was Carlisle United in September 2010. Ironically, his first match was against Brighton – a 0-0 draw at Brunton Park. Unfortunately, after just five starts and two sub appearances, he tore a thigh muscle and had to cut short his loan and return to Old Trafford for treatment.

The following season, he went out on loan again, this time to League One Scunthorpe United where Alan Knill, Chris Wilder’s no.2 at Sheffield United, was the manager.

In an interview with the aforementioned Joyce, the former reserves manager explained how it was only a change in Norwood’s diet that started to bring about the required improvements to his game.

“I got him to write down everything he ate. And I meant everything. I said, ‘We have to look at your diet and get you absolutely super fit’. I told him we couldn’t allow the ability he had to be wasted.”

Joyce told The Athletic’s Richard Sutcliffe in a 23 June 2020 article: “Once we’d sat him down (after returning from Scunthorpe) and analysed everything, he got himself really ripped. He started eating the right things and worked so hard to get into shape. He is getting the rewards from that now.”

Norwood spent the second half of the 2011-12 season in Coventry City’s unsuccessful effort to beat the drop from the Championship but, having acquired a taste for football at that level, declined the offer of a contract extension on his return to Old Trafford.

He told Talksport at the time: “I want to play every week like I was this season in the Championship. It’s been the hardest decision in my life for me to make but there comes a time when you have to be realistic.”

He opted to join newly promoted Huddersfield Town in the Championship on a three-year contract, and Sutcliffe’s article reveals Norwood was so determined to make the move that he drove down to Heathrow Airport to apprehend holiday-bound Town manager Simon Grayson to persuade him to sign him.

Nevertheless, United boss Sir Alex Ferguson had some encouraging parting words that the midfielder never forgot. “You’re not going to make it at Manchester United, but I believe one day you will play in the Premier League.”

Norwood was a permanent fixture in the Terriers’ midfield for two seasons before switching to fellow Championship outfit Reading at the beginning of the 2014-15 season.

Signed by Nigel Adkins on 21 August, 11 days later he was joined at the Madejski by Glenn Murray, on loan from Crystal Palace.

When the Royals were hammered 6-1 by Birmingham City in mid-December, Adkins was sacked and replaced by Steve Clarke. His second game in charge, on Boxing Day, saw Reading visit the Amex, with Brighton under caretaker manager Nathan Jones. Murray scored twice for the visitors, but Albion rescued a point with a 90th minute equaliser from Inigo Calderon.

Norwood completed the season having made 35 appearances plus seven as a sub and although he made the second highest number of appearances – 50 – the following season, when the Royals visited the Amex on 15 March 2016, under Brian McDermott, their third manager of that campaign, Norwood was a non-playing sub as the Royals lost 1-0 to a James Wilson goal.

The next time the two sides met (a 2-2 draw at the Madejski on 20 August), Norwood was part of Chris Hughton’s squad, having signed for the Seagulls at the start of the 2016-17 season, along with Murray and Steve Sidwell. Norwood was a 68th-minute sub for Sam Baldock.

Manager Hughton said of Norwood: “Oliver is another excellent addition to our squad.

“He has a good grounding coming from Manchester United, and has a wealth of experience playing in the Championship and at international level.

“He’s a box-to-box midfielder and an excellent passer of the ball, so he gives us extra options in midfield and adds further depth to our squad.”

Although he played for England at youth level, he also qualified for Northern Ireland, and chose that country to enable him to experience more opportunities at international level.

Norwood made his full international debut during Nigel Worthington’s time as manager, coming on as a substitute in a 2-0 friendly defeat by Montenegro in Podgorica in August 2010.

He was a regular in Worthington’s successor Michael O’Neill’s midfield when the side qualified for Euro 2016 and played in all four of the team’s matches in the finals in France.

However, having made 57 appearances for his country, he decided in August 2019 to retire from international football when only 28.

Although Norwood made 20 starts for the Albion, he was almost as often used as a substitute, making 17 appearances off the bench, as the Seagulls soared to promotion.

Norwood had a starting berth when Beram Kayal was injured and he told the matchday programme: “This has been a big opportunity for me. The gaffer brought me to the football club and obviously I’ve been desperate to get into the team and play games.

Norwood had plenty to say

“Obviously I understand how football works. When the team’s winning and doing really well you have to bide your time, but an opportunity has come my way and it’s been important for me to grab it with both hands and do all I can to stay in the team.”

It has since transpired that the midfielder was most likely distracted by off-field issues during his season with the Seagulls, as thestar.co.uk reported.

“I went to Brighton after the 2016 Euros, and it was a difficult period in my life,” said Norwood. “My wife, Abigail, was pregnant and really ill, so we were living apart. My head wasn’t fully there.”

He told The Star he only fell in love with football again when he went on loan to Fulham, and subsequently was at loggerheads with Brighton when they didn’t accede to his request for a permanent move. “They said I could leave, but then turned down bids when they came in and started asking for silly things. I don’t think clubs realise sometimes that they’re messing with people’s lives. I had plenty of arguments, saying: ‘You don’t want me here, so let me go’.”

With Dale Stephens and Kayal the preferred central midfield pairing, plus the arrival of Davy Propper for Albion’s first season back amongst the elite, Hughton had been happy to let Norwood join Fulham on a season-long loan.

Norwood made 47 appearances for Fulham in 2017-18, particularly when filling in for the injured Tom Cairney until the Scot’s return from injury towards the end of the season.

His passing accuracy and all-round contribution were favourable, as this footballwhispers.com article assessed, and he proved a vital cog in their promotion via the play-offs when they beat Aston Villa 1-0 in the play-off final.

The website football.london was surprised Fulham didn’t opt to sign him permanently. “Norwood was a key figure under Slavisa Jokanovic, seamlessly plugging the gap left by Tom Cairney as a result of his injury and can be credited with a huge role in getting the club promoted in the first place, with his tackle on Conor Hourihane in the play-off final one that will forever be remembered by Fulham fans,” wrote Phil Spencer. “His vision and incisive passing was key to Fulham’s free-flowing style of play – meaning it was a little surprising that his loan switch to west London was never made permanent.”

Fans have contrasting views about his contribution, as this collection of quotes demonstrates. Some appreciated his ‘Hollywood’ long passes, others are perhaps summed up by this Fulham fan who said: “100% effort every time he played. Honest player. Not stellar but above average.”

Fulham’s loss was Sheffield United’s gain and in wishing Norwood well in his pursuit of more playing time with the Blades, Hughton told Albion’s website: “Ollie was one of our promotion-winning team in 2016-17 and will rightly be remembered as part of that historic team which took the club to the Premier League.”

Critics of Fulham’s strategy of splashing the cash on so-called name players for what proved to be an unsuccessful bid to retain their newly-won status in the Premier League couldn’t help pointing out the irony of Norwood’s situation.

“Fulham could only wave to Norwood on their way back down after ditching him for Jean Michel Seri,” said footyanalyst.com.

The Blades were promoted as runners up behind Norwich City in a season in which Norwood played 43 league games. He told The Observer’s Paul Doyle: “Last season was a big season for me. It was the most I’ve played. I’m definitely a better player now. At everything really. My understanding of the game. Tactically, technically, what needs to be done.”

He told Doyle: “It’s taken a bit longer than I would have liked but it was a dream come true to finally make the level that everybody across the world wants to play at.”

Norwood certainly seized the opportunity to shine at the top level, playing 40 games plus one as sub in all competitions as the Blades confounded the critics by finishing in ninth place, and taking on the captain’s armband in Billy Sharp’s absence.

Pictures from various online sources and the Albion matchday programme.

Krul luck as Ryan kept Dutch penalty ‘master’ at bay

AN international goalkeeper whose prowess at saving penalties took his country through to the World Cup semi-finals barely got a look-in between the sticks for Brighton.

Experienced Dutchman Tim Krul, who played 184 games for Newcastle United over 12 years, kept goal for the Seagulls on only five occasions during the 2017-18 season.

The form of Mat Ryan, himself an Australian international, meant Krul’s involvement was restricted to cup matches and a watching brief from the substitute’s bench.

Krul initially signed on a season-long loan deal on deadline day in August 2017 but the move was made permanent the day after he made his Albion first team debut in a 1-0 League Cup defeat at Bournemouth.

Manager Chris Hughton said: “I know Tim from my time at Newcastle and he is an excellent professional that has a vast amount of experience at both club and international level.

“He’s played an extensive amount of games in the Premier League, as well as playing in the Europa League and his experience will also help benefit the other keepers in the squad.”

Having experienced some in and out spells during his time on Tyneside, Krul understood the situation when interviewed by The Argus in November 2017.

“I’m working hard every day to push Mat Ryan. He’s done great so far and we’re picking up points, that’s what it’s all about.

“If the gaffer needs us or Mat got injured, I need to be ready and literally it can happen any second.”

Krul admitted: “It’s a different position for myself, because I’m used to playing week in, week out.”

The move to Albion had been the chance to reignite his career after a long spell on the sidelines having suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury on international duty in 2015.

Krul is powerless to stop Romelu Lukaku’s winning goal for Manchester United in Brighton’s FA Cup fifth round tie at Old Trafford

Before he made the move, he consulted Steve Harper, who’d been on loan at Brighton during the Gus Poyet era. Harper told the matchday programme: “I told him it woud be a great move for him and it will also be a great signing for the club. He was outstanding in the season Newcastle finished fifth in the Premier League and he’s an international ‘keeper for the Netherlands who has played at the World Cup.”

