The Withdean visitors’ teenage winger went on to great things

MY FIRST memory of watching James Milner play was at Withdean Stadium when he was on loan to Swindon Town from Leeds United.

Even then, as a seventeen-year-old, he had something about him – but I certainly didn’t imagine I would be watching him playing in the Premier League and Europe for Brighton 20 years later!

*Young Milner tackles Brighton’s Kerry Mayo*

That League One game on 6 September 2003 finished 2-2. Sam Parkin scored twice for Town and Albion’s goals came from Gary Hart and a penalty from on-loan Darius Henderson.

The Albion matchday programme subsequently recorded: “Kerry Mayo had a fine match, mainly subduing the impressive teenager James Milner.” (although, as the picture suggests, he wasn’t afraid to launch himself into a tackle).

Swindon’s manager Andy King had persuaded his old Everton teammate, Peter Reid (in charge of Leeds at the time) to loan Milner to the Robins for a month. In just six matches, the young winger scored twice.

“The boy is a terrific talent and everyone has been able to see the skills he has and I have no doubt he will go on to perform in the Premiership,” King told Sky Sports.

Milner already had two goals to his name for his parent club having scored twice in the Premier League in 2002-03 while still only 16.

On Boxing Day 2002, ten days short of his 17^th birthday, he became the youngest player to score in the elite division, with a goal in a 2–1 win at Sunderland (the record had been set a couple of months earlier by Wayne Rooney for Everton and was subsequently taken by James Vaughan, also for the Toffees).

Milner had gone on as a 36^th-minute sub for Alan Smith, a player he had admired when a boy growing up in Leeds. Terry Venables, Leeds manager at the time, said: “It’s not just a case of him simply coming through and helping out because every day he is getting better and better.”

Milner scored again three days later after going on as a 31^st minute sub for Harry Kewell as Leeds beat Chelsea 2-0 at Elland Road.

“Picking up Mark Viduka’s pass in first-half injury time, Milner beat his man before thumping a right-foot shot low into the net with Blues keeper Ed de Goey powerless to stop him,” said the BBC report of the match.

“I am very pleased with him,” said Venables. “He is growing in this group and he has taken advantage of every day’s training to show what he can do.

“He has two good feet, he is courageous and everyone likes him a lot. He also is not only a nice, solid, good, well-mannered boy, he is a very talented player.

“It’s early days for the boy. At the moment he has not achieved anything and he is the first to admit that.

“But I think a lot of people are confident about his development. We have just got to take it easy.”

Wind on the clock more than two decades and Albion are now enjoying the benefit of Milner’s vast experience gained winning trophies galore for two of the country’s top clubs and playing for his country.

Born in Wortley, Leeds, on 4 January 1986, Milner broke through with Leeds United before joining Newcastle United at 18 and having loan and permanent spells at Aston Villa.

Milner went on to make more than 200 league and cup appearances for Manchester City and more than 300 for Liverpool as well as earning 61 full England caps and a record 46 at under 21 level.

Against Wolves on 22 January 2024, 38-year-old Milner overtook Ryan Giggs to go second outright on the Premier League’s all-time appearance list when he played in his 633rd top-flight match, 20 short of record holder Gareth Barry.

“I’ve had some luck,” Milner told TNT Sports. “I’ve worked hard and you have to enjoy it to put the work in every day. I’ve hopefully got a few more games in me.”

Milner’s free transfer move to Liverpool from Manchester City in the summer of 2015 proved an inspiration that brought him even more medals than he had won with the Sky Blues.

Over eight seasons, he made 332 appearances, scored 26 goals and lifted seven trophies along the way.

“He’s a role model,” said manager Jürgen Klopp. “Nothing we have achieved in the last few years would have happened without James Milner, it’s as easy as that.

“Whether he was on the pitch or not, he’s set standards in a way not a lot of people can set standards, and it educated all of us.”

In a heartfelt tribute to the player, Klopp added: “From the first moment for me, he was a super-important player reference point.

“When you have a meeting and you look at Millie’s eyes and he’s not shaking his head, you know you’re on the right way. Nothing would have happened here without Millie because he kept it always going.

