Tag: Pat Jennings

Irish goalscoring legend who knew football’s ups and downs

GERRY ARMSTRONG was a raw youngster not long over from Ireland when he was part of a Spurs team relegated from the top division.

“We were playing poorly. People kept telling us we were too good to go down but what a load of rubbish that was. You don’t want to believe that sort of nonsense,” Armstrong told Neale Harvey in a tottenhamhotspur.com interview.

“We started thinking they were right but you had to earn the right to stay up and we lost too many games, simple as that.”

It was 49 years ago when Armstrong suffered that fate, and Spurs bounced straight back courtesy of a mightily convenient last day 0-0 draw at second-placed Southampton (Brighton finished on the same number of points but were edged into fourth spot on goal difference).

Eight years later, Armstrong, fresh from playing for Northern Ireland at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, joined Brighton during Alan Mullery’s unhappy second spell in charge, and endured a turbulent season.

He went 17 games before scoring, joined Millwall on loan when Mullery was unceremoniously shown the door in January 1987, and was then recalled by new manager Barry Lloyd  for the final eight games of the season. He only managed one goal (in a home 1-1 draw with Plymouth) to add to the three he scored earlier in the season, and he experienced relegation again, this time from second to third tier, as Albion finished bottom of the league.

Like Spurs, Albion bounced straight back up but by then Armstrong’s involvement was as a perennial substitute (in the days of two subs). In 1987-88, with Kevin Bremner and Garry Nelson on fire up front, he started one League Cup game early in the season and was a sub on no fewer than 25 occasions, only getting off the bench 11 times.

Albion’s Armstrong gets stuck in at Chesterfield, one of his former clubs

He scored twice, once on the last day of August, when he scored away at Northampton after going on as a sub for John Crumplin and, six months later, he went on for the injured Kevan Brown and netted the only goal of the game in extra time as Albion beat Hereford United in an away Sherpa Van Trophy tie.

Chances of a starting berth in the 1988-89 season were limited because Bremner, Nelson and Paul Wood were regulars, but Armstrong managed four starts and went on three of the seven times he was a sub.

He was eventually appointed reserve team player-coach but his time with the club ended ignominiously. Playing for the reserves in a Sussex Senior Cup tie at Southwick in January 1989, he was shown a red card and, as he walked off, he took exception to a comment from a supporter, jumped into the crowd and headbutted the person concerned.

Armstrong left the club a fortnight after the altercation but the matter ended up in court and the footballer received a conditional discharge.

It wasn’t the first time the red mist had descended, though, as Armstrong explained in an interview with Lionel Birnie for watfordlegends.com. He originally played Gaelic football for St John’s GAC and the Antrim senior team.

“I only started playing soccer at 17. I’d played Gaelic football and hurling. I got suspended for an altercation in Gaelic,” he said. “It’s an amazing game but fights used to break out all over the pitch. It was fun, I loved it but it was a very confrontational game.

“There was an incident where I broke a guy’s jaw in several places and got suspended. I didn’t mean to break it but I caught him one.”

It was while he was suspended from playing Gaelic football that he was picked up by Bangor and in no time at all he found trouble in football too.

“I made my debut for Bangor, came on as a sub with 20 minutes to go, got sent off with 10 minutes to go for whacking the centre- half,” Armstrong told Birnie. “I went past him and put the ball in the net to make it 2-1 and he said, ‘Next time you do that I’m going to do you.’

“When he said he was going to do me, I decided to do him first and I whacked him. The manager, Bertie Neill, gave me a bollocking. He chewed a couple of strips off me and I learned that soccer wasn’t a fighting game.”

It was another three years before he signed for Spurs and, by his own admission, “a load of clubs came to watch me but no one took me on because I was very inconsistent, still learning about the game, really didn’t get to grips with the offside”.

The Gaelic game helped him build stamina and strength and soccer made him sharper. After Bangor won some trophies, Spurs invited him for a week’s trial and he told Harvey: “I thought I did okay but I heard nothing for weeks.

“Arsenal were trying to sign me but, out of the blue, Terry (Neill) came over (in November 1975) and signed me on a one-year contract, with a one-year option. It was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down.

“I was overawed. I’d never been to London before, so it was like ‘Paddy’ coming to the big city and being lost. But all the lads were great and there were a lot of Irish boys, like Chris McGrath, Noel Brotherston and, of course, the legendary Pat Jennings.”

Armstrong was a late starter at 21 but he lapped it all up, enjoying training and working on his ball skills in the gym in the afternoons with Peter Shreeves. After six months, he broke into the first team.

Armstrong in Spurs action against Nottingham Forest’s John McGovern

He made his debut on the opening day of the 1976-77 season, in a 3-1 defeat at Ipswich and lost his place after only three matches. He was restored to the first team in February for the final 18 games but Spurs slid all the way to relegation.

