Stadium lure too distant for promotion winner Peter Taylor

PETER TAYLOR steered Albion to promotion from the third tier in 2002 – a feat his namesake as Brighton boss fell short of achieving back in 1976.

The younger Taylor, who played for and managed arch rivals Crystal Palace, had quite an extraordinary managerial career – from taking charge of the England international side, when he appointed David Beckham as captain, to taking the reins at Isthmian League side Maldon & Tiptree at the age of 69.

He took the helm at third-placed third-tier Brighton in October 2001 after being sacked by Premier League Leicester City – who had created the Albion vacancy by recruiting manager Micky Adams to work as no.2 to newly-appointed Dave Bassett.

Taylor revealed that it was on Adams’ advice that he accepted Albion’s offer. “Micky said they were a close bunch, a confident group and happy with each other,” Taylor told The Guardian. “My job now is to carry on the good work he has started.”

In dropping down two divisions Taylor returned to the level of a previous success, when he guided Gillingham to the First Division via (via a play-off final win over Wigan Athletic). In less than two years he went from the Second Division to the Premiership – managed England for one game along the way – and back again.

“I’ve not lost any self-belief after what happened at Leicester,” said Taylor. “I don’t feel I have anything to prove. Leicester is in the past now as far as I am concerned. I am not worried about the level I am managing at. Brighton has fantastic potential, particularly in size of support, and it is my job now to fulfil it.”

Albion press officer Paul Camillin wrote in the matchday programme: “Micky’s replacement is a man whose coaching ability is unquestionable. Here is a man who not so long ago was taking England training sessions under the gaze of Sven Goran Eriksson,”

Taylor’s knowledge of the game spanned all four divisions and beyond and Camillin pointed out: “He was the overwhelming choice of the board of directors.”

Indeed, chairman Dick Knight said: “Peter Taylor’s management experience at both Nationwide and higher levels of football make him ideal for the Albion.

“He quickly identified with the ambition and potential here and I’m very pleased he has chosen to join us.”

Top scorer Bobby Zamora was also delighted, telling The Guardian: “When I heard the list of who was being put forward, Peter Taylor was the name that stood out. He has proven his ability and has got an obvious wealth of experience.”

In young Zamora, Taylor inherited a magnificent key to unlock defences. One player he did bring in who also made a difference was a lanky goalscoring midfielder called Junior Lewis (remarkably Taylor also signed him for four of his other clubs – Dover, Hull, Gillingham and Leicester) and his contribution certainly helped to cement the title.

“Junior did exactly what he had done for me at Gillingham, which is make the team play more football,” Taylor told Nick Szczepanik. “He wasn’t easy on the eye, but he was always available to get the ball from defenders and got it to the strikers and was very useful.”

While Taylor’s eight months as manager of Brighton culminated in promotion, he was never really credited with the success because many said he achieved it with Adams’ team.

“Micky had done the hard work because he signed all the squad before I got there, and they had done well so the last thing I was going to do was to change too much,” Taylor told Szczepanik, in an interview for the club website. “He had built a team with a great spirit.

“You could see why we went on to win the division because the squad was full of incredible characters – not just experienced professionals but good professionals who were desperate to do well for the club.”

Citing the experience and ability of Danny Cullip, he made special reference to “the greatest asset” Zamora, saying: “He was an incredible player and miles too good for that level.

“Simon Morgan was another one. What a great defender – and yet he could hardly train because he had two bad knees. Whenever he played, he was such a good organiser at the back that we were always solid.”

Unfortunately, Taylor didn’t help to endear himself to Albion’s public when he quit within days of the victory parade along the seafront, but deep down not too many people could blame him considering the limitations prevailing at the time.

“People will think I was stupid to leave the club after we won the league but I think everyone understands the reasons, which were because of the budget I thought I’d need to keep them up and the new stadium not being as close as Dick promised in my interview,” Taylor explained.

“Some people assumed I must have a new job lined up, maybe at Palace, but no, I didn’t. My plans had been to win promotion at Brighton, move into the new stadium with a big budget and then try eventually to get them to the Premier League.”

Nevertheless, Knight said: “It’s a great shame that Peter has chosen to resign. He has done a terrific job for the club in leading the Albion to the Second Division title, and it’s sad that he doesn’t wish to continue.”

The captain at the time, Paul Rogers told The Argus: “It’s a big shock to me and I’m sure it will be a big shock to the other lads as well. He’s done really well here. Since he came in the lads took to him straight away.

“He is a good coach. His sessions were a lot more technical than we were used to and he’s improved some of the players during his time at the club.”

Six months after he left Brighton, Taylor took over at Hull City, who were about to move into the 25,000 all-seater KC Stadium and in four years he guided them from the bottom tier of football through to the Championship.

I recall a visit to the KC when Albion’s travelling supporters taunted him with a ‘Should have stayed with a big club’ chant, to which he responded by opening wide his arms to point out the plush new surroundings he was working in.

Born in Rochford, Essex, on 3 January 1953, Taylor was a Spurs supporter from an early age and had an unsuccessful trial with them – including playing in a South East Counties league match.

Looking back in an interview with superhotspur.com, he recalled that he didn’t perform well in his trial match at Cheshunt because he was up against Steve Perryman (who later became a close friend) and Graeme Souness in the Tottenham midfield.

Taylor also had an unsuccessful trial with Crystal Palace, so it was somewhat ironic that both clubs who rejected him as a youngster ended up paying handsome fees to sign him.

Taylor had first drawn attention while playing for South-East Essex Schools and Canvey Island but it was nearby Southend United who took him on as an apprentice in 1969.

The winger turned professional with the Shrimpers in January 1971 and scored 12 goals in 75 league matches for the Essex side.

It was the flamboyant Malcolm Allison who signed him for Palace in October 1973, paying a £110,000 fee. Allison told the player he had been trying to sign him for some time, including when he was in charge at Manchester City.

“He made me feel like a million dollars and I couldn’t thank anyone more than I would thank Malcolm for the career that I have had,” said Taylor. “He knew his stuff and he was an exciting coach, far ahead of his time, but the most important thing for me was that he made me feel that I was the best player in the world.”

Taylor went on to be Palace’s player of the season, although they were relegated to the third tier.

His time at Selhurst Park was his most successful as a player, he reckoned, and he scored 33 goals in 122 league games for the Eagles. But his notable performances when Palace made it through to the semi-finals of the FA Cup in 1976 led to Keith Burkinshaw signing him for Spurs for £400,000.

“I was desperate to play for Tottenham, because they were the team that I supported, so it was a wonderful move for me,” said Taylor.

Earlier that year, he had made his debut for England while playing in the third tier of English football, going on as a substitute in the second half of a Welsh FA centenary celebration match at the Racecourse Ground, Wrexham, and scoring the winner in a 2-1 victory.

He was the first Third Division player to be capped since Johnny Byrne in 1961, and also the first player to score while making his debut as a substitute. He went on to win four caps.

Two months later, against the same opponent, but at Ninian Park, Cardiff, in the Home International Championship, he scored again – this time the only goal of the game as Don Revie’s England won 1-0.

