Tag: Adam El-Abd

Albion nurtured the rise of cultured defender Ben White

BEN WHITE must be one of the best and most successful examples of the way present-day Brighton have evolved.

Picked up for nothing as a teenager after being discarded by Southampton, White’s development was carefully managed in house and on loan at different levels before he broke into the first team, became one of an elite few Albion players to play for England, and was then sold to Arsenal for £50million.

Critics will, of course, say if such talent had been retained the club might now have been punching even higher in the football pyramid.

But, as that veteran Albion watcher Andy Naylor reminded us recently, “hopes and dreams are different from expectations”.

Denied the level of financial clout of, say, nine or 10 clubs in the same division, Albion, as Naylor says “will always be fighting to defy the odds.”

The sale of White was great business for the club – and it didn’t harm their progress. As one who loves a parallel, the season after Mark Lawrenson was sold to Liverpool in 1981, Brighton went on to achieve their highest ever finish (13th) in the top division.

Screenshot

Forty years later, the same – in fact, even better – outcome followed White’s transfer to the Gunners; Albion finished in a highest ever place of ninth under Graham Potter.

And, as if to rub it in, White was in the Arsenal side that lost 2-1 at home to the Seagulls on 9 April 2022 (Enock Mwepu and future Gunner Leandro Trossard the Brighton goalscorers). It was Brighton’s first win in eight games and the win helped to dent Arsenal’s hopes of a top-four finish.

Born in Poole, Dorset, on 8 October 1997, White was in and out of hospital during early childhood owing to an immune disorder that left him with regular bouts of appendicitis, according to an April 2024 Daily Mail article by Sami Mokbel.

He eventually had his appendix removed aged seven but it didn’t stand in the way of his love of playing football from a young age.

“My parents (Barry and Carole) aren’t football fans at all, so they didn’t push me into it,” he told arsenal.com. “But they saw how much I loved it, and they did everything they could to help me. 

“I don’t know how I got into it really in the first place, probably just through being with mates, playing in the park or the garden.  I can’t remember why, I don’t think there was a particular moment that set me off in football, but I remember loving it from the first time I ever kicked a ball.”

He enjoyed other sports too – tennis, hockey and cricket – but it was his football ability that saw him picked up by Southampton’s academy at the age of eight. He played in age group teams through to the age of 16 as a midfielder, but Saints didn’t offer him a scholarship because of concerns over his lack of strength.

Others obviously saw something, though, because he had trials at Leicester and Bristol City before opting to join Brighton. 

“It’s not nice hearing that someone doesn’t want you, but you’ve got to believe in yourself and remember it’s only someone’s opinion that may be right, or may be wrong,” he said.

Albion’s then head of academy player recruitment Mark Anderson spotted White during a trial at the David Beckham Soccer Dome in Greenwich. He played a game on trial against Brentford, and was then taken on, playing as a central defender, on youth terms working under academy boss John Morling and under-23s coach Simon Rusk.

Interviewed by The Athletic in November 2020, Morling explained how White’s pathway to Brighton’s first team was carefully planned and nurtured from the moment the club decided to give him a chance.

“He was technically good, passed the ball well,” said Morling. “He was a good, athletic shape. You knew he had a lot more development from a physical perspective.

“He had growing issues at one point. He was out for a long time. When people grow, they can have problems in their heels, knees or back. He had some back issues.”

White featured regularly for Brighton’s under-18s and under-23s under Rusk, and Morling pointed out: “He was a good learner, a nice personality, a way about him. He worked hard, did lots of extras in his under-18 year, under-23 year. He’d be very modest, but he’d be honest in his opinion of how he played if he didn’t play well. That’s how he is.”

Morling added: “His make-up, personality and modesty comes from his parents and his upbringing. That’s how he is and that is a big positive for young players to learn from.

“You’ve not made it until you’ve made it and the really top players always strive for more on the pitch. They always want to be better and, in their eyes, they’ve never made it. Ben shows that.”

At Brighton, he certainly had a shining example to look up to and he admitted how Lewis Dunk took him under his wing. “When I started at Brighton my goal was to play alongside him,” he said. “He was there from a young age as well, he was just a normal guy, English as well, down to earth, same position and we got on well.

“From him it was more a case of watching what he did every day. He was an example for me to follow. He was someone you look up to and see him training every day. I knew I needed to be at that level.”

Lewis Dunk provided a great example for White to follow

White was still only 18 when Chris Hughton gave him his first team debut in the League Cup in August 2016, a 4-0 home win over Colchester United, and he played in the next round, a 4-2 win over Oxford United. He was also an unused sub for league games.

“He is the type of boy you can’t dislike,” Hughton told Mail Sport. “The type of boy you want to see do well. A quiet lad. Very unassuming.”

Hughton said there was never a question mark about his ability, only what would be his best position – centre-back, right-back or defensive midfield. “Because he was a ball player we knew he would be capable of playing in other positions. At the time we didn’t feel he was a domineering centre-back.”

When he looked back on his first team bow, White said in a matchday programme interview: “There weren’t many people who could play because of the injuries at centre-half but I was still surprised (to be chosen) and hopefully I took my chance to impress.

“I learned a lot about concentration; you can’t afford to switch off in the first team because you’ll get punished otherwise.

“I’ve tried to take that back into the under-23s and hopefully I can implement that with them now. Learning off players like Dunky was great, they’re really good people to learn from.”

White had begun to be involved in the first team that pre-season, joining the squad for training in Tenerife and featuring in friendlies against Crawley Town, Fulham and Lazio.

Ahead of him in his position at the time were Dunk, Shane Duffy, Connor Goldson and Uwe Hunemeier, so it was always going to be a gradual transition to the senior group.

“Obviously I’d love to get involved with the first team again, as that gave me a taste of what I want to do on a regular basis,” he said.

But there were three loans – in League Two, League One and the Championship – before he became a first team regular.

Gaining experience with Newport County

First stop was South Wales, and Morling recalled how Albion gave Newport County specific instructions as to how they could improve him: he needed to work on his aerial ability and show more personality in and around training.

Brighton-born managerial veteran Lennie Lawrence was supporting team manager Mike Flynn and Morling observed: “He did really well. They really liked him and they played a big part in his development, no question.”

White played 51 games across four competitions, which included memorable tests in the FA Cup when the League Two side beat Leeds 2-1 at home in round three (it avenged a 5-1 defeat in the League Cup earlier in the season when White’s ability to carry the ball out from defence caught the eye of Leeds’ then sporting director, Victor Orta).

Leeds tried to persuade White to move to Elland Road that January but he decided to stay put and once again impressed when the Welsh side held Spurs to a 1-1 draw (Harry Kane equalised with eight minutes to go) in the fourth round before losing the replay 2-0 at Wembley (Spurs’ temporary home ground at the time).

Flynn later reflected: “I knew he was going to be a bright star just by watching him day-in, day-out. When he goes and puts in the performances he did against the likes of Leeds and Tottenham, then you start realising how good he can be.

“He was outstanding. I described him as a Rolls Royce. He moved as eloquently as a footballer can. He was quicker than he looks, he read the game exceptionally well for somebody of that age, and he was a great lad all-round. His attitude was first class.

“For me, my biggest concern was whether he could handle the physicality of League Two. But he played against the ex-Brighton captain Adam El-Abd [when Newport faced Wycombe Wanderers] and there was a 50:50 in the corner. Ben’s gone straight through him, come out with the ball and hit a 60-yard diag.”

Somewhat presciently, Flynn added: “I think he’ll play at the top level and I think he’ll represent England.”

The player’s agent, Alex Levack told The Athletic: “Going out on loan to Newport, that was the time when he pretty much turned from boy, or young man, to a proper man; players fighting for win bonuses, it was the real world, but he seems to transition easily, doesn’t get ruffled, kind of like he is on the pitch. He takes everything on board, sometimes doesn’t say much, but he understands it. He’s smarter than he might make out.”

White’s impressive season for County earned him the South Wales Argus Player of the Year Award and, on his return to Brighton, he signed a contract extension. With Goldson and Hunemeier having moved on, White had some involvement with Albion’s first team squad in the first half of the 2018-19 season although Leon Balogun was back-up to Dunk and Duffy and the youngster had only one unused sub appearance (away to Burnley).

Morling had worked in Peterborough United’s academy before joining Brighton, and Rusk had played for Posh, so perhaps it wasn’t too surprising that White’s next step was to Cambridgeshire in January 2019, where the ebullient former manager Barry Fry was director of football.

White made 15 appearances in League One for Peterborough, initially under Steve Evans and then Darren Ferguson, as they just missed out on the play-offs by a single point and one place, but Fry said: “He was magnificent, different class.

“He was far better than our standard when he played for us. Very cool, a lovely lad off the pitch, a diamond, very dedicated, great in the community but, most of all, a proper player.”

Those experiences certainly had an impact on White, who said: “Playing for points in the lower leagues and winning games is an amazing feeling, simply because the boys don’t get paid as much, so the three points and a bonus is really important to them. The players really put a shift in as a result.

“It was a good learning experience because I came up against all different kinds of strikers, with different qualities, and I had to battle and fight, which I wouldn’t say is my strongest attribute.

“I enjoyed the experience; it was very different to anything I’d been used to, but I found that as I went up the divisions it suited my game more. Saying that, the further up you go you’re going to get punished if you make a mistake.”

White playing for Leeds up against one-time Albion loanee Izzy Brown

Leeds’ Orta was determined to take White to Elland Road and, with Pontus Jansson having moved on to Brentford, quirky team boss Marcelo Bielsa gave his blessing to the youngster joining on a season-long loan in July 2019.

White played all 46 games as Leeds won the Championship title and he said later of Bielsa: “I learned so much from him; his coaching was all about details, the minor things like how the ball spins when you pass it, how you’re passing it, why you’re passing it. I learnt a great deal from him.”

Leeds teammate Luke Ayling was suitably impressed by the loanee, saying: “Top, top quality. He showed mental strength to come in here as a lad that nobody knew about and step into Pontus’ shoes and hit the ground running. A real, real quality player with a strong mentality. The sky’s the limit for him.”

The Yorkshire Evening Post was similarly impressed, naming him their Player of the Season and reporter Lee Sobot declaring: “White has the world at his feet and the centre-back has shown skills not befitting a typical centre-back during his forays forward and the occasional stint in the holding midfield role.”

Fellow Leeds writer Graham Smyth said: “He handled the division’s physicality, its relentless fixture schedule and the weighty expectation that is sewn into the fabric of a Leeds United shirt. He wore it brilliantly.”

Leeds were determined to land White permanently and put in three significant bids, one believed to be of £25million, all of which Brighton rejected. His agent told The Athletic: “They (Brighton) said he was coming back here to play. A lot of clubs would say that and maybe not follow through with it. But the manager said it, Dan Ashworth (technical director) said it, the chairman (Tony Bloom) said it, and it’s been proven correct.”

With his feet firmly ensconced as part of Albion’s first team set-up, White said: “The way the boys train and how they’re living, everything about them is at the next level. The training has been great. I’m continuing to learn under the gaffer (Potter) here and it’s great to have Dunky as my captain as well.

White blocks a Phil Foden shot

“He’s phenomenal, isn’t he? He’s done it at every level and has continued to progress and be the star man every season. He’s pure quality to train alongside. He rarely has a poor session and you can see the difference in him compared to when I was last here. He’s grown up a lot, taken charge of everyone and looks like a real captain.”

From a fans’ perspective, it was just a pity that the majority of White’s Albion matches were played behind closed doors because of the Covid pandemic.