Armstrong reckoned with hindsight that it was a five-week pre-season tour that took its toll on the squad. They travelled to Canada, USA, Hawaii, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia and India and, he said: “When I got back, I was absolutely knackered. But we only had 10-12 days to recuperate before pre-season began.”

After Neill left for Arsenal, his replacement, Keith Burkinshaw, often played Armstrong as a central defender having liked what he saw in a pre-season game.

Armstrong told Birnie: “He wanted me to play there because I was quick, strong, good in the air. It was nice in one sense but I didn’t want to play at centre half, I wanted to be up front where the action is.” Even so, he also played at right-back, in midfield and wide on the right.

Brighton fans of a certain vintage remember all too painfully how Spurs managed to gain promotion on the last day of the season.

Armstrong recalled: “We nearly lost it three games from the end when we lost 3-2 at home to Sunderland after I made a mistake playing at centre-half. But then we beat Hull and went to Southampton needing a point.

“It was tense, obviously, but they needed a point as well and it was one of those games where nobody really tried to push on because of the fear factor. We got our point and went off to Cornwall for four days to celebrate!”

For a while, Armstrong and Chris Jones were a forward pairing for Spurs but he admitted that neither of them scored enough goals and the beginning of the end for both of them came when Tottenham bought Steve Archibald for a million and Garth Crooks for £650,000.

Armstrong dropped down a division to join Watford in November 1980 for a £250,000 fee – at the time, a record sale for Spurs, and a record buy for the Hornets. He signed in the same week that Graham Taylor also signed Armstrong’s fellow countryman Pat Rice from Arsenal.

He was part of their promotion-winning squad of 1981-82 and said: “Graham Taylor taught me so much about movement and he took my level of fitness up another notch.

“I was fit and strong but I hadn’t tapped into all my resources. The two years at Watford prior are one of the reasons I had such a good World Cup [in 1982].”

Indeed, it was his winning goal for Northern Ireland against Spain at the 1982 World Cup that he is most remembered for and Armstrong later told The Argus: “If I had to pick one moment in football to relive again it would be that. It would be the highpoint of any player’s career to perform in the World Cup finals. But to score the winning goal against the home nation would be a dream. It was for me.”

In an interview with Andrew French of the Watford Observer, he recalled: “The goal came early in the second half. I was playing as a right-sided midfield player, and I won the ball off the Spanish left-back Gordillo.

“I went on a run for about 60 yards, went past a couple of players – I remember Xavi Alonso’s father, Joaquin, tried to clip my heels – but I then played the ball out wide to Billy Hamilton and kept my run going.

“Billy put in a great cross which the keeper, Luis Arconada, came for and palmed straight out to me. I was about 12 yards out and I just got my head and my knee over the ball and hammered it as hard as I could, and it hit the back of the net.

“It was actually a funny one as the ground went silent because the Spaniards weren’t going to celebrate, and the South American referee had been so poor and given us nothing. I was worried and I remember thinking ‘why isn’t anybody cheering?’

“But then I saw Norman Whiteside and Sammy McIlroy throwing their hands in the air, and then I looked at the ref and he was pointing to the centre. Once I knew he’d given the goal, that’s when the celebrations started.”

Armstrong had already netted in a 1-1 draw with Honduras and in the next round he scored in Ireland’s 4-1 defeat against France (pictured above); those goals were enough to earn him a golden boot (right) for best British Player of the Tournament.

On his return to the UK, he was back in the top flight but was sidelined for several weeks with a broken ankle sustained when he fell awkwardly in a reserves match.  Towards the end of the season, Real Mallorca bid £200,000 for him and he spent two seasons playing in the Spanish league.

Armstrong told Birnie: “I didn’t want to leave. It was a case of Mallorca coming in. It was 200 grand so the club would get almost all their money back on me after three years, which was not a bad deal at all.

“When you go to talk to them and see the money they are going to offer and you realise the tax situation is very different there suddenly it is very attractive. You realise you can make in two years at Mallorca what you could make in six or seven years at Watford or any other English club.

“There was a challenge in Spain, playing in a different country, learning a different language and it did appeal to me in ways other than the money. I was 30, 31, so I thought I’d give it a go because I knew the opportunity would probably not come up again.”

The experience served him well because after his playing days were over he was a TV co-commentator on Spanish football.

In that respect, Armstrong’s typically Irish gift of the gab long made him an ideal pundit for broadcasters and a journalist’s dream interviewee: tales from his playing days have filled plenty of columns and air time over a good many years, and in 2021 Curtis Sport published his autobiography, Gerry Armstrong: My Story, My Journey.

Born in the County Tyrone village of Fintona on 23 May 1954, Armstrong was a teenager in Belfast at the height of Northern Ireland’s sectarian and political conflict. “There were bombs going off, paramilitaries burning buses and it was a horrific time,” he said.

“At times it felt as if you were living in a movie set, but it was real life. The book isn’t just about the highs, it also paints a picture of what it was like growing up back then.”