“From the player who was super-angry when he didn’t play, to the player when he did play, the way he pushed the whole dressing room before a game is absolutely second to none.”

For his part, Milner enjoyed a good relationship with Klopp, apart from once during a half-time flashpoint when the manager lost it, as Milner revealed to The High Performance Podcast.

“We had one moment where he was sharing his thoughts and I was sharing mine and I remember him smashing his hands on down the table and shouting, ‘Will you shut the f**k up!’ But Jurgen was brilliant, we had a great relationship and we were great off the pitch.”

It was Klopp’s predecessor, Brendan Rodgers, who persuaded Milner to make the journey along the M62, and he said at the time he signed him: “He had won the Premier League, he had won cups. His whole ambition was to win the Champions League and he felt that he would have a better opportunity to win it at Liverpool.”

Rodgers revealed that when Liverpool were trying to persuade him to sign, his wife Charlotte spent time chatting to Mrs Milner while he spent time with her husband!

“His actual football talent has probably gone under the radar because he’s played around some outstanding talents, but this is a guy who works tirelessly at his game,” said Rodgers.

“He’s in here at 7.45am making sure he’s prepared for his training, getting all of his food supplements and getting everything correct before training – he’s in two-and-a-half hours before he trains and then does his work, gives his maximum.

“He prepares himself like an elite player should. He’s also got big character and a big mentality.”

Rodgers was effusive in his praise of the new signing even before a ball had been kicked in anger after he scored the winner in a 2-1 pre-season victory over Brisbane Roar. Playing in the central role he preferred, he also provided a pass for Adam Lallana’s 27th-minute equaliser.

*Former Liverpool teammates Adam Lallana and James Milner reunited at Brighton*

“James Milner is a class act,” he told reporters. “We had to work very hard to get him in but I think we’ll see over the course of the season how important he is for us.

“He’s a wonderful personality and a top class footballer. When you see him play in his favourite position, you see all these qualities come out.”

*Milner in action for Liverpool against Brighton during a lockdown match*

Rodgers departed Anfield not long after Milner’s arrival but the player grew in stature under Klopp and, although it wasn’t his favourite position, he spent much of 2016-17, filling in at left-back.

That season he made 40 appearances – 36 in the Premier League – as Liverpool qualified for the Champions League. They made it all the way to the final, only to lose to Real Madrid in Kyiv. But they made amends the following season and returned from Madrid with Liverpool’s sixth European Cup.

Milner went on as a second-half substitute in the Estadio Metropolitano in the 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur. “It will be nice going to Melwood seeing No.6 there,” he said. “Liverpool has a great history and when I signed for the club, I was desperate to add trophies as this club expects to win trophies and it has an amazing history – but we want to create our own history.”

Not only did they add the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, Milner made 22 appearances as Liverpool clinched the Premier League title in 2019-20 with 99 points.

In 2021-22, Milner scored the first in Liverpool’s 11-10 penalty shoot-out win in Liverpool’s Carabao Cup defeat of Chelsea at Wembley, having gone on as an 80^th minute sub, and he repeated the feat (as a 74^th-minute sub) when the teams were also goalless at the end of the Emirates FA Cup final three months later. Liverpool won that 6-5 on penalties.

In his final season at Anfield, Milner featured 43 times and moved up to third spot on the Premier League’s all-time appearances list.

“I’m Leeds through and through and always have been and always will be – but I never probably thought that another club would get into me as much as Liverpool has,” said Milner.

The player he followed from Anfield to the Amex, Lallana, told the BBC exactly what Milner brings to a squad, especially in setting an example to younger players.

“He helps the management team in so many ways with the experience he’s built up,” said Lallana. “He knows what it takes to win. He knows what sacrifices need to be made.

“I’m not sure how he got the boring James Milner label, but he couldn’t be further away from that. He’s one of the loudest in the dressing room for sure. Full of life. Full of banter. But he’s definitely old school.”

Lallana added: “Those basics are always there and they’ll never change. I think that’s what’s made him who he is and given him his success. Those values that he’ll always live by. He taught me how to be a better professional and a better role model.”

