‘Great talent’ England Schools’ captain Barrie Wright quit at 25

BARRIE WRIGHT (not to be confused with the deep-voiced crooner with a similar-sounding name) was a former Leeds United playing colleague of Freddie Goodwin who followed him to Brighton via America.

Despite showing plenty of early promise, including captaining the England Schools side, Bradford-born Wright played more games for Goodwin’s New York Generals than he did in English league football.

Goodwin signed Wright and goalkeeper Geoff Sidebottom together for the Albion on 31 December 1968, a matter of weeks after he’d succeeded Archie Macaulay as Brighton manager.

The Albion programme in those days eschewed full-scale profiles and simply noted of the new arrival that he “can play on either flank in defence”.

His first Brighton appearance was as a substitute for Charlie Livesey in a 1-1 draw away to Plymouth Argyle on 4 January. He took over Mike Everitt’s left-back slot for the following two games, also both 1-1 draws, at home to Stockport County and away to Bristol Rovers.

But he tweaked his groin in the game against Rovers and missed six matches.

He was restored to left-back for a home goalless draw with Plymouth Argyle on 5 March, and played in the following two games.

One was the 4-0 hammering of Southport at the Goldstone, which was only my second Albion game (having watched them beat Walsall 3-0 three weeks earlier).

The plentiful goalscoring – notably two in each match by Alex Dawson – had me hooked!).

Wright kept the shirt for a 2-1 away win at Shrewsbury, but was then dropped to the bench for the next game, a 2-0 defeat at Oldham, when John Templeman took over at left-back and Stewart Henderson won back the no.2 shirt.

The Yorkshireman didn’t play another game that season although the matchday programme finally got round to telling us more about the player in a short profile item for the home game against Barrow, when I saw Albion score another four goals to secure a comfortable 4-1 win (Dawson again scored twice, the others from Kit Napier and Dave Armstrong).

“Barrie rates Albion as the happiest club he has known, and has quickly settled down in Sussex,” the programme told us.

We also learned he had been a keen angler and was a member of the Bradford Anglers Association, “finding this the perfect relaxation from soccer”.

A useful batsman and medium-fast bowler too, he had added golf to his sporting repertoire when in America and was regularly to be found on a course with Sidebottom.

But back to the football, and Goodwin, having steadied the ship with a number of his own signings, saw Albion finish the 1968-69 season in a comfortable mid-table position.

*Norman Gall, Wright (top right) and Dave Armstrong enjoy a dressing room laugh with Norman Wisdom.*

An alarm Bell would have rung for Wright that summer though – in the shape of experienced Scottish international left-back Willie Bell. Goodwin signed their former Leeds teammate from Leicester City as a player-coach; Wright had understudied Bell at Elland Road.

However, it was Everitt who stepped in for the only two games Bell missed all season, and Wright’s involvement was confined to one substitute appearance in a 2-0 defeat away to Doncaster Rovers, and three games in November and December deputising for Dave Turner in midfield.

The 0-0 draw at home to Orient on 13 December proved to be his last outing for the Albion.

In September 1970, Wright went on loan to Hartlepool United but when he wasn’t able to earn a regular place, decided to quit league football at the age of 25 to become a warehouseman.

He carried on playing in non-league, though, and appeared in the Northern Premier League with Bradford Park Avenue (right) and Gainsborough Trinity and spent some time with Thackley of the Yorkshire League.

Born in Bradford on 6 November 1945, Wright was one of eleven children – nine of them boys (one brother, Ken, played for Bradford City). Barrie earned selection for Yorkshire Boys and went on to captain the England Schools side on seven occasions in 1960-61.

He was taken on by Leeds as a teenager, turning professional in 1962 at the age of 17.

mightyleeds.co.uk described Wright as “a defender of rich potential” who first caught the eye in a pre-season friendly against Leicester City, alongside the legendary John Charles.

The Yorkshire Post’s Richard Ulyatt spoke of Wright’s “excellent form” and said he “looked to have the necessary technique”, while accepting that conclusions from “half-speed friendlies … must be taken with reservations”.

Wright spent four seasons at Leeds and was captain of United’s Central League side. He did make a total of eight first team appearances, though. mightyleeds.co.uk discovered this wonderful description of Wright’s league debut for Leeds at home to Preston on 13 April 1963, when he deputised for veteran Grenville Hair at left-back.

Leeds won 4-1, and the aforementioned Ulyatt reported: “For a time Preston tried to probe for a weakness on the Leeds left, where Barrie Wright, 17, was playing his first game as a senior.

“A better forward line might have found him a bit uncertain and occasionally inclined to commit himself too soon to a sliding tackle, but any judge of a footballer would recognise that here was a great talent.

*Wright was part of a star-studded squad at Leeds United*

“His first contact with the game came after about ten minutes when he delicately headed a pass to Albert Johanneson with the artistry of a basketball player. Soon afterwards he tried to pass the ball 20 yards along the touchline edge from a foot inside the field and failed by inches: that was football. In recent years I have seen only (Jimmy) Armfield, (Alf) Ramsey, (Tony) Allen and (Johnny) Carey do it better.”

He kept his place for two more games: two days later in a 2-1 away win over Charlton Athletic on 15 April (Easter Monday) and a 4-1 home win against the same side the following day!

In the 1963-64 season, when Leeds went on to become Division Two champions, he replaced Paul Reaney in a 2-0 win away to Leyton Orient on 23 November 1963.

Phil Brown in the Evening Post reported: “It was most encouraging to see another youngster, Wright, in the side for the first time this season, respond so well to the occasion.

“He was sharper and sounder than on any of his previous three outings, and that against the fleet and strong Musgrove, and hard trying inside-left Elwood.”

However, it was another two months before he got another chance. On 1 February 1964, he took over at left-back in a 1-1 home draw against Cardiff City. On that occasion the Post’s Brown was less complimentary.

“I was most disappointed with young Wright at left-back,” he wrote. “He grew progressively worse, probably through increasing nervousness.”