In a March 2021 interview with Sky Sports, Potter said: “He’s got a lot of attributes that I think are really exciting for us. As a modern centre-back, he’s got a lot of things that are really interesting.”

Such was his form across 39 league and cup games that he was named Seagulls’ Player of the Season, and on 2 June 2021, White made his England debut, going on as a 71st minute sub for Jack Grealish in England’s 1-0 pre-European Championship Finals warm-up friendly win against Austria at The Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough. He became only the fifth Brighton player to play for England.

Four days later, he added his second cap when he started for England at the same stadium in a 1-0 win over Romania. On two other occasions that month, he was twice an unused sub (v Croatia and the Czech Republic at Wembley).

That recognition inevitably had big clubs circling: Chelsea, Tottenham and Liverpool enquired about his availability, but it was Arsenal who were prepared to meet Albion’s £50million asking price.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said: “Ben was a top target for us and it’s great that we’ve completed his signing. Ben has been educated with two very good clubs, Brighton and Leeds, in recent seasons.

“He has benefitted well from two very good coaching set-ups and has shown with both Brighton and on loan with Leeds what a strong talent he is.

“Ben is an intelligent defender who is very comfortable with the ball at his feet and his style fits perfectly with us. And of course, he is still young, so his age and profile fits with what we are building here. We are all looking forward to Ben being central to our future long-term plans.”

A sanguine Potter told Sky Sports: “It’s part of the process for us growing as a club and a team.

“Obviously Ben played a lot of minutes for us last year and was a key player but the finances involved meant it was a really good option for us as a club to improve, to keep growing, and we need to then use the money wisely to develop the team further.

“I’m happy for Ben, of course, happy for the club. I’m proud of everybody in the academy and everybody that has helped his journey outside of Brighton, because he’s had some loan opportunities as well which have developed him. It’s a great story for us.”

White on his England debut

White won two more England caps in March 2022, playing in a 2-1 win over Switzerland at Wembley and featuring in the first half of a 3-0 win over Cote d’Ivoire.

What happened subsequently to his international career has been written and spoken about on multiple occasions, much of it from unattributed sources, while the player himself has always maintained a dignified silence.

Suffice to say here, he was an unused sub for two games at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and left the squad early for personal reasons which certain sources say related to a falling-out with Gareth Southgate’s no.2, Steve Holland (although Southgate denied it).

It’s apparent reading various articles about White that he’s one of those players (Bobby Zamora was another) who switch right off from football after they’ve stopped training or playing.

In an Arsenal matchday programme, White said: “My profession just happens to also be a lot of people’s hobby. They look forward to every Saturday to watch the game and that’s great. But for me it’s about being on the pitches every day, trying to constantly be the best you can be. That’s the bit I really love.

“I never used to watch football much anyway. If it was on when I was a kid, after five minutes I’d get bored of it and go outside to play football. I didn’t really watch it, I’d much rather do it. Even now, I don’t watch football really.

“I watch my own clips and my own footage to help me improve but I wouldn’t watch a game for fun.”

White explained: “When I come into the training ground, it’s all about football – 100 per cent focus. Then when I leave, I switch off from it. I know some players are just about football 24/7 but for me, I wouldn’t be able to do that. I wouldn’t be able to give everything if I did that.

“I think it’s a good balance for me to switch off and leave it at the training ground.”

Now in his fifth season with the Gunners, he made 134 league and cup appearances in his first three seasons, but a knee injury limited his involvement to 26 matches in 2024-25 and he’s made only a handful of starts in 2025-26 with Riccardo Calafiori or Jurrien Timber often ahead of him in the right-back berth.

Nonetheless, when Arteta was questioned about White at the turn of the year, he said: “I’ve said it many times about how I feel about Ben and not [just] what he’s done in the last few weeks, but what he’s done for us in the last few years.

“He’s shown that in various contexts that he’s a player that’s going to give absolutely everything for the team, that he’s always there, he’s someone you can count on in any circumstances.”

Tommy Elphick’s cherry picking ride to coaching

MEADOW LANE, Nottingham, is probably not one of Tommy Elphick’s favourite grounds. When he left the pitch on a stretcher in the 53rd minute on 7 May 2011, it was a great opportunity for the youngster who replaced him – Lewis Dunk – but for Elphick it was a turning point in a fledgling, promising career with his hometown club.

League One champions Brighton drew 1-1 with Notts County that day but, as they looked forward to playing Championship football in the shiny new American Express Community Stadium at Falmer, Elphick was sidelined for the whole of the following season with a ruptured Achilles tendon injury.

Unsurprisingly, others made the most of his absence. Although he briefly returned to first team action in a pre-season friendly v Lewes in August 2012, the level of competition by then made him realise he would need to move elsewhere to get back in the groove.

That’s when he began an association with AFC Bournemouth that continues now as first team coach, retained by the club in spite of the man who appointed him (Gary O’Neil) being replaced as manager.

As a player, Elphick took a step back to make a stride forward, dropping down a division to join the Cherries and ended up reaching the ‘promised land’ of the Premier League before the Albion.

“To say it worked out well for me was an understatement,” Elphick told Nick Szczepanik in an Albion website interview in 2020. Little wonder he is hailed as “the most successful captain in the history of AFC Bournemouth” having led them to promotions from League One in 2013 and the Championship in 2015, when he was ever-present and named Cherries supporters’ player of the season.

En route to that achievement, he finally got to play at the Amex – on 1 January 2014 – but it was in the red and black stripes of the Cherries in a 1-1 Championship draw.

At the Amex in Bournemouth’s red and black stripes

Interviewed in that game’s matchday programme, he admitted: “I’m buzzing for it. I was the first Brighton player contracted to play at the Amex but obviously my Achilles injury conspired against me and I never got the opportunity.

“Having been with the club since a kid, as we went through all the struggles the dream was always to run out at the new stadium at Falmer. It was disappointing that it never happened for me.”

Born in Brighton on 7 September 1987, Elphick played locally for Woodingdean FC before linking up with the Albion academy at the age of 11 after impressing head of youth Martin Hinshelwood.

In his early days with Brighton, he came under the influence of Vic Bragg who he described as “a very astute tactician” whose “coaching drills were excellent and kept us on our toes”.

In a matchday programme article, he said of Bragg: “While he has a heart of gold and is genuinely a nice guy, you didn’t want to cross him on a bad day – but if he did have a word in your ear, it was always constructive.”

It was under Mark McGhee that Elphick made his first team debut (above) in December 2005, going on as a 73rd minute sub away to Reading in a 5-1 mauling after his older brother Gary had earlier been sent off on his full debut.

“I’m Brighton born and bred, I was a fan at Withdean before I played, and even remember doing a bucket collection on the touchline at Priestfield (when Albion were in exiled at Gillingham) in a bid to raise money for some new jumpers for us youth-team players.

“To then go on and make my debut, having come through the system under Dean Wilkins, well it doesn’t get any better than that.

“That was the highlight for me; being one of seven players from the youth-team set-up to make it to the first team.”

Gary didn’t play for the Seagulls again and Tommy had to wait until April 2007 to make his first start, by which time his old youth team coach Wilkins was in charge of the first team. That game also ended in a defeat, 2-0 to Doncaster, and it was only the following season that he established himself as a starter, initially playing alongside Guy Butters and Joel Lynch and later Adam El Abd and Gordon Greer.

A personal highlight was winning the Player of the Season accolade at the end of his first full season (2007-08), and he went on to captain the side on many occasions, as well as being part of the team that won the League One title.

“Brighton are the club who gave me my chance in the game, who shaped me as a footballer and a person,” he said.

As well as McGhee and Wilkins, Elphick’s 182 Seagulls appearances also spread across the reigns of Micky Adams, Russell Slade and Gus Poyet.

The changes introduced by Poyet really struck home with Elphick, who told Spencer Vignes: “From day one there was absolute clarity in terms of what he expected from us, with a few simple rules to start with, which he built on week by week.

“We were in the lower reaches of the table and flirting with relegation, so for him to come in and demand that we play the way he saw the game was unbelievable really.

“A lot of managers would’ve tried to tighten the ship and play a more basic brand of football, but his football was based around possession.

“The style he produced, the football we played and what we went on to do for the next two or three years was phenomenal.”

But Elphick appreciated others too, saying: “I had such a good grounding as a kid and I’m so lucky to have played under some great managers and coaches.”

As a pointer to how things have panned out, he said: “I definitely want to stay in the game, coach, and hopefully manage one day.”

Reflecting on the League One title-winning campaign, Elphick told Szczepanik: “I relished the way we played in that season. I was brought up to play that way in the youth teams under Vic Bragg, Martin Hinshelwood and Dean Wilkins, who all wanted the game played in the right way.

“We lost our way a little after Dean left and we didn’t really have any style until Gus Poyet came to the club and revolutionised it. It was something I was enjoying until I got that injury. But if I hadn’t been injured, would I have ended up at Bournemouth?”

Elphick had signed a new contract with Albion when the move to Bournemouth in League One came up. “In theory it was a step down, but for me it was important to get back playing again,” he said.

The 2011-12 season had been a wipe-out as far as he was concerned because an infection and a repeat of the initial injury ruled out any chance of a swift comeback. He was operated on in Finland by the same surgeon (Professor Sakari Orava) who had performed similar surgery on David Beckham.

It was fully 16 months between the initial injury and playing 45 minutes of a pre-season friendly at Lewes in July 2012. “The idea had been to go out on loan and there were four or five different options, but Bournemouth were looking to have a right go at getting promoted and when I went down to meet the manager, Paul Groves, and the chairman, I was taken by the plans they had for the club,” said Elphick.

“Paul’s assistant, Shaun Brooks, was quite close to Dean Wilkins, and used to come and watch the Brighton youth team, so there was a connection there. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work out for Paul and Shaun but that led to Eddie Howe coming back to the club.”

After making 145 appearances for Bournemouth, in 2016 Elphick moved on to Aston Villa, who he had scored against for Brighton at Villa Park in a 3-2 FA Cup defeat three years earlier (below left).

In the summer of 2016, Villa, under Roberto di Matteo, had just been relegated to the Championship and wanted Elphick as their captain as they aimed to bounce straight back to the Premier League.

He was di Matteo’s first signing as Villa manager – and he can thank a very understanding wife that the move went through smoothly.

Elphick cut short his honeymoon to get cracking with his new club, telling the Birmingham Mail: “As soon as I heard about Villa’s interest it’s something that turned my head straight away.

“To be able to come here and represent such a great club with such great history is going to be a real honour for me.”

However, it wasn’t long before Steve Bruce took over from di Matteo and he preferred a different centre-back pairing, meaning Elphick spent most of the second half of the season on the subs bench. I recollect him going on for Villa in the last game of the season when Albion hoped to clinch the Championship title only to concede a late equaliser when a shot from Jack Grealish squirmed through David Stockdale’s grasp.

On loan at Hull City

In January of the following year, Elphick went out on loan to Reading for half a season (but only played four games) and he began the first half of the 2018-19 season on loan at Hull City, playing 18 games under Nigel Adkins.

Because of injuries to others, he was recalled to Villa at the start of 2019 by Bruce’s replacement Dean Smith. He played 14 matches but was not involved in the end-of-season play-off final when they finally earned promotion back to the Premier League (beating Derby County 2-1).

Interviewed by the Birmingham Mail about his three years at Villa, Elphick replied: “Tough, unbelievable, disappointing, anger – I had every emotion but I wouldn’t change it for the world because it’s created who I am now.