It all began at Westbrook Lane Primary School in Horsforth and the secondary Horsforth School. He played local amateur football with Rawdon whose coach Graeme Coulson had first noticed Milner as a nine-year-old.

“I first came across him when I was refereeing a junior match involving Westbrook under nines at Horsforth,” Coulson told the Craven Herald and Pioneer. “He was so outstanding then that I asked some of the Horsforth parents who he was.

“I noted his name and it was one not to be forgotten. He was an outstanding talent scoring lots of goals but he was also very strong.”

Horsforth School spokeswoman Fran Morris said: “He was a first class student and he did really well at his GCSEs (he got eleven).

“He was very sporty at school and he won the PE prize which was handed out just before we broke up.

“He was the most wonderful young man and he was very popular, so we wish him all the best in his career. I am very sure he will do well and we are all proud of him at the school.”

Let alone his football ability, the young Milner also played cricket for Yorkshire Schools and excelled as an athlete: he was Leeds Schools’ cross-country champion for three successive years and district 100 metres champion for successive years.

Milner was a season ticket holder at Elland Road along with his parents Peter and Lesley before becoming a ball boy. He joined the Leeds United Academy after being spotted playing for Westbrook in Horsforth.

The sporty youngster was forced to decide between cricket and football, explaining in one interview: “I played for Yorkshire at the ages of 10 and 11 as a wicketkeeper-batsman. It was something I enjoyed but you get to a stage where you have to make a choice.

“I stopped playing cricket at 16 when I moved full time to the Leeds United Academy. They couldn’t take the risk of me getting injured, having my foot broken by a yorker or something like that.

“A couple of months later I made my Leeds debut. I still can’t take the risk for the same reason, but as soon as I retire from football, I’ll look forward to taking up cricket again.”

He completed his formal education at sports college Boston Spa School, which works in partnership with Leeds United, and, as soon as he left school, he was taken on as a trainee.

As he worked his way through United’s youth ranks, he also played for England at under-15 and under-17 levels.

*Milner in action for the Albion against Everton at Goodison Park*

Talent spotter John Doolan now eyeing forwards for Brighton

THE SCOUSER searching for Brighton’s next Evan Ferguson had Everton blue coursing through his veins from an early age.

But John Doolan’s long association with the Merseyside club came to an end in February 2023 when he swapped places with another backroom man, Lee Sargeson, who joined Everton as their head of scouting operations. Sargeson spent more than five years working in Albion’s much-admired scouting set up.

Now Doolan, a former Everton academy player, has been tasked by another well-known Evertonian, Albion technical director David Weir, and head of recruitment, Sam Jewell, with scouting forwards for the Seagulls.

Although not making it into Everton’s first team himself, Doolan helped to develop the likes of Shane Duffy, Tom Davies and Ross Barkley at Finch Farm.

During more than a decade working behind the scenes, he coached youth teams, worked on player and team development and rose through the scouting and recruitment departments.

After being released by the Toffees on a free transfer, Doolan’s own playing career spanned 550 matches for six clubs in the lower leagues, starting at Mansfield Town. His former Everton coach, Colin Harvey, took him to Field Mill where he’d become assistant manager to another ex-Evertonian, Andy King.

Simon Ireland (Albion’s under 21s coach for 21 months between June 2013 and February 2015) was a teammate at Mansfield. In a matchday programme pen picture of Doolan, when the Third Division Stags visited the Goldstone, it said: ‘Big things are expected of this stylish midfield player.’

He played 151 games for Town in a four-year spell before moving on to Barnet for a £60,000 fee in 1998. In five years with John Still’s Barnet, Doolan made one short of 200 appearances and was a teammate of skilful wideman Darren Currie, who later proved a popular signing for Mark McGhee’s Albion side in the Championship.

He was also at the club when they lost their Football League status in 2001 and became regarded as one of the best midfielders in the Football Conference.

Doolan switched to fellow Conference side Doncaster Rovers for a small fee in March 2003 and helped them gain promotion back to the League via the play-offs.

Described on Donny’s website as “a combative but skilled midfielder” he was a key member of the side that won the Third Division championship in 2003-04 and, in total, made 92 senior appearances for Rovers, scoring three goals.