After he’d played in Albion’s FA Cup fifth round defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford, Krul told The Argus: “Obviously when I came, I was hoping to get a bit more (game time) maybe, but at the time I walked through the door Maty’s performances went up a level, so that is testament to him.

“The level we are training at with Ben Roberts every day is really high. He has been showing that in the games. I’ve been around long enough to see when a goalkeeper is playing well you take that. I’m 29, I’m back fit, I’m feeling better than I’ve ever done so I’m ready to play. I just have to be patient again.

“I had to be patient at the start of my career and you have to do that again now. But my chance will come. There’s a lot of years left.”

Krul finally got regular playing time again when he moved to Norwich City

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen with the Albion but Krul certainly resurrected his career with Norwich City and, after signing an initial two-and-a-half-year deal in the summer of 2018, earned a further three-and-a-half-year contract in December 2020.

He then contracted Covid-19, announcing it on Twitter, where he has a huge following of more than 349,000. “I feel under the weather and fatigued,” he wrote. “It’s an important reminder to stay safe, this virus is not a hoax.”

Thankfully, by the end of January, he had recovered and returned to the side to clock up 100 appearances for the Canaries.

Born in The Hague, Holland, on 3 April 1988, from a young age Krul played for his hometown club RAS and was with ADO Den Haag between the ages of 12 and 17. Graeme Souness was still boss when Krul joined Newcastle in the summer of 2005. Shay Given and Steve Harper were the established ‘keepers in those days.

Shortly after making his debut in a UEFA Cup match in November 2006, he suffered injuries which ruled him out of action for six months. After returning to playing in the spring of 2007, he earned a new four-year deal with Newcastle.

An eventful loan spell in Scotland followed as Krul sought to gain league experience at Falkirk. He conceded 11 goals in two games early on (four to Celtic, seven to Rangers), he was sent off in a game on 2 January 2008, and then dislocated a shoulder in a cup match against Aberdeen, bringing the loan to a premature end.

When Given left St James’ Park for Manchester City, Krul was no.2 behind Harper in Newcastle’s 2009-10 season in the Championship. He deputised if Harper was injured and was given starts in cup matches. By the season’s end, when the Toon had won promotion back to the Premier League, Krul was awarded a new four-year deal and made his debut at that level when replacing the injured Harper in a 1-0 win away at Everton in September 2010.

He ended that campaign having played 25 first team matches, and the following season, established himself as the no.1, with Rob Elliot as his deputy. Out-in-the-cold Harper was allowed to spend a month on loan with the Albion.

Under Alan Pardew, Krul was the preferred first choice ‘keeper, and he signed a five-year contract with the Magpies in 2012. Several different injuries in 2012-13 restricted him to 30 appearances.

Another six-week injury lay-off over Christmas 2014 interrupted a period when there was yet another managerial change on Tyneside and the 2015-16 season under Steve McLaren was only a couple of months old before Krul was ruled out for the remainder of the season when he ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee playing in the Netherlands’ 2-1 European Qualifiers win in Kazakhstan.

McLaren was sacked in March 2016 and his replacement Rafa Benitez couldn’t prevent them from being relegated. Krul signed a one-year contract extension in the summer of 2016 but, with Elliot and Karl Darlow ahead of him, he was sent on loan to Ajax as Newcastle successfully bounced back to the elite, pipping Albion to the Championship title.

Meanwhile, things didn’t work out as planned for Krul. He only got a handful of games for the Ajax reserve side and he spent the second half of the season at AZ Alkmaar instead.

Krul has played for his country at every age level and made his full international debut in a friendly against Brazil in 2011. Maarten Stekelenburg and Jasper Cillessen have normally been ahead of him but he has won 11 caps, including three in 2020 after a five-year absence from the side. However, it was what happened at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil that most fans will remember.

Head coach Louis van Gaal took off Cillessen in the final seconds of extra time with the Dutch still drawing 0-0 with Costa Rica and sent Krul on because of his reputation for saving penalties. Sure enough, he made two saves in the subsequent shoot-out and Holland went through to the semi-finals (where they went out 4-2 on penalties to Argentina).

The story behind the decision emerged in an article by Michael Bailey for The Athletic on 5 March 2020. The Dutch goalkeeping coach at the tournament, Frans Hoek, explained how Krul had responded best of the three ‘keepers to special training he put them through.

“When we came together with the national team, the three goalkeepers were more or less at the same level in stopping penalties. And that level was low,” Hoek told The Athletic. “We decided to do things in a different way and when you do that you have to believe in it, practice it and then show it. Basically, Tim responded best to that.

“He had some advantages. He’s very big, he has an enormous reach. He is impressive when you’re standing the other side of him and maybe because he’s from Den Haag area, he can be a little bit provocative. Michel Vorm is too nice a guy, so is Cillessen. But Tim can get away with it. It’s just something he has.”

A look back through the archives reveals Krul was displaying his prowess saving penalties as far back as his youth playing days. In an FA Youth Cup match for Newcastle against Brighton, he made saves from Tommy Fraser and Scott Chamberlain as Toon edged it 3-2 on penalties.

Albion goalkeeper coach Roberts was full of praise when asked about the big Dutch ‘keeper. “He has an aura about him and the self-belief to think he will save everything,” said Roberts. “I’m delighted for him as lots wrote him off when he had his bad knee injury. He’s since shown how much his hard work and dedication has paid off.”

After putting pen to paper on his new Norwich contract, Krul told the club website: “Proud is the big word. I’m excited to commit my future to Norwich and have had an amazing two and a half years already at this club, so I’m excited to add another three and a half years to that.

“The plan the club has got for the next few years is exciting and there’s some young, exciting talent coming through the ranks as well. From top to bottom, it’s a club I want to be at; one that’s run really well from Michael and Delia to the kitman. It’s an exciting time for the club, for sure.

“As a player, you want to be loved and I’ve got a great relationship with the fans. The club giving me this three-and-a-half-year contract shows the belief they’ve still got in me.”

Manager Daniel Farke added: “It’s fantastic news for us to have a player of Tim’s quality and personality. He’s by far the best goalkeeper in this league and was impressive in the Premier League.

“He’s still in a really good age for a goalkeeper and can play many more years. It’s good news he was willing to sign a long-term contract because there is lots of interest in a player of his quality and experience.”

Krul was a key part of Norwich’s Championship-winning sides of 2018-19 (when he was ever-present) and 2020-21. But in August 2023 he returned to the Premier League when he was signed by newly-promoted Luton Town.

Town boss Rob Edwards said: “Tim’s a leader and a top goalkeeper who is still very and ambitious and very hungry. He wants to play.

“It’s great to have someone of his level in the group with that ambition and to be that driven, and it’s going to add great competition to the goalkeeper department, which is what we’ve wanted.”

Pictures from online sources and matchday programmes.

‘Film star’ defender Osman’s cameo role for the Seagulls

RUSSELL OSMAN achieved lifelong fame for his appearance in the much-shown 1981 prisoner of war football film Escape to Victory but 17 appearances for Brighton in the latter stages of his career have largely been forgotten.

A cultured central defender who played in the same side as Jimmy Case at Southampton won 11 England caps at the peak of his game when a key part of Bobby Robson’s Ipswich Town side of the early 1980s.

He was 36 by the time he arrived on a monthly contract at third-tier Albion in September 1995 and what was happening on the pitch at that time was largely overshadowed by events off it.

News was emerging that the Goldstone Ground had been sold, leading to manager Liam Brady quitting in disgust in November 1995, passing on the reins to Case, who very reluctantly took on the job.

With Steve Foster and Stuart Munday struggling with injury, Brady brought in the experienced Osman to play alongside Paul McCarthy. His debut came in a 4-1 Auto Windscreens Shields game away to Cambridge United, the first of 12 successive games before Munday returned towards the end of November when Osman picked up a hamstring injury.

Meanwhile, Case pointed out in his first programme notes as manager, for the FA Cup game at home to Fulham on 14 December: “There is no secret he would still like to get back into management and we are happy to leave his position as it is on a month-to-month basis.”

Osman was back in the side for the 1-0 Boxing Day win away to Brentford and kept his place for the next two matches. But with Ross Johnson taking on the no.5 shirt, Osman got only one more start: in a 0-0 draw away to Hull City. He made one appearance as a sub in place of McCarthy and was twice a non-playing sub. As he turned 37, he took the opportunity to switch to Cardiff City, which, as the match day programme noted, was a lot closer to his Bristol home.

Born on 14 February 1959 in Repton, Derbyshire, Osman eventually followed in his dad Rex’s footsteps in becoming a professional footballer (Osman senior played for Derby County in the ‘50s), but it was rugby at which Russell excelled during schooldays at Burton on Trent Grammar. So much so that he played for England at under 15 level and captained his country as an under 16.

However, the sports-mad youngster also played football for his village team and when they reached the final of the Derby & District Cup, he was watched by Bobby Robson’s brother Tom, who lived in the area. “He came down and watched the game, we won the final and the next thing I knew I had a call from Ipswich to go on trial,” Osman said in an interview with the East Anglian Daily Times. “The rest is history. They were very good at getting kids to go on trial and they went that extra mile to make sure we were looked after and treated well.”