“What I saw and experienced at Villa was mental, good and bad. A big club brings different pressures and different pitfalls and you have to experience that to know what you could be dealt with further down the line.

“It was really troubled and there was poison in the brickworks to start with. Steve Bruce did the most unbelievable job at weeding that out and bringing it all together.

A challenging time at Villa

“He wasn’t a manager I particularly took a shine to in the way he coached or managed but he taught me a lot about how to bring people together and how to create a group.

“I experienced working under Roberto di Matteo, a Champions League-winning manager, and Steve Bruce, one of the most successful managers in the Championship. Dean Smith was a bit of a trailblazer and did some powerful stuff.”

After two injury-ravaged seasons at Huddersfield Town, when he managed just 14 games for the Terriers, Elphick quit playing to embark on a coaching career that always seemed to be his destination.

He reckoned it was that long spell out injured while at Brighton that helped his move into coaching because he had time to watch and understand football in a way that wouldn’t have happened if he’d been playing every weekend.

He returned to Bournemouth as coach of their development squad, explaining to premierleague.com: “I was delighted to work alongside Shaun Cooper with the 21s. I was very, very lucky to work with such an outstanding coach, and I learned so much. That period also opened my eyes to the time and effort required to do this job properly.  

“In truth, academy football probably had a lifespan for me, but it was an invaluable year.” 

When Parker lost his job in the wake of a 9-0 humbling by Liverpool, Cooper and Elphick were promoted to work alongside new boss Gary O’Neil.

“There are benefits and negatives to being thrust into that situation,” admitted Elphick. “I would love to have spent more time coaching, experimenting, and finding out who I really am on the grass before going into such a high-pressure situation, but it was an opportunity which had to be grabbed with both hands.”

Elphick told Adrian Clarke: “At the outset, none of us had coached at Premier League level before, but we went in, took the handbrake off and went for it. Thankfully, the three us had a nice blend.”  

Elphick absorbed plenty from O’Neil’s way of working and observed: “Premier League football is such a high-level now that as a coach, if you’re put on the spot you need to be able to answer questions or offer advice on all aspects of the game. My intention is to become as well-rounded as possible.” 

After helping Andoni Iraola settle in as new head coach, Elphick has relished his supporting role although he confessed: “I’ve always wanted to manage, and down the line I’d like to put my principles and ideas into practice. It’s an itch I will need to scratch, but there is no rush.  

“Right now, I just feel so lucky to have experienced contrasting styles in O’Neil and Iraola, and I have learned an incredible amount from both men. I really resonate with Andoni, and the way he wants his team to play with emotion, and he places a lot of emphasis on spirit. 

“What I have learned so far is that to be a successful coach you firstly need strong beliefs. Then, you must deliver your messages with consistency and confidence, and of course be authentic, true to yourself.”

Martin Hinshelwood went down with Palace and up with Albion

REGARDLESS of the often overblown ‘bitter rivalry’ between Brighton and Crystal Palace, many people have served both clubs with equal distinction, none more so than Martin Hinshelwood.

A player at Palace until injury curtailed his career when only 27, he went on to have a long career in the game, much of it with Brighton; more often in youth development as a coach and briefly as the no.1.

In the summer of 2002, his appointment as Albion boss 11 weeks after his former Palace teammate Peter Taylor had quit came as something of a surprise considering chairman Dick Knight declared he had interviewed seven candidates for the post.

In more recent times, Albion have had a Uruguayan, a Spaniard, a Finn and an Italian as head coach, back in 2002 it looked a strong possibility Knight might appoint wild-haired German coach Winfried Schafer, who had just managed Cameroon at the World Cup, but the chairman suspected his lack of command of English might be too big a hurdle to get over.

A terrific start

A clear favourite had been Steve Coppell but when the ex-Palace manager fell asleep during his conversation with Knight, apparently fatigued after a long-haul flight, the chairman was suitably unimpressed and, with time running out before the 2002-03 season got under way, Hinshelwood was appointed instead.

A 3-1 win away to Burnley looked like a terrific start but after a 0-0 home draw with Coventry, the side went on a disastrous 10-game losing spell (a 2-1 League Cup win over Exeter City the only bright spot amid the gloom).

Knight had already publicly signalled he would take decisive action after the sixth defeat in a row – a 4-2 home reverse to nine-man Gillingham!

He told the Argus: “If the team went ten matches losing every one, then you have got to do something about it.

“It’s very easy to criticise him (Hinshelwood). Obviously, he is a manager under pressure because we have just lost six games.

Getting his message across

“To suggest we should instantly sack him puts out the wrong message. Most people right now will think it was the wrong decision to appoint him, but I am not going to panic. I am going to monitor the situation.”

Of course, that monitoring didn’t take long to reach an inevitable conclusion – four more defeats and Hinshelwood was relieved of first team duties. He was made ‘director of football’ and Knight went back to Coppell to try to keep the Albion in the division. He very nearly managed it, too, but such a bad run of defeats had taken their toll on the points total.

As it happened, it wasn’t the first time Hinshelwood had found himself in the Albion hotseat: he was caretaker manager on three occasions: in 1993 (before Liam Brady’s appointment), in 2001 (after Micky Adams left for Leicester) and again in 2009, when he was in charge for a 4-4 FA Cup first round tie at Wycombe Wanderers after Russell Slade had been sacked and before Gus Poyet’s arrival.

When researching backgrounds of any number of players for this blog, Hinshelwood’s name is often cited as the one who either made the approach to bring them to Brighton or who was a major influence in their development.

For example, when Hinshelwood first joined the Albion in 1987, from Chelsea, he was instrumental in bringing from Stamford Bridge to the Goldstone Doug Rougvie and Keith Dublin, who both played their part in getting Albion promoted straight back to the second tier in 1988.

Hinshelwood had been reserve team manager at Chelsea for two years during the managerial reign of John Hollins, after first team coach Ernie Walley, his former Palace youth team coach, put in a good word for him.

His long association with Brighton began with a ‘phone call to Barry Lloyd to congratulate him on landing the Albion manager’s job. The former Fulham captain asked Hinshelwood to join him at the Goldstone – and he stayed for the next six and a half years.

He returned to the club in the summer of 1998, when Brian Horton had taken over, and was appointed Director of Youth, with Dean Wilkins as youth team coach.

Pensive Hinsh

An interview with the matchday programme pointed out that across the following 14 years, he oversaw a youth system that produced 31 players who made it through to the first team, although he said such success had very much been a team effort, name-checking Wilkins, centre of excellence managers Vic Bragg and John Lambert, scouting chief Mark Hendon and physio Kim Eaton.

Dean Hammond, Adam Hinshelwood, Adam Virgo, Adam El-Abd, Dean Cox, Jake Robinson, Dan Harding and later Lewis Dunk, Jake Forster-Caskey and Solly March all graduated from that period. “To have been a part of their journeys makes me immensely proud,” he said.

Hinshelwood left the Albion for a second time in 2012 and worked variously for Crawley, Portsmouth, Stoke City and Lewes. He returned to the Seagulls once again when the former head of academy recruitment at Stoke, Dave Wright, who had joined Brighton in 2019, invited him to take on a role of scouting 13 to 16-year-olds.

When Hinshelwood himself was that age, he had visions of following in his dad Wally’s footsteps. He had been a professional for Fulham, Chelsea, Reading, Bristol City and Newport County, and, although born in Reading (on 16 June 1953), young Martin had become accustomed to an unsettled childhood, moving around the country to wherever dad’s next club took him.

The family finally settled in New Addington, near Croydon, with Wally playing non-league football in Kent and Martin played representative football for Dover Under 15s, Croydon Boys and Surrey Under 16s.

He was on schoolboy terms at Fulham when Bobby Robson was manager but they didn’t think he would make it. It was while he was playing for Surrey Schools that former Spurs and Palace manager Arthur Rowe scouted him for Palace and he was taken on as an apprentice in 1969.

Hinshelwood playing for Palace, up against Stoke’s George Eastham

Hinshelwood was given his first team debut by Bert Head in 1972. He played in midfield in the old First Division for a dozen matches but the side were relegated in his first season. The flamboyant fedora-wearing Malcolm Allison took over as manager and he was later replaced by Terry Venables.

Martin’s younger brother Paul (Jack Hinshelwood’s granddad) played in the same side at full-back and the brothers were alongside the likes of Kenny Samson and Peter Taylor. In 1975-76, when still a Third Division side, they shook the football world by making it to the semi-finals of the FA Cup, where they lost to eventual winners Southampton, although Martin missed the game through a right knee injury. It eventually forced him to quit playing in 1978, after he’d made 85 appearances for Palace in five years.

Venables appointed him as youth team coach at Selhurst Park and although he spent 18 months as player-manager of non-league Leatherhead, he then resumed his Palace role under Steve Kember.

Alan Mullery dispensed with Hinshelwood’s services during his brief managerial reign at Palace but he kept his hand in at coaching with non-league clubs Kingstonian, Barking and Dorking.

Selsey-based Hinshelwood then had a spell as manager of Littlehampton before the Chelsea job came up.

Coach Dean Wilkins fumed after falling out with Knight 

DEAN WILKINS might have lived in the shadow of his more famous elder England international brother Ray but he certainly carved out his own footballing history, much of it with Brighton.

Albion fans of a certain vintage will never forget the sumptuous left-footed free-kick bouffant-haired captain Wilkins scored past Phil Parkes at the Goldstone Ground which edged the Seagulls into the second-tier play-offs in 1991.

Supporters from the mid-noughties era would only recall the balding boss of a mid-table League One outfit at Withdean comprising mainly home-grown players who Wilkins had brought through from his days coaching the youth team.

After Dick Knight somewhat unceremoniously brought back Micky Adams over Wilkins’ head in 2008, he quit the club rather than stay on playing second fiddle and subsequently went west to Southampton where he worked under Alan Pardew and his successor Nigel Adkins as well as taking caretaker charge of the Saints in between the two reigns.

Wilkins’ initial association with the Seagulls went back to 1983, when Jimmy Melia brought him to the south coast from Queens Park Rangers shortly after Albion’s FA Cup final appearances at Wembley.

Melia’s successor Chris Cattlin only gave him two starts back then and although he pondered a move to Leyton Orient, where he’d had 10 matches on loan, he opted to accept to try his luck in Holland when his Dutch Albion teammate Hans Kraay set him up with a move to PEC Zwolle. Playing against the likes of Johann Cruyff, Marco Van Basten and Ruud Gullit proved to be quite the footballing education for Wilkins.

Wilkins in the thick of it in Dutch football for PEC Zwolle

After two years in the Netherlands, 25-year-old Wilkins rejoined the relegated Seagulls in the summer of 1987 as the club prepared for life back in the old Third Division under Barry Lloyd.

Relegation had led to the sale for more than £400,000 of star assets Danny Wilson, Terry Connor and Eric Young but more modest funds were allocated to manager Lloyd for replacements: £10,000 for Wilkins, £50,000 for Doug Rougvie, who signed from Chelsea and was appointed captain, Garry Nelson, a £72,500 buy from Plymouth and Kevin Bremner, who cost £65,000 from Reading. Midfield enforcer Mike Trusson was a free transfer.

The refreshed squad ended up earning a swift return to the second tier courtesy of a memorable last day 2-1 win over Bristol Rovers at the Goldstone.

At the higher level, Wilkins had the third highest appearances (40 + two as sub) as Albion finished just below halfway in the table. The following season Wilkins was appointed captain and was ever-present as Albion made it to the divisional play-off final against Notts County at Wembley, having made it to the semi-final v Millwall courtesy of the aforementioned spectacular free kick v Ipswich.

