Tag: Southport

Goalkeeper Simon Steele swapped gloves for collars

STEELE is a familiar name in an Albion goalkeeper’s shirt. In the current set-up, there’s Jason. Back in the 1970s there was Eric. And very briefly, in the early 1980s, there was Simon.

After three years as an Everton youth player, Simon Steele joined the Albion a few weeks after they’d lost to Manchester United in the 1983 FA Cup Final.

When the Albion went on a pre-season tour in Majorca, the new arrival suddenly found himself keeping goal for the Seagulls in a match against the mighty Real Madrid.

“It may well only have been the City of Palma Tournament, a four-team pre-season competition, but Steele will never forget that evening on August 18, 1983,” The Argus reported in a 2004 article.

By then 40 and with 14 years behind him as a detective with Sussex Police, Steele recalled: “I had joined Brighton just after the FA Cup final. I had done a bit of pre-season training and then we went out to Majorca for this tournament.

“Graham Moseley wasn’t on the tour, I can’t remember why, so it was between me and Perry Digweed.

“I was really surprised to be selected for the game. I think Perry thought we would get a good hiding and threw an injury.”

 A crowd of more than 20,000 watched the game and Steele told the newspaper: “They had a good side with plenty of internationals. We had quite a bit of support so the atmosphere was really good, especially considering it was a pre-season game with not a lot resting on it. There were a lot of Brits out there who came to support us and we were playing for personal pride.

“I just remember them scoring in injury time. Santillana turned on a sixpence and put the ball in the bottom corner from eight or ten yards out.

“Other than that we held them at bay. Although I had quite a bit to do, I dealt with it comfortably. I never felt under any great pressure and it was gutting when the goal went in.”

Indeed, The Argus said the match report of the time raved about Steele’s performance, in particular picking out “one breathtaking stop” from Camacho, who had played for Spain at the 1982 World Cup.

Steele retained his place when Albion beat Hungarian side Vasas Diosgyori 3-2 in the tournament’s third place play-off, with goals from Steve Gatting, Tony Grealish and a Terry Connor penalty.

However, although Steele reckoned he had done enough to earn a place when the action proper began, he was to be disappointed.

“I did play well and it catapulted me on to the fringes of the first team,” he told The Argus. “I really thought I would start the season, then I got a call the day before the season started and Jimmy Melia said he would start with Moseley in the first game at Oldham.

“It was a bolt out of the blue because I thought I had played well in pre-season.”

Thankfully, he didn’t have long to wait for his chance, though. Two days later, with Moseley injured and Digweed suspended, the youngster made his League debut in a 3-2 defeat against Leeds at Elland Road.

Simon Steele keeping goal for the Albion at Elland Road

Grealish gave the Seagulls the lead before, as the matchday programme highlighted, Steele came out well to make saves at the feet of Andy Ritchie and John Sheridan.

He also “saved brilliantly” from George McCluskey but was beaten by an equaliser from Andy Watson and a Frank Gray penalty.

Connor levelled the match, rising high to head home against his old club, but, agonisingly, a last-minute 25-yard right-footed shot from Sheridan left Steele helpless and gave Leeds the win.

Melia turned to the more experienced Digweed for the next match, at home to Chelsea, and within a matter of days, former England international Joe Corrigan arrived to dominate the goalkeeper pecking order – and Steele’s brief Albion career was over.

He went on loan to fourth tier Blackpool and Melia explained in his matchday programme notes: “With the surfeit of goalkeepers at present at the Goldstone, his opportunities are limited and I felt that he could get some valuable experience in the league with Blackpool which will stand him in good stead.

“He is only nineteen and I think he has a great future; we feel that a loan spell will sharpen up his game, but it certainly doesn’t mean he has left the Goldstone permanently.”

Steele played three games for the Tangerines and the following spring went on loan to third tier strugglers Scunthorpe United, where he featured five times.

The Iron, managed by ex-Leeds and England striker Allan Clarke, actually wanted to keep him but Steele said he was not happy with the terms being offered and reckoned he would be better off getting a job and playing part-time football instead.

