Big money signing Peake hit a trough at the Albion

EXPENSIVE FLOP Jason Peake was a victim of the problems clouding Brighton’s very existence in the mid-1990s.

The blond-haired midfielder heralded elsewhere for his “excellent left foot” and “one of the best passers of the ball in the lower leagues” failed to live up to expectations at the Goldstone and was dubbed Jimmy Case’s “biggest blunder”.

Leicester-born Peake had played alongside Case for Halifax Town, where he’d moved after making only a handful of appearances with his hometown club.

Former Albion loanee centre half John McGrath, assisted by Frank Worthington, failed to halt the Shaymen dropping out of the league in 1993, and Peake spent a season in the Conference before reviving his league career with Rochdale. Nine goals in 103 appearances attracted suitors and it was Albion who bought him for a fee set by tribunal of £80,000 – a huge sum for a cash-strapped club.

A further £15,000 was to be paid after 20 games and another £25,000 if he got to 40 appearances. He made 35 appearances before being frozen out by Case’s successor, Steve Gritt. It was to be a familiar pattern: changes of manager often led to him moving on.

Apart from the bigger picture shenanigans going on at the Albion under the hated Archer-Bellotti regime, Peake’s personal issues centred around relocation expenses he said he was entitled to – but Bellotti refused to pay up.

According to fansnetwork.co.uk: “Peake was being forced to commute from Leicester following several broken promises by the Brighton board. Peake’s dream move turned into nothing short of a nightmare for him.”

The midfielder had trials at Northampton and Cambridge before he finally managed to get away, in October 1997, signing for First Division Bury. He rather diplomatically said: “The situation at Brighton has been well documented over the past year and just let’s say when I got there the situation was not as I’d been led to believe it would be.

“I have not been happy there for some time and the new consortium have been great in letting me get away.”

The official version in the matchday programme said: “Jason had problems in settling in the South after his move from Rochdale and the move has suited him and his family. Should Bury sell him for a fee at any time, Albion are assured of a share in any such deal.”

As ever, the season had begun with great expectations and in his matchday programme notes welcoming new signings Peake and Ian Baird, Case said: “They are both quality players and I am sure that they will be great acquisitions for the club this coming season.

“I firmly believe we now have a skilful blend of experienced and young players that can mount a serious challenge for promotion at the first attempt and I believe we will surprise many teams this season.”

Peake went straight into the side in the no.8 shirt but after he’d played 19 games on the trot Albion were anchored at the foot of the table.

After Case was sacked, Peake found himself on the bench more than in the starting line-up; local lad Kerry Mayo taking over from him.

Supporters were certainly not impressed by Peake, perhaps summed up by ‘Lenny Rider’ on North Stand Chat who said: “Huge outlay for where the club was at the time. His kinder critics would say he was disappointing, the more cynical amongst us would argue he was actually nicking a living at the Goldstone.”

New Albion chairman Dick Knight cut Albion’s losses by giving Peake a free transfer to Bury in exchange for the relocation cash dispute being dropped.

Bury boss Stan Ternent was lauded for pulling off something of a coup, and Peake told the Lancashire Telegraph: “It is a fantastic chance for me to prove myself. It has taken me a long time to get into the First Division and I don’t want to blow the opportunity.”

Sadly, those words came back to haunt him because he ended up playing just six times for the Shakers, three as a left-back and three as a sub.

To quote fansnetwork.co.uk again: “Peake’s silky skills didn’t really fit in with the kick and rush tactics of Ternent’s Bury team, and Peake found himself stranded back in the reserves.”

The following summer, a return to Rochdale, where he had first made a name for himself, looked like an ideal solution but things didn’t go well under the management team of Graham Barrow and Joe Hinnigan, who left the club at the end of the 1998-99 season.

In something of a twist of Peake’s usual fortunes when there had been a managerial change, his career began to blossom again under new boss Steve Parkin.

“The free flowing style of football on offer was much more suited to Peake’s natural style,” according to fansnetwork.co.uk. “Peake was awesome in the opening months of the 1999-2000 season and was at the heart of a side which led the table early on.”

He got amongst the goals including “a superb overhead kick from the edge of the area against old team Halifax Town, which saw him win the club’s goal of the season competition and awarded ‘Better than Pele’ status on Sky’s Soccer AM”.

Nevertheless, the season ended on a sour note, as the clarkechroniclersfootballers blog explained: “We lost two re-arranged home games against Peterborough and Northampton in April which would have secured us a play-off place. Jason featured in both games and Steve Parkin singled him out as the scapegoat accusing him of ‘going missing’. It’s always easier for a manager to castigate a player he didn’t sign but we knew there was some truth in it.”

With his contract up at the end of the season, Peake chose to move on, this time to Plymouth Argyle, at the time managed by Argyle legend Kevin Hodges.

Argyle move didn’t work out

It began well enough for him personally and, of Argyle’s 2-0 home win over Carlisle on 16 September, BBC Sport said: “Plymouth doubled their lead in the 17th minute when man of the match Jason Peake scored a superb opportunist goal.

“Peake’s initial attempt came back off visiting central defender Julian Darby and the Plymouth midfielder reacted with a brilliant dipping volley which gave keeper Luke Weaver no chance.

“Weaver denied Peake a second goal in the 80th minute, making a tremendous backward save to keep out the home player’s far post header.”

It followed him scoring four days earlier in a 4-1 defeat at Shrewsbury and was only the second win out of eight. When the next three games were lost, Hodges was replaced by Paul Sturrock, who didn’t take long to decide Peake’s future.

Before Christmas, the midfielder was dispatched to Nuneaton Borough on loan and the move was made permanent in February 2001. Although his league career was over, Peake played 54 games for Borough but was sidelined for periods with a troublesome Achilles tendon injury and he eventually retired in 2003 and became a full-time chiropodist in Leicester.

Born in Leicester on 29 September 1971, Peake played for England schoolboys and was taken on as a trainee by the Foxes.

Manager David Pleat gave him his first team debut in a 2-1 defeat at Charlton Athletic in a Full Members Cup game on 14 November 1989.

It was another year before he made his league debut in the old Division Two, as a sub in a 2-2 draw away to Oxford United.

The same month he also went on as a sub in a 1-0 home defeat to Wolves in the Full Members Cup, played in front of a paltry 4,705 crowd. Four days later he started but was subbed off against Newcastle in a game that remarkably finished 5-4 to the Foxes.

His involvement straddled the end of the Pleat regime and the caretaker manager spell of former Everton boss Gordon Lee, who, in the season Albion reached the play-off final v Notts County, managed to keep Leicester up by only two points while West Brom were relegated along with bottom club Hull City. (Lee died aged 87 in March 2022).

Across three months, Peake had three more starts (and was subbed off in two of them) plus three more games off the bench. Three days after City lost 3-0 at Brighton (goals from Mike Small, Dean Wilkins and Bryan Wade), Peake made a rare start and scored his only goal for the club in a 2-1 home win over Barnsley on 23 February 1991.

Earlier that month (on 6 February 1991), he earned an England under-19 cap when he was sent on as a sub for Aidan Newhouse as England lost 5-1 to Denmark at the Manor Ground, Oxford.

Peake’s last game for Leicester was against Newcastle United on 2 March 1991. He didn’t get a look-in under Pleat’s successor Brian Little and, in February 1992, he joined Hartlepool on loan, playing six matches and scoring once.

Teenage prodigy Newhouse quit game to teach maths

AIDAN NEWHOUSE scored twice on his Albion debut but only started two games for the Seagulls!

The former Fulham striker netted two of Brighton’s six goals in the 1999-2000 season opening match at the Withdean Stadium.

He replaced hat-trick man Darren Freeman with the Albion 4-0 up on 7 August 1999 and promptly added two more goals to complete a 6-0 rout of Mansfield Town (pictures below).

Newhouse, wearing the no.25 later worn iconically by Bobby Zamora, was given a start in a 2-0 league cup defeat away to Torquay United. Although he regularly went on as a substitute, often for Freeman, he only began one other game: a 1-0 home league win over Cheltenham Town.

Newhouse had limited opportunities in Albion colours

Newhouse had previously played under manager Micky Adams at Fulham in 1997, and, unluckily for him, Freeman and Gary Hart were the first choice forward choices in those opening months.

Competition for places intensified in the autumn with the arrival of Warren Aspinall and Lorenzo Pinamonte. Newhouse was swiftly on his way to Conference club Sutton United.

When they were relegated at the end of the season, he switched to Northwich Victoria in 2001, but only played one match before quitting and becoming a schoolteacher.

Born in the Wirral town of Wallasey on 23 May 1972, Newhouse showed so much early promise that he made his debut for Chester City before his 16th birthday.