Wilkins scored again at Wembley but it turned out only to be a consolation as the Seagulls succumbed 3-1 to Neil Warnock’s side.

As the 1992-93 season got underway, Wilkins, having just turned 30, was the first matchday programme profile candidate for the opening home game against Bolton Wanderers (a 2-1 win) when he revealed the play-off final defeat had been “the biggest disappointment of my career”.

The 1993-94 season was a write-off from October onwards when he damaged the medial ligaments in both his knees after catching both sets of studs in the soft ground at home against Exeter City.

Although injury plagued much of the time during Liam Brady’s reign as manager, the Irishman acknowledged his ability saying: “He is a very fine footballer and a tremendous passer of the ball and he possesses a great shot.”

Ahead of the start of the 1995-96 season, Wilkins was granted a testimonial game against his former club QPR, managed at the time by big brother Ray. But at the end of the season, when the Seagulls were relegated to the basement division, he was one of six players given a free transfer.

Born in Hillingdon on 12 July 1962, Wilkins couldn’t have wished for a more football-oriented family. Dad George had played for Brentford, Leeds, Nottingham Forest and Hearts and appeared at Wembley in the first wartime FA Cup final. While Ray was the brother who stole the limelight, Graham and Steve also started out at Chelsea.

In spite of those older brothers who also made it as professionals, Wilkins attributed his development at QPR, who he joined straight from school as an apprentice in 1978, to youth coach John Collins (who older fans will remember was Brighton’s first team coach under Mike Bailey).

He made seven first team appearances for Rangers, his debut being as a substitute for Glenn Roeder in a 0-0 draw with Grimsby Town on 1 November 1980. After joining the Albion in August 1983, he had to wait until 10 December that year to make his debut, in a 0-0 draw at Middlesbrough, in place of the absent Tony Grealish. He started at home to Newcastle a week later (a 1-0 defeat), this time taking the midfield spot of injured Jimmy Case.

Perhaps the writing was on the wall when Cattlin secured the services of Wilson from Nottingham Forest, initially on loan, and although Wilkins had a third first team outing in a 2-0 FA Cup third round win at home to Swansea City, boss Cattlin didn’t pick him again. Instead, he joined Orient on loan in March 1984.

A long career in coaching began when Wilkins was brought back to the Albion in 1998 by another ex-skipper, Brian Horton, who had taken over as manager. With Martin Hinshelwood as director of a new youth set-up, Wilkins was appointed the youth coach – a position he held for the following eight years.

Return to the Albion as youth coach

His charges won 4-1 against Cambridge United in his first match, with goals from Duncan McArthur, Danny Marney and Scott Ramsay (two).

That backroom role continued as managers came and went over the following years during which a growing number of youth team products made it through to the first team: people like Dan Harding and Adam Virgo and later Adam Hinshelwood, Joel Lynch, Dean Hammond and Adam El-Abd.

At the start of the 2006-07 season, with Albion back in the third tier after punching above their weight in the Championship for two seasons, Wilkins was rewarded for his achievements with the youth team with promotion to first team coach under Mark McGhee.

By then, more of the youngsters he’d helped to develop were in or getting close to the first team, for example Dean Cox, Jake Robinson, Joe Gatting and Chris McPhee.

After an indifferent start to the season – three wins, three defeats and a draw – Knight decided to axe McGhee and loyal lieutenant Bob Booker and to hand the reins to Wilkins with Dean White as his deputy. Wilkins later brought in his old teammate Ian Chapman as first team coach.

Into the manager’s chair

Tommy Elphick, Tommy Fraser and Sam Rents were other former youth team players who stepped up to the first team. But, over time, it became apparent Knight and Wilkins were not on the same page: the young manager didn’t agree with the chairman that more experienced players were needed rather than relying too much on the youth graduates.

Indeed, in his autobiography Mad Man: From the Gutter to the Stars (Vision Sports Publishing, 2013), Knight said Wilkins hadn’t bothered to travel with him to watch Glenn Murray or Steve Thomson, who were added to the squad, and he was taking the side of certain players in contract negotiations with the chairman.

“In my opinion, his man-management skills were lacking, which was why I made the decision to remove him from the manager’s job,” he said. It didn’t help Wilkins’ cause when midfielder Paul Reid went public to criticise his man-management too.

Knight felt although Wilkins hadn’t sufficiently nailed the no.1 job, he could still be effective as a coach, working under Micky Adams. The pair had previously got on well, with Adams saying in his autobiography, My Life in Football (Biteback Publishing, 2017) how Wilkins had been “one of my best mates”.

But Adams said: “He thought I had stitched him up. I told him that I wanted him to stay. We talked it through and, at the end of the meeting, we seemed to have agreed on the way forward.

“I thought I’d reassured him enough for him to believe he should stay on. But he declined the invitation. He obviously wasn’t happy and attacked me verbally.

“I did have to remind him about the hypocrisy of a member of the Wilkins family having a dig at me, particularly when his older brother had taken my first job at Fulham.

“We don’t speak now which is a regret because he was a good mate and one of the few people I felt I could talk to and confide in.”

Youth coach

Knight knew his decision to sack the manager would not be popular with fans who only remembered the good times, but he pointed out they weren’t aware of the poor relationship he had with some first team players.

Knight described in his book how a torrent of “colourful language” poured out from Wilkins when he was called in and informed of the decision in a meeting with the chairman and director Martin Perry.

“He didn’t take it at all well, although I suppose he felt he was fully justified,” wrote Knight. “He was fuming after what was obviously a big blow to his pride.”

Reporter Andy Naylor perhaps summed up the situation best in The Argus. “The sadness of Wilkins’ departure was that Albion lost not a manager, but a gifted coach,” he said. “Wilkins was not cut out for management.”

Saints coach

One year on, shortly after Alan Pardew took over as manager at League One Southampton, he appointed Wilkins as his assistant. They were joined by Wally Downes (Steve Coppell’s former assistant at Reading) as first team coach and Stuart Murdoch as goalkeeping coach.

Saints were rebuilding having been relegated from the Championship the previous season and began the campaign with a 10-point penalty, having gone into administration. The club had been on the brink of going out of business until Swiss businessman Markus Liebherr took them over.

A seventh place finish (seven points off the play-offs because of the deduction) meant another season in League One and the following campaign had only just got under way when Pardew, Downes and Murdoch were sacked. Wilkins was put in caretaker charge for two matches and then retained when Nigel Adkins, assisted by ex-Seagull Andy Crosby, was appointed manager.

It was the beginning of an association that also saw the trio work together at Reading (2013-14) and Sheffield United (2015-16).

Adkins, Crosby and Wilkins were in tandem as the Saints gained back-to-back promotions, going from League One runners up to Gus Poyet’s Brighton in 2011, straight through the Championship to the Premier League. But they only had half a season at the elite level before the axe fell and Mauricio Pochettino took over.

When the trio were reunited at Reading, Wilkins, by then 50, gave an exclusive interview to the local Reading Chronicle, in which he said: “This pre-season has given me time to learn about the characters of the players we’ve got at Reading and find out what makes them tick.

At Reading with Crosby and Adkins

“It’s my job then to make sure every player maximises his potential. That’s what I see my role as, to bring out the very best of them from now on and make them strive to attain new levels of performance.

“I will always keep working toward that goal. If we can do that with every individual and get maximum performances out of them, I believe we will be in for a great season.

“We’re back together now and it’s going fantastically well. I have loved every minute of it. I’m used to working with Nigel and Andy and we are carrying out similar work to what we’ve done in the past.”

The Royals finished seventh, a point behind Brighton, who qualified for the play-offs, and the trio were dismissed five months into the following season immediately following a 6-1 thrashing away to Birmingham City.

Six months later the trio were back in work, this time at League One Sheffield United, but come the end of the 2015-16 season, after the Blades had finished in their lowest league position since 1983, they were shown the door.

Between January 2018 and July 2019, Wilkins worked for the Premier League assessing and reporting on the accuracy, consistency, management and decision-making of match officials.

In the summer 0f 2019, he was appointed Head of Coaching at Crystal Palace’s academy, a job he held for 15 months.

A return to involvement with first team football was presented by his former Albion player Alex Revell, who’d been appointed manager of League Two Stevenage Borough. Glad to support and mentor Revell in his first managerial post, Wilkins spent a year as assistant manager at the Lamex Stadium.

Competition for places edged out midfielder Jamie Smith

DIMINUTIVE midfielder Jamie Smith spent 11 years at Crystal Palace, going through the youth ranks before signing as a pro, but didn’t play league football until he joined Brighton.

Russell Slade took on the 19-year-old during his brief reign in charge of the Seagulls (and signed the player again when he was in charge at Orient).

Albion picked up the discarded 5’6” Smith in the summer of 2009 and he did enough as a triallist in pre-season friendlies to be awarded a contract by the Seagulls.

Slade said: “Jamie has done exceptionally well throughout pre-season. He’s worked hard to convince us he is worth a contract and he has the potential to be a very good player.”

His first league start was memorable for all the wrong reasons. In only the third league game of the season, he was selected in midfield away to Huddersfield Town.

But when regular no.1 ‘keeper Michel Kuipers was sent off six minutes before half time, the young midfielder was sacrificed to allow substitute goalkeeper Graeme Smith to take over between the sticks. Depleted Albion then went on to succumb to a 7-1 battering.

“I had mixed feelings really,” he told the matchday programme. “It was great to make my debut and I thought we started the game well, but the sending off changed everything and it was all downhill from then on.”

It was Smith’s only start of the whole season. He was on the subs bench on half a dozen occasions but only went on in one of them, away to Wycombe Wanderers at the end of the year.

Gus Poyet had succeeded Slade by then and with Albion coasting at 5-2 – Glenn Murray having scored four of them – Smith replaced Dean Cox in stoppage time.

During the close season, Andrew Crofts was sold to Norwich City and Cox left for Orient, but new arrivals Radostin Kishishev and Matt Sparrow provided new competition for midfield places.

But Poyet reckoned there was something about Smith and enthused about an “outstanding” performance he’d delivered in a pre-season friendly at Burgess Hill. He told the Argus: “We really like him. He could be an interesting player for the future, I’m telling you. He has got some qualities we need to use a bit better.”

After also impressing in a pre-season game against Aberdeen, Smith was in the starting line-up for the opening game of the 2010-11 season, when Albion won 2-1 at Swindon (Sparrow scored twice on his debut).

He played the following two league matches too: a 2-2 draw home to Rochdale (although Smith was sacrificed on 54 minutes after Gordon Greer was sent off for punching Anthony Elding and Adam El-Abd was sent on to play in the centre of defence).

I was sat in the Leppings Lane end at Hillsborough seven days later when Smith retained his place in midfield against Sheffield Wednesday (above left).

The youngster even came closest to netting an equaliser for the Seagulls; his shot from Ashley Barnes’ cutback clipped the bar.

However, Albion then re-signed Kazenga LuaLua and Poyet reckoned Smith didn’t do enough to show he wanted it more than the explosive winger. “Because he is young, maybe he took it too nicely,” Poyet told the Argus. “I need people to react, to show me I have made a mistake or even to put me under pressure. He was just normal, not at his best to give me a headache to have to play him.”

Smith himself admitted: “When LuaLua)was playing I seemed to take it that he would be playing instead of me.

“Sometimes, when we were both on the bench, I used to think he would go on, not me, whereas I should have been doing everything I could to make sure I was involved. If I had the time again, I would have done things differently.