In a Bred a Blue podcast interview reflecting on his career, he said: “Donny was the best. We won the league twice. The lads were great. It was like Kelly’s Heroes; a bunch of misfits put together and we went on a double promotion. There were some very good players in there.”

The only period of his playing career he regretted was when he was drawn to League One Blackpool by money. By then he was 31, and the move only lasted six months. “I had to play 25 games to get a new deal and I played 24,” he said.

He went on loan to League Two Rochdale in January 2006 and made the move permanent within 10 days. Doolan had already begun to think ahead and had taken some coaching badges while still playing. In just short of two and a half years with Rochdale he clocked up 90 appearances before, aged 34, taking his next steps in the game.

When he left Dale in May 2008 to take up a player-coach role at Blue Square North side Southport,

Dale boss Keith Hill said: “John is a fantastic character and will be missed. He always gave 100 per cent and provided a fantastic example to the young players in the dressing room.”

He added: “I cannot speak highly enough of him and I am sure he will make a real success of coaching because he is a natural.”

Neil Dewsnip, who worked at Everton’s academy for 17 years, had already taken Doolan back to Everton as a part-time youth coach after they’d met on a coaching course. It was at the time Everton’s youth development centre was moving from Netherton to Finch Farm, and Doolan started coaching a couple of days a week while also fulfilling his duties at Southport before returning full time.

In the years that followed, he worked with all the different age groups and, under Kevin Reeves (the chief scout during the reign of Roberto Martinez) he moved into talent identification, watching promising young players across the region.

Born in Liverpool on 7 May 1974, Doolan joined Everton as a 14-year-old schoolboy, having been picked up after playing for Liverpool Schoolboys.

He started training two days a week – David Unsworth and Billy Kenny were contemporaries – before signing as a youth trainee. “My YTS days were the best days of my footballing career,” he told the podcast. “I loved every single minute of it.”

Doolan described to Bred a Blue the enjoyment he got when getting involved with the first team in training but, as a right-back, he had stiff competition and when Everton signed Paul Holmes he saw the writing was on the wall.

“I realised I wasn’t good enough,” he said. “They brought in Paul Holmes and that was like a kick in the teeth. They paid a fee for him (£100,000 from Birmingham City) and they were always going to prefer him.”

There was a momentary glimmer of a chance under Howard Kendall, but he broke an ankle in a youth cup game and the opportunity was gone.

He was sent to Bournemouth for a brief loan spell under Tony Pulis and on his return to Merseyside was told he wasn’t going to feature. “I still had a year on my contract but I decided to leave,” he said. “When I left Everton and went to Mansfield I changed position and went into midfield. I never played at the back again.”

Bred a Blue says of Doolan: “His is a story of how the adversity of being released can be overcome by resolve, hard work and confidence in your own ability.”

Doolan was one of a trio of senior scouts (Pete Bulmer and Charlie Hutton were the others) who were made redundant by the Albion in November 2024 as part of a shake-up of the recruitment department.

Craig Noone bounced back after Heighway heave-ho

PACY SCOUSE winger Craig Noone was a born entertainer who bounced back from early rejection by Liverpool to make it all the way to the Premier League.

Brighton in the Championship under Gus Poyet provided the former roofer with a platform to showcase his ability before Cardiff City gave him the opportunity to perform at the top level.

After he’d scored (below) and impressed in an away game at Manchester City, then newly-appointed Cardiff boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said: “Noone is a terrific little player.

“He causes defenders problems with his pace and his technique; he can go inside and outside. He’s got a good left foot, but he can cross it with his right.”

Born in Kirkby, Liverpool, on 17 November 1987, Noone was on Liverpool’s books between the ages of eight and 11.

“I was spotted playing for my Sunday team St Peter and Paul and I used to train at Melwood a couple of times a week – it was unbelievable,” he recalled. “We wore the cream and black training kit and I loved every minute. I was a big Steve McManaman fan, the way he ran at players, and would try to do the same.

“Unfortunately, when I got to 11, Steve Heighway called one night to say that I wasn’t good enough to stay on – I’ll never forget it.”

