Tag: Alan Mullery

Boss weighed into ex Spurs teammate Joe Kinnear

JOE KINNEAR was no stranger to expletive-filled rants so we can only imagine how he reacted when his former Tottenham Hotspur teammate Alan Mullery told him he was a stone overweight and shouldn’t expect any special treatment at Brighton.

The right-back who’d won silverware alongside the former Spurs skipper ended up leaving the Goldstone acrimoniously after his former colleague took over as Albion boss.

Having made 258 appearances in 10 years at White Hart Lane, Kinnear only played 18 games for Brighton after being signed by Mullery’s predecessor, Peter Taylor in August 1975.

He’d followed fellow former Spurs defender Phil Beal to third-tier Brighton, both having been eased out of the door as Tottenham’s new boss Terry Neill re-shaped the award-winning squad built up by the legendary Bill Nicholson and his faithful assistant, Eddie Baily.

Back when Taylor and Brian Clough were turning round the fortunes of Derby County, they had acquired the services of former Spurs hardman Dave Mackay, a friend of Kinnear’s, so he was no stranger to turning to experienced old pros.

“I left Tottenham because although I was good enough to hold down a regular first team place, manager Terry Neill didn’t think so,” Kinnear told Shoot! magazine. “I’m 28-years-of-age and have plenty of soccer at senior level left in me. Brighton have the potential to become as big-time as Spurs once were.”

Three days after signing, the Irishman made his Albion debut at right-back in a 1-0 home defeat to Cardiff City and, while he played in the following game too, previous regular right-back Ken Tiler was restored to the line-up for the next three months.

Nevertheless, his lack of involvement at Brighton didn’t stop the Republic of Ireland selecting him and he made what was his last and 26th appearance for his country as an 83rd minute substitute for Tony Dunne in a 4-0 win over Turkey at Dalymount Park, Dublin, on 29 October (Don Givens scored all four).

Kinnear was on Brighton’s bench a few times in the days of only one substitute, and he managed four consecutive starts in December, but he had to bide his time for his next starting spot, which only came when a bad injury in mid-March brought an end to Tiler’s involvement in Albion’s promotion push.

It was timely because on 23 March a testimonial match for him against Spurs took place at the Goldstone. It had been part of the arrangement made when he signed, and the Albion XI who took to the field in front of 7,124 fans included Kinnear’s old teammates Terry Venables, Mackay and Jimmy Greaves, along with guest star Rodney Marsh.

Spurs were in no mood for sentiment, though, and ran out 6-1 winners, with Kinnear scoring a consolation for Albion from the penalty spot.

As Albion’s promotion bid unravelled, Kinnear played in 10 league matches, only three of which were won. Although he was successful with another penalty, this time against Chesterfield, the Spireites won 2-1 with two penalties of their own.

Fingers were pointed at Kinnear for a gaffe in a decisive Easter game at promotion rivals Millwall which Albion ended up losing 3-1.

In his end-of-season summary, the Evening Argus Albion watcher John Vinicombe pointedly considered it was the injury ruling out Tiler that had been a key turning point in the failure to gain a promotion spot.

Kinnear himself suffered a serious knee injury in the penultimate game of the season, a 1-1 home draw against Gillingham, capping a dismal afternoon in which he also had a penalty saved. His departure on a stretcher on 19 April 1976 was his last appearance in an Albion shirt, other than being pictured kneeling on the end of the front row in the August pre-season team photo.

What happened next was covered in some detail in a 2013 blog post on thegoldstonewrap.com. In short, Mullery had arrived as manager following Taylor’s decision to quit and link up again with Clough, who’d taken over at Nottingham Forest.

Mullery was unimpressed by his former teammate’s level of fitness and attitude and called him out in front of the squad. Peter Ward, the new kid on the block at that point, thought it was the wrong approach and, in Matthew Horner’s book He Shot, He Scored, said: “It seemed that Mullery and Kinnear didn’t get on very well.”

Contractually, Albion still owed Kinnear money but it was evident he wasn’t going to feature while Mullery was in charge and a settlement had to be reached. Eventually Kinnear moved on to become player-manager of non-league Woodford Town, beginning a career in coaching and management that ultimately took him back to the top level of the game, albeit frequently attracting headlines for some extraordinary and controversial behaviour.

But let’s stick with Kinnear the player for the moment. Born in Kimmage, Dublin, on 27 December 1946, he moved to Watford at the age of seven. After leaving school, he became an apprentice machine minder in a print works and played amateur football for St Albans City. It was there he was spotted by the aforementioned Baily, who invited him to join Spurs’ pre-season training. He initially signed as an amateur in 1963, turning professional two years later.

His breakthrough season was 1966-67. He made his debut for the Republic of Ireland on 22 February 1967 in a 2-1 defeat to Turkey and won a regular place in the Spurs side when Phil Beal was sidelined with a broken arm. Kinnear performed well in Beal’s absence and he ended it as a member of the side which beat Chelsea 2-1 in the 1967 FA Cup Final.

“I was 20 when we played in the 1967 FA Cup Final and I got Man of the Match, so it was a great start for me,” Kinnear told tottenhamhotspur.com.

All was going well until January 1969 when in a home game against Leeds United he broke his right leg in two places, and he was out of the side for a long while.

Kinnear’s misfortune provided an opportunity for emerging youngster Ray Evans, as this Spurs archive website recalls: “When he got his chance through an injury to regular right back Joe Kinnear, Evans took over in that position and provided a threat with fast, over-lapping runs along with a notable fierce shot that chipped in with a few goals for the club.  Strong in the tackle and quick to recover his position, his height also helped him when teams tried to play diagonal passes in behind him.”

Evans had long spells in the side, especially in the 1973-74 season when Kinnear barely got a look-in, but the Irishman battled for his place and was first-choice right-back in Spurs’ League Cup winning sides of 1971 and 1973, and the UEFA Cup winning line-up in 1972.

The revered Nicholson had encouraged Kinnear to become a coach once his playing days were over, but he struggled to get a foot on the ladder in the UK. Ex-Derby boss Mackay, with whom he used to go to Walthamstow dogs after training, took him on as his assistant in the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia, then later at Doncaster Rovers after Kinnear had spent time in India and Nepal.

Eventually, in 1992, he got his chance at Wimbledon, defying the purists with a brand of football that saw them finish in sixth place in 1993-94 – and Kinnear won the League Managers’ Association Manager of the Year award.

Over seven years, The Dons played 364 games under him, winning 130, drawing 109 and losing 125. Despite not even playing at their own ground – they played home matches at Selhurst Park – Wimbledon continued to defy the critics with their resilience in the Premier League and progress in the cups but in 1999 Kinnear stood down as manager after suffering a minor heart attack.

He later enjoyed success in two years (2001-03) at Luton Town and had colourful spells as manager of Nottingham Forest (2004) and manager (2008-09) then director of football (2013-14) at Newcastle United.

Acres of newsprint and plenty of clips on YouTube record some extraordinary behaviour following his appointment by Mike Ashley at Newcastle. Perhaps one of the best summaries is on planetfootball.com, with reporter Benedict O’Neill saying: “Mike Ashley’s mismanagement of Newcastle has been a long-term affair with many bizarre decisions, but his appointment of the long-forgotten Joe Kinnear — twice! — may just be the strangest of all.”

Kinnear, who was diagnosed with dementia in 2015, died aged 77 on 7 April 2024.

Pictures from my personal scrapbook, matchday programmes and various online sources.

Outcast Peter Suddaby was Albion top-flight saviour

PETER SUDDABY spent nearly 10 years at Blackpool before playing a key role in Brighton’s inaugural top-flight season. The university graduate later spent a season with the Seagulls as a coach.

Albion had been struggling to adjust to the old First Division after promotion from the second tier in 1979 and it hadn’t helped that star defender Mark Lawrenson missed 12 matches following a bad ankle ligament injury at Spurs.

When Lawrenson was ready to return for a crunch match away to Nottingham Forest on 17 November 1979, instead of putting Lawrenson in the back line, manager Alan Mullery put him in midfield and thrust new free transfer signing Suddaby into the defence alongside Steve Foster.

Suddaby was 31 and had been playing for Third Division Blackpool’s reserve side at the time, so it was certainly a bold step but Mullery said: “I signed Peter because of his attitude to football. Whenever I played against him he struck me as being one of the worst losers in the game.

“If Blackpool were losing by five goals, he’d still be trying as hard as ever, and that is the sort of character we needed in the team.”

Mullery’s gamble paid off because at the City Ground Gerry Ryan’s 11th minute goal (not to mention Graham Moseley saving a John Robertson penalty on the stroke of half-time) gave Albion an unexpected victory against a Forest side who hadn’t lost at home for two years.