“I wouldn’t be one to go in and moan and stuff because there are always ups and downs in football but you can always go out every day and do your best and work hard.

“The season started really well for me, a lot better than I expected. I didn’t expect to be playing as much as I was but when that happens you just want more and I just want to be playing every week.

“Maybe when the team was doing really well, on a long unbeaten run, I was slacking off in training and things like that.”

The door opened ajar again after LuaLua suffered a broken leg and Smith impressed after going on as a 53rd-minute sub away to Southampton (below, left).

Smith told Andy Naylor: “LuaLua was class. He changed games when he came on and when he started he was really good. Hopefully I can do as well, if not better, than he was doing if I get the chance.

“We are really different players. He is really explosive with pace and loads of ability. I like trying to play clever little passes and making space for myself and my team-mates.”

One such cute pass at St Mary’s let in Glenn Murray to earn the Seagulls a penalty and the longstanding Albion reporter said: “The door is ajar for Smith again after that Southampton cameo and now he has to walk through it. His Albion future depends on it.”

Smith told the matchday programme: “I feel I’ve done well in most of the games I’ve played in and want to use the Southampton game as a platform for the rest of the season.

“The manager told me after that game that he wants me to give him performances like that all the time.”

Enjoying time in the limelight, the player explained: “I love to get the ball, drive forward and create chances.

“I am slight in size and most managers from the Championship downwards want strong, athletic midfielders but our manager wants footballers, players who get the ball down and play.

“As long as I’m on the ball and doing a job for the team, then the manager will be happy.”

Smith added: “I knew that if I didn’t progress this season there’s every chance I would be let go in the summer so I’ve been using that as an incentive.

“With the way the club has been progressing on the pitch and off it, there’s no way I want to leave. I want to stay here for years to come because I’m happy at the club.”

Unfortunately, the new year wasn’t even three weeks old when an accidental collision in training saw Smith sidelined for two months.

He sustained a fractured metatarsal after colliding with teammate Jake Forster-Caskey and, with his contract due to expire at the end of the season, the outlook was bleak.

But Poyet said: “I have already had a good chat with him. I told him not to worry and that we will look after him.

“He will be out until March but it is important he doesn’t feel under pressure to rush back because of his contract situation.

“I want him to make sure his foot is properly healed first, and then I expect we will see him back to fitness before the end of the season.”

Come the end of the season, Poyet was as good as his word and gave Smith a six-month contract to prove his worth.

But he wasn’t able to capitalise on the opportunity, Poyet saying: “Jamie was a revelation at the beginning of last season before we got Kazenga (LuaLua) back.

“Then he was injured for months and we were established at the top of the table, so he didn’t get the chance to play.

“I thought I would give him the chance to prove himself but it hasn’t really happened for him.”

Albion supporter ‘The Phantom’ on an Argus report of Smith’s imminent departure from the club wrote: “Shame it hasn’t worked out for Jamie Smith as showed at times that he had what it takes to be an influential attacking midfielder.

“Way too much competition in the squad now so best that he moves on. Surprised he has not been able to pick up a club so far.”

Eventually, former boss Slade offered him a chance at Orient, but he made just the one substitute appearance for the Os before dropping out of league football with Dover Athletic.

Born in Leytonstone, East London, on 16 September 1989, Smith was on Palace’s books from the age of eight to 19 and although he progressed through the ranks he didn’t get to make a competitive first team appearance.

Nevertheless, Palace under 18 coach Gary Issott said: “Jamie Smith is a diminutive attacking central midfielder in the mould of Eyal Berkovic.

“He is very clever and improved after a frustrating first year. He started this season well and, up until Christmas, his form was electric.”

He was involved in pre-season friendlies ahead of the 2008-09 season and scored the winner from the penalty spot after going on as a substitute in a 4-3 win over Aldershot. (Calvin Andrew, later an Albion loanee, made his debut for Palace in the same match).

But while Smith saw several of his contemporaries make it through to competitive first team action, such an elevation remained elusive for him.

“That was disappointing but we had the likes of Nick Carle and Neil Danns in my position and it was hard to break through,” he said. 

A year below him, the likes of Victor Moses and Nathaniel Clyne did progress. Smith said: “I spoke to Neil Warnock but he said there were experienced players ahead of me and couldn’t see me breaking into the team. We agreed it would be best for me to move on.”

Smith had a spell at Doncaster Rovers but returned to Palace to keep his fitness up before joining Brighton for pre-season training, and then being taken on after a successful trial of three or four weeks.

Tall Tunnicliffe’s tilt at the top fell short and he quit at 24

ONE-TIME Liverpool triallist James Tunnicliffe quit playing football at 24.

When he was only 16, a £750,000 move from Stockport County to the ‘mighty’ Reds was on the cards.

But Liverpool’s then boss, Rafa Benitez, gave the young hopeful the thumbs down and his subsequent short playing career petered out in the lower leagues.

Tunnicliffe – a Russell Slade signing for Brighton in June 2009 – was at the heart of League One Albion’s defence for Gus Poyet’s first game as Seagulls manager.

But there was plenty of competition in that area of the team and, before long, the 6ft 4in centre half struggled to hold down a place. Initially Adam Virgo, Tommy Elphick, Jake Wright and Adam El-Abd were all competing in that position and, although Wright moved on, Gordon Greer – instantly appointed captain – and homegrown Lewis Dunk steamed ahead of him in the pecking order.

Slade had signed him on a three-year deal, declaring at the time: “He’s 20 and one or two other clubs were looking at the situation higher up, Championship clubs.

“We’ve kept everything quiet and gone about the business in the right manner and we’ve got our man.”

Slade told the Argus: “He has got huge potential. He’s a decent athlete for his size, handles the ball very well and hopefully will be a threat for us in the box. There’s lots more to come from him. He’s a really good, positive signing.”

Midfielder Gary Dicker, a former Stockport teammate who made the same move, added: “He’s a good tall, strong athlete and a good player.”

The player himself admitted it was a good word put in by another former Stockport teammate, Jim McNulty, that influenced his move.

“We’re good friends and used to live a couple of doors apart in Manchester and travelled into training together at Stockport,” he told the matchday programme. “He absolutely loves it here and that helped sway my decision to come.”

Albion watcher Andy Naylor had a mainly favourable first impression although he was less sure about the tactic of using the central defender to launch long throws. In an Argus comment piece, Naylor wrote: “He looks composed, comfortable in possession and has good pace for one so tall. The jury is out, though, on just how much Albion should try to exploit Tunnicliffe’s long throw.

“It has more of a loop than Rory Delap’s torpedo-like delivery and has caused opposing defences few problems so far. Albion would arguably be better served exploiting Tunnicliffe’s 6ft 4ins frame in the goalmouth for set pieces.

“His throw remains a potentially useful weapon, for example during the closing stages of the game if the Seagulls are chasing an equaliser, but it should perhaps be used more sparingly.”

Somewhat ironically, while not starting the first four games of the season, he made his first league start at home to his old club Stockport – when Albion were on the wrong end of a 4-2 scoreline.

Tunnicliffe scored the first goal of his career in a 1-1 draw at Bristol Rovers in September 2009 after captain Adam Virgo had been sent off. He said: “I am doing everything I can to keep my shirt. I don’t want to lose that and hopefully I can contribute a few more goals this season as well.”

His performance alongside Elphick drew the admiration of Richie Morris, who wrote in the matchday programme: “Tunnicliffe not only bulleted his first goal for the club with a well taken header, but diverted a Carl Rogan shot over and cleared what looked like a late winner off the line.”

Tunnicliffe scored again – this time just a consolation goal – in a 4-1 defeat at Norwich that was Poyet’s fourth game in charge. But he was cast aside after playing in the FA Cup against Torquay at the turn of the new year and, before long, was sent out on loan to MK Dons.

Any hoped-for restoration to the first team on his return was dashed when at the start of the following season he was shipped out on a season-long loan to Bristol Rovers. Eventually, with a year still left on his contract, he agreed an early end to his Seagulls deal and joined Wycombe Wanderers in the summer of 2011.

Despite it all, he told seagulls.co.uk: “It’s been frustrating for me over the last 18 months but I loved being here and I haven’t got a bad word to say about the club. I made a lot of good friends and I’m sure the team will have a very good season in the Championship.

“I’m a bit disappointed with how it worked out but I’m now focusing on working hard over the summer to try and secure first-team football with Wycombe.

“I’ve watched Wycombe a lot and I know plenty about the manager, Gary Waddock, who looks to play good football, so it’s an attractive club for me to move to.

“I’ve done a lot of thinking about what is going to be best for me and Wycombe is a good club, recently promoted to League One and on the up, so it’s hopefully going to be a good move for me.

“I’m now excited about a new challenge and I feel like I’ve got a lot of things to prove to myself and the other clubs. I want to show that I am a good player.”

Waddock pointed out: “James is a talented young centre-back with experience of playing at this level.

“He’s a footballing defender who can play out from the back. A lot of clubs were interested in him.”

And Tunnicliffe told the Bucks Free Press: “I’m more than just a defender who kicks it, I like to pass it at the right time. I’m looking forward to being in the team next year and doing well in League One.”

Born in Denton, Manchester, on 17 January 1989, Tunnicliffe went to a particularly sporty school, Audenshaw High in Manchester, and, as well as playing a lot of football, he was also good at golf and cricket as well as being a decent 100-metres hurdler.

It was at Stockport’s school of excellence that he honed his football skills: his grandad, John Bishop, was the club’s kitman at the time, and later a masseuse.

In October 2005 the young Tunnicliffe was sent on a two-week trial to European Champions Liverpool and the pound signs were already beginning to form in the eyes of his parent club: a £750,000 deal was said to have been agreed for the youngster.

Unfortunately, Benitez was unable to watch the 16-year-old because he was away with the first team for a Champions League match with Anderlecht.

Tunnicliffe was handed an extra week with the Reds to give Benitez the chance to cast his eye over the youngster, but he but did not do enough to convince the Spaniard and the proposed deal collapsed.

He returned to the League Two Hatters where manager Chris Turner reckoned the youngster’s time at Anfield had helped to develop their promising player.

“It has been a fantastic experience for him and I’m sure it’ll benefit both the player and Stockport County,” he said. “He trains with our first team at the moment and doesn’t look out of place at the age of 16 so you can imagine how highly we regard him.”

As predicted by Turner, Tunnicliffe made his first team debut as a substitute in a 2-0 defeat at Notts County and he went on to make 50 appearances for them. He also had a brief loan spell with Northwich Victoria in 2007 and, perhaps bitten by his Liverpool experience, turned down the offer of a move to Southampton because he felt he would be better served staying put.

If the move from Brighton to Wycombe was an opportunity for a fresh start, he couldn’t have wished for a better start, scoring on his debut in a 1-1 draw against Scunthorpe.

But after beginning as a regular, he was dropped after a 3-1 Johnstone’s Paint Trophy defeat at home to Cheltenham Town in October and only made a handful of appearances after that.

His final Wanderers game was in a 6-0 tonking by Huddersfield at Adams Park in January 2012, after which he was dropped in favour of youngster Anthony Stewart.

The following month he joined League Two side Crewe Alexandra on a 30-day loan, citing homesickness as a reason for wanting away from Wycombe.

Injury curtailed his spell at Gresty Road and in the summer of 2012 he rejoined Stockport, who by then were playing in the Conference National. The following year he made eleven appearances on loan for Stalybridge Celtic before returning to County.