Born in Southport on 29 February 1964, Steele went to Ainsdale High School in the seaside town between 1975 and 1979. He joined Everton at the same time as Shaun Teale (according to the website efcstatto.com), who later won the League Cup with Aston Villa.

Despite his best efforts in goal for Everton’s youth side in the 1982 FA Youth Cup, they lost 2-0 to Villa in the third round. The Liverpool Echo report of the game noted: “Paul Kerr picked up a free kick rebound and seemed certain to score until Steele denied him with a spectacular save. But the Midlanders went ahead after 41 minutes when winger Obi beat Steele with a powerful swerving shot from 25 yards.”

It added: “After Mark Walters had struck the face of the Everton bar, Kerr chipped the advancing Simon Steele with devastating accuracy to notch Villa’s second in the 83rd minute.”

After turning his back on the chance to play lower league football with Scunthorpe, Steele turned out for a variety of Sussex non-league sides – Worthing, Bognor, Pagham, Peacehaven, Whitehawk and Withdean – and became a detective constable with Sussex Police in October 1990.

He was in the news in 2019 when, in his role as secretary of the Sussex Police Federation, he spoke out about the lack of investment in detectives in the county.

Speaking up on behalf of police colleagues

He said victims of crime weren’t getting the service they should have done because of a lack of sufficient detectives in the force.

“It used to be easy to fill the detective roles,” he said. “Now officers don’t want to go into the department for whatever reason, down to the workloads that they’re carrying, the pressures, the hours that they’re working, and a lot of them are pretty close to breaking point.”

Big-time beckoned for Bratislava-born Brezovan

LANKY Slovakian stopper Peter Brezovan, who saved penalties on his Albion and Swindon Town debuts, once came close to a dream move to Everton.

The Merseyside outfit had him on a five-day trial with a view to signing him on a permanent basis from Swindon.

“It was very rewarding just to train alongside Tim Howard and face all these international players,” he said. “It was an experience I’ll never forget.”

Former Man Utd ‘keeper Howard was Everton’s no.1 in 2007 and, having released Richard Wright that summer, manager David Moyes had only new signing Stefan Wessels and the little-used Iain Turner as back-up ‘keepers. Everton’s goalkeeper coach was the former England international Chris Woods.

While Everton didn’t follow up their interest in Brezovan with an offer (three years later they did sign a Slovakian goalkeeper, Jan Mucha), it sounded like Swindon rather over-egged their expectations of a big payday.

Robins stopper

The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald reckoned a £300,000 eve of deadline day offer from Wolverhampton Wanderers had been rejected, saying: “Town will be asking for a substantial amount more.”

The newspaper added: “If the price is right, Town are ready to cash in on their number two keeper.” And manager at the time, Paul Sturrock reportedly told the Mirror: “If I was offered something like £2m, Brez would be an Everton player.”

The Toffees had originally taken an interest in Brezovan and invited him for a trial when he made an eye-catching start in English football in 2006. Not only did he save two penalties in his first game for Swindon, he conceded only five goals as Town won six of their opening seven matches and won the PFA Player of the Month award for September. Unluckily, a badly broken arm put him out of the game for nine months but Everton revived their invitation when Brezovan was fit again.

It probably didn’t help the ‘keeper’s progress at Swindon that successive managers came and went during his time at the club. It was Dennis Wise who signed him on a year’s loan from Czech side 1.FC Brno shortly after he’d taken over as Swindon manager, assisted by his former Chelsea teammate Gus Poyet, but by October the pair (along with goalkeeper coach Andy Beasley, who later spent a year at Brighton) left Wiltshire to take over at Leeds United.

County Ground caretaker managers David Tuttle and Ady Williams were followed by Sturrock for a year; David Byrne twice held the fort temporarily and Maurice Malpas was in charge for 11 months in 2008. When he left in November that year, Danny Wilson arrived the following month.

Born on 9 December 1979 in Bratislava, Brezovan’s first football memories were playing at right-back. In a matchday programme article, he explained: “In the first game of the season our ‘keeper got injured, so the biggest kid had to go in goal – and I’ve been there ever since. I’ve always been tall so looked upon to go in goal but, unlike a lot of kids, I enjoyed it.”