He was just 15 years and 350 days old when he was sent on as a substitute by manager Harry McNally on the final day of the 1987–88 season as Chester won away at Bury 1–0 in the Third Division.

The talented teenager was in David Burnside’s 1988-89 England side for the UEFA Under-18 Championship preliminary matches against Greece (home and away), France and Czechoslovakia, scoring in the 3-0 win away to Greece on 8 March 1989. He played up front with Andrew Cole, later of Manchester United and Newcastle United fame.

The following season he went on as a sub for Cole in a 0-0 draw with Denmark at Wembley; a game which was played at Wembley before the England-Brazil full international. Three weeks later he scored England’s third when he started in a 3-0 win over Poland, another game played before a full international (England v Denmark).

In July the same year, he started all three of England’s matches (a draw and two defeats) when they finished fourth in the UEFA Under-18 Championship in Hungary.

Chester cashed in on their young prodigy, selling him to then First Division Wimbledon for £100,000 in February 1990.

First team opportunities for Wimbledon were few and far between for Newhouse and he is in the same exalted company as former Albion loanee Gary Bull in being one of only four players to have scored on their single Premier League appearance.

Wimbledon scorer

Ironically, it came in a match in 1992-93 against Aston Villa best remembered for Dalian Atkinson’s individual goal that won the BBC’s Goal of the Season award. “It was deflected past the goalkeeper,” Newhouse told premierleague.com. “It was a bit of a low-life goal compared to Dalian Atkinson’s.”

It was Bobby Gould who gave him his Wimbledon debut but a stomach injury halted his progress under Gould’s successor Ray Harford, as well as the form of John Fashanu and Terry Gibson.

In a 1990-91 season matchday programme article, Newhouse said: “I was really looking forward to this season. Bobby Gould had given me a taste of first team action and I felt I was ready to really stake a claim for a place.

“Then I picked up the injury and it took me months even to get back into full training let alone playing well.”

Although he was a Wimbledon player for seven years, he went out on loan on four occasions: to Tranmere Rovers, Port Vale, Portsmouth and Torquay United. He eventually left permanently for Fulham in 1997.

He scored four goals in only 12 league and cup matches for Fulham: three in a two-legged League Cup match against Wycombe Wanderers and one in the league in a 2-0 win away to Bristol City on 2 September 1997 (Richard Carpenter scored the other). But, only a few weeks’ later, Adams was controversially replaced by Ray Wilkins and Kevin Keegan under the new Mohammed Al-Fayed regime.

Scoring for Fulham

Before long, Newhouse was on his way too. A £30,000 fee took him to Swansea City although, by the time he had arrived, Adams’ short tenure as boss was already over, his role filled by his former no.2 Alan Cork.

It’s probably an understatement to say things didn’t work out for Newhouse in South Wales. Indeed, in a FourFourTwo magazine poll inviting supporters to name their club’s worst player, Newhouse earned the tag from Swansea fans.

He failed to score in 17 appearances across two seasons and Steven Carroll, of the SOS Fanzine, cited a particular game in February 1999, when Carlisle visited the Vetch Field, to back up the claim.

“Due to injuries and suspensions, Newhouse was awarded a rare start. Early on, he was put through on goal and fouled by the ‘keeper inside the box – but while the referee looked set to award a penalty, with said goalkeeper on the floor and both Newhouse/the ball free, our hapless striker shot from close range and missed an open goal. No penalty.

“In the second half, Stuart Roberts received the ball on the edge on the box and was about to shoot, only for Newhouse to kick him in the back of the leg. He never played again after that.”

After retiring from the game in 2001, Newhouse became a maths teacher and he told premierleague.com: “Not all of us are Stevie G and the likes of Neymar,” he said. “I played 13 years, made about £250 a week on average.

“It shows you that, you know, we can do all sorts of things and eventually, to do a job that you enjoy, you will need some education. You will need that to give you an option and a choice.

“Teaching…it’s one of those things. It’s like football, there’s a camaraderie between you and the class.

“Once the guys realise they’re part of a team, there are some similarities. You can have a laugh with the lads and they realise you are there to try and help them succeed.”

Bradley Johnson always liked a pop from long range

Bradley Johnson scores on his debut v Leicester (photo Simon Dack)

THE COCA-COLA Kid’s cousin was an instant hit when he joined seventh-from-bottom Brighton on loan from second-placed League One rivals Leeds United in October 2008.

Bradley Johnson, who’d heard about the Seagulls from his relative Colin Kazim-Richards, scored twice on his debut as the Seagulls turned round a 2-0 half-time deficit to beat Leicester City 3-2.

“I hadn’t played for two months and Micky (Adams) asked if I was fit and I admitted I wasn’t match fit, but he said he would throw me in anyway,” Johnson recounted.

“The two goals I scored gave me great confidence as a player, but the win helped everyone,” he said. “On the night, the fans were immense and the result gave us all a good boost.”

In an Argus interview in March 2021, Johnson recalled: “I was a young boy from Leeds coming into a struggling team against a team who were flying so it was a bit daunting for me.

“I didn’t know what to expect but, as debuts go, I don’t think it could have gone any better.

“Anyone who knows me knows I like a shot and I’ve always had that since a young age. Some don’t go where planned but thankfully on that night they did.”

Albion had failed to score in their three previous games, against Hereford, Peterborough and Hartlepool, and soon found themselves 2-0 down to City courtesy of two Matty Fryatt goals.

Adams hauled off a somewhat better known loanee – the ineffective Robbie Savage – at half-time, along with wideman Kevin McLeod, and the changes galvanised the Albion in the second half.

Right-back Andrew Whing reckoned the withdrawal of Savage might have helped Johnson to shine. “Maybe he’d felt a bit in Robbie’s shadow up until that point,” he told Spencer Vignes. “But he really stepped up in the second half and scored twice, one of them an unbelievable strike. We needed a spark and that was it.

“Bradley deserved a lot of credit that night. He’d come to us from Leeds and he just took responsibility, scored twice and got us back into it. He really made an impression.”

After Johnson’s pair of long range strikes past David Martin in the Leicester goal, City defender Jack Hobbs sealed a memorable comeback for the Seagulls when he diverted Joe Anyinsah’s cross past his own ‘keeper.

It was a tad ironic that Johnson should have scored against Leicester too because at the start of that year he came very close to signing for them but couldn’t agree terms and ended up at Leeds instead.

Five days after his impressive Albion debut, Johnson was on the scoresheet again as Adams’ side beat Millwall 4-1 at the Withdean Stadium (Glenn Murray, two, and Dean Cox, the other scorers).

Kazim-Richards, whose £250,000 transfer from Bury to Brighton had been paid for via fan Aaron Berry winning a competition organised by the soft drink giant, had already moved on to Fenerbahçe in Turkey via Sheffield United by the time Johnson arrived in Sussex.

But he said: “My cousin Colin had played there so I knew Brighton and I knew a few lads, and that it was a good place to be. But it was Micky that really sold the place to me and I just wanted to play. That is all I wanted to do; I didn’t look at the side’s league position. I just wanted to be a part of what Micky spoke about and help the club beat relegation.”

Unfortunately, the mini revival in the autumn of 2008 didn’t continue although Johnson was on the winning side again when, in his 10th and last game for the Albion, two Nicky Forster goals earned a 2-0 win at Swindon Town, spoiling Danny Wilson’s first game in charge of the Robins (Peter Brezovan was in goal for Town).

By then, Johnson, who’d lost his place at Leeds following an injury, had scored four times for the Albion (some records show he scored twice in a 4-2 home defeat to MK Dons, others that the second Brighton goal was netted by Stuart Fleetwood).

Somewhat gallingly, Johnson was next seen at Withdean less than three weeks into the new year – back in the fold with Leeds as they took all three points in a 2-0 win on 17 January 2009.

“When I was out on loan, Leeds were struggling and when I went back Gary McAllister got the sack. Simon Grayson came in and I didn’t know where my future lay, but Grayson told me I had a part to play and it was down to me to train hard and prove myself,” he said.

“He was true to his word, and I kept my head down, then I ended up coming back to Brighton and played against them for Leeds. It was a bit surreal to be in the away dressing room, but that is football.”

Johnson became a regular at Elland Road for the next two years and was part of the Leeds side who won promotion to the Championship in 2010, as well as earning headlines in memorable FA Cup ties against Premier League opposition.

In particular, in a third round replay against Arsenal at Elland Road in January 2011, Johnson scored a spectacular goal for the home side although they lost the tie 3-1.

Having spent five years on Arsenal’s books as a promising youngster, it was a bittersweet moment for Johnson who said afterwards: “It was a goal I’m not going to forget. I’m an Arsenal fan myself and so are all my family.”

On the transfer list at the time because he couldn’t agree a new deal with Leeds, he eventually got the chance he craved to play in the Premier League that summer when he moved to newly promoted Norwich City, where his teammates included Elliott Bennett and Andrew Crofts.