Armstrong won 63 caps for Northern Ireland and scored 12 goals, making his debut in 1977 at the age of 22 alongside George Best and Pat Jennings in a 5-0 friendly defeat to West Germany in Cologne.

His first two international goals were scored in a 3-0 World Cup qualifying win over Belgium at Windsor Park seven months later.

Without a doubt, though, 1982 was when he was at the pinnacle of his career. While he’ll forever be remembered for the winner against Spain, he also fondly remembered scoring against Portugal and Israel in qualifying.

“We had to beat Portugal at Windsor Park and we only got one chance that night. Terry Cochrane crossed and I managed to head it into the roof of the night,” he said.

“That win set us up and it then came down to the last game at home to Israel which we had to win to reach Spain. I managed to score the winner and the noise was unbelievable.

“There were 43,500 people inside Windsor. It was only supposed to hold 40,000, so I don’t know how everyone got in. But that’s one of a lot of very special memories.”

By the time of the 1986 World Cup, Armstrong had been in a bit of limbo. He’d returned to the UK the previous August and signed for West Brom on a free transfer but he struggled with travelling to and from London to train and play, didn’t see eye to eye with manager Ron Saunders, and picked up some injuries.

It was former Spurs teammate John Duncan who rode to his rescue. Duncan was in charge of Division Three Chesterfield and he took Armstrong on loan and then signed him permanently, giving him a dozen games, which were enough to put him in contention to be selected by Northern Ireland for the upcoming World Cup in Mexico.

Billy Bingham’s side didn’t make it past the group stage (drawing 1-1 with Algeria; losing 2-1 to Spain and 3-0 to Brazil) and Armstrong only saw action as a 71st minute sub in the Brazil game. Albion winger Steve Penney started the first two matches and was subbed off in each.

It was while Armstrong was away with the Irish squad that Mullery made contact with an offer for the following season.

Although Brighton was the last professional English club Armstrong played for, he lived in the area for several years afterwards. His second wife, Caron, came from Brighton and although his final games as a player were at Glenavon, back in Ireland, he spent some time as a player-coach at Crawley Town, who were in the Beazer Homes League at the time.

In November 1991, he became manager of Worthing and led them to a promotion before being appointed assistant manager of Northern Ireland by his former teammate Bryan Hamilton. He reprised that role for two years under Lawrie Sanchez between 2004 and 2006.

Facing Franz Beckenbauer the highlight of John Napier’s career

FIFTY years ago, Brighton spent the summer preparing for life in the old Second Division having won promotion in front of 30,000+ crowds at the Goldstone Ground. For one player, though, his five years at the heart of the Albion’s defence – many as the club captain – were drawing to a close.

Seven years later, John Napier moved permanently to the United States to embark on a new life. Today, at the age of 75, he is still coaching. NICK TURRELL’s In Parallel Lines blog caught up with him for a trip back down memory lane. 

Here, in the first of five articles, John reflects on the highlight of his career, how he came to join the Albion, and his appointment as club captain.

A BRIGHTON captain in the making faced Uwe Seeler, Franz Beckenbauer and Co in a warm-up game for the 1966 World Cup tournament in England.

It was the one and only time John Napier appeared as a full international for Northern Ireland, but that day on 7 May 1966 has lived with him into his old age.

Napier at 75 still treasures his Irish international shirt

“Walking out at Windsor Park, Belfast, against West Germany was probably the biggest highlight of my soccer career,” he said. “All my family were there watching and afterwards we had a large dinner and I was sat directly across from Uwe Seeler and Franz Beckenbauer. It was some night I will never forget.”

A crowd of 22,000 at Windsor Park saw the country who’d two months later take England into extra time at the World Cup final secure a 2-0 win courtesy of goals by Seeler and Fredy Heiß.

The call-up was reward for Napier’s form with second tier Bolton Wanderers, where he had just been named Player of the Season.

Against the Germans, Napier, aged just 19, played alongside Terry Neill and in front of the great Pat Jennings. One of the full-backs that day, Jimmy Magill, who was coming to the end of his international career, had already moved from Arsenal to Brighton by then. Magill came from the same town, Lurgan, as Napier.

Napier did get selected to play for his country again, after he’d joined the Albion. He was due to play in a friendly against Israel in Tel Aviv in 1968.

But as Napier recalled: “Before we were due to fly out from Heathrow, we were told that there had been an uprising in the Middle East, and it would not be safe to play the game under those circumstances.

“I was looking forward to that game as Terry Neill had an injury and it was a chance for me to get back in the national side again, so it was disappointing.”

By the time the fixture was rearranged (in September the same year), Napier was out of the picture. For the record, Northern Ireland won 3-2; Napier’s future Albion teammate Willie Irvine scored twice with Derek Dougan netting the other.

“Although I loved my time at Brighton, I felt the international chances did not come back as I would have liked,” Napier reflected. “I did get selected a few times but I also got injured and missed a chance to play against England. There was also a Scotland game at Hampden which clashed with a Brighton League Cup game where I was not released. Being behind Terry Neill (the Arsenal skipper) did not help either because he never missed many games.”