The game earned top billing on Match of the Day and Mullery hailed Suddaby after the game, telling commentator Barry Davies: “He’s got something to live up to, the boy, because he had a tremendous game today up against Garry Birtles.” (see still from footage, above)

Suddaby later told Shoot! magazine: “Forest are a very good side, but we defended well against them and had that little bit of luck we needed. Everyone in the Brighton side buckled down and gave everything.

“Alan Mullery has given me a chance to prove myself in the best league in the world, and I certainly do not wish to let him down now.”

Plaudits from journalists continued as Albion built on the victory at the City Ground with successive victories over Christmas against Wolves and Crystal Palace taking the club out of the bottom three for the first time that season.

Suddaby in an aerial battle with Coventry’s Garry Thompson at the fenced-in Goldstone

Jack Steggles in the Daily Mirror wrote: “Alan Mullery, ready to spend a million to buy his way out of trouble, could find salvation in a man who cost him nothing. For Brighton’s chances of survival have looked a lot brighter since he signed university graduate Peter Suddaby on a free transfer from Blackpool. Suddaby’s arrival has stiffened the defence and Brighton have bagged five points from three games.” (there were only two points for a win in those days).

thegoldstonewrap.com recalled: “Suddaby definitely didn’t let Brighton down. His strong, determined tackling and ability in the air at the heart of defence was an important factor in moving Albion up the table.”

Mullery told Shoot! that he’d tried to sign Suddaby the previous season but Bob Stokoe, Blackpool’s manager at the time, refused to let him go. “He’s a tremendous winner and is just the sort of player we needed,” said Mullery.

When Suddaby lost his place in the Tangerines side under Stokoe’s successor, Stan Ternent, Mullery was quick to seize the moment.

“My career wasn’t going anywhere, and a move to the First Division was the perfect remedy,” said Suddaby, who admitted he’d been hoping for a return to the top flight since Blackpool dropped out of it. “Obviously it wasn’t easy to adjust after playing two games in the reserves and I was sad about leaving Blackpool,” he said. “But it was made clear to me that I was fourth in line for the centre-half position, so I made up my mind to move if the opportunity arose.”

Suddaby continued: “I wanted a challenge and still felt I had something to offer which is why it didn’t worry me to join a struggling club.”

Even back then, Blackpool, who’d dropped down to the Third Division, were beset with boardroom issues which the defender said had “rubbed off on the players and gave the club an unsettled atmosphere”.

Albion only lost five of the 21 games Suddaby played in and succeeded in avoiding relegation. In another Shoot! article, Mullery said of Suddaby: “He may not be a big name, but Peter does it for me week in, week out. I know I can rely on him to turn in a good performance.”

Suddaby looked forward and said: “We have enough good players to build on what we did last season.

“The club think big and I’m delighted to be part of their success. I didn’t think I’d ever play in the First Division again, but now I’ve been given this chance I mean to make the most of it.”

Unfortunately, in May 1980, Suddaby’s back gave way while out walking – a reaction to an operation five years previously when two discs were removed – and, instead of being part of Albion’s second season at the top, he spent nine months trying to recuperate.

Mullery told Phil Jones of BBC Radio Brighton: “The football club needs players of his calibre. He’s good for everybody – a tremendous professional who immediately stamped his authority on the place. I cannot speak too highly of his service to the Albion.”

Sadly, while Suddaby did recover to play for Albion’s reserves, he was not fit enough to return to first team duties.

He tried to extend his playing days with a move to Wimbledon, where he made half a dozen appearances, and then returned to his former club Wycombe Wanderers. He played 10 games in 1982, and then moved on to Isthmian League Hayes in December 1982, eventually becoming player-coach in September 1984. At the same time, he reverted to his original plan and taught maths at the American School in Uxbridge.

Born in Stockport on 23 December 1947, Suddaby was the only son of a garage proprietor, and when he was still young the family moved to north Wales where his father took over a caravan park.

Suddaby started school at Gronant Primary School near Prestatyn, where no football was played, but the local village under 16s played him on the wing when he was aged just 10, and he developed a liking for the game.

When he moved on to St Asaph Grammar School, he became a regular in the school teams. In those days he was a centre-forward and it was in that position he earned his first representative honour when he was selected for Flintshire County Schools.

Suddaby earned A-level passes in Maths, Physics and Chemistry with an eye to moving on to university although, while in the sixth form, he turned out for various Welsh League clubs and for Rhyl in the Cheshire League.

He gained a place at Swansea University and, while doing a three-year BSc course in Maths, played football for the university and Welsh Universities and British Universities, by now as a defender.

After going to Lilleshall on a university coaching course, he was chosen by former Hove Grammar School teacher Mike Smith, later the manager of Wales, for a universities team to play against several non-league sides, one of which was Skelmersdale United.

They were among the top amateur sides at the time and Suddaby agreed to join them, travelling each weekend from Swansea back to the family home in north Wales, from where he was just over an hour’s drive to Skelmersdale.

Amongst his teammates were Steve Heighway, later to gain fame at Liverpool, and Micky Burns, who became a playing colleague at Blackpool.

After gaining his degree at Swansea, Suddaby took a post-graduate course at Oxford University to gain the necessary qualification to become a teacher.

While there, he started playing for Wycombe (then non-league) and gained a Blue playing for Oxford University in the Varsity match at Wembley in December 1970.

Three days later he earned the first of three amateur international caps when he was chosen to play for England against Wales at Cardiff.

With his teacher qualification under his belt, he signed for Blackpool as an amateur in the summer of 1970 and played a few games towards the end of 1970-71 season, when they were relegated from Division One, and then turned professional.

“1 hadn’t really thought too much about becoming a professional,” he told Shoot! “I’d virtually decided that my future was as a teacher.

“Looking back, I have no regrets apart, possibly, that I didn’t join a league club a couple of years earlier. On the other hand, I am happy that I finished my education. University life taught me a lot and developed my character.”

Suddaby ended up spending nine and a half years at Blackpool, making 331 appearances, most of which came in the second tier where the Tangerines were a top 10 side for six consecutive seasons, narrowly missing out on promotion back to the elite in 1974 and 1977, but then being relegated to the old Third Division in 1978.

“I had approaches from Reading, Oxford, Watford and Blackpool but chose the Seasiders as they were in the First Division then,” he told Goal magazine in a July 1972 article. “The year we were relegated wasn’t too good, but I have never really regretted joining Blackpool.

“I had planned to take up teaching as soon as I left Oxford, but things went so well in amateur football and, after the offers started coming along, I decided to forget the teaching for a bit.”

He was part of Blackpool’s 1971 Anglo-Italian Cup winning team (below), managed by Stokoe, alongside the likes of Tony Green, Paul Hart, Alan Ainscow and Tony Evans.

Unlike many players, Suddaby always knew he had teaching to fall back on as a career, but he also got coaching qualifications to enable him to stay in the game as a coach or manager.

When Mullery returned to manage Brighton in the summer of 1985, he appointed Suddaby as his first team coach while Barry Lloyd was put in charge of the reserves.

Brighton coach Suddaby

Mullery’s second term ended acrimoniously in early January 1986. Suddaby stayed on at the Albion under Lloyd but left at the end of the season. He went back to Wycombe as manager in August 1987 but was only in charge for five months.

Suddaby subsequently joined the coaching staff at Tottenham Hotspur, serving as the club’s academy director between July 1995 and April 2004.

During that period, he helped nurture the talent of the future, seeing the likes of Peter Crouch and Ledley King break through into first team football.

They didn’t all turn to gold though. Leigh Mills was at Spurs for five years, captained the England under-16s and was capped for his country at under-17 level.

“By his regular selection for the England under-17 team, Leigh has been recognised as a leading player at his age in the country,” Suddaby told theguardian.com in November 2004. “He has an excellent attitude to maintaining his football progress, and we have great hopes that he will play at a very high level.”

However, Mills ended up on loan at Brentford and Gillingham briefly before playing non-league.

When youngster Phil Ifil broke into the Spurs first team, in 2004, Suddaby said in an interview with the Standard: “Neither I nor my coaches will ever say we made Phil Ifil or any other player. We provide them with an opportunity, and they make themselves.

“The satisfaction we get from seeing them make it is massive, though. We try to get kids from local areas and we use that as a lever because they can see if they come here, they will get a chance.

“It is difficult for kids in football these days, particularly at big clubs. But at Spurs we try and give them knowledge about all sorts of things including the media and even driving lessons. We try to make them confident young men and give them a chance.

“As an academy, we sometimes don’t push ourselves into the limelight but we have produced players like Stephen Clemence and Luke Young, both playing in the Premiership, as well as those now getting their chance in the first team at Spurs.

“But without doubt Ledley is our jewel in the crown. We can only show them the door to success – it’s up to the kids to kick it down.”