Nevertheless, Wright was selected in the England Youth team squad for the 17^th UEFA Youth Tournament in the Netherlands in March and April 1964.

England won it and Wright appeared in two of their five matches, both won 4-0: against Portugal in Den Haag on 3 April and against Spain two days later in Amsterdam.

His teammates in those matches included Everton’s Howard Kendall as captain, John Hollins (Chelsea), Harry Redknapp and John Sissons (West Ham), Peter Knowles (Wolves), David Sadler (Man Utd) and Don Rogers (Swindon).

Rather like in the modern era, fringe players tended to get a run-out in the League Cup and Wright made two appearances in the competition in 1964-65, taking over from Reaney in the second round 3-2 win over Huddersfield Town on 23 September, and the third round tie on 14 October when United lost 3-2 at home to eventual semi-finalists Aston Villa.

Wright’s final Leeds first team appearance came once again in the League Cup, when he took Norman Hunter’s no.6 shirt in a much-changed side who lost 4-2 at home to eventual winners West Brom in the third round on 13 October 1965. (West Brom won the two-legged final 5-3 on aggregate against a West Ham side that included Dennis Burnett).

*Wright and Sidebottom line up for New York Generals*

With first team opportunities so rare, Wright eventually left Elland Road in 1966 to try his luck with Goodwin’s New York Generals, joining fellow Brits Sidebottom and Barry Mahy, who had followed Goodwin to the States from Scunthorpe.

The Generals’ most famous player was Cesar Luis Menotti, who later coached Argentina to a World Cup triumph in 1978.

nasljerseys.com records that Wright wore the no.12 shirt and played 26 matches in 1967 and 32 games in 1968.

Wright died aged 78 in November 2023.

Eventful Albion stopover for on-loan Calvin Andrew

JOURNEYMAN striker Calvin Andrew is unlikely to forget his eventful months playing for the Seagulls on loan from Crystal Palace.

The Luton-born forward got off to a great start in January 2009 when he scored a 90^th-minute winner on his debut for the Seagulls.

In only his fourth game, he damaged a hamstring against his hometown club – a match that turned out to be the last for the manager who’d brought him in on loan.

While Andrew was back at Selhurst Park recovering from the injury, a new boss – but familiar face – took charge at the Withdean.

Andrew rejoined the Seagulls but couldn’t force his way into the starting line-up because Lloyd Uwusu had arrived to take centre stage. However, the loanee scored two vital goals in Albion’s ‘Great Escape’ when going on as a substitute.

To cap it all, in the nail-biting last game of the season, when Brighton just preserved their League One status with a 1-0 win over Stockport County, Andrew suffered a horrific injury which sidelined him for six months.

Andrew, who had lost his place at Palace after picking up an injury at the start of the season, had joined the Seagulls as part of a major January transfer window overhaul Micky Adams oversaw in an attempt to revive the club’s flagging League One fortunes.

When he signed, Adams said: “Calvin is a young centre-forward and will complement our existing forwards by giving us an added physical presence up front.

“He is over six-foot tall and the type of striker who makes things happen and can be a real handful for opposing defenders.”

The player himself, who had only joined Palace the previous summer for a £30,000 fee, said: “I went there and at the start of the season I was playing games and I was doing well. But then the situation changed. I got injured and since then I haven’t been able to get back in the team.

“The team has been doing really well and it’s totally understandable from my point of view. Neil Warnock still rates me highly, but he wants me to go out and get some games and get myself ready for when my chance does come.

“It was quite an easy decision. There were a few clubs in for me, but Brighton is relatively close to where I’m living so it was an easy choice. It’s a good club.

“I didn’t know any of the players, but I knew the manager. He’s a great manager and I’m looking forward to playing for him. Everybody knows about Nicky Forster. He’s an experienced player and there’s always something to learn as well as forming a good partnership.”

With Forster scoring Albion’s first against Hartlepool United at the Withdean on 31 January 2009, the script looked like it had been perfectly written when Andrew netted a winner in the last minute to seal a 2-1 victory.

Unfortunately, successive home defeats – 4-2 to Peterborough United and 2-0 to Carlisle United – in five days followed by elimination from the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy at Luton the following week was too much for Adams to stomach and he decided to quit after meeting chairman Dick Knight the day before the next match, which ironically saw Albion win 1-0 at Millwall.

Andrew wasn’t involved because he’d picked up a hamstring injury at Kenilworth Road, a ground where he’d made a first team debut as a 17-year-old in the 2004-05 season. Born in Luton on 19 December 1986, Andrew was a prolific goalscorer as a youth player at his hometown club.

When he was sent out on loan to gain experience at League Two Grimsby Town in 2005, he played nine matches under manager Russell Slade.

And it was Slade who was parachuted in at the Withdean to try to steer Albion away from the League One relegation trapdoor in the Spring of 2009.

Even though Albion picked up only four points from Slade’s first seven games in charge, the former Yeovil boss slowly turned things around with four wins in the next five games to lift the Seagulls out of the bottom four.

Andrew spoke about the change in fortunes in an Argus interview. He told reporter Steve Hollis: “We have shown different qualities which I don’t think we had when I was at the club before my injury. There is some real resilience now.

“I know Russell Slade quite well and he asks all of his teams to show some grit when the going gets tough. He demands you stick in there when you are struggling and to keep going.”

Andrew was buoyant having headed the winner from Gary Hart’s cross in the 52nd minute at Bristol Rovers after leaving the bench before half-time to replace the injured Dean Cox.

“That was a big goal,” he said. “It was important for me because I am coming back from injury but it was more important for the club and the town.

“I usually hang around the back post when I am playing on the left but Dean White told me to get into attacking positions and it was a cross you dream about from Hart.”

He told Hollis: “When I initially had the injury, my fear was that I wouldn’t play again this season. I had a very bad tear in two places in the hamstring and was told it would take a very long time to repair.

“Fortunately, I seem to recover pretty quickly, and I am glad because I want to play a part in helping Albion stay up. It means a lot for me that Brighton stay up, even though I am only on loan.

