The ‘Derry Pelé’ only briefly strutted his stuff at Brighton

PADDY McCourt put a dent in Brighton’s promotion hopes when he scored for managerless Barnsley at the Amex. Eight months later he joined the Albion’s renewed attempts to lift themselves out of the Championship.

The mazy dribbler from Derry lit up the evening of Tuesday 3 December 2013 when he gave the bottom-of-the-table Tykes an unlikely first-half lead.

Barnsley arrived at Falmer having just sacked manager David Flitcroft and when McCourt teased and tormented the retreating Seagulls defenders to net in the 35^th minute it ended a sequence of nearly five hours without a goal.

*McCourt celebrates scoring for Barnsley at the Amex*

Recalling what was something of a trademark finish by the bearded Irishman in a 2018 post wearebrighton.com described howMcCourt picked up a loose ball 40 yards out from goal, dribbled round Liam Bridcutt and Andrew Crofts, drifted past Matt Upson with a quick step-over, nutmegged Gordon Greer before playing a quick one-two with Worthing-born Marcus Tudgay, then ghosted round Stephen Ward before slotting the ball into the bottom corner of the goal past Tomasz Kuszczak in Albion’s goal.

Five minutes after the restart, the visitors went further ahead through Jacob Mellis before Upson pulled a goal back with a header from a Craig Conway corner. Barnsley had on-loan goalkeeper Jack Butland to thank for ensuring they left with all three points, making notable saves from subs Will Buckley and Leroy Lita (who moved to Barnsley the following year).

While Albion went on to finish sixth under Oscar Garcia but failed to get further than the play-off semi-final for the second year running, Barnsley, who’d appointed former Albion captain Danny Wilson as Flitcroft’s successor, exited the division the wrong way, finishing in 23^rd place.

Barnsley’s top scorer, Chris O’Grady, stayed in the division by signing for the Albion and a month later his former teammate, 30-year-old McCourt, released on a free transfer at the end of the season, joined him in Sussex after impressing new Seagulls boss Sami Hyypia in a trial period.

“We have seen enough of Paddy in the last week or so to know that he is a player who has quality going forward,” said Hyypia. “He is the type of player who can pick a pass and create a chance.”

That said, Hyypia only gave McCourt starts in two League Cup games (v Burton Albion and Tottenham Hotspur); his 11 other Albion appearances were all as a substitute.

When he did start, away to Burton, he set up goals for Rohan Ince and Craig Mackail-Smith in Albion’s 3-0 win and he told the matchday programme: “There’s nothing like playing games for your fitness and I’m sure that the more I play the better I will feel.”

Hyypia kept his feet on the ground, though, pointing out: “He needs to realise what he needs to do to improve and to be a very important player for the team defensively as well.”

Often described as a ‘maverick’, McCourt’s response was: “I like to get on the ball and be creative; that’s always been part of my game and something I’ve always been good at. I love taking on players, creating chances and now I just hope I can get a run in the team and show what I can do on a regular basis.”

He certainly couldn’t have been accused of lacking ambition, maintaining: “I still have aspirations to play in the Premier League and hopefully that will happen in my time here.

“I’ve played international football, I’ve played Champions League and Europa League football with Celtic, so the next step for me would be to play at the highest level in England – I would love that to happen.”

That international career was as strange as much of his career. There were 13 years between the first and last of 18 caps for Northern Ireland: he made his debut under Sammy McIlroy in 2002 (a 5-0 defeat against Spain) then had to wait seven years before he was selected again. That was in a 3-0 World Cup qualifier win over San Marino, when he went on as an 81^st minute sub for future Albion teammate Aaron Hughes.

He scored twice in Northern Ireland’s 4-0 win over the Faroe Islands in a Euro 2012 qualifier in August 2011 (when Hughes scored his first goal for his country in his 77^th appearance!).

McCourt’s second goal that day was reckoned to be one of the best ever goals seen at Windsor Park. According to the Belfast Telegraph, he “collected the ball just inside the opposition half and left three defenders in his wake with magical dribbling skills and impeccable close control before outfoxing another… then to cap it off he produced a stunning left foot chip over the bemused goalkeeper which floated into the net.”

McCourt helped manager Michael O’Neill’s side reach the Euro 2016 finals, but was not available for the finals in France because his wife Laura was seriously ill (more of which later).

“I really enjoyed it,” he told BBC Northern Ireland’s Mark Sterling in a lockdown interview in 2020. “Any time I was picked I turned up, and to be involved in the Euros qualifying campaign was fantastic.

“Everybody wants to play international football, The fans took to me straight away, were always singing my name and I hope I gave them some good memories.”

Born in Derry on 16 December 1983, McCourt’s early footballing promise was nurtured by Eunan O’Donnell, his PE teacher at Steelstown Primary School. At the club he joined as a youngster, Derry-based Foyle Harps, it was club chairman Gerry Doherty “who deserves more credit than anyone else” according to McCourt’s brother Leroy (who was his agent).

However, McCourt reckoned: “The street is where I learnt how to play football.”

In that lockdown interview with BBC’s Sterling, he said: “When I was younger there was more emphasis on players to develop themselves. We trained once a week for an hour with our clubs, when you might only get 40 or 50 touches of the ball at most, with 20 kids in a session.

“It was up to you to go out into the streets with your mates and practice your skills in small-sided games. We’d play for six or seven hours, there might only be four of you and you’d get thousands of touches.

“You were probably playing with older kids and on concrete as well, so that would improve your balance.”

Although given the moniker of the greatest Brazilian footballer of all time, McCourt’s boyhood hero was Robbie Fowler. “I’m a Liverpool and Celtic fan, and for some reason he was a player I just absolutely adored growing up,” he said.

“My memories are of seeing Fowler scoring – left foot, right foot, header – it didn’t seem to matter to him. He just had this unbelievable talent for putting the ball in the back of the net.”

McCourt’s first taste of professional football in England came at Third Division Rochdale, joining them in 2000 aged 17. But in an open and honest question and answer session in March 2018 at the Talent Development Academy Elite Soccer Coaching event, at the Magee Campus of the Ulster University, the player spoke about how youthful wrong lifestyle choices meant he blew the opportunity.

“I was nowhere near ready for it and the events that transpired in the next couple of years proved that. It’s very hard to know the situation you’re going into when you’re not prepared for it.

“I was coming from Foyle Harps, playing junior football and then going into a professional environment. It wasn’t that big of a jump in terms of what you did differently because Rochdale was a small club and you went in and trained and were home for 1pm living in digs and I didn’t drive at the time.

“You had so much spare time on your hands and as a young lad, you do daft stuff and make mistakes and I admit I made plenty. It was basic stuff like going out too much and not eating the right food.”

Although he made 94 appearances for Rochdale, around half were as a substitute and after unsuccessful trials with Motherwell and Norwich City he was eventually released in February 2005 and returned to the League of Ireland with Shamrock Rovers.

“Initially when I was at Rochdale I did quite well and broke into the first team quite early but when I came back I took stock. I made mistakes and wasn’t really living my life to be a professional footballer.

“I had six months with Shamrock Rovers where I didn’t make many changes to my lifestyle but I was doing quite well on the pitch.”

It was only when he returned to his home town and played at Derry City where things began to change under the positive influence of future Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny.

“I learned what it takes to become a proper athlete because you need to live a clean lifestyle to make it as a footballer and I wish I knew back then what I know now,” he said.

“There was a bit of sports science starting to come in at Derry in terms of what to do leading up to a game, and then your recovery sessions on a Saturday morning after a game. It was tiny, basic stuff but it started to kick in then and that helped me because I was getting information I didn’t have before. It was up to yourself to buy into it and I started to buy into it a bit more and started to see the benefit.”

Between 2005 and 2008 with Derry, McCourt won an FAI Cup, three League Cups, was involved in a league runners-up spot (2005) and was part of a UEFA Cup run in 2006.

He then got the chance to join Celtic, the side he’d supported as a boy, signing for a fee of £200,000 in June 2008. Hoops boss Gordon Strachan told the Derry Daily: “Paddy is as gifted a footballer as I’ve ever seen. Some players can pass but can’t dribble. Others can dribble but can’t pass. Paddy can do both.”

It wasn’t until the 2009-10 season that he forced his way into the first team and his first goal for the club was in a 4-0 League Cup win at Falkirk in September 2009 when he skipped past five defenders before chipping the goalkeeper.

