Loanee João Teixeira lit up a gloomy Championship season

BRIGHTON provided a handy platform on which João Teixeira could parade his undoubted talent but he was unable subsequently to nail down a regular starting spot with parent club Liverpool.

The young Portuguese midfielder impressed sufficiently on loan to the Seagulls in 2014-15 to earn the club’s Young Player of the Season award.

His time at Brighton was certainly a whole lot more successful than a loan move made to League One Brentford the previous season: a six-month arrangement was cut short in October after only two substitute appearances because the Bees couldn’t guarantee him the game time Liverpool had been expecting him to get.

It was a different story with the Seagulls although it was a shame his efforts were overshadowed by the side’s struggle to stay in the Championship and it ended prematurely for him when he suffered a broken leg.

On his return to fitness back at Liverpool, he was a frequent first team benchwarmer under Jurgen Klopp but chose to move back home to Portugal to seek regular playing time.

Liverpool paid Sporting Lisbon £830,000 in the January 2012 transfer window to take Teixeira to Anfield and it was Brendan Rodgers who gave him his Reds debut on 12 February 2014 when he was sent on as a substitute for Raheem Sterling in a 3-2 win at Fulham.

Captain Steven Gerrard told the Liverpool website at the time: “I watched this kid a couple of years ago playing for Sporting Lisbon against Liverpool at Anfield in a youth game; I could see straight away he was the best player on the pitch.

“Credit to him, he has kept working hard. He has been invited to train with the first team. He is competing, he is trying to improve and learn. He listens – I’ve just been speaking to him in the dressing room and you can see he wants to learn and listen.

“He has got respect for the other players in the dressing room. This is the start for him now; I’ve just told him that he needs to push on, keep learning and building on what he has just achieved. He deserved his debut and he made a special tackle which helped us get over the line.”

As it turned out, his next senior action came in Brighton’s Championship visit to St Andrew’s six months later when he went on as a 64^th minute substitute for Kazenga LuaLua in a 1-0 defeat.

Brighton’s newly-appointed head coach, Sami Hyypiä, had returned to his old club to clinch Teixeira’s signature on a season-long loan and he told the matchday programme: “My former colleagues at Liverpool have told me he is a very bright young prospect who is held in high regard at the club at all levels.

“João is an attacking player who likes to be on the ball and do his best work in the final third of the pitch. I hope he will bring that extra edge to the team and our play – and give us an extra dimension.”

No sooner said than done because when given a starting spot three days after the Birmingham defeat, he made an immediate impact by putting Brighton ahead in the fifth minute at Elland Road and Albion went on to beat Leeds 2-0, handing Hyypiä his first win.

*A joyful scorer for Brighton at Elland Road*

The boss told Sky Sports: “I am grateful to them for letting João come to us and get the games he needs, but it works both ways. They can benefit too because his time with us can hopefully be a stepping stone towards Liverpool’s first team.

“He is a young player and Liverpool have a very big squad. A player of his age needs to play games to improve. We have a quality player and I am very happy to have him with us.”

The instant impact earned Teixeira the fans vote for performance of the month which gave the player the chance to take a 48-hour demonstration drive in a Porsche.

The Portuguese youngster was on the scoresheet again on his home debut for Brighton, netting the winner against Bolton in the 64^th minute after Craig Mackail-Smith had cancelled out the visitors’ lead shortly before half-time.

Teixeira seized on a pass from debut-making left-back Joe Bennett to score through the legs of goalkeeper Andy Lonergan, on as a sub for Adam Bogdan, who’d been injured in a collision with Mackail-Smith.

If it looked like a corner had been turned after the season had begun with two defeats, sadly the opposite was the case and Albion went on an 11-game winless run with the players at Hyypia’s disposal seemingly baffled by how he wanted them to play.

After he and the club parted ways, and Chris Hughton begun the task of ensuring the Albion didn’t lose their Championship status, Teixeira got back on the goal trail.

He twice scored braces (in a 3-2 home win over Ipswich on 21 January and a 4-3 home win over Birmingham on 21 February).

It said it all about Albion’s close shave with relegation that his six goals in 35 games (28 starts + seven as sub) for the Seagulls made him second top scorer behind centre back Lewis Dunk’s seven that season.

Sadly, a leg break in a home game against Huddersfield Town on 14 April brought his season, and Albion career, to a premature end. Teixeira was stretchered off after a challenge by Nahki Wells that resulted in a fracture just above the ankle.