“I have been made to not only feel part of the team but part of the town and it would be awful to go down.

“The supporters have been great and welcomed me even though I am from a rival team, so it is my duty to give 110 per cent. Just because I am on loan doesn’t make any difference.”

Andrew had to contend himself with another appearance from the bench in the following match but, again, he made a positive impact after replacing Hart, who limped off injured after only nine minutes of the game at Huddersfield.

The young striker levelled up the game after Town had taken the lead and Owusu continued his purple patch of form by netting a second equaliser to give Albion a share of the spoils.

Palace boss Warnock had been contemplating recalling Andrew but was told he would start in Albion’s crunch final home game against Stockport County. In fact, Slade once again opted to use Gary Hart in the starting line-up instead but Andrew was sent on in injured Hart’s place after only 17 minutes and went close to breaking the deadlock with a header that hit the top of the bar.

Forster, who had also been troubled by injury throughout the season, had to replace Andrew for the second half because he picked up an anterior cruciate knee ligament injury which ultimately prevented him playing for six months.

It wasn’t until October 2009 that Andrew got back playing for Palace reserves, and their assistant manager, Mick Jones told the club’s website: “Calvin played for half-an-hour on Monday. He is miles ahead of schedule following one of the worst injuries I have ever seen.”

The 2009-10 season saw Palace in all sorts of trouble: going into administration, Warnock departing as a result, Paul Hart taking over as manager, and the side only narrowly avoiding relegation. Andrew got 13 starts as Palace battled at the wrong end of the Championship, but he was more often a substitute, coming off the bench on 19 occasions.

With game time limited under new boss George Burley the following season, Andrew once again went out on loan: briefly to feature in three games for fellow Championship side Millwall in November, and in the New Year to League One Swindon Town, where his old Palace boss Hart was in charge.

Although he was involved in the Palace set-up at the start of the 2011-12 season, by the following March he went out on loan again, this time reuniting with Slade at Leyton Orient. He only started two matches, though, and didn’t score in any of the 10 games played while he was at Brisbane Road.

At the end of the season, Palace boss Dougie Freedman didn’t offer Andrew a new contract. His next stop saw him link up with League Two Port Vale on a two-month deal under former Albion boss Adams.

While he managed to earn a contract until the end of the season, he only started eight matches and was used as a substitute on 15 occasions.

With no new deal in the offing, he then switched to another League Two side, Mansfield Town, for the first part of 2013-14 before joining York City in the closing months.

It was in the summer of 2014 that he finally found a more permanent berth, at Rochdale, who’d been newly promoted to League One.

In six seasons at Spotland, Andrew scored 28 goals in 231 appearances and over four years was recognised as a ‘community champion’ for the amount of work he did in the local community, including school visits and involvement with the club’s women’s teams. In 2020, he was declared the League One PFA Community Champion.

One blot on his copybook came in 2016 when he was handed a 12-match FA ban (later reduced to nine games) after video evidence found him guilty of elbowing Oldham’s Peter Clarke in the face in an incident the referee missed.

After leaving Rochdale, he didn’t get fixed up with a new club until March 2021, when he joined Barrow AFC until the end of the season.

• Pictures from matchday programmes.

Malcolm in the middle was moustachioed marksman Poskett

MALCOLM POSKETT’s goals helped Brighton to win promotion from the second tier after he’d made a terrific start to his Albion career.

Only two days after putting pen to paper in Hove, Poskett netted the equaliser in a 1-1 draw away to Hull City on 4 February 1978 and a week later he marked his home debut with a goal in Albion’s 2-1 win over Burnley.

The game at Boothferry Park was only six minutes old when the home side went ahead but Poskett levelled it up just before half-time after a Tony Towner corner was headed goalwards by Andy Rollings and the new arrival diverted it into the net.

A £60,000 signing from fourth tier Hartlepool United, Poskett had taken over the no.9 shirt from Ian Mellor, who had only been in the side for one game in the injury absence of Teddy Maybank.

Maybank’s big money signing from Fulham four months earlier had broken up the highly successful Mellor-Peter Ward partnership that earned Albion promotion from the old Third Division, and Poskett’s arrival only served to illuminate the Goldstone exit door even brighter for Mellor, who swiftly departed for Chester.

A crowd of 22,694 saw the new man’s Division Two debut on an icy Goldstone Ground pitch. Poskett once again profited from a Towner pass to score. Skipper Brian Horton scored Albion’s other goal.

It all must have felt very showbiz to the lad from Teesside, used to playing in front of 5,000 crowds in the Fourth Division, especially when prior to kick off against the Clarets, Slade, a famous chart-topping pop group of the time, recorded a single on the pitch in front of the North Stand.

While Maybank reclaimed his starting berth from Poskett for six matches, he was troubled by a knee injury and Poskett got the nod for the remaining seven games of the season as Albion chased automatic promotion, which at that time was earned by the top three sides in the division. There were no play-offs.

Poskett repaid Mullery’s faith in him with a hat-trick in a 4-0 win away to Bristol Rovers and by netting the only goal of the game in the penultimate fixture at home to Charlton Athletic in front of 31,203 fans.

What happened next has been well documented: Albion missed out on promotion when Southampton (in second) and Spurs (third) conveniently drew 0-0 in the final match of the season; Spurs edging out the Seagulls on goal difference.

Maybank had a successful cartilage operation during the summer break and was initially the preferred partner for Ward as the new season got under way.

Poskett banged in a transfer request as a mark of his frustration but, after Mullery persuaded him to withdraw it, he got his chance back in the side and made the most of opportunities that came his way.

Mullery admitted in Matthew Horner’s biography of Ward (He Shot, He Scored, Sea View Media) that he wasn’t always fair on Poskett when reverting to the Ward-Maybank partnership.

He pointed out: “Malcolm Poskett did a terrific job when we signed him. He was one of the most under-rated goalscorers – absolutely brilliant.

“He was really similar to Wardy, very sharp and very quick but a bit taller and a bit stronger.”