It was Canaries boss Paul Lambert who sold the club to him at the time but he also sang the praises of his successor, Chris Hughton.

Johnson joined the Canaries

“Hughton did come in with a different style of play,” he told pinkun.com. “He was very tactical. He was mindful that we were playing in the Premier League against good players whereas Paul Lambert wouldn’t care, if we were playing Manchester United, he’d say ‘if they score two, we’ll score three’.

“Different approaches, different ideas and different philosophies. People weren’t happy with the way he played but we finished 11th. I can only speak for myself, but I really enjoyed my time there and Chris is a great manager.”

He added: “Credit to him when he got the sack because he stuck by his morals and got Brighton promoted.”

After three seasons in the Premier League, the 2014–15 Championship season was one of Johnson’s most successful seasons with the Canaries: he became vice-captain to Russell Martin, appeared in 44 of the 46 league matches (including one appearance as a sub) and scored 15 goals.

He was voted fans’ Player of the Year and was part of the side that won the play-off final 2-0 against Middlesbrough to ensure City won back their Premier League place.

However, unable to get a place in Alex Neil’s side back among the elite, he switched to Derby County for £6m in September 2015.

That was the start of seven more seasons in the Championship: after 140 appearances over four years with the Rams, he moved on a free transfer to Blackburn Rovers, where he made 86 appearances over three seasons.

He eventually left Ewood Park at the end of the 2021-22 season and in the summer of 2022 joined MK Dons on a free transfer.

Johnson scored both goals as MK Dons turned round a disappointing start to the season by beating Port Vale 2-1 in their fourth match.

Johnson interviewed after scoring twice for MK Dons

Born in Hackney on 28 April 1987, Johnson was on Arsenal’s books from 1997 to 2002 but was released aged 15.

“Like any kid, being released from a club was horrible and I didn’t really feel like going back on a round of trials with other professional clubs, so instead I just played locally in Leyton.

He went to Ryman Premier side Waltham Forest but when he was 17 was invited for a trial at Cambridge United. He signed on a non-contract basis for eight months and was then offered a professional contract.

Johnson attracted suitors when playing for Northampton Town

But Northampton Town had been tracking him. “They made me a counter-offer which I accepted and that is where my career began,” he said.

That was in May 2005, and after he had been out on loan to gain experience at Gravesend & Northfleet and Stevenage Borough, he became a regular starter under Stuart Gray and his performances attracted scouts from clubs further up the league.

When that aforementioned move to Leicester fell through in January 2008, a few days later Leeds stepped in and paid a £250,000 fee for him.

He played in the same Leeds side as Casper Ankergren that lost the 2008 League One play-off final 1-0 to Doncaster, but picked up a back injury in pre season that led to him being sidelined. Although he returned to fitness, the side was doing well in his absence which meant he was unable to force his way back in. And then the chance to play competitive football was presented by the Albion.

Day of reckoning beckoned for talent spotter Mervyn

THE YOUNGEST goalkeeper to appear in a FA Cup final spent 20 months picking out future players for Brighton.

It was one of several different post-playing roles Mervyn Day filled for various clubs.

Day, who at 19 won a winners’ medal with West Ham in 1975, was Albion’s head of scouting and recruitment between November 2012 and the end of the 2013-2014 season under head of football operations David Burke.

At the time, his appointment was another indicator of the gear change taking place at the club as it built on the move to the Amex Stadium and sought to gain promotion from the Championship.

Day said in a matchday programme interview: “This club has come such a long way in such a short space of time.

“When you think of the debacle of the Goldstone, the wilderness of Gillingham, then Withdean, you only have to get a player through the front door at this wonderful stadium to have a chance of signing them.

“Hopefully, within the next year or so, the new training ground will be up and running and, when you’ve got that as well, you’ve got the perfect opportunity not only to encourage kids to sign but top quality players as well.

“If we are fortunate enough to get ourselves into the Premier League at some point, we’ll be able to attract top, top players.”

It was a case of ‘the goalkeepers union’ that led to him joining the Albion. Day explained he’d been chatting to Andy Beasley, Albion’s goalkeeping coach at the time, who had been a colleague when Day was chief scout at Elland Road. Beasley wondered if he’d like to help coach Albion’s academy goalkeepers but Burke, who he also knew, stepped in and offered something more substantial: the job of scouting and talent identification manager.

He certainly brought a wealth of experience to the task. He had previously been assistant manager to former Albion midfielder Alan Curbishley at Charlton and West Ham; manager and assistant manager at Carlisle United, a scout for Fulham and the FA (when Steve McClaren was England manager) and chief scout at Leeds until Neil Warnock took charge.

In addition to that background, in the days before full-time goalkeeper coaches, Day had worked at Southampton under David Jones, Chris Kamara at Bradford City and John Aldridge at Tranmere Rovers. Then in 1997 Everton came along and he joined Howard Kendall’s backroom team alongside Adrian Heath and Viv Busby. “I was living in Leeds at that time, so distance wasn’t an issue, but it was an interesting trip across the M62 in the winter months,” Day recalled in an October 2021 interview with efcheritagesociety.com.

Brighton made Day redundant at the end of the 2013-14 season following a reshuffle of the recruitment department amid criticism of the quality of signings brought in.

That assessment might have been rather harsh because during his time at the club there was a change in manager (Oscar Garcia taking over from Gus Poyet) and, although the season ended in play-off disappointment, the likes of former Hammer Matthew Upson (who’d played under Day when he was at West Ham) had signed permanently on a free transfer (having been on loan from Stoke City for half the previous season).

The experienced Keith Andrews and Stephen Ward also joined on season-long loan deals and played prominent roles in Garcia’s play-off reaching side.

It was under Day’s watch that the promising young goalkeeper Christian Walton was signed after a tip-off from Warren Aspinall. Aspinall told the Argus in 2015: “I went to Plymouth to do a match report. I set off early and took in a youth team game off my own back. He was outstanding, commanding his box. I reported straight back to Gus (Poyet). He told Mervyn Day. He went to see him, Mervyn liked him.”

It wasn’t the first time Day had played a role in securing a goalkeeper for the Albion. As far back as 2003 he had an influence on Ben Roberts’ arrival at the Albion. Manager Steve Coppell revealed: “He is one of three goalkeepers at Charlton and at the moment nearly all the Premiership clubs are very protective about their goalkeepers.

“I have seen him play a number of times, although I certainly haven’t seen him play recently. I spoke with Mervyn Day (Charlton coach) and he says Ben is in good form. It’s a little bit of a chance and it will certainly be a testing start for him, but he is looking forward to the challenge.”

Day was also sniffing around another future Albion ‘keeper when he was chief scout for Bristol City (between 2017 and 2019).  According to Sky Sports commentator Martin Tyler, Mat Ryan was on their radar in the summer of 2017 when he swapped Belgium for England. In an interview with Socceroos.com, Tyler reveals he was asked by City’s ‘head of recruitment’ (thought to be Day) to glean the opinions of Gary and Phil Neville (manager and coach of Valencia at the time) on Ryan and whether he’d be suitable for the English game.

“I got a text saying, ‘Can you find out from the Nevilles whether they rate Mat Ryan’,” Tyler said. “It wasn’t my opinion they were looking for – quite rightly – it was Gary and Phil’s. I was able to do that and both Gary and Phil gave Mat the thumbs up.”

After leaving Brighton, Day moved straight into a similar role with West Brom, where he worked under technical director Terry Burton and first team manager Alan Irvine, but he was only there a year before linking up with the Robins. He has since been first team domestic scout for Glasgow Rangers, although based in his home town of Chelmsford.

Day was born in Chelmsford on 26 June 1955 and educated at Kings Road Primary School, the same school that England and West Ham World Cup hero Geoff Hurst attended. He moved on to the town’s King Edward VI Grammar School and represented Essex Schools at all levels. He joined the Hammers under Ron Greenwood on a youth contract in 1971.

“On my first day as an associate schoolboy I got taken by goalkeeping coach Ernie Gregory into the little gym behind the Upton Park dressing room and he had Martin Peters, an England World Cup winner, firing shots at me,” Day later recounted. “As a 15-year-old that was incredible.

“The bond got even closer when my father died when I was 17. I was an apprentice but Ron signed me as a full pro within a very short space of time to enable me to earn a little more money to help out at home. A short while later he gave me another increase. He was almost a surrogate father to me.”

In the early part of 1971, Day played in the same England Youth side as Alan Boorn, a Coventry City apprentice Pat Saward took from his old club to the Albion in August 1971.

The goalkeeper was just 18 when he made his West Ham United debut, on 27 August 1973, in a 3-3 home draw with Ipswich Town.