Osman recalls many aspects and anecdotes of his career on a blog, Golf, Football and Life, and he said he would be forever grateful for the dedication shown by Ipswich’s youth team coach, Charlie Woods, who became Robson’s right-hand man throughout his career.

“Charlie used to drive from Ipswich to my dad’s pub in Repton on a Friday to pick me up and take me back down to Ipswich, putting me up for the night in his and Pat’s house, just so that I could make the game on a Saturday morning,” he wrote. “I doubt that you would get many coaches who would make an eight-hour round trip just to get a schoolboy to a game.”

Osman became an apprentice at Portman Road in July 1975 and signed on as a professional in March 1976. Eventually, he and Terry Butcher took over the centre back roles previously filled by Northern Ireland international Allan Hunter and England international Kevin Beattie.

Osman in action for Ipswich against Arsenal’s Liam Brady, later to become his boss at Brighton

The 1980-1981 season was certainly momentous in Osman’s life. He played in 66 matches (including four for England) over the course of the season as Ipswich won the UEFA Cup, finished runners-up in the old First Division and reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

For a large part of the season, Town looked like they would win the First Division title for the first time since 1962 under Alf Ramsey but only three wins from the last 10 matches meant they had to settle for second place, four points behind Aston Villa.

At the end of the season, Robson asked the squad if any of them fancied spending the summer playing more football to help make a feature film. Osman and teammates John Wark, Kevin O’Callaghan, Robin Turner, Laurie Sivell, Paul Cooper and Beattie jumped at the chance and spent five weeks in Budapest making Escape to Victory, directed by the legendary John Huston.

The Escape to Victory football team which featured Osman (back, left)

Osman played the part of prison camp inmate Doug Clure and he has since talked and written about the experience, in July 2021 remembering the experience in an interview with a BBC reporter. Osman recounts how the Ipswich lads and other professionals such as Bobby Moore, Pelé, Mike Summerbee and Ossie Ardiles played football scenes alongside established actors Michael Caine and Sylvester Stallone.

Beattie was Caine’s ‘double’ in the football scenes and Cooper helped Stallone with goalkeeping skills. Turner and Sivell played for the German team and Osman, Wark and O’Callaghan had speaking roles.

“Michael was brilliant, he made all the lads feel at home on set by telling a few funny stories and taking all the tension out of the situation,” said Osman. “I managed to deliver my lines and we were off and running, literally.”

Osman’s first international football recognition came for England under 21s in February 1979 as a substitute for Billy Gilbert in a 1-0 win over Wales at Swansea. In September the same year, he got his first start at that level alongside his Ipswich teammate Butcher (in a 1-0 win over Denmark at Vicarage Road).

The first of Osman’s 11 full England caps came on 31 May 1980, in a 2-1 win v Australia in Sydney which was the game in which Peter Ward made his one and only appearance for the full England side, appearing as an 82nd minute substitute for Alan Sunderland.

Osman was 21 at the time and he went on to play in five competitive matches and five more friendlies, rather curiously only playing for his country on home soil three times, and only being on the winning side twice, both times against Australia.

Osman did make a couple of appearances for the England B side: on 26 March 1980 he played in a 1-0 win over Spain at Roker Park, Sunderland (Joe Corrigan was in goal) and later the same year, on 14 October, he was in the B team that beat the USA 1-0 at Old Trafford.

He had been in Ron Greenwood’s provisional squad of 40 for the 1982 World Cup but was not included in the final 22, Albion’s Foster getting the nod instead as reserve centre back.

Osman’s last international was on 21 September 1983, when England lost 1-0 to Denmark in a Euro 1984 qualifier, by which time his former club manager Robson had taken over from Greenwood, who’d given Osman his first six caps.

Although Ipswich challenged at the top of the First Division in 1981-82, they once again finished four points behind the champions, this time Liverpool, and after Robson left to take on the England manager’s job, the side was gradually broken up. Osman and Eric Gates both left in 1985.

After making 385 appearances for Town, Osman signed for Leicester City for £240,000 where he played 120 games under three different managers: Gordon Milne, Bryan Hamilton and David Pleat.

When the Foxes dropped down to the second tier, it was Southampton, and manager Chris Nicholl, who gave Osman – at 29 – the chance to play at the top level again.

A tribunal-determined fee of £325,000 took him to The Dell where he made his debut in the opening match of 1988-89, a 4-0 win over West Ham. He initially partnered Kevin Moore at the heart of their defence, then later Neil Ruddock.

“At Southampton I played just behind the great Jimmy Case, and what an experience that was,” Osman recalled. “Every day there would be something that made you smile about playing with Jimmy; well, it did if he was on your side anyway. Hard as a rock, cute and clever as a footballer, better than people gave him credit for, a wonderful passer of the ball. Sometimes his playing ability was overshadowed by his extravagances off the pitch!”

The Southampton FC player archive enthusiastically records Osman’s time with the Saints, which was largely successful at first. With Alan Shearer, Rod Wallace and Matt Le Tissier scoring the goals, the side finished seventh in the table. But they couldn’t sustain that success the following season and Nicholl was sacked. Writer Duncan Holley on sporting-heroes.net recalled: “One of the manager’s last actions had been to sanction the signing of Jon Gittens from Swindon and Russell had been displaced for the final run in.”

Nicholl’s successor, Ian Branfoot, picked Osman at left-back for the opening four games of the 1991-92 season but, as Osman told Ian Carnaby in a 2007 interview: “The day Ian Branfoot walked through the door, my Southampton career was over. All those years I’d been a centre-half, but he thought I’d make a good left-back.”

Osman joined Bristol City on loan initially before making the move permanent for a £60,000 fee, and he put down roots in the city. After about a year as a player, manager Jimmy Lumsden was sacked and Osman, as a senior player, was asked to take temporary charge.

However, Denis Smith, sacked as Sunderland boss in December 1991, took over at City in March 1992, with Osman named player-assistant manager. In a 2020 Facebook interview, Osman somewhat sharply said: “Denis Smith didn’t last too long because he wasn’t a very good manager, so they offered me the job.”

That happened in January 1993 and he remained in the manager’s chair at Ashton Gate just short of two years. He steered City to mid-table finishes in 1993 and 1994.

A look through City fans’ forum One Team In Bristol (otib.co.uk) reveals mixed opinions about Osman’s time in charge although some believed he was dealt a raw hand by the Ashton Gate hierarchy. It was said he was dismissed after the directors called him in and said they wanted European football within 10 years. Under Osman’s successor, Joe Jordan (appointed in November 1994), the Robins were relegated.

One significant highlight from Osman’s City reign was leading them to a shock 1-0 win at Anfield in a FA Cup third round replay in January 1994, a result which brought an end to Graeme Souness’ time as Liverpool manager.

Hailed as “the class of ‘94 etching their names into the club’s roll of honour” the achievement was apparently masterminded in the club’s canteen a few days earlier when Osman and his assistant Tony Fawthrop decided to deploy Brian Tinnion just behind the strikers instead of out wide, and he ended up scoring the only goal of the game.

After Osman’s departure from Ashton Gate, his next stop was Plymouth Argyle, where his old Ipswich teammate Steve McCall was a key player in Peter Shilton’s side.

When Shilton left, McCall took charge of the Pilgrims for two months as temporary player-manager, then Osman took over the running of the side for the last few weeks of the season. However, because of an ongoing legal case with Bristol City, Osman couldn’t be given the title manager or receive payment. He was known as ‘adviser of team affairs’. The arrangement didn’t last, though, because Argyle appointed Neil Warnock as manager that summer.

It was three months later that Osman took up Brady’s offer of a return to playing with Brighton. After moving on from the Goldstone in February 1996, Osman signed for Cardiff City as a player.

Team manager Phil Neal left to become Steve Coppell’s assistant at Manchester City in October 1996, director of football Kenny Hibbitt took charge for a month, then Osman ran the side for a month. He took the managerial reins in time for a first-round FA Cup clash with non-league Hendon. The Bluebirds made hard work of a 2-0 win, but earned a second-round tie against Gillingham, which they lost 2-0.

Osman remained working under Hibbitt until January 1998 when, according to one observer, he “departed due to draw fatigue” (over the season, City drew an astonishing 23 matches out of 46, only winning nine times) and was replaced by the returning Frank Burrows.

Direct involvement in the game has since been sporadic. He and Kevan Broadhurst were appointed as caretaker managers of Bristol Rovers until the end of the season on 22 March 2004 but they were only in charge for just over a month as former Oxford United boss Ian Atkins was appointed manager on 26 April.

Three years later, former Southampton teammate Paul Tisdale recruited Osman as interim assistant manager and, between February 2011 and August 2013 he was assistant academy coach back at Ipswich when ex-Albion striker Sammy Morgan was the academy manager.

Osman had a hand in Ipswich taking on Tyrone Mings. Mings was playing for the same non-league Chippenham team as Osman’s son Toby and Osman senior recommended him to Town boss Mick McCarthy, as he explained to the East Anglian Daily Times.

After he left Ipswich, Osman embarked on a co-commentator / pundit career covering Indian football, initially working alongside the veteran commentator John Helm. It involved travelling extensively in India although he was latterly based in a Mumbai studio – until Covid-19 restrictions intervened.

One brief hiatus to that career came in the summer of 2015 when he was invited by his old Ipswich defensive partner, Butcher, to be his assistant at Newport County. Unfortunately, the partnership was short-lived. They were sacked just a few months into the new season after a string of poor results.