Brezovan spent his youth career at the city’s MŠK Iskra Petržalka and also played for Devin in the city before spending two years in the Czech Republic with FC Slovan Břeclav and HFK Olomouc. He then spent four years at FC Brno in South Moravia, although it was while he was on loan back in Bratislava, playing for FK Inter Bratislava, that he was spotted by Swindon and subsequently made the move to England.

In spite of his spectacular start for the Robins, when he couldn’t speak a word of English, it would be fair to say Swindon have mixed memories of his time at the County Ground, chronicled in detail on swindon-town-fc.co.uk. After former Albion captain Wilson released him at the end of the 2008-09 season, he was without a club for six months.

He had an unsuccessful trial at Crewe Alexandra in October 2009 but Poyet, not long after succeeding Russell Slade as Albion boss, signed him for a month at the beginning of December to cover a mini goalkeeper crisis he inherited.

Regular no.1 Michel Kuipers was injured and Slade’s misfit summer signing Graeme Smith had conceded 11 goals in three defeats and one win.

Handed his debut on a drizzly, grey December afternoon at Exeter (I know, because I was there, getting wet on the uncovered terrace behind the goal!), Brezovan went from zero to hero, according to writer Richie Morris, after upending  former Albion loanee Stuart Fleetwood in the penalty area and then impressively saving Marcus Stewart’s spot kick.

“The former Slovakian under 21 international pulled off a string of comfortable, but reassuring saves,” wrote Morris. “True, he did nearly gift the home side a goal with a wayward clearance, but, considering how long he has been out of first team football, he can be happy with a solid performance.”

A somewhat modest Brezovan attributed his penalty save to goalkeeper coach Tony Godden’s homework. “He told me where Marcus Stewart puts his penalties and I dived the right way but it was a great feeling to help the team to victory,” he said.

Penalty-saver!

On another occasion, Brezovan expanded on his technique with penalties, telling the matchday programme: “It’s mainly instinct on the day. You get the stats guys who help you with your preparation – they will tell you where certain players tend to put the ball but sometimes you just have to go with how you feel in that moment and go for it.

“I don’t get the lads to take penalties at me after training either – I hate doing that. It’s all about how you are on the day.”

Brezovan’s arrival signalled the departure of the hapless Smith who ended his six-month nightmare in English football by returning to Scotland, moving on a free transfer to Hibernian. And the Slovakian’s short-term arrangement ultimately extended into a four-and-a-half-year spell as a Brighton player.

There were occasions when he was tempted to move on for more regular game time, but he confessed to loving the area and stayed put even though first team opportunities were few and far between.

In that first season, fans’ favourite Kuipers, not for the first time, found his place under threat because of the 6’6” Brezovan’s form. But a blunder by the new man in a game at home to Wycombe prompted Poyet to bring back the former Dutch marine (chef) at the start of the new year.

Kuipers had an eight-game run in the starting line-up but then broke a finger. Brezovan, having had his contract extended, seized his chance and kept his place through to the end of the season.

Brezovan told the matchday programme: “We are good friends, we train well together, and so I really feel for him. We don’t feel like rivals at all in that respect but I know that while I am in the team I will be giving my all to make sure I maintain my place.”

It paid off because Poyet offered him a two-year contract at the end of the season, saying: “Peter has earned his new contract. Initially he came to play and help us out but I expected he would prove he was worth a longer deal and he has done that.

“He has been a very important part of our turnaround since Christmas and now his challenge is to make the position his own for next season and beyond.”

And the ‘keeper told the Argus: “Together with my girlfriend, I’ve really settled here. I think that Brighton is the nicest city in England and we’re really happy here.

“I owe a lot to the manager because he brought me to the club and I’m glad he wants me to stay. That’s why it was so easy to sign the deal. The manager will no doubt bring in more good players in the summer so it’s going to be an exciting season.”

He was right about the excitement because Albion went on to win the League One championship title; what he might not have anticipated was that because he was nursing a wrist injury on the eve of the season opener against his old club Swindon, Poyet moved quickly to sign another ‘keeper who he’d worked with at a previous club: Casper Ankergren.