His own favourite was his first goal at Parkhead in a 3-0 win over Hearts on 11 September 2010 which realised a lifetime ambition.

“I actually had dreams of scoring at Celtic Park,” he said. “I felt I had let that go when I had that setback at Rochdale. Self-doubt creeps in but I remember the night. It was Hearts at home and it was a very proud moment.

“It might never have happened if I hadn’t made the sacrifices I made and I have a lot of people to thank for that.”

When Aiden McGeady left Celtic for Spartak Moscow in August 2010, Celtic manager Neil Lennon challenged McCourt to step into his shoes and said: “He’s wonderful to watch. He’s beautifully balanced and he’s got great vision and great feet and that’s why we decided to get him on a longer-term contract. He’s pleased and we’re pleased.”

In his five years in Glasgow, McCourt scored 10 goals in 88 appearances for the Hoops although he actually only made 20 starts. He collected medals for his part in Scottish Premier League title wins in 2011-12 and 2012-13 as well as Scottish Cup wins in 2011 and 2013.

That 3-0 2013 final win over Hibernian was his last game for Celtic before he joined English Championship Barnsley, who were managed by his former Rochdale teammate David Flitcroft.

The goal against Brighton in December 2013 was one of only two he scored for the Tykes in 15 starts plus eight appearances off the bench and Barnsley fans certainly had mixed views about his contribution.

Online chat group contributor ‘Jay’ posted: “At his best he was as good as I’ve ever seen. Be nice if he can produce that sort of form consistently, even if it’s not for us. All that talent shouldn’t go to waste.”

Another, ‘JLWBigLil’ reckoned: “One of the most skilful players I’ve ever seen play for Barnsley in all my years of going down to Oakwell. Possibly the right player at the wrong time for us.”

Whereas ‘MarioKempes’ opined: “There was no doubting his ability but the other key aspects such as workrate, fitness, stamina and heart were sadly lacking from his game.”

It almost certainly didn’t help McCourt’s cause at Brighton that new boss Hyypia struggled to get to grips with the task in hand and chopped and changed the line-up. The addition of several loan players didn’t help matters either.

Frustrated Albion fans reckoned McCourt should have had a bigger involvement than his few cameos off the bench, citing his influence in helping to salvage a point away at Watford, and planting the ball on Gordon Greer’s head to score a consolation goal from his corner kick at Middlesbrough.

After Hyypia left the club before Christmas, McCourt’s last Albion appearance was as a sub in the home Boxing Day 2-2 draw with Reading (on loan Glenn Murray scored twice for the visitors; Jake Forster-Caskey and Inigo Calderon for the Albion), going on for Danny Holla.

Nathan Jones was in caretaker charge that day and the pair were subsequently reunited at Luton Town the following season.

Before then, unable to get games under Albion’s new boss Chris Hughton, McCourt dropped into League One on loan at relegation-bound Notts County.

He scored County’s winner in their 1-0 win at Colchester on 3 March 2015 but they went on an 11-game winless run after that and went down with Crawley Town and Leyton Orient.

Released by Brighton that summer, McCourt joined the League Two Hatters under John Still in July 2015 and was followed there a month later by Mackail-Smith.

After a run of three starts in September, when Town won all three matches, McCourt played in a 1-1 draw with Leyton Orient on 20 October, before being restricted to a role on the bench.

On his return to the starting line-up in January 2016, away to Mansfield, he scored his fist Luton goal after just seven minutes in a 2-0 win. He told Luton Today: “It was great, all players want to play from the start and it’s been disappointing to sit on the sidelines.

“It was very frustrating because we’d just won three or four games in a row, then I came back from an international double header, was on the bench, played in the draw against Leyton Orient and that was it, I didn’t play again.

“I don’t know why, I didn’t ask the manager and he ended up getting the sack, but it was very disappointing as I felt that although I wasn’t where I wanted to be in terms of performance, I was playing, we were winning games.”

When former Brighton coach Jones was appointed as Still’s successor, McCourt told Luton Today: “He’s a coach who wants to play football, ball from the back, get between the lines, bring a wee bit of flair and creativity back to Luton, so hopefully I can play a big part in that.”

Unfortunately, he cut short his stay at Kenilworth Road after 16 starts and nine appearances off the bench to return to Ireland because his wife Laura had to undergo treatment for a brain tumour. She recovered after a successful operation and O’Court resumed playing at Glenavon.

According to the Belfast Telegraph: “It ended up being a disappointing half-season at Mourneview Park and was followed by a move to Finn Harps, where he was able to roll back the years, not least when he ghosted past a whole host of Sligo players and dinked home the finish with his inimitable swagger.”

That was in 2018 before he retired from playing and began coaching academy players at Derry City. He later became the club’s technical director and left in January 2024 before taking up a role as assistant to manager Declan Devine at Irish Premiership side Glentoran.

Perhaps the last words should go to reporter Daniel McDonnell, who wrote in the Irish Independent: “Football is nothing without entertainers. Punters paying cash to watch a game want to see individuals capable of doing things that the ordinary player could only daydream about. McCourt could do things that top pros were unable to manage.”

While recognising McCourt’s CV might have glittered more brightly, he declared: “There are players who will retire with more medals and more money that will never garner a comparable level of affection.

“Mention McCourt’s name to those who had the pleasure of watching him in full flight and responses will be delivered with a smile.”

An Albion promotion winner but Bong didn’t chime at Forest

IT WAS WHILE I was adding the DW Stadium, Wigan, to my list of grounds visited that I first noticed Gaetan Bong.

On the afternoon of 18 April 2015, Bong was playing AGAINST Brighton in one of 14 appearances for Wigan Athletic having moved to the UK on a short term contract from Greek side Olympiakos three months earlier.

*Bong up against Inigo Calderon while playing for Wigan*

Within three months, he was playing FOR Brighton, joining Chris Hughton’s side as a free agent.

The Cameroon international, who had played top flight football in France and Greece, became a regular in the left-back berth for four seasons, including being a Championship promotion winner in 2017, playing 102 times for Brighton, including 51 games in the Premier League.

Bong was the first permanent left-back Albion had signed since the days of Marcos Painter, having had three successive seasons of season-long loan players in that position: Wayne Bridge, Stephen Ward and Joe Bennett.

“Gaetan is a player that we were aware of while he was at Olympiakos,” said Hughton, on signing the player. “He is very athletic, he is a natural left-sided player and it is important to have that balance in the squad.”

Back to that bottom-of-the-table battle in April, though, and Bong was on the left of a back four that also included a certain Harry Maguire (on loan from Hull City).

It was former player Gary Caldwell’s first match in charge after the sacking of Malky Mackay and both sides were struggling to avoid the drop from the Championship.

I probably decided to go to that game anticipating a win for Brighton because Wigan hadn’t won at home since the previous August! But, as sure as eggs is eggs when watching the Albion, Athletic finally registered another win in front of their own supporters: 2-1. It’s always the hope that kills you!

Albion played Player of the Season full-back Inigo Calderon as a makeshift right-winger that day and he got so little change out of his attempts to get past Athletic’s left-back that he was eventually subbed off.

In spite of the result that day, Albion managed to stay up while Wigan went down with Blackpool and Millwall.

Bong made his Brighton debut in the season-opener at home to Nottingham Forest (a 1-0 win courtesy of a Kazenga LuaLua goal), the club he would join four and a half years later, after he’d lost his regular place at the Albion.

Introduced to Brighton fans in the programme for that match, Bong said: “Once I had spoken to the manager and learned of the plans for the club, then I wanted to be part of this adventure.

“I could have gone elsewhere, I had offers, but I was excited by coming to Brighton. Now I just want to get playing and show the fans what I am about.”

Hughton had problems at left-back in the 2015-16 season when Bong was out for four months with a thigh injury, and back-up Liam Rosenior was also sidelined. Inigo Calderon filled in on occasion and Liam Ridgewell was signed on a short-term deal from Portland Timbers. Although Bong returned to the squad in March, the rest of the season was mainly a watching brief from the bench as Rosenior played out the season in that position.

Back as first choice the following season, a knee injury robbed him of his place for several weeks – loan signing Sebastien Pocognoli filled in – but he still played in 28 matches as the Albion finally won promotion to the Premier League.