Noone would eventually get to play on the hallowed turf of Anfield, but not on behalf of the home side.

It was New Year’s Eve 2010 that he joined Brighton, making his debut four days later in a 2-1 win away to Exeter City, where he’d spent six weeks on loan the previous year.

Poyet had admired the winger’s attributes up against Inigo Calderon in one half and Marcos Painter in the second during the Seagulls’ 2-0 win at Plymouth three months earlier, Noone discovered from another Argyle player, Ashley Barnes, who’d scored against his old club that day.

“Barnesey later told me that the management thought I was a good player and had mentioned me a lot in the half-time team talk,” he said. “When Brighton made their interest official, I didn’t have to think twice. The manager, the team, the stadium…it ticked all the right boxes for me.”

The slightly built Noone swiftly endeared himself to the crowd with jinking runs at pace and it was perhaps inevitable that the fans would adapt for him the chant more widely associated with England and Manchester United star Wayne Rooney.

More a provider of chances for others than a goalscorer, ‘Nooney’ made 10 starts and 13 appearances off the bench as Poyet’s Seagulls romped to the League One championship title, getting his first goal in a home 2-0 win over Colchester United at the end of January, followed by one of Albion’s four in a convincing win over Hartlepool United on 12 February.

The highlight of the following season for Noone was Albion drawing Liverpool in cup games; not once, but twice. In the League Cup at the Amex, Noone put in a man-of-the-match performance as Albion narrowly lost 2-1 to the Reds.

Four years previously, Noone had been working on the roof of an extension at Steven Gerrard’s house, but in the post-match TV interview for Sky Sports he was stood alongside the Liverpool captain.

“It was his comeback match after injury and he gave me his shirt,” Noone told the Liverpool Echo. “To do the Sky interview alongside him afterwards was unbelievable for me. He said I deserved to be man of the match because I’d caused Liverpool a lot of problems.

“For him to say that made me really proud, especially when I think about where I’ve come from. It wasn’t long ago I was playing non-league football part-time and working as a roofer. That puts into perspective how far I’ve come and sometimes I have to pinch myself.”

Indeed, Noone’s resilience and ability to bounce back from adversity did have something of a Roy of the Rovers feel to it. After the disappointment of not progressing at Liverpool, Noone nonetheless did get to play representative games at Anfield: for Merseyside Schoolboys in the final of the National Cup against Bedfordshire.

“I scored to make it 1-0 in front of The Kop and it was an unbelievable feeling,” he said. “That was the only part of the ground open to spectators and I had all my friends and family watching. We went on to win the game 3-1.” He also played for Myerscough College in the National Colleges Cup final, again scoring in front of the Kop.

Non-league Skelmersdale United guided Noone from their youth team through to the first team. In early 2007, he had a trial at Royal Antwerp, a feeder club for Manchester United, but it wasn’t until November that year that he started to climb the football pyramid.

He was 20 when he stepped up two divisions to Blue Square North neighbours Burscough in exchange for experienced non-league striker Kevin Leadbetter. A regular for Burscough under Liam Watson, Noone followed the manager to Southport in June 2008.

He made his debut for Southport on the opening day of the 2008-09 season against Gainsborough, watched by the Plymouth chief scout Andy King, the former Everton striker. After the game, King approached him and told him to expect a call. Sure enough, the following Tuesday, the Devon club made contact and he was soon on his way for a £110,000 fee.

“Craig comes to us with a glowing reputation,” said Argyle boss Paul Sturrock. “It is now up to him to prove that it is merited. If he shows me he can make the step up to the Championship, the door is open for him.”

With Plymouth battling to stay in the division, Noone struggled to get games under his belt initially and was sent on loan to Exeter to gain some league-playing experience. But an intended three-month arrangement was cut to only six weeks by Sturrock, and he returned to Home Park and became a regular until his transfer to Brighton.

The least said the better about the FA Cup fifth round clash when the Seagulls were thumped 6-1 at Anfield. Noone only got on as a substitute, but the pre-match hype gave him the chance to tell his story to the Echo and he said: “I’m loving it at Brighton. I’m learning all the time and Gus is unbelievable to play for. His coaching is spot on and he’s made me a much better player.”