By the end of the season that ended in promotion to the top tier of English football for the first time, Poskett had contributed 10 goals in 24 games (plus eight sub appearances). He was the substitute in the famous 3-1 win back in his native north-east when Newcastle were beaten by the Seagulls on 5 May 1979.

Brighton struggled to find their feet in more exalted company and Poskett barely got a look-in, coming on as a sub twice and only starting three matches, the last of which was in the resounding 4-0 defeat to Arsenal in the League Cup on 13 November 1979.

He scored twice, though: netting the only goal in an away League Cup win over Northampton Town, and four days later scoring along with Peter O’Sullivan as Albion pulled back a 2-0 deficit to draw 2-2 at West Brom.

*Poskett wheels away to celebrate his only top flight goal, away to West Brom*

However, with the arrival of Ray Clarke from Ajax, it was clear Poskett’s chances at the Albion were going to remain limited, so he dropped back down a level to join promotion-seeking Watford under Graham Taylor. Albion goalkeeper Eric Steele had already made a similar switch in the autumn of that season shortly after a famous spat with Gary Williams at Old Trafford. Mullery also secured a £120,000 fee for Poskett, so Albion did very nicely out of the deal.

“I would have loved to stay at Brighton for the rest of my career, but it wasn’t to be,” Poskett told Spencer Vignes in a retrospective matchday programme article. “One week I was partnering Peter Ward, the next it would be Teddy with Peter. I never got a run in the team, even though I scored a couple of goals when I did play.

“At least with Watford I got the chance to start games. People called us kick and run, a long ball side, but we had a lot of talented players like Ross Jenkins, John Barnes and Nigel Callaghan.”

Poskett struck up a friendship with fellow new boy Martin Patching and both were on the scoresheet (Poskett scored twice) in a memorable 7-1 League Cup thrashing of Southampton on 2 September 1980.

Although being Watford’s top scorer with 21 goals in the 1980-81season, when the Hornets finished ninth, the following season he found himself in the reserves after a three-game barren spell.

In a Watford matchday programme article, he mused: “It’s a strange profession – one minute you’re up and the next down.

“I played in the first three league games of the season without scoring and was dropped. But I’m scoring fairly regularly in the reserve side and my chance will come if I keep on hitting the net. I’m a battler and not the type of player to give less than 100 per cent, no matter what grade of football I’m playing in.”

Watford won promotion as runners up behind close rivals Luton Town but Poskett couldn’t shift Luther Blissett or Jenkins, who were the preferred strike pairing, and Gerry Armstrong, later to join Brighton, was invariably the back-up option.

Born in Middlesbrough on 19 July 1953, Poskett went to Beechwood Junior School and then on to Brackenhoe Secondary Technical. His footballing ability in school sides eventually led to him being selected for North Riding Schools.

He was a decent all-round sportsman – a useful cricketer who played for Middlesbrough Schools, he also featured in local leagues at table tennis, and enjoyed tennis and badminton too.

But at 16 the budding sportsman started out as an apprenticeship plater at Cargofleet Steelworks, only playing football for the local Beechwood Youth Club and then South Bank in the Northern League.

His performances for South Bank caught the eye of Middlesbrough and he was taken on as a professional. But after 18 months in their reserves, manager Jack Charlton gave him a free transfer and he opted to become a plater on North Sea oil rigs to earn a wage.

He didn’t turn his back on football altogether, turning out part-time for Whitby Town in the Northern League. Scoring an incredible 98 goals over two seasons was bound to attract attention.

George Aitken, later a Watford coach and then a coach under Mullery at Brighton, was Workington manager at the time and tried to sign Poskett, but, disillusioned by his Boro experience he chose to stick with Whitby until Hartlepool manager Billy Horner convinced him he could still make it in the professional game.

For a £25 transfer fee, Horner took him on and devoted hours of extra time working on the youngster’s skills and sharpness. It paid off.

“My work rate was non-existent, but Billy Horner really worked on me and got me going,” Poskett told Shoot! magazine. “If it wasn’t for him, I don’t think I would have got anywhere – I’d still be in non-League soccer. It was so hard at first, I felt like packing it in, but he kept me at it and I’m very grateful now.”

His goalscoring at Hartlepool caught the eye of Ken Craggs when he was a coach at Fulham and when Craggs switched to become Mullery’s no.2 at the Goldstone, Poskett followed soon after, the £60,000 fee representing a tidy profit for the struggling North East minnows.

In an interview with The Argus in 2017, Poskett recalled: “Brighton was one of the best times of my life.

“I came in during the season when we just missed out on promotion and the lads were fantastic. It was a fabulous place to live as well.

“I had to come from one end of the country to the other but, once I got there, there were lads from up north, the Midlands, so it was a good mixed bunch and I felt right at home.”

After helping Watford to promotion in 1982, Poskett headed back north and played for Carlisle United for three seasons, thriving under the managership of Bob Stokoe, who’d led Sunderland to FA Cup glory in 1973.

In the penultimate game of the 1983-84 season, Poskett scored his 100^th career goal – and his 101^st – as Carlisle drew 2-2 at home to Crystal Palace in front of a paltry crowd at Brunton Park of just 3,038.

Poskett subsequently had six months at Darlington, before switching to Stockport County in January 1986.

Appearances were few and far between and he went on loan to his old club Hartlepool in March the same year before moving back to Carlisle in August 1986. He finally hung up his boots at the end of the 1987-88 season.

He remained in the town and in 2017 was working as an examiner at Pirelli, the tyre manufacturer.

Pictures from Albion matchday programmes and online sources.

Paynter left a blank canvas at Seagulls and Blades

A JOURNEYMAN striker who fired blanks for Brighton and Sheffield United only found very occasional purple patches of goalscoring in a 12-club, 17-year career.

Billy Paynter didn’t manage a single goal in 10 games on loan for Gus Poyet’s Seagulls and carried with him from parent club Leeds United the somewhat unkind epithet ‘Barn door Billy’ for his proverbial inability to hit one with a banjo.