At £25,000, 20-year-old Napier was a record signing by the Albion when Archie Macaulay persuaded him to leave Burnden Park and head for the south coast at the start of the 1967-68 season.

“£25,000 was a lot back then,” Napier recalled. “Brighton had come in with a £20,000 first offer which Bolton refused. I don’t think at the time that Bolton wanted to let me go, so I was told, so they kept refusing offers from Brighton. There were a couple of other clubs in at the time, so that is why the fee went to £25,000.”

The Irishman continued: “It was a difficult decision because I was still young and ambitious. But, at the same time, I felt I needed to break from Bolton for a fresh start and Brighton came in with a very good offer that Bolton accepted.

“I had gone through a sticky patch the last few months at Bolton, being in and out of the first team. I had made my debut at Bolton before my 19th birthday and was an ever present in the first team for a long time. I was voted Bolton Player of the Year in 1966 so I was well liked in the town and never felt like I would be anywhere else.”

Nevertheless, he admitted that he asked for a transfer because he was not getting on with the Bolton management. “I was strong willed and I went to talk to Nat Lofthouse (the club’s legendary former centre forward who was part of the second team training staff).

“I always admired him as a person and a player,” said Napier. “He did not say go but he did say I was still very young and had my whole career in front of me. So, it was a big decision, but it was also a large financial decision, because I did make a good amount through signing-on fees, wages and also a bonus from Bolton because I had been there since I was 15. So, financially, I was so much better off at Brighton.”

He continued: “When you are young like I was, things change fast, and they sure did for me. I left many of the players I had grown up with in the Bolton youth teams and many great players I was playing with: Francis Lee, big Wyn Davies, Freddie Hill, Eddie Hopkinson – all internationals.”

At Brighton, Napier quickly established a formidable partnership with Norman Gall at the back, so what was the secret of their success?

Napier and Gall at the heart of the team picture – as well as defence

“I loved playing at the back alongside Norman,” Napier explained. “We had a good understanding of what was needed in the middle at the back.

“We hit it off straight away and played many times together, and so consistently. We were tough and could read and feed of each other.

“I was good in the air and was able to master tall number 9s, as we had a lot back then. Norman was quicker than me and could handle speedy players alongside the big guys, so it was a good combination.

“I was more sit back in the pocket, and Norman would venture forward more, but we were defenders in the old tradition.”

It turns out one of Napier’s biggest fans was the renowned comedian, actor and musician Norman Wisdom, who was an Albion director in the ‘60s. “He was always at our games and brought a laugh into the dressing room even if we lost,” said Napier. “A great character. I was thrilled in later years when I read that I had been his favourite player at Brighton. I hope he wasn’t joking!”

How the matchday programme reported a first Albion goal for the Irish defender

The Irishman received Albion’s first-ever Player of the Season award (below centre, as featured in Seagulls! The Story of Brighton & Hove Albion FC by Tim Carder and Roger Harris) for his consistent performances at the heart of Albion’s defence in the 1968-69 season. He played in all 52 Albion matches that season.

“I was very proud of getting that award especially as it came from the fans at the Goldstone Ground,” he said. “It was a surprise to me at the time, I loved playing there and I think the crowd did appreciate the work we put in.

“I had a good rapport with the fans; I felt that they respected the way I played, always giving my best output. I also did a lot of work in the community at the time, as did most of the players. We were always out somewhere. I remember coaching a local team in the evenings.”

He added: “Brighton was a good club; it was a club that players wanted to come to, and the club took care of us well. We travelled like a First Division outfit and we stayed at the best hotels at the time. Sometimes on trains travelling north we would be in close quarters with Arsenal or Tottenham players, and I would be meeting up with old teammates like Pat Jennings, Pat Rice, Terry Neill, on the same trains. Brighton had a reputation for bringing in big name players through the years.”

Typical of Napier’s contribution to the Albion at that time was this high praise from John Vinicombe, the reporter who covered the club for the Evening Argus. After a 3-0 win at Reading on 21 April 1971, he wrote: “This was a magnificent display by John Napier. He was absolutely commanding and this rated as his best performance of the campaign. Nothing beat him and this mastery inspired confidence in all around.”

Remarkably the Napier-Gall partnership straddled the reigns of three managers: Macaulay, Freddie Goodwin and Pat Saward.

“Macaulay was a no-nonsense type of manager,” said Napier. “I enjoyed playing for him. He had success with most of his clubs, he knew how he wanted his line up and would go after players for specific positions. Most of the daily training work was done by coaches; I think Joe and Glen Wilson were involved at the time.”

And Goodwin? “For me he was the best man manager I had the pleasure to play for. He brought different ideas to the club, he had been a good player and also had coached in the USA. He was a coach that would be able to lift you as an individual, both as a person and as a player.