Pundit Osman meets up with ex-Albion boss Steve Coppell, boss of Kerala Blasters

Aside from sharing his views on Indian football, ever the all-round sportsman Osman is a keen golfer, cyclist and runner, and espouses the energy and recovery powers of a juicing diet, having fresh vegetable juice and fruit juice smoothies every day.

Osman uses his blog to cover a variety of topics, he has 5,100 followers on Twitter, and, during lockdown in 2020, took part in an interesting online interview with India-based The View and Reviews Show.

Osman shares thoughts about his career and the wider game in an online interview

“I have worked in the media for 20 years now,” Osman said in an interview for Kings of Anglia magazine. “I worked for Eurosport, starting prior to the Euro 2000 championships and I go a long way back with them and the BBC. I also started working in India through a contact I made at Eurosport about 15 years ago.”

Pictures from a variety of online sources, and matchday programmes.

‘Rolls’ Royce was surprise Christmas presence at QPR

IN THE DAYS before wall-to-wall media coverage of all things football, I can remember turning up at Loftus Road to watch a Boxing Day match between QPR and Brighton and wondering who on earth was in goal for the Albion.

It was in the Second Division days when Michel Kuipers was an almost permanent fixture between the sticks for the Seagulls (he’d played 46 consecutive games). But, on 26 December 2001, there was a stranger behind Danny Cullip and Simon Morgan.

He was certainly a stranger to the players, who’d only met him a few hours before kick-off, but, thankfully, he was well known to manager Peter Taylor.

It turned out, Kuipers had pulled a thigh muscle in the previous Saturday’s 2-2 draw at home to Chesterfield and, rather than chance rookie Will Packham, Taylor opted for an experienced ‘keeper who he’d signed twice before.

Taylor had hastily gone back to his previous employer, Leicester City, on Christmas Eve, to sign Simon Royce on loan to cover the period Kuipers was indisposed.

Royce did well to keep a clean sheet in what finished a 0-0 draw, having not had a chance to train with his new teammates.

It transpired Royce had only met them a few hours earlier, at Reigate, en route to Shepherd’s Bush, as the Argus reported, having spent Christmas Day with his family at his Essex home.

Royce managed to pull off decent saves in each half of the encounter at Loftus Road, stopping a goalbound Danny Shittu header in the first half and dealing with a 20-yard shot from crowd favourite Doudou in the second.

Albion’s Paul Watson hit the bar with one of his trademark free-kicks early in the second half while Cullip went close to breaking the deadlock from a Watson corner, only for his header to be cleared off the line by Karl Connolly.

Taylor knew what he was getting with Royce having signed him for both Southend United and the Foxes, where, under Taylor’s successor, Dave Bassett, the ‘keeper had slipped down the pecking order following a bout of laryngitis.

“I had been second choice all season at Leicester, but the way Dave Bassett works, if you are ill or injured he changes it and you have to work your way back,” Royce told the Argus. “I did so well last year, but, when you don’t play, you get forgotten just as quickly.”

He added: “I had been ill a couple of weeks before, so I had lost my place on the bench at Leicester.

“I’d not really played much reserve team football for three or four weeks, so when Peter asked me if I fancied playing a few games I jumped at the chance. It’s nice to keep yourself match fit.”

Royce admitted knowing the manager certainly helped him to drop down two divisions for the chance to play, but the main reason was to get some games under his belt.

“Dropping down a couple of divisions doesn’t bother me at all,” he said. “It’s still a decent standard and Brighton are flying high.

“There are some very good teams in the Second Division, like QPR and Blackpool, so it’s not a problem. I’ve played in the Second Division before with Southend and I quite enjoyed it.

“This is a perfect opportunity for me to get some games in and let people know I am still around.”

Royce was delighted to start his spell with a clean sheet – but that was as good as it got because he conceded 13 goals in the other five matches he played.

Three days after his debut, he let in two but saved a penalty in a 2-2 draw at Blackpool. Albion’s 10-game unbeaten away league record shuddered to a halt in a 3-0 defeat at Wigan, during which Royce needed treatment after being clattered by a Latics striker.

Physio Malcolm Stuart tends to the clattered Royce at Wigan

When Royce finally got to make his Withdean debut, against Cambridge United, he spoiled the occasion with a gaffe, pushing a long-range shot from Paul Wanless into the path of Luke Guttridge for an easy tap-in. Thankfully a Bobby Zamora hat-trick meant the Seagulls prevailed 4-3.

Royce’s penultimate game was a 2-1 win away to Chesterfield but three days later he bowed out in ignominy as Albion were thumped 4-0 by Steve Coppell’s Brentford in a live ITV Digital match, Ivar Ingimarsson and Steve Sidwell scoring two of the Bees goals.

Born in Forest Gate, London, on 9 September 1971, Royce began his football career with non-League Heybridge Swifts while working as a painter and decorator. At the age of 20, a £35,000 fee took him to Southend, signed by former Chelsea defender David Webb, who was managing the Shrimpers back then.

He made his debut for Southend in a 3-1 home win over Grimsby Town in March 1992.

In seven seasons at Roots Hall, Royce made 169 appearances in Divisions One and Two, a couple of them under Taylor, before getting a move to Premier League Charlton Athletic on a Bosman free transfer.

Addicks boss Alan Curbishley briefly promoted him from third to first choice when Andy Petterson was loaned out to Portsmouth and Sasa Ilic lost form. He kept four clean sheets in a row in eight Premier League matches in the 1998-99 season, but injury issues then sidelined him. He didn’t feature at all in the 1999-00 season and, with the arrival of Dean Kiely at The Valley, decided to link up again with Taylor at Leicester, again moving on a Bosman ‘free’.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better move,” Royce told the Daily Gazette. “I played under Peter at Southend and I can’t wait to work with him again because he’s a great coach.

“He had a hard time at Roots Hall, but Peter has matured into an excellent manager in recent years, picking up valuable experience with both the England under-21 side and Gillingham.

“I owe Peter a lot. He knew I was out of contract at Charlton this summer, but he promised me that he would take me to whatever club he was at this year.

“At the time we spoke, Peter was still with Gillingham and I’d have been happy to play for him there in the First Division. But Peter got the Leicester job and he has remained true to his word and brought me on board.”

Initially an understudy to Tim Flowers, Royce had a run of 19 Premier League matches in the second half of the 2000-01 season, keeping clean sheets on seven occasions.

David Lacey, the renowned football writer for The Guardian, even hinted at international recognition for him, after newly installed England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson had been to watch Ipswich Town beat Leicester 2-0 at Portman Road.

“Eriksson was here primarily to run an eye over Richard Wright, Ipswich’s once capped goalkeeper, although, since Wright had so little to do, he must have gone away more impressed by Simon Royce, whose saves kept alive Leicester’s hopes of a point,” wrote Lacey. “Royce, back in the Leicester side because of another injury to Tim Flowers, showed excellent agility and anticipation in keeping out headers from Alun Armstrong and Matt Holland as Ipswich increasingly dominated the match.”

Taylor told the journalist: “Simon Royce’s goalkeeping was the only positive thing to come out of our own performance.”

Any hopes Royce had of taking over the no.1 shirt permanently at Leicester were dashed when Taylor paid £2.5m to install Ian Walker as his first choice ‘keeper.

After his loan spell at Brighton, he went on a similar arrangement to Manchester City later that same season, although he didn’t play any first team games.

The following season he went on loan to QPR, where he featured 17 times.

On his release from Leicester, he moved back to Charlton on a two-year contract, but made only one Premier League appearance in 2003-04.

He was quite literally a loan Ranger in 2004-05, initially playing a couple of games for Luton Town and then returning to QPR, making 13 appearances in their Championship side.

He made a permanent move to Loftus Road in 2005 and, in an away game at Stoke City, was in the news when caught up in a crowd invasion, although manager Ian Holloway said his ‘keeper was fine: “Simon Royce is a big lad and he can look after himself.”

Royce recounted the incident in an interview for brentfordfc.com. “We’d won the game 2-1. I always kept a towel and a water bottle by my left-hand post, so I bent down to pick them up and felt someone jump on my back.

“At first, I assumed it was a team-mate because we’d won the game, but then I looked down and saw a pair of trainers and felt a blow to the back of my head. It was a Stoke supporter who’d run on to the pitch, shouting ‘I’m going to do you, Roycey!’

“I had my hand on the post so managed to pick him up and throw him in the net. After that the stewards rushed on and we had more supporters on the pitch – it was complete mayhem. The fan in question was sentenced to four months in prison for assault.”

Royce managed to hold down a regular starting berth for the first time in several years during his time in west London, playing 32 games in 2005-06 and 22 in 2006-07.

However, he was back on the loan circuit, briefly, when in April 2007 he moved to League One Gillingham to play in their last three games of the season.

During the summer break, he signed for the Kent club on a permanent basis. He featured in 36 matches in the 2007-08 season, and was named Supporters’ Player of the Year, although the Gills were relegated.

When Royce penned a new one-year deal in the summer of 2008, manager Mark Stimson told the club website: “I’m delighted with Simon’s decision.  He’s going to be a vital player for us next season and one that we will need to help get this club back to where we want to be.”

He was first-choice ‘keeper throughout the 2008-09 season, making 49 appearances as Gills were promoted back to League One via the League Two play-off final at Wembley. Royce, by then 38, said keeping a clean sheet as Gillingham beat Shrewsbury Town 1-0 was one of his career highlights. Former Seagulls Albert Jarrett and Mark McCammon were on the Gillingham subs bench that day.