Indeed, Championship football didn’t faze Noone and, with the close season departure of Elliott Bennett to Norwich City, it presented him with the opportunity to start 21 games (coming off the bench in a further 16 matches) despite the addition of another wideman in Will Buckley.

He was also a popular character in the dressing room, having inherited a sense of humour from his dad, Steve, a part-time stand-up comedian. Skipper Gordon Greer said of the winger: “He’s a real top guy. He’s a great laugh and a really good personality to have about the place. He does some hilarious things and that really adds to the good atmosphere we have about the place.”

However, Noone’s performances didn’t go unnoticed by others and promotion-chasing Cardiff tested Albion’s resolve to keep the winger by offering £500,000 for him in January 2012. Albion rebuffed the approach and, in March, extended Noone’s contract until June 2015 with manager Poyet declaring: “He was a key player for us in the second half of last season and has already established himself as a top Championship player.”

A satisfied Noone told the club website: “I set my sights on a long-term contract so I’m very happy to get it sorted, because this club is going from strength to strength.

“We have a few wingers here but we all have our individual qualities and the way this team plays lets me express myself on the pitch. This contract shows that the club has confidence in me and I’m very happy here at Brighton.”

However, just a matter of days after playing for Brighton against Cardiff in a 0-0 draw at the Amex at the start of the new season, Noone was on his way to Wales when the Bluebirds doubled their previous offer to £1m, and Malky Mackay got his man.

“They matched my ambitions to get to the Premier League as quickly as possible,” said Noone, who appreciated their persistence in trying to sign him. “It’s a shame the move didn’t happen in January because I would have liked to be here and settled, but I enjoyed my time at Brighton and wouldn’t change that.

“But Cardiff are better equipped than Brighton to go up after going so close and not quite making it. Hopefully this time we will do it. I’m a Cardiff player and want to do the best I can.”

Noone played 25 times (plus six as a sub) and scored seven goals as Cardiff went up as Champions, while Albion slipped up in the play-offs, so making the switch certainly worked in his favour.

City went straight back down after one season in the Premier League, but Noone managed 15 starts plus eight appearances as a sub. He spoke to the matchday programme about how tough it had been to force his way into the side and said: “When you’re not playing it can be frustrating, but you have to take a step back and take a look at your situation. If I’d have been moaning and groaning, I don’t think I would have lasted long here.”

He was in Cardiff’s midfield when they lost 3-1 at Liverpool on 21 December 2013. The BBC report of the game noted: “Cardiff started the game promisingly and went close early on when a swift counter attack resulted in Mutch playing a ball though to Craig Noone, whose 22-yard shot was palmed over by goalkeeper Simon Mignolet.”

He was not involved in the return match in March when Liverpool thumped City 6-3, by which time Solskjaer had taken over the reins.

Apart from the individual goal against Manchester City that had Solskjaer purring, Noone also enjoyed a FA Cup third round match away to Newcastle United on 4 January 2014 when he scored from distance a minute after coming on as a late substitute, when City were 1-0 down.

Fellow substitute Fraizer Campbell scored a winner, turning the lead in City’s favour only seven minutes later. The victory proved historic, because it was the first time the Bluebirds had won at St James’ Park since 1963.

Noone’s humble journey back into the game meant he was always happy to contribute to community activities too and he was named Community Champion by Cardiff City FC Foundation for his inspiring involvement in its futsal programme.

His voluntary efforts, also recognised by the PFA, included taking part in classroom sessions before leading pupils in practical lessons.

He somewhat modestly said: “I’ve been in the classrooms with the young lads and girls as well. I’ve just been helping them out and giving them ideas of what it feels like to come into football late, the way I did.”

Cardiff’s website said of him: “Having risen from non-league football to the Premier League, Craig Noone has shown what a player can do for a club both on and off the pitch, and is remembered fondly by the Bluebirds faithful for his part in helping the club soar to historic new heights.”

In March 2015, Noone leapt at the chance to play at Anfield again, all in a good cause, when he was part of Jamie Carragher’s team against a Steven Gerrard side in an All Star Charity match.

