DIMINUTIVE midfielder Jamie Smith spent 11 years at Crystal Palace, going through the youth ranks before signing as a pro, but didn’t play league football until he joined Brighton.
Russell Slade took on the 19-year-old during his brief reign in charge of the Seagulls (and signed the player again when he was in charge at Orient).
Albion picked up the discarded 5’6” Smith in the summer of 2009 and he did enough as a triallist in pre-season friendlies to be awarded a contract by the Seagulls.
Slade said: “Jamie has done exceptionally well throughout pre-season. He’s worked hard to convince us he is worth a contract and he has the potential to be a very good player.”
His first league start was memorable for all the wrong reasons. In only the third league game of the season, he was selected in midfield away to Huddersfield Town.
But when regular no.1 ‘keeper Michel Kuipers was sent off six minutes before half time, the young midfielder was sacrificed to allow substitute goalkeeper Graeme Smith to take over between the sticks. Depleted Albion then went on to succumb to a 7-1 battering.
“I had mixed feelings really,” he told the matchday programme. “It was great to make my debut and I thought we started the game well, but the sending off changed everything and it was all downhill from then on.”
It was Smith’s only start of the whole season. He was on the subs bench on half a dozen occasions but only went on in one of them, away to Wycombe Wanderers at the end of the year.
Gus Poyet had succeeded Slade by then and with Albion coasting at 5-2 – Glenn Murray having scored four of them – Smith replaced Dean Cox in stoppage time.
During the close season, Andrew Crofts was sold to Norwich City and Cox left for Orient, but new arrivals Radostin Kishishev and Matt Sparrow provided new competition for midfield places.
But Poyet reckoned there was something about Smith and enthused about an “outstanding” performance he’d delivered in a pre-season friendly at Burgess Hill. He told the Argus: “We really like him. He could be an interesting player for the future, I’m telling you. He has got some qualities we need to use a bit better.”
After also impressing in a pre-season game against Aberdeen, Smith was in the starting line-up for the opening game of the 2010-11 season, when Albion won 2-1 at Swindon (Sparrow scored twice on his debut).
He played the following two league matches too: a 2-2 draw home to Rochdale (although Smith was sacrificed on 54 minutes after Gordon Greer was sent off for punching Anthony Elding and Adam El-Abd was sent on to play in the centre of defence).
I was sat in the Leppings Lane end at Hillsborough seven days later when Smith retained his place in midfield against Sheffield Wednesday (above left).
The youngster even came closest to netting an equaliser for the Seagulls; his shot from Ashley Barnes’ cutback clipped the bar.
However, Albion then re-signed Kazenga LuaLua and Poyet reckoned Smith didn’t do enough to show he wanted it more than the explosive winger. “Because he is young, maybe he took it too nicely,” Poyet told the Argus. “I need people to react, to show me I have made a mistake or even to put me under pressure. He was just normal, not at his best to give me a headache to have to play him.”
Smith himself admitted: “When LuaLua)was playing I seemed to take it that he would be playing instead of me.
“Sometimes, when we were both on the bench, I used to think he would go on, not me, whereas I should have been doing everything I could to make sure I was involved. If I had the time again, I would have done things differently.
“I wouldn’t be one to go in and moan and stuff because there are always ups and downs in football but you can always go out every day and do your best and work hard.
“The season started really well for me, a lot better than I expected. I didn’t expect to be playing as much as I was but when that happens you just want more and I just want to be playing every week.
“Maybe when the team was doing really well, on a long unbeaten run, I was slacking off in training and things like that.”
The door opened ajar again after LuaLua suffered a broken leg and Smith impressed after going on as a 53rd-minute sub away to Southampton (below, left).
Smith told Andy Naylor: “LuaLua was class. He changed games when he came on and when he started he was really good. Hopefully I can do as well, if not better, than he was doing if I get the chance.
“We are really different players. He is really explosive with pace and loads of ability. I like trying to play clever little passes and making space for myself and my team-mates.”
One such cute pass at St Mary’s let in Glenn Murray to earn the Seagulls a penalty and the longstanding Albion reporter said: “The door is ajar for Smith again after that Southampton cameo and now he has to walk through it. His Albion future depends on it.”
Smith told the matchday programme: “I feel I’ve done well in most of the games I’ve played in and want to use the Southampton game as a platform for the rest of the season.
“The manager told me after that game that he wants me to give him performances like that all the time.”
Enjoying time in the limelight, the player explained: “I love to get the ball, drive forward and create chances.
“I am slight in size and most managers from the Championship downwards want strong, athletic midfielders but our manager wants footballers, players who get the ball down and play.
“As long as I’m on the ball and doing a job for the team, then the manager will be happy.”
Smith added: “I knew that if I didn’t progress this season there’s every chance I would be let go in the summer so I’ve been using that as an incentive.
“With the way the club has been progressing on the pitch and off it, there’s no way I want to leave. I want to stay here for years to come because I’m happy at the club.”
Unfortunately, the new year wasn’t even three weeks old when an accidental collision in training saw Smith sidelined for two months.
He sustained a fractured metatarsal after colliding with teammate Jake Forster-Caskey and, with his contract due to expire at the end of the season, the outlook was bleak.
But Poyet said: “I have already had a good chat with him. I told him not to worry and that we will look after him.
“He will be out until March but it is important he doesn’t feel under pressure to rush back because of his contract situation.
“I want him to make sure his foot is properly healed first, and then I expect we will see him back to fitness before the end of the season.”
Come the end of the season, Poyet was as good as his word and gave Smith a six-month contract to prove his worth.
But he wasn’t able to capitalise on the opportunity, Poyet saying: “Jamie was a revelation at the beginning of last season before we got Kazenga (LuaLua) back.
“Then he was injured for months and we were established at the top of the table, so he didn’t get the chance to play.
“I thought I would give him the chance to prove himself but it hasn’t really happened for him.”
Albion supporter ‘The Phantom’ on an Argus report of Smith’s imminent departure from the club wrote: “Shame it hasn’t worked out for Jamie Smith as showed at times that he had what it takes to be an influential attacking midfielder.
“Way too much competition in the squad now so best that he moves on. Surprised he has not been able to pick up a club so far.”
Eventually, former boss Slade offered him a chance at Orient, but he made just the one substitute appearance for the Os before dropping out of league football with Dover Athletic.
Born in Leytonstone, East London, on 16 September 1989, Smith was on Palace’s books from the age of eight to 19 and although he progressed through the ranks he didn’t get to make a competitive first team appearance.
Nevertheless, Palace under 18 coach Gary Issott said: “Jamie Smith is a diminutive attacking central midfielder in the mould of Eyal Berkovic.
“He is very clever and improved after a frustrating first year. He started this season well and, up until Christmas, his form was electric.”
He was involved in pre-season friendlies ahead of the 2008-09 season and scored the winner from the penalty spot after going on as a substitute in a 4-3 win over Aldershot. (Calvin Andrew, later an Albion loanee, made his debut for Palace in the same match).
But while Smith saw several of his contemporaries make it through to competitive first team action, such an elevation remained elusive for him.
“That was disappointing but we had the likes of Nick Carle and Neil Danns in my position and it was hard to break through,” he said.
A year below him, the likes of Victor Moses and Nathaniel Clyne did progress. Smith said: “I spoke to Neil Warnock but he said there were experienced players ahead of me and couldn’t see me breaking into the team. We agreed it would be best for me to move on.”
Smith had a spell at Doncaster Rovers but returned to Palace to keep his fitness up before joining Brighton for pre-season training, and then being taken on after a successful trial of three or four weeks.
RUSSELL SLADE had an eye for picking up footballing gems for nothing and he worked an unlikely miracle to spare relegation-bound Albion from the drop.
The one-time PE teacher who never played professional football himself was only Brighton manager for eight months but keeping them in League One in an end-of-season nailbiter was a much-lauded achievement.
He did it with some astute forays into the loan market and snapping up free agent Lloyd Owusu who made a crucial contribution to Albion’s injury-hit misfiring forward line.
Some years earlier, when youth team manager at Sheffield United, Slade famously picked up three young players – Phil Jagielka, Nick Montgomery and Michael Tonge – discarded by other clubs who went on to become Blades stalwarts.
At Brighton, his summer re-shaping of the squad he inherited put down the foundations on which his successor Gus Poyet was able to build a successful side capable of promotion.
In particular, Slade took great pride in bringing Andrew Crofts to the Albion on a free transfer from Gillingham, the club later selling him on to Norwich City for what was believed to be £300,000.
Slade signing Elliott Bennett, bought from Wolverhampton Wanderers for £200,000, was later sold to the Canaries for a fee believed to be £1.5million.
“The majority of my player signings went on to play crucial roles in this promotion season,” Slade asserts on his LinkedIn profile. “During my closed season I began what proved to be an extremely successful transitional period.”