“I remember my individual conversations with him. He was so positive in those areas that I felt I wanted to take that onto the field and strive. I think he was the same with most of the players. We had a good group that felt very comfortable with his playing style. As professionals, we are all different in how we respond to management, sometimes good and sometimes bad.

“It is a tough role and obviously not easy to get players on the same page. He managed to do it most of the time before he left to go to Birmingham City.

“I remember him introducing us to a new powder he brought from America called Gatorade we used to dilute in water and drink for energy. That was the first time Gatorade was seen in the UK; now look at it today!”

Napier continued: “Also, he would bring in fancy-coloured boots from companies for us to try out instead of the old black and white ones. That was so funny: we would wear bright blue boots in training but I don’t think anyone wanted to wear them in a game in case the crowd got on to them. How times have changed!

“I loved them; they were softer and very comfortable, but I’m not sure who the manufacturer was.”

Goodwin appointed Napier club captain and the former defender pointed out: “I wanted to be that person, to be a leader and to continue to try to bring success to the club. I always felt that Brighton was a sleeping giant back then.”

He continued: “I personally as a player had some of my best spells under Freddie. We had a good group. It is never easy getting results in the lower divisions. I really can’t remember any of the big games, but we were close, and I think everyone knew it was only a matter of time before Brighton went forward.

“When Freddie left to take the Birmingham job it was disappointing for the players. We knew it was because he was doing such a great job with us, but it was still hard to swallow.”

Napier and the 1969-70 Albion squad

• In the next instalment, Napier reveals how his amazing Albion appearance record came to a shuddering halt.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Northern Irish legend Aaron Hughes was talk of the Toon

AH red blackVETERAN Northern Irishman Aaron Hughes only brought down the curtain on his lengthy playing career in June 2019 at the age of 39.

On 12 June he finally confirmed his playing days were over in an emotional speech to his Northern Ireland team-mates in the Borisov Arena after the country’s 1-0 victory over Belarus.

Remarkably, Hughes had first been called up to the Northern Ireland squad at the age of 17, before he’d even broken through at Newcastle United.

“Having known Aaron Hughes for nearly 25 years, it was an honour to be present to witness his typically classy speech to all of the Northern Ireland players and staff to announce his retirement from the game after an amazing career,” former Newcastle keeper and current Northern Ireland coach Steve Harper told the Belfast Telegraph.

Amongst many others paying tribute, former international Paddy McCourt added: “Without doubt the best professional I encountered during my football career. I was fortunate enough to play alongside Aaron Hughes at Brighton and we also spent many years together with Northern Ireland. A true gentleman and brilliant player.”

He had just the one season with Brighton & Hove Albion – in 2014-15. Mainly a central defender, Hughes could also play comfortably in either full-back position or midfield.

He was the first Brighton signing of Sami Hyypia’s ill-fated spell as manager, and Hyypia told the club website: “We wanted to bring another experienced defender, and Aaron fits the bill – having played at Premier League, Champions League and international level.

“I have played against Aaron a few times during my time at Liverpool and also for Finland, and I know his qualities and what he will give us.

“He has a very good footballing pedigree, is an intelligent player, and he has a great mentality and good approach to the game.

“He has that experience I wanted to bring into the squad, which alongside our other senior players, will help our younger players continue to develop and progress in the first-team squad.”

As it turned out, Hughes was only used as cover and during his season with the Seagulls made only 13 appearances.

Nevertheless, Hughes’ stay on the south coast clearly left an impression and fellow Northern Ireland international Oliver Norwood described how Hughes played a part in persuading him to join the Seagulls in 2016.

“I spoke to Hughesy about his time here and he spoke so highly of the club, mentioning the facilities, the stadium and that it’s set up to go to the Premier League,” Norwood told the club website. “He’s a wonderful person that’s achieved so much.

“I know he didn’t get the game time he would have liked here, but if I have half the career he has, then I’ll be very happy.”

Born in Cookstown, County Tyrone, on 8 November 1979, Hughes joined Newcastle United’s youth ranks at 17 and, over eight years, he made 279 appearances for the Magpies.

A Hughes superb footy picsEyebrows were raised when former Northern Ireland manager Bryan Hamilton took Hughes to Portugal for a World Cup qualifier in October 1997, when he was still only 17, but Hamilton told the Belfast Telegraph: “There was something special in him, even at a young age, and I wanted him in the squad. I felt he could be an outstanding player for Northern Ireland and I knew that coming in early wouldn’t affect or faze him.”

Hughes had to wait until Lawrie McMenemy succeeded Hamilton to make his international debut the following March, and by then he’d made a memorable debut for Newcastle in November 1997 against Barcelona at the Nou Camp. Selected by manager Kenny Dalglish, despite the 1-0 defeat, the 18-year-old showed tremendous promise against the likes of Figo, Ronaldo and Stoichkov. He eventually held down a regular first team place under Dalglish’s successor Ruud Gullitt before Bobby Robson took the helm.