Noone spent five years at Cardiff, scoring 19 goals in 170 appearances, but in the summer of 2017 manager Neil Warnock went public in suggesting the winger should look for another club. That move came in September 2017 when he joined fellow Championship side Bolton Wanderers on a two-year deal. He went on to score twice in 65 games for Bolton, where he once again found himself lining up alongside Buckley.

In 2019, Noone went Down Under to continue his career, linking up with A-League side Melbourne City FC, one of the sister clubs to Manchester City – the team Aaron M ooy was playing for before he returned to England.

“It’s a big life-change, but it’s something that I’m looking forward to,” he told a-league.com/au. “I like a challenge. The previous clubs I’ve been at it’s always been a challenge, whether it’s going for promotion or staying in the league.”

City football boss Michael Petrillo said of the new signing: “Craig is a creative, pacey wide player who, after playing at the highest level in the UK, will bring a lot in experience and threat to the team.

“Craig is a proven goalscorer and provider who is just as comfortable cutting inside and shooting from range as he is at linking up with his fullback and delivering dangerous crosses.”

After two years with Melbourne, Noone switched to Macarthur FC in South West Sydney for the 2021-22 season.

• Pictures from Albion’s matchday programme and online sources.

Goals dried up at Brighton for Pompey favourite Alan Biley

1 150th goal v Leeds (1-1) ALAN BILEY was a fans favourite at all six English league clubs he played for but the prolific goalscoring that made his name at Cambridge United and Portsmouth wasn’t replicated at Everton or Brighton.

His spiky, long blond hair reflected his devotion to singer Rod Stewart and, on the pitch, the way he wore his football shirt outside his shorts, clutched the cuffs, and saluted a goal with a raised forefinger was a tribute to Scottish footballing legend Denis Law, another of his heroes, .

Biley was quite the hero at Portsmouth, with a goalscoring record of more than a goal every other game, having been signed by Bobby Campbell in 1982.

But when he fell out of favour with Campbell’s successor, Alan Ball, Brighton’s Chris Cattlin stepped in and paid £50,000 to take the striker along the coast in March 1985.

Within a month of the move, he was back at Fratton Park in Albion’s colours for an Easter Saturday south coast derby when honours were even in a 1-1 draw.

Biley had made his Seagulls debut as a substitute for Frank Worthington in a 0-0 draw away to Barnsley, then got his first start the following game (another goalless draw, at home to Oxford) and kept his place to the end of the season.

The first of four goals during that spell came in a 2-0 win at home to Oldham, and the goal he scored in a 1-1 home draw with Leeds on 20 April was his 150^th in league football (top picture). Although Albion finished with three wins, it wasn’t enough to reach the promotion places, and they finished sixth.

Biley made a great start to the 1985-86 campaign, scoring against First Division Nottingham Forest in a remarkable 5-1 pre-season friendly win, and then in the opening league fixture, a 2-2 home draw with Grimsby Town.

However, competition for places in Albion’s forward line had intensified. In addition to Terry Connor, £1m man Justin Fashanu arrived together with Dean Saunders, on a free transfer from Swansea, (Saunders went on to be named player of the season).

With the much-derided Mick Ferguson also managing a brief purple patch of scoring, it meant Biley struggled to hold down a regular spot, making 24 starts plus three appearances as a sub, and only managing to add three more goals to that season’s opener.

Cattlin’s dismissal as boss, to be replaced by the returning Alan Mullery, also spelled the end of Biley’s time at the club. He initially went back to Cambridge on loan, then tried his luck with New York Express in the States, had a spell in Greece before ending up in Ireland, playing for Waterford who were managed by his old Everton teammate, Andy King. He ended up back at Cambridge on a non-contract basis in November 1988 and made three more appearances for United before hanging up his boots.

But let’s go back to the beginning. Born in Leighton Buzzard on 26 February 1957, Biley was spotted by nearby Luton Town at the tender age of 10 and signed schoolboy forms aged 12. He was then offered an apprenticeship and professional forms as he worked his way through the different levels. But financial issues hit the club and when their chief scout left to link up with Cambridge, he recommended Biley to manager Ron Atkinson, and in 1975 he made the move to Fourth Division United.