He went on to play 33 matches in his first season and only missed one game in the following three.

Tony Hanna, for West Ham Till I Die, wrote: “In only his eleventh game for the Hammers he received a standing ovation from the Liverpool Kop in a 0-1 defeat that could have been a cricket score but for his fine display and, in his next visit to Anfield, he saved a penalty in a 2-2 draw.”

Day recalled: “As a kid, I had no fear, I took to playing in the first team really, really well. At West Ham, the ‘keeper always had lots to do as we were an entertaining team. We had forward-thinking centre-backs in Bobby Moore and Tommy Taylor, and then after Bobby came Kevin Lock.”

Mervyn Day in action for West Ham against Brighton at the Goldstone Ground, Hove.

In 1974, Day progressed to England’s Under-23 side. He won four caps that year and a fifth in 1975 but it was a golden era for England goalkeepers at the time and he didn’t progress to the full international side, despite being touted for a call-up.

By the time Day won that last cap, he had been voted PFA Young Player of the Year and, at 19, had become the youngest goalkeeper to appear in a FA Cup Final, keeping a clean sheet as West Ham beat Fulham 2-0 at Wembley.

Hanna continued: “At times he was performing heroics in the West Ham goal and he was fast becoming a fans favourite. Tall and agile, he was a brilliant shot stopper and he was playing like a ‘keeper well beyond his years.”

However, by the 1977-78 season Day’s form had tapered off as the Hammers were relegated. “His confidence was so bad he was eventually dropped and he only played 23 games that season,” said Hanna. “There are several theories to what triggered the loss of form, but one thing that did not help the lad was the stick he was getting from the Hammers supporters.

“In hindsight Mervyn said that he was ill prepared for such a tough run of form. The early seasons had gone so well that he had only known the good times and when the bad ones came he struggled to come to terms with the pressure.”

In 1979, West Ham smashed the world record transfer fee for a goalkeeper to bring in Phil Parkes from QPR and Day was sold to Leyton Orient, where he replaced long-standing stopper John Jackson, who later became a goalkeeper coach and youth team coach at Brighton.

Day spent four years at Brisbane Road before moving to Aston Villa as back-up ‘keeper to Nigel Spink. After a falling-out with Villa boss Graham Turner, he switched to Leeds under Eddie Gray and then Billy Bremner. During Bremner’s reign, he had the humiliation of conceding six at Stoke City at the start of the 1985-86 season and, in spite of vowing it wouldn’t happen again, let in seven in the repeat fixture the following season. Amongst his Leeds teammates that day were Andy Ritchie and Ian Baird.

Nevertheless, he ended up playing more games (268) for Leeds than any of his other clubs. He rarely missed a game up to the end of 1989-90, the season when was he was named Player of the Year and collected a Second Division championship medal.

Howard Wilkinson offered him a post as goalkeeping coach for United’s first season back in the elite, having lined up a £1m move for John Lukic from Arsenal. Day had a couple of loans spells – at Luton Town and Sheffield United in 1992 – but was otherwise back-up for Lukic, alongside his coaching duties, until Wilkinson saved Brighton’s future by signing Mark Beeney from the Seagulls.

After eight years at Elland Road, Day moved to the Cumbrian outpost of Carlisle in 1993. When he moved into the manager’s chair at Brunton Park, he not only led them to promotion from the Second Division in 1997, but they also won the (Auto Windscreens Shield) Football League Trophy. United beat Colchester 4-3 on penalties at Wembley after a goalless draw; one of the scorers being the aforementioned Warren Aspinall, later of Brighton and Radio Sussex.

Day worked under Curbishley at Charlton for eight years between 1998 and 2006, helping the club stabilise in the Premier League.

And, in December 2006, he followed Curbishley as his No.2 to West Ham, where the duo spent almost two years.

It was in 2010 that he returned to Leeds as chief scout, working under technical director Gwyn Williams. United manager Simon Grayson said at the time: “We’re restructuring the scouting department under Gwyn and Mervyn will be both producing match reports and watching our opposition and working on the recruitment of players.

“Merv’s knowledge and experience will prove important to the football club as we look to progress and develop what we are doing.”

Duffy had Burleigh pal for company on his Albion arrival

HISTORY has seen a whole string of goalkeepers play for both Newcastle United and Brighton. Dutchman Tim Krul was the most recent and others stretching back over the years – Eric Steele, Dave Beasant, and Steve Harper – have featured in this blog at various times.

My post this time, though, centres on Martin Burleigh, for many years an understudy to Northern Irish international Iam McFaul.

When stocky striker Alan Duffy travelled 350 miles from home to join Brighton in early 1970, it was with some relief that he found the familiar face of Burleigh amongst his new teammates.

How Albion’s matchday programme reported Duffy’s delight in meeting up with a familiar face

The goalkeeper, who was only 18, was on loan at the Albion at the time. The previous year he and Duffy had been in the same Newcastle United youth team.

Not only did that side do the Northern Intermediate League and cup double, 10 days before the first team won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, the youth team brought even more silverware to Tyneside – winning a prestigious international youth tournament at Feyenoord’s ground in Rotterdam.

Toon’s trophy-winning youth team of 1969

Unlike Albion’s new £10,000 permanent signing, though, Burleigh was to have only a short-lived stay in Sussex. Manager Freddie Goodwin had brought in the Toon no.3 ‘keeper (Iam McFaul was first choice and John Hope his deputy) as cover while Albion were reduced to only one fit goalkeeper (Brian Powney) following a serious head injury to Geoff Sidebottom in the first match of a marathon second round FA Cup tie against Walsall (it took four games to decide it; those were the days before penalty shoot-outs).

Thankfully Powney avoided injury so young Burleigh was not called into match action, and he returned to the north east still waiting to make his league debut. Indeed, he had to wait until Boxing Day 1970 for that chance. Although Toon went down 3-0 at Leeds United, opposition manager Don Revie praised the youngster, saying: “I thought he had a fine game. He had no chance with the goals. Some of the saves he made showed he has a fine future ahead of him.”

It would seem Toon boss Joe Harvey wasn’t so sure and it was more than a year before Burleigh got his next chance to shine, making his home debut in a 4-2 win over Coventry City on 8 January 1972.

Once again it was to be his only first team appearance of the season, but in the 1972-73 season he finally got a run of games when McFaul was injured. He played in 11 matches but then had the misfortune to fracture a finger in a collision with Mick Channon during a 1-1 draw at Southampton, and McFaul returned.

The Toon 1892.com website recalls Burleigh then having a struggle with weight issues and he had a public dispute with manager Harvey which saw him walk out of the club saying he was going to join the RAF. But Newcastle retained his registration and when the dust settled on the dispute he was sent on loan to Darlington before making the move permanent in October 1974 for a fee of £8,000.

He was only at Darlington for a season before switching across country to Carlisle United, where he spent two seasons.

When Burleigh died at the age of 70 on 27 September 2021, Carlisle chairman Andrew Jenkins said: “Martin was a big character who was a pleasure to have around. He was tall and strong in stature and very stylish in the way he kept goal.

“We used to talk about how he very much had the manner of how the goalkeepers in Europe used to do things, with flair and a bit of theatre.

“I remember that Alan Ashman was really keen to get him signed and over here to join us. When he was speaking to the board about him, he said that the fans would be queuing along Warwick Road to watch him – he felt he was that good.”

His death was mourned by former Newcastle teammates too and several ‘Toon Legends’ remembered him at a gathering at the Tyneside Irish Centre.

Tribute on Twitter following Burleigh’s death

“Martin was a great friend and a lot of players who played alongside him at Newcastle from junior to first team level want to pay their respects to a real character,” Toon Legends official Chris Emmerson told Chronicle Live.

After his spell at Carlisle, where he also had to bide his time behind first choice Allan Ross, Burleigh returned to Fourth Division Darlington for two more seasons, during which time (in October 1978) he kept goal when the north east minnows only narrowly lost (1-0) to First Division Everton in a third round League Cup tie.

Burleigh went on to spend three seasons in goal for Hartlepool, ending his league career with a total of 222 appearances.

He then became a painter and decorator but continued playing for non-league sides in the area, appearing for Bishop Auckland, Spennymoor and Langley Park until packing up playing in 1984.

Born in Willington, County Durham, on 2 February 1951, Burleigh was playing for his hometown team at 17 when Newcastle signed him in 1968, initially as an amateur.

Kenneth Scott, in The Toon1892 Chronicles, wrote: “He displayed within the junior and reserve teams that he was more than capable between the posts and it was not long before he turned professional.”

That happened in December 1968 and before the end of the season he was in goal for the Newcastle youth team under coach Keith Burkinshaw (who later managed Spurs) when they won the international tournament in Holland, beating an Arsenal side containing the likes of Ray Kennedy, Sammy Nelson, Charlie George, Eddie Kelly, and Pat Rice.