The Dane, released by Leeds, instantly became first choice ‘keeper and Brezovan spent most of the season watching from the bench, making just seven starts in the FA Cup (the first and second round matches both went to replays). Close to the end of the season he went on as a sub for the injured Ankergren in the 18th minute of the 25 April league game at Colchester United, making important saves from Ian Henderson and David Mooney as the Albion salvaged a point in a 1-1 draw.

Brezovan was also in goal for the penultimate game of the season, and the last ever played at the Withdean, when Huddersfield won 3-2. A defensive gaffe by Inigo Calderon, who left Brezovan stranded by chesting the ball down inside the area, let in Benik Afobe to put Town 2-1 ahead; sub Matt Sparrow equalised for the Seagulls and, although Brezovan twice made excellent saves to deny defender Jamie McCombe, sub Danny Ward scored a last-minute winner.

Brezovan resumed his place on the bench as 2011-12 got under way with Ankergren once again Poyet’s first choice no.1, although, after he’d shipped 13 goals in eight games in the autumn, the manager brought experienced Newcastle custodian Steve Harper on loan for five games.

Brezovan preferred to see the positive side of it, though, telling the matchday programme: “That was a good experience for all the goalkeepers. He is a vastly experienced ‘keeper and we have learned from his time here.”

After Albion went through a four-game losing streak in December, Brezovan got the call to take over from Ankergren in the new year match at home to Southampton when an injury-hit Albion sprung a surprise, winning 3-0 with a memorable brace from midfielder Sparrow.

It was only after the game that Poyet revealed how his plan to change ‘keepers nearly didn’t come to fruition. “For the last week Peter has been waiting for his wife to have a baby, every day,” Poyet told the Argus. “I needed to wait until 1.30 to tell him he was playing. The baby was due three or four days ago, so we were all thinking ‘come on girl, go on’!”

Later the same month, Brezovan was hailed a hero when he saved a crucial spot-kick in a penalty shoot-out in a third round FA Cup replay at Wrexham and he told Brian Owen of the Argus: “I enjoyed it. The pressure is all on the strikers at penalties because they can just mess it up. You have nothing to lose, you are practically without pressure.

“I knew one player and where he goes and I saved his penalty so we could have a laugh in the end.”

Nevertheless, Poyet was obviously still unsure about the goalkeeping situation. He let third choice Michael Poke go on loan to Bristol Rovers but brought in Columbian David Gonzalez, who’d been with Man City for two years, to put pressure on Brezovan and Ankergren.

“The gaffer wanted to bring in another keeper. You have to face it, with Casper, and keep working to keep our positions,” said Brezovan.“I’ve got another year. If you want to stay at a club for a long time, you have to play. You can’t be just like a useless second or third choice. This is my opportunity and I am going to do everything to stay in goal.”

He did indeed stay in goal but on two occasions let in six! The first drubbing was handed out by Liverpool in the fifth round of the FA Cup at Anfield (with Albion famously conceding three own goals in a 6-1 defeat).

After Brezovan shipped another six against West Ham at the Boleyn Ground, Poyet had seen enough. The patient Gonzalez replaced Brezovan in goal for the following game, one of six changes to the side that capitulated to the Hammers.

Come the new season, Brezovan and Ankergren had even more of a challenge on their hands when experienced Polish international and former Manchester United ‘keeper Tomasz Kuszczak arrived at the Amex.

It pushed Brezovan down the pecking order to third choice ‘keeper and he played only once all season, in a 2-1 win at Huddersfield when Kuszczak had a finger infection that ruled him out and Ankergren picked up an injury in training two days before the game.

Brezovan stayed at the club as no.3 ‘keeper for the 2013-14 season and once again injuries to the first and second choices in Oscar Garcia’s side presented him with a rare opportunity. He ended up playing eight games, four in the league and four in the FA Cup.