Taylor’s third cap came in the 2-1 defeat to Scotland at Hampden Park on 15 May 1976. And he went on as an 83^rd minute sub for Kevin Keegan as England beat Team America 3-1 in America’s Bicentennial Tournament. Bobby Moore was Team America’s captain and the great Pelé was playing up front.

Although he scored 31 times in 123 league matches for Spurs, he was hampered by a pelvic injury during his time at White Hart Lane but superhotspur.com writer Lennon Branagan said: “A player with a real eye for goal, Peter Taylor was a really fine all-round winger, who also had good defensive qualities to his game.

“He was a very important player during his second season at Spurs, as he helped them to win promotion from the old Second Division, following their relegation to that division during the previous season.”

Taylor moved on from Spurs after four years when Burkinshaw couldn’t guarantee him a starting spot, leaving for £150,000 to join second tier Leyton Orient, where Jimmy Bloomfield was manager.

He scored 11 goals in 56 league games for the Os and had four games on loan for Joe Royle’s Oldham Athletic in January 1983. He then went non-league with Maidstone, apart from a brief spell back in the league, that he didn’t enjoy, playing under Gerry Francis at Exeter City.

Having returned to Maidstone to carry on playing, he eventually got his first managerial job at Dartford in 1986 as a player-manager.

He moved on to Enfield in a similar role, telling superhotspur.com: “I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I was learning all the time about coaching players, and then Steve Perryman asked me to be his assistant at Watford in 1991, and I had two fantastic years there of coaching and learning. So that was the start of my managerial career.”

His first league manager’s job then followed at his old club Southend, between 1993 and 1995, but he quit having not been able to raise them above mid-table in League One. Curiously, his next outpost was non-league Dover Athletic but he left when his former Spurs teammate Glenn Hoddle invited him to coach the England under 21 team.

A successful spell in which he presided over 11 wins, three draws and only one defeat came to an abrupt end when Taylor was controversially relieved of his duties by the FA and replaced by former Albion winger Howard Wilkinson.

Gillingham offered him a return to club management and, with Guy Butters at the back and the aforementioned Junior Lewis in midfield, he steered the Kent club to that play-off win, taking them into the top half of English league football for the first time in their history.

That achievement prompted Leicester to poach him and he got off to a great start with the Foxes, even earning a Premier League manager of the month award in September 2000.

It was during his time at Leicester that he rode to England’s rescue two months later by taking caretaker charge of the England national side for a friendly against Italy in Turin. England lost 1-0 but the game is remembered for Taylor handing the captain’s armband to Beckham for the first time. He also included six players still young enough for the under 21s: Gareth Barry, Jamie Carragher, Kieron Dyer, Rio Ferdinand, Emile Heskey and Derby’s Seth Johnson (it was his only full cap).

Describing it as the proudest moment of his long career, Taylor told Branagan: “I never dreamt that opportunity would happen to me. I knew that it was only going to be for one game, but it’s on my memory bank, and no one will ever change that.”

Back at Leicester, it all went pear-shaped towards the end of the season and when City were beaten 5-0 at home by newly promoted Bolton Wanderers in the new season opener, and then recorded a further four defeats, two draws with a solitary victory, Taylor was sacked.

He combined his job at Hull with once again coaching the England under 21 side between 2004 and 2006, and early into his reign called up Albion’s Dan Harding and Adam Hinshelwood (Jack Hinshelwood’s dad) for a home game v Wales and an away fixture in Azerbaijan. Harding started both matches and Hinshelwood was an unused sub.

Taylor oversaw nine wins, two draws and five defeats, selecting players such as James Milner, Darren Bent and Liam Ridgewell.

After promotion success with Albion and Hull, where he spent three and a half years, in the summer of 2006 Palace, in the Championship, stumped up £300,000 in compensation to take the Tigers boss back to Selhurst Park to succeed Iain Dowie.

Telling the BBC it had to be “something special” for him to leave Hull, Taylor added: “When I got the call from Simon (Jordan) there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to be at Selhurst Park.”

Talking to cpfc.co.uk some years later, he said: “I was very confident as a manager. Very confident. I felt as though I would succeed.

“I didn’t look at my reputation too much. I looked at: ‘How can I get these into the top division?’ Even if I was worried about the reputation I had, I still would have taken the job.”

After a promising start, results went awry and Palace finished the season in mid-table. When the Eagles managed only two wins in their first 10 games of the 2007-08 season, Taylor was sacked and replaced with Neil Warnock.

Undeterred, he stepped outside of the league for his next position, taking charge of then Conference team Stevenage Borough – recruiting Junior Lewis as his first signing!

Lewis followed him into his next job as well, this time as first team coach at Wycombe Wanderers, where Taylor succeeded Paul Lambert in May 2008. Taylor’s promotion-winning knack once more came to the fore when the Chairboys won promotion from League Two.

However, a poor start to life in League One cost him his job and Wycombe owner Steve Hayes told BBC Three Counties Radio: “We started the season reasonably well, but truthfully, six points from 33 is very worrying.

“We need a change. [Peter’s] body language in the last few weeks has not been great and he doesn’t seem to be as happy as he was last year.”

Taylor was approaching his fifth month out of the game when, in mid-February 2010, League Two Bradford City gave him a short-term deal to replace Stuart McCall. Once again, loyal Lewis joined him.

Hoping his stay at Valley Parade would ultimately be longer, he told the Yorkshire Post: “I remember what happened at Hull when I went in there (in 2002) with the club sitting 18th in the bottom division.

“We went on to enjoy a lot of success and I see similar potential here at Bradford. Certainly if we can go on a run then there is a potential of putting bums on seats.

“I still believe we can do something this year. But if that does not prove to be the case, then definitely next year.”

Taylor signed a contract extension and stuck at it even when he was offered the chance to become no.2 to Alan Pardew at Premier League Newcastle United at the beginning of January 2011.

“It’s flattering to be offered the position to work alongside Alan Pardew,” Taylor told BBC Radio Leeds. “I wasn’t comfortable leaving Bradford earlier than I need to, I know what the game is about, I can easily get the sack in a month’s time, I understand that, but I don’t really feel I want to leave at this particular time.”

Saying Bradford had “really switched me on”, he added: “I’ve always had a special feeling about the club, and I’ve still got that feeling.” Six weeks later he left City by mutual consent.

In the summer that year, Taylor headed to the Middle East and spent 15 months in charge of the Bahrain national side, leading them to success in the 2011 Arab Games in Doha when they beat Jordan 1-0. He was sacked in October 2012 after Bahrain lost 6-2 to the United Arab Emirates in a friendly.

The following summer, he was given a short-term contract to take charge of England’s under 20s at the Under 20 World Cup in Turkey. Hopes may have been high after a 3-0 win over Uruguay in a warm-up match but England were eliminated at the group stage after only managing to draw against Iraq and Chile and then losing to Egypt. The England side included the likes of Sam Johnstone, Jamal Lascelles, John Stones, Eric Dier, Conor Coady, James Ward-Prowse, Ross Barkley and Harry Kane.