The achievement was somewhat overshadowed by the first team’s triumph in the old Inter-Cities Fairs Cup when Toon beat Hungarian side Ujpest in the two-legged final, skipper Bobby Moncur lifting the trophy in Budapest.

Although Burleigh managed to edge out McFaul’s deputy Hope to become the no.2 at St James’s Park (Hope joined Sheffield United along with David Ford in exchange for John Tudor in 1971), the form and fitness of the Northern Irish international (who later spent three years as manager of Newcastle) always kept him on the sidelines.

• Incidentally, in line with the tradition of Albion ‘sharing’ goalkeepers over several decades, when McFaul was in the manager’s chair in January 1988 he took Albion’s long-serving Perry Digweed on a month’s loan with the Magpies. He played in their reserves but didn’t appear in the first team. The following month he went on loan to relegation-threatened Chelsea where he featured in three matches: a 3-3 draw away to Coventry City, a 0-0 home draw v Everton and a 4-4 draw at Oxford United.

Wilf’s son Paul helped develop a string of top players

A HIGHLY RESPECTED coach who guided a succession of young hopefuls from Manchester United’s youth ranks through to their first team once aimed to re-ignite his playing career at Brighton.

Paul McGuinness, son of former United player and manager Wilf, was in charge of the United side (that included Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and Michael Keane) who won the FA Youth Cup in 2011, and Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverley also emerged under his guidance.

Wind the clock back to the autumn of 1990, though, and McGuinness, the 24-year-old captain of United’s reserve side in 1989-90, arrived on loan on the south coast.

Albion boss Barry Lloyd would go on to take Albion to Wembley for a play-off final against Neil Warnock’s Notts County the following May.

But in October and November Lloyd was still casting around to see who might supplement Albion’s efforts to get among the division’s pacesetters, and McGuinness had lost his starting berth in United’s Central League side.

McGuinness made his debut for the reserves in a 3-0 defeat away to Crystal Palace. He also played right-back in a 2-1 defeat against QPR Reserves at the Goldstone, in a side in which Soviet international Igor Gurinovich (playing up front with new arrival Bryan Wade) scored Albion’s goal.

In those days of two subs, McGuinness was selected on the bench for five first team games in succession. But he was never put on and, after a 2-1 defeat away to West Ham, he went back to United.

Born in Manchester on 2 March 1966, McGuinness aspired to follow in his dad’s footsteps, but he found him a hard taskmaster and an ultimate competitor, something he reckoned dated back to an upbringing by Sir Matt Busby’s right-hand man Jimmy Murphy.

“The standards were relentless,” McGuinness told manutd.com. “In a primary school match, I scored 10 goals and my main memory of the day is getting an absolute b******ing for leaving mud in the bath afterwards and not sticking to the right standards. To this day, I rinse the bath and shower down afterwards, every single time!

He continued: “I scored a hat-trick in a cup final and when I came off, he told me off for remonstrating with the referee during the game.”

McGuinness declared: “I didn’t want to be a manager because, over time, dad’s experiences really put me off it, but every school holidays I’d be with him at whatever club he was with at the time.

“At York, Hull and Bury, I’d go and join in with the apprentices while he worked. I’d be 12 playing with 16-year-olds, 14 playing with the reserves, 16 training with the first team.

“Just having him as my dad gave me a massive head start when it came to coaching. He’d take me to games and tell me to pick out the best players and explain why, and he’d always study what was happening in the game, and tell me what was going to happen next, and he was always right.

Wilf McGuinness and son Paul

“He’d tell me who was going to get booked, or if a team was over-committing and leaving themselves prone to conceding, and he was always right. That really helped me learn the game at a young age.”

Not to mention the unbelievable experience of getting to play alongside some of United’s biggest household names from their golden era.

“When I was a teenager, there used to be charity games with United, City, Piccadilly Radio and all sorts,” McGuinness recalled. “The ex-players were all in their 40s, and dad would tell me to come along and bring my boots.

“I’d almost always get some playing time, and I ended up playing with Bobby Charlton, George Best, Nobby Stiles, Paddy Crerand, David Sadler, Alex Stepney, but also the City legends too, like Colin Bell, Mike Summerbee, Franny Lee, Tony Book, Glyn Pardoe. It was just incredible.

“This was sometimes just on school fields or non-league grounds, and Bobby was just awesome in every single game. He scored three or four every time.”

Eventually the young McGuinness got the chance to fulfil his dream when he got taken on by United. He was a youth team player between 1982 and 1984 and then spent two years as a professional at Old Trafford, playing alongside Paul McGrath, Kevin Moran, Mark Hughes, Clayton Blackmore, Frank Stapleton and Alan Brazil.

On the teamsheet with some big names

He recounted the circumstances when paying tribute to Eric Harrison, the acclaimed founder of United’s ‘Class of ‘92’, who died in February 2019. “Eric was fundamental in my career as both a player and then for many years as a coach,” McGuinness told traininggroundguru. “I can still vividly remember the moment I convinced him I should get a first pro contract with Manchester United.

“We were playing 6 v 6 on a full-length pitch at The Cliff with no goalkeepers. You could only score if you were inside the six-yard box, which made it a real test of character.

“A player on the opposition team broke free from deep and I chased him all the way back and slide tackled him before he was about to shoot.

“Eric stopped the game. ‘Now that is what we want.’ That got me a two-year contract at the age of 17.”

Perhaps somewhat unusually at that time, McGuinness was also determined to get an education as well as pursue his professional football dream, and he took a degree in PE and Sports Science at Loughborough University.

Having studied under the tutelage of Mike ‘Doc’ Holliday, McGuinness showed his gratitude in subsequent years by taking United academy teams to play matches against the university’s football side.

When that first United contract came to an end in 1986, McGuinness tried his luck with Crewe Alexandra and he played in 13 matches for Dario Gradi’s side in the 1986-87 season.

His studies completed, McGuinness admitted his return to United happened almost by chance.

“This was the time of the ‘Fergie Fledglings’ and I popped into the training ground one day to say hello,” he told traininggroundguru. “ ‘You could have played for the reserves last night,’ Eric said, and I ended up playing the next few games for them. It went from there and Sir Alex Ferguson gave me another contract for a couple of years.”

It was during the second year of that deal that he joined the Albion on loan and the following year he switched to Bury, although he didn’t play any league games for them. Eventually he moved on to Chester City and played in seven matches for Harry McNally’s side.

“Eric got me back in at United after that, first as the club’s welfare officer and then as Centre of Excellence Director,” McGuiness recounted. “He was a constant mentor and you couldn’t help but learn from him.”

He also worked with Nobby Stiles and took over as head of the centre of excellence from the World Cup winner in 1994.

McGuinness has clearly spent a long time absorbing advice and in that manutd.com interview recounted another anecdote about his father.

“When I was a kid, dad would have me shoot from the halfway line, time after time. Eventually, in a university game, I scored from the kick-off with one of those shots and he was there. I was so made up with that.

“He was forever trying to get you to try something different and that stuck with me in my coaching. I had Ollie Norwood trying that from the kick-off, or I’d tell Fraizer Campbell or Marcus Rashford to dribble towards goal straight from the kick-off. Just try something different.

“For me, it was about the spirit of football, something which I talk about a lot to this day, and that’s something that my dad has always embodied.”

It was obviously quite an emotional moment when United finally parted company with McGuinness in February 2016. He told the Manchester Evening News: “It has been an honour and a privilege to follow in my father Wilf’s footsteps and to serve Manchester United in a variety of roles for a total of 28 years.

“To have seen 86 Academy players develop to make their debut for the first team and 23 to become full internationals has been thoroughly rewarding.

“I have especially enjoyed working behind the scenes with devoted colleagues, nurturing and coaching young players to reach their potential.

“I will be forever grateful to Sir Alex Ferguson for making my dreams come true and inviting me to represent Manchester United as a player and for the last 23 years as a proud member of staff.”

McGuinness has frequently shared his knowledge and coaching experience at seminars and online in interviews and podcasts. For example, he told fourfourtwo.com: “One of the first things we look at in young players is how they move with and without the ball.

“You can never be certain, but it gives us a good idea whether they will go on to become athletic. I have seen many talented youngsters who are technically very good but are finished by 12 or 13 because athletically they are not quite good enough.”

Not the case with Rashford, though. “Marcus was a great mover, he was very quick and had a great flow about him,” said the coach.

United built several cage pitches to recreate school playground learning, where older and younger players would compete in small spaces. “They would play 8v8 or 7v7 to increase their speed of thought and improve their skills,” said McGuinness. “At 12, Rashford was playing cage football with Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and Ravel Morrison, who were 16.