He made his first appearance for 13 months in the 7 December 3-1 win at home to Leicester after Kuszczak pulled out in the warm-up with a stomach muscle strain, with Ankergren already sidelined with a wrist injury. In an interview with the Argus, on his 34th birthday, Brezovan spoke openly about possibly moving on to get more games.

“It’s hard because Brighton is a beautiful place and I love the people around here. It’s not easy to go.

“If there was an offer from the same level, I would probably try it. Going to a lower division, getting injured and then to be there on the bench is risky.”

And of his sudden chance back in the Albion goal, he reflected: “That’s football. Things can happen quickly and it’s beautiful. It shows how everyone is important. When you don’t play for a long time, even in training, you start to think it’s hard to motivate yourself.

“That’s why you need good lads around you. I love the guys here. They always help you to be motivated. When you play and your contract is running out you need to find that motivation.”

His appearance in the fifth round FA Cup replay defeat (1-2) at Hull City on 24 February turned out to be his last first team game and he was released at the end of his contract that summer having featured 62 times for the Seagulls.

He trained with Oxford United during pre-season and at the start of the next season joined Portsmouth for a month as cover for Paul Jones. On transfer deadline day, he signed a one-year contract with Tranmere Rovers.

Although he played seven games for Rovers, he lost his place to regular ‘keeper Owain Fon Williams. He had a loan stint at Southport in early 2015 but at the end of the season, following Rovers’ relegation from League Two, he was released.

Interviewed by the Argus in December 2015, Brezovan had returned to Brno in the Czech Republic, quit football and turned to publishing music online.

“I lost a little bit of motivation,” he said. “The football wasn’t going anywhere and I’d had enough. I’m focusing on this now.”

Talent spotter John Doolan now eyeing forwards for Brighton

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Craig Noone bounced back after Heighway heave-ho

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Paynter left a blank canvas at Seagulls and Blades

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A blunt Blade

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hartlepool hitman

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

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

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

Pictures from various online sources and the Albion matchday programme.

Liverpudlian Melia etched a never-to-be-forgotten place in Brighton’s history

IT WAS the stuff of dreams when Liverpool born and bred Jimmy Melia saw his underdog Seagulls side beat the mighty Merseyside giants en route to Brighton’s one and only FA Cup Final appearance.

In fact, it wasn’t the first time Melia had taken a side to Anfield to play in the competition. On 2 January 1971, as player-manager of lowly Aldershot, he returned to the ground where he’d been an inside forward under Bill Shankly and gave them a scare in the third round, the Fourth Division side only losing 1-0.

Even Liverpool’s wideman, Steve Heighway, admitted: “I suppose we were lucky to win. It was a frosty day and the ball was playing quite a few tricks. I don’t think we were in any danger of losing. But Aldershot were playing well that day. They could have sneaked a draw.”

How satisfying, then, to return in 1983 and pilot Albion’s unlikely 2-1 win, with a winning goal courtesy of that other former Anfield favourite, Jimmy Case.

In the run-up to the game, Melia, raised in Liverpool’s Scotland Road, told the Daily Mail: “I’ve got 11 brothers and sisters in the Liverpool area and they’ll all want to be there.”

He clearly didn’t fear the game, pointing out that Brighton had been the last team to win at Anfield, and telling the Argus: “It is a great tie for us. When I was manager at Aldershot we lost 1-0 to them and I think we will do better this time. Remember, the Cup is full of all sorts of upsets. It wouldn’t be the Cup otherwise.”

After the famous victory, Melia told Alex Montgomery of The Sun: “I’ve been involved in some great Liverpool victories but this is without doubt the greatest win.

“The great thing about it is that we didn’t just nick a win. We deserved what we got. A lot of people said that if we attacked them we would just set ourselves up for a hiding. That is not the way it worked out.”

It emerged after the game that John Manning, an old footballing friend of Melia’s, had been key to plotting the victory. Former Crewe, Bolton and Tranmere striker Manning, Albion’s scout in the north at the time, gave the players a pre-match rundown on what to expect.

“Best team talk we’ve ever had,” defender Gary Stevens told the Daily Mail. “Liverpool played exactly the way he said they would and he was even right about which side (Phil) Neal would send his penalty (which went wide of goalkeeper Perry Digweed’s post).”