Unfortunately, in December 2009, Royce sustained several injuries in a car accident.

Stimson told BBC Radio Kent: “His knee is in a bad way and he has a bad neck. He’s going to be out for a couple of weeks. He’s had a scan on his knee, we should get the results of that this week.

“He’s also had X-rays on his neck. I’m praying it’s just a couple of weeks because he’s a big player for us. Until we get the scan results we have to wait and see. He’s been a big part of it. He’ll be missed.”

As it turned out, Royce never regained the no.1 spot from Alan Julian, who’d stepped in to replace him, and he left Gillingham at the end of the season to take up a goalkeeper coaching job at Brentford, during which time former Albion no.2 David Button was among the goalkeepers he helped to develop.

Royce eventually left Griffin Park in the summer of 2018 after eight seasons with the Bees.In thanking him for his contribution, Phil Giles, Brentford’s co-director of football, told the club website: “He leaves behind a fantastic legacy, having developed some top goalkeepers during his time here, including Simon Moore, David Button, Dan Bentley, Jack Bonham and Luke Daniels.”

He returned to Gillingham as goalkeeper coach for the 2019-20 season, working with Bonham once again, and on 28 September 2019, at the age of 48, suddenly found himself on the substitute’s bench for Gills’ away game against Oxford United when reserve goalkeeper Joe Walsh suffered an injury just before kick-off. His previous involvement in a competitive match had been more than eight years earlier, for Brentford, in a 4-1 defeat to Dagenham & Redbridge.

Royce remained on the bench as Oxford won 3-0 and, at the season’s end, he left Priestfield as part of a Covid-related cost-cutting measure.

Pictures from various online sources.

Ridgy rides in to shore up injury-ravaged defence

FORMER WEST BROM defender Liam Ridgewell played six games on loan for Brighton in the early part of 2016.

Ridgewell helped out when first choice left-back Gaetan Bong and deputy Liam Rosenior were both out injured.

He made six starts, starting in the FA Cup away to his old boss Steve Bruce’s Hull City, who won the tie with a single goal. His next game was also away, at Rotherham United, where Albion went down 2-0.

After that, he was on the winning side four times, as Albion beat Blackburn Rovers away and Huddersfield, Brentford and Bolton at home.

Albion’s matchday programme devoted a double-page spread to the loanee

Brighton wanted to extend the experienced defender’s loan but his parent club – MLS (Major League Soccer) outfit Portland Timbers – wouldn’t allow it and he returned to the States.

Albion manager Chris Hughton told The Argus: “He has certainly brought us a wealth of experience. We have to abide by the situation. In any way we could extend it for whatever, a further week or so, we’d be delighted to be able to do that, but I certainly can’t speak out of turn when he’s not our player.

Ridgewell returned to Portland Timbers after his brief loan with the Seagulls

“We have to respect everything his parent club want. He has certainly fitted in very well.”

Ridgewell explained the background to joining the Seagulls in an Argus interview with Andy Naylor, and on clinching the deal, Hughton said: “I know Liam very well from my time as manager at Birmingham City, and he is an excellent and important addition for us.

“He will bring extra experience to our defence at a crucial time and will give me an option both in the centre of defence and at left-back.

“Liam has played the vast majority of his career in the Premier League with more than 350 senior appearances and he’s also got experience of the Europa League and Championship from his time at Birmingham.”

Born in Bexleyheath on 21 July 1984, Ridgewell went to Bexleyheath School and was on West Ham’s books for two years between 1999 and 2001.

After looking at the quality of players breaking through there, he took the bold decision to quit the Hammers and join Aston Villa’s youth set-up instead, which he spoke about in an interview with the Birmingham Mail.

“I had looked at what was already in the team – you had Michael Carrick coming through, Joe Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Richard Garcia – and I thought it might be time for a change.

“I was a south London boy, grew up around there and had all my friends there. But I thought if I got away it might focus me a bit more. It was a tough decision.

A youthful-looking Ridgewell made his breakthrough with Aston Villa

“I used to leave school early on a Friday afternoon to travel up to Villa for the weekends.

“I used to get the bus from my house to the train station, get a tube from Charing Cross to Euston and a train from London up to Birmingham all on my own.”

After joining Villa in February 2001, he was part of their 2002 FA Youth Cup winning side. They beat an Everton team featuring Wayne Rooney 4-2 over two legs. Villa’s goalkeeper was another Wayne – Henderson – who would later move to Brighton. The side also included Steven Davis, who went on to play for Southampton.

In the same year, Ridgewell was selected for the England under-19s and was sent out on loan to AFC Bournemouth, then in Division 3, where he made his league debut as part of a five-game loan spell.

Back at Villa Park, former England boss Graham Taylor gave him his first-team debut in a FA Cup tie against Blackburn in January 2003 when he came on as a substitute in a 4-1 defeat. He had to wait until December that year before getting his Premier League bow, again as a substitute, but this time in a 3-0 win over Fulham. He went on to make 11 appearances by the season’s end.

Under David O’Leary and, for a season, Martin O’Neill, Ridgewell made a total of 93 appearances for Villa before making what some fans would consider a controversial move.

In August 2007, Ridgewell became the first Villa player in 23 years to be transferred to bitter city rivals Birmingham. Des Bremner, brother of one-time Brighton striker Kevin, had been the last one, in 1984.

Steve Bruce’s £2m signing then found himself wearing the captain’s armband on his debut. “It’s one of the greatest achievements in my career,” Ridgewell told the Birmingham Mail. “It’s a real honour. I thank the gaffer for that. Hopefully I can continue as captain for a few more games before a few of the others come back in.

“It was fantastic to do it. I only found out before the game when we were on the pitch. The gaffer came up to me and asked would I have any problems doing it? I said none at all. It’s what I’m made for, it’s what I want to do. I want to captain sides and have a responsibility on me.”

Ridgewell subsequently played under Alex McLeish and Hughton for the Blues, winning promotion back to the Premier League in 2009 and the League Cup in 2011.

After a total of 175 appearances in four years, and on the back of a 6-0 win for Birmingham at Millwall, Ridgewell joined West Brom on deadline day in January 2012.

Ridgewell settled in quickly at West Brom

He couldn’t have wished for a better debut, as Albion recorded a memorable 5-1 win over Black Country rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The Baggies were managed by Roy Hodgson at the time and, having initially been flirting with relegation from the Premier League, stayed up with results like a 4-0 victory over Sunderland and a 1-0 win over Chelsea that cost Andre Villas-Boas his job.

“Roy Hodgson was brilliant,” Ridgewell told The Athletic, in an interview in 2020.  “Roy knew how to make players feel and perform better than they were,” he said. “Everything was positional based. He let you do your own thing but he gave you the tools and the words to make sure you did it to the best of your ability in your own position. It was a clear message for me of how a manager gets the best out of players.”

When Hodgson left to manage England, Ridgewell continued as a Baggies regular for the next two seasons under Steve Clarke. Baggies escaped the drop by just three points in 2014, after Pepe Mel had taken over the managerial hotseat in January.

That summer, Ridgewell wanted to try something different and headed for the States to join Major League Soccer’s Portland Timbers.

In his five years with the Timbers, one of his highlights was captaining the side to a 2-1 MLS Cup win over Columbus Crew, a few weeks before his loan spell with Brighton during the American season’s winter break.

The previous season he’d returned to the UK in a similar arrangement to play six games on loan for Wigan Athletic in the Championship.

Ridgewell spoke about his time in the States on his return to the UK in January 2019, when he joined Hull City until the end of the season.

Back in the UK, Ridgewell spent half a season at Hull City

“I wanted to try something different and go out there with an open mind,” he told the Hull Daily Mail. “The league is completely different to what a lot of people expect. It’s grown bigger and stronger. I feel as fresh and as fit as when I first went there.”

To illustrate the point, he mentioned how he’d been up against the likes of Miguel Almiron, who subsequently joined Newcastle United for £20m.

“I loved it, it was great, really refreshing for me. It gave me another lease of life. It was something I needed to do, and I really loved it.”

In the summer of 2019, Ridgewell joined League One Southend United, but, having made only one appearance by December, quit playing to take up coaching.

He took to Instagram to reflect on his career, writing: “Football has given me the best life any little boy could wish for. There have been some massive highs and lows but now it’s time to hang up my boots and move on to the next chapter of my career.

“I’d like to say a massive thank you to all the coaches and managers who moulded me into the player I was. A special thank you to the late, great Graham Taylor for giving me my debut and the reason I was able to pursue my dream.”

In April 2020, Ridgewell spoke at length to Gregg Evans for an article on The Athletic, describing how lockdown had interrupted his plans to drop in on some of his old managers to gain knowledge and information in pursuit of his goal of becoming a manager.

“Moving into management has always been my aim,” he said. “I’ve always had a speaking role at every club I’ve been at. Whether it’s on the training pitch or during a game, I’ve always tried to help people out, too. With me being so vocal, I try to marshal teams in a certain way.”

He did some work with Aston Villa’s youngsters towards the end of 2020 but took on his first official coaching post in December 2020, as first team coach at Dover Athletic under former Gillingham boss Andy Hessenthaler.