Hughes made his name at St James’s Park in the centre of Newcastle’s defence, playing alongside Sylvain Distin in a side also featuring Craig Bellamy, Gary Speed and Alan Shearer. He spoke about his time playing under Dalglish and Robson in an interview with the Guardian.

Discerning followers of Toon were quick to join in the tributes paid to Hughes when he announced his retirement. Elsewhere they have vented their spleen at the decision Graeme Souness took to sell him to Aston Villa.

Hughes had three seasons at Villa, having been signed by David O’Leary in the 2005-06 season. But Villa fans are a tough lot to please and, despite his previous success at Newcastle, it seems they expected more. “Hughes, despite filling his role admirably as a centre back, never felt integral to our defence as he found himself chopped and changed with (Olof) Melberg, and fellow signing Wilfried Bouma,” declared readastonvilla.com.

Eventually with injury-hit defender Martin Laursen returning to the side under new manager Martin O’Neill, Hughes became more of a squad player at Villa Park. He was allowed to leave to join Fulham and was signed by a former Northern Irish international teammate, Lawrie Sanchez.

hughes fulhamAt Fulham, he formed a formidable defensive partnership with Brede Hangeland and fulhamfc.com said: “The pair worked brilliantly together, with the fans soon referring to them as our very own Thames Barrier. Their styles complemented each other perfectly, and while Hughes wasn’t the tallest of centre-backs, his leap and reading of the game more than made up for it.”

Hughes was one of three ever-presents – with Mark Schwarzer and Danny Murphy – when Fulham finished seventh in the Premier League in 2008-09, which led to European qualification.

He was part of the side captained by Murphy, with Bobby Zamora up front, who went on a gloriously unexpected UEFA Cup journey in 2010, only to be pipped to the trophy in extra time by Atletico Madrid.

“The way we lost, right at the end of extra-time, still grates with me, so the final is a bitter-sweet memory,” Hughes reflected in a 2014 interview for Albion’s matchday programme. “The Juventus game stands out more, where we came back from 3-1 down from the first leg in Italy to win 4-1 at Craven Cottage.”

On transfer deadline day in January 2014, Hughes signed a short-term deal for Harry Redknapp’s Queens Park Rangers for whom he made 11 Championship appearances.

After his season with Brighton, even at the age of 36 Hughes had no intention of packing up playing. Instead, he headed to Australia and played for Melbourne City and then linked up with India’s Kerala Blasters before he joined Hearts for his final two seasons.

His last club game saw Hearts bring him on in the 68th minute of their final league game of the season, a 2-1 defeat to Celtic at Celtic Park. Upon replacing John Souttar, the 39-year-old Hughes took the captain’s armband for the final few minutes of a career stretching across an impressive 22 years.

Hughes won an amazing 112 caps for his country across 20 years – a record for an outfield player. He was second only to the legendary Pat Jennings as most-capped player and was captain of his country for eight years. Small wonder, then, that he should be so grateful to so many at the Irish FA for the longevity of his international career.

hughes NI

  • Pictures from various online sources.

Sammy Nelson’s glittering career came to an end at Brighton

2 Sam NelsonEXPERIENCED Northern Irish international full-back Sammy Nelson was an Arsenal legend who joined Brighton towards the end of his career.

The last four of his 51 international caps came while with the Seagulls. One was a 4-0 defeat to England at Wembley when Albion teammate Steve Foster made his England debut, another was a substitute appearance at the 1982 World Cup against Spain. His last appearance for his country came in a 2-2 draw with Austria at that tournament.

nels NI colLeading up to that competition, Nelson had played a significant part in helping Albion to what remained their highest ever finish in the football pyramid – thirteenth place – until the 2022-23 season.

A lot of fans didn’t like manager Mike Bailey’s style of play, but, with some degree of resonance to Chris Hughton’s philosophy, he built his side on a solid defence and preferred experience over youth.

Nelson was a key player in that defence after ousting long-serving Gary Williams a third of the way into the 1981-82 season.

He played alongside his former Arsenal teammate Steve Gatting, who Bailey had signed for £200,000 as a replacement for Mark Lawrenson (the famous departure to Liverpool having been the trigger for Alan Mullery to quit as manager).

Nelson had made only one substitute appearance for Arsenal in the previous season but he enjoyed a bumper testimonial game when a crowd of 20,000 turned up at Highbury for a game against Celtic.

Bailey declared on paying £35,000 for a 32-year-old player who had made 339 league and cup games for the Gunners: “The signing of Sammy Nelson has now given me the sort of squad I feel we need to compete with the best in the division.

“Sammy is a fine player and a very good professional but, like everyone else, he will have to compete for a team place.”

He did indeed have to wait for his chance, largely because he had a foot strain at the time of signing. But the chance came in a league cup second leg game at home to Huddersfield at The Goldstone.

Williams was restored for the following two league games but Nelson got the nod for a third round league cup game away game at Barnsley (which ended in a 4-1 defeat) and kept the shirt for all but two games through to the end of the season, making 32 appearances in total.