If Slade had failed to keep Albion up at the end of that 2008-09 season, it is doubtful Poyet would have been drawn to the task of lifting the side through the leagues and possibly there would have been a longer wait to see Championship football at the Amex.
Slade’s tenure at the Albion may well have been longer if Tony Bloom hadn’t taken over control of the club from Dick Knight, who was chairman at the time Slade was brought in to replace Micky Adams.
Adams reckoned he was a victim of the power struggle between the two and it seems clear that Bloom wanted to install his own man once he was fully in the driving seat of the club.
Although Slade’s achievement in keeping Albion up was rewarded with a permanent two-year deal in the summer of 2009, the new season got off to a terrible start with no wins in the first six games, one of which saw Albion on the wrong end of a 7-1 thumping at Huddersfield.
Time was up for Slade after rocky start to the season
With only three wins and three draws in the next 10 games, after a 3-3 home draw against Hartlepool at the end of October, Slade was sacked with the side only out of the relegation zone on goal difference.
Bloom said: “It is not a decision we have taken lightly and one taken with a heavy heart. Russell is a good man – which made it an even harder decision to take – but it is one which has been made in the club’s best interests.
“Like all Albion fans, I am extremely grateful for Russell’s achievements at the end of last season, as he kept us in League One against the odds.”
When he reflected on his tenure in the Albion book Match of My Life, Slade explained: “Despite the club’s perilous position, I felt it was a great opportunity. I signed on a short-term deal, with the incentive to keep the club in the division.
“I inherited a huge squad but it was decimated by injuries and many of the players were loan signings or youngsters, but, in spite of that, I still thought there was enough within the squad to keep Brighton up.”
With 14 games to save the club from the drop, the first two ended in defeats but when Slade’s previous employer Yeovil Town were thumped 5-0 at the Withdean, there was cause for optimism.
A 3-2 Withdean win for Swindon, for whom Gordon Greer and Billy Paynter scored, threatened Brighton’s survival but it turned out to be the only defeat in the last seven games.
Albion memorably lifted themselves out of the relegation zone three games from the end of the season when they won 2-1 at Bristol Rovers, long-serving Gary Hart teeing up goals for Owusu and Palace loanee Calvin Andrew. Both players were also on target to earn a point in a 2-2 draw at Huddersfield.
After safety was secured in the last game of the season courtesy of barely-fit substitute Nicky Forster’s goal against Stockport, fans invaded the pitch and Slade was carried shoulder high by the Albion faithful.
“My hat got nicked and my head scratched, but it didn’t really matter,” he said. “When I finally got back to the office, I sat there with Bob Booker and Dean White and was absolutely exhausted – both emotionally and physically.”
Born in Wokingham on 10 October 1960, Slade’s route into professional football didn’t follow the traditional path.
“At 18 I had a chance to go to Notts County but I got into university so I went away to get a degree in sport instead,” he said. After completing his degree over four years at Edge Hill University in Ormskirk, Lancashire, he became a PE teacher at Frank Wheldon Comprehensive School in Nottingham (it later became Carlton Academy).
“My experiences helped me be more prepared and organised,” he explained. “I took numerous coaching courses and it allows you to be really open minded and dealing with different situations.
“I had qualifications to be a coach in swimming, athletics, badminton, basketball, cricket and tennis. It not only broadens your horizons but allows you to look at things in different ways.”
While he was qualifying as a teacher, he joined Notts County as a non-contract amateur player, appearing in their reserves and manager Neil Warnock appointed him an assistant youth coach under youth team head coach Mick Walker.
When Warnock was sacked in January 1993, County were bottom of football’s second tier (having been relegated from the top flight in the final season before the Premier League started), and Walker and Slade took charge of the first team, keeping them up with three points to spare.
The pair almost took County to the play-offs the following season, only missing out by three points, and also reached the final of the Anglo-Italian Cup, where they lost 1-0 to Brescia at Wembley.
After only one win at the start of the 1994-95 season, Walker was sacked in September and Slade took over as caretaker manager.
After managing only six wins and five draws in 23 matches, Slade reverted to assistant when ex-Everton boss Howard Kendall was appointed manager.
Kendall only lasted three months at Meadow Lane and Slade left the club at the same time but he later acknowledged how much he had learned from Kendall, Warnock and Jimmy Sirrel (an ex-Albion player who was a Notts County legend as manager and general manager).
“I’ve had a good upbringing,” he said. “The one for player management and for talking to players was Howard Kendall, without a doubt.
“He was terrific – had something about him. He had that X factor and you would listen to Howard – and when he coached you took it on board as well.”
Slade told walesonline.co.uk: “Working with Howard was massive because of his man management and his ability to give a football club direction.
“Neil was the big motivator out of all the coaches and managers I have worked with over the years.
“He took County into the top flight and his best work came at 10 minutes to three. He was exceptional, able to get every last drop of effort and energy from his team.”
Slade dropped into non-league football as manager of Southern League Midland Division Armitage but when they finished bottom of the division and then went into liquidation, Slade followed the chairman Sid Osborn to his new club, Leicester United.
That side finished 16th in the Southern League Midland Division, but they too went out of business in August 1996.
Kendall, in charge of Sheffield United, recruited Slade as youth team coach at Bramall Lane and even tried to take him with him when he returned to Everton in June 1997, but Blades demanded a compensation payment the Toffees weren’t prepared to pay.
Kendall said some while later: “I wanted Russell, who I knew from Notts County, to come and coach my kids. He was at Sheffield United at the time, and they didn’t want to lose him. He’s a talented coach who would have been a popular figure at Goodison.”
Slade remained in Sheffield and, in an interview with The Guardian in October 2013, recalled: “My best three spots were when I was at Sheffield United [in 1998].
“At the time I was doing a lot of work on released players because we needed to strengthen our youth squad and in one evening I took Phil Jagielka, Nick Montgomery and Michael Tonge – all for nothing.”
Montgomery made just short of 400 appearances for United and Tonge and Jagielka both played more than 300 games for the club. Jagielka became one of the best defenders in the top flight (at Everton) and won 40 England international caps.
“That was my best night’s work ever,” said Slade. “You don’t half get a buzz when you see those. When we played Everton in the [Capital One] Cup last season Phil gave me a signed shirt with ‘Thanks very much, Russ’ written on it.”
It was in March 1998 that Slade found himself in caretaker charge of the United first team after the departure of Nigel Spackman, overseeing a draw and a defeat, and he also stepped in for two games in November 1999 when Adrian Heath left the club, again overseeing a draw and a defeat before Warnock arrived at Bramall Lane.
It was at Scarborough where Slade landed his first full-time job as a league manager in his own right. During a three-year spell, he helped rescue the club from relegation, resigned when they went into administration but withdrew it when a fans petition urged him to stay.
A highlight was guiding the side on an excellent FA Cup run, when they memorably played Premier League Chelsea in a televised home tie. The Seadogs were only defeated 1-0 by a Chelsea side that included a young Alexis Nicolas in their line-up.
Next up for Slade was the first of two spells as manager of Grimsby Town. Supporters were calling for his head when they only managed a mid-table finish in the 2004-05 season, but an upturn the following season saw them flirt with automatic promotion and have a good run in the League Cup, beating Derby County and Tottenham.
Slade’s Mariners beat a Spurs side that included Jermaine Jenas, Michael Carrick, Robbie Keane and Jermaine Defoe 1-0. In the next round they went down 1-0 at home to a Newcastle United side managed by Graeme Souness, a goal from Alan Shearer sealing it for the visitors.
Grimsby slipped into the play-offs on the last day of the season and beat local rivals Lincoln City in the semi-finals to reach the play-off final at the Millennium Stadium.
But they missed out on promotion when Cheltenham Town edged the tie 1-0, and Slade was on his way.
He might not have reached League One with Grimsby but he was taken on by Yeovil Town on a three-year contract, declaring when appointed: “It is a fantastic opportunity for me as I think Yeovil are a very progressive club. They are going through a period of transition and I am really looking forward to the challenges that are ahead.”
Slade once again found himself a play-off final loser when the Glovers, captained by Nathan Jones, lost 2-0 to Blackpool in the 2007 League One end-of-season decider at Wembley.
It was a heartbreaking finish especially after Yeovil pulled off one of the most remarkable comebacks in the history of play-off football by coming from 2-0 down to beat Nottingham Forest 5-4 on aggregate in the semi-finals.
“Russell Slade’s side gained many plaudits for an impressive campaign in which they almost went up despite being one of the pre-season favourites for relegation,” said somersetlive.co.uk.
Small consolation for Slade was to receive the League One Manager of the Year award, but disappointment followed in 2007-08 when they won only four games in the second half of the season to leave them only four points clear of relegation.