It’s no surprise to discover Ridgewell (or Ridgy 6 as he’s known) has a veritable army of followers on Twitter – more than 42,000. Away from football, Ridgewell co-owns luxury swimwear business Thomas Royall, with fellow footballers John Terry and Sam Saunders.

Pictures from various online sources, and the Albion matchday programme.

‘Genuine football man who turned people’s lives around’

George Petchey twice stepped up from backroom man to Albion caretaker manager

THE FORMER Orient and Millwall manager who introduced Laurie Cunningham to the football world was twice caretaker boss of Brighton ten years apart.

George Petchey, once a player then coach at Crystal Palace, was assistant manager to Chris Cattlin in the mid ‘80s and returned to Brighton in the ‘90s as youth development manager under Liam Brady, before becoming no.2 to Jimmy Case.

Working for the Albion was certainly geographically convenient for Petchey because, even when he played, coached or managed in London, he lived in Southwick.

Petchey first arrived at the Albion in 1983 to take charge of youth development and, as described by wearebrighton.com, was the man responsible for introducing Ian Wright on trial, having been impressed when the future Arsenal and England star had tried to begin his career at Millwall, where Petchey was manager between January 1978 and November 1980.

It’s now part of football folklore that Albion rejected Wright and Cattlin opted to take on another triallist, Steve Penney, instead. Meanwhile, in November 1984, Petchey was promoted to assist the relatively inexperienced Cattlin with the first team.

Although he was seen as a figure in the background, a profile article in the matchday programme gave a little insight into his approach.

“I can’t understand people who earn a living from football and still criticise the game,” he told interviewer Tony Norman. “I’ve been involved with it since the age of 14 and I wouldn’t change a thing.

“Molly (his wife) and I have met a lot of good people. We’ve loved the game and it has been good to us. No complaints.”

When Cattlin was sacked in April 1986, Petchey stepped up to manage the side for the final game of the season (a 2-0 defeat away to Hull City) before Alan Mullery returned as boss.

Petchey’s second stint at the Albion began in January 1994, shortly after Brady had been appointed as manager. With finances perilous during that time, bringing through youngsters was seen as an important route and Petchey was appointed to oversee that side of things.

In explaining the appointment, Brady wrote in his programme notes: “I don’t think there are many better in their field than George Petchey.

“He has had a lot of experience at management level and he has always been able to develop young players and this is something we are determined to do here.”

Brady had been to watch the youth team progress in the FA Youth Cup and he added: “There are several outstanding prospects in the side and I am sure George will guide them in the right direction.”

Within a couple of months, Brady had given a first team debut to one of them in Mark Fox.

The Argus later noted how Gareth Barry was among the young players who came through Albion’s centre of excellence under Petchey, Vic Bragg and Steve Avory.

Petchey became no.2 to Jimmy Case, pictured with George Parris in an Albion line-up

When Brady couldn’t stomach the shenanigans of the Bill Archer-David Bellotti regime any longer, Case took charge and promoted Petchey to be his deputy, but with the background interference affecting performances on the field, Case was relieved of his duties in early December 1996.

Petchey stepped forward once again to take temporary charge, although he made it clear he didn’t want the job on a permanent basis. Indeed, he recommended two of his former Orient players be considered for the post.

“I was asked for my suggestions and I recommended Dennis Rofe and Glenn Roeder,” said Petchey, who was 65 at the time. “Hopefully, it will be one of them.”

It was perhaps par for the course that the hierarchy decided to choose someone else, and, within a week, Steve Gritt was appointed.

When Petchey – the first English coach to complete his UEFA coaching qualifications – died aged 88 on 23 December 2019, the tributes paid to him reflected the impact this highly respected football man had on a good many people.

The football writer Neil Harman said: “We often overlook the genuine, honest people, who made football what it is, who went the extra mile, who turned people’s lives around. RIP the great Leyton Orient manager George Petchey who set Laurie Cunningham and many others on the road to stardom.”

David Gipp, a Brighton player in the late ‘80s, tweeted: “took me from London at 14; taught me so much” and John Sitton, who played under Petchey at Millwall, described him as “one of the best managers in the game”.

Born on 24 June 1931 in Whitechapel, London, Petchey’s early footballing experience was in Essex with the Romford and Hornchurch Schools teams. The excellent theyflysohigh.co.uk website details his career, revealing how, on leaving school he played for Upminster Minors and Juniors from 1945 to 1947 before joining West Ham United as an amateur in August 1947.

He signed professional on August 31, 1948, and two days later made his first appearance as a professional against Chelsea ‘A’ at Upton Park in the Eastern Counties League.  

The website explains how National Service interrupted Petchey’s career, although he was still able to play fairly regularly for the Hammers’ ‘A’ team and Football Combination side. It wasn’t until 1 September 1952 that he made his senior debut at the age of 21, playing alongside Ernie Gregory, Malcolm Allison and Frank O’Farrell in a goalless Second Division draw with Hull City at the Boleyn Ground.

Wearing the no.10 shirt, Petchey kept his place for the next game, a 2-1 home defeat by Birmingham City, but he only made one other first-team appearance, on 13 November that year, starting alongside Allison, Noel Cantwell and debuting forward Tommy Dixon in a 3-2 Essex Professional Cup win at Colchester United.

A wing-half, he was described by whufc.com as “a tough-tackling, hard-working defensive midfielder who could also pass the ball with vision and accuracy”.

In July 1953, Petchey moved on to Queens Park Rangers, scoring on his league debut in a 2-1 win at Bristol City on 22 August. Even then, he was commuting to London from Portslade.

QPR supporter Steve Russell spoke fondly of Petchey in an article for indyrs.co.uk, remembering a “tough-tackling, fearless, dynamic” player who took no prisoners.

Petchey scored 24 goals in 278 league and cup appearances for QPR, in the days when they were a Third Division side.

He dropped down to the old Fourth Division to sign for Palace in June 1960 but helped them to promotion in his first season at Selhurst Park.

Petchey’s playing days at Palace came to an early conclusion due to a serious eye injury but the esteem in which he was held was reflected in the quality of players on show at his testimonial match at Selhurst Park on 15 November 1967.

Palace took on an international XI which featured West Ham’s World Cup winning trio of Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters, together with the likes of Chelsea’s Peter Osgood and Manchester City’s Colin Bell in front of a crowd of 10,243.

Petchey turned to coaching at Palace, initially under Arthur Rowe and then Bert Head, under whom Palace won promotion to the old First Division in 1969. That side’s goalkeeper, John Jackson – who subsequently followed Petchey to Orient, Millwall, and the Albion as a coach – attributed his achievements to Petchey, telling cpfc.co.uk: “He used to work me hard but the harder you worked at your game the more you learned and the better you would become.

Petchey the Crystal Palace coach

“He made me a more confident player which led to me being more vocal behind the back four, and I always remember Thursday being called shooting practice day so it would become a session where I would put in a massive shift!”

When Jimmy Bloomfield was lured from Brisbane Road to manage Leicester City in 1971, the Os turned to Petchey to continue to build the side the former Arsenal player had developed.

He did just that over six Second Division seasons between 1971 and 1977, Petchey recruiting a number of players who’d previously played under him at Palace; the likes of goalkeeper Jackson, John Sewell, David Payne, Bill Roffey, Alan Whittle and Gerry Queen.

They came agonisingly close to winning promotion to the elite, missing out by a single point in 1973-74, and they took some notable scalps as cup giant-killers.

It was during his reign at Brisbane Road that Petchey discovered Tony Grealish playing on Hackney Marshes and unearthed the raw talent of the mercurial Cunningham, who he would later reluctantly sell for big money to West Bromwich Albion.

Petchey and his assistant Peter Angell carefully nurtured the young Cunningham, hoping his obvious talent would outweigh some of the demons in his life.

“We had one or two problems with him in the early days,” admitted Petchey, as told here. “There was a time when Peter Angell and I wondered if we could win Laurie over. He had to struggle in life and was the sort of youngster who was used to living on his wits.

“He was suspicious of people outside his own circle. He took a long time to trust other people. He often turned up late for training, the eyes flashed when we fined him, but for all that I loved the spark that made him tick.”

Cunningham later admitted: “It was George Petchey and Peter Angell who showed me that the only person who could make my dreams come true was, in fact, myself.”

Petchey gave 18-year-old Cunningham his first-team debut in the short-lived Texaco Cup tournament against West Ham at Upton Park on 3 August 1974. Although Orient lost 1–0, Petchey said afterwards: “It took him a little time to get adjusted to the pace of the game but I was delighted with the way he played from then on. He has a natural talent. He has the speed and agility to take on men. He never gives up. There’s a big future ahead for him.”

Cunningham’s rise to playing for England and Real Madrid was told in the 2013 documentary film First Among Equals and Petchey was a prominent interviewee featured.

Petchey talks about Laurie Cunningham for First Among Equals

When eventually Orient couldn’t resist big money offers for him any longer, the winger went to West Brom for £110,000 plus two players (Joe Mayo and Allan Glover) on 6 March 1977.

“I did not want to sell him, but we were over our limit at the bank and West Brom were ready with a cheque,” said Petchey at the time. “Obviously I’m very disappointed at losing a player who I have seen progress from the age of 15 and I think he was as reluctant to leave as we were to see him go. But it was an offer of First Division football which he could not refuse.”

Petchey enjoyed less success at Millwall. Although he managed to stave off relegation after succeeding Gordon Jago in early 1978, the Lions were relegated from the second tier the following season.