After leaving Spurs, Suddaby reverted to maths teaching, working at independent girls school Maltmans Green, in Chalfont St Peter, for nearly 13 years before retiring in August 2018.

The following year, it was reported Suddaby suffered a stroke and, in February 2020, he and former Wycombe teammate Keith Samuels visited Buckinghamshire Neurorehabilitation Unit (BNRU) at Amersham Hospital to make a donation towards the sort of equipment that helped Suddaby recover from his illness.

Pictures from Goal magazine, the Argus, the matchday programme and online sources.

The Albion legend whose face didn’t fit at Aston Villa

Steve Foster challenges Spurs’ Steve Archibald at White Hart Lane

LEGEND is overused far too much in football circles but, in some circumstances, it is justified. That applies to Steve Foster.

He played 800 games in a 21-year career which included nine years with Brighton in two separate spells.

His performances in the top-flight for Brighton led him to play for England at the 1982 World Cup and he lifted the League Cup in 1988 as the captain of Luton Town.

He might have enjoyed a longer spell at Aston Villa if the European Cup-winning manager who signed him hadn’t been unceremoniously dumped by ‘Deadly’ Doug Ellis.

Foster became – and, to older fans, still is – synonymous with Brighton & Hove Albion, and football followers the world over could readily identify the captain with the white headband.

In several interviews over the years, he has explained how the distinctive headpiece was actually a piece of padded white towel designed to protect a forehead split open in collisions with centre forwards Andy Gray and Justin Fashanu.

I wonder if physio Mike Yaxley’s wife Sharon, who made up the dressing before every game, realised at the time the key role she played in helping to make Foster one of the most identifiable characters in football.

Foster’s illustrious career is warmly documented in Spencer Vignes’ excellent 2007 book A Few Good Men (Breedon Books Publishing), featuring an interview with the player himself and those who played with him.

For example, Gerry Ryan told Vignes: “Fozzie was a huge player with a huge personality, a real leader and deceptively quick for a big man.

“When he played against the best, like Ian Rush and Kenny Dalglish, he was the best. People talk about giving 100 per cent, but Fozzie gave 150 per cent in everything he did, and I mean off the field as well.”

Gordon Smith added: “He was a fantastic person, great fun and a terrific centre half.”

Vignes himself observed: “Steve’s willingness to put his neck on the line for the cause earned him hero status among the fans, together with the complete respect of the dressing room.”

Unsurprisingly, Foster pulls no punches in describing the various characters and events surrounding his colourful career, for instance describing Chris Cattlin as “definitely the wrong man. I told him the truth and what I thought of him.” And, of predecessor Jimmy Melia: “When Jimmy took over it was more like a circus than a football club.”

Foster said the two biggest influences on his career were Frank Burrows, the manager of his first club, Portsmouth, who taught him about balance as the key to strength on the pitch, and Brian Horton, the dynamic midfield driving force he succeeded as Albion captain.

“He shouted and screamed for 90 minutes to help us get results, and to keep everyone on their toes,” said Foster. “If he made a mistake, 10 other people would shout and scream at him, and he would take it. When I was captain at Brighton, and my other clubs, that’s how I tried to be.”

Such a recognisable figure as Albion’s centre-half

Fortunately, sufficient archive film footage remains for fans of different generations to see what a dominant force Foster was at the heart of Brighton’s defence, while I retain plenty of now-yellowing cuttings from the numerous columns of newsprint he filled during his pomp.

Born on 24 September 1957 in Portsmouth, Foster went to St Swithin’s Junior School before moving on to St John’s College. A centre-forward in the early days, he played for the Portsmouth Schools under-12s side but it was Southampton who took him on as an associate schoolboy.

He played in the same youth team as Steve Williams and Nick Holmes, who both went on to have long careers.

But Saints boss Lawrie McMenemy let Foster go at 16, urging him to go elsewhere and prove him wrong. After Foster won his first England cap, McMenemy sent him a congratulatory telegram. “That was class, nothing but class,” Foster told Vignes.

Southampton’s loss was Portsmouth’s gain, courtesy of a tip off from local schoolteacher Harry Bourne to Pompey youth team coach Ray Crawford (who’d previously held a similar role under Pat Saward at Brighton). Bourne ran the Portsmouth and Hampshire schools teams.

Crawford describes in his excellent autobiography Curse of the Jungle Boy (PB Publishing 2007) how he called at the family’s house in Gladys Avenue, Portsmouth, but Foster’s mother was at a works disco at the local Allders store. Wasting no time, he immediately went in pursuit and, against a backdrop of deafening music and flashing lights, shouted above the din that they were interested in signing her son.

Foster called the club the following day and he was invited to play in a youth team game for Portsmouth – against Southampton! “I scored twice because I was playing as a centre-forward then, and they ended up offering me an apprenticeship on £5 per week which was my entry into the professional game,” said Foster.

Reg Tyrell, a respected former chief scout from Crawford’s time at Ipswich, watched the young striker in a youth team training game and declared: “That no.9, he’s no centre-forward but he’d make a good number 5.” A few weeks’ later, manager Ron Tindall’s successor, Ian St John (later Saint and Greavsie TV show partner of Jimmy Greaves), gave Foster his debut as a centre half!

Foster played more than 100 games during Pompey’s slide down through the divisions, and, at 21, had developed something of a fiery reputation. But Brighton boss Alan Mullery saw him as “big and brave, strong in the tackle and good in the air” providing “much-needed stability at the back” as the Seagulls began their first adventure into the top-flight of English football in 1979. He was signed for £150,000.

A couple of disciplinary issues in the early days of the new season looked like proving the doubters right to have warned Mullery off signing him, but an injury to first choice centre back Andy Rollings forced the manager to backtrack on a temporary ban he’d handed out. Foster made the most of his reprieve and never looked back.

By the end of a season in which the side grew collectively Foster was named Player of the Year and he earned international recognition, gaining an England under 21 cap as a substitute for Terry Butcher in a 1-0 defeat against East Germany in Jena on 23 April 1980 (Peter Ward was playing up front).

While the 1980-81 season saw Albion struggle and flirt with relegation, Foster’s tussles with some of the top strikers in the game saw his reputation grow, and he even chipped in with a vital goal in the final home game of the season against Leeds.

When Horton and Mullery departed at the end of that season, Foster took over the captaincy under new boss Mike Bailey, and, even though fans didn’t much like the way Bailey set up his side, Foster thrived with the emphasis on defence first.

England boss Ron Greenwood, who lived in Hove, was in the process of shaping his squad for the 1992 World Cup in Spain and, with injuries affecting some of the other centre backs in contention, Foster was given a chance to prove himself.

I can remember travelling to Wembley on 23 February 1982 to watch him make his debut against Northern Ireland, a game England won 4-0 courtesy of goals from Ray Wilkins, Kevin Keegan, Bryan Robson and Glenn Hoddle.

I had been to the stadium 10 years before to watch another Albion player – Willie Irvine – make his international comeback in a 1-0 win for the Irish, but it was something special – and rare – to see a Brighton player line up for England.

To break through to the senior team in a World Cup year was a notable achievement, although, by his own admission, he accepted his good fortune directly correlated to injuries ruling out other players.

Although the record books show Foster earned three caps, in fact he represented the country four times that year.

A month after his debut against Northern Ireland, on 23 March, Foster played for an England XI in Bilbao against Athletic Bilbao. The game finished 1-1 with Keegan scoring for England. It didn’t qualify for a cap because it was a testimonial match for retiring Bilbao player Txetxu Rojo, but Greenwood used the fixture to familiarise the players with what was the venue for England’s opening round matches at the World Cup.

Foster also featured in a 2-0 friendly win over the Netherlands (goals by Tony Woodcock and Graham Rix) on 25 May as Greenwood continued to assess his options.

Foster (circled) in Ron Greenwood’s 1982 World Cup squad

When it was clear neither Alvin Martin nor Dave Watson would be fit for the tournament in Spain, Foster was selected as back-up to first choice centre back pairing Terry Butcher and Phil Thompson. Ahead of the third group match, Greenwood didn’t want to risk a ban for the already-booked Butcher, so Foster played alongside Thompson and England won 1-0 against Kuwait; Trevor Francis getting the England goal.

When England didn’t progress past the second phase, Greenwood’s spell as boss came to an end and he was replaced by Bobby Robson who, for his first game in charge, partnered Russell Osman with Butcher – both having played under him at Ipswich Town.

Foster didn’t play for England again.

Much has been written already about the 1982-83 season and Albion’s path to the FA Cup Final. Foster demonstrated real heroism in the semi-final at Highbury, playing through the pain of a septic elbow, and, memorably, towards the end of the game, launched into an overhead kick to clear a goal-bound shot to safety (pictured above).