“This is a real blow to him after such a good season for the club – and we all wish him a speedy recovery and return to action,” said Hughton.

“He’s been an important player for the club this season, both before and after I came to the club, and I would like to thank him for his efforts during his time on loan here, and also Liverpool for allowing him to come.”

The player had talked of his dream to return to Liverpool and to break into the first-team.

“I came to Brighton to become more mature and get more experience, and hopefully next year I will be playing for Liverpool. That is my dream,” he told The Guardian.

He was included in the 30-man squad that went on a four-game pre-season tour in Asia and after Rodgers was sacked he was named as a non-playing sub in the 18-man squad for Klopp’s first game in charge in October 2015 (a 0-0 draw at Tottenham, when James Milner and Adam Lallana were starters).

He did start a League Cup game against Bournemouth, which was won 1-0, and he went on to make five cup appearances for Liverpool in 2015-16. He appeared only once as a sub in the Premier League and scored his only goal for the club in a 3-0 FA Cup third round win over Exeter City.

“I like João. As a person, as a footballer,” Klopp said after that game. “But of course, players like him need matches, and if you can’t get it then you have to leave.”

And that’s what he did. Although he was offered a new contract by the Reds, at the age of 23 he chose to move back to Portugal in search of regular first team football and signed for his boyhood team, Porto.

“I am from the north [of Portugal] and to wear blue and white has always been a dream for me,” he said.

“Now I can work at my club in my region and my country. I had other offers but do not want anything other than to wear blue and white.”

Born in Braga, Portugal, on 18 January 1993, Teixeira first caught the eye with his hometown club, before being snapped up by Sporting Lisbon where he continued to make progress through its youth teams. He also represented Portugal from under-16 through to under-21 level.

It was while playing for Sporting in the NextGen Series, the under-19 tournament for academy teams of Europe’s top clubs, that he played against Liverpool and caught the eye of Liverpool’s academy director, Frank McParland.

On arrival at Anfield, he was part of the under-21 set up and made 20 appearances in the inaugural Barclays Under-21 Premier League.

“I was 18, it’s hard to say no to Liverpool, it was a unique opportunity. I went and I don’t regret it,” Teixeira reflected in an interview with Portuguese sports newspaper A Bola.

“I had wonderful experiences, I played with great players, things were happening. I don’t regret going. I still played eight games, seven of them under Klopp.”

But the return home in 2016 didn’t work out for him, and after making only eight appearances for Porto during the 2016-17 season, Teixeira returned to his first club, Braga, on a season-long loan.

It was something of a surprise when in July 2018 he joined Braga’s local rivals Vitoria Guimaraes on a three-year deal, scoring 10 times in 53 appearances across two seasons.

In September 2020, he signed a two-year contract with Eredivisie Feyenoord, telling the club’s in-house channel: “I’m very happy to be here. It’s a beautiful chance for me and I’m very excited to start training and helping the team.

“Why Feyenoord? It’s a great club with a great history. I spoke with a few people in Portugal that played here and they told me the same thing: they have the greatest fans in Holland, and I’m happy to join.”

Describing himself, Teixeira said: “I’m an attacking midfielder. I like to score, I like to assist and that’s what I’ll try to do. But the main thing is to help the team.”

That help tended to be mainly from the bench, and suffering a broken foot didn’t help either, so in the second half of the 2021-22 season he returned to Portugal again to play for FC Famalicão.

When Liverpool discovered in the spring of 2024 that Feyenoord boss Arne Slot would be taking over from Klopp, Teixeira was interviewed by Reds’ fans channel The Redmen TV about what they might expect from the incoming head coach.

By then, Teixeira had already made two other moves: in June 2022, he’d moved to Qatar to play for Umm Salal where he scored five goals in 22 appearances. And 10 months later he switched to Chinese Super League side Shanghai Shenhua. The player posts his achievements at the club to 197,000 followers on Instagram.

Three-time Clough signing Jamie Murphy was an Albion promotion winner

BRIGHTON provided a step up in class for Jamie Murphy when they bought the Scottish winger from League One Sheffield United in August 2015.

“I feel like I’ve been able to play in the Championship but I’ve never been given the opportunity,” he said. “It’s thanks to the club for giving me that opportunity.”

Murphy was 25 when he joined the Albion on a four-year deal. The fee was undisclosed but was reported to be £1.8m.

He was Albion’s ninth summer signing and his arrival was somewhat overshadowed by the return of Bobby Zamora to the Albion. But boss Chris Hughton said at the time: “He is somebody we monitored very closely last season and he was one of Sheffield United’s most influential and creative players.

