PETER SUDDABY spent nearly 10 years at Blackpool before playing a key role in Brighton’s inaugural top-flight season. The university graduate later spent a season with the Seagulls as a coach.

Albion had been struggling to adjust to the old First Division after promotion from the second tier in 1979 and it hadn’t helped that star defender Mark Lawrenson missed 12 matches following a bad ankle ligament injury at Spurs.

When Lawrenson was ready to return for a crunch match away to Nottingham Forest on 17 November 1979, instead of putting Lawrenson in the back line, manager Alan Mullery put him in midfield and thrust new free transfer signing Suddaby into the defence alongside Steve Foster.

Suddaby was 31 and had been playing for Third Division Blackpool’s reserve side at the time, so it was certainly a bold step but Mullery said: “I signed Peter because of his attitude to football. Whenever I played against him he struck me as being one of the worst losers in the game.

“If Blackpool were losing by five goals, he’d still be trying as hard as ever, and that is the sort of character we needed in the team.”

Mullery’s gamble paid off because at the City Ground Gerry Ryan’s 11^th minute goal (not to mention Graham Moseley saving a John Robertson penalty on the stroke of half-time) gave Albion an unexpected victory against a Forest side who hadn’t lost at home for two years.

The game earned top billing on Match of the Day and Mullery hailed Suddaby after the game, telling commentator Barry Davies: “He’s got something to live up to, the boy, because he had a tremendous game today up against Garry Birtles.” (see still from footage, above)

Suddaby later told Shoot! magazine: “Forest are a very good side, but we defended well against them and had that little bit of luck we needed. Everyone in the Brighton side buckled down and gave everything.

“Alan Mullery has given me a chance to prove myself in the best league in the world, and I certainly do not wish to let him down now.”

Plaudits from journalists continued as Albion built on the victory at the City Ground with successive victories over Christmas against Wolves and Crystal Palace taking the club out of the bottom three for the first time that season.

Jack Steggles in the Daily Mirror wrote: “Alan Mullery, ready to spend a million to buy his way out of trouble, could find salvation in a man who cost him nothing. For Brighton’s chances of survival have looked a lot brighter since he signed university graduate Peter Suddaby on a free transfer from Blackpool. Suddaby’s arrival has stiffened the defence and Brighton have bagged five points from three games.” (there were only two points for a win in those days).

thegoldstonewrap.com recalled: “Suddaby definitely didn’t let Brighton down. His strong, determined tackling and ability in the air at the heart of defence was an important factor in moving Albion up the table.”

Mullery told Shoot! that he’d tried to sign Suddaby the previous season but Bob Stokoe, Blackpool’s manager at the time, refused to let him go. “He’s a tremendous winner and is just the sort of player we needed,” said Mullery.

When Suddaby lost his place in the Tangerines side under Stokoe’s successor, Stan Ternent, Mullery was quick to seize the moment.

“My career wasn’t going anywhere, and a move to the First Division was the perfect remedy,” said Suddaby, who admitted he’d been hoping for a return to the top flight since Blackpool dropped out of it. “Obviously it wasn’t easy to adjust after playing two games in the reserves and I was sad about leaving Blackpool,” he said. “But it was made clear to me that I was fourth in line for the centre-half position, so I made up my mind to move if the opportunity arose.”

Suddaby continued: “I wanted a challenge and still felt I had something to offer which is why it didn’t worry me to join a struggling club.”

Even back then, Blackpool, who’d dropped down to the Third Division, were beset with boardroom issues which the defender said had “rubbed off on the players and gave the club an unsettled atmosphere”.

Albion only lost five of the 21 games Suddaby played in and succeeded in avoiding relegation. In another Shoot! article, Mullery said of Suddaby: “He may not be a big name, but Peter does it for me week in, week out. I know I can rely on him to turn in a good performance.”

Suddaby looked forward and said: “We have enough good players to build on what we did last season.

“The club think big and I’m delighted to be part of their success. I didn’t think I’d ever play in the First Division again, but now I’ve been given this chance I mean to make the most of it.”

Unfortunately, in May 1980, Suddaby’s back gave way while out walking – a reaction to an operation five years previously when two discs were removed – and, instead of being part of Albion’s second season at the top, he spent nine months trying to recuperate.

Mullery told Phil Jones of BBC Radio Brighton: “The football club needs players of his calibre. He’s good for everybody – a tremendous professional who immediately stamped his authority on the place. I cannot speak too highly of his service to the Albion.”

Sadly, while Suddaby did recover to play for Albion’s reserves, he was not fit enough to return to first team duties.

He tried to extend his playing days with a move to Wimbledon, where he made half a dozen appearances, and then returned to his former club Wycombe Wanderers. He played 10 games in 1982, and then moved on to Isthmian League Hayes in December 1982, eventually becoming player-coach in September 1984. At the same time, he reverted to his original plan and taught maths at the American School in Uxbridge.

Born in Stockport on 23 December 1947, Suddaby was the only son of a garage proprietor, and when he was still young the family moved to north Wales where his father took over a caravan park.

Suddaby started school at Gronant Primary School near Prestatyn, where no football was played, but the local village under 16s played him on the wing when he was aged just 10, and he developed a liking for the game.