He took the decision to retire from football aged just 24 and, on his LinkedIn profile, says: “The experiences I endured in my eight-year professional career, filled with some highs and many lows, were a catalyst that inspired me to step into the football intermediary world.”

Indeed, he cropped up as a ‘representative’ for former teammate Glenn Murray when he was involved in negotiations with Brighton over a new contract.

Tunnicliffe says of himself: “I am a people’s person and my current role enables me to advise, support, empower and challenge clients, whilst providing opportunities where they can excel and get the best out of their abilities.

“In addition, the role has provided a platform to grow a worldwide network and converse with people from various organisations and backgrounds.”

He says that in September 2022 he enrolled onto the Masters In Sports Directorship programme at Manchester Metropolitan University.

“This course has presented me with an opportunity to enhance my self-awareness and existing knowledge, whilst developing areas of deficiency.

“I am embracing this academic challenge and look forward to learning more about the commercial and business functions of a sporting organisation over the remaining duration of the course.”

That’s the way Cookie crumbled for Hastings-born defender

WHEN IT comes to home-grown talent, Brighton have had particular success with central defenders.

Lewis Dunk is the prime example, staying with the club from humble beginnings through to Europe. Others had to move on to make the most of their careers.

For example, Steve Cook joined the club aged nine and made it through the different age levels into Albion’s first team. But to get regular football, he moved along the coast to Bournemouth.

If moving from Championship Brighton to League One Bournemouth seemed like a backward step in 2012, two promotions later saw him laughing on the other side of his face when the Cherries made it to the Premier League (in 2015) a season before the Seagulls.

Cook spent 10 years with the Cherries, making more than 350 appearances (168 of them in the Premier League), and after the departure of fellow ex-Albion defender Tommy Elphick, he took over as their captain.

Cook first got a taste of the big time in 2008, when he was a second year scholar on £60 a week, aged just 17. He was sent on by Micky Adams as an 85th-minute substitute in the famous League Cup game against Manchester City that League One Albion won on penalties.

Two months later, he once again replaced right-back Andrew Whing, this time in a FA Cup first round replay defeat to Hartlepool United, and picked up a booking into the bargain.

Boot cleaning duties for young Steve Cook

To gain more experience, in December that year, Cook went west to spend six weeks with Conference South Havant & Waterlooville. On his return, he once again had a first team look-in, going on as a 77th-minute sub for Calvin Andrew in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy southern final defeat at Luton Town that marked the end of the second coming of Adams.

Before the appointment of Russell Slade, Cook went on for the second half as a sub for injury-plagued sub Adam Hinshelwood (who’d been an 18th-minute sub for Elphick) in a 4-0 home defeat against Crewe Alexandra.

Slade marked his arrival by bringing in plenty of old hands in what eventually proved to be a successful skin-of-the-teeth survival battle against relegation. Cook didn’t get another chance in the first team until some time after Gus Poyet had taken charge.

His development continued on loan with the likes of Eastleigh and Eastbourne Borough and in November 2010 he moved away from home to join former league club Mansfield Town on a three-month loan.

“Mansfield play very different to Eastbourne but it’s more like playing for Brighton where they like to keep the ball and play out from the back, which you don’t get in the Conference very often,” he told the matchday programme. “I see it as a great opportunity to prove myself and try to earn another contract at Brighton.”

He added: “Playing Conference football helped me grow up, physically and mentally, so by the time I returned I felt I was ready to challenge for a first team place.”

Cook up against Suarez

After a handful of non-playing appearances on the first team subs bench, when he did get his first ever start, it could not have been a bigger match: Liverpool at home in the third round of the Carling Cup with Luis Suarez, Dirk Kuyt and Craig Bellamy in the opposition forward line.

“It was a real confidence boost knowing the manager had faith putting me into the side for such a big game, but I really enjoyed the experience and got a great deal out of it,” he said.

“While I had a good pre-season, I’ve not played a lot of games since then. It was one in two months before the Liverpool game, but I’d been working hard in training and got my reward.”

Cook only found out 90 minutes before kick-off that he would be taking the place of fellow academy graduate Dunk, with both Elphick and Adam El-Abd out injured.

“It was a real baptism of fire though because for the first 20 minutes Liverpool were brilliant. Suarez, Bellamy, they were all excellent going forward, the pace of them as a team was unbelievable and in that opening spell I think we were in awe of them.”

Cook thought his involvement that night would lead to more chances, but he said: “Later that month we had Ipswich away, Dunky was suspended but instead of playing me, Gus put Romain Vincelot – a midfielder – in alongside Gordon Greer. From that point on, my mind was made up; I knew I had to look elsewhere if I wanted to kick on in my career.”

That autumn, Cook initially joined Bournemouth on loan, featuring in eight games, but he was recalled by the Seagulls when a shortage of defenders meant he was needed for a crucial New Year game at home to table-topping Southampton.

Having lost four games on the bounce, the odds were stacked against a positive result, but Albion remarkably won the game 3-0 (two cracking goals from Matt Sparrow and another from Jake Forster-Caskey).

Nevertheless, within 24 hours of the game ending, Cook finally took the tough decision to leave the Albion permanently. The fee was a reported £150,000.

He told the matchday programme: “I have loved my time at Brighton but this is a chance to play regular football and I can’t turn that down. It was nice to go out on such a high – not many players get that chance.”

Cook reckoned he might have got the odd game or two if he’d stayed at Brighton but he didn’t rate his chances of becoming a regular when everyone was fit. “I could play close to 30 games for Bournemouth and that is massive for a young footballer,” he said.

In a later interview, he said: “It was always going to be a tough decision to leave the Albion as I had been at the club since the age of nine.

“I had a decision to make: do I stay and fight for my place, despite being a fair way down the pecking order, or do I leave and try to continue my career elsewhere?

“It wasn’t easy because I was leaving a club on the rise; the Amex is one of the best stadiums in the country, the team was establishing itself in the Championship and there was a new training ground on the way.

“But having been at Bournemouth on loan, I could also see a hugely ambitious club and a talented squad which I believed was going places.

“So, I decided to leave and it’s been the best decision I could ever have made. I’ve moved away from my parents, so have grown up off the pitch, while on it I’ve been playing regularly and have really enjoyed my football.”

Much of that time he partnered Elphick in the middle of the Cherries defence and it wasn’t long before the pair were emulating the Albion’s achievement of promotion from League One.

“Tommy arrived a year after me but of course I told him about the club, the town and knew it would be a good move for him as it was for me,” he said. “We’d obviously played alongside each other before, had known each other a long time, and so we soon built up a good partnership.

“He had those leadership qualities he displayed at Brighton and was soon made captain. We had a terrific three years together and remain good friends off the pitch.”

In a subsequent Albion matchday programme, when he was once again visiting with the Cherries, he said: “Lovely stadiums and training facilities are great, but only if you’re playing in them and I can now look back on nearly 300 appearances for Bournemouth, where I’ve had some fantastic moments, played regularly in the Premier League and really developed my game. It’s a move that couldn’t have gone better.”

Although Cook held his own in the Premier League, he admitted the transition from the Championship was hard. “The gulf with the Championship is huge,” he said. “The intensity and pressure, in particular, are massive and the first six months were a real learning curve.

“Once I’d adapted and dealt with the expectations placed on me, I could relax and start to enjoy myself.”

Born in Hastings on 19 April 1991, Cook joined the Albion as a schoolboy following a six-week trial under the auspices of Martin Hinshelwood, the head of the youth set-up at the time.

“Initially, I was only training Tuesday evenings in the Eastbourne centre of excellence but, when I reached 13, we were training twice a week with a game on the Sunday,” he recalled.

“I remember I had a choice to make: Hastings Town, my local team, or Brighton and obviously I was swayed by the facilities, the coaching and being associated with a professional club.”

After Bournemouth lost their top tier status in 2020, Cook captained the side through to the Championship play-off semi-finals in 2021 where they were beaten by eventual winners Brentford.

There was plenty of emotion when Cook finally left the club in January 2022 with manager Scott Parker saying: “I know too well what someone like Steve Cook has done for this football club and the journey he has been on with the club. He has been paramount and done everything, really. I wish him all the best.”

And in an open letter to the club’s fans, Cook wrote: “I’ve been lucky enough to captain the team in League One, the Championship and Premier League and writing this just fills me with immense pride.

“The time has come for me take the next step in my career but I will never forget the staff that helped me improve as a player and person.

“The players that I shared a dressing room with and, and most importantly, the fans that supported and cheered for all those games.

“The journey that we have had is one that will never be beaten, and the relationship we had was undeniably strong. Thanks for everything.”

Upon signing for Nottingham Forest, Cook declared: “You can see the progress the club is making and I’m excited for the new challenge. 

“I thought it was the perfect time in my career to make this move to hopefully come and contribute and help get this club back to where it wants to be.

“The history of the club speaks for itself and I know how passionate the fans are. I’ve played at the City Ground in the past and it’s always been electric.”

Manager Steve Cooper said: “Steve is a fantastic player and brings a good level of experience, both in the Championship and the level above.

“He’s played in a team that has won a lot of games and I think that that’s important. We want our group to be young and hungry along with players of experience that can drive the team forward and that’s what we’re building.”

Having been part of the Forest side promoted to the Premier League in May 2022, his involvement back in the elite division was restricted to 12 games and he was omitted from Forest’s 25-man Premier League squad for the second half of the 2022-23 season.

In the summer of 2023, he switched to Queens Park Rangers in the Championship, telling the club’s website: “Playing football is the most important thing for me but I also pride myself on being a good character around the group.”

He went on: “My time in the Championship has been quite successful, and that success is something I want to bring here. 

“I don’t want my career to peter out, I still really want to be successful and to contest. I still have aims and targets I want to achieve and I’m hoping that the success I’ve had in my career so far continues so that I can help push QPR forward.” 

Grant Hall owed second chance to mentor Danny Cullip

TALENTED defender Grant Hall has suffered plenty of slings and arrows in a career that might not have got off the ground but for the influence and encouragement of former Albion captain Danny Cullip.

When he got a second chance at Brighton, he seized it, made it to the first team, was signed by Tottenham Hotspur and is still playing tier two football more than 10 years later.

In one of those strange quirks of football, Neil Warnock, the manager who signed Cullip for Sheffield United, made Hall his first signing when he took charge at Middlesbrough.

Warnock infamously dumped Cullip within three months of signing him for the Blades but he was a lot more complimentary about Hall, who had faced his demons at one of Cullip’s old clubs, QPR.

“Grant is a smashing lad and I’m sure the fans will really take to him,” Warnock told Boro fans after signing him in July 2020.

Born in Brighton on 29 October 1991, Hall was with the Albion as a schoolboy but was released when he was 16. That’s when he went to play for non-league Lewes where Albion’s former captain was seeing out the remaining days of his career.

“He (Cullip) was a massive influence on me,” the young defender told Albion’s matchday programme. “Danny talked to me every time I played. He gave me advice on what to do and he never had a go at me, which might not have helped me as a youngster. He was always positive and encouraging me.

“He was a great pro when he was playing so was a great person to be mentored by.”

Together with input from another former pro, Anthony Barness, and manager Kevin Keehan, Hall said: “I felt their belief and that gave me confidence and I became a better player. They helped me so much; I owe a massive thanks to them.”

The changed Hall brought Albion’s director of football Martin Hinshelwood back to his door with an invitation to return to the club two years after he’d left.

Hall was part of a hugely successful development squad under youth team coach Luke Williams, and eventually made it to the first team, joining Gus Poyet’s squad for training over Christmas 2011.