Born on 25 April 1988 in Sackbayeme, a suburb of Cameroon’s capital Yaounde, he moved to France as a teenager to join Metz, where he rose through their youth ranks before making his professional debut at 17.

Injuries meant his progress wasn’t as rapid as it might have been but he had a successful loan spell with French second tier side Tours, and then moved to Valenciennes in 2009.

Bong won an under-21 cap for France but went on to win 16 caps for Cameroon. He was in their 2010 World Cup squad but only played in their final group game against Holland. Not entirely happy with the country’s set-up, he briefly retired from international football but returned when renowned former Dutch international Clarence Seedorf was appointed head coach in 2018. Bong even captained his country in a 1-0 friendly defeat against Brazil played at MK Dons in November 2018.

Bong played for Valenciennes for four years (for the first two playing under former Forest boss Philippe Montanier) and made 117 appearances.

Greek club Olympiakos took him to Athens in August 2013 and he went on to establish himself as a first-team regular, including playing in four Champions League matches and featuring in their league title winning side of 2013-14, before falling out with a new head coach.

Asked by The Athletic to sum up Bong’s attributes, his former Brighton teammate, David Stockdale said: “He comes to win a game. Nothing else. He is strong, he is athletic, he is enthusiastic.

“He is a good person to have around a squad, because he is very professional, he always does his homework before games and generally just looks after himself. He is just strong — that is the word. He is strong, reliable and does what it says on the tin.”

Stockdale added: “He had that drive; that inner drive. He was always going off to do his own work in the gym, to make sure he was properly fit all the time.

“He is one who will say what he wants to say when he feels he needs to. He does know a lot about football, he certainly knows a lot about his position and what he needs to get out of the players around him.”

The goalkeeper pointed out that Bong always had a desire to do well for the team, pointing out: “He was very much a mainstay of the side when I was at Brighton. He is a player you can rely on.”

Unfortunately, a small part of Bong’s time playing in Albion’s colours will also be remembered for an unsavoury incident when he alleged he was racially abused by West Brom’s former Burnley striker Jay Rodriguez.

Rodriguez appeared to pinch his nose after the players clashed during WBA’s 2-0 win over the Seagulls in January 2018, and Bong spoke to the referee about what he said he heard.

A subsequent FA investigation into the matter said the allegation was “not proven” and added there was “no suggestion by any party involved in this case that this was a malicious or fabricated complaint”.

Nevertheless, Bong insisted he heard Rodriguez say: “You’re black and you stink.” The striker denied what he described as a “false allegation” – he claimed he had instead said “breath fucking stinks”.

The dispute led Bong to issue a statement in which he said: “Please let me be clear: I know what I heard and I did not mishear. My conscience in raising the complaint is therefore entirely clear.

“This was my first such experience in more than three years in this country and I would never seek to bring a false charge against a fellow professional. Those who have accused me of doing that do not know me.

“Equally those who have expressed an opinion were not there on the pitch at the time and only Mr Rodriguez and I know exactly what was said and I stand by my original complaint.”

If everyone involved thought that was the end of the matter, Burnley fans had other ideas and I was at Turf Moor in April that year when the home ‘support’ disgracefully booed Bong every time he got the ball.

Albion manager Chris Hughton described their reaction as “shameful” and said of the player: “He’s an incredibly disciplined and straight individual – as honest a person as you will meet. It’s something that happened, it’s not nice at all and of course he’s big enough and strong enough to cope with it. As showed by his performance (the game finished 0-0).”

The respect Albion held for the player was best demonstrated as his time at the club was coming to an end. Bong was going to be a free agent after four years with the club but was handed a one-year extension shortly before Hughton was replaced by Graham Potter.

Chief executive Paul Barber explained to The Argus: “We all felt Gaetan had earned another contract. It is a position we felt we had an opportunity with a player we know, who is a fantastic character.

“The supporters will see what Gaetan does on the pitch — solid, consistent, strong, difficult to get around — but what they won’t know is off the pitch he is a very high-quality person, someone who is very respected and liked throughout the club. Just a decent man, supportive of the young players.

“Those sort of attributes and qualities are so valuable in a club of our size and for the coaching staff and the players. You know whether he plays 10 games, 20 games or 38 games, he is going to be fit, reliable, positive, focused, enthusiastic, consistent and decent.

“All of those things, if you were going out to recruit a left-back, you would be looking for.”

Ultimately, Potter preferred Dan Burn or Bernardo in that position and Bong moved on having made 91 starts and 11 substitute appearances, but only four appearances from the bench in the Premier League under Potter.

His final appearance for Brighton came in the disappointing 1-0 FA Cup third round home defeat to Championship side Sheffield Wednesday. Sadly, when he was subbed off in the 71st minute, there was a chorus of ironic cheers from the home crowd.

Nevertheless, Potter said of the player: “I have only worked with Gaetan for six months or so, but I do know all about the part he played in helping the club get to the Premier League and then establish itself at this level. I’m sure his contribution over the last four years will not be forgotten by our supporters.”

Somewhat bizarrely, it appears that Bong’s move to Nottingham Forest (in the Championship) wasn’t exactly welcomed by head coach Sabri Lamouchi and Nick Miller for The Athletic was brutal in his description of the player’s debut.

“Bong lasted 59 minutes against Charlton, a harrowing hour in which he lost his man for the only goal in the first half, and his eventual removal felt more like an act of mercy than a substitution.”

He didn’t even make the bench for the rest of the season and it was only when his old boss Hughton arrived at the City Ground that he got back into the Forest first team. He played 11 matches under Hughton but only seven in 2021-22 when Hughton’s successor Steve Cooper got them promotion via a play-off final win over Huddersfield Town.

Even so, Cooper was appreciative of the defender’s contributions off the pitch. “We have a good mix of old players – good role models, like Gaetan Bong,” he told The Athletic.

“He doesn’t play much but is a positive influence and I’m sure has conversations with the younger players, which I encourage. The learning players do with each other is a powerful thing.”

After hanging up his boots, Bong set up Ballers & Family Consulting Ltd, a consulting agency which, according to his LinkedIn profile, helps aspiring players to optimise their potential, families to understand the demands of professional football and football clubs to manage/avoid issues concerning certain players.

Day of reckoning beckoned for talent spotter Mervyn

THE YOUNGEST goalkeeper to appear in a FA Cup final spent 20 months picking out future players for Brighton.

It was one of several different post-playing roles Mervyn Day filled for various clubs.

Day, who at 19 won a winners’ medal with West Ham in 1975, was Albion’s head of scouting and recruitment between November 2012 and the end of the 2013-2014 season under head of football operations David Burke.

At the time, his appointment was another indicator of the gear change taking place at the club as it built on the move to the Amex Stadium and sought to gain promotion from the Championship.

Day said in a matchday programme interview: “This club has come such a long way in such a short space of time.

“When you think of the debacle of the Goldstone, the wilderness of Gillingham, then Withdean, you only have to get a player through the front door at this wonderful stadium to have a chance of signing them.

“Hopefully, within the next year or so, the new training ground will be up and running and, when you’ve got that as well, you’ve got the perfect opportunity not only to encourage kids to sign but top quality players as well.

“If we are fortunate enough to get ourselves into the Premier League at some point, we’ll be able to attract top, top players.”

It was a case of ‘the goalkeepers union’ that led to him joining the Albion. Day explained he’d been chatting to Andy Beasley, Albion’s goalkeeping coach at the time, who had been a colleague when Day was chief scout at Elland Road. Beasley wondered if he’d like to help coach Albion’s academy goalkeepers but Burke, who he also knew, stepped in and offered something more substantial: the job of scouting and talent identification manager.

He certainly brought a wealth of experience to the task. He had previously been assistant manager to former Albion midfielder Alan Curbishley at Charlton and West Ham; manager and assistant manager at Carlisle United, a scout for Fulham and the FA (when Steve McClaren was England manager) and chief scout at Leeds until Neil Warnock took charge.

In addition to that background, in the days before full-time goalkeeper coaches, Day had worked at Southampton under David Jones, Chris Kamara at Bradford City and John Aldridge at Tranmere Rovers. Then in 1997 Everton came along and he joined Howard Kendall’s backroom team alongside Adrian Heath and Viv Busby. “I was living in Leeds at that time, so distance wasn’t an issue, but it was an interesting trip across the M62 in the winter months,” Day recalled in an October 2021 interview with efcheritagesociety.com.