Biley netted a total of 82 in 185 games as United rose from the Fourth Division to the Second between 1975 and 1979, when his eye for goal caught the attention of First Division Derby County, who paid £450,000 for his services.

Biley continued to find the net regularly in the top flight, scoring nine in 18 games for the Rams, but he couldn’t prevent them from being relegated. He stuck with them in the 1980-81 season and scored 10 playing in the second tier but was sidelined through injury for several months.

He recounted recently how he fell out with manager Colin Addison and there was talk of him being sold to West Brom, where his old boss Atkinson had moved, but instead, in July 1981, he became new Everton manager Howard Kendall’s first signing for a £300,000 fee. Everton fans who go back that far refer to the Magnificent Seven – because that’s how many players Kendall signed in a short space of time.

Biley EVE Biley was an instant hit, scoring on his Everton debut as Birmingham City were beaten 3-1. He scored again in his next game away to Leeds, but things quickly started to go wrong for him, as he explained in great detail to Everton fan website bluekipper.com.

“I was always appreciative of the Evertonians’ footballing knowledge and the support and gusto, particularly through the tough times,” said Biley. “They were very loyal through the tough times, and they are a different class.

“I would like to think they took to me but my only big regret was that I wasn’t there long enough to enjoy them.”

By October, Kendall had dropped his new signing and Biley was mystified.

“Years later, as I look back at it, I wasn’t Howard Kendall’s cup of tea. Whatever that was, I can’t put my finger on it because history tells you what I was and what I did and where I played, and he had a different opinion of that.

“I would have loved him to have had the faith in me he had in lots of other players.”

Eventually his lack of involvement in first team action saw him go out on loan to struggling Stoke City and in eight games he helped them to retain their status in the top division, but hopes of a permanent move fell through.

Instead he departed Goodison Park with just 18 appearances (plus three as sub) and three goals to his name and dropped down to the Third Division with Portsmouth.

The Pompey faithful had already had a taste of what they could expect when, at Christmas 1977, as a 20-year-old playing for Cambridge, Biley had scored twice for table-topping Cambridge at Fratton Park.

And, sure enough, when paired up front with Billy Rafferty, he became an instant hit and the duo scored 40 between them as Pompey won promotion. Biley’s performances earned him a place in the PFA select XI that included Gillingham’s Steve Bruce and Micky Adams, Portsmouth colleague Neil Webb and Kerry Dixon, then of Reading.

The following season saw Biley gain a new strike partner in the shape of Mark Hateley, who would go on to earn England international recognition. However, a series of 10 home defeats put paid to their promotion hopes and Campbell was sacked on the coach on the way back from the season’s penultimate game at Derby. In the final game of the season, with Alan Ball in temporary charge, Biley hit a hat-trick in a 5-0 demolition of Swansea.

Ball was installed as manager and Biley was very much a part of the side that began the 1984-85 season. He played in 22 games and came off the bench twice, scoring a total of 13 goals before Ball mysteriously sold him to Brighton in March.

Biley’s heart never left Fratton Park, though, and in 2015 he told Neil Allen, the author of a book Played Up Pompey: “Pompey was – and still is – my club.

“Pompey was a three-year box in time and if I could possibly open that box again and recover moments, a day even, then I would die happy. I fell in love with the club and it has never gone away.”

Biley has revelled in many opportunities to reminisce about his playing days, attending numerous reunions and enjoying all the memories.

In June 2017, he got together with other former players to talk about his goalscoring days at Cambridge and in October 2017, broadcaster and Albion fan Peter Brackley helped a number of former Pompey players, including Biley, recall a famous occasion when a fan ran on the pitch dressed as Santa Claus and, after the disruption, Biley scored two late goals to win a dramatic cup tie against Oxford.

But in all my research for this piece, I could find no loving references to his time with the Albion, although five years ago the excellent thegoldstonewrap.com brought together some footage of some of his best moments.

After his playing days were over, he moved back to his Bedfordshire roots and got involved in non-league football with various sides in and around the Home Counties, alongside running his own gym in Biggleswade.