History records Foster being suspended for the Cup Final – a well-documented appeal to the High Court against a two-game ban for accumulated bookings couldn’t get the decision reversed – but, as is often the case in football, his misfortune presented a golden opportunity for stand-in Gary Stevens who capped a man-of-the-match performance with the equalising goal. What he did that day persuaded Spurs to sign him.

Foster, of course, eventually got his Wembley chance in the replay but with a rampant Manchester United running out easy 4-0 winners, their fans also rather cruelly derided the Albion skipper with the chant I can still hear ringing around Wembley that evening: “Stevie Foster, Stevie Foster, what a difference you have made!”

In truth the whole defence lacked balance in the replay because manager Melia had elected to fill the right-back berth vacated by injury to Chris Ramsey with the left-footed Steve Gatting. He figured Stevens couldn’t be moved from the centre where he had performed so well on the Saturday, but it was a mistake, especially as Stevens had often played right back previously.

The relegation that went in tandem with Albion’s Wembley loss sparked the beginning of a big clear-out of the best players. First to go was Stevens, closely followed by Michael Robinson.

It wasn’t until the following March that Foster followed them through the exit, although, according to Foster, he might have gone sooner – even though he didn’t want to leave; a point he made clear in an interview with Match Weekly shortly after he signed for Villa for £150,000.

“I never wanted to move,” he said. “I had nearly seven years of my contract to run at Brighton and would have quite happily played out my career there. It’s a great little club.

“But economies dictated otherwise and, although manager Chris Cattlin wanted to keep me, he was under pressure to sell me and help ease the club’s financial problems.

“It was a wrench to leave Brighton because the club has treated me tremendously well and I’ve had some great times there – not least the FA Cup run last season.”

Cattlin had a slightly different take about the transaction in his matchday programme notes. “I feel that Steve Foster has been a fine player during his four-and-a-half years at the Goldstone, but I felt that the time was right and the offer good enough to let him go,” he said.

“I hope the move will benefit both Steve and the club. I hope it rejuvenates his career because he has been unlucky with injuries this season. It gives me breathing space for Eric Young to develop and it will also allow me to strengthen other positions if necessary.”

In a rather oblique reference to the need to get rid of high-earning players, Cattlin added in another matchday programme article: “Certain players have left Brighton in moves which I feel are important for our future. Salaries and bonuses of individual players are confidential and obviously I cannot disclose details, but the moves I have made I am certain are right.”

He added: “I can’t explain all the matters that have been considered but I will once again emphasise that we are building for the future and every move I make in the transfer market is being made with this in mind.”

Foster revealed that Villa boss Tony Barton, a former coach at Foster’s first club, Portsmouth, had tried to sign him twice before, but the clubs hadn’t been able to agree on a fee. Eventually, the transfer saw defender Mark Jones (who’d made seven top-flight appearances for Villa that season) move in the opposite direction, in addition to a £150,000 fee.

Barton wanted Foster to tighten up a leaky defence, to fill the position previously occupied by former European Cup winning centre-half Ken McNaught, who had moved to West Brom.

The relatively inexperienced Brendan Ormsby had been playing alongside McNaught’s former partner, Allan Evans, and the signing of Foster put his nose well and truly out of joint. “It’s obvious that I’m just going to be used as cover for Steve Foster or Allan Evans now and so it’s probably in my best interests to try and find another club,” he told Match Weekly.

As it turned out, it was Barton who was ousted; Ormsby stayed, and new manager Graham Turner decreed it would be Foster who was the odd one out. But I jump ahead too soon.

Foster’s arrival at Villa Park as featured on a matchday programme cover

A picture of Foster being introduced to the Villa faithful appeared on the front cover of the programme for the 17 March home game against Nottingham Forest although he didn’t make his Villa debut until 14 April 1984, away to Leicester City, which ended in a 2-0 defeat.

Foster made seven appearances by the end of the season and he got on the scoresheet in only his third game, netting together with future Albion player Dennis Mortimer, in a 2-1 win over Watford on 21 April.

Villa finished the season in 10th place but it wasn’t good enough for the erratic chairman Ellis. Suddenly Foster found the man who signed him had been sacked, and the side Barton had led to European Cup success was gradually dismantled.

To the astonishment of the Villa faithful, Barton was succeeded by former Shrewsbury Town boss Turner.

Foster played 10 games under the new boss, and scored twice, once in a 4-2 win over Chelsea on 15 September and then again the following Saturday in a 3-3 draw away to Watford.

He’d started the season alongside Evans but Turner then offered a way back to Ormsby. While Foster played a couple of games alongside Ormsby, Turner preferred Evans and Ormsby together, making the new man surplus to requirements.

His last game for Villa was away to Everton on 13 October and the following month he was sold to Luton for £70,000 – less than half the fee Villa had paid for him eight months earlier. Foster simply put it down to his face not fitting with the new man.

It was a completely different story with Luton boss David Pleat and Foster’s time at Kenilworth Road coincided with the club’s most successful period in their history, even though Pleat left to manage Spurs.

Alongside representing his country, Foster said the best moment of his career was captaining the Hatters as they won the League Cup (then sponsored by Littlewoods) at Wembley in 1988 with a 3-2 win over Arsenal, his former Brighton teammate Danny Wilson scoring one of their goals (Brian Stein got the other two).

They reached the final of the same competition the following year too, but on that occasion lost 3-1 to Nottingham Forest. By then Foster was assistant manager to Ray Harford, and it looked like he was on a path to become a boss in his own right.

But that summer, when his old Albion captain, Horton, who had taken over from Mark Lawrenson as the manager of Oxford United, asked him to join him as a player at the Manor Ground, he was unable to resist and a new chapter in his career began.

It meant a drop down a division but Foster accepted the challenge and went on to play more than 100 games for United, many being quite a struggle as the side fought for survival at the foot of the second tier.

In the autumn of 1991, injury sidelined Foster from the U’s team and he believed it could have been the end of his career.

However, when the following summer he was contemplating whether or not to retire, he gave Brighton boss Barry Lloyd a call and asked if he could keep his fitness going by joining in pre-season training with the Seagulls.

Lloyd could see that the former skipper was still able to perform and, although the club was in a downward spiral, Foster seized the opportunity to extend his career and help out his old side.

Another veteran of that side, Clive Walker, told Vignes for A Few Good Men: “Fozzie might not have been so mobile then but his positional sense was absolutely brilliant, as was his ability in the air.”

Foster said: “Funnily enough during that second period I played probably some of my best football. I had to because of the position the club was in. There was no money so you had to pull out all the stops.”

Foster continued to play after Lloyd had departed, and he vented his anger publicly about the off-field shenanigans new boss Liam Brady was having to operate under.

Foster eventually called it a day at the end of the 1995-96 season, saddened at the club’s plight. He was granted a testimonial match against Sheffield Wednesday, played as a pre-season friendly in July 1996. Throughout Foster’s career he had continued to live in Hove and he retains his affection for the Albion to this day.

During his second spell at the club, Foster was the PFA rep and he had to deal with the heartbreak of telling the parents of a young player (Billly Logan) that an ankle injury was going to end his career. The youngster got just £1,500 compensation.

As a result, after his own playing days were over, Foster set up an insurance business (Pro-Secure) which continues to this day, making sure players are properly covered and get suitably recompensed if things don’t turn out as they’d hoped.

Although Foster hasn’t always been popular with the Albion’s hierarchy (courtesy of suggested involvement in potential takeovers), his association with the club hasn’t dimmed and Seagulls fans of two generations took him to their hearts for his on-field performances and leadership spanning a total of 332 games.

• Pictures from my scrapbook, the Albion matchday programme over several seasons, and some online sources.

Steve Harper’s part in the Seagulls-Magpies goalkeeping ‘trade’

BRIGHTON and Newcastle United clearly have a similar eye for goalkeepers with a string of custodians having played for both clubs.

A few years before I started watching, Dave Hollins, older brother of ex-Chelsea midfielder John, moved to Tyneside in 1960 after three years with the Albion, and played twice as many games for Newcastle in the early part of that decade than he had for Brighton.

Back in the first Alan Mullery era, Eric Steele, who went through the Newcastle ranks without making the first team, arrived at Brighton to replace the injured Peter Grummitt in 1977 and was in the side that won promotion to the elite via a 3-1 win at St James’ Park in 1979.

Dave Beasant, who Newcastle bought from Wimbledon for £850,000 in 1988 – although he only played 20 games for the Magpies – was between the sticks for the Albion for 16 games in 2003.

More recently, Dutchman Tim Krul – who’d been at Newcastle a decade – spent a couple of seasons as back-up to Mat Ryan and would probably be disappointed he didn’t get more game time.