Brighton made Day redundant at the end of the 2013-14 season following a reshuffle of the recruitment department amid criticism of the quality of signings brought in.

That assessment might have been rather harsh because during his time at the club there was a change in manager (Oscar Garcia taking over from Gus Poyet) and, although the season ended in play-off disappointment, the likes of former Hammer Matthew Upson (who’d played under Day when he was at West Ham) had signed permanently on a free transfer (having been on loan from Stoke City for half the previous season).

The experienced Keith Andrews and Stephen Ward also joined on season-long loan deals and played prominent roles in Garcia’s play-off reaching side.

It was under Day’s watch that the promising young goalkeeper Christian Walton was signed after a tip-off from Warren Aspinall. Aspinall told the Argus in 2015: “I went to Plymouth to do a match report. I set off early and took in a youth team game off my own back. He was outstanding, commanding his box. I reported straight back to Gus (Poyet). He told Mervyn Day. He went to see him, Mervyn liked him.”

It wasn’t the first time Day had played a role in securing a goalkeeper for the Albion. As far back as 2003 he had an influence on Ben Roberts’ arrival at the Albion. Manager Steve Coppell revealed: “He is one of three goalkeepers at Charlton and at the moment nearly all the Premiership clubs are very protective about their goalkeepers.

“I have seen him play a number of times, although I certainly haven’t seen him play recently. I spoke with Mervyn Day (Charlton coach) and he says Ben is in good form. It’s a little bit of a chance and it will certainly be a testing start for him, but he is looking forward to the challenge.”

Day was also sniffing around another future Albion ‘keeper when he was chief scout for Bristol City (between 2017 and 2019). According to Sky Sports commentator Martin Tyler, Mat Ryan was on their radar in the summer of 2017 when he swapped Belgium for England. In an interview with Socceroos.com, Tyler reveals he was asked by City’s ‘head of recruitment’ (thought to be Day) to glean the opinions of Gary and Phil Neville (manager and coach of Valencia at the time) on Ryan and whether he’d be suitable for the English game.

“I got a text saying, ‘Can you find out from the Nevilles whether they rate Mat Ryan’,” Tyler said. “It wasn’t my opinion they were looking for – quite rightly – it was Gary and Phil’s. I was able to do that and both Gary and Phil gave Mat the thumbs up.”

After leaving Brighton, Day moved straight into a similar role with West Brom, where he worked under technical director Terry Burton and first team manager Alan Irvine, but he was only there a year before linking up with the Robins. He has since been first team domestic scout for Glasgow Rangers, although based in his home town of Chelmsford.

Day was born in Chelmsford on 26 June 1955 and educated at Kings Road Primary School, the same school that England and West Ham World Cup hero Geoff Hurst attended. He moved on to the town’s King Edward VI Grammar School and represented Essex Schools at all levels. He joined the Hammers under Ron Greenwood on a youth contract in 1971.

“On my first day as an associate schoolboy I got taken by goalkeeping coach Ernie Gregory into the little gym behind the Upton Park dressing room and he had Martin Peters, an England World Cup winner, firing shots at me,” Day later recounted. “As a 15-year-old that was incredible.

“The bond got even closer when my father died when I was 17. I was an apprentice but Ron signed me as a full pro within a very short space of time to enable me to earn a little more money to help out at home. A short while later he gave me another increase. He was almost a surrogate father to me.”

In the early part of 1971, Day played in the same England Youth side as Alan Boorn, a Coventry City apprentice Pat Saward took from his old club to the Albion in August 1971.

The goalkeeper was just 18 when he made his West Ham United debut, on 27 August 1973, in a 3-3 home draw with Ipswich Town.

He went on to play 33 matches in his first season and only missed one game in the following three.

Tony Hanna, for West Ham Till I Die, wrote: “In only his eleventh game for the Hammers he received a standing ovation from the Liverpool Kop in a 0-1 defeat that could have been a cricket score but for his fine display and, in his next visit to Anfield, he saved a penalty in a 2-2 draw.”

Day recalled: “As a kid, I had no fear, I took to playing in the first team really, really well. At West Ham, the ‘keeper always had lots to do as we were an entertaining team. We had forward-thinking centre-backs in Bobby Moore and Tommy Taylor, and then after Bobby came Kevin Lock.”

*Mervyn Day in action for West Ham against Brighton at the Goldstone Ground, Hove.*

In 1974, Day progressed to England’s Under-23 side. He won four caps that year and a fifth in 1975 but it was a golden era for England goalkeepers at the time and he didn’t progress to the full international side, despite being touted for a call-up.

By the time Day won that last cap, he had been voted PFA Young Player of the Year and, at 19, had become the youngest goalkeeper to appear in a FA Cup Final, keeping a clean sheet as West Ham beat Fulham 2-0 at Wembley.

Hanna continued: “At times he was performing heroics in the West Ham goal and he was fast becoming a fans favourite. Tall and agile, he was a brilliant shot stopper and he was playing like a ‘keeper well beyond his years.”

However, by the 1977-78 season Day’s form had tapered off as the Hammers were relegated. “His confidence was so bad he was eventually dropped and he only played 23 games that season,” said Hanna. “There are several theories to what triggered the loss of form, but one thing that did not help the lad was the stick he was getting from the Hammers supporters.

“In hindsight Mervyn said that he was ill prepared for such a tough run of form. The early seasons had gone so well that he had only known the good times and when the bad ones came he struggled to come to terms with the pressure.”

In 1979, West Ham smashed the world record transfer fee for a goalkeeper to bring in Phil Parkes from QPR and Day was sold to Leyton Orient, where he replaced long-standing stopper John Jackson, who later became a goalkeeper coach and youth team coach at Brighton.

Day spent four years at Brisbane Road before moving to Aston Villa as back-up ‘keeper to Nigel Spink. After a falling-out with Villa boss Graham Turner, he switched to Leeds under Eddie Gray and then Billy Bremner. During Bremner’s reign, he had the humiliation of conceding six at Stoke City at the start of the 1985-86 season and, in spite of vowing it wouldn’t happen again, let in seven in the repeat fixture the following season. Amongst his Leeds teammates that day were Andy Ritchie and Ian Baird.

Nevertheless, he ended up playing more games (268) for Leeds than any of his other clubs. He rarely missed a game up to the end of 1989-90, the season when was he was named Player of the Year and collected a Second Division championship medal.

Howard Wilkinson offered him a post as goalkeeping coach for United’s first season back in the elite, having lined up a £1m move for John Lukic from Arsenal. Day had a couple of loans spells – at Luton Town and Sheffield United in 1992 – but was otherwise back-up for Lukic, alongside his coaching duties, until Wilkinson saved Brighton’s future by signing Mark Beeney from the Seagulls.

After eight years at Elland Road, Day moved to the Cumbrian outpost of Carlisle in 1993. When he moved into the manager’s chair at Brunton Park, he not only led them to promotion from the Second Division in 1997, but they also won the (Auto Windscreens Shield) Football League Trophy. United beat Colchester 4-3 on penalties at Wembley after a goalless draw; one of the scorers being the aforementioned Warren Aspinall, later of Brighton and Radio Sussex.

Day worked under Curbishley at Charlton for eight years between 1998 and 2006, helping the club stabilise in the Premier League.

And, in December 2006, he followed Curbishley as his No.2 to West Ham, where the duo spent almost two years.

It was in 2010 that he returned to Leeds as chief scout, working under technical director Gwyn Williams. United manager Simon Grayson said at the time: “We’re restructuring the scouting department under Gwyn and Mervyn will be both producing match reports and watching our opposition and working on the recruitment of players.

“Merv’s knowledge and experience will prove important to the football club as we look to progress and develop what we are doing.”

Determined Joe pursued his dream to the top

JOE BENNETT played more league matches (41) than any other outfield Brighton player during the 2014-15 season.

Not bad for a loan signing who’d been edged out at Aston Villa after a season in their first team.

Bennett’s appearance record for the Seagulls was perhaps even more noteworthy in that it spanned the reigns of three managers.

Brought in by Sami Hyypia, the defender retained the left-back berth during Nathan Jones’ temporary spell in charge right through to the end of the season after Chris Hughton had taken over.