Taylor found himself back in club football that autumn when Gillingham welcomed him back on an interim basis after they’d sacked Martin Allen. Handed a longer term deal a month later, he stayed with the League One Gills until halfway through the next season when, after only six wins in 23 matches, he was sacked on New Year’s Eve.

Another posting abroad was to follow in May 2015 when he was appointed head coach of Indian Super League side Kerala Blasters, taking over from former England goalkeeper David James.

But his time in India was brief. Despite winning five of six pre-season friendlies and the opening league fixture, the Blasters lost four and drew two of the next six matches and Taylor became the league’s first managerial sacking in October that year.

The New Zealand national side recruited Taylor to work with the country’s UK-based players in 2016-17 and a third spell at Gillingham followed in May 2017. He was named director of football at Priestfield where Adrian Pennock was head coach and he was briefly interim head coach when Pennock lost his job in September 2017.

That turned out to be his last job in league football. He joined National League Dagenham & Redbridge in June 2018 and spent 18 months in charge, leaving the club after a spell of nine defeats in 11 games.

Welling United, in the sixth tier of English football, appointed Taylor manager in September 2021 but with only six wins in 25 matches he left in March the following year. His final job was at Isthmian League Maldon & Tiptree, from December 2022 to August 2023.

Cobblers hero Mike Everitt started out with the Gunners

CONTACTS made as a youngster at Arsenal stood versatile Mike Everitt in good stead for the rest of his career.

He went on to play under his former Gunners teammate Dave Bowen at Northampton Town as part of one of football’s most remarkable stories and earned a place in the Cobblers’ ‘team of the century’.

Later, he joined a small enclave of former Arsenal players at Brighton. Everitt swapped Devon for Sussex in March 1968 when he moved from Plymouth Argyle for a £2,500 fee.

The man who signed him, Archie Macaulay, was a former Arsenal man himself who’d already brought three other ex-Gunners to Hove in goalkeeper Tony Burns, Irish international full-back Jimmy Magill and winger Brian Tawse.

Everitt started the new season as first choice left-back in Macaulay’s side and an uninterrupted 14-game run in the team as autumn turned to winter straddled Macaulay’s departure and the arrival of new boss Freddie Goodwin.

Everitt slotted home a penalty as Albion drew 1-1 away to Bristol Rovers on 18 January 1969 but the 3-1 home win over Crewe Alexandra the following Saturday was his last outing of the season.

Everitt, Howard Wilkinson and Dave Turner from this Albion line-up all went on to become coaches

He picked up an injury and, with Goodwin having signed his former Leeds teammate Barrie Wright from New York Generals, local lad John Templeman able to fill either full-back slot, not to mention the addition of Eddie Spearritt from Ipswich Town, Everitt couldn’t win back his place in the starting line-up.

Competition for a starting place only intensified in the summer of 1969 when Goodwin’s former Leeds teammate, Willie Bell, arrived from Leicester and was installed as the regular choice at left-back, while Stewart Henderson cemented the right-back slot to the extent he was named Player of the Season.

While Everitt deputised for Bell on a couple of occasions and filled Bobby Smith’s midfield spot for four matches, his only other involvement was as sub on a handful of occasions. He was a non-playing sub in the final game of the season (a 2-1 home defeat to Mansfield Town) and then left the club during the close season.

Born in Clacton on 16 January 1941, Everitt represented Essex Schoolboys and London Schoolboys before being taken on as an apprentice by Arsenal in 1956. He turned professional in February 1958 and, thanks to the excellent records of thearsenalhistory.com, we know that he first played in the first team in the Harry Bamford Memorial match at Eastville against a Bristol XI on 8 May 1959.

He then went on Arsenal’s end-of-season tour to Italy and Switzerland. He was an unused sub for friendlies against Juventus and Fiorentina but came on as a substitute in a 4-1 win over Lugano of Switzerland on 24 May 1959.

Everitt *(circled back row)* lines up for Arsenal – with *(left to right trio in centre of front row)*, David Herd, Tommy Docherty and Jimmy Bloomfield

It wasn’t until Easter 1960 that he made his competitive first team breakthrough, but when he did it was a baptism of fire in George Swindin’s side.

He made his first team debut in front of 37,873 fans packed into Highbury on Good Friday (15 April 1960) as the Gunners beat a Johnny Haynes-led Fulham side 2-0.

Modern day players might not be able to comprehend it but Everitt also played the following day when Arsenal travelled to Birmingham City, and lost 3-0. Two days later, away to Fulham this time, Everitt was again in the starting line-up as Arsenal lost 3-0.

He kept his place for the following Saturday’s match – at home to Manchester United – and in front of 41,057 he was part of the side that beat United 5-2. Future Albion teammate Alex Dawson led the line for a United team that included Bobby Charlton and Johnny Giles.

That was the penultimate game of the season and Everitt retained his place for the final game, which ended in a 1-0 defeat to West Brom at The Hawthorns.

The 1960-61 season got off to a good start for him too as he played in the opening four matches and, into the bargain, scored Arsenal’s only goal as they beat Preston North End at home on 23 August. Unfortunately for him, a tigerish Scot called Tommy Docherty edged him out of the first team picture and in February 1961 he moved to Fourth Division Northampton Town (for a fee of £4,000) who were managed by the aforementioned Bowen.

His stay with the Cobblers spanned one of the most remarkable stories in football history as they were promoted season on season from the Fourth to the First….and then relegated all the way back down again (although Everitt had left for pastures new before they reached the basement again).

What he was part of, though, was achieving three promotions in five years. Glenn Billingham recalled that heady era in a 2017 article for thesefootballtimes.co.

In 1961-62, Everitt was a regular at wing-half and scored five goals in 41 appearances. He switched to left-back the following season and played 30 matches as Town went up as champions.

A season of consolidation in 1963-64 saw Town finish 11^th in Division Two, when Everitt played 45 matches. He played in 43 games in the 1964-65 season which culminated in the historic promotion to the top-flight courtesy of finishing in runners up spot, a point behind champions Newcastle United.

Necessary investment in improving the squad was slow to materialise and Bowen initially had to rely on the same squad of players who’d got them up. Everitt was one of only five Town players who had previously played at that level.

A 5-2 defeat away to Everton in the opening fixture was perhaps a portent of what was to follow for the rest of the season. They didn’t record a win until their 14^th game, at home to West Ham (when they won 2-1), but the underdogs performed heroics in their first two home matches. It must have been quite an occasion when in only the second game of the season Everitt lined up in the Northampton side to face Arsenal.

The game finished 1-1, although Everitt had to be replaced at half-time. However, he also played in the return fixture at Highbury which also finished in a 1-1 draw.

Town also drew 1-1 at home to Manchester United, stifling the attacking threat of Best, Law and Charlton, although United exacted revenge at Old Trafford where they dished out a 6-2 thrashing. Charlton got a hat-trick, Law scored a couple and John Connelly was also on the scoresheet.

Everitt made 34 appearances (plus one as sub) that season and scored two goals, one in a rare win, in the penultimate game, when the Cobblers beat Sunderland 2-1 (the Wearsiders scorer was Neil Martin, who later played for the Albion). Graham Carr (father of comedian Alan Carr) played 30 times for the Cobblers that season.