“He’s a winger who can play on either flank and he will give us extra options in both wide positions. He’s a very good age, an age where he can continue to develop as a player and build on his experience.”

Murphy quickly settled at the club, finding a few familiar voices in the likes of captain Gordon Greer (he discovered their respective parents lived round the corner from each other in Glasgow and even drank in the same pub!), sports therapist Antony Stuart who Murphy knew at his first club, Motherwell, and assistant manager Colin Calderwood, whose Hibernian side he had played against.

He scored his first goal for the club in a 2-2 draw at Bolton on 26 September 2015 – but was later sent off in the same match. Zamora, making his first Albion start since returning to the club, set up Dale Stephens to put Albion ahead and Murphy increased the lead after a surging run into the penalty area by Liam Rosenior.

Neil Danns pulled one back before half time and Murphy saw red for a heavy tackle on Danns in the 75^th minute. Albion had to settle for a point when Gary Madine headed an injury-time equaliser.

Impressive displays and another goal, against MK Dons, helped to earn him the November player of the month award – and, courtesy of the sponsor, the opportunity to drive a Porsche for 48 hours.

Murphy scored four more goals in a season’s total of 31 starts plus six appearances off the bench and he revealed in a matchday programme article how his eye for a goal stemmed from playing as a striker earlier in his career.

“When I was a kid, I was always the quickest so I always scored a lot of goals but as I got older and then turned professional with Motherwell it got harder and harder. I’m not the biggest player in the world, so I got moved out to the wing, but I still think like a striker when I’m in front of goal.”

Unfortunately, the campaign ended in disappointment when Albion missed out on promotion from the Championship. Hughton’s side finished third and Murphy’s form for Brighton earned him a call-up to the Scotland squad for two friendlies in March 2016, although he remained an unused sub.

When Albion lost in the two-legged Championship play-off semi-final to Sheffield Wednesday, Murphy was an unused sub (Anthony Knockaert and Jiri Skalak got the nod) but it was a familiar feeling for Murphy who had experienced semi-final heartache in two League One play-offs (2013 and 2015) for Wednesday’s fierce city rivals.

Hughton had plenty of competition for the wide spots in Albion’s 2016-17 promotion challenge, reducing Murphy’s starts to 20 plus 15 appearances off the bench.

He tried hard to seize his chance when it was presented. He scored twice in a 4-0 League Cup win over Colchester United at the start of the season and was the ‘other’ scorer in the Bonfire Night 2-0 win at Bristol City when Steve Sidwell scored a worldy from the halfway line.

A 3-0 home win over Reading at the end of February saw Murphy put in a man-of-the-match performance and he scored his first goal in 16 matches (Sam Baldock and Knockaert the other scorers).

He was praised for his pace on the break and excellent decision-making and later told the matchday programme: “It was one of my best performances. I always feel as if I’ve given 100 per cent – but sometimes things go for you, sometimes they don’t.

“I was delighted to get the goal; it’s been coming these past couple of weeks. But all across the team we’ve played well, done our jobs and obviously come away with a great win. It was a big game and we put in a very professional performance.”

Expanding on the whole-squad approach, Murphy said: “Anyone can come in and do a job. When I was on the bench I always felt there was a chance for me coming and I’m sure the boys on the bench feel that as well.

“We’re in this as a squad, it’s not just about the starting 11.” And he also spoke about the part the Amex crowd played. “It’s great as a player when you know you’ve got that backing of the fans behind you.

“When this place is rocking it really makes a big difference to us as a team. The fans get right behind us home and away.”

Murphy was certainly at the heart of the celebrations (above) when the Seagulls finally made it over the promotion finishing line, via a 2-1 win over Wigan Athletic, and he fondly recalled crowdsurfing (together with teammates Ollie Norwood and Skalak) on a happy, packed train from Falmer to the centre of Brighton as players joined with fans to celebrate the achievement.

The players were headed to a party in central Brighton laid on by chairman Tony Bloom and Murphy told The Athletic’s Andy Naylor in 2021: “There was no other way to get from the stadium to the party. The train station is 100 yards away, so we thought, ‘Why not just jump on a train?’.

“I don’t know what we were thinking, or if we thought it was going to be empty. Obviously, it wasn’t!

“It’s one of the best memories I have of that day. I’ve still got the video on my phone of us crowdsurfing and then coming off the train and getting carried down on someone’s shoulders, all the way down to the party.”