When he moved on to St Asaph Grammar School, he became a regular in the school teams. In those days he was a centre-forward and it was in that position he earned his first representative honour when he was selected for Flintshire County Schools.

Suddaby earned A-level passes in Maths, Physics and Chemistry with an eye to moving on to university although, while in the sixth form, he turned out for various Welsh League clubs and for Rhyl in the Cheshire League.

He gained a place at Swansea University and, while doing a three-year BSc course in Maths, played football for the university and Welsh Universities and British Universities, by now as a defender.

After going to Lilleshall on a university coaching course, he was chosen by former Hove Grammar School teacher Mike Smith, later the manager of Wales, for a universities team to play against several non-league sides, one of which was Skelmersdale United.

They were among the top amateur sides at the time and Suddaby agreed to join them, travelling each weekend from Swansea back to the family home in north Wales, from where he was just over an hour’s drive to Skelmersdale.

Amongst his teammates were Steve Heighway, later to gain fame at Liverpool, and Micky Burns, who became a playing colleague at Blackpool.

After gaining his degree at Swansea, Suddaby took a post-graduate course at Oxford University to gain the necessary qualification to become a teacher.

While there, he started playing for Wycombe (then non-league) and gained a Blue playing for Oxford University in the Varsity match at Wembley in December 1970.

Three days later he earned the first of three amateur international caps when he was chosen to play for England against Wales at Cardiff.

With his teacher qualification under his belt, he signed for Blackpool as an amateur in the summer of 1970 and played a few games towards the end of 1970-71 season, when they were relegated from Division One, and then turned professional.

“1 hadn’t really thought too much about becoming a professional,” he told Shoot! “I’d virtually decided that my future was as a teacher.

“Looking back, I have no regrets apart, possibly, that I didn’t join a league club a couple of years earlier. On the other hand, I am happy that I finished my education. University life taught me a lot and developed my character.”

Suddaby ended up spending nine and a half years at Blackpool, making 331 appearances, most of which came in the second tier where the Tangerines were a top 10 side for six consecutive seasons, narrowly missing out on promotion back to the elite in 1974 and 1977, but then being relegated to the old Third Division in 1978.

“I had approaches from Reading, Oxford, Watford and Blackpool but chose the Seasiders as they were in the First Division then,” he told Goal magazine in a July 1972 article. “The year we were relegated wasn’t too good, but I have never really regretted joining Blackpool.

“I had planned to take up teaching as soon as I left Oxford, but things went so well in amateur football and, after the offers started coming along, I decided to forget the teaching for a bit.”

He was part of Blackpool’s 1971 Anglo-Italian Cup winning team (below), managed by Stokoe, alongside the likes of Tony Green, Paul Hart, Alan Ainscow and Tony Evans.

Unlike many players, Suddaby always knew he had teaching to fall back on as a career, but he also got coaching qualifications to enable him to stay in the game as a coach or manager.

When Mullery returned to manage Brighton in the summer of 1985, he appointed Suddaby as his first team coach while Barry Lloyd was put in charge of the reserves.

Mullery’s second term ended acrimoniously in early January 1986. Suddaby stayed on at the Albion under Lloyd but left at the end of the season. He went back to Wycombe as manager in August 1987 but was only in charge for five months.

Suddaby subsequently joined the coaching staff at Tottenham Hotspur, serving as the club’s academy director between July 1995 and April 2004.

During that period, he helped nurture the talent of the future, seeing the likes of Peter Crouch and Ledley King break through into first team football.

They didn’t all turn to gold though. Leigh Mills was at Spurs for five years, captained the England under-16s and was capped for his country at under-17 level.

“By his regular selection for the England under-17 team, Leigh has been recognised as a leading player at his age in the country,” Suddaby told theguardian.com in November 2004. “He has an excellent attitude to maintaining his football progress, and we have great hopes that he will play at a very high level.”

However, Mills ended up on loan at Brentford and Gillingham briefly before playing non-league.

When youngster Phil Ifil broke into the Spurs first team, in 2004, Suddaby said in an interview with the Standard: “Neither I nor my coaches will ever say we made Phil Ifil or any other player. We provide them with an opportunity, and they make themselves.

“The satisfaction we get from seeing them make it is massive, though. We try to get kids from local areas and we use that as a lever because they can see if they come here, they will get a chance.

“It is difficult for kids in football these days, particularly at big clubs. But at Spurs we try and give them knowledge about all sorts of things including the media and even driving lessons. We try to make them confident young men and give them a chance.

“As an academy, we sometimes don’t push ourselves into the limelight but we have produced players like Stephen Clemence and Luke Young, both playing in the Premiership, as well as those now getting their chance in the first team at Spurs.

“But without doubt Ledley is our jewel in the crown. We can only show them the door to success – it’s up to the kids to kick it down.”

After leaving Spurs, Suddaby reverted to maths teaching, working at independent girls school Maltmans Green, in Chalfont St Peter, for nearly 13 years before retiring in August 2018.

The following year, it was reported Suddaby suffered a stroke and, in February 2020, he and former Wycombe teammate Keith Samuels visited Buckinghamshire Neurorehabilitation Unit (BNRU) at Amersham Hospital to make a donation towards the sort of equipment that helped Suddaby recover from his illness.

Pictures from Goal magazine, the Argus, the matchday programme and online sources.