When things didn’t improve in 2008-09, a frustrated Slade reportedly fell out with Yeovil chairman John Fry over a lack of transfer funds and he left Huish Park by mutual consent in February 2009.
The vacancy at the Albion was almost tailor-made for Slade, and chairman Dick Knight admitted he had spoken with the aforementioned former Seagull, Nathan Jones, about the managerial candidate.
“I had a long chat with Nathan and he told me some good stuff,” Knight told the Argus. “It was a very honest appraisal and I took that into account.
“When I met with Russell initially he impressed me greatly. His CV speaks for itself and his confidence and tactical shrewdness were obvious when I interviewed him.
“He has delivered at this level. He has an extremely competent track record at clubs who have punched above their weight, like Grimsby and Yeovil.
“His players like him. He will convey confidence to our squad and give them a lift.”
Stockport chief Jim Gannon had turned down the job and former England international Paul Ince didn’t even want to hold talks.
“The quality of applications was tremendous, even up to the last minute, from the top of the top league in Romania to one from Portugal which was very interesting but not appropriate at this time,” said Knight.
“By handing the mantle to Russell at this stage, the club is in good hands to address the task right now of staying in League One. We have got a very good and capable man.”
The rest, as they say, is history and, to borrow another familiar phrase, it was a case of not keeping a good man down after his departure from the Seagulls.
It wasn’t long before Barry Hearn, the sports promoter owner of Leyton Orient, was hiring Slade to try to improve the fortunes of the East London minnows.
It turned out to be a great move because Orient was where Slade had his longest ever spell as a manager, presiding over 241 matches with a 42 per cent win ratio.
Amongst the players he recruited were two who had played under him at Brighton: Andrew Whing and Dean Cox. Ex-Seagull from another era, Alex Revell, also joined and a certain Harry Kane took his first steps into competitive football on loan from Spurs on Slade’s watch.
The manager’s trademark baseball cap that he could be seen wearing at each of the clubs he served even had its own sponsor at Orient. City of London tax advisory firm Westleton Drake put their logo on the headwear.
Slade repeated the magic touch he’d shown at Brighton to keep Orient in League One and in his first full season in charge took them to seventh place, only missing out on the play-offs by one place.
Along the way was a memorable fifth round FA Cup tie with Arsenal, forcing a 1-1 draw at home before succumbing 5-0 at the Emirates.
There was certainly no questioning Slade’s commitment to the Os’ cause, as Simon Johnson, writing for the Evening Standard on 23 September 2010, observed: “His wife Lisa and four children are living more than 200 miles away in Scarborough, meaning he is all alone most evenings to worry about the side’s plight.”
Slade lived in one of the flats next to the stadium and told Johnson: “Most people get the chance to get away from the office if they have a bad day, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.
“I come back from training and work in the office for a few hours and then go to my flat. I love my job and enjoy the fact my finger is on the pulse and I’m right on top of things.”
When Sheffield United sacked manager David Weir (later to become Albion’s director of football) in October 2013, there was speculation Slade might be in the running for the job, but the out of work Nigel Clough was appointed.
The following Spring, Slade once again found himself in charge of a team in the final of the League One play-offs. Although Orient drew 2-2 with Rotherham United, they missed their last two penalties in the shoot-out to decide the winner and once again he left Wembley disappointed. His only consolation was once again being named League One Manager of the Year.
Even though the club narrowly missed out on the step up to the Championship, Slade himself made it shortly into the new season. After a change of ownership at Orient, Slade resigned and was appointed manager at Cardiff City in October 2014, succeeding Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
History records Slade’s reign being heavily hampered by a lack of finance and being forced to cut the wage bill significantly and cancelling the contracts of several highly paid players. There was even an embargo on new signings during his second season.
The Bluebirds finished mid-table in his first season and then missed out on the play-offs the following season, losing 3-0 at Sheffield Wednesday in the penultimate game of the season to dash hopes of a top six finish.
Slade was removed from his post to be replaced by his head coach Paul Trollope (later Albion assistant manager to Chris Hughton) but was retained as Head of Football.
Slade decided it wasn’t for him and switched to a more familiar dugout job at Charlton Athletic.
Given a three-year contract by unpopular owner Roland Duchatelet, Slade lasted just 16 matches before he was sacked, although a club statement said: “The club would like to thank Russell for his tireless work during his time at The Valley, particularly the processes and disciplines he has instilled at the training ground.”
He wasn’t out of work for long, though, because Coventry City, sitting 21st in League One and enduring their worst run of results for 43 years, appointed him.
On the wrong end of a 4-1 defeat at Bristol Rovers in his opening match, on Boxing Day, he oversaw just three wins in 16 games and was sacked on 5 March.
In circumstances similar to the atmosphere at The Valley, Sky Blues fans were in dispute with the club’s owners, and the Ricoh Stadium was empty week after week.
Surprisingly, he guided the club to a Checkatrade Trophy final – Coventry later won the competition in front of more than 40,000 of their supporters at Wembley – but by then Slade had been sacked, having equalled the record for the most games (nine) without a win for a City manager before winning at the tenth attempt.
Andy Turner, writing for the Coventry Evening Telegraph, pulled no punches when he said: “Russell Slade will go down in Coventry City history as arguably the worst manager to have taken charge of the club.”
Slade’s take on it was: “It was not a good decision for me to go there, I didn’t do my homework enough before going there.”
Once again, though, Slade was back in work just over a month later when he returned to one of his former clubs, Grimsby Town.
Succeeding Marcus Bignot, Slade took charge with Grimsby 14th in League Two and they won two and drew another of their remaining five matches to stay in that position by the season’s end.
After making an encouraging enough start to the 2017-18 season, the side’s form dipped badly over the festive period, and with no wins on the board the club sank like a stone towards a relegation battle. Slade was sacked after a run of 12 games without a win, including eight defeats.
There was no swift return to management after his Grimsby departure, though, and it was another 18 months before he next took charge of a side, National League North side Hereford United, with former Albion full-back Andrew Whing as his assistant.
Not long afterwards, though, Slade started up his own business, Global Sports Data and Technology, and his tenure with the Bulls lasted only five months, club chairman Andrew Graham saying: “Unfortunately the existing business commitments of Russell Slade do not meet with the current demands of this football club.” Hereford had recorded only one win in 18 games at the time.
The ever-resilient Slade was back in the game the following month when his former player, Alex Revell, appointed manager at Stevenage, invited him to join his staff as a managerial consultant.
Revell, who played under Slade at Orient and Cardiff, said: “I have always respected Russ and it will be a great boost to be able to use his experience around the training ground and on matchdays.”
Plenty of disgruntled fans from clubs where Slade had been less than successful took to social media to mock the appointment.
Nevertheless, Revell was certainly right about experience because Slade could reflect on a managerial career that saw him serve 11 different clubs, taking charge of 865 matches, winning 314, drawing 240 and losing 311.
In his new venture, Slade champions the cause of the way performance data information is handled, as described in a BBC news item in October 2021.
It focuses on companies who take data and process it without consent. “It’s making football – and all sports – aware of the implications and what needs to change,” he said.
SCOUSE defender Jim McNulty, who played alongside Wayne Rooney at Everton as a schoolboy, will probably always be remembered by Brighton fans for a horror injury he suffered in a match at Withdean.
After an on-off transfer saga in which McNulty initially rejected Albion’s desire to sign him, the £150,000 signing from Stockport County scored on his debut and less than three weeks later was involved in an accidental collision that threatened to end his career at 23.
In only his fifth game after under-pressure boss Micky Adams finally landed the left back, a seemingly innocuous challenge as a Crewe defender caught him with his knee in his side quickly became much more serious when he started passing blood.
“Having walked back to the changing room I remember having the sensation of needing to go to the toilet and it was then that blood started spurting out,” he recounted. “I was also throwing up and the real scary part was the look of concern on the medical team’s faces.
“I was rushed to the Royal Sussex County Hospital for an MRI scan and had a catheter inserted as my belly was swelling up. It was then that I discovered one of my kidneys had capitulated.
“I was on the bed in the hospital after the scan when the surgeon said 90 per cent of the kidney is mush and I don’t believe you can play again,” McNulty told the club’s official website.
Nine years later, ahead of facing Harry Kane for Rochdale against Spurs in the FA Cup, McNulty told Ivan Speck of the Express: “It was instant tears. I was there with my father and fiancée, at the time. I remember crying into my dad’s chest.
“It was probably a bit of everyday information for him but, for me, football was my life and he should have stayed quiet until he was better informed. It still winds me up now.
“The FA actually got wind of the news and their doctor spoke with our club doctor. They had spoken to some rugby guys in the southern hemisphere because it’s a more common injury in rugby than it is in football.
“It was nonsense to suggest it would end my career.”
Initially, because he was a professional sportsman, the medics tried two operations to save the kidney but, when he was still passing blood three weeks later, the decision was taken to remove it.