My post on this occasion, though, is about Steve Harper, United’s longest-ever serving player having been there 20 years. He later went back as one of the coaches working with Steve Bruce, as well as being goalkeeping coach to the Northern Ireland international side.

Harper is a qualified UEFA A coach and UEFA A goalkeeping coach, and holds a Masters degree in Sport Directorship.

Back in 2011, Harper was happy to lend his experience to the second tier Seagulls during Gus Poyet’s tenure as manager, a decision applauded by Alan Pardew, Toon boss at the time.

“He just wanted to play,” Pardew told the Chronicle. “Not all the top players in the country would have gone on loan – you’re vulnerable.

“You’re going down a division, but he was prepared to do that, and fair play to him.”

For his part, Harper told BBC Sport: “Everybody knows I haven’t played enough football until the last two-and-a-half years.

“I hadn’t played a competitive game for about six months so it was nice to blow the cobwebs out.”

In his first Seagulls match, unfortunately Albion lost against West Ham to a single goal from Harper’s former teammate Kevin Nolan, and he said: “It was disappointing to lose against West Ham with the possession we had.

“Now I’m here, it’s time to get stuck in. We want Brighton to consolidate and finish as high as we can. People tell me it’s a lovely city. I’m looking forward to seeing more of it.”

Harper recalled the time fondly in an interview for the Albion website in 2019.

He featured in five games for the Seagulls, keeping two clean sheets. While he conceded five goals, three came away to Southampton when the Seagulls were unjustly punished by referee Peter Walton.

Harper told journalist Nick Szczepanik: “I would have stayed longer given the opportunity. They made me feel very welcome.”

He even managed to give two of his new teammates a surprise when he started speaking to them in Spanish. Playing behind Spanish speakers Inigo Calderon and Gonzalo Jara Reyes, he explained to Andy Naylor, then of The Argus: “After five years of Bobby Robson and his multi-lingual team talks my Spanish is okay.

“Calde got quite a shock with how much Spanish I know, but I had Colocinni and Enrique in the team with me at Newcastle.”

After his brief spell with the Albion, Harper returned to Newcastle and played nine more games for them the following season before moving on to Hull City (at the time managed by current Toon boss Bruce), where he played alongside Liam Rosenior.

Born in Seaham on 14 March 1975, Harper grew up in the County Durham mining village of Easington and went to its local comprehensive school. Originally a striker at local Sunday league level, he only started playing in goal from the age of 17 and he turned out for Newcastle’s youth team while he was still at college doing A levels.

In fact he was offered a place at John Moores University in Liverpool to study for a Sports Science degree but he deferred it when Newcastle offered him a one-year contract. He signed in 1993 as a back-up for first choice Pavel Srnicek, later Shaka Hislop and subsequently Shay Given.

Much of his time at Newcastle was as a more than capable deputy to whoever was first choice although in United’s 2009-10 season in the Championship, under Chris Hughton, he was the main man and played 45 matches.

Harper had nothing but praise for Hughton, telling chroniclelive.co.uk: “He came in at an incredibly difficult, turbulent time after relegation.

“Chris was the man at the centre of a perfect storm who steered us through some very choppy waters.

“He did a wonderful job and I don’t think he got enough credit. It was no surprise to me to see him go on to do an excellent job at Birmingham City and then at Brighton.”

In total, Harper played 199 games for Newcastle, featuring under nine different managers – Kevin Keegan and Bobby Robson being his favourites.

Periodically over the years, he went out on loan to gain first-team action, appearing between the sticks for Bradford City, Gateshead, Stockport County, Hartlepool and Huddersfield. The Brighton move was his sixth spell out on loan.

Harper’s long service for Newcastle was rewarded with a testimonial against AC Milan in 2013 before he left the club to join Hull, where he spent two seasons.

Six months after his departure from Hull, he was taken on by then Premier League Sunderland as cover for Jordan Pickford and Vito Mannone, but he didn’t make a first-team appearance and was released at the end of the season.

‘Sleekly skilful’ Dale Jasper remembered with a smile

FORMER teammates expressed fond memories and a sense of shock when Dale Jasper died in January 2020 aged only 56.

A product of Chelsea’s youth system in the 1980s, he made it through to the first team but moved to Brighton to get more playing time.

Although he succeeded – playing a total of 52 matches plus eight as a sub under Alan Mullery and Barry Lloyd between 1986 and 1988 – he had to move on again, this time to Crewe Alexandra, to establish a regular starting berth.

It was certainly no mean achievement, though, to have on his CV that he won promotion with all three clubs.

In Ivan Ponting’s obituary for Back Pass magazine, Jasper was described as “a sleekly skilful midfielder-cum-central defender”.

Born in Croydon on 14 January 1964, Jasper was an associate schoolboy with Chelsea from the tender age of 10.

He progressed to the youth ranks and turned professional at Stamford Bridge in January 1982. Manager John Neal gave him his first team break against Cardiff City in March 1984, and Chelsea fans remember him for his involvement in some eye-catching matches.

One involved a 4-4 League Cup quarter final against Sheffield Wednesday but in the semi-final v Sunderland he conceded two penalties.

Although part of the squad Neal steered to promotion from the second tier in 1983-84, the form of his friend Colin Pates, who later had two spells with Brighton himself, and Joe McLaughlin, meant first team chances were few and far between.

Nevertheless, former Chelsea star Pat Nevin remembered Jasper’s involvement in a warm tribute on chelseafc.com.

“Dale was about as much fun as you could find wrapped up in one person,” said Nevin. “He had a brilliant personality in the dressing room at Stamford Bridge and was always up for a surreal laugh with all of us, particularly when he was with his great friends Colin Pates and John Bumstead.”

When Neal’s replacement, John Hollins, failed to offer Jasper the first team game-time he craved, he took the chance to join Brighton in May 1986, and enthused about the move in an interview with Albion matchday programme contributor, Tony Norman.

“I signed on the Monday and three days later I flew out to Hong Kong with the team, so it wasn’t a bad week, was it? We played an exhibition match over there. I was a bit disappointed when a goal I scored was disallowed, but I was smiling by the end of the game, because we won 3-1.

“We were away for about a week and it was a very good way for me to meet the rest of the p!ayers and get to know them. It all seemed a bit unreal, because it had all come out of the blue, but it was very enjoyable.”

Unfortunately for him, the manager who signed him for Brighton – Mullery – was unable to recapture the midas touch he’d previously enjoyed at the club.

Jasper started the first 13 games of the 1986-87 season but only three wins were chalked up and Mullery was shown the exit door shortly into the new year.

Jasper played 16 games plus one as a sub under new boss Lloyd but, after the side were relegated back to the third tier, he found it difficult to cement a regular place in the starting line-up.

Apart from a 10-game stint of starts between November and January, he spent most of the 1987-88 season on the subs bench, with Alan Curbishley and Mike Trusson preferred and, for the promotion run-in, Lloyd turned to Adrian Owers. instead.

Although Jasper scored in successive matches in February (one after coming on as a sub in a 2-2 home draw with Chesterfield), his final appearance in an Albion shirt was in a 5-1 defeat at home to Notts County in a Sherpa Van Trophy regional semi-final on 9 March 1988.

Jasper’s well-known sense of humour was evident in his answers for a profile feature in the Albion matchday programme. Perhaps reflecting his lack of first team game time, he said his ambition was “to win the Sussex Senior Cup” and said his favourite actress was teammate Perry Digweed!

Interestingly, he listed (former Chelsea coach) Dario Gradi as one of the main influences on his career, and it was to Gradi’s Crewe side that he moved on leaving the Albion in July 1988.

At the Alex, he made more than 100 appearances in four years, including being involved in their 1989 promotion from the fourth tier. He later played non-league for Crawley Town and Kingstonian.

After his playing career came to an end, he worked in the building trade.

Shocked to learn of Jasper’s death on 30 January 2020, former Albion teammate John Keeley told the Argus: “Dale was really well liked by everyone. He had some real talent and was a top, top lad.”

Burnley graduate Ronnie Welch briefly captained the Albion

welch and wilsonTHE FOOTBALLING fortunes of two graduates from Burnley’s famous talent academy of the 1970s took quite different paths after the legendary Brian Clough signed them for Brighton.

While left-back Harry Wilson stayed for four years and enjoyed promotion success under Alan Mullery, midfielder Ronnie Welch left the club less than a year after he’d joined, ‘used’ (together with fellow midfielder Billy McEwan) as a makeweight in the transfer of Ken Tiler to the Albion.

The early signs following Welch’s arrival on the south coast had been positive. Although he and Wilson’s debuts at home to Aldershot on Boxing Day 1973 ended in a 1-0 defeat, results gradually picked up and, at the tender age of 21, Welch even found himself captaining the Albion in the absence of skipper Norman Gall.