Bennett hasn’t been afraid to travel the length and breadth of the country plying his trade as a footballer.

It all began in his home town, Rochdale, where he was born on 28 March 1990. His early promise with a football saw him join up with the under-eights at their centre of excellence.

When he was 10, his parents separated and he moved to the north east to live with his mum and stepdad in Swainby, eight miles north east of Northallerton.

He quickly got fixed up with Sunday league side Northallerton Town. One of their coaches, Gary Ramsbotham, also scouted for Middlesbrough and through him Bennett went for a trial and got taken on.

His progress suffered a setback when he was 15. He was de-registered by Boro and had a year away from the club, during which time he worked hard on his fitness and strength before being taken back on.

“The year away really helped me focus on my football and I realised then how badly I wanted to make it,” he told Tony Higgins in an interview for gazettelive.co.uk.

As he progressed through the youth ranks, Bennett, who’d originally been a striker, was converted to a left-back by Boro coach Steve Agnew.

He also had a perfect work experience stint from school when he got to go training with Boro’s under 18 side, and he relished the opportunity of being a ballboy at Riverside home games.

Eventually, he made it to the first team, Gareth Southgate giving him his debut as a substitute in the final game of the 2008-09 Premier League season against West Ham, although Boro had already been relegated by then.

Bennett thought he’d get chances to play in the Championship, but new boss Gordon Strachan turned to more experienced players, and Bennett only made 13 appearances in 2009-10.

It was a different story following the arrival of Tony Mowbray and the young full-back was a regular over the following two seasons, eventually starting 84 matches for Boro and going on as a sub eight times.

He earned the club’s young player of the year title at the end of the 2010-11 season and the North East Football Writers’ Association’s young player of the year accolade in 2011-12.

2011 was a good year for him because he also caught the eye of the international selectors and won three caps for England under-21s.

His debut came in a 1-0 defeat away to Italy on 8 February 2011, he was a sub for Ryan Bertrand in England’s 2-1 home defeat to Iceland on 28 March, and he started the 5 September game against Israel at Barnsley’s Oakwell ground which England won 4-1, with Jonjo Shelvey and Ross Barkley pulling the strings in midfield.

In August 2012, Premier League Aston Villa paid £3m to take him to Villa Park. Boss Paul Lambert told avfc.co.uk: “Joe’s a really good player, young and hungry to succeed and he’s exactly the type of player we want here at the football club.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that he will thrive in this environment and he fits in exactly with what we are trying to build here.

“His energy level is really high and he can get up and down the pitch really well, which will be important for the team and important in terms of how we want to play as a team.

“He’s an exciting signing for the club and I’m really pleased we’ve been able to take him here.”

While Bennett made 30 appearances for Villa in his first season, increased competition and back and knee injuries restricted his involvement in 2013-14 to only seven matches.

At the start of the 2014-15 season, Albion had been expecting Irish international Stephen Ward to join permanently after his season on loan from Wolves. But his last-minute u-turn en route to putting pen to paper on the deal meant the Seagulls were in the market for a new left-back because new boss Hyypia wanted someone more experienced than Adam Chicksen.

With playing time at Villa again looking like only being sporadic, Bennett went along to Elland Road on 19 August 2014 and liked what he saw as Albion won 2-0 in what would turn out to be one of the few decent performances under Hyypia.

“I went to watch them against Leeds and I think that just made me realise what a good team they are,” said Bennett. “They just kept the ball really well, from the back to the front, defended well and they looked like they had a lot of energy.

“The full-backs like to go forward as well which is part of my game as I like to go forward and get involved a bit more up the pitch, so it was nice to see.

“I spoke to the manager and he told me a bit about how he likes the team to play and how I could fit in to that, and hopefully I can.”

After the Hyypia reign came to an early end, Bennett remained suitably diplomatic in interviews and in a matchday programme feature spoke about the positive influence on his game of former full-back Hughton.

“Obviously it’s good for me on a personal level having a former defender as manager,” he said. “He knows his stuff and is there to give me plenty of advice, especially in the left-back role. Since the gaffer came in he’s been working hard on defensive shape and being more compact as a team.”

He spoke about Hughton’s greater emphasis on defending compared to Hyypia’s desire for the full-backs to push up. “I’ve got a more defensive role now but I’m really enjoying my football under Chris. I feel I’m learning all the time,” he said.

At one point it looked like Bennett might join Albion on a permanent basis, but when Tim Sherwood took over from Lambert, he indicated the full-back may yet have a future at Villa Park.

The new Villa boss ran his eye over the defender and said: “Joe has done very, very well. I am now looking forward to seeing him in pre-season.”

He did enough to earn a one-year contract extension and scored his first goal for the club in a 5-3 League Cup win over Notts County. But, with Aly Cissokho still ahead of him in the pecking order, and with only an hour to go before the end of the August transfer window, Bennett was loaned to newly-promoted AFC Bournemouth.

Ostensibly he was signed as cover for Tyrone Mings and Charlie Daniels, but he hoped the move would give him the opportunity to play regularly in the Premier League.

“I’m really excited about the prospect of playing for Bournemouth and hopefully helping them perform well this season,” he told Villa’s website. “They’ve already made a positive start to the new season and, like everyone else, I’ve been really impressed with the fantastic job Eddie Howe has done. They have a really good side.”

Unfortunately, it didn’t unfold how Bennett had hoped. He didn’t make any appearances for Bournemouth and returned early to Villa Park after suffering an achilles tendon injury.

Recovered from the injury, Bennett joined Sheffield Wednesday on loan in mid-January 2016 until the end of the season. Again, a permanent move looked on the cards, especially when new Villa boss Roberto Di Matteo indicated he wouldn’t be part of his first-team plans.

Villa chairman Tony Xia blocked the move, not wishing to sell to a Championship rival, but, within a fortnight, Bennett moved on a free transfer to fellow Championship side Cardiff City. A calf injury meant he had to wait two months before making his debut, but he went on to spend an eventful five years in South Wales, riding a rollercoaster emotionally, on and off the field.

Nevertheless, his popularity with the Bluebirds was perhaps best encapsulated by chairman Mehmet Dalman who described him as “the best left back in the league”.

Bennett endured a somewhat turbulent relationship with boss Neil Warnock, although he admitted in an extended interview with Oscar Johnson: “He is a nice, genuine and down-to-earth guy. He was really good to me during his time here.

“At first, I don’t think he really fancied playing me to be honest, but I was the only left-back at the club, so he didn’t have a choice.

“Our relationship got better as it went along and he was really good for me both personally and as a player.”

That didn’t seem to be the case in January 2018 when Bennett was in the headlines for the wrong reason. He escaped what looked like a straight red card for a bad foul on Leroy Sane in a FA Cup tie against Manchester City but eventually saw red for a second booking, which incurred Warnock’s wrath.

“I was disappointed he got sent off at the end,” said Warnock. “Obviously he doesn’t want to go to Leeds next weekend, because it was an absolutely pathetic challenge when on a booking. To do something like that I think is disrespectful to teammates.”

Even so, Bennett was a regular fixture in defence during Cardiff’s brief spell in the Premier League, playing 30 of the 38 matches.

“Being relegated after one season was obviously gutting, but nobody had given us a chance of staying up before the season began, so to battle as long and hard as we did was definitely something to be proud of,” he said.

“We had a really good team and got some really good results over the course of the season. I think that, with a little bit of luck, we could maybe have stayed up. If VAR had been in use, we might have done it because we had some horrible decisions go against us.”

In March 2019, Bennett opened up to Dominic Booth about how it felt playing against the backdrop of losing the father who had first urged him to pursue his dream of becoming a professional footballer.

He remained with Cardiff and was enjoying a new lease of life after Mick McCarthy’s appointment as manager when he suffered an anterior cruciate knee ligament injury in March 2021 that put him out of the game for the rest of the season.

After surgery, he made a swift-than-expected recovery and, even though he’d been given a free transfer at the end of his contract, he continued his recovery by training with the Bluebirds.

“The club had a duty of care to aid the player’s rehabilitation and, as such, Bennett has been at the club’s Vale of Glamorgan HQ gradually working his way back to fitness,” reported walesonline.co.uk.

McCarthy explained that a new deal had been in the offing before the injury, but it never got signed. “I was quite sad about it because I spoke to Benno when I came in, I knew his contract was running out,” he said. “I discussed with him about staying, then injury comes and it changed it all.”