A subsequent half-season loan spell at Sheffield United under Nigel Clough yielded a similar zero in the goals scored column.

A journey around the message boards on supporter websites uncovers some brutal and unflattering comments about Paynter’s contribution for their team and yet it was a career that yielded 131 goals in 529 games – one in four.

And it all began promisingly under the guidance of former Albion captain and manager, Brian Horton.

Born in the Norris Green area of Liverpool on 13 July 1984, Paynter joined Port Vale’s academy at the tender age of 10 and turned professional soon after his 16th birthday.

Horton gave Paynter his first team debut when he was only 16 years and 294 days old on 3 May 2001 as a 61^st-minute substitute at home to Walsall.

It was 10 months before he made a start, although he got a few more sub appearances, and Vale supporters had to wait until the start of the 2002-03 season for his first goal, after he’d replaced injured crowd favourite Steve McPhee in a home game against Wrexham.

Eventually, Paynter got into his stride and his popularity with the fans saw him voted Player of the Year in 2004-05.

His 34 goals in 158 games for Vale caught the eye of another former Albion manager, Peter Taylor, at then-Championship side Hull City.

Signed initially on loan, a fee of £150,000 took him on a permanent two-and-a-half-year contract to the KC Stadium in January 2006.

The following month Paynter turned out as a right-sided midfield player for a Football League Under-21 team (selected and managed by Taylor) in a game against an Italian Serie B side at the KC Stadium.

Taylor also experimented with him in the same position for Hull but, having scored only three times in 23 matches, Paynter was on the move again after only eight months.

He switched to Southend United, also in the Championship, for £200,000 in August 2006 and somewhat ironically, his only goal for the Shrimpers was scored against Brighton in a 3-2 League Cup win at Roots Hall in September 2006.

A lack of goals and a hamstring injury meant his stay in Essex was cut short and for the second half of the 2006-07 season he went on loan to League One Bradford City, where he managed four goals in 15 matches, including one on his debut.

On August deadline day in 2007, Paynter’s next move saw Paul Sturrock sign him for Swindon Town. Within a month he had netted a hat-trick against Bournemouth and added two more in a 5-0 win over Gillingham the following month.

It wasn’t all plain sailing for him, though, and after a two-month goal drought which had seen him lose his place, he told BBC Radio Swindon: “You can try and do too much and get caught up with it, but if you relax and get on with your game, I think it will come naturally.”

Paired with Simon Cox initially, Paynter got amongst the goals in support of the main man. But he stepped up a gear after Cox was sold to West Brom in the summer of 2009. His new strike partner was a young Charlie Austin and the pair enjoyed a rich seam of goalscoring form in the 2009-10 season under former Albion captain Danny Wilson.

Paynter had a spell where he scored 15 goals in 17 games and ended the season with 29 goals in 52 matches, his best goals-to-games ratio in a season. Swindon’s captain that season was none other than Gordon Greer, who remains a close friend of Paynter.

Four of Paynter’s goals had been scored against Leeds and, in the summer of 2010, he moved to Elland Road on a Bosman free transfer, with Wilson admitting to BBC Radio Wiltshire: “Anybody who scores nearly 30 goals in a season will be wanted by bigger clubs than us.”

Leeds boss Simon Grayson said: “He has matured as a player over the last couple of years and he had a fantastic season last season. He works ever so hard, holds the ball up well and he has proved he knows where the back of the net is.

“When we knew he was available we were desperate to get him. We feel he will be a good acquisition for the club, and I am delighted to have got him.”

Unfortunately, his time at Leeds didn’t start well when he picked up a shin stress fracture in a pre-season match in Slovakia, leading to him missing the start of the season.

It wasn’t until the second week of October that he was able to make his Leeds debut and starts were rare as Luciano Becchio and Davide Somma were Grayson’s preferred selection up front. Paynter didn’t register his first goal for Leeds until the following March, in a 2-1 win at Preston. It was his only goal in 23 matches that season.

As the 2011-12 season got under way, Grayson had added Mikael Forssell to his striking options and the manager encouraged Paynter to talk to other clubs, with Sheffield United and Brighton discussed as possible destinations.

Paynter preferred to stay and try to stake a claim for a place but, having only played once as a sub in the opening game of the season, he decided to make a three-month loan switch to Brighton at the end of October 2011.

On 29th October 2011, he made his Brighton debut as a 67^th-minute substitute for Matt Sparrow in a 0-0 draw away to Birmingham City.

The first of his six starts came on 1 November in a 0-1 defeat at Watford. He came off the bench a further three times and, without troubling the scorers, returned to Elland Road in January.

Back at Leeds he had to wait until April before he was selected by new manager Neil Warnock for a home game against Peterborough United. Paynter scored twice in a 4-1 win and, when replaced by substitute Becchio in the final minute, left the field to a standing ovation. But he picked up an Achilles injury in the following game away to Blackpool and was made available for transfer at the end of the season.

Paynter earned a place in a planetfootball.com poll listing 13 of Leeds’ “worst and weirdest signings under Ken Bates” although he was good-humoured enough to acknowledge it in a 2018 Under the Cosh podcast.

“I’ve always said there’s some players that will be remembered for being good, there’s some players that will be remembered for being sh*te,” he said. “No one remembers the OK players. Take the positives out of a bad situation, in that way I will be remembered!”

It was former Brighton striker Dean Saunders who was responsible for Paynter’s next move, picking him up on a free transfer for League One Doncaster Rovers on 13 August 2012.

While Saunders left the Keep Moat Stadium in January 2013 to join Wolves, Paynter played his part in Rovers winning promotion back to the Championship under Brian Flynn, top-scoring with 15 goals as Rovers returned to the second tier as champions.

An anonymous Donny fan recalled: “He had some good games for us and made the pass from the missed penalty at Brentford that enabled (James) Coppinger to score and win us promotion. He is best played in the box. He causes all sorts of problems. He is a tough guy and takes no prisoners. I liked him but I would say League One is his limit.”