Back in the second tier, Everitt featured in 17 games but as Town plummeted straight through the division, he moved on to Plymouth Argyle in March 1967, where his former Arsenal teammate Jimmy Bloomfield had moved to from West Ham. Everitt was still only 26 when he made his debut in a 1-0 home defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers. After 31 games for Argyle, he made the move to Brighton.

Everitt had already gained his preliminary coaching badge when still a player and after leaving Brighton in 1970 he initially moved to Plymouth City as player-manager. Within months, he seized the opportunity to move up a level when he landed the player-manager role at then Southern League Wimbledon.

In a January 2010 interview in The Guardian, it was revealed the two candidates he beat to land the position were David Pleat, who went on to manage Luton, Leicester and Spurs, and his former Albion teammate Howard Wilkinson, who won the league title with Leeds United.

Pleat recalled: “The director, Stanley Reed, went for Mike and Howard ended up at Boston United while I was eventually appointed by Nuneaton Borough in the Southern League.”

A few eyebrows were raised in 1973 when Everitt was appointed manager of newly-relegated Brentford just seven days before the start of the 1973-74 season, taking over from Frank Blunstone, who’d left to become youth team manager at Manchester United.

Greville Waterman, on a Bees fan blog, said Everitt polarised opinion, declaring: “He was undoubtedly a cheap option and received little support from the directors (now where have we heard that before) and did his best with a wafer thin squad.”

A classic example saw defender Stewart Houston sold to Manchester United for a club record £55,000 in December 1973, but the money wasn’t immediately reinvested in the squad.

Nevertheless, Waterman pointed out: “His approach did not go down well with some of his players and he brought in a number of tough bruisers. Under his management, Brentford declined rapidly, fell to the bottom of the Football League and barely escaped the need to apply for re-election.”

Legendary Brentford defender Alan Nelmes was particularly disparaging about Everitt. “He didn’t have the technical expertise that Frank had and you felt as if the club wasn’t going anywhere with him. Frank was very advanced in his thinking, ahead of his time, really, and it was a step backwards to have Mike.”

Everitt finally got some backing from the boardroom on transfer deadline day. Experienced forward Dave Simmons was brought in from Cambridge United and former Everton and Southampton defender Jimmy Gabriel from Bournemouth and a 10-match unbeaten run from mid-February to early April did enough to assure the Bees avoided bottom spot even though their finishing position of 19^th was their lowest position for nearly 50 years. Crowds were hovering around only 5,000 too.

It didn’t get much better the following season and in spite of getting a vote of confidence in November 1974 from new chairman Dan Tana, Everitt only lasted a few more weeks in the hotseat.

Ironically, after a poor start to the campaign, he’d begun to turn results round and lifted the side to a mid-table position on the back of four wins and a draw in a seven-game spell between late November to mid-January, but he was sacked on 16 January and replaced with John Docherty, who’d only packed up playing for the Bees the previous summer.

Everitt’s next role came as a coach (pictured above) under his old Arsenal pal Bloomfield at Leicester City, and former winger Len Glover came up with an amusing reminiscence on lcfc.com.

Glover recalled when he was 17 playing against Everitt for Charlton Athletic against Northampton.

“He had massive thighs, and had his sleeves rolled up. In the first five minutes he had kicked me when the ball was nowhere near, and now he was our coach!

“He was just the same when he was our coach. When he started, he gathered us round at the training ground. His opening gambit was, ‘You don’t know me, and I don’t know you, but we will soon change that!’

“Then he noticed Frank Worthington who was not with the group but was with the apprentices who were crossing the ball for him to volley like they did every morning. He went, ‘Oi, get over here!’ Frank went, ‘Yeah, in a minute’. Instead of saying, ‘Over here, now!’ Everitt just went, ‘Well, hurry up then’.

“Before Everitt left we went to Leeds and we got stuffed 3-0. After the game Birch (Alan Birchenall) was doing his hair with his hair dryer. Win or lose he would always do his hair. Mike Everitt came in and said, ‘It’s a pity you’re not as good with the ball as you are with that hair dryer!’ Birch replied, ‘If I was as good with the ball as I am with the hair dryer, I wouldn’t be playing for Leicester!’”

After leaving Leicester, Everitt managed Kuwaiti side Al-Shabab when another former Arsenal teammate, George Armstrong, was manager of the Kuwaiti national side (Armstrong’s daughter, Jill, posted a picture of them in Kuwait on Twitter in 2019).

*Jill Armstrong posted this picture on Twitter of her with dad George and Everitt in Kuwait*

After Kuwait, Everitt managed Cairo-based Egyptian teams Al Mokawloon and Al Ahly, the club Percy Tau joined in the summer of 2021.

According to Wikipedia, Everitt had particular success at Al Mokawloon, winning the 1982-83 Egyptian Premier League title and two African Cup Winners Cups.

• Pictures from matchday programmes and online sources.

‘Genuine football man who turned people’s lives around’

*George Petchey twice stepped up from backroom man to Albion caretaker manager*

THE FORMER Orient and Millwall manager who introduced Laurie Cunningham to the football world was twice caretaker boss of Brighton ten years apart.

George Petchey, once a player then coach at Crystal Palace, was assistant manager to Chris Cattlin in the mid ‘80s and returned to Brighton in the ‘90s as youth development manager under Liam Brady, before becoming no.2 to Jimmy Case.

Working for the Albion was certainly geographically convenient for Petchey because, even when he played, coached or managed in London, he lived in Southwick.

Petchey first arrived at the Albion in 1983 to take charge of youth development and, as described by wearebrighton.com, was the man responsible for introducing Ian Wright on trial, having been impressed when the future Arsenal and England star had tried to begin his career at Millwall, where Petchey was manager between January 1978 and November 1980.

It’s now part of football folklore that Albion rejected Wright and Cattlin opted to take on another triallist, Steve Penney, instead. Meanwhile, in November 1984, Petchey was promoted to assist the relatively inexperienced Cattlin with the first team.

Although he was seen as a figure in the background, a profile article in the matchday programme gave a little insight into his approach.

“I can’t understand people who earn a living from football and still criticise the game,” he told interviewer Tony Norman. “I’ve been involved with it since the age of 14 and I wouldn’t change a thing.

“Molly (his wife) and I have met a lot of good people. We’ve loved the game and it has been good to us. No complaints.”

When Cattlin was sacked in April 1986, Petchey stepped up to manage the side for the final game of the season (a 2-0 defeat away to Hull City) before Alan Mullery returned as boss.

Petchey’s second stint at the Albion began in January 1994, shortly after Brady had been appointed as manager. With finances perilous during that time, bringing through youngsters was seen as an important route and Petchey was appointed to oversee that side of things.

In explaining the appointment, Brady wrote in his programme notes: “I don’t think there are many better in their field than George Petchey.

“He has had a lot of experience at management level and he has always been able to develop young players and this is something we are determined to do here.”

Brady had been to watch the youth team progress in the FA Youth Cup and he added: “There are several outstanding prospects in the side and I am sure George will guide them in the right direction.”