Born in Liverpool on 1 November 1937, Melia attended the city’s St Anthony’s School and didn’t play his first organised football match until the age of 11. He quickly demonstrated a talent for the game and after shining for the school side was picked to play for Liverpool Boys.

At 14, he was selected for England Schoolboys but a broken collarbone meant he was unable to play. A year later, though, after captaining Liverpool Boys, he got another chance with the national schoolboy side, making his debut against Eire in a team that included Bobby Charlton and Wilf McGuinness.

Liverpool offered him a place on the groundstaff as soon as he left school and, at the age of 17, he was taken on as a professional by former Brighton manager Don Welsh, who took over as Liverpool boss in 1951. Ahead of a Brighton v Portsmouth game in 1983, Melia mentioned his closeness to their manager at the time, Bobby Campbell.

“We virtually grew up together in the same street in Liverpool and we both signed for Liverpool as youngsters on the same day,” he wrote in his matchday programme notes. “We literally have a lifelong friendship.”

Melia scored on his Liverpool debut against Nottingham Forest in a 5-2 win when the famous Billy Liddell scored a hat-trick, and he was making a name for himself at a national level too. Melia scored twice for the England Youth side as they romped home 9-2 winners over Denmark at Home Park, Plymouth, on 1 October 1955. The following month he was on target again as England beat the Netherlands 3-1 at Carrow Road, Norwich.

Between the 1955-56 and 1963-64 seasons, Melia played 287 games for Liverpool, scoring 78 goals. It might have been more but for the fact he had to do National Service although the consolation was that he got to play in the British Army side with the likes of Duncan Edwards, Bobby Charlton, Dave Mackay, Peter Swan, Cliff Jones and Alan Hodgkinson.

One of his Liverpool goals came in a home game against Brighton on 10 October 1959. Phil Taylor’s Liverpool were 2-1 down to the Albion that Saturday afternoon and, in the 85th minute, Melia stepped up to take a penalty…and missed. Nevertheless, he atoned for the mistake by slotting home a last-gasp equaliser. A month later, Shankly took over as manager.

In a series of profiles of the leading Liverpool players of the era, journalist Ivan Ponting said: “Jimmy Melia was the principal midfield ideas man as Liverpool rose from the second tier in 1961-62 and he was capped twice in 1963 ahead of sparkling creatively in the opening half of the Reds’ first title campaign under Bill Shankly.”

In only the second game of Alf Ramsey’s reign as England manager, he selected Melia to play for the national side in a 2-1 defeat to Scotland at Wembley on 6 April 1963.

Then on 5 June 1963, in Basle, he was one of the goalscorers in the side that hammered Switzerland 8-1; Bobby Charlton scored a hat-trick but remarkably Jimmy Greaves didn’t get on the scoresheet.

Although he didn’t win another full cap, he was in a FA squad Ramsey took to Gibraltar in May 1965 when the Rock’s representative XI were soundly beaten 7-1 on 22 May and 6-0 the following day.

In the 1963-64 season, when Melia was sidelined by a minor ankle injury, Shankly reshuffled his line-up, moved centre-forward Ian St John into a more deep lying role and put Alf Arrowsmith up top. The change worked so well that Melia never did regain his regular place in the team.

“It was a stunning blow and a surprise to the balding Merseysider whose flair, industry and intelligence had been so productive, with his through-passing an exquisite speciality, even if some fans disliked what they saw as over-elaboration on the ball,” Ponting wrote for Back Pass magazine.

Melia was sold to Wolves for a then record fee of £48,000 in March 1964, but because he had played a certain number of games for Liverpool earlier in the season, was awarded a medal when the Reds were crowned champions.

It was the legendary Stan Cullis who had taken him to Molineux and, Melia told Charlie Bamforth for wolvesheroes.com, it was with the intention of him subsequently moving into a coaching role. But, when Cullis was sacked before the end of the year, his replacement, Andy Beattie, swiftly dispensed with Melia’s services, offloading him to Southampton in December 1964 for £30,000.