After only seven games, he gave an interestingly candid interview to the Argus. He admitted he was struggling with the daily commute from his home in Brookmans Park in Hertfordshire, being that it necessitated a 6am wake up.

“Towards the end of a week, it is only natural to start feeling tired at that sort of routine when, instead, I should be fresh for the coming game,” he said.

In the same interview, Nelson went on to take a bit of a swipe at a small section of the Albion following. “They expect the championship to come overnight. Some of them, instead of getting behind the team, have begun to get abusive, even vindictive,” he maintained. “I would have expected a little more loyalty from the crowd, but I must stress that I am only talking about a small section.”

It must have given Nelson some pleasure in April 1982 to be on the winning side as Albion beat Arsenal 2-1 in the top flight for the first time in nine attempts since gaining promotion in 1979.

Especially as former boss Terry Neill was up in arms about a challenge Nelson had made that went unpunished. The News of the World declared: “Arsenal boss Terry Neill last night blames former Highbury hero Sammy Nelson for his team’s defeat.

“Neill claimed the Brighton fullback should have been booked for bringing down Raphael Meade as the striker closed in for a goal which would have sewn up the match for the Gunners.”

Nelson was born in Belfast on April Fools Day 1949 and joined Arsenal on his 17th birthday in 1966, just as all eyes in England were focused on the World Cup.

His first silverware came as a member of Arsenal’s FA Youth Cup winning side that year, when they beat Sunderland 5-3 over two legs.

At that time he was a left winger but coach Don Howe converted him to a full back. The established first choice left back was Bob McNab and in the famous 1970-71 Double winning side, Nelson only got to play four games.

In fact he understudied McNab for the best part of five years, until the former Huddersfield man left the Gunners in 1975. Then Nelson made the position his own, with fellow Irish international Pat Rice on the opposite flank.

Nelson was almost ever present for five seasons and was part of the Arsenal team which reached three successive FA Cup Finals: 1978, 1979 and 1980, picking up a winners’ medal in the 1979 win over Manchester United. The Arsenal 1-2-3 that day were all Ulstermen: Pat Jennings, Rice and Nelson.

I particularly like this story from Arsenal fan Paul Reynolds, published on untold-arsenal.com: “In 1980 I took on a paper round and one of the houses I delivered newspapers to was where the Arsenal left-back Sammy Nelson lived. I didn’t see him often because I delivered the papers very early, but I’ll never forget the morning of the Arsenal v West Ham final.

“At about 10am I got a phone call from the paper shop owner to tell me that Sammy had popped in the night before and dropped off two tickets to give to the lad who delivered his papers. I was thrilled to bits and my girlfriend and I rushed off to Wembley and just about made it in time for kick-off – we didn’t care that we had to stand right at the back.

“Although, sadly, we lost the game 1-0 I’ll never forget that generous and thoughtful gesture by my former Arsenal hero and will always be grateful to have been supporting the club during an era when the players genuinely had a connection with the supporters and cared enough to go out of their way ahead of a massively important game to help a fan like me. Arsenal ‘til I die.”

arsenal.com remembers Nelson as one of their top 50 players, describing him as “a funny and endearing individual, the Ulsterman was held in genuine affection by team-mates and supporters alike”.

It also recalls the time he dropped his shorts and bared his backside to the North Bank – which earned him a fortnight’s ban by the FA. It was his response to scoring an equaliser after he’d earlier been barracked for scoring an own goal in a league game against Coventry.

The website adds: “A fine strike in a League Cup trouncing of Leeds United in 1979 was the pinnacle of his goalscoring feats, but Nelson was always willing to venture into enemy territory. At the back his obdurate tackling and bravery was complemented by a sure touch on the ball.”

Arsenal’s signing of Kenny Sansom spelled the beginning of the end of Nelson’s time at Highbury and he moved to Albion in September 1981.

Although he started the 1982-83 season in the Albion first team, he picked up an injury and retired at the end of the season having played a total of 45 games for the Seagulls.

On retirement he initially became Albion’s reserve team manager and then first team coach when Chris Cattlin took over as manager from Jimmy Melia. But he left after only one season and took up a City consultant job in life assurance and pensions.

Funnily enough, as a regular commuter to London myself at that time, I’d frequently see Sammy joining the train at Hove in the mornings and then relaxing in the buffet car on the return journey in the evenings.

He told the Independent in a ‘where are they now?’ feature in March 1994: “It’s funny, I never saw myself being part of the rat race but now I find myself standing on the platform in the right place for ‘my’ seat, just like everyone else.”

Pictures from my scrapbook and matchday programmes

A Goal magazine action shot of Nelson in Arsenal’s colours and the full-back in action for the Albion at the Goldstone, pictured in the matchday programme.

Also pictured: Nelson in full flight against Southampton; with young Gary Stevens captured by the Argus singing In Brighton at Busby’s disco in Kings Road; making the headlines in the News of the World; in action against Wolves.