Within a couple of months, Brady had given a first team debut to one of them in Mark Fox.

The Argus later noted how Gareth Barry was among the young players who came through Albion’s centre of excellence under Petchey, Vic Bragg and Steve Avory.

*Petchey became no.2 to Jimmy Case, pictured with George Parris in an Albion line-up*

When Brady couldn’t stomach the shenanigans of the Bill Archer-David Bellotti regime any longer, Case took charge and promoted Petchey to be his deputy, but with the background interference affecting performances on the field, Case was relieved of his duties in early December 1996.

Petchey stepped forward once again to take temporary charge, although he made it clear he didn’t want the job on a permanent basis. Indeed, he recommended two of his former Orient players be considered for the post.

“I was asked for my suggestions and I recommended Dennis Rofe and Glenn Roeder,” said Petchey, who was 65 at the time. “Hopefully, it will be one of them.”

It was perhaps par for the course that the hierarchy decided to choose someone else, and, within a week, Steve Gritt was appointed.

When Petchey – the first English coach to complete his UEFA coaching qualifications – died aged 88 on 23 December 2019, the tributes paid to him reflected the impact this highly respected football man had on a good many people.

The football writer Neil Harman said: “We often overlook the genuine, honest people, who made football what it is, who went the extra mile, who turned people’s lives around. RIP the great Leyton Orient manager George Petchey who set Laurie Cunningham and many others on the road to stardom.”

David Gipp, a Brighton player in the late ‘80s, tweeted: “took me from London at 14; taught me so much” and John Sitton, who played under Petchey at Millwall, described him as “one of the best managers in the game”.

Born on 24 June 1931 in Whitechapel, London, Petchey’s early footballing experience was in Essex with the Romford and Hornchurch Schools teams. The excellent theyflysohigh.co.uk website details his career, revealing how, on leaving school he played for Upminster Minors and Juniors from 1945 to 1947 before joining West Ham United as an amateur in August 1947.

He signed professional on August 31, 1948, and two days later made his first appearance as a professional against Chelsea ‘A’ at Upton Park in the Eastern Counties League.

The website explains how National Service interrupted Petchey’s career, although he was still able to play fairly regularly for the Hammers’ ‘A’ team and Football Combination side. It wasn’t until 1 September 1952 that he made his senior debut at the age of 21, playing alongside Ernie Gregory, Malcolm Allison and Frank O’Farrell in a goalless Second Division draw with Hull City at the Boleyn Ground.

Wearing the no.10 shirt, Petchey kept his place for the next game, a 2-1 home defeat by Birmingham City, but he only made one other first-team appearance, on 13 November that year, starting alongside Allison, Noel Cantwell and debuting forward Tommy Dixon in a 3-2 Essex Professional Cup win at Colchester United.

A wing-half, he was described by whufc.com as “a tough-tackling, hard-working defensive midfielder who could also pass the ball with vision and accuracy”.

In July 1953, Petchey moved on to Queens Park Rangers, scoring on his league debut in a 2-1 win at Bristol City on 22 August. Even then, he was commuting to London from Portslade.

QPR supporter Steve Russell spoke fondly of Petchey in an article for indyrs.co.uk, remembering a “tough-tackling, fearless, dynamic” player who took no prisoners.

Petchey scored 24 goals in 278 league and cup appearances for QPR, in the days when they were a Third Division side.

He dropped down to the old Fourth Division to sign for Palace in June 1960 but helped them to promotion in his first season at Selhurst Park.

Petchey’s playing days at Palace came to an early conclusion due to a serious eye injury but the esteem in which he was held was reflected in the quality of players on show at his testimonial match at Selhurst Park on 15 November 1967.

Palace took on an international XI which featured West Ham’s World Cup winning trio of Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters, together with the likes of Chelsea’s Peter Osgood and Manchester City’s Colin Bell in front of a crowd of 10,243.

Petchey turned to coaching at Palace, initially under Arthur Rowe and then Bert Head, under whom Palace won promotion to the old First Division in 1969. That side’s goalkeeper, John Jackson – who subsequently followed Petchey to Orient, Millwall, and the Albion as a coach – attributed his achievements to Petchey, telling cpfc.co.uk: “He used to work me hard but the harder you worked at your game the more you learned and the better you would become.

“He made me a more confident player which led to me being more vocal behind the back four, and I always remember Thursday being called shooting practice day so it would become a session where I would put in a massive shift!”

When Jimmy Bloomfield was lured from Brisbane Road to manage Leicester City in 1971, the Os turned to Petchey to continue to build the side the former Arsenal player had developed.

He did just that over six Second Division seasons between 1971 and 1977, Petchey recruiting a number of players who’d previously played under him at Palace; the likes of goalkeeper Jackson, John Sewell, David Payne, Bill Roffey, Alan Whittle and Gerry Queen.

They came agonisingly close to winning promotion to the elite, missing out by a single point in 1973-74, and they took some notable scalps as cup giant-killers.

It was during his reign at Brisbane Road that Petchey discovered Tony Grealish playing on Hackney Marshes and unearthed the raw talent of the mercurial Cunningham, who he would later reluctantly sell for big money to West Bromwich Albion.

Petchey and his assistant Peter Angell carefully nurtured the young Cunningham, hoping his obvious talent would outweigh some of the demons in his life.

“We had one or two problems with him in the early days,” admitted Petchey, as told here. “There was a time when Peter Angell and I wondered if we could win Laurie over. He had to struggle in life and was the sort of youngster who was used to living on his wits.

“He was suspicious of people outside his own circle. He took a long time to trust other people. He often turned up late for training, the eyes flashed when we fined him, but for all that I loved the spark that made him tick.”

Cunningham later admitted: “It was George Petchey and Peter Angell who showed me that the only person who could make my dreams come true was, in fact, myself.”

Petchey gave 18-year-old Cunningham his first-team debut in the short-lived Texaco Cup tournament against West Ham at Upton Park on 3 August 1974. Although Orient lost 1–0, Petchey said afterwards: “It took him a little time to get adjusted to the pace of the game but I was delighted with the way he played from then on. He has a natural talent. He has the speed and agility to take on men. He never gives up. There’s a big future ahead for him.”

Cunningham’s rise to playing for England and Real Madrid was told in the 2013 documentary film First Among Equals and Petchey was a prominent interviewee featured.

*Petchey talks about Laurie Cunningham for* First Among Equals

When eventually Orient couldn’t resist big money offers for him any longer, the winger went to West Brom for £110,000 plus two players (Joe Mayo and Allan Glover) on 6 March 1977.

“I did not want to sell him, but we were over our limit at the bank and West Brom were ready with a cheque,” said Petchey at the time. “Obviously I’m very disappointed at losing a player who I have seen progress from the age of 15 and I think he was as reluctant to leave as we were to see him go. But it was an offer of First Division football which he could not refuse.”

Petchey enjoyed less success at Millwall. Although he managed to stave off relegation after succeeding Gordon Jago in early 1978, the Lions were relegated from the second tier the following season.

It was during that term he bought Brighton winger Tony Towner for £65,000 after the Sussex lad had lost his place to new signing Gerry Ryan. It wasn’t all doom and gloom though because Millwall’s youngsters won the FA Youth Cup in 1979, beating Manchester City 2-0 (over two legs).