Clough had turned to them as he tried to sort out a side who’d experienced a series of heavy defeats (the now-infamous 8-2 home loss to Bristol Rovers; a 4-0 reverse v non-league Walton & Hersham in the FA Cup, and a 4-1 loss away to Tranmere Rovers).

The tale of how Clough turned up at Turf Moor to sign them one lunchtime, only to find the place deserted apart from groundsman Roy Oldfield, has been recounted in said groundsman’s memoirs.

A fee of £70,000 for virtually untried youngsters was quite a lot of money in those days.

Midfielder Welch took over the no.4 shirt previously worn by Eddie Spearritt, who’d started the season as the club captain, and Wilson replaced George Ley, a big-money signing from Portsmouth the season before.

wilson and R WelchWelch stood just 5’6½” tall and weighed 10st 7lb, but Evening Argus football writer John Vinicombe was suitably impressed. His match report of the 1-0 home defeat to Aldershot was unearthed by thegoldstonewrap.com, and we learned: “After a subdued first-half, Welch had a storming second half against the Shots, impressing with his energy.”

Vinicombe reckoned Welch wasn’t as extrovert as Wilson “but is no less involved in midfield and has a fine turn of speed. He made one mistake through trying to play the ball instead of hoofing it away, but this can only be described as a ‘good’ fault.”

For a while, the Albion midfield featured the two Ronnies — Welch and Ronnie Howell became Clough’s preferred pairing — although Spearritt replaced the former Swindon player for a short spell, and competition for those spots hotted up at the end of February with the arrival of fiery Scot McEwan from Blackpool.

In his 10th match in Albion’s colours, Welch scored his first goal as Brighton beat Blackburn Rovers 3-0 in front of a 12,102 Goldstone crowd on 23 February 1974 (Barry Bridges scored twice), and he was on the scoresheet again in the 3 April 1974 midweek evening home game v Cambridge United, as the visitors were dispatched 4-1 (Bridges, McEwan and Howell the other scorers).

Clough was happy to give Welch the responsibility of captaining the side in Gall’s absence, although thegoldstonewrap.com reported: “Unfortunately, the burden of being skipper at such a young age affected his form for the side.”

Nevertheless, after Clough quit the Albion in July 1974, leaving his old sidekick in sole charge, Welch was in the starting line-up for the new season.

Ronnie W 74 pre-seasonAlbion got off to a cracking start with a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace, and Welch played in the opening eight matches. But results didn’t go Taylor’s way and he shook up the midfield by introducing the experienced Ernie Machin, the former Coventry City captain, and also brought in Coventry’s Wilf Smith on loan.

Welch filled in at right-back for three matches and his last involvement in an Albion shirt was as a non-playing substitute away to Gillingham on 26 October.

Ever one for wheeler-dealing, Taylor had his eye on right-back Tiler at Chesterfield, but he had to exchange Welch and McEwan to land his man.

Welch had been born in Chesterfield on 26 September 1952, so it no doubt suited him down to the ground to move back home.

RW ChesterfieldHe was at Chesterfield for three years during the managerial tenure of the former Sheffield United legend Joe Shaw, but only played 24 games.

Welch at BostonIn the 1978-79 season he popped up at non-league Boston United where he played 39 matches plus four as a sub and scored four times.

It must have all seemed a long way from the heady days when he graduated from apprentice through to the Burnley first team. He featured three times for the England Youth team in February and March 1969 and Burnley awarded him a professional contract in September that year.

At the time, Burnley had a reputation for bringing through a succession of talented young players.

RW BurnleyHis breakthrough came on 30 January 1971, in a home 1-1 draw against Newcastle United, but it was to be his only appearance in the first team. There were a number of established midfield players ahead of him: the likes of Doug Collins, Mick Docherty and Martin Dobson, and later Geoff Nulty and Billy Ingham

While Welch may have ‘disappeared’ in a footballing sense, when in June 2019 a picture of him was posted by someone on a Chesterfield FC history Facebook page – the excellent Sky is Blue – a flurry of followers came forward to identify him, including his daughter and sister! It was said he now lives in the New Whittington area of Chesterfield.

Goalkeeper John Phillips – the ‘unenviable understudy’

JOHN PHILLIPS was a Welsh international goalkeeper who played for Chelsea and Aston Villa before becoming a back-up at Brighton under Alan Mullery.

A £15,000 fee took him to the Goldstone Ground as no.2 to Graham Moseley in 1980 and, possibly the most interesting thing about his time at Brighton was his appearance in the centre of the pre-season team photo (see below) alongside Moseley in which both ‘keepers rather oddly wore green jerseys sporting two Seagulls badges!

JP 2 badge colourPreviously an understudy to the legendary Chelsea goalkeeper Peter Bonetti, Phillips did have occasional first team spells at Stamford Bridge, including playing in earlier rounds of the successful European Cup Winners’ Cup campaign of 1970-71.

When he died aged 65 on 31 March 2017, the Chelsea website paid a warm tribute to his contribution.

JP prog notes

At Brighton he featured 19 times for the reserves but only played one first team game. That came in front of a bumper festive season Goldstone crowd of 27,387 on 27 December 1980 (as seen above on my amended programme teamsheet) as the Seagulls beat traditional rivals Crystal Palace 3-2; a brace from Michael Robinson and Peter O’Sullivan with the Albion goals.

IMG_6433The following month, it looked like he might get a second game after Mullery publicly blamed first-choice Moseley for the side losing six points, and told the Argus Phillips would come in for the next match unless he could sign another ‘keeper.

Mullery promptly went back to his old club, Fulham, and splashed out £150,000 on unknown youngster Perry Digweed – pushing Phillips further down the pecking order.

IMG_6431At the end of the season, Phillips and Tony Knight, a young ‘keeper who didn’t progress to the first team, were released on free transfers. It was also reported that Moseley was on his way, but Mullery’s shock departure that summer gave him a stay of execution.

Disgruntled Mullery swapped managerial seats with Mike Bailey, who’d just led Charlton Athletic to promotion from the old Third Division,

Phillips was one of his first signings. However, he only played two games for Charlton, so he was to endure another frustrating spell of being the understudy.

Contributor Richard J on charltonlife.com remembered how Phillips replaced first choice Nicky Johns in the first away game of the 1981-82 season – a 3-0 defeat at Luton Town.

“Nicky returned for the next game and Phillips’s only other game was away at Leicester. Unfortunately, we lost that game as well, 3-1.”

But Richard continued: “I work with Tony Lange who took over from the Welsh international as Charlton’s number two keeper. He felt that John was a big influence on his career.

“Apparently, Phillips was exceptionally good at distribution and this was one of the reasons he had played so much for Chelsea and Tony credits him as a big influence on that part of his game.”

He moved from Charlton to Crystal Palace but he didn’t feature for their first team at all. He then tried his luck in Hong Kong, with See Bee.

Born in Shrewsbury on 7 July 1951, Phillips went to the Grange School in Shrewsbury and, because both his father and grandfather played league football for Shrewsbury Town, it was no surprise when he also signed for Town. He made his debut in 1968 at the age of 17.

A big influence on him was the former Manchester United and Northern Ireland goalkeeper, Harry Gregg, who was manager at Gay Meadow between 1968 and 1972.

In an early edition of Goal magazine, Gregg said: “He’s the finest goalkeeping prospect I have seen. He seems to have every asset in the book and his temperament really stands out.”

J Phil VillaPhillips played 51 times for the Shrews before being bought in 1969 by Tommy Docherty, the former Chelsea boss who’d taken over as Aston Villa manager.

After only 15 games for Villa, in August 1970, Chelsea paid a fee of £25,000 to take Phillips to Stamford Bridge.

The regular back-up ‘keeper, Tommy Hughes, who went on to have a loan spell at Brighton in the 1972-73 season, was out injured with a broken leg at the time and Chelsea needed someone to deputise for Bonetti, who only two months earlier had been criticised when having to take over in goal from ill Gordon Banks as England lost 3-2 to West Germany in the 1970 World Cup quarter final in Mexico.

Phillips stayed with Chelsea for 10 years and played a total of 149 games for the club. He managed 23 league and cup games during the 1972-73 season owing to Bonetti’s absence through injury and illness.

In October 1973, Goal ran a series called The Understudies and featured the rivalry between Phillips and Bonetti. Bonetti said of him: “John is a first-class ‘keeper and has pushed me more than anyone. It’s nice to know you have to play well to keep your place.”

Phillips told the magazine’s David Wright: “We are rivals, yes, but friends as well.”

It was only in the 1974-75 season that Phillips had an extended run of games as the no.1.