Although a centre back by preference, his debut was at left-back as a second-half substitute for assistant manager Mauricio Taricco in a memorable New Year’s 3-0 win over 10-man Southampton at the Amex. Saints’ Rickie Lambert was shown a red card and Matt Sparrow scored two belting goals for the Albion.

“I’ve waited a long time but it’s a great feeling to have finally made my debut,” said Hall. “Obviously there were a few nerves as I was getting my shirt on but once you step onto the pitch you just block everything out.

“You are just so focused on your game that you can’t even hear the crowd but I really enjoyed the experience.”

Hall did well enough to be given his full debut the following Saturday in the FA Cup against Wrexham, although Poyet couched his words of praise carefully after the youngster put in a composed display, suggesting certain representations on Hall’s behalf were not welcome.

“I would stay calm if I was anyone connected to Grant,” he said. “He played for half-an-hour against Southampton when we were eleven v ten, and then 90 minutes against Wrexham, with all respect to Wrexham, so we’ll see.”

Albion fans liked what they saw though, with correspondent ‘4everaseagull’ saying on the Argus discussion forum: “Hall’s performance was very assured against Wrexham and he looked very comfortable. For me he was MoM. He didn’t miss a header all game, and his positional play and passing were excellent. It really showed how important it is for all the respective teams at the club to play the same way. Feet on the ground for Hall but what a great prospect.”

Hall played alongside versatile Frenchman Romain Vincelot against the Welsh Conference side but there was plenty of competition at centre back with captain Gordon Greer usually featuring alongside Adam El-Abd, and a rookie Lewis Dunk beginning to emerge. Steve Cook, also 20, had returned from a loan spell at Bournemouth to help out during an injury crisis but he soon departed to Dean Court on a permanent basis, joining Tommy Elphick whose own Albion progress had been blighted by a serious injury.

Whatever had narked Poyet in January resurfaced when Hall rejected a three-year deal offered by Albion before his contract expired at the end of June. Hall chose to join Spurs instead, although Poyet was baffled and, in a convoluted but contorted way, went public with his criticism of the youngster’s move.

“The only disappointing side with Grant Hall is that what he told us was the reason for not signing a contract was not true,” Poyet told the Argus. “He didn’t accept our contract for a reason but that reason is not happening.

“There was a clear reason he gave us as to why he did not want to stay here. I know what he said and it’s not happening, so it’s disappointing, no doubt.”

Albion clearly felt Hall had a future, and with the seven substitutes rule coming in it was felt his chances of being involved in the first team squad were pretty good.

Nevertheless, Poyet added: “Sometimes we try to advise players knowing the game, but my point of view is probably not the same as the player’s point of view. I just wish him well. I hope he can make it and can be playing at the highest level.

“I am not against him. He made a decision, nothing else, but I think it’s important to know the reason.”

While Hall went straight into Tottenham’s academy team and made his debut in a 2-1 friendly victory over Kingstonian, Albion began a drawn out wrangle over compensation, which was due because Hall was still under 24.

It wasn’t until the following January that Albion finally reached an undisclosed settlement with Spurs to prevent it going to a tribunal.

Hall featured in Spurs’ under 21 side from the start of the 2012-13 season but in three years on their books, he didn’t make a first team appearance. He had three loan spells away from White Hart Lane – at League One Swindon Town under the aforementioned Luke Williams – and at Birmingham City and Blackpool, both in the Championship.

In 2015 he made a permanent move to Queens Park Rangers, signed by former Albion full-back Chris Ramsey who had coached him at Tottenham.

“He’s an old-fashioned defender who can head the ball, tackle and he doesn’t mind putting his foot in when he needs to,” said Ramsey. “But he can play as well from the back, and that’s what we’ll be looking to do when the opportunities present themselves this season.

“He’s still a young boy and centre-half is a very responsible position, but he’s got experience in the Championship and that’s vitally important for us.”

Hall won the supporters’ Player of the Year award in his first season but suffered a serious knee injury towards the end of the 2016-17 season.

He started drinking heavily because he couldn’t cope with the pain of tendonitis in his knee, and two years later spoke out about the mental health issues he went through.

Hall encouraged others to talk about such problems in the way he did after he broke down in a meeting with QPR director of football Les Ferdinand and then manager Steve McLaren.

Ferdinand put him in touch with the Professional Footballers’ Association and he was able to understand that it was OK to speak about his issues.

“I had a really good conversation with them and they helped me understand that it’s okay to speak about your mental health. No-one is going to judge you for it and opening up about your mental well-being is a strength and not a weakness,” he told qpr.co.uk. “It was exactly what I needed. It felt like a huge release, a weight off of my shoulders and it allowed me to re-focus and start to look after myself again.”

Explaining how things unravelled, Hall said: “I went from a place where life was perfect, I had a great relationship with the QPR supporters and everything was going right on and off the pitch. Then all of a sudden everything seemed to come crashing down. It was a huge reality check for me and I now realise that you can never anticipate what is around the corner in life.”

Hall managed to turn that corner and worked hard to restore his fitness to the extent that he featured in 30 matches during the 2019-20 season. “Deep down it’s just a relief for me to be playing football again,” he said.

But after 128 appearances across five years at Loftus Road, where he had become club captain, he was unable to agree a new contract with QPR in the summer of 2020 and upped sticks at the age of 28 to become Warnock’s first signing at Middlesbrough.

“I’ve known Grant for a few years now,” said Warnock. “Everyone knows I’m looking at the spine of the team, and he’s the right fit for what we need.”

Unfortunately, not for the first time in his career, injury sidelined him for several of those early months on Teesside but on his return he proved a bright spot in a disappointing second half of the season.

“It’s been a massive plus because I didn’t personally think he’d be able to come back like he has, if I’m totally honest,” Warnock told Craig Johns, of gazettelive.co.uk. “I was worried he’d put a bit of weight on and I couldn’t see enough mobility.

“And yet he’s proven me entirely wrong. He’s come back fitness-wise better than I’ve ever seen him and he’s using his experience at the back for us to the point where he’s been a breath of fresh air for us.”

Warnock also told the reporter: “The thing I’ve been most impressed with, more than his heading or his contribution in that respect, has been his reading of the game against quick players. You would probably question how he would get on against a quick player, but he’s just revelled in it really.

“His quickness of thought has put him a long way ahead of some of these quick strikers that he’s been playing against. That’s what I’ve been pleased with more than anything.

“I always know he’ll chip in with an odd goal here and there, but his reading of the game has been outstanding.”

After Warnock’s departure, Hall was on the outside looking in under Chris Wilder although the new manager sought to give him public encouragement by saying he could still have a role to play. “He’s had a couple of little issues but he is back involved now and back part of the group,” he told gazettelive.co.uk. “Grant has an important role to play between now and the end of the season,” he said. “I think they all know they have to be ready when called upon.”

In July 2022, it was announced Hall was joining newly-promoted Championship side Rotherham United on a season-long loan.

McGhee provided Albion platform for playmaker Mark Yeates

TRICKY playmaker Mark Yeates spent five years as a Tottenham Hotspur player but it was with Brighton that he played his first competitive football.

Yeates looked like a useful loan signing when he joined new manager Mark McGhee’s Albion squad in November 2003. He drew plenty of admirers and featured in 10 games over two months.

It wasn’t long before McGhee was talking about the possibility of signing him on a permanent basis, but Spurs had other ideas. He eventually had to leave north London to pursue his career but he ultimately made nearly 500 professional appearances.

Eighteen-year-old Yeates arrived on the south coast shortly after Zesh Rehman had also signed on loan (from Fulham), Albion having lost midfield duo Charlie Oatway and Simon Rodger to injuries.

The diminutive Irishman made his debut in McGhee’s first match in charge: a 4-1 defeat to Sheffield United at Withdean.

The matchday programme’s assessment was thus: “The second half was better. Mark Yeates moved into the centre of midfield and so had an opportunity to show what he can do. He could beat players, look up, and try a perceptive through ball. Wide on the left in the first half, he’d been exposed and given the ball away too often.”

On the day England won the Rugby World Cup, Yeates was one of six Albion players booked as the Seagulls beat Notts County 2-1 at Meadow Lane; an eventful game which saw Adam El-Abd make his league debut, Leon Knight score twice and John Piercy sent off for two bookable offences.

After only his third game, Yeates was off on international duty, playing for the Republic of Ireland under 19s away to France.

It was in early December that McGhee spoke about wanting to take Yeates on a permanent basis, telling the club’s website: “I’ve said already that I knew before he came here what a good player he is and I imagined he would do well in this team, and he has done that.”

McGhee told the Argus: “He has a kind of Gaelic confidence. Robbie Keane had it and Mark is similar in that respect.

“His character is perfect really for the way he plays. It goes with the ability and flair.”

Yeates hailed from the same Tallaght district of Dublin as Keane – a player McGhee knew well having given him his English football debut at 17 when manager of Wolves.

After extending his stay at the Albion to a second month, Yeates told the Argus: “Before I came here I had never really played in the centre of midfield. I usually play up front off a big man.

Yeates takes control watched by Adam Hinshelwood

“The gaffer tried me up front in the first half at QPR (in the LDV Vans Trophy) but we didn’t get the ball into mine and Leon’s feet, and with two little men you are not going to get much joy.

“At Tottenham we play with wingbacks and two holding midfielders and I am allowed a free role.

“I have to be a bit more disciplined here. Sometimes I can go running about a bit, it’s just up to the lads to call me back in to help out.”

Yeates appreciated the opportunity Albion had given him to taste senior football, telling the newspaper: “It’s great for me just to be getting first team football, plus the reason I am staying here is because they are a good bunch down here.”

He observed: “It’s a lot more fast and furious because everyone is playing for their living. You have to give a bit more and get more out of yourself which you probably wouldn’t get in a reserve game.

“In reserve football, players are going through the motions. It’s just a matter of playing a game.”

After he’d played his final game on loan, a 0-0 home draw with Oldham Athletic, the matchday programme observed: “Yeates showed some neat touches and was Albion’s most creative outlet once again.”

When Albion struggled to beat Barnsley 1-0 in the FA Cup, the matchday programme noted: “The passing abilities of Mark Yeates, and his desire to get into the penalty area, were sorely missed.”

Back at Spurs, Yeates had to wait until the very last game of the season to make his Premier League debut. He’d previously been an unused substitute when Glenn Hoddle’s Tottenham were thrashed 5-1 by Middlesbrough at the end of the 2002-03 season.

But in May 2004, David Pleat selected him to start in a side also featuring Ledley King, Jamie Redknapp, Christian Ziege, Jermain Defoe and Robbie Keane.

The fixture at Molineux ended in a 2-0 win for the visitors and Yeates helped Spurs take the lead against the run of play, laying on a cross for Keane to score against his former club. Defoe netted a second to seal the win.

Born in Tallaght on 11 January 1985, Yeates was the eldest son of former Shelbourne, Shamrock Rovers, Athlone Town and Kilkenny City striker Stephen Yeates, who died aged just 38 following a tragic accident, just as Mark was making his way through the youth ranks at Spurs.

The young Yeates first played competitive football with Greenhills Boys, a club who his grandfather and father had been involved with, and then moved on to Cherry Orchard, a Dublin side renowned for producing a number of players who went on to have successful professional careers.

In an extended interview with Lennon Branagan for superhotspur.com, Yeates recalled how Tottenham scout Terry Arber did a two-day coaching course at Cherry Orchard, after which he, Willo Flood (later to play for Manchester City and Dundee United) and Stephen Quinn (who went on to play for Sheffield United) were invited to London for a trial with Spurs.