Bennett was not the only departure at the end of the season, and a statement on the club website read: “We would like to place on record our sincerest thanks and best wishes to Sol Bamba, Joe Bennett and Junior Hoilett who will be moving on this summer upon the expiration of their current deals.

“The three players joined us in 2016 and would go on to become key figures in our 2017-18 promotion squad. Between them they made a total of 478 appearances across a five-year period, representing a significant contribution to the club’s recent progress and history.”

Bennett subsequently moved north and signed a two-year deal with Wigan Athletic.

Benno’s quick route to the top after ‘fantastic’ Albion chapter

SEVENTEEN GOALS in 100 appearances don’t tell the whole story of Elliott Bennett’s two seasons as a Brighton player.

Russell Slade signed him in August 2009 from Wolverhampton Wanderers for £200,000, but it was under the guidance of Gus Poyet that he flourished and was a stand-out performer when Albion won promotion from League One in 2011.

Not only was he chosen by his fellow professionals in the PFA League One team of the year (along with teammates Gordon Greer and Inigo Calderon), he was Four Four Two magazine’s League One Player of the Year.

Always diplomatic in interviews about personal achievements, typically he said: “If you win awards, it’s nice personally but you have to remember you can’t win them without your teammates. If I’m setting up goals, then it means our strikers are on their game as well as they’re getting on the end of my crosses.”

In a matchday programme feature, he added: “These individual awards really are not possible unless you have a good team around you, so this award is really on behalf of the whole squad and coaching staff.”

Bennett acknowledged the impact Poyet made on improving him as a player. “Gus has given me different roles to play throughout the season. I’m a lot more aware as a player as a result and I’m better with the ball now. There’s still lots for me to work on, but the gaffer has really brought my game on. I definitely owe him a lot.”

In another matchday programme article, he once again paid tribute to Poyet, his assistant Mauricio Taricco and coach Charlie Oatway. “I feel like I’m improving all the time and I owe so much to the coaching staff: the gaffer and Tano, while Charlie has got my head right. I used to beat myself up if I gave the ball away but Charlie has stamped that out of me. Technically, all three have helped me and I’ve also been playing in the middle a bit more, which has added another string to my bow.”

Bennett continued: “While I’m known for being a winger, my link-up play has also improved this season, which has really pleased me. I’m now more involved and it’s important that I keep on learning. The gaffer will always pull me to one side if he sees something that can help improve me – which he does with everyone – and then it’s a case of trying to replicate that on a match day.

“When you’ve got a gaffer who’s played the game at the highest level, you can only learn from him – and if you didn’t listen you’d be pretty stupid.

“I’ll play anywhere for the good of the team – I’ve even played right-back this season, but I must admit that I do prefer playing in a more advanced role where I can create things for the team. Whether that’s right wing, the left wing or even behind the strikers I don’t mind. I just love being involved.”

Bennett’s impact wasn’t confined to games, either. He and Liam Bridcutt used to visit Westdean Primary School, near Withdean, where they listened to youngsters reading. His wife, Kelly, worked for the club too.

Aware they had a hit property on their books, Albion awarded Bennett a new three-and-a-half-year deal in November 2010, when Poyet told the club website: “Elliott has been a good pro and has earned this new contract.

“He has shown he is capable of playing in a number of positions, he enjoys playing our style of football and I think he will continue to get better as a player.”

For his part, Bennett said: “Gus is a big factor for me. I will always be grateful to Russell Slade for signing me, but the current gaffer has brought his own style of play.

“I have really taken to the club ever since I arrived from Wolves last summer. I feel I have grown up as a person and developed as a player.”

Unfortunately for Brighton, Bennett’s superb contribution drew plenty of admirers and, when Norwich City offered £1.9million to give him the chance of Premier League football, the lure was too great to resist for player and club.

While his promoted teammates looked forward to Championship football in the brand new Amex Stadium, Bennett joined Paul Lambert’s Canaries to test his talent at the highest level.

Bennett told HITC Sport’s Alfie Potts Harmer: “Brighton was a fantastic part of my life and a fantastic chapter of my career, I loved every minute of it.

“When we won the title there, League One was full of teams who are now flying, you look at Southampton, Bournemouth and Huddersfield, it was a strong League One that year, and we played some fantastic stuff.

“The stadium coincided with promotion and I’d just signed a new contract. I think I would have stayed there for many years had it not been a Premier League move, but I don’t regret moving to Norwich. When an opportunity like that comes you have to take it as a player. You don’t know if it will come again.”

Lambert was delighted to land the youngster having previously had a bid to sign him in January that year rejected. “He is a young and exciting player with plenty of pace,” Lambert told the Norwich website. “He can play in a wide position or in behind the forwards, he’s a quick lad and he’s got a winning mentality.

“He played his full part in what Brighton achieved last season and that desire to succeed will stand him in good stead here.”

Bennett declared: “It’s an unbelievable opportunity for me to fight for a place in a team which will be playing in the Premier League.

“I like the mentality at Norwich City that has seen them get back-to-back promotions and I’m grateful to Paul Lambert for giving me the chance to be part of what’s happening at the club.

“I didn’t make it through at Wolves, which was my home-town club, and Brighton gave me the opportunity and I’m grateful for that.

“Now I’m just really excited about the chance to try to help Norwich in the Premier League.”

Bennett certainly seized the opportunity and in his first season was delighted to score the winning goal in Norwich’s 2-1 win over Spurs at White Hart Lane. He’d played 57 games in the Premier League when his career suffered a major hiatus. In the first home game of the 2013-14 season, against Everton, he sustained a cruciate injury which ruled him out of all but the last game of that campaign, as City were relegated.

Frustrated by the lack of starts at Norwich as they began life back in the Championship, Bennett was happy to return to the Seagulls on loan as Sami Hyypia tried various permutations to get some wins on the board.

Bennett received a warm reception from the Seagulls supporters as he stepped out at the Amex for a home game against Wigan Athletic on 4 November and helped the side to their first win in eight matches.

Unfortunately, the upturn in fortunes was all too brief and, although Bennett’s loan was extended by a second month, six winless games saw Hyypia exit the hotseat. “I had nothing but respect for him,” Bennett later told The Athletic. “He gave me an opportunity, after a big injury, to get out and play some football. He didn’t have to bring me back. I was thankful for that. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out.”

Bennett’s final appearance came in the memorable 2-0 win over Fulham under caretaker manager Nathan Jones.

He returned to Norwich just as Alex Neil was taking over from Neil Adams as manager and was part of the squad who won promotion back to the Premier League via a play-off win over Middlesbrough.

But back in the elite, first team opportunities were limited and during the first part of the 2015-16 season Bennett went out on loan again, this time to Bristol City, where Steve Cotterill was the manager.

Bennett made 14 appearances for the Robins but soon after his deal expired in January 2016, a £250,000 fee saw him move permanently to Blackburn Rovers, where, from the start of the 2019-20 season, he became club captain, and he continued to be a well-respected part of Tony Mowbray’s set-up.

Bennett has certainly endeared himself to the Rovers supporters and has even been hailed as a modern-day ‘Mr Blackburn’ by website roverschat.com, who lauded his contribution to the club.

“Elliott Bennett’s evergreen positivity, fan interactions, and trademark fist pump were key in improving the culture at Rovers, as the dark, grey clouds over Ewood Park that had called it home since 2011 ever so slowly began to dissipate.

“His leadership has been a key contribution, as even when he is not playing for Rovers, he still is managing to inspire others to become the best version of themselves.”

One of those times spent out of the side came when Bennett tested positive for Covid-19 in May 2020 although the player said he didn’t feel unwell, and typically was thinking of others when interviewed about it.

“There seems to have been a lot of hysteria about footballers returning to training, but it’s not a big deal at all,” he said. “It’s the people who are seriously ill in hospital that we need to worry about, not footballers who are fit and healthy, and who aren’t showing any signs of being unwell.”

The popular Bennett is an active participant on social media and has 76,000 followers on Twitter.

In the summer of 2021, he moved to League One Shrewsbury Town, just 15 miles from Telford where he was born on 18 December 1988,

Bennett first showed his talent playing for local Telford team Hadley Juniors. Wolves scouts Les Green and Tony Lacey spotted him and invited him to train with the club’s under sevens and under eights. Remarkable as it sounds, he was offered a contract at the age of nine! “From then I just worked my way up through the age groups,” he told wolves.co.uk in a January 2019 article.