“He learned from them, but he could also express himself more. With his own age group he might only play a single one one-two, but with Pogba, he could play two or three.”

Scott McTominay is among the current crop of United players to have acknowledged McGuinness’ influence on his career. “We were always brought up to have an elite mentality,” he told manutd.com. “That’s one of the most important things for Paul McGuinness and Warren Joyce – how strong you are in games when it might not be going so well. You have to keep all the right habits off the pitch as well, which I’ve completely bought into from Paul and Warren.

“That was probably one of the best things I’ve done: listening and learning from everything they’ve said and trying to put it into the first team.”

In October 2017, McGuinness was appointed national coach developer by the FA and in December 2021 he became head of academy player development at Leicester City.

He had overall responsibility for players from the under nines through to the under 18s, with a brief to ensure players were ready for the transition to the under 23s and the first-team squad. But in September 2022, it was reported he had stepped down from the role to help care for his father who, like several players of that generation, had dementia.

More than 19,000 followers on Twitter can see on McGuinness’ timeline an appreciation of the finer arts of football and memories of his dad Wilf’s playing and coaching career.

Fledgling manager sought advice from Revie, Clough and Taylor

JOHN NAPIER is still coaching youngsters in America as he approaches his 76th birthday. NICK TURRELL’s In Parallel Lines blog caught up with him for a trip down memory lane.  Here, he talks about getting into coaching.

A signed photo from my scrapbook

GOING right back to his days at Brighton, John Napier has always been interested in helping young footballers to develop.

“When I stopped playing, I really wanted to get into the coaching side,” he explained. “I had worked in the youth system at Brighton and in Bradford, and I just loved being around young players.”

Ken Blackburn

Testimony to that comes from two former Brighton youngsters who enjoyed the opening article in this five-part series. Ken Blackburn said via Facebook: “I was an apprentice and pro during part of his career with Brighton. I saw on a daily basis how good he was, but just as important a lovely human being and top bloke.”

And Gary Croydon added: “I was a youth team player at the time, and he often came to watch our games, offering advice.”

It was at Bradford City, where he’d been transferred from Brighton in 1972, that Napier got his first official coaching job.

Napier (left) with former Albion teammate Allan Gilliver (right) in their Bradford City playing days

After his playing days had ended, he returned to Valley Parade in November 1975, working with manager Bobby Kennedy, the former Manchester City player who had taken over from Bryan Edwards in January of that year.

A seven-game losing streak saw Kennedy sacked in February 1978, and Napier took over the hotseat. Unfortunately, his tenure was brief and unpopular. He was in charge when City were relegated from the Third Division to the Fourth.

“It only lasted a year, but I learned so much about what it takes to be in charge and making decisions,” he said.

Fascinatingly, he revealed: “One of the first things I did as a young manager at the age of 32 was to drive over to Elland Road and sit down with the great Don Revie.

“We had a great conversation about management; what a gentleman he was. I also made the trip down the motorway to meet with Brian Clough and Peter Taylor at Nottingham: another great experience.

“I was determined to hear from the best. It was important that I try to get better in all areas.”

One of his dealings in the transfer market was to secure the services of Mick Bates, who had played under Revie at Leeds. Napier agreed a £20,000 fee to sign the midfielder from Walsall, where he had been captain. Bates died aged 73 in July 2021.

The young manager wasn’t afraid to impose discipline, as the Bradford Telegraph & Argus reported on 25 September 1978: “Bradford City manager John Napier today imposed a new strict disciplinary code for his players following the recent disappointing 3-1 home defeat by lowly Newport County.

“Days off have been cancelled, training sessions will be held in the afternoon as well as in the morning, all privileges will be taken away and discipline will be ‘very strict’, said Napier.”

Sadly, it didn’t pay off and after just 34 games in charge (11 wins, five draws and 18 defeats) he was sacked and replaced by George Mulhall, the former Halifax Town manager (incidentally, Mulhall was the manager who reluctantly sold Lammie Robertson to Brighton and got Napier’s former Irish teammate Willie Irvine in exchange).

In December 1979, Napier intended to turn his back on coaching and management to start a new football-related venture in America, taking his young family to settle in San Diego.

As he explained to soccertoday.com in a January 2015 article: “My new venture was to be a successful businessman, and with the help of friends in Escondido we opened a soccer store, named The Soccer Locker. This was to be my future in the game, so I thought.

“Well, things don’t always go the way you want them to, as I found out the hard way. There was not too much interest in soccer in 1979.”

The article charts the difficulties the business underwent and how Napier contemplated packing it in and returning to England.

“It was very frustrating as a business person to spend long hours waiting for a customer to walk through the door,” he told soccertoday.com. The business was eventually liquidated in 1985, but, before then, Irish eyes started smiling when opportunity knocked.

Award-winning sportswriter and columnist for The Times-Advocate, Bob Gaines, invited Napier to write a regular column for a start-up football magazine and, having penned some pieces for the Bradford Telegraph & Argus during his time in Bradford, Napier took on the opportunity.

“This was promotion we needed, and it did help, but not a lot. We were still struggling to get by each month and walk-in customers were non-existent,” he said.

Good fortune was round the corner, though, when one of the shop’s customers invited him to start coaching a high school football team. It was way below the level he wanted to be at, but it was work.

“I was really ready to return to England and the professional game after a not very prosperous outlook in California for the first six months,” he admitted.

Nevertheless, he got to know Ron Newman, a former Portsmouth and Gillingham player, who was the head coach of the local professional side, San Diego Sockers (Napier had played for the forerunner of the Sockers – San Diego Jaws – after that franchise had replaced the Baltimore Comets).

Newman offered Napier a one-year contract as the Sockers’ youth coordinator. “Each day I would come to the office and set up events at local elementary and middle schools,” he recalled. “The players would visit and talk to the kids and do some exhibition stuff on the playgrounds and school fields. It was a lot of fun, and the players liked it.”

He also began coaching an under-23 team called the Escondido Royals, who played decent level opposition in and around Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties. After that, he didn’t look back.

“I got my top US soccer coaching licence many years ago and have worked for US soccer as a coaching educator in my area (southern California), getting thousands of young coaches their licence on their pathway to their future in the game,” he said. “It has been a rewarding experience.”

In another 2015 soccertoday.com article, Napier said: “I have been fortunate to see the growth of youth soccer in this country since 1979. What an incredible experience to be part of and to have helped youth soccer grow and flourish in America.

“Anybody who was around in soccer during the early eighties and was able to watch it develop to where the sport is today has to have an inner satisfaction. I know I certainly do.

“Soccer, internationally and domestically, both at the higher professional level as well as at the youth levels, has grown tremendously. In fact, I am very, very proud.”

Inducted into the CalSouth Hall of Fame in 2015

The genial Irishman told me: “I have coached many levels in my time in the USA and have seen the growth of the game take off, especially in the last 25 years or so.

“There are now more kids playing soccer than any other youth sport, such as baseball and American football. The girls’ programs especially have seen an enormous growth, the success of the national women’s team has raised the roof for girls’ soccer.

“I have been fortunate to have had some good really good players in the past and, even now, I see some former pupils in the US national teams.

“At the present, Aaron Long is playing in the national team and another, Bobby Wood, was in Germany and played for the US team.

“On the girls’ side, Catarina Macario, who plays in the present US women’s national team, and in Lyon (France) for their women’s team.

“Many others are playing in the national youth teams – boys and girls – so I am proud of my work in youth soccer. It is very rewarding to be able to give back to the game that gave me so much.”

When I interviewed Napier in the early Spring of 2022, he revealed: “I will be 76 in a few months, and I coach regularly for my club, San Diego Soccer Club Surf.

Napier still coaches at San Diego Soccer Club Surf

“My week consists of four weekday sessions of three to four hours daily and, at the weekend, I coach my teams both Saturday and Sunday.”

The weekend after our interview he was heading off to Phoenix Arizona for back-to-back games before returning home, to Monday practice again – a round trip of about 800 miles.

“As long as I have the passion and desire to enjoy the game and the energy to be involved, I will keep at the game that gave me everything,” he said.

In a blog for San Diego Soccer Club Surf, Napier details his football career and concludes: “My life journey in soccer has been amazing. I often dreamed as a young boy growing up in a far-off land of being a ‘soccer player’.

“Never did I think that I would have the career that I have had – the places I have been, representing my country, the players I had the honour to play with and against, the amazing people and wonderful coaches I have met. It has been a wonderful soccer life and still is.”

• Ever the gentleman, John ended our interview by saying: “I want to thank all the Brighton fans that may read these articles.

“It seems like yesterday when I was driving up to the Goldstone from my home on Shoreham Beach.

“They were good days, and to any of my ex-team mates out there drop me an email, I am easily found on the internet.”