Welsh international Peter Sayer added artistry to Brighton’s rise to the elite

NIMBLE-footed Peter Sayer was certainly a player for the big occasion: a Cardiff City legend and briefly a Welsh national team star.

At Brighton & Hove Albion, he was part of the team that memorably won promotion to the top division for the first time in its history.

He signed for the Seagulls for £100,000 just nine months after playing for his country in what was the only Wales victory over England at Wembley (on 31 May 1977).

Sayer was part of a Welsh team captained by Terry Yorath (father of TV presenter Gabby Logan) but with far fewer household names than their illustrious opponents.

Wales were managed by Mike Smith, the former Hove Grammar School teacher, while Don Revie’s England were captained by Kevin Keegan, playing up front alongside Stuart Pearson and Mick Channon.

The BBC highlights of the match show the diminutive Sayer getting on the end of a Leighton James cross but steering his header wide before James scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot after he’d been upended by Peter Shilton.

Neil Moxley, for dailymail.co.uk in September 2011 discovered what had happened to that Welsh team since, which included jobs ranging from Wales boss to toilet roll business managers. Sayer, he reported, had become steward at a golf club in Preston, where he moved to after Brighton, and then run a pub in the area.

In Back Pass magazine in August 2013, Sayer was quoted as saying: “It was an excellent time at Brighton. There were some very good players at the club and I was playing well.

“I especially remember when we won promotion to the old First Division at Newcastle in 1978-79.

sayer bwhs“We had our own train which we used to travel on to away games. It was great for team morale.”

He added: “I ended up in the reserves even though I was playing well. I got asked to go to Newcastle but failed the medical.

“The club then had an opportunity to sell me to Preston and they perhaps felt they needed to offload some players. Maybe I should have dug my heels in and fought.”

Sayer wasn’t a prolific goalscorer but he did get on the scoresheet in a memorable 3-3 draw at Orient that I went to in April 1979, when Martin Chivers scored his only goal for the Albion and another former Spurs star, Ralph Coates, was among the scorers for the Os.Jackson concedes Sayer

The game was covered by ITV’s The Big Match and broadcast to the nation the day after the game. Sayer scored after ‘keeper John Jackson, who later became a goalkeeping coach at Brighton, parried a Paul Clark thunderbolt and the Welshman cracked in the rebound.

There’s a very detailed look back at Sayer’s career on pneformerplayers.co.uk by Ian Rigby. His report says: “Occasionally he quietly attends Deepdale to watch North End, but on his return to Cardiff City, as a guest, he is treated as a former star player, which he was.”

A televised third round FA Cup tie between Cardiff and Spurs in January 1977 thrust Sayer into the limelight when his winning goal was seen by millions and can still be seen on YouTube today.

Rigby recounts: “He controlled the ball with his head and, with four defenders converging upon him, he smashed the ball past Pat Jennings. A sponsored car was just one of the perks that came Peter’s way after that goal.”

Born in Cardiff on 2 May 1955, Sayer grew up in the city and went to Trelai Primary School then Cantonian Comprehensive School. He played for his school at all levels and at each successive age group for the Cardiff Schools representative side. That led to him winning Welsh international caps at schoolboy level and later at youth, under-21 and full levels too.

He was awarded a professional contract with Cardiff in July 1973 by then manager Jimmy Scoular but he had to wait until February 1974, by which time Scoular had been replaced by former Leicester and Man Utd boss Frank O’Farrell, to make his league debut as a substitute against Blackpool.

By 1975, just as he was beginning to establish himself, he suffered a broken leg and dislocated ankle in a game at Southampton. Eighteen months later, though, he had recovered sufficiently well to earn his first international honour, playing for Wales Under-21s against England, at Molineux.

Sayer ultimately earned seven full international caps including that Home International win against England and two World Cup qualifying games, one being the controversial game against Scotland at Anfield when a diabolical refereeing decision robbed the Welsh.

Nicknamed ‘Leo’ because he sported the same-style perm as the 70s Shoreham-born pop singer who shared the same surname, Sayer was a regular in the Albion’s 1978-79 promotion-winning side.

He initially retained his place as Brighton strove to come to terms with the top division but when Alan Mullery decided to switch the mercurial Mark Lawrenson from defence to midfield, it was at Sayer’s expense.

In August 1980, Preston manager Nobby Stiles, the England World Cup winner, paid £85,000 to take Sayer to Deepdale, but his career there was beset by injuries and he was released at the end of the 1983-84 season and signed for Chester City for one season.

He subsequently played non-league for Morecambe, Northwich Victoria, Chorley and Southport.

Pictures from my scrapbook show the Albion matchday programme photograph of Sayer scoring in that game against Orient and, from the BBC coverage of England v Wales at Wembley in 1977, the winger looking exasperated after his header has gone wide. Sayer was quite a dab hand at snooker, too.