At The Dell, Melia (pictured below in Saints’ famous stripes) joined forces with the likes of Terry Paine and Martin Chivers and, in 1965, helped Ted Bates’ side to promotion to the top division.

Melia Saints

He was an ever present in the side during their first top division campaign, notable as a provider of crosses for Ron Davies and Chivers.

Eventually, the emerging Mike Channon took his place and, in 1968, after making 152 Saints appearances, on the strength of a recommendation from his old boss Cullis (by then manager of Birmingham), Aldershot paid £9,000 for him to become player-coach. The following April he became player-manager.

When he was sacked in January 1972, having made 134 league appearances for the Shots, he moved back to the north west as player-manager of lowly Crewe Alexandra but finally hung up his boots in May that year to concentrate on the manager’s job.

As a lowly league manager, Melia seldom came to the wider public’s attention, but when the opportunity arose, he was quick to seize it. Before another FA Cup third round match, this time against Huddersfield, he told Goal magazine any success he’d had as a manager could be put down to the influence of Shankly and his managers at Wolves and Southampton, Cullis and Bates.

“I was lucky,” said Jimmy. “You can’t help but learn from men such as these and I consider myself very fortunate to have served under them.”

In his first season as manager of Crewe Alexandra, his inexperienced team finished bottom and had to seek re-election to the league (in those days relegation was not automatic).

“I believe some of the youngsters we have here are destined for great futures. But perhaps you need a little more than just skill and enthusiasm to be successful,” he told Goal in July 1973.

Melia was clearly scarred by his treatment at Crewe. He told Ian Jarrett of The Sun: “We finished in the bottom four and were in danger of getting kicked out of the league so I spent days ringing around all my mates to get the votes to save us at the annual (league) meeting.

“I succeeded and went away feeling pretty happy until a phone call from the chairman warned me that I had only narrowly survived a vote of confidence.

“The following September I was made manager of the month but the club called an extraordinary meeting, got rid of the chairman, and soon after that I was out on my ear.

“The experience taught me a lesson.”

In 1975, Melia had three months as manager of Southport, before ending the same year coaching in the Middle East.

He then moved to the USA and linked up with a former Wolves teammate Laurie Calloway to become his assistant coach at NSL side Southern California Lazers. In 1979, Melia moved to Ohio to become coach of Cleveland Cobras.

A window back into the English game opened in April 1980 when Brighton boss Alan Mullery appointed him as the club’s chief scout.

Looking back now, it seems a tad ironic that Albion chairman Mike Bamber was all for sacking him and other members of Mullery’s backroom staff in the summer of 1981 to save money. Mullery refused – and subsequently left the club himself.

Melia retained his position under Mullery’s successor, Mike Bailey, who, despite taking the Albion to their highest ever finishing position (13th) in 1982, failed to win over fans with a style of football that saw them stay away in their thousands.

A concerned Bamber finally brought down the curtain on the Bailey era in December 1982, handing the first team managerial reins on a caretaker basis jointly to Melia and loyal backroom ‘boy’ George Aitken (himself a former manager who, like Melia, had been a player under Shankly during his time at Workington).

From the outset, it was Melia who put himself forward to handle interviews with the press, TV and radio, and, as the club progressed in the FA Cup, so the spotlight began to shine brighter on the Liverpudlian, especially with that tie at Anfield.

Inevitably, the question kept arising as to whether Melia would land the manager’s job on a permanent basis and, in one of many interviews, he somewhat tellingly said: “I’d love the job and, if we stay up, that will improve my chances. But I’m not going to attempt to survive by playing boring, safety-first football.”

In a comment that was something of an oxymoron, Melia told Paul Weaver of the News of the World: “I don’t want to say anything against my predecessor, Mike Bailey, but I wouldn’t have paid money to watch Brighton in the first half of the season.”

mullers + meia

Perhaps not surprising, then, that in a veterans’ charity match played at Selhurst Park just before the semi-final, Bailey refused a request to be photographed with Melia, albeit he was happy to pose alongside Mullery.