Although kind things were said of him when he died, not all recollections were favourable. The footballnetwork.net, for instance, said: “Phillips always conceded a lot of goals. Is this because he was awful or his defence and midfield were woeful? I suspect that it was a bit of both. Phillips did assist Chelsea in reaching the 1971 European Cup Winners Cup final, but he conceded seven at mediocre Wolverhampton as Chelsea sloped off into a long decline.

“Funnily enough, he shared goalkeeping duties for Wales with one Gary Sprake, a notoriously erratic Leeds goalie, as the late Peter Houseman could have testified!

“Obviously in the early seventies, while the Welsh rugby team had an embarrassment of riches, there was no such luxury in the goalkeeping department.”

Although English by birth, Phillips played for Wales at a time when qualification to play for countries beyond the one in which a player was born was extended to include the homeland of their parents or grandparents. He won four caps in 1973-74, making his debut in a 3-0 defeat to England in front of 38,000 at Wembley on 15 May 1973.

A none-too-flattering recollection can be found in a book charting the history of Welsh international football. Red Dragons – The Story of Welsh Football says: “Sadly a nervy performance by Chelsea goalkeeper John Phillips was responsible for a grim 0-2 defeat at home to England in May 1974.”

Bonetti saw off many pretenders to his throne, but Phillips went closer than anyone to taking his place, according to gameofthepeople.com, which described him as “the unenviable understudy” in an article charting his Blues career.

In the summer of 1975, Chelsea had been relegated and Bonetti given a free transfer, so Phillips was expected to start the new season as first choice ‘keeper.

But he fractured his right leg in training and badly damaged knee ligaments, opening the door for Steve Sherwood to take over between the sticks.

In the 1979-80 season, Phillips was loaned to Crewe Alexandra. Even there, he only played six times for the league side, having to be content with 23 games for their reserves.

 

  • Pictures mainly sourced from Goal magazine or Shoot! Also the Argus and matchday programme.

Wearside hero Gary Rowell blighted by injury after leaving Sunderland

gary rowell tony normanBRIGHTON fans never got to witness the best of prolific goalscorer Gary Rowell who, to this day, Sunderland fans eulogise in the same way Albion fans still sing about Peter Ward.

He died aged 68 on 13 December 2025, exactly 50 years to the day of his first appearance for the Black Cats following a long battle with leukaemia.

Rowell has a place in Sunderland’s best all time XI selection, in 2005 he topped a Football Focus poll as Sunderland’s all-time cult hero and, in 2020, was inducted into the SAFC Hall of Fame, which he described as ‘the best night of my life’.

There is a website that details every one of the 103 goals the Seaham-born footballer scored for the Wearsiders in 297 games after making his debut as a 71st minute substitute for Mel Holden in a 1-0 Sunderland win over Oxford United at Roker Park.

Unfortunately, the free-scoring striker-turned-midfielder was struck by a knee injury which hampered the latter part of his career, including his spells with Norwich City and the Seagulls.

Having left Sunderland on a free transfer after 12 years at the club, Rowell tore ligaments in his right knee on a pre-season tour of Scandinavia with Norwich before he even managed to kick a ball in anger.

In a year at Carrow Road, he made only six appearances – four as a substitute – and scored just the once, coming off the bench to net against Aston Villa. Typical of this spell between August 1984 and July 1985, he was substituted after only 16 minutes of his reserve team debut.

The following season, a £35,000 fee took him back to the North East to play for Middlesbrough, but, at the time, they were in the middle of a financial crisis and lost their second-tier status. Rowell top-scored with 10 goals in 27 appearances – two of them against the Albion at the Goldstone in January 1986 – but Boro were relegated in second-to-last spot (Brighton finished in 11th place that season).

Brighton were not exactly flush with cash themselves in the summer of 1986 when Alan Mullery, the manager who’d previously led them from third tier to the elite, returned to the club to replace Chris Cattlin.

Mullery found a very different set-up to the one he’d left acrimoniously in the summer of 1981. With little money available to be spent on new arrivals, hard-up Albion, not for the first time, had turned to the supporters in an effort to raise transfer funds.

Money from a scheme called the Lifeline fund went towards buying goalkeeper John Keeley for £1,500 from non-league Chelmsford, Darren Hughes for £30,000 from Shrewsbury Town, and Rowell from Middlesbrough on a free transfer (the Lifeline funds being used to help with his relocation to the South Coast).

Mullery explained the Rowell signing thus in his programme notes: “I see his role with us as coming forward from midfield and adding to our power in the box.

“We know he can get goals and he is a versatile player. When we further improve the squad, we may use him a little differently.”

Rowell , who discovered Mullery had tried to sign him back in 1979 (but Sunderland hadn’t informed him), joined just after the start of the season, in time to be given a place on the bench for the away 1-1 draw with his former club Sunderland. He went on for Kieran O’Regan with 18 minutes left.

He kept the bench warm for two more matches before getting his first start in place of Northern Irish centre-forward Gerry Armstrong in a 2-2 draw away to Plymouth Argyle on 13 September.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before Mullery was reporting his absence from the side because of an ankle injury sustained in training.

Nevertheless, interviewed by Tony Norman in the matchday programme, Rowell, who was 29 and married with two small children, said: “I’m delighted with the move. I’ve found it to be a very friendly club and people have gone out of their way to make us feel at home. Now I want to repay the club by playing well for the team.”

The longest run of games he got in an Albion shirt came in November and December 1986 when he took over from winger Steve Penney for six matches (two wins, two draws, two defeats).

rowell BW HS

A broken toe and a troublesome hamstring made him feel injury-jinxed but, during his run back in the side, he had what Mullery described as “his best game since joining us” in a 3-0 win over Shrewsbury Town on 21 December. Six days later, the toe went again, and he didn’t play for the rest of the season.

Mullery was then controversially dismissed the following month and Rowell had to wait until the start of the following season for successor Barry Lloyd to select him.

He featured in three pre-season friendlies, all of which ended in defeats and wore the no.4 shirt in the opening two fixtures of the 1987-88 season, but those were his only first-team starts that campaign. His midfield berth was taken over by the experienced Alan Curbishley.

By October, the matchday programme reported Rowell and fellow midfielder Dale Jasper had been placed on the transfer list following long discussions with Lloyd. Curiously, it added: “However, both players are keen to stay with the club, regardless of any offers made, and will be battling hard for first team places.”

Rowell subsequently appeared seven times as a substitute for the first team, but he was largely confined to the Reserves for whom he made 20 appearances and scored once. In February 1988, he moved to Dundee on trial, but, when not taken on, moved the following month to Carlisle United.

After just seven games for the Cumbrians, he finished his professional career at Burnley, where he scored once in 19 appearances.

Born in Sunderland on 6 June 1957, Rowell grew up in the mining village of Seaham, became an apprentice at Sunderland in 1972 and two years later turned professional.

In 1976, when Sunderland were struggling in the First Division, manager Jimmy Adamson gambled on the introduction of the 19-year-old Rowell: it paid off in spades as he scored 44 goals in two and a half seasons.

During that prolific spell, Rowell was in the squad for two end of season England Under 21 Championship preliminary matches; he went on for Laurie Cunningham in a 1-0 win over Finland in Helsinki on 26 May 1977 but wasn’t involved in a 2-1 win over Norway in Bergen six days later. This was an England side including future full internationals Peter Barnes and Peter Reid.

He was also a non-playing member of Dave Sexton’s squad that assembled at the Goldstone Ground three months later, but he had to watch as an over-age Peter Ward (22), playing on home turf, of course, scored a hat-trick in a 6-0 win over Norway. The aforementioned Curbishley was also a non-playing onlooker in that squad.

footballinprint.comUndoubtedly, the stand-out moment of Rowell’s Sunderland career came when he scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 win over arch rivals Newcastle United at St James’ Park, which he referred to in a profile article (see above).

In a vote for Sunderland’s best players of the 1970s, Rowell was described as “a lovely footballer. Though not blessed with blistering pace, he would ghost into goal-scoring positions and his finishing was deadly.” Rowell was an expert penalty taker, scoring 25 of 26 he took for Sunderland.

Some observers reckon but for injury he would surely have gone on to gain full England international honours. However, his career was severely disrupted by a serious knee injury sustained in a March 1979 game against Leyton Orient.

After a lengthy recovery, he resumed scoring goals regularly but there were doubts over his being able to maintain fitness for the duration of a whole season.

As part of a big team rebuilding exercise carried out by manager Len Ashurst in 1984, Rowell was allowed to move to Norwich.

After his playing days ended, Rowell became a financial consultant in Burnley and those loyal Sunderland supporters still got to hear their hero because, for a number of years, he was a commentator on Sunderland games for Metro Radio.

  • Pictures mainly from matchday programmes. Sunderland profile article: footballinprint.com.

Two goals that etched Sammy Morgan’s place in Albion history

HAVING A cheekbone broken in four places during a pre-season friendly summed up the bad luck of never-say-die Northern Irish international striker Sammy Morgan.