McNulty described incredible pain he had to endure but realised once he had gone through with the operation that he would be able to play football again.
Amazingly, he was able to return to training within three months although he had a lot of work to do to rebuild his fitness. Within four weeks he was even able to play in a couple of pre-season friendlies.
However, McNulty went on to suffer a number of knock-on injuries because his posture was affected by having an empty space on the right side of his body.
“I had multiple ankle injuries because my pelvic alignment was a nightmare from that point on,” he said.
The first came just when it looked like he would make a return to league action in September 2009. He damaged his ankle ligaments on a local park pitch while training ahead of the 7-1 defeat at Huddersfield and was ruled out for a further four weeks.
His long-awaited return to first team action came in a Johnstone’s Paint Trophy tie away to Leyton Orient on 6 October, which Albion lost 1-0.
“Just to get out on the pitch and on the ball was fantastic,” he said. “I cramped up after about 70 minutes but the reaction from our fans was tremendous.”
McNulty told the matchday programme: “I have no intention of just sitting around, hoping to break into the side. I want to be playing every week now. I’m fit, raring to go and I want to help us get up the table.”
The unlucky McNulty then missed the following Saturday’s match at MK Dons, enduring yet more pain when he had to have two wisdom teeth extracted.
Nevertheless, McNulty’s eventual return to league action followed on 13 October in a 2-0 Withdean win over a Gillingham side which featured former Albion loanee Simon Royce in goal.
Astonishingly, the following Saturday, he lasted only 27 minutes before injury struck again in a 2-1 defeat away to Tranmere. He limped off with an ankle injury and Jake Wright was sent on to replace him. Glenn Murray scored a penalty consolation for the Albion and was then sent off for a second yellow card.
By the time McNulty was fit enough to return, the second manager of his brief time at the Albion, Russell Slade, had been replaced by Gus Poyet. His first involvement under the new boss saw him go on as a sub against: Charlton at home on 1 December.
He then went on as an 87th minute substitute for his good friend Gary Dicker at Exeter and provided the all-important cross from which Andrew Crofts headed the only goal of the game in the 92nd minute.
He had what one observer described as a man of the match involvement as a sub in the next match, a 2-1 home defeat v Colchester United. Saying the left back was “the epitome of Poyet’s ‘bravery on the ball’ mantra”, Richie Morris wrote: “Jimmy McNulty, like a rampaging glove-wearing gazelle, mercilessly attacked the left flank. Time and again he delivered teasing crosses, and time and again the ball simply would not nestle in the net.”
McNulty celebrates with goalscorer Tommy Elphick
That performance was rewarded with four starts on the trot – but then Poyet brought in the cultured Marcos Painter as his preferred left-back. McNulty was in the Albion side that put on a decent show in a 3-2 fourth round FA Cup defeat at Aston Villa, because Painter was ineligible, but he didn’t make another start that season. And, as it turned out, he didn’t play for the club again. He’d actually only played 16 times for the Albion.
Before the end of the season, to get some games, McNulty actually stepped up a level, going on loan to Scunthorpe United in the Championship, where he made two starts and a sub appearance under Nigel Adkins.
He rejoined The Iron in July 2010 on a six-month loan arrangement and played six games. But he suffered a recurrence of his ankle issues, so returned to Brighton in December.
When Albion kicked off a new era playing Championship football at the Amex, McNulty had stayed at the same level but with Barnsley, where he was voted players’ player of the year in his first season, and was made captain in his second season at Oakwell.
McNulty certainly wasn’t bitter about the way things turned out for him in Sussex. He said: “I couldn’t speak more highly of my time with Brighton. It is an unbelievable club, an unbelievable fan base, and it was an incredible place to live.
“My daughter was born there and we had a brilliant time, despite the fact that I was horrendously injured for pretty much all of that time.
“I’ve always been a 40-game-a-season man wherever I’ve been, but at Brighton I hardly played at all. Saying that, it was the club I had the best time at.”
Born in Runcorn on 13 February 1985, Liverpool and Everton were both interested in him when he was young, but it was Everton who put a contract offer in front of him.
“At the time I actually played for Everton against Liverpool in a game at Melwood,” he explained. “This would have been in the under-9s and we absolutely destroyed them.
“Ourselves and Arsenal dominated in that particular age group, right up to the under-16s – every week, every game, every season. Everton were a very dominant team and it gave me a great grounding, so I chose the right team.”
Initially a central midfield player, McNulty was switched to left-back during his time at Everton. Although Rooney was in the year below him, from under-10s, he was put up an age level. “I played with him for about four years until he jumped up again,” said McNulty. “He was playing two or three years up during the teenage years. I was just always playing at my own age.
“He was incredible, incredible. It was like watching a man play with boys in terms of his strength and aggression. He was pinging balls 70 yards as a 10- or 11-year-old boy.
“We couldn’t really lift it off the floor yet. His technique and the power that he had as a young boy, he was devastating at that age. He’d score eight goals every week. He’s one of the reasons we were so rampant as a team. Probably the main reason.”
McNulty moved on to Wrexham to make his breakthrough at senior level, ironically going on as a sub against Stockport in a Northern Section Football League Trophy game which the Welsh side lost 5-4 after extra time.
Because he had a Scottish mother, Englishman McNulty was selected for Scotland at under-17 and under-19 level, although one of his worst footballing memories came while playing for Scotland against France when they were beaten 5-0 in the European Under-19s Championship.
“I always remember being particularly mentally scarred by one player,” he said. “He was a winger and I was at left-back – and he scored four, so obviously that was mentally scarring. His name was Jimmy Briand.”
Briand went on to have a 20-year playing career in France and Germany and played five times for the senior French national team, but McNulty didn’t make it to the Scots full international side.
“There was a time when I had some genuine belief that it might happen,” he told The Sunday Post. “I had a good season in my first year at Barnsley in the Championship, in 2011, and ended up being named player of the year and made captain of the club.
“At the time, Scotland were having a bit of a defender crisis, and there was an opportunity there. I actually thought, ‘My name might come out of the hat here.’ But they ended up choosing a couple of guys who were playing in League One at the time ahead of me. That was a bit of a disappointment.”
But back to those early days, and when he didn’t make further progress at Wrexham he dropped down to League of Wales level to play for Bangor City and Caernarfon Town, but in June 2006, former Albion skipper and manager Brian Horton signed him for Macclesfield Town.
“I appreciate what Brian did for me, bringing me back into league football,” he said. “I was playing non-league football in Wales and he gave me a chance to come back and prove myself.”
He spent 18 months at Macclesfield, where he also played under Paul Ince, before moving to Stockport on a free transfer in January 2007. He became part of the County side that won promotion via the League Two play-off final at Wembley, when they beat another of his future employers, Rochdale, 3-2 in front of a crowd of 35,000.
McNulty was reluctant to give up a League One promotion tilt at County to join struggling Albion but chairman Dick Knight and manager Adams spoke of the club’s ambition and he was finally persuaded.
Albion needed a left back after loan signing Matt Richards had returned to Ipswich and
Adams said: “He fits the profile of what we are looking for. He likes getting forward and, without being disrespectful to anyone who has played there before, he is a natural defender, and he is six-foot two. At one stage it looked like we had lost out, so I am delighted to get him.”
Knight and Adams finally persuade their man to sign for the Albion
McNulty was not alone as Knight sanctioned quite a spending spree on new signings – Craig Davies, Calvin Andrew, Seb Carole, Jason Jarrett and Chris Birchall also arrived in that window, all financed by Tony Bloom, a low-profile investor at that time.
“I am very satisfied,” said Adams. “Finding a left back was a major priority. We haven’t been scoring the amount of goals we should, so we needed to look at avenues to open up teams. We have got Carole and Birchall for that.
“We also needed two strikers (Davies and Andrew) to increase the striking options and we needed a bit more physical strength in midfield, which is why Jason (Jarrett) is there, so I can’t complain.
“I had to be patient to make sure the right type of player was available and at the right price. Two of them were money buys and I am delighted that the board have backed me.”
Both Davies and McNulty were on the scoresheet when Peterborough visited the Withdean on 10 February but Barry Fry’s side took away the three points courtesy of a 4-2 win; Craig Mackail-Smith scoring for Posh along with strike partner Aaron McLean (two) and Dean Keates.
With only one League One win in six and a hoped-for tilt at silverware – the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy – gone in a penalty shoot-out defeat to Luton Town, the second coming of Adams was over. That horrendous injury to McNulty came while Dean White was caretaker manager and, when new boss Russell Slade arrived, one of his first tasks was to bring in Gary Borrowdale on loan from QPR to cover McNulty’s absence.
A change in manager often spells bad news for certain players and, after those successful first two seasons at Barnsley, McNulty found his face didn’t fit when David Flitcroft succeeded Keith Hill as manager. He’d only had one first team outing in a Capital One Cup tie against Southampton.