Once the Albion were in the Premier League, Murphy’s playing time was virtually non-existent (one start and three sub appearances in the league; one League Cup outing), and although speculation arose about a possible move, Hughton tried to play it down.

In December 2017, he told the Argus: “At this moment, if I am looking at the options I have in the wide areas, it’s been unfortunate for Jamie because of what we’ve had and no injuries in that area.

“He is still very much part of our plans. It only takes a lack of form, an injury or a couple of injuries and then he is very much back in the squad.”

Within weeks, though, the winger joined Glasgow Rangers (the team he supported as a boy), initially on loan until the end of the season, before making the move permanent in the summer of 2018.

Hughton told the club website: “Jamie is a great lad, a fantastic professional and has a desire to play – and while we were in no hurry to see him leave, we do understand his desire to play for his boyhood team and one of the biggest clubs in Scotland.

“He’s been excellent for the club, ever since we signed him from Sheffield United, and wrote himself into club folklore as a crucial part of our promotion-winning side last season.”

Murphy played 18 league and cup matches (plus one as a sub) as Graeme Murty’s reign came to an end and during that initial time back in Scotland earned two full caps to go with his previous under 21 honours. They came in friendlies against Costa Rica and Peru: going on as an 87^th minute sub for Matt Ritchie in a 1-0 win over Costa Rica and starting in a May 2018 2-0 defeat in Peru ((he was replaced by Oli McBurnie in the 67^th minute).

Murphy signed a three-year contract with Rangers and was the club’s first goalscorer under new manager Steven Gerrard, netting the opener in front of a crowd of 49,309 at Ibrox in a Europa League qualifying match against North Macedonian side Shkupi.

He had played in just five Europa League games and two Scottish Premiership games before suffering a career-changing injury in a League Cup tie at Kilmarnock in late August.

The anterior cruciate ligament tear in his left knee, sustained on the astroturf pitch at Rugby Park in an innocuous coming-together with an opponent, put him out of action for 14 months.

Gerrard told the Glasgow Times: “Jamie’s coming to terms with it. He’s found it tough. He was upset at the beginning and understandably so.

“It is a tough one to take as a footballer. But we will give him every bit of help and support off the pitch that he needs. We will make sure that he sees the right specialists and gets the job done properly.

“Then as a team we will rally around him and make sure he is in good spirits. He is here for the long term. He is a big player for us.

“What Jamie has to do now and what we have to help him do is make sure he does everything in his powers to come back strong and doesn’t have any setbacks.

“He has got an opportunity to work on his whole body and make sure he comes back really strong.”

“It is a big blow. He found consistency straight away. He was on a big buzz from signing long-term for the club.

“He knows the league, he knows the club, he is very well-liked in the dressing room. We have had a big cog, a big piece of the jigsaw, taken away from us.

“We are still coming to terms with it. I know Jamie is as well. I’m not going to try and play it down. It’s a big blow.”

As it turned out, Murphy played only two more matches for Rangers after returning to fitness in October 2019 and in January 2020 linked up once again with his former Sheffield United boss Nigel Clough on a six-month loan at League One Burton Albion.

“I have worked with Nigel Clough before and had some of my greatest moments as a footballer under him, so it was an easy one to pick,” he said. “I want to be back enjoying football again. It has been a nightmare time with my knee but I’m now just looking forward to playing again.

Clough said: “To get a player from Rangers of Jamie’s quality is brilliant. The fact that we have worked with him before and that we get on well with his agent has helped.

“He wants to get out and play some football. He was out for a while with a knee injury, which is one of the reasons he’s coming out, but he’s fully fit now. What he did for us at Sheffield United and how he played there means we are very excited to have him on board.

“He plays wide mainly but can play up the middle as well. He carries the ball very well, makes goals and scores goals. He will be a great asset as we try and push for a place in the top six.”

He scored seven goals in 10 matches but then returned to Scotland and joined Hibernian, initially on loan and then permanently.

After making a total of 50 league and cup appearances for Hibs, he linked up with Clough for a third time in February 2022, signing on loan at League Two Mansfield Town. He scored once in 16 appearances for the Stags.

When he left Hibs at the end of his contract in June 2022, he switched to Perth for a year to play for St Johnstone where he scored five times in 29 appearances and in June 2023 was on the move again, this time to Scottish Championship side Ayr United.