Brothers in arms but not actually related: Kit was just a pal

John Napier competes with Aston Villa’s Andy Lochhead

JOHN NAPIER is still coaching youngsters in America as he approaches his 76th birthday. NICK TURRELL’s In Parallel Lines blog caught up with him for a trip down memory lane.  Here, in the fourth of five articles, he recalls his Albion teammates and some memorable opponents.

AS A YOUNG lad starting out watching Brighton in the late ‘60s, I assumed two players sharing the same not-particularly-common surname must have been brothers.

But defender John Napier and striker Kit Napier spoke with different accents.

“I think back then most people thought we were brothers, but we had to explain he was from Scotland and I was from Northern Ireland,” he said.

“But I was a great friend of Kit’s. Our families spent a lot of time together. I even went up one summer with Kit to Dunblane in Scotland where he was from, and we had a great time.

No relation – Kit Napier

“Kit was a really good player. He knew how to finish in the box, a real goal shark. He was quick over short distances and scored some great goals over his time at Brighton.

“You would not see him for a while and then, like all good goalscorers, he would jump in with a half chance, and you would think ‘Where did he come from’?”

Napier was sorry to hear of Kit’s death in 2019. “His son did keep in touch with me from South Africa and kept me up to date with what was happening,” he said.

“I know he will always be remembered fondly in Brighton.”

The towering centre-half spoke warmly about the team spirit he experienced during his time with the Albion.

In that 1971-72 promotion squad, Napier was one of three Northern Irish internationals, and I wondered whether their nationality gave them a special bond.

“We were all good friends and spent family times together,” he said. “The great thing about Brighton back then was how all the players jelled together.

“There were no cliques in the group. We all liked being together, it did not matter which part of the country we were from. When we went out, it was always as a group with families.

“Willie Irvine was another known for his goalscoring ability, much like Kit Napier; sharp around the box and tried to get on the end of every cross in the box.

Napier with fellow Irishman Willie Irvine

“I remember Willie scoring a great goal for us against Aston Villa in our promotion year.”

Bertie Lutton

And Bertie Lutton? “Bertie was also a good player. He had some flair about his movement with the ball. I remember his long flowing head locks back then also.

“Both were well received by the Goldstone crowds. We had several Irish players through the years.”

Sadly, having been based in America for a good many years, Napier has not managed to stay in touch with his former teammates, although, via this article, he issued an open invitation to any of them to get in touch with him.

George Ley

“I did talk to George Ley, who lived in Dallas, a couple of times, and Kit Napier’s family in South Africa,” he said.

“I did see Peter O’Sullivan when Brighton were over in America on a tour in the 80s, but nothing else. I wish I had.

“I knew that Dave Turner was coaching in Canada, Stewart Henderson was at Southampton coaching for a long-time.

“But I was also at Bradford many years before I came to America in 1979, so I completely lost touch.

“The years have gone by so fast.”

In my previous article, I referred to Pat Saward’s praise for Napier’s handling of marksman Ted MacDougall, so I wondered who were the toughest opponents he faced.

“That’s a good question: back then the old Third Division was a tough league, it didn’t matter who you played against,” he said. “You were in for a physical battle in every game. It was never easy.”

The big man continued: “I did not really pay attention to who I was marking. I always went out with the mindset to get my job done for the club.

Penalty box ‘wrestling’ isn’t anything new; at least the ref saw the funny side!

“We would talk about individuals sometimes, and what their strengths were, but very rarely worried too much about players.

“MacDougall was at Bournemouth at the time: he was a handful. Andy Lochhead at Aston Villa was another. I am sure there were many more, but I did not lose sleep thinking about how I was going to stop players.

“There were good days and bad days, which we all had. But if we were on the winning side, it was always a good day!”

Napier added: “I met up with Ted MacDougall a few years ago when we were both in a US coaching class in Los Angeles.

“He was based in Atlanta at the time. We talked about old times and battles we had through the years. It is amazing how many former UK players are living over here in the States, working in various coaching positions.”

A little-seen away strip for the Albion in the 1970-71 season

• In the final part of this series of articles, the blog looks at how Napier got into coaching, the influences he sought, and what he’s doing now.

Lanky Lurgan lad lined up alongside George Best

JOHN NAPIER is still coaching youngsters in America at the age of 75. NICK TURRELL’s In Parallel Lines blog caught up with him for a trip down memory lane.  Here, in the third of five articles, we look at how it all began.

This cracking Bolton News picture shows Napier leading out Bolton’s under 18 side at Bromwich Street in January 1963, during the big freeze of that winter.

JOHN NAPIER was born in Lurgan, 18 miles south west of Belfast, on 23 September 1946.

Napier was football daft from a young age and he said: “Looking back at my childhood, I always wanted it from a young age. It was my dream. I had two uncles that played at pro level in Northern Ireland and they worked with me at a young age.

“I would say they toughened me up. I was never afraid to try new things. I left home at 15 to pursue my dreams, and it worked out. It was not easy – it never is – but you must keep at it. Failure was not an option in those times.”

In another interview, Napier said he adopted Spurs as his favourite side when he was 10 or 12. He had three uncles living in north London who were all avid Tottenham supporters and they would send him programmes, pictures and pennants that the youngster put up on his bedroom wall.

𝗟𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲 – 𝗜𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝘂𝗽, 𝗠𝗶𝗱-𝗨𝗹𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗴𝘂𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗮𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮 𝗖𝘂𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝟭𝟵𝟲𝟭

Napier was good enough to represent his country at every level. He played for the schoolboy side at under 15 and under 16 level, and was the youngest Irish player, at 17, in the youth side that reached the final of the UEFA European Under-18 Championship tournament in April 1963.

In front of a crowd of 34,582 at Wembley, he had the misfortune to score an own goal with his head after only five minutes and England went on to beat the Irish 4-0 (Ray Whittaker, Jon Sammels and John Sissons scoring the other goals).

Remarkably, Northern Ireland’s greatest ever player, George Best, only played in two youth internationals for his country.

Napier was in the same side as Best when the Irish drew 1-1 with England at Boundary Park, Oldham, on 11 May 1963.

A week later they were selected together again and Best scored his country’s goal as they drew 1-1 with Wales in Aberystwyth.

After winning his only full cap against West Germany in 1966 (see previous article), Napier won two Under-23 caps, also both against Wales. He was in the side that beat Wales 2-1 at Windsor Park, Belfast on 22 February 1967, although the game was abandoned on 72 minutes because of a waterlogged pitch and Welsh and Irish sources differ as to whether the result stood.

Napier had moved to the Albion by the time he made his second appearance; this time the game took place at Ninian Park, Cardiff, on 20 March 1968 and the Irish included the likes of Pat Rice, Tommy Jackson, Dave Clements, Bryan Hamilton and Sammy Todd, who all became established full internationals. But the game was the last of Napier’s international career, at the age of 21.

As Napier said above, he was only 15 when he joined Bolton, choosing them over Everton and Sunderland, who had also shown an interest.

“I really enjoyed my early experience at Bolton,” he told thefootballnetwork.net. “George Taylor and George Hunt, my first coaches at Bolton, and also Nat Lofthouse had a lot to do with my early development. I used to talk to Nat a lot about my game.”

Napier training with Francis Lee and Brian Bromley

Napier rose through the youth ranks alongside the likes of Brian Bromley, Dave Hatton and future England and Manchester City star Francis Lee.

The boots of longstanding centre half Bryan Edwards were big ones to fill but Bolton boss Bill Ridding gave Napier the opportunity to stake his claim. He made his first appearances in the senior side in the final two games of the 1964-1965 season.

Napier helped the side keep clean sheets against Leyton Orient and Cardiff City as the Trotters just missed out on promotion, finishing third, as Newcastle went up as champions along with runners up Northampton Town.

As well as Lee and Bromley, Bolton at that time had a side that included Welsh international striker Wyn Davies (often Napier’s roommate for away matches), England international goalkeeper Eddie Hopkinson and Gordon Taylor, who went on to become chairman of the PFA.

For the following 18 months, Napier was a regular at the heart of the Bolton defence, missing just three games in his first full season and playing a part in the game against Charlton Athletic which saw the Addicks’ Keith Peacock become the first substitute used in English football when replacing goalkeeper Mike Rose in a game at Burnden Park on 21st August 1965.

The Ulsterman himself was involved in the first ever Bolton substitution when, following injury, he was replaced in the 3-2 defeat at home to Southampton by Gordon Taylor.

• In the next instalment of this five-part series of articles, Napier describes the camaraderie that existed amongst the Brighton players during his time at the club, and his approach to the opponents he faced.

‘Kingpin’ and skipper dropped for top-of-the-table clash

JOHN NAPIER is still coaching youngsters in America as he approaches his 76th birthday. NICK TURRELL’S In Parallel Lines blog caught up with him for a trip down memory lane.  In the second of five articles, John recalls Pat Saward signalling the end of his time with the Albion.