His cause wasn’t helped when the manager who signed him six months earlier quit. And, to top it off, while he was recovering from that horrific injury, an Albion footballing legend in the shape of Peter Ward burst onto the scene.

When a £30,000 fee brought him to Brighton from Aston Villa just before Christmas 1975, it looked like the side had found the perfect strike partner for Fred Binney as they pushed for promotion from the third tier.

Unfortunately, the man with the swashbuckling, fearless approach went eight games without registering a goal. However, in his ninth game he made amends in memorable fashion.

Morgan scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace in front of an all-ticket Goldstone Ground crowd of 33,300 – with another 4,000 locked out.

It was 24 February 1976 and the Daily Mail’s Brian Scovell reported the goals thus: “In the 12th minute, Ernie Machin struck an early ball into the middle from the right and Ian Mellor headed on intelligently behind the defence for Morgan to steer the ball into the corner of the net.

“The second goal, in the 55th minute, came when Tony Towner took the ball off Jeffries and set off on a 40-yard run which ended with his shot rebounding off goalkeeper Paul Hammond. Morgan tapped in the rebound.”

Gritty, angular and awkward, Morgan scored five more before the end of the season, including another brace at home to Swindon.

However, Albion narrowly missed out on promotion and Peter Taylor, the manager who bought Morgan, quit the club in the close season. The new season under Alan Mullery hadn’t even begun when, in a pre-season friendly against Luton Town, Morgan fractured his cheekbone in four places.

“I know I’m probably more prone to injuries than other players because of my style of play, but there’s no way I can change it, even if I wanted to,” Morgan told Shoot! magazine. “I made up my mind as soon as I got back in the team that I’d have a real go and that’s what I’ve done. People say I’m a brave player but I don’t really know if that’s true. I just like to give 100 per cent and that way no-one can ever come back at you.”

In the season before he joined Brighton, a groin injury had restricted him to just three top-flight appearances for Villa and, when he was fit to return, Villa had signed Andy Gray, whose form kept him out of the side.

Initially reluctant to move on, he admitted in that Shoot! interview: “I was sad at the time because I had a lot of happy times at Villa but now I think they may have done me a favour. Brighton are a very good ambitious club and I’ve just bought a house in Peacehaven. Really, I couldn’t be happier.”

Born in Belfast on 3 December 1946, Morgan’s family moved to England to settle in Great Yarmouth and, with an eye to a teaching career, he combined studies with playing part-time football for non-league Gorleston Town.

“Deep down I knew I could make the grade, but the opportunity just wasn’t there,” he told Goal magazine in a 1974 interview. “The local league club was Norwich City and in those days they didn’t seem that keen on local talent.”

Morgan enrolled at teacher training college in Nottingham and just when he thought a professional football career might elude him, Port Vale made an approach.

“I jumped at the chance,” he said. “They let me stay at Nottingham to complete my studies and I would travel up to train and play with them. Deep down I thought that the Third Division was as high as I could get, unless, of course, Vale were promoted.”

In his three years with Vale, where his teammates included Albion legend Brian Horton, he scored 24 goals in 113 appearances, and he caught the eye of the Northern Ireland international selectors. He scored on his debut in a European Championship qualifier with Spain on 16 February 1972 when he took over at centre-forward from the legendary Derek Dougan.

Amongst his illustrious teammates that day were Pat Jennings in goal and the mercurial George Best. Future Brighton left-back, Sammy Nelson (then with Arsenal) was also in the side. The game was played at Boothferry Park, Hull, because of the ‘troubles’ in Northern Ireland at that time and it finished 1-1.

Morgan won 18 caps in total over the next six years, scoring twice more, in 3-0 home wins over Cyprus on 8 May 1973 and Norway on 29 October 1975.

The Goal article noted Morgan “earned a reputation of being a hard, no-nonsense striker who could unsettle defences and goalkeepers with his aggression”.

Aston Villa boss Vic Crowe liked what he saw and reckoned he’d be an ideal replacement for that tough Scottish centre-forward Andy Lochhead, who was coming to the end of his career.

Morgan was by now 27 but, in the summer of 1973, Villa paid a £20,000 fee for his services.

“The offer came right out of the blue and I had no second thoughts about the move at all,” he said. “Being part of such a famous club naturally brings pressures, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

There was a famous incident in a televised game between Arsenal and Aston Villa when the normally calm, cool and collected Arsenal goalkeeper Bob Wilson went ballistic because of the way Morgan tried to stop him clearing his lines.

Swindon goal celeb“The bigger the atmosphere, the more I like it. For instance, my best two games this season were against Arsenal, and in the replay there was a crowd of 47,000.”

At Brighton, new manager Mullery quickly decided he preferred Ward to Binney and, with Morgan sidelined by that pre-season injury, opted to put former midfielder Ian Mellor up front to partner him.

Wardy MorgBetween them, they literally couldn’t stop scoring goals, and the success of their striking partnership restricted Morgan to only two starts in 1976-77. He was on the sub’s bench throughout that first promotion season under Alan Mullery, and he scored just once in 16 appearances as the no.12.

He subsequently moved on to Cambridge United before a spell in Holland, where he played for Sparta Rotterdam and FC Groningen.

When his playing days were over, he became a teacher back in Gorleston. He also became involved in the Norwich youth team in 1990, signing full time as the youth development officer in 1998 and becoming the club’s first football academy director (he holds a UEFA Class A coaching licence). He resigned in 2004 and moved to Ipswich as education officer.

In 2014, Morgan was diagnosed with stomach cancer and underwent chemo to tackle it. Through that association, in September 2017 he gave his backing to Norfolk and Suffolk Youth Football League’s choice of the oesophago-gastric cancer department at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) as its charity of the year.

Even when he could have had his feet up, he was helping to coach youngsters at independent Langley School in Norwich.

  • Pictures from various sources: Goal, Shoot! and the Evening Argus.

To what extent might the summer of 2019 mirror the summer of 1981?

 

BECAUSE this blog is all about Albion parallels, it has set me wondering how closely the summer of 2019 might mirror the events of the summer of 1981?

Brighton’s 2019 survival at the end of their second season amongst the elite came about somewhat less convincingly than in 1981 when four wins in the last four games had kept the Albion in the top flight.

As in 2019, relegation had loomed large 38 years ago but the status was retained with that late upturn in performances. Nevertheless, behind the scenes, big changes were about to happen with the departure of a former Spurs stalwart who’d done an excellent job as manager.

That boss (Alan Mullery), who’d led the side so successfully for the previous five years, left under a cloud, albeit of his own volition after a disagreement with the chairman (Mike Bamber) over the sale of star player Mark Lawrenson and a request to cut costs by dispensing with some of his backroom staff.

In a mirror moment to Bruno’s farewell versus Manchester City, Mullery’s captain, Brian Horton, played his last game for the club in the final match at home to Leeds – the difference being Horton had no inkling it would be his last game for the Seagulls.

That fixture also saw the last appearances of Lawrenson, long-serving Peter O’Sullivan and, in John Gregory, a player who would subsequently go on to play for England.

As we await developments regarding the appointment of Chris Hughton’s successor as manager, may we once again see potentially seismic changes on the playing side?

Bruno’s retirement certainly means there is a need to sign a replacement right-back, even though Martin Montoya might consider he can fill the gap.

It’s largely considered Albion’s star players are international defenders Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy: will one or other of them be sold for big money to enable investment elsewhere in the team?

Lawrenson’s departure in 1981 was mourned by many but it paved the way for the arrival of European Cup winner Jimmy Case, and generated funds new boss Mike Bailey was able to invest in bringing in new players.

While Bailey had a similar top-level background to Mullery as a player, captaining Wolverhampton Wanderers to some of their best achievements, his managerial CV was less impressive, although he had just got Charlton Athletic promoted from the old Third Division.

However, with Case bringing a new top level dimension to the re-shaped side, and Horton’s younger replacement, Eire international Tony Grealish adding bite to the midfield, Bailey, and his relatively unknown coach John Collins, guided the Albion to the club’s highest ever finish of 13th place in his first season in charge.

O’Sullivan had been a fixture under several managers for a decade (apart from a brief stint in the USA) and one wonders whether the not-quite-so-long-serving Dale Stephens might have played his last game for the Albion.

In 1981, Bailey had a busy summer in the transfer market (courtesy of the cash from the sale of Lawrenson to Liverpool) and, in Steve Gatting from Arsenal, signed a quality player who went on to serve the club for a decade. The experienced Northern Ireland international left-back, Sammy Nelson, also arrived from the Gunners.

Might we see again the signing of a squad player (or two) from a top six side who will add much-needed quality to the Albion?

Don’t bet against it!