By then, Melia had indeed finally been given the manager’s role on a permanent basis (once Norwich had been defeated in the quarter final). On 16 March 1983, Bamber took him out to lunch at a Hove hotel to break the news.

In a front-page splash on the Argus, Melia said: “This is the happiest day of my life. It is a dream to be manager of a First Division club with also the possibility of taking them to Wembley.

“I am just pleased the chairman has given me the opportunity, and I hope to stay at the club for the next 20 years.” It would, of course, turn out to be closer to 20 weeks!

As excitement built in the run-up to the Cup Final, Bamber told Argus reporter Phil Mills: “Jimmy knows the game from A to Z but what I particularly like is that he’s always bubbling. He’s lively and looks on the positive side of things – even when we lose.

“The Jimmy Melia story is a fairy tale – three months ago he was our chief scout. Now he’s leading the Albion to Wembley for the FA Cup Final.

“You couldn’t get a better fairy tale than that.”

There’s no doubting Melia milked the moment, but who could blame him?

He told Ian Jarrett in The Sun: “I must make this situation count because I might never be involved in anything like it again.

“I have felt like the President of the United States in the past couple of weeks. Everyone has wanted to shake my hand and cars have beeped me in the street. It’s heaven to be in this position and I think everyone in the club should make the most of it.”

The Daily Mail even went as far as describing the opposing managers for the 1983 final as “Liberace meets Max Wall”, rather playing on the fact United’s Ron Atkinson had a penchant for bling and the follicly-challenged Melia bore something of a resemblance to the comedian and actor renowned for a silly walk. John  Roberts wrote: “Little Jim has given his usual 110 per cent in the discos, a chest-revealing Tom Jones shirt, black leather trousers, white dancing shoes and glamourous girlfriend offsetting a glistening dome that is just made for the Seagulls.”

The writer continued: “Brighton’s progress to Wembley for the first time in their history has made a relegation season tolerable and enabled the 46-year-old Melia to recapture a measure of the prestige he enjoyed as a player.

“As a nimble, intelligent inside forward he won Second and First Division championship medals with Liverpool and played for England. Some of his friends consider that he suffered to a degree for being a home-produced player rather than a fashionable big-money signing.”

Roberts even quoted comedian Jimmy Tarbuck, a boyhood friend of Melia’s, who said: “To use an old showbusiness saying, Jimmy’s been there and back.”

Who knows what might have happened had Albion actually won that Cup Final?

Melia will forever be associated with taking the club to what was then a globally-watched event and raising their profile to heights never previously achieved.

The cold, hard reality, though, was that Brighton’s brief stay among the elite of English football was over. Melia’s open, expansive style of play had been punished in the league, resulting in relegation and a loss of status that took 33 years to restore.

Melia had designs on boosting his coaching staff in the summer of 1983 with the introduction of the aforementioned Calloway, but Bamber had other ideas and, without consulting his manager, instead installed former Albion defender Chris Cattlin as first team coach.

From the outset, it was evident the two were not going to see eye to eye and it wasn’t long into the new season before it emerged publicly that Cattlin was actually picking the team.

Eventually Melia couldn’t continue with what was clearly an untenable position and resigned, but, in a rather tawdry denouement, appeared being carried shoulder-high on the north stand terrace at the next home game amid cries of ‘Bamber out, Melia in’.

At the time, there were rumblings of an Albion takeover from businessman Jeffrey Kruger and Bamber described Melia as “a disgrace” and claimed he had been operating as a mole for Kruger.

Nothing came of the takeover and the dust had not long settled on the end of Melia’s Albion association when he moved to Portugal and spent three years as boss of Belenenses, taking them to a top five finish.

Former Argus Albion reporter John Vinicombe reflected on Melia’s career in a wistful piece for the newspaper in 2001, and recalled: “Back in England Jimmy had a brief spell in charge at Stockport, then it was time to move on to Kuwait and Dubai, San Francisco, San Jose and Dallas.”

He subsequently settled in Dallas and became technical director for Liverpool’s academy in Texas.

Pictures from various sources including the Argus, The Sun, The News of the World, Shoot! and Goal magazines and the matchday programme.

 

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.