Born in Glasgow on 28 August 1989, Murphy was inspired by Rangers strikers Ally McCoist and Mark Hateley as a boy and played junior football at Westwood Rovers and Drumchapel Thistle before linking up with Clyde. He joined Motherwell aged 11 and broke through to the first team at 17 in 2006 under former Albion boss Mark McGhee.

He said of McGhee: “He was the first man to give me a real chance in the first team. I played a good run of games, played in Europe and played well so he was big for me at the time.”

In 11 years at Fir Park, Murphy helped the club reach a Scottish Cup Final and regularly qualify for European football.

Having scored 50 goals in 215 games for Motherwell, he was then bought in January 2013 by former Albion captain Danny Wilson, who had switched allegiance in Sheffield to manage United.

It was Stuart McCall who sold Murphy to a club he had served as a player and a manager, and he believed at a reported fee of £106,000 they were getting a bargain for the 23-year-old.

McCall told the Daily Record: “We are not getting anywhere near what he is worth but he has given this club great service over the years. He is a great kid and goes with our blessing.

“It is probably the right time for Jamie to move on and flourish elsewhere.

“I would love to have kept him until the summer and it is disappointing for us. But Jamie is a talented boy and can force himself into the Sheffield United team.

“Sheffield United may be a League One side now but they are a great club for him to go to.

“I am hopeful they will be in the Championship next season and they are a Premiership club in the making as they have that status.”

McCall added: “I told Jamie they have a great fanbase, fantastic set-up and good manager in Danny Wilson.” However, Wilson’s two-year tenure at Bramall Lane came to an end in May that year. He was replaced by David Weir (now Albion’s technical director) and Murphy’s third United boss was Clough, who, on awarding Murphy a two-year contract extension in January 2015 said: “Jamie has caused Premier League defenders countless problems in our cup runs.”

With his playing days now winding down, Murphy has an eye on the future and on X (formerly Twitter) in October 2023 he posted that he had successfully passed the UEFA A coaching licence.

In an extended interview with the Hibernian club website in January 2021, he spoke about his desire to become a manager. “That’s something I definitely want to try,” he said. “I like the problem-solving aspect of it, being able to watch a game and pick apart a team’s strengths and weaknesses.

“I probably watch games in a different way now and it started when I was injured. I wasn’t able to train for the best part of a year, so I found myself taking down notes in a journal whenever I’d watch a game – about how teams would play, how they won or lost the game.”

Brighton trial turned sour for Gerrard’s pal Tom Culshaw

A LOYAL MEMBER of Steven Gerrard’s backroom staff once tried to revive his playing career with Brighton after he’d been let go by Liverpool.

Tom Culshaw goes way back to schoolboy days with Gerrard and was a former youth team player alongside him at Liverpool.

He is now technical coach at Aston Villa, a role he held previously at Rangers after the pair also worked together with the Reds under 18s.

Back in September 1999, the central defender linked up with the fourth-tier Seagulls a few months into Micky Adams’ first reign as manager. Culshaw played for Ian Culverhouse’s reserve side on a trial basis on a drizzly night at Woodside Road, Worthing, and didn’t make the most of the opportunity.

Albion went down 3-2 to visitors Cambridge and a subsequent matchday programme didn’t hold back in apportioning blame.

With the score level at 1-1 it reported: “Albion fell further behind two minutes before the break when Culshaw made a mess of an attempted header back to (Mark) Ormerod, and (Nathan) Lamey picked up the loose ball and took his opportunity well, lobbing the Albion ‘keeper.”

Although Albion restored parity through Scott Ramsay, Daniel Chillingworth added a third for the visitors. Culshaw was subbed off in favour of Chris Beech, and wasn’t seen in an Albion shirt again.

The Brighton trial came as Culshaw desperately tried to get a foothold in the game after the disappointment of being let go after four years as a professional with Liverpool.

A few months earlier, he played for Norwich’s under 21 side against Bristol City in a friendly; he later linked up with Conference side Nuneaton Borough and went on to Northern League teams Leigh RMI and Witton Albion.

“When I left, I found it tough going on trials for lower league clubs,” Culshaw told liverpoolfc.com. “I got offered a couple of contracts at League Two clubs and I decided to knock them back thinking I could do a bit better.

“But when I started to go for trials it was taking longer and longer, and then eventually I just fell out of love with the game.”

He walked away from football for a while, joining up with a friend who had a tarmacking firm. He admitted: “It was hard, it was a tough few years for me. Especially when I saw my mates, the likes of Steven, Carra (Jamie Carragher), Michael Owen – lads who I’d come through the youth team with – progressing.