SUCH WAS JOHN Napier’s prominence at Brighton, he made an extraordinary 106 consecutive appearances for Albion. Until March 1972.

“I was lucky with injuries, which normally keeps players out,” he recalled. “Mine were mostly cuts around the head area or a broken nose – but nothing serious to keep me out.

“And with Norman Gall beside me, we had a great understanding together. I always took pride in my role in the team. Nothing is for ever, for sure, but you always wanted to be on the field.”

Captain Napier in the number 5 shirt was the status quo as winter turned to spring in 1972 and Albion’s chances of promotion from the Third Division looked ever more promising as they vied for one of the top two spots with Aston Villa and Bournemouth.

On the back of two defeats, Albion prepared to face Villa at the Goldstone on 25 March.

Manager Pat Saward – a former FA Cup winner with Villa – mysteriously and controversially dropped his ‘kingpin’ for what was undoubtedly one of the biggest games of the season. Even BBC’s Match of the Day had taken a rare foray into the lower leagues to feature the match.

Napier found himself replaced by Ian Goodwin, a rugged but injury-prone defender who had played under the manager during his coaching days at Coventry City. Regular right-back Stewart Henderson was also left out.

Not only had Napier been ever present and the captain up to that point, only two months earlier, Saward had been publicly singing his praises to the extent that he was suggesting the defender deserved a recall to the Northern Ireland side.

“The way he is playing, he ought to walk into the side,” Saward told Goal magazine. “He has been consistent all season. Recently Ted MacDougall hardly got a kick against him (that was in a 2-0 Boxing Day win for the Albion against Bournemouth). Ted is dangerous when he is inside the box but John hardly let him get near the ball.”

The article referred to Napier as “the kingpin of the Brighton defence” and went on to say Napier, 25, formed “one of the best pairings in the Third Division with 28-year-old Norman Gall”.

Speculation around Napier’s possible call-up came because Liam O’Kane, who normally partnered Allan Hunter in the Ireland side, was sidelined with a broken leg at the time.

How the programme covered Napier’s omission

The matchday programme following Napier’s shock dropping highlighted that he had previously played 239 matches for the Albion “the last 106 of these being played successively, a splendid record”.

Saward didn’t refer specifically to the player but in his column for the Evening Argus ahead of the Villa game had written: “A manager must always make decisions for the good of the club as a whole. There can be no room for sentiment. There are times when a player who has given his all, and fallen under severe pressure, has to come out of the side for a rest.”

In his programme notes for the following match, he simply said: “We had lost the previous two matches (1-0 at home to Oldham and 2-1 at Bradford City) and I made several team changes which I thought were necessary, and our players responded magnificently.”

Indeed, Albion won the match 2-1 and Willie Irvine scored a terrific goal, still available to watch on YouTube, that was judged by legendary Celtic manager Jock Stein to be Match of the Day’s third best goal of the whole season.

So, all these years later, can Napier shed any more light on exactly what happened? In short, no. “I still am not sure why that happened,” he said. “I know it is all part of the game. There were no signs that I was playing any different.

A signed photo from my scrapbook

“I was the club captain when Pat arrived and he did not change that. I played many games with him as the manager. He had me in the office the week before the Villa game and we talked about a lot of things, as we were right in the promotion mix with a good chance of going into the Second Division.

“I should have probably realised when he wanted to talk in the office. That was not too common with Pat, it was usually a full team meeting.

“He did say he was leaving me out and I would be sub (ed. he wasn’t). Obviously, I was not happy and told him so. I really did not get an explanation as to why, and that is the part that was difficult.”

Perhaps not surprisingly, Napier added: “That is about the time my relationship with Pat started to go downhill fast. Even though we won promotion, I felt that there were going to be changes going into the Second Division.

“I had been in that promotion side for mostly all the season and felt I did not get the recognition for being part of our success. We were barely on speaking terms at the end of the season.

“Players react in different ways with different managers. I also was a little stubborn back then and was not afraid to speak my mind. I have nothing bad to say about Pat: he had success at the club which was needed at that time. We moved on. It happens all the time in soccer.”

I imagined it must have been hard to watch from the sidelines as the team went on to win promotion, and Napier admitted: “Every player wants to play, of course, and being a sub or even not in the game day squad, I had never experienced that part before, so it was tough.”

But he added: “Even though I was disappointed in not playing the last few games, I was really happy for the club and the players.

“Those guys at that time were my brothers; we went through a lot the previous few years trying to battle out of the Third Division, and the Goldstone crowd deserved it.

“We had an unbelievable year; the stadium was full each home game towards the end, everywhere we went the town was buzzing with excitement, nothing brings the fans and players closer than a promotion race.”

I wondered too whether it was a small consolation that it was Napier’s former Bolton teammate Brian Bromley who took over as captain.

“Brian was a great friend. We were both young 15-year-olds on the Bolton Wanderers ground staff, so we were together every day for many years, and both got in the Bolton first team about the same time and played many games together.

“He was very much a technical player. I thought he would go on to play for England, I really did. When he came to Brighton from Portsmouth, I was happy we got him, and knew he would do well at this club. Brian was always a leader; he led by example on the field with his play, never really a ‘get in your face’ person, but respected as a player. There are always different types of leadership qualities that help with teams.”

The defender was not involved in any of the 12 games that rounded off the season with promotion from the old Third Division in runners up spot, although he did return to the side for an end-of-season joint testimonial game for Brian Powney and Gall which First Division Chelsea won 3-2.

Nevertheless, Saward let it be known he would entertain offers for both him and his namesake Kit.

How the Argus reported the transfer listing of John and Kit Napier

Napier takes up the story. “I asked Pat for a transfer at that time. I thought about it deeply as I loved the area and my home on Shoreham Beach. My daughter was born in Hove (she is 52 now), but I did not see me getting back in the team whilst the management remained, so I felt it was best for me to try to move my family back to the north of England.

“I worked hard every day in training hoping maybe there would be reconciliation, but it was not to be, and I was still on the outside looking in. I wanted to play and realised that was not going to happen.

“Pat did say he would help but would want a decent size fee for me to move on. We were both hotheads and I wasn’t a very patient person and wanted it to happen as quickly as possible.”

Both Napiers were still at the club as the new season got under way although Kit was transferred to Blackburn Rovers in September and John eventually got his move north the following month. Before that, though, he was recalled for a 2-1 home win over Exeter City in the League Cup.

A rare Division Two outing for Napier shortly before he left the club.

He went on as a substitute for Ken Beamish in a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa, and then, with Goodwin hospitalised for knee cartilage surgery, Napier was restored alongside Gall for a five-game run in September 1972. But his last appearance for the Albion came at home to Hull City on 7 October, when a 14,330 crowd saw Albion recover from a half-time deficit to draw 1-1 with a goal from Bert Murray.

“Back then, as there were no agents, you had to try to help yourself as a player and it was not uncommon for players to call other clubs and managers or coaches they knew,” Napier explained. “But it is not so easy when there is a transfer fee involved.

“I did get a call from Bryan Edwards who had taken over as the manager of Bradford City in the Third Division. Incidentally, I had taken over the centre-half position at Bolton when Bryan retired as a player.”

Edwards had a long career at Bolton and was in their 1958 FA Cup winning side when two Nat Lofthouse goals settled the game against a Manchester United side depleted by the Munich air disaster three months earlier. Freddie Goodwin and Alex Dawson were in the United line-up that day.

Napier eventually signed for Bradford City after a wrangle over the fee

But back to October 1972. Edwards was told Albion wanted £15,000 for Napier, who said: “I did go in to see Pat after Bradford talked to them, but he told me the club wanted the full asking price. I was mad at the time and some heated words were said. Finally, after a few weeks of happenings, they both decided to make the fee £10,000, and I moved north to Bradford.”

Napier enjoying life playing in the States

He played 107 games for Bradford City across six seasons at Valley Parade, interspersed with loan spells in the USA at Baltimore Comets, playing alongside former Albion and Bradford teammate Allan Gilliver, and its franchise follow-up, San Diego Jaws (which later became San Diego Sockers).

Following his release by Bradford, and temporary return from the States, Napier joined non-league Mossley in September 1975.

His central defensive partner there was his former Bradford City teammate, and former Leeds United and Huddersfield Town defender, Roy Ellam.

Napier made his Mossley debut in a 4-0 win over Macclesfield Town on 23 August 1975, and he went on to play in all but one of the Lilywhites’ next 24 games. He even got on the scoresheet in a 2-1 win over Gateshead in November 1975.

But, by the end of the month, he had returned to Bradford City as an assistant coach, which was an area of the game he had always looked to move into.

• In the next instalment of this series of articles, we look at the early days of Napier’s career.