After he’d left the Albion for a second time, Petchey continued to work in football, appointed chief scout at Newcastle United by Sir Bobby Robson, and he later took on a coaching role.

Dennis Burnett – England World Cup trio’s teammate – added finesse to Brighton’s defence

WITH all due respect to his predecessors in the number 6 shirt, Dennis Burnett was a classy addition to Brighton’s defence when he signed from Hull City in 1975.

At the end of his first season with Brighton, when they toyed with promotion from Division 3 but just missed out, Burnett was selected in the PFA Third Division Team of the Year, which said everything about his stature amongst his fellow professionals. Albion’s Peter O’Sullivan was also selected while the goalkeeper was Eric Steele, then with Peterborough, and Crystal Palace winger, and, future Brighton manager, Peter Taylor, was also in the XI.

Before 1975, Brighton fans had been used to seeing their centre halves hoof it, but Burnett play more in the style of another famous former West Ham number 6. OK, he might never have reached Bobby Moore’s level but he played alongside the great man for a while and came through the ranks at West Ham when they had a reputation for playing cultured football.

He started off in the West Ham youth team and was in the 1963 FA Youth Cup winning side alongside the likes of Harry Redknapp, Clive Charles, Bobby Howe and John Sissons.

Burnett made his first team debut for the Hammers as a 21-year-old in October 1965, along with Jimmy Bloomfield (the future Orient and Leicester manager), in a 3-0 defeat to Fulham at Craven Cottage. He made 24 league appearances in 1965-66, the most he managed in any one season for the Hammers.

In March 1966, he collected a League Cup runners-up medal playing right back in a side that lost 5-3 over two legs to West Brom. The team was captained by Bobby Moore, and included Martin Peters and Geoff Hurst, just four months before all three played in England’s one and only World Cup win.

Burnett went on to complete 66 league and cup appearances for West Ham.

Born in Southwark on 27 September 1944, perhaps it was no surprise his next stop was Millwall. West Ham sold him to The Lions in 1967 for £15,000, and the vast majority of his football career was spent at The Den, playing in the second tier.

Playing alongside Barry Kitchener at centre half and Harry Cripps at left back, he was part of a team that nearly made it to the First Division, particularly in 1971-72.

In a scene you would never get now in the mobile phone age, Millwall were leading Preston at home and the word went round The Den that rivals for promotion Birmingham were losing at Sheffield Wednesday. It looked like Millwall would be promoted to the elite for the first time in their history and the news spread to the players on the pitch.

Unfortunately, the rumour was completely wrong. Birmingham were leading, not losing. Club skipper Cripps had even gone round the Preston players telling them Millwall were going up but level-headed Burnett didn’t get carried away.

millwall-history.org records: On-the-field skipper Dennis Burnett was less convinced. “I wasn’t going to believe it until I knew for sure,” he said. “Those last few minutes were agonising. We played on in a dream. It was the longest 20 minutes ever for me.”

As the end of the game approached, the crowd jammed the touchline, waiting to cheer off the Millwall players. The pressure behind Millwall’s goal was so great that the woodwork began to buckle.
Centre-forward Barry Bridges (who would join Brighton five months later) ran back to appeal to the fans to be patient. When the referee blew for the last time – suspiciously early – half the 20,000 crowd stormed on to the pitch. Cripps was carried aloft and some of the other players lost their shirts.

Finally the correct score from Hillsborough was announced and the crowd fell silent and faded away.

The following season, Millwall struggled near the bottom of the table and manager Benny Fenton moved Burnett into midfield.

“As a sweeper I was a bit restricted,” he told Goal’s Ray Bradley, who described him as “one of the most accomplished and stylish players outside the First Division”.

“I had to stay back and wasn’t so involved,” said Burnett. “ Now I find I can express myself more and go up in support of the attack.”

Unlike his illustrious former Hammers teammates, full international recognition eluded him but in April 1973 Burnett was part of an English FA squad managed by Sir Alf Ramsey that thrashed Gibraltar 9-0 in a ‘friendly’. Frank Worthington (of Leicester at the time) scored a hat-trick.

Hankering for another shot at top division football, Burnett went on to the transfer list at The Den. He got his move, but only to a club in the same division.

After clocking up 257 appearances for Millwall, in 1974, Terry Neill paid £80,000 to take Burnett to Hull City, where a young Stuart Pearson, future West Ham, Man Utd and England international was making a name for himself.

However, when Neill left to become manager of Spurs, his replacement John Kaye brought in his own man while Burnett was out of the side suspended. After losing his place, Burnett had a brief loan spell back at Millwall.

During the summer of 1975, he played 21 games in the States with St Louis Stars (for whom former Chelsea and England goalkeeper Peter Bonetti was playing) before Brighton manager Peter Taylor secured his services for the Seagulls.

In an article in Shoot incorporating Goal, Burnett explained how, although he’d been sidelined for two months with an ankle ligament injury, he’d got back in the side only to be sent off in a game away to Bristol City.

“It was a most unjust decision. Even the opposition seemed flabbergasted,” he said. “Anyway, I never played for Hull again. The signing of Dave Roberts from Oxford United put paid to my chances of a first team recall, following my suspension.

“Eventually, manager John Kaye called me into his office and asked if I wanted a move. A price of £30,000 was put on my head, later reduced to £15,000. No one came for me so in April I went to the United States and played for St Louis Stars in Missouri, a North American Soccer League club.

“While there I received another contract from Hull City, which I refused to sign. I lodged an appeal against it to the Football League Management Committee. Surprisingly they upheld it, and, during July, I received a letter to say I’d been given a free transfer.

“I arrived back in England on August 24^th, made and received a number of ‘phone calls which resulted in my being offered a three-year contract by Brighton, plus excellent wages, which at the age of 31 was fantastic for me,

“Added to all this is the potential of Brighton in terms of location, players and attendances. It was a move not to be resisted.”

Burnett told the magazine he felt Brighton were much better prepared for promotion than Millwall had been. “Had we gone up, we would have needed a miracle to survive in the First,” he said. “At Brighton, we are winning matches without being fully stretched. The right blend is there and we can only get better.

“If I look after myself, I can get through another four or five seasons, by which time Brighton could be up amongst the big boys.”

Burnett was obviously a good judge because Brighton certainly got themselves up amongst the ‘big boys’ four years later – although by then he was no longer a part of it.

After a successful first season in which he developed a formidable central defensive partnership with Andy Rollings, and earned that placed in the PFA team of the year, perhaps there were signs that age was catching up with him.

In his end of season review in the Evening Argus, Albion reporter John Vinicombe observed: “Over the course of the season, the most improved player was Andy Rollings who profited by the experience of Dennis Burnett at his elbow.

“There were times when Burnett looked unflappable in the centre of the defence. As time wore on, and situations became more frenetic, that casual style, no doubt a legacy of his West Ham upbringing, now and again landed him in trouble.”

Maybe manager Taylor thought the same because one of the last things he did before quitting and rejoining Brian Clough was to sign veteran defender Graham Cross, which spelled trouble for Burnett.