“I probably had my first bump in the road at 21 and I just really didn’t know how to handle it.”

Until that point, it had all been going so well. Born in Liverpool on 10 October 1978, Culshaw played street football with Gerrard in Ironside Road, on Huyton’s Bluebell Estate, where Culshaw’s grandparents lived. A friendship that included a mutual love of football began when they were pupils at Cardinal Heenan High School.

*Culshaw became technical coach under Steve Gerrard at Rangers*

“Steven is a year younger than Tom but they both played for me in the under 14 Liverpool Schoolboys FA team in 1992-93,” their former coach Dave Singleton told the Daily Record.

“Stevie was very small and didn’t start growing until he was 16 so I used to put him on the wing because schoolboys football was based on size and a lot of teams just picked the biggest lads who could plough their way through anything.

“So I put Stevie on the wing where he wouldn’t get hurt and could use his skill. Tom was a centre half and the captain of the team.

“He was a commanding centre half but exceptionally skilful too. He could play the ball out from the back.

“We had one game where he picked the ball up on the edge of our penalty area, dribbled the full length of the pitch and scored from the opposite penalty area.”

Singleton added: “He had a physical presence and was good in the air so he was great for set-pieces and comfortable with either foot but stronger on his right.

“They were exceptionally nice lads, a credit to their school, parents and city. It’s so great to see people like that go on and do well.”

An England Schoolboys international, Culshaw spent two years at the FA School of Excellence at Lilleshall at the same time as Owen and Carragher. Culshaw joined Everton at the time Gerrard signed for Liverpool but he was let go and moved to Tranmere Rovers, where his talents flourished.

He was named as captain of the Liverpool City Schoolboys team and Liverpool snapped him up. He joined Gerrard at the club’s Vernon Sangster Centre of Excellence, near Anfield, and he progressed through the under 18s under the guidance of Steve Heighway, Dave Shannon and Hughie McAuley, signing professional aged 17.

On stepping up to the reserves, who were managed by Sammy Lee, he was handed the captain’s armband. “I was around Ronnie Moran, Roy Evans, and all the old-school Boot Room staff,” he said. “I’d progressed and everything went well for me. The national school, playing for England, joining Liverpool, signing professional at 17, progressing to the reserves, captaining the reserves.

“I was a pro for four years. It was a great time at Melwood because everyone was on the same site. I was training with Jamie Redknapp, Robbie Fowler, and Steve McManaman and learned an awful lot from them.”

However, after those four years, and having seen his contemporaries make the step up to the first team that eluded him, Culshaw was forced to look elsewhere after manager Gerard Houillier overlooked him.

Disillusioned by his prospects in the UK, Culshaw moved abroad and started coaching youngsters in Spain. Having decided to pursue that career path, he returned to the UK in 2011 in a part-time role at Liverpool’s academy while studying for his badges.

In 2017, it was his boyhood pal Gerrard who turned his job into a full-time position by promoting him to become his under 18s assistant.

Gerrard said at the time: “When I started out full-time as an apprentice, Tommy was a year above me so I know everything about him and he knows everything about me. I thought he was the perfect partner to go into it.”

*Receiving a coaching certificate from former England manager Steve McLaren*

Culshaw has remained a key part of the close-knit group around Gerrard ever since, following him to Glasgow Rangers and then to Aston Villa. His particular focus is on set pieces as former Albion centre back Connor Goldson once explained in an interview for Rangers TV.

“Tom Culshaw the coach works on us before every game, different set pieces, defending and attacking, and how we’re going to set up,” he said. “We always know what we’re doing. We always know the routines or what’s happening.”

Captain James Tavernier added: “We work extremely hard on set-pieces in training. TC has us working hard with them all week and it shows in the games as they can effectively give you three points.”

In that interview with the Record, Singleton added: “Whenever I watch games on TV now and see them in the dugout together I feel immense pride.

“Steven’s career achievements speak for themselves and it’s great when the person who isn’t the figurehead gets some credit and there is nobody more deserving than Tom.

“When they were younger you’d have thought both of them would have gone on to make it but there’s a lot of luck in football, being in the right place at the right time.”

Fans warmed to ‘indestructible’ Goldson after own goal start

CONNOR GOLDSON’S dad Winston must have had mixed emotions when his son scored the only goal of the game at the Amex on New Year’s Day 2016.

The avid Wolverhampton Wanderers fan in him would have been delighted to see his side leave the south coast with three valuable Championship points.