“The coaching was fantastic, the level of care we got was outstanding and we had the chance to travel the world. We got to go to Holland, we went to Japan, and it was a fantastic experience for me. Going to Japan and winning the under-12 World Cup was probably one of my favourite memories I have from the playing side of the academy.”

At Thomas Telford School, Bennett captained the school team as they won the county cup five years in a row. He was also a talented 200m runner who represented Shropshire at sprinting.

After leaving school to go on a scholarship at Wolves, he signed professional in 2007.

“The biggest moment for me was being given my professional contract,” he said. “I always dreamt of one day being able to pull on that gold and black shirt and play at Molineux, and thankfully I did.”

He got a taste of first team action in pre-season matches, scoring after only five minutes in a 3-2 win at Hereford United, and in 2007-2008 he made two appearances for the first team in the League Cup.

Mick McCarthy gave him his first competitive start in a 2-1 win over Bradford City on 15 August 2007 but he was replaced by Stephen Ward at half-time, and on 28 August was in the Wolves side humbled 3-1 after extra time by lowly Morecambe.

Although he was involved with the first team squad for some league matches, he didn’t get any game time, but gained experience going out on loan, initially playing 11 games at League One Crewe Alexandra, and later featuring in 19 League Two games for Bury.

He spent the whole of 2008-09 on loan with Bury, scoring three goals in 52 matches.

It must have been quite a wrench for Bennett to contemplate moving away from the club he’d been associated with for 14 years, but it was a former Brighton striker, the then Wolves assistant manager Terry Connor, who persuaded him to spread his wings and move to the Albion, as he revealed in a Football the Albion and Me interview.

He explained that he’d still got two years left on his contract at Wolves and being very much “a home person” he’d not considered leaving home in Telford, 20 minutes away from Wolverhampton.

“I remember Terry pulling me into his office and saying ‘Look, I went to Brighton in a similar position to yourself, you’ve got to go out and forge your own career. Become a man, become a person, don’t be Elliott Bennett from the academy at Wolves. You’re Elliott Bennett the professional footballer, create your own path.’

“And from that conversation I thought ‘You have to take the shackles off and go and try something different’ and you can’t really get a much better place to live than Brighton, as I later found out. It turned out to be the best decision I have made since I started playing.”

The week before he signed, he went to watch Albion away at Huddersfield…..and saw his new employer thrashed 7-1. Luckily, he’d made up his mind to join before the game!

“I was a guest of Tony Bloom,” he said. “I had a good chat with him before the game and he told me the vision. He told me where he wanted to take the club. I was blown away to be honest. I couldn’t wait to get started.”

Pictures from Albion matchday programmes and various online sources.

Irish defender Stephen Ward surprised Albion supporters

SWARD WHEN Wolverhampton Wanderers slipped into the third tier, they urgently needed to loan out some of their higher-paid players – hence, in August 2013, the arrival at Brighton of left-back Stephen Ward.

Most Seagulls supporters were not sure of his attributes having had the pleasure the previous season of watching the imperious Wayne Bridge shine in that position while on loan from Manchester City.

However, Albion fans were delighted to be proved wrong after Ward helped to shore up a defence that had leaked seven goals in the first eight days of the season. The Irish international defender went on to make a total of 47 appearances and was runner-up to Matt Upson as Albion’s 2013-14 player of the year.

Ward also chipped in with four goals, including the tide-turning equaliser at Nottingham Forest on the final day of the season.

Forest equaliser

Although injury-hit Albion failed to get past Derby County in the play-off semi-finals, it was thought Ward would sign permanently for the Seagulls that summer. But Burnley stepped in, offering Wolves and the defender more money, not to mention the more immediate chance of Premier League football.

Ward’s agent, Scott Fisher, later told the Argus that dithering or perhaps a bit of brinkmanship by then head of recruitment David Burke had scuppered the deal.

“We really tried our best to make Stephen Ward a permanent Brighton player. Had they done their business earlier this wouldn’t have happened,” he said.

Ward spoke more about the circumstances in an interview with the Argus in April 2016.

Previously, as the season drew to a close, Ward told the Argus: “If I’m going to move on, I don’t see why this wouldn’t be one of the better options for me. I’ve been here for a year; I’ve really enjoyed it.

SW Argus

“I couldn’t say one bad thing about the club. The crowd we get, the stadium we have is phenomenal, probably the best in the Championship, and with the new training ground the club is on a real up and a real high.

“If I was to move on from Wolves, Brighton would definitely be high on the list. It’s not in my hands, it’s going to be in other people’s hands to discuss the future, but it has been a great move for me. I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s a really good club and one people should be privileged to play for.”

Ward went on to spend five years at Turf Moor, making 110 appearances, but only featured 11 times in the 2018-19 season, and manager Sean Dyche told punditarena.com: “He (Ward) has been brilliant for us, absolutely brilliant, he’s done a fantastic job.”

SW Burn Perhaps it was no surprise that former Albion coach Nathan Jones stepped in to sign the experienced defender for Stoke City, where he’d taken on an often-perilous managerial hotseat.

Jones said: “He’s had a fantastic career, the only downside for him is his age, because he isn’t what we normally go for.

“But I feel we need to add certain things to the changing room and the environment and Stephen brings those.

“He’s a wonderful player, a great character, very experienced. He’s been promoted – won the Championship twice. He’s an Irish international, I worked with him, he’s technically very, very good so he ticks every box. It’s just the aging process is the only drawback.

“With Stephen, he’s a specialist in what we need and he will provide vital competition and good strength in that area.”

Unfortunately Ward couldn’t claim a regular starting place and in December 2019 picked up a calf injury which sidelined him for four months. Having made only 17 appearances for City, in August 2020 he switched to League One Ipswich Town on a free transfer.

After playing 29 games for them in the 2020-21 season, the club announced on 5 May 2021 he would be released at the end of the season (one more appearance would have triggered a 12-month extension to his contract).

Born in Dublin on 20 August 1985, Ward grew up in Portmarnock and, as a schoolboy, played football for Home Farm and Portmarnock before joining League of Ireland side Bohemians.

He attributed his eventual success in making it as a player to staying in Ireland when he was younger and continuing to live at home rather than going to play at a UK club’s academy.

In an excellent lengthy interview with the Irish Independent, he said: “I had a few trials – Leicester a couple of times, I went to Aston Villa a lot and Hibs for some reason – nothing worked out and I signed for Bohs. And the most important thing for me then was living at home and having my family around me.

“It does depend on the academy, but you are in a bubble from a young age. You train in a certain way, everything is done for you; I know you get your jobs, but not that many now, and sometimes there is a mentality that once you are in an academy, you’ve made it. I was 17 and played in a league where players were playing for their mortgages and to put food on the table.”

Originally a forward, he scored 26 goals in 93 appearances, and, having been looked at by Sunderland boss Mick McCarthy and deemed not quite ready, McCarthy kept tabs on him when he took over at Wolves.

“I signed for Wolves as a striker,” Ward told the Irish Independent. “I was not a typical number nine, scoring 20 or 30 a season, but an old-fashioned centre-forward running round, closing down.

“We signed a couple of strikers – Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Chris Iwelumo – and I knew if I was going to play consistently it was probably not as a centre-forward. So, I went to left-wing for a bit.

“I played at left-back at Norwich for 30 minutes or so when we went down to nine men. We scraped a draw and afterwards Mick said, ‘You could make a career playing there.’ I thought, ‘Yeah, whatever’. Next season, three games in, and new left-back George Elokobi suffers an awful injury, the window was shut and Mick had no one else . . .”

On the international stage, Ward played through the age levels for the Republic of Ireland and had a dream full international debut in May 2011 as he scored in a 5-0 win over Northern Ireland.

He went on to play 50 times for his country before announcing his retirement from international football in March 2019.

‘Save of the season’ one of few bouquets for goalkeeping florist Alan Blayney

blayney intense GOALKEEPER Alan Blayney only played 15 games on loan to Brighton from Southampton but if finances had been better at the time he could have signed permanently and his career may have taken a different turn.

Blayney is still playing, nifootballleague.com reporting only in December 2017 a move to Ballyclare Comrades from Warrenpoint Town. He also runs a florist business with his wife Laura in Newtownabbey.