A familiar face in the shape of Brian Horton arrived as assistant manager to new Donny manager Paul Dickov (Flynn had been promoted to director of football) in the summer of 2013.

It must have given Paynter some satisfaction on 27 August 2013 when he scored in a League Cup tie at home to Leeds, although the visitors ran out 3-1 winners. However, that was his only goal and, after managing only one start and 11 appearances off the bench, up to Christmas, he was sent on loan to League One Sheffield United for the second half of the 2013-14 season.

An exiled Blades fan living in Leeds, ‘Blader’ said: “I am uninspired and don’t see this is a great signing. I’ve seen him play many a time and never seen him perform notably and he is a laughing stock in Leeds for how badly he performed.”

He made his debut as a sub against Notts County on 11 January 2014 but spent much of the time on the sub’s bench as manager Nigel Clough preferred to play with ‘a false 9’. Paynter made just six starts and came off the bench seven times but no goals were forthcoming. United finished seventh, one place off the play-off places, seven points adrift of sixth-placed Peterborough United.

Paynter was only a spectator as United remarkably reached the semi-final of the FA Cup, losing 5-3 at Wembley to Hull City, Jamie Murphy, later to play for Brighton, among the Blades scorers. A young Harry Maguire at the back for the Blades was named the League One player of the year.

The last three seasons of his playing career saw Paynter drop into League Two and he joined Carlisle United on the same day as former Albion midfielder Gary Dicker.

However, the season wasn’t even a month old when Graham Kavanagh lost his job as manager. His successor Keith Curle steered them to a fifth from bottom finish.

Paynter’s involvement was limited to 12 starts plus eight appearances off the bench and he and Dicker clashed with Curle when they sought PFA guidance after they were fined for allegedly failing to attend training sessions.

In the close season, Paynter headed 90 miles east to Hartlepool United, who’d just avoided dropping out of the league after finishing four points above Cheltenham Town.

The goal touch returned as Paynter top scored with 15 goals in 35 appearances as Hartlepool finished in 16^th place courtesy of a decent run of wins in the spring under new boss Craig Hignett.

The managerial door revolved once more at Victoria Park the following season but Hignett’s successor Dave Jones (the former Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday boss) couldn’t prevent Hartlepool from heading out of the league, controversially parting company with the club with two games to go following an on-screen rant by United’s best known fan, Jeff Stelling.

Club captain Paynter, who had openly questioned Jones’ tactics in the local press, joined forces with fitness coach Stuart Parnaby to assist caretaker Matthew Bates for the final two fixtures.

It was one of those footballing fates moments that they needed a miracle against Paynter’s old club Doncaster in the final match and it was given a big build-up in the Mirror.

“Although we lost at Cheltenham last weekend, the lads had a lot more fight in them. I can understand it when players lose confidence or belief, but you can’t drop out of the Football League after 100 years without a fight,” he said.

“It’s one of those strange coincidences that we need to beat my old club to stand a chance of survival. I really enjoyed my time at Doncaster, and I’ll never forget that day we were promoted to the Championship, but I hope the supporters understand my loyalty is with Hartlepool now.”

Although Hartlepool won 2-1, they had been relying on other results going their way and Newport’s 2-1 win over Notts County 2-1 meant they stayed up and the North East side lost their league status. Having contributed just four goals in 26 matches, Paynter left the club.

While he attempted a brief extension to his playing career, training at non-league AFC Fylde, Southport and Warrington Town, he retired from playing in November 2017 and turned to coaching. He joined Everton’s academy in February 2018 before returning to his first club, Port Vale as professional development phase lead coach in October 2020.

On rejoining, he said: “It’s a joy to be back where it all started. Coming through PVFC’s Centre of Excellence from the age of 10, I know what the DNA of Port Vale is and what sort of players we should be producing.”

Pictures from various online sources and the Albion matchday programme.

Boss feistily defended crowd-heckled Bobby Smith

B Smith white action TOUGH-TACKLING midfielder Bobby Smith made more than 200 appearances for Manchester United’s reserve side.

He played alongside emerging talents such as George Best and Nobby Stiles but wasn’t able to follow them in making the step up to the first team.

Like many before and since, he had to look elsewhere to establish a career in the game, and 85 of his 307 senior career appearances came in the colours of Brighton & Hove Albion, the fourth of seven clubs he served as a player.

Smith stayed in the game as a manager and coach for 26 years after hanging up his boots, his most notable achievement coming in December 1979 as boss of Third Division Swindon Town when they overcame the mighty Arsenal in a thrilling League Cup quarter final.

Born in Prestbury, Cheshire, on 14 March 1944, Smith won six England Schoolboys (under 15s) caps, playing right-half with future World Cup winner Martin Peters playing on the left.

He went on to win two England Youth caps: on 9 March 1961, he was in an England side (which also included John Jackson in goal and future Luton and Spurs boss David Pleat) that lost 1-0 to the Netherlands in Utrecht and three days later was again on the losing side, this time 2-0, to West Germany in Flensburg, when teammates included John Milkins, Portsmouth’s ‘keeper for many years, and striker John O’Rourke, who played for various clubs. Smith turned professional with United the following month.

I’ve discovered an old programme (above) for a Man Utd reserve fixture against West Brom during that era. It shows Smith alongside Wilf Tranter (who also later played for Brighton, and was Smith’s assistant manager at Swindon), Nobby Stiles in midfield, and George Best on the left wing.

In 1964, when a first team call-up continued to elude Smith, he lowered his sights and went to play for a former United colleague at Scunthorpe United. That colleague was Freddie Goodwin who would later be his manager at Brighton as well.

At Scunthorpe, Smith finally saw league action and played 87 games in two seasons before being transferred for £8,000 to Grimsby Town. In two years with the Mariners, he played 56 games before joining the Albion in June 1968.

My distant memory of Smith was of a tough-tackling midfielder who was in the shadow of the likes of Nobby Lawton and Dave Turner when it came to his popularity with supporters. And manager Goodwin hit back strongly when a section of fans voiced their disapproval of the player.