Under new manager Alan Mullery, in the league at least, Cross was preferred alongside Rollings. Burnett deputised for Rollings when he was injured – for example, he played alongside Cross in the memorable 7-2 demolition of York City – and was given some games in midfield, but mainly in the League Cup he got the chance to shine.

He played in memorable games against First Division opponents Ipswich, West Brom and Derby, and was assured alongside Cross in the memorable narrow 2-1 defeat at the Baseball Ground in November 1976.

Vinicombe reported: “Cross and Burnett played coolly and neither looked out of place among the high-priced cream.”

He kept his place for a league game away to Port Vale five days later, but that 2-2 draw was his last in an Albion shirt.

In early February 1977, together with ex-Spur Phil Beal, he agreed a pay-off with the club and played non league with Ilford for the remainder of the season before returning to the States and another 19 games for St Louis Stars, where he was joined by former Albion teammate Fred Binney.

Mullery explained several years later in his autobiography that he had inherited a squad of 36 professionals and needed to prune the numbers. The older players were the obvious ones to go and, although Beal and Burnett went quietly, he had more truck dispensing with Joe Kinnear’s services – but that’s a story for another day.

On his return to these shores, Burnett headed for Ireland to play for Shamrock Rovers, at that time managed by the legendary Johnny Giles.

The defender subsequently played for three years in Norway, for SK Haugar, and popped up back in Sussex in 1994 as assistant manager of Sussex County League side Lancing, and played in a 2-1 defeat against Horsham YMCA in the FA Cup a month before his 50^th birthday!

According to Wikipedia, Burnett ran a painting and decorating business in Sussex after he left football and was working in the hospitality suites at Upton Park before West Ham moved to the Olympic Stadium.

Pictured above are a Newham Recorder shot of Burnett in West Ham colours; in action for Millwall (from Goal), and in Albion’s stripes (from Shoot!). Below, an archive shot of the St Louis Stars side of 1975 with Burnett in the back row wearing the 18 shirt and Peter Bonetti in the centre of the front row.

Gary Lineker cleaned defender Larry May’s boots

larry may wednes INJURY cut short Larry May’s playing career at Brighton but, during a purple patch of his four-year spell at Barnsley, he impressed his peers to the extent he was in the 1986-87 PFA team of the year.

Alongside him in that selection were Lee Dixon, the ITV football pundit who in those days played for Stoke City prior to his move to Arsenal, and former Albion full back John Gregory, who was playing in midfield for Derby County at the time.

Centre back Larry began his career with Leicester City and played over 200 games for them between 1977 and 1983. When given a run in the first team by former Rangers manager Jock Wallace, Larry’s boots were looked after by none other than Gary Lineker: the Match of the Day host being a Filbert Street apprentice at the time.

Leicester’s club historian John Hutchinson – who said of May: “He was very strong in the air, a powerful tackler and had pace” – drove down to Brighton in 2015 to interview Larry about his time with the Foxes and published the story on foxestalk.co.uk.

Leicester had spotted him playing for a local youth team in Birmingham and invited him for a trial. Aged 17, he made his debut in the top division against Bristol City when one of his teammates was Frank Worthington, another who later played for the Albion.

In the following season, Jimmy Bloomfield, the manager who gave him his debut, departed and was replaced by Frank McLintock, who didn’t give May much of a look-in.

Screenshot — *May played in front of ex-Norwich goalkeeper Kevin Keelan for the Tea Men*

He went to play for New England Tea Men (a franchise owned by the Lipton tea company) in America under ex-Coventry manager Noel Cantwell to get some games but ruptured a cruciate ligament which some thought might end his career before it had even got off the ground.

Back at Leicester, McLintock was succeeded by Wallace and he paired May at the back with John O’Neill – a partnership that endured for the best part of five years.

In those early times, though, May admitted he had to play through pain and regularly ice his knee.

Not only was May ever-present in the 1979-80 side that won promotion from Division 2, he headed the only goal of the game at Leyton Orient on the last day of the season to clinch the title. Striker Alan Young, who played for Albion in the 1983-84 season, was another ever-present.

Leicester only survived a season in the top flight and following relegation Gordon Milne replaced Wallace as manager, guiding them to promotion in his first season. May, though, didn’t see eye to eye with the former Liverpool midfielder and ended up handing in a transfer request.

In an Albion matchday programme, May said: “”We fell out over something and nothing really but at 24 you think you know it all and there was no future for me once I’d asked for a transfer. “Thinking back, I realise that I should have got on with it.”

As it was, in August 1983 he dropped a division and joined Barnsley for a fee of £110,000, signed by the legendary former Leeds hard man, Norman Hunter.

larry may bw “For a man with a reputation of being one of the fiercest characters in football it was unbelievable – I’d say he was definitely the nicest fellow I’ve ever played for,” said May.

While on the books at Oakwell, with a nod towards a longer future in the game, May took his full FA coaching badge.

He told foxestalk.co.uk: “I was happy at Barnsley but, in retrospect, I should have bided my time and stayed at Leicester really. But I was a bit young and naïve. I loved it at Leicester. Leicester were the best club I ever played at. It was my best time in football and I loved it there.”

After three years with Barnsley, former Albion winger Howard Wilkinson took May to Sheffield Wednesday. He had just turned 28 and the move represented a step back up in standard.

“It was an important move at that stage in my career but looking back it was never brilliant for me at Hillsborough,” he said.

Amongst the competitors for his place was Nigel Pearson, later to be better known for some eccentricities in management with various clubs.

At the start of the 1988-89 season, a move south to Brighton was mooted but Wilkinson held onto him because of some early season injury problems. However, Barry Lloyd got his man towards the end of September 1988 and May joined Brighton for £200,000.

His debut in a 2-1 Goldstone win over Leeds brought to an end a run of eight defeats at the beginning of the season but it was back to losing ways – both 1-0 – in the following two games which, ironically, were against his former clubs, Barnsley, at home, and Leicester, away.

monoMay

The return fixture with Leicester was a happier outcome for May, though, because he was the sponsors’ man of the match in a 1-1 draw.

In his programme notes for the Barnsley game, manager Lloyd said: “I know he’ll have a big impact on the way we play….at 29, we know he has a lot of football left in him.”

Captain Steve Gatting had a programme column that season and he also welcomed the central defender, adding: “His experience in the top two divisions is bound to rub off onto some of younger players. When we’ve played against Larry in the past he’s tended to be the man of the match and I’m sure everyone at the Goldstone wishes him and his family every success.”

Understandable sentiments, of course, and such a shame that before the season’s end, after only 25 games, the cruciate ligament in his right knee was shattered in an accidental collision with teammate Paul Wood during a magnificent 2-1 home win over Man City.

“I knew straight away, having had knee trouble before, how serious it was,” he said. “It wasn’t Paul’s fault. It was just one of those things.” He was carried off on a stretcher and it was his last game for the club.

It was in the matchday programme for Albion’s game v Ipswich Town on 27 September 1989 that news of his forced retirement was announced.