Yeates was only 15 but he was taken on and had to up sticks from home and move into digs in London.

“As a skilful dribbler who was regularly a source of assists and goals in the youth set-up, Yeates quickly demonstrated to the coaching staff at Tottenham that he possessed the raw materials required to graduate to the next level,” wrote Paul Dollery in an October 2021 article for the42.ie.

Sadly, his progress through the youth ranks was interrupted by the shock news of his father’s death in an accident. Yeates told Dollery how it could have all gone the wrong way, but he thankfully remained focused.

“It was really tough, but you’d ask yourself what else you could do if you didn’t keep going – go home to your estate in Tallaght, drink cans every weekend and get roped into whatever else? 

“I could have done that, or I could look at the three-year contract that was on the table at Tottenham and get my head down to go after that.

“It was hard, but a bit of willpower and the desire to be a footballer – which I had since I started kicking a ball – got me through it.”

In his interview with Branagan, Yeates said: “I started to train with the first team at a decent age and really being involved quite a bit as well as being a regular with the reserves group with Colin Calderwood and Chris Hughton at the time.

“I’ve just got so many unbelievable things to say when I look back now and I can only say so many good things about Spurs because it sort of built me and gave me so much.”

It was in January 2005 when Yeates next appeared for the Spurs first team, Martin Jol sending him on as a sub in the third round FA Cup tie against Brighton at White Hart Lane when Tottenham edged it 2-1.

The following week he once again replaced Pedro Mendes as a sub when a star-studded Chelsea side won 2-0 on their way to winning their first Premier League title under Jose Mourinho. He also got on in the next game, as Spurs crashed 3-0 at Crystal Palace,

While he could have continued to bide his time at Spurs, he preferred to go out on loan again to get some games under his belt. He played four times for League One Swindon Town and then had a season-long loan at Colchester United, helping them to promotion from League One in 2005-06 in a squad which included Greg Halford and Chris Iwelumo.

Further loan spells followed at Hull City and Leicester City but, in the summer of 2007, he joined Colchester on a permanent deal.

Yeates scored 21 goals in 81 games for United drawing him to the attention of future England manager Gareth Southgate who took him to Middlesbrough (who had just been relegated from the Premier League) for a £500,000 fee.

On signing a three-year deal, Yeates said: “This is massive for me. There was interest from other clubs but there was only one thing on my mind once my agent told me Middlesbrough had been in touch.

“This club belongs in the Premier League, the fans deserve to be there and I can’t wait to play in front of them. It’s a Premiership club in my mind – all you have to do is look around the facilities, the training ground, the stadium, everything is spot on.”

Yeates reckoned his versatility would suit Boro. “I can play on the right or the left,” he said. “I played a full season’s Championship football on the right for Colchester, while I played most of last season on the left. But then, in probably eight of the last 10 games, I played behind the front two.

“For a winger, I think my goals record is quite good,” he added. “I got 14 last season and nine by Christmas the season before I got injured.

“I like to get on the ball and take on defenders. The number one job of being a wide man is creating chances and I certainly like to do that, but scoring goals isn’t a bad habit to have either. I promise the fans I’ll give 110 per cent. I’m hungry to prove that I deserve to be here.”

Fine words but it didn’t pan out well for him because Southgate was sacked in October 2009 and his successor Gordon Strachan shunned the Irishman. By January 2010, Yeates was on the move again, this time to Sheffield United.

Blades boss Kevin Blackwell told the club’s website: “He’s a player we have looked at before, I’ve had my eye on him for a year or two but we couldn’t agree terms with Colchester. I’m delighted to finally get my man, although I was surprised that Boro would let him go.”

Yeates was reunited with Stephen Quinn and another former Albion loanee, Darius Henderson, was up front for the Blades. Yeates reckoned he had his best ever spell playing under Blackwell’s successor, Gary Speed.

“He was just an unbelievable man and, going back to when I was at Tottenham as a young lad, he was the prime example of the player you should aspire to be like,” he said. “He had faith in me.”

Unfortunately, when Speed left to manage Wales, former Albion boss Micky Adams took charge and the pair didn’t see eye to eye, as he explained to watfordlegends.com.

“I was at Sheffield United and it was the season when we went from the Championship to League One. Micky Adams was the manager and we weren’t getting on. In the summer Micky was sacked and Danny Wilson came in as manager.

“I trained for the full pre-season with the club, but I was aware that there were a couple of clubs keeping an eye on my situation throughout the summer. It was Blackpool and Watford who put in offers for me, and I spoke with both clubs, but when I met Dychey (Sean Dyche) I decided to sign for Watford.

“I still had a house in Loughton so overall it was a good opportunity to get back down south, and everything that Sean said to me on the phone really appealed to me.”

Yeates was at Watford for two seasons, initially under Dyche and then Gianfranco Zola, but his contract wasn’t renewed in the summer of 2013 and he decided to link up once again with his former Colchester and Hull boss, Phil Parkinson, at League One Bradford City.

He was one of the goalscorers for Bradford when they completed a massive upset by beating Premier League table toppers Chelsea 4-2 at Stamford Bridge in the fourth round of the 2015 FA Cup.

However, released that summer, he switched across the Pennines to join Oldham Athletic and six months later was on the move again, this time to Blackpool.

“Since leaving Hull it’s been a bit up and down,” he told Branagan. “I was on a short term deal at Oldham which went alright before then deciding to go to Blackpool because of a longer contract which was put in front of me which I don’t regret, as I’ve been living around the St Annes area now for five years and my children have grown up here and are at school and it’s a great area to raise a family in.”

His final league club as a player was Notts County, who he joined on a short-term deal in January 2017, and he appeared in 11 games plus three as a substitute as new manager Kevin Nolan’s side turned what at one point looked like relegation from the league into a 16th place finish (although two years later County lost the league status they’d held for 157 years).

After playing non-league for Eastleigh, in 2019 Yeates moved closer to home and signed for AFC Fylde. In September 2021, he became an academy coach at Fleetwood Town, although he continued to keep his hand in as a player at Bamber Bridge.

Reflecting on the player’s career, Dollery wrote: “With a ball at his feet, Yeates was one of the most technically accomplished Irish players of his generation, cut from the same cloth as the likes of (Wes) Hoolahan and Andy Reid.

“That such a claim isn’t backed up by international achievements can perhaps be partly explained by his own admission that he didn’t marry his talent with a devotion to other aspects of the game that were beginning to play a more prominent role in the life of a professional footballer.

“If fitness coaches scheduled a gym session, Yeates felt his time would be better spent by staying on the training pitch to perfect his free kicks. A predilection for crisps, fizzy drinks and nights out didn’t aid his cause either.”

Yeates recognised he could have done things differently and said: “The reality was that I didn’t live like a saint.

“Everyone who knows me would know that that’s just not my personality. I’ve always been a fella who likes a bit of craic; just a normal Irish lad from an estate who happened to love playing football.”

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

Wright player, wrong place but Jake was United with Wilder

LEFT-SIDED centre back Jake Wright had limited chances to show his mettle for Brighton but Chris Wilder liked what he saw – and was his manager at three different clubs.

Wright played for Wilder at Halifax Town, Oxford United and Sheffield United so was in a good position to assess the terrific job the Blades boss had done at Bramall Lane for a BBC Sport article on 10 January 2020.

“He’s not changed at all,” said Wright. “I don’t think his training sessions or his intensity have changed. As he’s progressed, he’s got better players in, so the quality’s changed. But how he goes about the day-to-day running of a football club hasn’t really changed.

“He’s always been hands-on. He’s always taken a lot of sessions himself. He knows what it takes to win and he knows how to motivate his players to be ready for a game.

“He’s ruthless. He’s got no qualms about dropping a player – no matter how long you’ve known him or how well you’ve done for him – he makes decisions to benefit the club.”

The article featured a number of players who played for Wilder over the years, and Wright added: “His CV’s incredible – one of the best in the country for how well he’s done at certain teams.

“I can’t compliment him enough as a manager. I’ve probably played more games for him than any other player and he hasn’t changed the way he is. He’s kept his philosophy.”

Born on 11 March 1986 in Keighley, Wright began his footballing journey eight miles away at Bradford City. Former England and Derby defender Colin Todd was manager at the time, and he awarded Wright his first professional contract, but it was away from Valley Parade that he gained first team experience.

Wilder was cutting his managerial teeth at Halifax and took Wright and fellow Bantam Danny Forrest to The Shay, initially on loan. The pair eventually joined on a permanent basis and Wright made 88 appearances for them but opted to move on when financial issues saw them demoted two divisions.

He moved to Crawley Town, then in the Conference Premier, and some solid performances at that level drew attention from various league clubs, including nearby Albion, who had recently narrowly escaped relegation to the fourth tier.

Manager Russell Slade took him on a trial basis for a pre-season friendly against Torquay United in July 2009, and, although Albion lost the game 1-0, Wright did enough to earn himself a two-year deal.

Slade said: “He has done very well, both in training and in the game at Torquay. He is a left-sided defender who can play at full-back or centre-half. He is also an excellent athlete, a good talker and I am expecting that he will prove himself as a quality player.”

Wright started the season in the no.5 shirt in the centre of the back four alongside Tommy Elphick but there was plenty of competition for places and Adam El-Abd and James Tunnicliffe were drafted in as Slade tried to address a four-game winless start.

He had a couple more starts in October but, with Brighton struggling towards the foot of the table, Slade was axed as boss that autumn, and Wright didn’t feature in new manager Gus Poyet’s plans.

On 31 December 2009, he was allowed to join Oxford United on loan until the end of the season. He’d only made eight appearances for the Seagulls.

“I wasn’t playing at Brighton and I want to be playing games,” Wright told the BBC. “I am coming to a club that is basically a league club and is going in the right direction. I want to be playing football.”

Wilder said: “I had Jake at Halifax and took him out of Bradford City reserves and he was superb for me.”

By the end of that season, Oxford had won promotion back into the league and Wright’s move was made permanent, courtesy of a free transfer.

The following summer he was appointed Oxford’s captain, and his stay at the Kassam Stadium extended to six seasons over which he made a total of 278 appearances.

After leading the U’s to promotion from League 2 as runners-up in the 2015-16 season, Wright left the club that summer having been told he wouldn’t be guaranteed his place in the higher division.

“Michael Appleton said I wasn’t in his plans and he’d give me the opportunity to move on,” Wright told the Oxford Mail. “It was a shock to be told, especially after we got promoted with the best defensive record in the league.”

Wright wasn’t without a club for long, moving back to Yorkshire to link up with Wilder once more, this time at Sheffield United.

“Jake brings a calmness to the team,” Wilder told the Sheffield Telegraph. “He’s one of those players I enjoy watching because he wants to win. In training and in games.

“He’s never played at this level and, with respect, he views this as an opportunity to do something at the back end of his career. I love players like that. People who get the maximum out of their careers. It’s not been a glittering career with medals littered all over the place. But every manager he’s had will tell you what Jake is like.”

He featured in 30 matches as they gained promotion from League One and played a further 22 games in their 2017-18 season in the Championship. Not involved in United’s Premier League side, in 2019-20 Wright switched on loan to League One Bolton Wanderers, where he played 12 matches.

Wright signed for Hereford at the start of the current season, with manager Josh Gowling saying: “Jake is a very big signing for us, he’s a very commanding centre half.

“He’s got a great attitude; he’s got hunger and desire and he still wants to push on and win things.”