Smith scored the only goal of the game after only 50 seconds away to Stockport County on 23 January 1970, but in the previous home game (a 2-1 win over Bradford City) there had been a few shouts from the terraces in Smith’s direction.

In his weekly article for the Brighton and Hove Herald, Goodwin said: “I was most disappointed to hear certain sections of the crowd getting at Bobby Smith.

“He has done nothing to warrant this behaviour. He is a 90-minute aggressive player and his value to the team lies in his ability to win the ball from the opposition.

“He is well aware of his limitations as a player, but there is no-one who can accuse him of ever giving less than 100 per cent.

“This sort of behaviour by a small minority of spectators does nothing to help the team or the individual players.

“Any player who takes the field as a representative of Brighton and Hove Albion does so because he has been selected for the team by me.

“It is my responsibility that a player represents the Albion. So, to barrack any player is most unfair to him.”

*Smith in action against the backdrop of the packed East Terrace at the Goldstone. Albion won 4-0*

His 85 games for the Albion came across three seasons: 33 in 1968-69 and 26 in each of the following two seasons. Goodwin’s successor, Pat Saward, released him at the end of the 1970-71 season, and, in June 1971, he went on a free transfer to Chester City.

After only four months in the North West, he switched to the North East, joining Hartlepool United, initially on loan. Over two years, in which Len Ashurst’s side only just avoided the old re-election places, Smith played in 76 matches before moving on to Bury in August 1973. He signed as a player-coach but didn’t feature in the league side, instead taking over as manager – aged only 29 – from Allan Brown in December 1973.

It was the start of a coaching and managerial career that would span more than a quarter of a century.

He took Bury to promotion from the fourth tier by the end of that 1973-74 season, and remained in charge for just under four years, He was at the helm for a total of 215 games; the record books showing he achieved a 41.9 per cent win rate.

A six-month stint followed at Port Vale, between November 1977 and May 1978, but, of his 33 games in charge, he only presided over six wins (there were 14 draws and 13 defeats).

Swindon paid £10,000 compensation to lure him to the County Ground, where, as mentioned, his assistant manager was the aforementioned Tranter.

The official Swindon website remembered: “Despite being a relatively young manager, he guided Swindon to a promotion challenge in his first season in charge – missing out by three points, after losing the last two games of the season.”

Part of the secret had been Smith’s signing of strikers Andy Rowland and Alan Mayes.

Swindon w BS WT Smith (far right) as manager of Swindon, with Tranter (far left), Chris Kamara (circled back row) and skipper Ray McHale (centre front row).

His major achievement came the following year, when Town beat Arsenal 4-3 in a replay to reach the League Cup semi-final.

When one considers the size of League Cup game crowds now, it seems extraordinary to discover around 7,000 Swindon fans (in a gate of 38,024) had made the trip to Highbury for the initial tie, which finished 1-1.

The Gunners had famously lost to lowly Swindon in the 1969 League Cup Final at Wembley, so the humble Wiltshire club smelled history repeating itself.

In the replay, with 21,795 packed into the County Ground, Steve Walford and John Hollins scored own goals and future Brighton manager Liam Brady scored twice for Arsenal. One of the key players for Swindon was future Sky Sports reporter Chris Kamara.

Striker Rowland, who scored an extra time winner, relived the momentous occasion in an interview with SwindonWebTV.

Unsurprisingly, the giant killing attracted plenty of media attention and Smith was interviewed live on Football Focus by presenter Bob Wilson.

Smith pointed out that his side had been well grounded and, after the initial draw against Arsenal, had thumped his old club Bury 8-0, equalling Swindon’s biggest winning margin in a league game. Amongst the scorers were Rowland and Billy Tucker – two of four ex-Bury players in Swindon’s starting line-up. Another was Brian Williams – Bury’s youngest ever player – and one of the other goalscorers, Ray McHale, (later to play for Brighton in the top division) went on to have a loan spell at Gigg Lane later in his career.

The Robins beat top-flight opponents Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 at home in the first leg of the semi-final but went down 3-1 at Molineux in controversial circumstances, Wolves scoring the decisive goal five minutes from the end.

“We were so unfortunate because Wolves should have been down to 10 men,” Kamara told the Swindon Advertiser. “Alan Mayes got hit by the goalkeeper (Paul Bradshaw). He came out of his goal, didn’t get anywhere near the ball and he clattered Alan and broke his two front teeth and his nose but didn’t get sent off.

“I know everyone looks at situations and says ‘You were unlucky’ but that was a turning point in the game, and we ended up losing.”

It later emerged that the tie could have had a dramatic impact on Kamara’s playing career. In a 2010 interview with FourFourTwo magazine, he explained how he was once on Manchester United’s radar during Ron Atkinson’s reign.

“I was at Swindon and my manager Bobby Smith said, ‘Big Ron’s coming to watch you.’ We were playing in the 1980 semi-final of the League Cup against Wolves, but I had the ’flu and didn’t play so well. I’m not saying that’s the reason he didn’t sign me, but Ron went back to his old club, West Brom, and signed Remi Moses instead.”

With the benefit of hindsight, the cup run took its toll on the Swindon side. Before the semi, they were just five points from a promotion place, with four games in hand. But only five of their last 18 games were won, and they lost nine away games on the trot, resulting in a disappointing 10th place finish.

Smith had spent large – by Swindon’s standards – including £250,000 on two players, David Peach and Glenn Cockerill, both of whom never fitted in at the club.

When Swindon lost their first five matches of the 1980-81 season, Smith was relieved of his duties.

He later took charge at Newport County and Swansea City, as well as coaching at the Swans, Blackpool, Cardiff City, and Sheffield Wednesday, together with a spell as assistant manager of Hereford United.

He was assistant manager to Frank Burrows at the Vetch Field but when the chairman at the time announced his intention to sell up, and no funds were being made available for new players, Burrows left of his own accord and Smith became caretaker manager.

Contributor Colin_swansea, on the fans website scfc2.co.uk, observed: “After Tosh left we had caretakers Doug Livermore for 30 days, Les Chappell for 23 days prior to Tosh returning, and after Tosh had left for a second time on the 5th March 1984 Les returned as caretaker until the end of the season.