“The sudden decision has stunned 30-year-old Larry and his family who were beginning to settle in the Brighton area after moving from Wakefield last year,” the announcement read. “In a 12-year career in the game, Larry has made more than 400 senior appearances, 364 in the league.”

A dejected May told the programme: “It hasn’t sunk in yet because I just don’t believe that I’m finished. I honestly thought that I could carry on playing at league level until I was 35. I’ve always been fit generally and never had a weight problem and this has really hit me.

“When the specialist told me that I shouldn’t play again my first reaction was that it had to be wrong. Now I’ve got to rethink and I’m not really sure about my future.”

Manager Lloyd added: “The announcement that Larry May had been forced to retire from playing was a particularly sad one. He performed very well for us last season and put heart and soul into everything around the club.”

Thankfully Larry was able to put that coaching badge to good use when Lloyd made him reserve team coach and, after a time working for the Surrey FA, he later returned to the club as Head of Sports Participation for Albion in the Community.

His links to the club also extended to his sons: Chris was a young goalkeeper who once had to replace the injured Michel Kuipers during a game and Steve was a centre-back who was in the youth set-up.

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*Larry and his sons Steve (left) and Chris*

• Pictures include Larry May in matchday programmes; captured by an Evening Argus cameraman getting a hand in the face; the programme announcement of his retirement; in an Albion team line-up as a coach, and with his sons.

Flamboyant Frank Worthington’s career included a brief Brighton stopover

3-fw-albion FRANK Worthington was one of football’s genuine entertainers and it was a privilege to witness his season at The Goldstone between 1984 and 1985.

An all-too-brief England career which saw him win eight caps in 1974 was a long way behind him by the time his former Huddersfield Town teammate Chris Cattlin secured his signature for Brighton, but what the legs could no longer do, the brain more than made up for.

He was on the scoresheet in only his second game, a bruising encounter when Notts County were beaten 2-1, even though Albion played the second half with only 10 men – centre backs Eric Young and Jeff Clarke having been hospitalised by clashes with Justin Fashanu.

Worthington went on to make 30 appearances (plus five as sub) scoring eight times in total. Two of the goals came in his penultimate match against Wolverhampton Wanderers, one being a penalty struck so hard that it broke the hand of their ‘keeper Tim Flowers.

In June 2013, in the Huddersfield Examiner, Cattlin told interviewer Doug Thomson: “He did a good job for me. Frank wasn’t only a great player, but a great bloke as well, a dedicated trainer and a great bloke to have around a club.”

Worthington reflected on his time at the club in a matchday programme interview with Spencer Vignes in 2003. “I’d known Chris since my early days at Huddersfield,” he said. “I’d liked him so when he asked whether or not I’d be prepared to come to Brighton, I didn’t really have to think too long about it. They were a good side that hadn’t long been out of the First Division, so it sounded attractive.”

He continued: “We had some good players and certainly had no problems finding the net. I felt as though I was playing OK and the fans seemed to like me. But Chris did have this thing where he would chop and change the team around quite a bit, even if we were winning. He never really seemed sure what his best side was, and I think our form began to suffer because of it.”

Worthington reckoned it led to disharmony in the dressing room, and, for his own part, while he was good friends with Jimmy Case and Hans Kraay, he couldn’t say the same for Chris Hutchings or Kieran O’Regan. Albion finished sixth in the table, three points off automatic promotion and, although he was offered a new one-year contract, he decided to move on to try his hand at management.

So Brighton was only a brief stop-off in a 20-year career which saw Worthington score 236 goals in 757 league games. Add in games he also played in the United States with Philadelphia Fury and Tampa Bay Rowdies, in South Africa, Sweden and in English non-league, and the games total amounts to an amazing 828.

Halifax-born Worthington’s father was a pre-war professional and his two brothers, David and Bob, were also professionals. Unlike his brothers, the hometown club dithered over signing Frank and Huddersfield jumped in and secured his signature.

After manager Ian Greaves selected him for the opening fixture of the 1969-70 season, he clocked up 100 consecutive appearances for the Terriers.

The flamboyant Worthington famously almost joined Liverpool in 1972 but the deal was called off when he failed a medical due to a reported high blood pressure reading.

Liverpool signed John Toshack instead while Worthington went to Leicester City for £85,000.

Having made nearly a quarter of a million pounds from the sale of David Nish to Derby County, Leicester boss Jimmy Bloomfield had a useful kitty which he splashed on Worthington, Dennis Rofe, Keith Weller, Jon Sammels and Alan Birchenall.

Worthington scored on his Leicester debut at Old Trafford and in an article with Goal magazine on 21 October 1972, he said: “It’s different playing for Leicester City compared with Huddersfield. At Huddersfield the emphasis was on hard running and effort – here it is on skill, and there is a hell of a lot of skill in this side.”

In the same publication two years later, he had finished the 1973-74 season with 25 goals to his name and he was full of compliments for Bloomfield.

“Basically I am a player who relies on skill and that fits perfectly into Jim’s plans,” he said. “I always think that teams reflect the style and outlook of their managers. That’s why Leicester’s philosophy is that there is no substitute for skill.”

His time at Leicester lasted five years and spanned more than 200 appearances before he switched to Bolton Wanderers – where one audacious goal he scored against Ipswich remains a YouTube favourite – and then Birmingham City, helping both sides to promotions.

In 1982 he played for Leeds, the following season Sunderland and the next, Southampton, before pitching up at The Goldstone.

Worthington’s first go at management, while continuing to play, came with two years at Tranmere – and his first signing was Albion’s Ian Muir. He told Vignes: “Ian Muir was a fantastic forward with great touch. He did things in training you just wouldn’t believe, yet he wasn’t even making the side at Brighton under Chris.”

Muir became a hero on Wirral, scoring 141 goals as Rovers won promotion twice and won the Associate Members Cup at Wembley in 1991. By then, Worthington was long gone, having moved on to Preston, then Stockport County, and, after a succession of brief stays with various non-league clubs, ended up with hometown club Halifax Town, where he was briefly joined by Case.

Albion’s shirt sponsor during his season with the club was Phoenix Brewery. Quite apt for a player who was famously quoted as saying: “I’ve squandered fortunes on booze, birds and gambling – it’s better than wasting it!”

Tellingly, his autobiography, published in 1995, entitled One Hump or Two, was a classic tell-all romp of a colourful career on and off the pitch.

Worthington died aged 72 on 22 March 2021 and, in a statement, his wife Carol said: “Frank brought joy to so many people throughout his career and in his private life. He will be greatly missed by everyone who loved him so much.”

The great man’s lifestyle spawned many eye-catching headlines over the years and there is no shortage of stories about him to be found on the internet.

Follow the links for just three examples.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/may/06/frank-worthington-denies-being-diagnosed-with-alzheimers-disease

http://www.90min.com/posts/26691-england-s-wasted-talent-1-frank-worthington

http://www-users.york.ac.uk/~sph2/lufc/mag/worthing.htm

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Pictures from my scrapbook show Worthington in Goal magazine in Huddersfield and Leicester’s colours, in Albion’s Phoenix Brewery-sponsored shirt and a classic headline. Pictures also from the Albion matchday programme.