Unfortunately, Wolverhampton-born Connor was playing for Brighton that day – just his second game in the blue and white stripes.

What made it worse was that the defender had been on Wanderers’ books for five years as a young boy but was released when he was only 13.

Goldson must have been mortified when, in the 32^nd-minute of that first game of 2016, he inadvertently diverted Jordan Graham’s cross past David Stockdale in the home goal.

Sure, injury-hit Albion had chances to restore parity or even win, but 11^th-placed Wolves hung on to the lead and Chris Hughton’s luckless Seagulls saw a winless run extend to six games.

Albion also lost the next two matches but got back on track with a 1-0 win at Blackburn on 16 January and then pushed hard for an automatic promotion slot.

For Goldson, that fixture marked the start of a run of games alongside Lewis Dunk, and his first goal for the club came in a 2-1 away win at Birmingham City on 5 April, when he glanced in a Jiri Skalak set-piece delivery.

*Goldson celebrates his goal at Birmingham with Beram Kayal and Lewis Dunk*

He found the net again a fortnight later with a towering header from a corner as the Seagulls crushed QPR 4-0 at the Amex to edge closer to the top two (Burnley and Middlesbrough) with three games to go.

The centre-back partnership was only broken up when Dunk was shown a red card in the penultimate game, a 1-1 draw at Derby, and suspended for the final game of the ordinary league season.

Goldson was alongside returning skipper Gordon Greer for the crucial away game at Middlesbrough on 7 May when the 1-1 draw meant Boro, equal on 89 points, pipped the Albion to automatic promotion by virtue of having scored two more goals.

With Albion forced to endure the play-offs, Goldson’s involvement in the Seagulls’ bid to overcome Sheffield Wednesday cruelly came to a premature end when the centre-back was forced off injured before half-time in the first leg at Hillsborough, and Albion eventually succumbed 2-0.

The injury prevented Goldson being involved in the second leg when Dunk scored but Wednesday somehow managed a 1-1 draw to thwart Albion’s progress.

If that was a blow, it was the least of the troubles the defender would have to overcome the following season.

Frustrating though it was that Brighton brought in Shane Duffy to partner Dunk in the centre of defence, Goldson’s brief spell back in the side in early 2017 came to a juddering halt when a routine scan discovered a heart defect that required surgery.

Then it wasn’t just his football career that was under threat, but his life was in danger if urgent action wasn’t taken to operate on the swollen aorta the tests uncovered.

It has since emerged that Winston suffered a heart attack aged only 35 and Goldson’s grandfather had died of a heart problem.

The required “preventative surgery” took place at the Royal Brompton Hospital, Chelsea, leaving him with a scar down the middle of his chest. His best friend in football and former Shrewsbury teammate, Jon Taylor, told The Athletic: “He thought the worst about not playing again. He was struggling. When I saw him in the hospital it was horrible.”

Taylor was among several former Shrews people Scottish football writer Jordan Campbell spoke to for an extended article about Goldson published by The Athletic in March 2021.

“I made a T-shirt for him before a game which said ‘Stay Strong Con’. That gave him a little bit of a boost but he’s got a great family around him,” said Taylor, who is now at Doncaster. “When he had the op, and he knew he could play again, his mentality was, ‘How quickly can I get back?’. Even as young lads at Wolves we knew his mindset was second to none.”

Campbell reported how once Goldson had come to terms with the situation, he was determined to get back playing regularly, and just 15 weeks after the operation he took part in a pre-season friendly match in Austria. In a changed second half team, he lined up alongside Uwe Hünemeier against Fortuna Dusseldorf.

Physio Chris Skitt, who’d nurtured Goldson through physical issues when he was developing at Shrewsbury, said: “If I talk to kids and they say, ‘What does it take to be a professional footballer?’, I use Connor as the example.”

With a surname that lent itself so readily to the Spandau Ballet classic Gold, the “indestructible” line in the lyrics was a natural for Albion’s singing fans to pick up on.

But at the end of August 2017, on transfer deadline day, it looked certain Goldson would continue his rehabilitation into league football with a season-long loan move to Ipswich Town.

He was manager Mick McCarthy’s main target, but Albion pulled the plug on the deal at the last minute because of the collapse of a separate deal for centre-back cover they’d hoped to complete.

Goldson played in League Cup matches against Barnet and AFC Bournemouth but it wasn’t until December that he finally got his chance to feature in Albion’s debut Premier League season – and he turned in a Man of the Match performance as the Seagulls beat Watford 1-0 at the Amex.