He grabbed the chance to join Tranmere Rovers on loan in November 2013, although he told the Liverpool Echo: “I have not even had a chance there. I think I should still be playing for Barnsley.
“They are struggling defensively this season and had been conceding a lot of goals. But now I’m thinking about helping Tranmere.”
Rovers boss Ronnie Moore said: “Jim is a knowledgeable player and a good talker. He settled in quickly here. He is a footballing centre-back, rather than the Terry Butcher type. I don’t think you will see too many cuts and bandages around Jim’s head. He is clever. He drops off and picks the ball up.”
In January 2014, McNulty reached a mutual agreement with Barnsley to terminate his contract and he switched to Bury under old boss Flitcroft. He played 51 times for the League Two Shakers before beginning a long association with Rochdale in 2015.
McNulty in control with the Shakers
Over eight seasons, McNulty played a total of 237 matches for Dale, eventually combining coaching with playing. In August 2022, he found himself in interim charge for three matches after the club sacked Robbie Stockdale.
Former Morecambe boss Jim Bentley was appointed manager but when his services were dispensed with in March 2023, with Rochdale at the foot of League Two, 2023, McNulty once again stepped in as boss.
He was unable to prevent the club’s 102-year reign as a league club coming to an end but, in May 2023, he was appointed manager on a two-year deal.
“The opportunity to lead our team and represent our club, which the fans cherish, has always been a dream of mine,” he said.
“To be given the opportunity at a club so close to mine and my family’s hearts, is really special to me.
“As a boy, first and foremost, I dreamt of becoming a footballer, then when I did, I very quickly knew I wanted to become a manager thereafter.
“Within a couple of years of being a Dale player, I knew that this would be the club where I hoped to fulfil that ambition.”
WHEN IT comes to home-grown talent, Brighton have had particular success with central defenders.
Lewis Dunk is the prime example, staying with the club from humble beginnings through to Europe. Others had to move on to make the most of their careers.
For example, Steve Cook joined the club aged nine and made it through the different age levels into Albion’s first team. But to get regular football, he moved along the coast to Bournemouth.
If moving from Championship Brighton to League One Bournemouth seemed like a backward step in 2012, two promotions later saw him laughing on the other side of his face when the Cherries made it to the Premier League (in 2015) a season before the Seagulls.
Cook spent 10 years with the Cherries, making more than 350 appearances (168 of them in the Premier League), and after the departure of fellow ex-Albion defender Tommy Elphick, he took over as their captain.
Cook first got a taste of the big time in 2008, when he was a second year scholar on £60 a week, aged just 17. He was sent on by Micky Adams as an 85th-minute substitute in the famous League Cup game against Manchester City that League One Albion won on penalties.
Two months later, he once again replaced right-back Andrew Whing, this time in a FA Cup first round replay defeat to Hartlepool United, and picked up a booking into the bargain.
Boot cleaning duties for young Steve Cook
To gain more experience, in December that year, Cook went west to spend six weeks with Conference South Havant & Waterlooville. On his return, he once again had a first team look-in, going on as a 77th-minute sub for Calvin Andrew in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy southern final defeat at Luton Town that marked the end of the second coming of Adams.
Before the appointment of Russell Slade, Cook went on for the second half as a sub for injury-plagued sub Adam Hinshelwood (who’d been an 18th-minute sub for Elphick) in a 4-0 home defeat against Crewe Alexandra.
Slade marked his arrival by bringing in plenty of old hands in what eventually proved to be a successful skin-of-the-teeth survival battle against relegation. Cook didn’t get another chance in the first team until some time after Gus Poyet had taken charge.
His development continued on loan with the likes of Eastleigh and Eastbourne Borough and in November 2010 he moved away from home to join former league club Mansfield Town on a three-month loan.
“Mansfield play very different to Eastbourne but it’s more like playing for Brighton where they like to keep the ball and play out from the back, which you don’t get in the Conference very often,” he told the matchday programme. “I see it as a great opportunity to prove myself and try to earn another contract at Brighton.”
He added: “Playing Conference football helped me grow up, physically and mentally, so by the time I returned I felt I was ready to challenge for a first team place.”
Cook up against Suarez
After a handful of non-playing appearances on the first team subs bench, when he did get his first ever start, it could not have been a bigger match: Liverpool at home in the third round of the Carling Cup with Luis Suarez, Dirk Kuyt and Craig Bellamy in the opposition forward line.
“It was a real confidence boost knowing the manager had faith putting me into the side for such a big game, but I really enjoyed the experience and got a great deal out of it,” he said.
“While I had a good pre-season, I’ve not played a lot of games since then. It was one in two months before the Liverpool game, but I’d been working hard in training and got my reward.”
Cook only found out 90 minutes before kick-off that he would be taking the place of fellow academy graduate Dunk, with both Elphick and Adam El-Abd out injured.
“It was a real baptism of fire though because for the first 20 minutes Liverpool were brilliant. Suarez, Bellamy, they were all excellent going forward, the pace of them as a team was unbelievable and in that opening spell I think we were in awe of them.”
Cook thought his involvement that night would lead to more chances, but he said: “Later that month we had Ipswich away, Dunky was suspended but instead of playing me, Gus put Romain Vincelot – a midfielder – in alongside Gordon Greer. From that point on, my mind was made up; I knew I had to look elsewhere if I wanted to kick on in my career.”
That autumn, Cook initially joined Bournemouth on loan, featuring in eight games, but he was recalled by the Seagulls when a shortage of defenders meant he was needed for a crucial New Year game at home to table-topping Southampton.
Having lost four games on the bounce, the odds were stacked against a positive result, but Albion remarkably won the game 3-0 (two cracking goals from Matt Sparrow and another from Jake Forster-Caskey).
Nevertheless, within 24 hours of the game ending, Cook finally took the tough decision to leave the Albion permanently. The fee was a reported £150,000.
He told the matchday programme: “I have loved my time at Brighton but this is a chance to play regular football and I can’t turn that down. It was nice to go out on such a high – not many players get that chance.”
Cook reckoned he might have got the odd game or two if he’d stayed at Brighton but he didn’t rate his chances of becoming a regular when everyone was fit. “I could play close to 30 games for Bournemouth and that is massive for a young footballer,” he said.
In a later interview, he said: “It was always going to be a tough decision to leave the Albion as I had been at the club since the age of nine.
“I had a decision to make: do I stay and fight for my place, despite being a fair way down the pecking order, or do I leave and try to continue my career elsewhere?
“It wasn’t easy because I was leaving a club on the rise; the Amex is one of the best stadiums in the country, the team was establishing itself in the Championship and there was a new training ground on the way.
“But having been at Bournemouth on loan, I could also see a hugely ambitious club and a talented squad which I believed was going places.
“So, I decided to leave and it’s been the best decision I could ever have made. I’ve moved away from my parents, so have grown up off the pitch, while on it I’ve been playing regularly and have really enjoyed my football.”
Much of that time he partnered Elphick in the middle of the Cherries defence and it wasn’t long before the pair were emulating the Albion’s achievement of promotion from League One.
“Tommy arrived a year after me but of course I told him about the club, the town and knew it would be a good move for him as it was for me,” he said. “We’d obviously played alongside each other before, had known each other a long time, and so we soon built up a good partnership.
“He had those leadership qualities he displayed at Brighton and was soon made captain. We had a terrific three years together and remain good friends off the pitch.”
In a subsequent Albion matchday programme, when he was once again visiting with the Cherries, he said: “Lovely stadiums and training facilities are great, but only if you’re playing in them and I can now look back on nearly 300 appearances for Bournemouth, where I’ve had some fantastic moments, played regularly in the Premier League and really developed my game. It’s a move that couldn’t have gone better.”
Although Cook held his own in the Premier League, he admitted the transition from the Championship was hard. “The gulf with the Championship is huge,” he said. “The intensity and pressure, in particular, are massive and the first six months were a real learning curve.
“Once I’d adapted and dealt with the expectations placed on me, I could relax and start to enjoy myself.”
Born in Hastings on 19 April 1991, Cook joined the Albion as a schoolboy following a six-week trial under the auspices of Martin Hinshelwood, the head of the youth set-up at the time.
“Initially, I was only training Tuesday evenings in the Eastbourne centre of excellence but, when I reached 13, we were training twice a week with a game on the Sunday,” he recalled.
“I remember I had a choice to make: Hastings Town, my local team, or Brighton and obviously I was swayed by the facilities, the coaching and being associated with a professional club.”
After Bournemouth lost their top tier status in 2020, Cook captained the side through to the Championship play-off semi-finals in 2021 where they were beaten by eventual winners Brentford.