Only a month earlier he opened his heart to the belfasttelegraph.co.uk and talked about the demons he’s had to face during a career that rarely hit the heights in England but has seen him represent his country and enjoy success in his native Northern Ireland.

Born in Belfast on 9 October 1981, Blayney was picked up by the city’s Irish league side Glentoran at 16 before moving to the UK aged 19 to join Premier League Southampton.

Blayney was initially loaned out to Stockport County, but his time there was cut short by a broken finger.

He also had a couple of games along the coast at Bournemouth when he suffered one of his most embarrassing goalkeeping moments. In a Q and A for the Albion programme, Blayney told interviewer Dan Tester: “I’d rolled the ball outside the 18-yard box in readiness to kick it up field. The Rochdale striker, my former Northern Ireland under 21 teammate Lee McEvilly, was running away and it hit him on the head and flew over mine into the back of the net.”

Back at Southampton, the young ‘keeper finally got a first team chance in May 2004, a couple of months after Paul Sturrock had replaced Gordon Strachan as manager.

It was some debut because the game against Newcastle United finished 3-3 and a save Blayney made from an Alan Shearer header won him the accolade of Sky Sports save of the season.

The young Irishman kept his place for the following game, a 2-1 defeat at Charlton and he played twice more the following season, in a 2-2 league draw against West Bromwich Albion and a 5-2 League Cup defeat to Watford.

With future Albion goalkeeping coach Antti Niemi and Paul Smith ahead of him in the pecking order, Blayney went on loan to Rushden & Diamonds, where he played four games, before securing the first loan to Brighton in early 2005.

Albion’s regular ‘keeper Michel Kuipers had sustained a horrific shoulder injury in a home game against Nottingham Forest and the no.2 at the time, Chris May, had no experience so manager Mark McGhee needed emergency reinforcements.

Initially he obtained David Yeldell from Blackburn Rovers and also brought in Rami Shabaan from Arsenal, but Blayney, no doubt recommended by McGhee’s old pal Strachan, became the preferred option and played seven games at the end of the season.

Amongst several impressive displays was a game I went to with my son, Rhys, at Burnley, on 16 April 2005.

Against the odds, it finished 1-1 but the media was keener to focus on the post-match news that striker Mark McCammon had been ordered off the team bus by McGhee for his reaction to being substituted at half time.

Reporter Peter Gardner, on telegraph.co.uk, said: “The incident overshadowed a rousing second-half comeback to a game Brighton might ultimately have won, not least through the contribution of Jake Robinson, McCammon’s half-time replacement.

“However, McGhee’s men were equally fortunate not to have been overwhelmed by the home side in the opening 45 minutes when only splendid saves by Alan Blayney from Graham Branch (twice) and Mo Camara, plus Burnley’s own profligacy, prevented an avalanche of goals.”

Blayney was also between the sticks for the nail-biting final game of the season when a 1-1 draw with Ipswich Town kept the Seagulls in the Championship by the skin of their teeth.

Such had been Blayney’s contribution that McGhee was keen to sign him permanently, the manager telling skysports.com: “Alan did absolutely brilliantly here for us. We have to see how realistic an option that is, and whether they’re even prepared to consider letting him go, and what the conditions would be.”

The answer was that Brighton couldn’t afford the fee Southampton wanted so at the start of the following season Wayne Henderson was brought in instead on a three-month loan from Aston Villa.

When Henderson returned to Villa, McGhee was keen to buy him outright but in the meantime brought Blayney back for an eight-game stint.

Blayney told BBC Southern Counties Radio: “If I don’t perform they’ll end up going for Wayne instead of me. I have to come in and show I’m as good as Wayne, if not better. This first game at Stoke is really important.”

Unfortunately, the game at Stoke ended in a 3-0 defeat and a 3-2 reverse at home to Crystal Palace followed.

After a point was gained away at Cardiff City, Blayney saved a penalty from Inigo Idiakez in a 0-0 draw with Derby at Withdean on 26 November 2005, and the following week he helped earn another point, repeating the feat against Watford’s Marlon King.

The Watford Observer reported: “King passed up a glorious chance to fire Watford ahead on 58 minutes when he saw his penalty saved. King’s tame penalty was parried by Blayney, who dived low to his left, and the keeper then gathered the rebound.”

After a 5-1 hammering away to Reading, Blayney returned to Southampton in mid-December and within a matter of weeks Southampton’s technical support director, Sir Clive Woodward, informed him he had been sold to Doncaster Rovers for £50,000.

Blayney told the Belfast Telegraph in November 2017: “My response was, ‘Do I not have any say in this?’ He said the deal was done but I didn’t want to live in Doncaster. I loved it in Southampton. I didn’t settle in Doncaster, they gave me an apartment, but it was a tip. If I was getting those wages now I would bite your arm off but then it felt I wasn’t getting much and it was a terrible time.”

Although he started out as no.1, and made 24 appearances for Rovers, following an ankle injury he slipped to third choice behind Ben Smith and Jan Budtz, and came to an agreement to terminate his two and a half year contract early.

Blayney admitted in his Belfast Telegraph interview: “I do regret going out and drinking in my later career in England when I was at Doncaster. I was getting injuries and was a bit disillusioned with the game. I regret it because people had opinions of me at that club which is not the real me. They only saw me behave like that for a few months.”

He wasn’t quite done with England, though, and in February 2007 joined League One Oldham Athletic until the end of the season, after impressing in a reserve team match. However, he only played one first team game, in a 1-2 home defeat against Bournemouth.

There had been the possibility of a return to Brighton to replace Henderson, who had been sold to Preston, but the Argus reported on 2 February 2007: “Albion are not re-signing goalkeeper Alan Blayney after all. They have not been able to agree a length of contract with the former loan signing.”

On his return to Northern Ireland, he initially managed just three games as an understudy at Bohemians, but then he played 32 times for Ballymena United in 2008-09 as a prelude to what would turn out to be the most successful period of his career.

In five seasons with NIFL premiership side Linfield, he played 164 games and, in 2010-11, when Linfield won the league and cup double, he was named Ulster Footballer of the Year.

His form for Linfield also earned him a recall to the Northern Ireland squad. He had initially made his debut in 2006 under Lawrie Sanchez on a summer tour of the United States.

An appearance from the bench in a drawn friendly against Morocco in November 2010 saw Blayney concede an embarrassing goal as his clearance rebounded off Marouane Chamakh, then of Arsenal, to give the Africans the lead.

Manager Nigel Worthington put the incident into context after the game, telling the media Blayney had travelled to the ground just hours after his partner had given birth to a son.

“I was disappointed for Alan but it has been a terrific day for him and we have come out of the game unbeaten,” said Worthington. “He’s fine and I have given him every encouragement. It is one of those you learn from. You cannot take a split second to delay.”

Blayney said it was the worst moment of his career. He told the Belfast Telegraph: “I came on at half-time for Jonny Tuffey but took a terrible touch and Chamakh came in to challenge me. I kicked the ball off him and it went into the net.

“Everybody had welcomed me onto the pitch and you don’t forget moments like that. You aren’t used to playing against players who are as quick as that. I looked up and he was there. I wanted the ground to swallow me up but earlier that same day Phoenix was born. It was a bittersweet day.”

In May 2011 Blayney shared goalkeeping duties with Tuffey as an inexperienced Northern Ireland team endured an embarrassing Carling Nations Cup defeat to the Republic of Ireland. Although left exposed by a threadbare defence, Blayney was culpable in at least two of the goals in a 5-0 hammering, one of which was scored by debut-making Stephen Ward, a future left back loanee for the Seagulls. bbc.co.uk reported: “Blayney was badly at fault six minutes later as he spilled a tame Treacy cross which allowed Ward to poke home from close range.”

With Linfield, Blayney continued to rack up honours until they signed Tuffey in 2013, and he was no longer first choice. In January 2014, he joined Ards on loan but couldn’t help them avoid relegation.

After spending 2014-15 with Glenavon, he returned to Ballymena where he had two successful seasons, before losing his place. In January 2017, he dropped down to the Premier Intermediate League with Dundela. At the start of this season, he returned to the higher division with Warrenpoint Town but, in December, moved to be closer to home, with semi-professional Ballyclare.

Blayney save dec 17 blay cut Blayney cover