It was during that term he bought Brighton winger Tony Towner for £65,000 after the Sussex lad had lost his place to new signing Gerry Ryan. It wasn’t all doom and gloom though because Millwall’s youngsters won the FA Youth Cup in 1979, beating Manchester City 2-0 (over two legs).

After he’d left the Albion for a second time, Petchey continued to work in football, appointed chief scout at Newcastle United by Sir Bobby Robson, and he later took on a coaching role.

Villa cup winner and captain Pat Saward led Albion to promotion

A FORMER Aston Villa captain and 1957 FA Cup winner steered Brighton to the first promotion I witnessed on my Albion journey.

Genial Irishman Pat Saward, who lived in my hometown of Shoreham during his time as Albion boss, galvanised a squad not expected to be promoted from the third tier and took them up as runners up behind his former club in 1972.

As the champagne flowed in the Goldstone Ground home dressing room, Saward took centre stage surrounded by his blue and white stripe-shirted heroes.

When the promotion tilt had looked like faltering, he’d been bold enough to make drastic changes to the side before a top of the table clash with Villa in front of the Match of the Day cameras. After a memorable 2-1 win in which Willie Irvine scored a goal later judged as the third best in the programme’s Goal of the Season competition, Saward added to his squad on transfer deadline day, bringing in Northern Ireland international Bertie Lutton from Wolves and Ken Beamish from Tranmere Rovers, described in the Official Football League Book as “stocky and packed full of explosive sprinting power, a terrific shot and great appetite for the game”.

Saward told the publication: “They were both last ditch signings and Ken made an astonishing difference. I spent only £41,000 in getting my promotion side together so we were very much Villa’s poor relations in that sense.”

The manager put the success down to: “Dogged determination to succeed from all the players. We stamped out inconsistency. I got rid of ten of the players I inherited and got together a team built on character. That’s the key quality, apart from skill of course.”

However, hindsight reveals the club wasn’t really ready for the higher division and some have suggested Saward broke up the promotion-winning squad rather too hastily. Players he brought in who were used to the level now known as the Championship struggled to gel, and the manager turned to rather too many loan signings.

A mid-season run of 13 consecutive defeats was Albion’s undoing and a glamour FA Cup tie at home to First Division Chelsea in early January 1973 gave a welcome respite from the gloom.

Ahead of the match, Saward opened his heart to Daily Mirror reporter Nigel Clarke, revealing that he couldn’t understand why the side had struggled so much.

“I wish I knew. But I’ve learned more about football these last few weeks than at any other time in my career.

“We are five points behind the next club but I must be the luckiest man in the league. There are no pressures on me,” he said, explaining that supporters were still writing to him, backing him and the team.

“When we came up from the Third Division, I was so big-headed, so confident. I thought with the right results we could go straight through to the First Division. I really did.

“There was spirit and ambition here – and there still is….that’s how this club gets you. My heart is in the place.”

Saward revealed that he had turned down two better paid jobs in the First Division to stay at Brighton after the promotion win, telling Clarke: “What I want is importance, appreciation, understanding and love…not being kicked up the backside and put under the lash.

“Adulation is false. I’ve found my oasis at Brighton and I’m wealthy the way I want to be – in feeling.”

Although the Chelsea game ended in another defeat, fortunes eventually changed the following month – but the damage had been done and Brighton went straight back down.

A defiant Saward promised to blood more youngsters like Steve Piper and Tony Towner, who’d done well when drafted in and Piper, in a matchday programme article, said of him: “Saward was more of a coach than a man-manager, very suave and sophisticated. He knew his football from his days at Coventry.”

However, when results didn’t improve on the return to third tier level, and with a new, ambitious chairman – Mike Bamber – at the helm, Saward was sacked and replaced with the legendary Brian Clough.

Albion’s hierarchy had turned to the untried Saward in the World Cup summer of 1970 after Birmingham City poached Freddie Goodwin from Brighton to replace Stan Cullis as their manager. It was second time lucky for Saward, who’d applied to succeed Archie Macaulay two years previously when Goodwin pipped him to the post.

“Give me ten years and I’ll have Brighton in the First Division,” Saward declared when appointed. Prescient words considering they made it within nine – although it came six years after he’d parted ways with the club.

There’s little doubt Saward was an innovative football man and a popular figure during the first two years of his reign.

Apart from success on the pitch in the 1971-72 season, the way he involved fans in helping him to improve the side also proved a winner.

His buy-a-player appeal was a direct attempt to involve the supporters in the affairs of their club and Saward led a sponsored walk on Brighton seafront as one of the initial events geared towards generating funds to help him compete in the transfer market.

“Too many people spend too much time shouting about how hard up their club is, and too little time fighting to improve the situation,” Saward said in an article for the April 1971 edition of Football League Review. “You never get success if you sit around. You must have courage, even audacity, and work hard for survival.”

The first funds generated provided Saward with the money to bring in experienced Bert Murray from Birmingham City, initially on loan, and then permanently. Murray would go on to be voted Player of the Year in 1971-72.

Another player who signed on loan at the same time as Murray was Preston’s Irvine, who recalled in his autobiography, Together Again, how Saward wooed him.

“Pat sold me the place with his charm and persuasive ways,” he said, describing the former male model as “extrovert, infectious and bubbly”.

He added: “Pat Saward was a gem of a manager and a pleasure to play for. He said what he thought, but never offensively; in a matter-of-fact, plain-speaking kind of way, rather than aggressively.”

Irvine continued: “Saward had the knack of making people feel important. He instilled pride and a sense of identity…..Pat loved attacking, entertaining football and worked tirelessly for the club. I would have run through that proverbial brick wall for him.”

As Brighton neared promotion, Irvine said: “Saward, with a joke or a smile, an arm around the shoulder or a bit of geeing up, knew just how to keep a dressing room happy or dispel any tension or nerves.”

Sadly, Irvine’s opinion of Saward shifted dramatically when, during the summer, the manager told him he intended to bring in a replacement – although it was three months before he eventually signed Barry Bridges from Millwall.

Saward and new signings Barry Bridges (left) and Graham Howell

Irvine was in the starting line-up at the beginning of the season and scored six times in 13 league and cup games, but, once Bridges arrived in October, his days were numbered, and, before the year was out, he was sold to Halifax Town in part exchange for Lammie Robertson.

Saward had already dispensed with the services of Albion’s other main promotion season scorer, Kit Napier, along with his former captain, John Napier.

Irvine said that once Albion were promoted, Saward changed. “He seemed to become unapproachable, or at least he did to me, and where once I could see him whenever I wanted, now I seemed to have to book an appointment two or three days in advance. We all had to.”

Teammate Peter O’Sullivan, who had repaired his relationship with Saward after some difficult early exchanges which saw the Welshman transfer-listed, also witnessed a change in the manager.

“We had one or two players who were over the hill and Pat just lost the plot. It was grim,” he told Spencer Vignes in A Few Good Men.

Albion’s tier two fortunes were picked over in some detail in a feature reporter Nick Harling compiled for Goal magazine.

“I didn’t foresee the snags and the type of league the Second Division was,” Saward told him. “It’s the hardest division of the four. Everyone is fighting either to stay in or get out.

“It’s a hell of a hard division. It’s a mixture of the First and Third. It’s good and very hard football. They don’t give you an awful lot of time to play.

“It’s a division governed by fear because to drop out of it is not good, while to get out at the top is fantastic. I didn’t believe the gap would be so different.

“Teams are so well organised and supplement their lack of ability with tremendous defensive play. It’s very hard to get results.”

While open and honest, they didn’t sound like the words of a manager very confident of finding a solution, and Saward sought to explain part of the problem when he said: “To me the most important thing is the attitude of mind. Players should have an arrogant attitude, an attitude that they’re going to do well even when the chips are down. But some types are destroyed. These are the ones who succumb and want to rely on other people.

“Here we’ve got some great boys, but I wish to God some of them had more determination.”

Bamber was resigned to relegation but nonetheless confident of where the club was heading. “There’s no doubting it – First Division here we come,” he told the magazine.

Saward added: “I haven’t lost any enthusiasm. I’ve had my hopes dampened slightly, but one overcomes that.

“This club has got to be built for the future. I want to put Brighton on the map.”

Sadly, when Albion’s poor form at the start of the 1973-74 season continued, Saward publicly admitted: “I haven’t any more answers. I am in a fog.”

Unsurprisingly, the Albion’s directors interpreted it as a loss of confidence and sacked him.

It’s front page news on the Evening Argus as Saward is sacked

Saward never managed in the English game again, although he coached in Saudi Arabia for a while.

Born in Cobh, County Cork, on 17 August 1928, Saward lived in Singapore and Malta during his childhood, before the family moved to south London.

His first club was Beckenham FC before he turned professional with Millwall in 1951. He made 118 appearances for the Lions in the next four years.

Saward was 26 when Eric Houghton signed him for Villa for £7,000 in August 1955. The legendary Joe Mercer took over as Villa manager in 1958.

Pat enjoyed a goalscoring debut with his new club, hitting the final equalising goal in a 4-4 draw with Manchester United at Villa Park on 15 October 1955. But he struggled to oust left half Vic Crowe and made only six appearances that season.

In Crowe’s absence through injury the following season, Saward became a regular, making 50 appearances.