There was plenty of emotion when Cook finally left the club in January 2022 with manager Scott Parker saying: “I know too well what someone like Steve Cook has done for this football club and the journey he has been on with the club. He has been paramount and done everything, really. I wish him all the best.”
And in an open letter to the club’s fans, Cook wrote: “I’ve been lucky enough to captain the team in League One, the Championship and Premier League and writing this just fills me with immense pride.
“The time has come for me take the next step in my career but I will never forget the staff that helped me improve as a player and person.
“The players that I shared a dressing room with and, and most importantly, the fans that supported and cheered for all those games.
“The journey that we have had is one that will never be beaten, and the relationship we had was undeniably strong. Thanks for everything.”
Upon signing for Nottingham Forest, Cook declared: “You can see the progress the club is making and I’m excited for the new challenge.
“I thought it was the perfect time in my career to make this move to hopefully come and contribute and help get this club back to where it wants to be.
“The history of the club speaks for itself and I know how passionate the fans are. I’ve played at the City Ground in the past and it’s always been electric.”
Manager Steve Cooper said: “Steve is a fantastic player and brings a good level of experience, both in the Championship and the level above.
“He’s played in a team that has won a lot of games and I think that that’s important. We want our group to be young and hungry along with players of experience that can drive the team forward and that’s what we’re building.”
Having been part of the Forest side promoted to the Premier League in May 2022, his involvement back in the elite division was restricted to 12 games and he was omitted from Forest’s 25-man Premier League squad for the second half of the 2022-23 season.
In the summer of 2023, he switched to Queens Park Rangers in the Championship, telling the club’s website: “Playing football is the most important thing for me but I also pride myself on being a good character around the group.”
He went on: “My time in the Championship has been quite successful, and that success is something I want to bring here.
“I don’t want my career to peter out, I still really want to be successful and to contest. I still have aims and targets I want to achieve and I’m hoping that the success I’ve had in my career so far continues so that I can help push QPR forward.”
JASON JARRETT was one of multiple additions to Micky Adams’ struggling League One Brighton side in January 2009, advised to head to the Withdean by former Preston playing colleague Joe Anyinsah.
Anyinsah, who had been on loan at the Albion and declined the opportunity to stay in favour of moving to Carlisle United, nonetheless recommended the Seagulls to Jarrett.
The alliteratively named midfielder was 29 when he arrived on a free transfer hoping to reignite his career after a frustrating two-and-a-half years at Deepdale during which time he made just nine appearances.
“I was told by Alan Irvine I had a future at Preston North End, but there is only so long that you can sit on the bench,” he said. “I wanted to leave so that I can play some games and I have heard good things about Brighton so in the end it was a straightforward decision.”
He pointed out: “This is a chance to resurrect my career and I’m grateful to Micky Adams for bringing me down here.”
“We needed a bit more physical strength in midfield, which is why Jason is there,” Adams explained.
His debut for the Seagulls saw him in opposition to a club he’d very nearly signed for – Leicester City – after playing 13 games for them on loan in 2007.
And, in an even more bizarre twist, he ended up wearing the Foxes’ second kit of all yellow in the game on 27 January 2009 because the match referee deemed Albion’s would have clashed.
“Rob Kelly took me to Leicester and I was close to signing for them but it fell through when he was sacked,” Jarrett told the Argus ahead of the game.
“They are a big club and obviously the best team in the League. Everyone can see that, so it is going to be very difficult. They are a club that should definitely be in the Championship at the very least.”
Nevertheless, the Albion caused something of an upset by holding the high-flyers to a goalless draw, and the new man came close to netting the Albion a win.
Brighton were the 13th club of Jarrett’s career, most of which had been spent at Championship level. Anyone of a superstitious nature would say luck was not on his side.
Although he made 12 starts + two as a sub for the Albion, it was only a matter of weeks after he signed that Adams parted company with the Seagulls.
New boss Russell Slade stuck with Jarrett initially but then brought in his own man in Gary Dicker from Stockport County.
Having been given a contract only until the end of the season, Jarrett was not kept on, and it wasn’t long before he was reunited with Adams, this time at Port Vale.
Born in Bury on 14 September 1979, Jarrett started his career as a 16-year-old apprentice with Blackpool, and made his first team debut in November 1998. He moved on to Wrexham for the 1999-2000 season but only made one appearance for the Welsh side. Next up was hometown club Bury in the Second Division where he got a foothold in the team and featured in 69 matches. However, when they went into administration in 2002, they were forced to sell Jarrett to Wigan Athletic for £75,000.
Jarrett was a key part of the Latics midfield as they rose from the fourth tier through to the Championship, making 107 appearances under Paul Jewell.
A broken leg suffered in pre-season ahead of the 2004-05 season sidelined him and after he’d recovered he spent a month on loan at Stoke City under Tony Pulis.
Jarrett moved on before getting the chance to play in the Premier League for Wigan, instead joining Norwich City in the summer of 2005. He had previously played for Canaries boss Nigel Worthington at his first club, Blackpool, but, in common with a few other signings, his chances at Carrow Road were few and far between. He went on loan to Plymouth Argyle in the first part of the season, returning in January 2006, and two months later joined Preston on a temporary basis before making the switch to Deepdale permanent in May that year.
Once again, though, he found a manager in Paul Simpson reluctant to give him a regular starting berth so he went on loans to Hull City (where he played alongside Nicky Forster and David Livermore), Leicester (as mentioned above), QPR (for three months) and Oldham (where Craig Davies was a teammate).
He was picked out in the Albion matchday programme as Oldham’s star man ahead of their visit to the Withdean in February 2008, described as “a mobile, pacy central operator who can get forward but is also prepared to do the grimy tracking back and box-to-box work that are a good midfielder’s staple diet”.
He later returned to Oldham after his short term contract with Port Vale had expired. He’d been without a club in the latter half of the 2009-10 season but, in the summer of 2010, Oldham boss Paul Dickov took him on after a successful trial period. He told the club website: “We have a very young team and Jason’s experience helps us.”
However, he only made eight appearances and in January 2011 he dropped out of the league, initially playing for Conference North FC Halifax Town, then Airbus UK in Wales, before, in May 2013, signing for Conference side Chester. When they were relegated from the Conference in April 2014, Jarrett moved to Salford City.
After his playing days were over, Jarrett set up his own business: ProBall Sport. On his LinkedIn profile, he describes its aims thus: “At ProBall Sport we provide fun, educational sport activities for primary and secondary schools plus nutrition and well-being workshops.
“The power of school sports changed my life,” Jarrett writes. “I know first-hand how much of a positive impact it can have on young children, whether that be in pushing them on towards becoming a professional sports person or keeping them fit, active and healthy.
“I believe that first class sports coaching from a young age had a profound effect on my life and achievements so I developed Proball Sport to directly support and inspire today’s pupils to give them the chance to experience something similar, hopefully, even more special.”
NICKY FORSTER played for and managed Brentford as well as captaining Brighton and scoring a vital relegation-saving goal into the bargain.
The Surrey-born striker, who played alongside David Beckham for England under-21s, scored more than 200 goals in 700 games and it always seemed a shame that his time with the Seagulls didn’t come sooner in his career.
He built a reputation for finding the back of the net at first club Gillingham and was prolific in his first spell with the Bees but he viewed his six years leading the line for Reading as his most successful time in the game.
Forster plundered 67 goals in 179 games (plus 35 as a sub) in six years with the Royals, mostly playing under Alan Pardew and Steve Coppell, but he left for pastures new before they reached the Premier League.
A free transfer took him to Ipswich Town, where Joe Royle’s side were competing in the Championship, and, although Forster top-scored for the Tractor Boys, his total of seven typified a rather lacklustre campaign. One of those goals came against Brighton on Easter Saturday when the relegation-bound Seagulls pulled off a shock 2-1 win courtesy of goals from on-loan Gifton Noel-Williams and young Joel Lynch.
Forster scored in each of the three remaining games that season but they were his last for Town because he moved to link up with his former Reading teammate, Phil Parkinson, at Hull City, who paid £250,000 for the striker’s services. Forster scored six times for City as the side battled to retain their tier two status. Albion tried to sign Forster in January, but Parkinson’s successor Phil Brown wanted to keep him, and they rejected Albion’s £100,000 bid.
Albion finally got their man for £25,000 less in the summer that year, and, in a side largely made up of promising youngsters, in Forster they gained more than just an experienced striker.
Brighton fans were given an idea of what to expect from the new signing when his former Reading teammate Bas Savage told the Argus: “I played a few games with him in the first team and he will definitely bring goals. He is proven wherever he has been.
“He is also a very intelligent player. He makes good runs, works hard, has got very good pace and he can finish, so he will be an asset to Brighton, especially in League One. I think he will really shine.
“He will fit in easily to the dressing room as well. He was a joker at Reading, very funny and a good, bubbly character to have around.”
Savage added: “He was one of the top strikers at Reading and I learnt off all of them.