“Our manager’s position was even more farcical after Frankie Burrows left with his assistant Bobby Smith taking over until a bust up during the Xmas period when Doug Sharp wouldn’t sanction the buying of rubber studded boots to combat the winter conditions.

*Smith interviewed after his Swindon side held Spurs to a 0-0 draw in the FA Cup*

“Smith left on 22 December 1995, Jimmy Rimmer was caretaker to 7 February 1996, Kevin Cullis became manager for a week, a two-game spell of two defeats, Rimmer returned for eight days as caretaker, before Jan Molby’s appointment on 22 February 1996. Molby’s replacement as manager on 9 October 1997 was Micky Adams who lasted 13 days and three league defeats with his assistant Alan Cork taking over until the end of the season.

“Cork didn’t fit the profile for the club’s new owners, Silver Shield, and he was offloaded at the end of the season. Ironically his successor, John Hollins, didn’t sign one player the following season when the club reached the play offs.

“Never a dull moment being manager of the Swans during the 80s and 90s!”

Flu-hit Flinders came to the rescue in a goalkeeping crisis

AN UNDERSTUDY to eccentric Crystal Palace goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly played a dozen games in goal for Brighton in the spring of 2007.

Scott Flinders was just 20, and suffering from the effects of a bout of ‘flu, when he answered a call from fledgling manager Dean Wilkins to help solve a goalkeeper crisis.

With first choice Michel Kuipers injured, Wilkins considered it too early to risk rookie ‘keepers Richard Martin and John Sullivan, so he turned to Albion’s arch rivals to borrow 6’ 4” Flinders.

“I always thought Millwall were Palace’s biggest rivals but then I got told, I think it was by Dougie Freedman or Clinton Morrison, that it is Brighton,” Flinders told The Argus. “It didn’t put me off signing. It is just about playing games.”

Flinders made a slightly shaky start in a win away to Gillingham, and in a defeat to Bristol City on his first appearance at Withdean, but he made some important stops to help earn points in consecutive away draws at Crewe and Blackpool.

Manager Wilkins told The Argus: “We knew we were bringing in somebody who was not 100 per cent for the first couple of matches. Scott has recovered from that and he has done very well for us.

“We are still in a position where we need another ‘keeper with a bit more experience than the young lads we’ve got.”

Flinders seemed happy to extend his loan from one month to two and said: “The fans have been absolutely excellent towards me, even though I am coming from a rival club.

“John Keeley, the goalkeeping coach, has been different class and I am delighted to be here.”

Unfortunately, Albion lost all five of their matches in April and finished 18th, six points clear of relegation.

Born in Rotherham on 12 June 1986, Flinders joined nearby Barnsley as a youth trainee in 2003 and made it through to the first team in 2005 when former Albion striker Andy Ritchie was the manager.

He took over from Ross Turnbull and featured in 11 games over three months before losing his place and subsequently having to settle for being understudy to Republic of Ireland international Nick Colgan.

However, Flinders earned his own international recognition in the shape of five caps for the England under 20 side, three of them in the 2005 Toulon tournament. He made his debut in a 3-0 win against the Korean Republic in a side which also featured Liam Ridgewell, Liam Rosenior and Greg Halford.

He kept his place three days later in a 0-0 draw with France, then came on as a sub three days later in a 1-1 draw with Mexico.

In August the same year, he started against Russia but was substituted as the side went down 4-0. A teammate in that one was Will Hoskins. His final match was at Turf Moor when England drew 2-2 with Holland, although he was subbed off again. In that England team was future England centre-back Gary Cahill while the left-back was Gary Borrowdale, who played on loan at Brighton under Russell Slade in 2009.

Frustrated playing second fiddle at Barnsley, Flinders had trials at Chelsea and Wigan Athletic but he ended up at Crystal Palace in 2006 as part of an exchange deal involving midfield player Sam Togwell.

It’s believed Palace paid an initial fee of £250,000 with additional instalments to be paid according to appearances.

However, Flinders only made one league cup appearance before being sent on loan to Gillingham. It was the first of five loans away from Selhurst Park, the lengthiest being his time at Brighton.

Other loan spells saw him spend time with Yeovil Town, Blackpool and Falkirk and he was released by Palace in May 2009 after playing just 13 games for them in three years.

His years of understudying finally came to an end when he headed to the north east in the summer of 2009 and joined Hartlepool United, where he established himself as first-choice ‘keeper.

Flinders even got on the scoresheet while at Hartlepool, scoring with a 94^th minute header against Bournemouth on 30 April 2011 to earn his side a point in the last home game of the season.

The 2012-13 season was a particular triumph for him when he earned the accolades of Player’s Player, Supporter’s Player, Away Player of the Year and Hartlepool Mail SportsMail Player of the Year.

In six years at Hartlepool, he made more appearances – 276 – than any other ‘keeper in the club’s history, eventually moving on in June 2015 to League Two York City.

Flinders received a five-match ban from the Football Association in August 2016 following an incident in a League Two game between York and AFC Wimbledon on 19 March that year.

It was alleged Dons striker Lyle Taylor grabbed Flinders by the testicles and, as he retaliated, the goalkeeper was alleged to have used racist abuse.

Flinders denied the charge but was found guilty by the FA following an independent regulatory commission. Fined £1,250, Flinders was also warned about his future conduct and ordered to complete an education course.

York initially suspended Flinders but then loaned him out to National League rivals Macclesfield Town, who he subsequently joined on a contract from January to June 2017.

On deadline day in August 2017, he joined League Two Cheltenham Town, with boss Gary Johnson telling the club’s website: “Scott has played over 400 league and cup games in his career and there is no substitute for experience.”

In January 2020, Flinders suffered a broken leg in a game against Oldham which put him out of the game for nine months.

Pictures and headlines from The Argus.

In parallel lines

Memories from 55 years following Brighton & Hove Albion

Tag: Hartlepool United