Saward (right) descends the steps at Wembley as a FA Cup winner with Aston Villa

In total, Saward played 170 games for Villa between 1955 and 1960, most notably featuring in their FA Cup winning team in 1957. Villa beat Manchester United 2-1 in the final at Wembley Stadium in front of a crowd of 99,225, Peter McParland scoring twice to win Villa the Cup for a seventh time.

Saward made only 14 appearances as Villa were relegated from the top-flight in 1959 but he was back in harness as captain when they made a swift return as Second Division champions in the 1959-60 season.

In his final season, he made just 12 appearances, his last coming on 22 October 1960 in a second city derby, Villa beating Birmingham 6-2. The following March, he was given a free transfer and moved on to Huddersfield Town.

Saward in the stripes of Huddersfield Town

He had first been selected for the Republic of Ireland on 7 March 1954 in a World Cup qualifier in which Luxembourg were beaten 1-0, and he went on to make 18 appearances for his country, the last, on 2 September 1962, coming when he was 34: a 1-1 draw away to Iceland in Reykjavík.

He played twice against England in World Cup qualifiers in 1957, a 1-1 draw and a 5-1 defeat, when he was up against the likes of Duncan Edwards, Johnny Haynes and Stanley Matthews, and in the same competition against Scotland, in 1961, when the Irish lost 4-1, and his teammates included Johnny Giles.

After 59 appearances for the Terriers, he dropped out of the league but acquainted himself with Sussex when moving to Crawley Town.

Jimmy Hill signed him for Coventry as a player-coach in October 1963 and although he made numerous reserve team appearances, he really made his mark as a coach and was responsible for the rapid development of City’s youth team in the 1960s.

Saward (left) with assistant manager Alan Dicks and Jimmy Hill at Coventry City

Willie Carr and Dennis Mortimer were just two of several first teamers who made it under his guidance. He stepped up to first team assistant manager when his former Eire teammate, Noel Cantwell, was appointed boss in 1967.

Not long after his switch to the Goldstone, Saward picked up one of his former Sky Blues proteges, Ian Goodwin, initially on loan, and then permanently, and eventually made him Albion captain. The rugged defender’s arrival was remembered in an Argus article.

When Saward died on 20 September 2002 following a period when he’d suffered with Alzheimer’s, an excellent Villa website pieced together a detailed obituary. His career is also recorded on the avfchistory.co.uk site.

Saward was laid to rest in the same Cambridge cemetery as his brother Len, a forward who played a total of 170 games for Cambridge United between 1952 and 1958, scoring 43 times. He went on to serve the club behind the scenes in their commercial department.

Pictures from my schoolboy Albion scrapbook and various online sources.

That man from Argentina scored goals in the UK and Spain

LEONARDO ULLOA brought down the curtain on his playing career in Madrid, netting six goals in 20 appearances (plus 12 off the bench) for Rayo Vallecano in the Spanish second division.

It was to the delight of Brighton fans that 28 of his career 148 goals were scored for the Albion, where he quickly established himself as a fans favourite by scoring on his debut against Arsenal in the FA Cup.

Previously virtually unknown in England, Ulloa’s arrival in January 2013 provided the tall, goalscoring presence up front Brighton had been craving since Glenn Murray headed to Crystal Palace in the summer of 2011.

Within two months, Ulloa was cementing his place in Albion history by scoring the first ever hat-trick at the Amex, in a 4-1 win over Huddersfield Town, and it wasn’t long before fans were serenading him with his own terrace song: “Who’s that man from Argentina, who’s that man we all adore…..”

His efforts in the stripes got even better when he scored twice in a memorable 3-0 win over Palace that March giving the Seagulls their first home win over their bitter rivals for 25 years.

After the game, manager Gus Poyet told BBC Radio Sussex: “Leonardo Ulloa is making the difference. I am pleased for him. If he had been here for the first six months I can’t imagine where we would be right now.

“What a prize for him, scoring two goals against our biggest rivals. I am very happy for him.” By the season’s end, Ulloa had scored 11 goals in 16 starts (plus one substitute appearance).

While Poyet departed acrimoniously after defeat in the play-off semi-finals, Ulloa continued to thrive under new boss Oscar Garcia. Top-scoring with 16 goals, he’ll always most memorably be known for nodding in a last-gasp header from Craig Mackail-Smith’s left-wing cross to secure a 2-1 win at the City Ground, Nottingham on 3 May 2014.

It earned Albion another play-offs place in the bid to secure promotion to the Premier League, although a 6-2 aggregate defeat at the hands of Derby County meant it didn’t end well.

Sadly, not only did it mark the end of Garcia’s reign, it also led to Ulloa’s exit from the club, but the £8m record fee newly-promoted Leicester City paid for his services was difficult to resist, quite apart from the player’s desire to play at the top level.

Switching to the East Midlands was a short hop compared to the journey he had to make when he was starting out in the game.

Born on 26 July 1986 in General Roca, a city in Argentina’s northern Patagonian province of Rio Negro, Ulloa moved 700 miles from home at the age of 15 to pursue his footballing dream, as he told Brian Owen of The Argus in a 2013 interview.

It was only when he wasn’t getting much playing time in Argentina that he took the opportunity to move to Spain, initially with Spanish second-tier side Castellon in the Valencia region.

When they were relegated in 2010, he stayed in the second tier by moving to the south east of the country to join Almeria, where he scored 39 times in 90 appearances. It was from there Albion bought him for an undisclosed sum, widely thought to be £2m.

The subsequent move to Leicester couldn’t have got off to a better start when Ulloa scored Leicester’s first Premier League goal for a decade in August 2014, hitting the net on his debut against Everton at the King Power Stadium. He also scored a brace of goals in a famous 5-3 victory over Manchester United.

Indeed at the end of that 2014-15 season, Ulloa was Leicester’s top scorer with 13 goals in 31 appearances (plus nine as a sub).

Few could have imagined it was going to get a whole lot better the following season, but as Claudio Ranieri’s City shocked the football world by climbing to the summit of the Premier League and staying there, Ulloa collected a title winners medal for his contribution.

Although he made just nine starts, as Jamie Vardy and Shinji Okazaki took centre stage, he appeared 22 times as a substitute and, in his supporting role, chipped in with six – often vital – goals.

He scored an 89th minute winner to earn a 1-0 win over Norwich City after entering the fray as a 78th minute sub and, when defeat at home to West Ham looked on the cards after Vardy had been sent off, he coolly netted a penalty in the fifth minute of added on time to secure a 2-2 draw.

With Vardy suspended for the following game, Ulloa stepped up with two goals in a 4-0 win at home to Swansea City.

Phil McNulty, BBC Sport’s chief football writer, said Ulloa had fully repaid the faith shown in him by Ranieri. “When Ulloa earned the Foxes a vital point with a stoppage-time penalty last weekend against West Ham, he showed he was not a man to be perturbed by pressure – and he relished the responsibility put on his shoulders against Swansea,” he wrote, describing how Ulloa “ran selflessly all afternoon to compensate for the darting, pacy threat of Vardy, and most importantly contributed two goals that eventually made this a stroll for Leicester City”.

It all turned sour for him at the King Power Stadium the following season and with a lack of involvement his frustration went public as he sought a move away. Sunderland, fighting (ultimately in vain) relegation from the Premiership, reportedly had three bids to sign him turned down in the January 2017 transfer window.

Ulloa told Sky Sports News reporter Rob Dorsett: “I’m a bit sad about the current situation. It’s been two wonderful years at the club but now, given my situation – not playing and not being part of the team’s plans – I feel that the best way forward is I leave and I can be happy somewhere else.”

He added: “They know I am not going to be used. The best thing for both parties is they sell me to another club and I can continue playing my football somewhere else.”

However, when Ranieri was sacked the following month, Ulloa found a path to first team football re-opened under new boss Craig Shakespeare. He only made four starts but he appeared off the bench 19 times, and, in August 2017, signed a new two-year contract with the Foxes.

Speaking to LCFC TV, Ulloa said: “I am so happy because I have lived massive moments with this club and it makes me happy to stay here and fight, to help the team and increase the club’s history. That is so important and I am so happy for this two-year contract. Now I have to fight to play. I will train and give my best. I appreciate it a lot to stay here and I am so happy here now. For that, I want to continue in this in the same way by working hard and working my best for the club.”

Shakespeare added: “Leo’s goals and performances have been key to some wonderful moments for this football club since he first joined and I’m delighted to have him with us for another two years. He’s a popular member of the squad and gives us an excellent option in attack.”

All of the words came to nought however, because Ulloa was barely involved, other than sitting on the subs bench and only getting on once. So, in January 2018, he was happy to return to Brighton on loan to supplement the striking options in Chris Hughton’s squad.

But with Glenn Murray in top form and Sam Baldock and Tomer Hemed as other striker options, Ulloa only made four starts plus eight appearances as a sub. He scored twice, including opening the scoring against Manchester City at the Etihad, but Albion didn’t share the striker’s enthusiasm for a permanent return to the Seagulls.

Instead of moving back to the south coast, Ulloa headed to Mexico to join Pachucha, and a year later he headed back to Europe, and back to Spain, to sign for Rayo Vallecano.

The striker spent eight months sidelined by a serious knee injury in 2020 but returned to action in October 2020 before retiring at the end of the 2020-21 season. Ulloa received a warm reception from Albion fans when he was interviewed on the Amex pitch in March 2023 when West Ham were the visitors.

Pictures from various online sources.