“I was a young boy at the time and, whoever it is that plays, Alex Revell, Nathan (Elder), Gatts (Joe Gatting), I can see them working well with Fozzy.
“It will be good to link up with him again and hopefully show our stuff together. I know Fozzy’s strengths and I will be looking to help him along in the same way that he can help me along. He brings experience to the team.”
Emerging defender Tommy Elphick was certainly appreciative of the new arrival. “Apart from in games, he brings a competitive edge to training,” he said. “In my eyes he is a bit of a legend really, the model pro on and off the pitch.”
When interviewed by Mike Ward for the matchday programme later that season, Forster declared: “I really am enjoying it here at Brighton. I like being on the training ground and I enjoy playing.
“I am now getting old in football terms, but I have got as much enthusiasm and energy for the game now as I had when I started. I feel that I am a better player now and I am enjoying my football as much as ever.”
Sure enough, with 19 goals in 48 appearances in the 2007-08 season, there was no question Forster proved a great addition to Dean Wilkins’ squad, and he took over as captain when Dean Hammond left the club under a cloud.
In the second half of the season, after Glenn Murray was signed from Rochdale for £300,000, manager Wilkins declared to the Argus: “I think we have got one of the best strike pairs in the division, one of the most threatening.
“When we have got possession and play with a bit of quality they are a really potent pair. If you have got a pair that score 20 goals a season you would expect to be quite successful.”
Unfortunately, seventh place in League One (seven points off the play-off places) was not quite successful enough for chairman Dick Knight, who turned to former boss Micky Adams to steer Albion’s fortunes in the 2008-09 season (a furious Wilkins declining the offer of continuing as first team coach).
While Forster got off to a great start under Adams, scoring a last-minute goal to seal a 2-1 win for the Seagulls in the season-opener at Crewe Alexandra, the Albion’s fortunes gradually unravelled as Adams chopped and changed the side with what, on reflection, were too many loan signings.
For a while, things didn’t look too clever after Russell Slade had been parachuted in to try to stave off the threat of relegation.
At a time when the new boss could really have done with Forster and Murray firing on all cylinders, both were sidelined with injuries. Forster missed eight matches with what was thought might be an anterior cruciate ligament injury in his knee.
Thankfully another former Brentford striker, Lloyd Owusu, stepped into the breach to score some vital goals, together with loan signing Calvin Andrew and the rejuvenated Gary Hart.
Nevertheless, going into the last game of the season, at home to Stockport County at Withdean, Albion still needed to win to avoid the relegation trapdoor.
When Hart left the action early and his replacement Andrew had to be withdrawn at half-time with what turned out to be a bad ACL injury, Slade had no option but to turn to the by-no-means-fit Forster to enter the fray from the bench for a crucial second half.
Fortunately, after County ‘keeper Conrad Logan could only parry a shot from Gary Dicker, Forster was on hand to stab in the only goal of the game from six yards, sparking massive celebrations.
Forster later conceded in an Argus interview: “It wasn’t quite right but I got through the game and the goal was a gift. I didn’t have to be particularly mobile to score it.
“I dosed up on tablets and rehabbed and was really determined to be involved in that game. Thankfully it worked out for me and for Brighton. But I wasn’t 100 per cent. I still had that niggling feeling.”
In a subsequent exploratory operation, it turned out that torn cartilage had been Forster’s problem and he underwent surgery during the close season, somewhat ironically the procedure being delayed a little while because the surgeon involved was operating on Andrew!
“When they took me down to the anaesthetist’s room, there was a guy in there before me,” said Forster. “I had to wait ten or 15 minutes and they said it was an ACL reconstruction going on. I didn’t realise it was Calvin.”
Tony Bloom took over from Dick Knight as Albion chairman that summer and, when the new season got under way, Slade had decided to give the captain’s armband to defender Adam Virgo (Forster remained club captain).
The opening part of the season went horribly wrong and, with only three wins in their first 15 matches, Slade was replaced by effervescent Uruguayan Gus Poyet.
By the end of January, Forster had scored 15 times in 27 matches (plus three as sub), but the beginning of the end of his time with the Albion was nigh when a contractual dispute went public.
The player, by then 36, wanted to know whether he was going to be offered a contract the following season, but that commitment wasn’t forthcoming. Forster aired his dissatisfaction in the media and Poyet left him out of the side.
Forster subsequently clarified his position in a statement on the club website, saying: “I have thoroughly enjoyed my playing years with Brighton and genuinely hoped – and still do – that I would remain at Brighton until the end of my playing days, hopefully with the opportunity to take up a training role.
“The decision to delay the offering of contracts makes life very difficult, particularly for players of my age. I have always been totally committed to Brighton and will continue to be so.”
While the air was cleared, and he was restored to the line-up for a 1-1 draw away to Leeds, that turned out to be his last start for the Albion. Only a matter of weeks later he was sent out on loan to Charlton Athletic until the end of the season, once again linking up with former teammate Parkinson.
Nevertheless, his 51 goals across two and a half seasons at the club were the best measure of his contribution and he was later a more than interested onlooker of Brighton’s fortunes when his stepson, Jake Forster-Caskey forced his way into Poyet’s Championship side.
Born in Caterham, Surrey, on 8 September 1973, Forster was comparatively late into the game, staying on at school to take A-levels.
But he had a lucky break when he played for non-league Horley Town against Gillingham in a friendly. “It was a real right-place-at-the-right-time scenario,” he told Ward in another Albion matchday programme interview.
Gillingham offered him the chance to become a professional and after impressive displays for their youth and reserve sides, he duly signed professional terms in May 1992 when Damien Richardson was in the manager’s chair.
The Gills sent him out on loan to Southern League Margate and Hythe Town. Forster’s career stats are comprehensively recorded by the Margate history website, even though he only played one game for them, when he scored with a clever lob after three minutes of his debut.
Back with the Gills, Forster made his first team debut in September 1992, going on as sub in a 4-1 home win over Wrexham. He went on to establish himself in the side under former Charlton striker Mike Flanagan in the 1993-94 season, top scoring with 18 goals. It was an achievement which prompted Brentford to pay a fee of £320,000 to take him to Griffin Park in June 1994.
The 1994-95 season is firmly etched in the annals of Brentford’s history because David Webb’s side were denied promotion to the elite when a one-off organisational blip meant the fledgling Premier League only took one promoted side from the division below – and the Bees finished second!
Forster had proved a major hit at his new club alongside strike partner Robert Taylor, with the pair netting 47 goals between them (Forster got 26 of them). But automatic promotion was denied when Brentford “choked” in the last month of the season and their agony was compounded when they lost on penalties to Neil Warnock’s Huddersfield in the play-off semi-finals.
For Forster personally, however, his goalscoring prowess brought him to the attention of the international selectors and in June 1995 he earned four England under 21 caps at the Toulon tournament in France, making his debut in a 2-0 defeat against Brazil in a team featuring future full internationals Beckham and Phil Neville.
Forster scored England’s only goal in his third match for Ray Harford’s side, as they beat Angola. He also played in the 2-0 win over Malaysia and in the semi-final against France, when they lost 2-0.
The Bees failed to follow up their near miss the following season, finishing 15th and, although at one point there was talk of Crystal Palace preparing a £2m bid for Forster’s services, it came to nothing. The striker damaged knee ligaments in October 1995 and managed to find the net just the eight times by the season’s end.
It promised to be a different story in 1996-97, though. With Carl Asaba and Marcus Bent supplementing the Forster and Taylor strikeforce, Brentford got off to a flyer and topped what is now the Championship courtesy of an 11-match unbeaten run at the start of the season.
However, the bcfctalk blog was incredulous at what happened next. “We were coasting at the top of the league when the quite staggering decision was taken in January to sell Nicky Forster to arch-nemesis Birmingham City for a mere £700,000.
“He was never replaced, the prolific Carl Asaba was mysteriously shifted out wide to the left wing and the remaining 17 league matches produced a mere 18 points. We failed to score in ten of our last fourteen games and won only once at home after Christmas.”
Forster’s desire to progress his career didn’t play out well with the supporters of Brentford or Gillingham.
“I get booed every time I go there,” he told Brighton’s matchday programme. “It’s sad because I feel I did well for both clubs. And what they paid for me wasn’t a huge amount, so value-for-money wise I feel I did very well for them. It’s not something I worry greatly about, but I do think it’s time they learnt to forgive and forget.
“I don’t think they can really begrudge a player wanting to move on and better himself, better his career. Sometime fans can be a bit fickle!”
While Forster hoped to establish himself at Birmingham, he struggled to get a starting berth in a side managed by former Blues playing legend Trevor Francis. Paul Furlong and Peter Ndlovu were preferred up front, and later Dele Adebola. Forster invariably had to be content with involvement of the bench. Indeed, 46 of his 75 Blues appearances were as a substitute and, when he left for Reading in June 1999, he’d got just 12 goals to his name.
That all changed once he’d made the switch to the Madejski Stadium. The goals flowed (in 2002-03 there were two hat-tricks included in his season’s tally of 17) and in his six seasons with the Royals he notched 67 goals in 214 appearances (35 of which were as a sub).
His form tailed off in his final season with Reading and he began to look elsewhere because he wanted a longer contract than the club were prepared to offer.
Nevertheless, he respected manager Coppell and, when later in his career he took over as boss at Brentford, he said: “I was with Steve Coppell at Reading and I like his manner and demeanour. He is not a ranter and raver. I just like the way he goes about his business.
“He is quite a subdued guy when he speaks, but he speaks a lot of sense. When he talked to me, whether I liked it or not, I couldn’t really argue because it made a lot of sense.”
When Forster returned to Griffin Park as a player at the start of the 2010-11 season, he reflected: “The club holds many happy memories for me. Both the club and I have moved on over the years but I still have the hunger and the mobility to give a good account of myself.”
Manager Andy Scott added: “His goalscoring is a major attraction as that is an area where we have struggled to compete with other teams.
“His ambitions match those of the management team. He is a very dedicated footballer who will add experience, competition and, more importantly, goals to the team.”
Sadly, it didn’t pan out well with Forster only making 12 starts and scoring once. After a topsy turvy six months, Scott and his assistant Terry Bullivant were dismissed and Forster took over as caretaker boss, assisted by Mark Warburton.
When the Bees collected 14 points from six games, the temporary stint was extended until the end of the season.
Remarkably during his brief tenure, Forster took charge of Brentford at Wembley for the final of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, which they lost 1-0 to Carlisle United.
Brentford centre back Leon Legge said later: “Growing up, Wembley was always a sacred ground that not many people get to play at. I wanted to win so bad but it was just a shame we came second-best, especially against Carlisle, who we’d played just over a week earlier and beaten 2-1. Everything went for them that day.
“I know the gaffer at the time [Nicky Forster] made a few changes and I don’t think many agreed with it – for example, Marcus Bean didn’t play when he’d been such a good player leading up to that game. I think that made a difference.
“I still remember looking at the crowd of 40,000 and to play in such a sacred ground in front of that many fans, whether we won or lost, it was a good experience.”
Despite leading Brentford to a mid-table finish, Forster was told he was not in the running for the job on a permanent basis, and Uwe Rösler was appointed instead.
Nonetheless, Forster decided management was his next step and announced an end to his playing days.
“I have had a fantastic career, but the time has come to cross over into management,” he said.
“I’ve scored 200 goals in 700 games and haven’t got anything left to achieve as a player, so I want to concentrate on management.”
The eloquent Forster popped up on Sky Sports, covering Football League matches, and also brought his boots back out to play for Sussex County League side Lingfield.
Then, in September 2011, Forster was appointed player-manager of Blue Square Bet South clubDover Athletic, whose chairman Jim Parmenter said: “Nicky has had an impressive playing career at some big clubs and did very well during his time as manager at Brentford.
“As well as having both UEFA ‘A’ and ‘B’ licences, he is also a great man manager and motivator. Nicky is totally enthused by the prospect of managing the club and we look forward to a very successful future.”
Among his signings were former Brighton teammates Steven Thomson and young goalkeeper Mitch Walker.
Forster said: “I am delighted get Thommo down here at Crabble, especially as his signature was being chased by a number of other clubs both in our league and above. He is an experienced professional who is still hungry for success.”
Sadly, after a run of five successive defeats, his time in charge at Dover was brought to an end in January 2013 when he was replaced by the club’s former manager Chris Kinnear.
Two years later, Forster gave management another go taking charge of Conference South side Staines Town. But he quit after a year, telling getsurrey.co.uk: “I enjoyed every moment even though we had some low times, but it’s a learning experience and I left on good terms with the chairman and the fans who were great to me.”
In September 2016, Forster set up his own gym – The Spot Wellness Centre – in Godstone. As well as running that, he is now self employed and, on LinkedIn, describes himself as a goal setting coach and keynote speaker.
• Pictures from the Argus, Albion’s matchday programme and online sources.
DUCK-loving Matt Heath didn’t shirk a challenge and came to Brighton’s rescue in 2009 when injury and suspension decimated Albion’s available defenders.
Albion were fighting for their League One lives and were in between managers when Heath arrived in March to plug a gap caused by Tommy Elphick, Adam Hinshelwood and Adam Virgo all being sidelined.
Experienced former Leicester City central defender Heath joined on loan from Colchester United, signed at the same time as striker Lloyd Owusu, who undoubtedly made more of a noteworthy contribution with some vital goals and his famous ‘raising the roof’ goal celebration.
As well as defensive problems, Albion also had Nicky Forster, Glenn Murray and loan signing Calvin Andrew out injured as they approached a period of games vital to their chances of staying in the division.
On signing the pair, caretaker manager Dean White told the Argus: “The injury situation meant it was vital to bring players in and Matt and Lloyd are two good additions. They certainly strengthen the squad and both have good experience at this level and higher.”
The 6ft 4ins Heath had made 11 appearances for Colchester that season but only one start since the turn of the year.
He played in six games and scored on his debut away to Leyton Orient on 8 March, the game which marked the beginning of Russell Slade’s period in charge of the Seagulls. Ultimately a recurrence of groin trouble brought an end to his brief Albion career.
Ironically, it was Slade’s predecessor at the Withdean, Micky Adams, who’d been Heath’s manager at Leicester, Coventry City and Colchester.
Born in Leicester on 11 January 1981, Heath came through the Foxes academy, made his debut in the 2001-02 season and went on to play 60 first team games for the club, including 17 Premier League games alongside Ricardo Scimeca. During the 2003-04 season, he had an eight-game loan spell with Stockport County.
In 2005, Adams went back to his old club to take Heath to Coventry City for a £45,000 fee. He played 26 games for the Sky Blues in 2005-06 but only eight games the following season and, in November 2006, was loaned out to Leeds United who made the move permanent in January 2007.
Heath relished his time playing under manager Dennis Wise and his assistant Gus Poyet but after playing 50 games for Leeds, Wise’s successor Gary McAllister deemed him surplus to requirements at Elland Road and Heath once again went to play for Adams, this time at Colchester.
He initially joined on loan but then spent five seasons on the Us’ books, making a total of 106 appearances, albeit during his time with them he had a couple of spells out on loan.
One of those was that brief stint at Brighton and the following season he played four games for Southend United.
When his contract was up at Colchester, he switched to Northampton Town, where the manager was one of his old Colchester bosses, Aidy Boothroyd, but he didn’t make any first team appearances and left the club to join non-league Harrogate Town in January 2008 where he made 29 appearances. Next up was Harrogate Railway FC.
However, Heath simultaneously pursued an education role in sport, and he became a course manager and lecturer at Askham Bryan College in York having studied football coaching at the University of East Anglia.
In March 2019, Askham Bryan College announced it was becoming a sports hub for Leeds United, with Heath playing a prominent role.
Heath talked about the importance of former professional players having a plan for life after football in an interview with Non-League Yorkshire.
He said: “I’ve had so many good friends in the pro game and they’re all five years younger than me and I’ve told all of them to do something because you have so much time on your hands when you’re playing pro football.
“I’ve said: ‘Get a qualification or do something because when it all finishes, you either get lucky and fall into something like myself or you’ll be in a place where you’re not sure what to do’.
“I think most of the lads in the pro game don’t realise that it just stops like that.”
In 2015, Heath combined his day job with captaining Northern League – North West Division side Tadcaster Albion and then became assistant manager for two years, working under Billy Miller, who was his boss (head of sports and public services) at Askham before being promoted to a director.
Heath subsequently became a teacher-coach in Leeds’ education department, working with a group of would-be footballer students in Nottingham.
“The kids finish their GCSEs and want to carry on in education and the college provide a programme where they carry on with their education, get a Level 3 BTEC-extended Diploma and we link it alongside training every day and play in the National League as well, ” he explained to Jonathan Waldron of the Colchester Gazette, in a February 2021 interview.
“So the kids get the training, the education and luckily I’ve got a role there where I’m part of both of it, in the classroom and out on the training field as well and matchdays for our college.”
Telling the reporter that he still looks out for the results of all the clubs he used to play for, he added: “It’s nice to reminisce but my family just tell me to shut up if I go on about it!
“I was lucky; dedication and hard work gets you a long way in football and you have to have a bit of a rub of the green, along the way and managers and coaches who take an interest in you and see something and then roll with it a little bit.
DUCK-loving Matt Heath didn’t shirk a challenge and came to Brighton’s rescue in 2009 when injury and suspension decimated Albion’s available defenders.
In parallel lines 