He played in three games in January: FA Cup matches against Crystal Palace and Middlesbrough (2-1 and 1-0 wins), and the 4-0 home defeat to a rampant Chelsea.

As Albion progressed to the fifth round of the FA Cup, Goldson once again got a start, alongside Hünemeier, as Albion beat Coventry City 3-1 at the Amex.

His last league game in an Albion shirt was as a 71st-minute substitute for Duffy in a 4-0 reverse away to Liverpool on the final day of the season.

During the close season, Goldson seized on the chance to play for his boyhood hero Steven Gerrard, who had just been appointed manager of Glasgow Rangers. Gerrard drove all the way to Brighton for face-to-face talks with Goldson and explained how he saw him as a cornerstone of the rebuilding job at Rangers.

The often magnanimous Hughton was not going to stand in his way and said on the club website: “Connor has done extremely well for the club in the three years he has been here, but he wants to play regular senior football, and at this stage we cannot give him that guarantee.

“He has been a great professional and a pleasure to work with – and he has shown a great mental strength to come through a very tough time after he underwent crucial heart surgery just over a year ago.”

Determined to seize the opportunity presented to him in Glasgow, Goldson remarkably played in 151 of 159 games Rangers took part in over the next three years; when he made his 150th appearance, it was the quickest any player had reached that landmark in the club’s history.

After Gerrard departed Rangers to take on the manager’s job at Aston Villa, Goldson indicated he wanted to make a move himself, although, at the time of writing, he remains in Glasgow.

Born on 18 December 1992, Goldson grew up on the same Wolverhampton estate as future Wanderers players Leon Clarke and Carl Ikeme.

As the son of a Wolves-mad dad, it was probably not surprising that his early footballing promise was nurtured with Wanderers. The family lived only a 10-minute car ride from Molineux.

“I was with Wolves from the age of eight until I was 13,” Goldson recalled in an Albion matchday programme article, explaining that he was in the same group as Jack Price and Ethan Ebanks-Landell, who both made it through to the first team.

“I was a striker until I was about 10 or 11, simply because I was the biggest and the quickest, but I was then converted into a centre-half,” he said. “When I got to under 14 level, the manager stopped playing me and so my dad and I made the decision to leave for Shrewsbury – and it was the best thing that could have happened to me.”

Shrewsbury fast-tracked Goldson through the groups and he was training with the first team by the time he was 16. He signed professional forms at 17 and made his first team debut the following year.

“I owe Shrewsbury a lot, both the first-team management and the coaches who brought me through,” he said.

In The Athletic feature, Skitt described in detail how Goldson went through a difficult physical development phase which in effect involved “putting him back together”.

The physio was responsible for resetting his body and created a specific programme comprised of core work, gym sessions and remedial work to counter the loss of power growth spurts were causing.

“We even tried to get him boxing to improve his footwork because of his canal boat shoes. He is a size 14 and they are absolutely honking,” said Skitt.

After successfully rebuilding his body, Goldson played 18 games at the start of the 2013-14 season under Graham Turner but only 11 were as a starter, so he went on a two-month loan to Cheltenham.

His loan was extended but he was recalled after first team coach and reserve team manager Mike Jackson (the chap who has taken over as caretaker Burnley manager following Sean Dyche’s sacking) was put in charge at Shrewsbury until the end of the season following Turner’s resignation. Goldson played every minute of the last 21 league games.

Shrews were relegated but the following season, under Micky Mellon, with Jackson as coach, Goldson was a key player as they bounced straight back: he won the club’s Player of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year awards and was named in the PFA Team of the Year.

Such recognition led to Brighton signing him, doubtless with half an eye on his replacing Greer, who was edging towards the end of his playing days with the Seagulls.

It was a while before Goldson got his chance and Greer admitted in The Athletic feature that the new boy’s frustration spilled over into a set-to with the skipper in training.

“Training finished and we went into the dressing room to find that the lads had laid out two sets of boxing gloves for a laugh with the Rocky music playing,” said Greer. “As soon it was over, though, it was done, as I liked Connor.”

And to show the hatchet had been well and truly buried, Goldson revealed that after he’d taken the captain’s place in the side, behind the scenes Greer had offered him encouragement and advice. “He’s been very helpful and supportive at the same time,” he said. “There are plenty of people who wouldn’t be like that, so I can’t speak highly enough of him.”

Goldson had to wait until 15 December 2015 to make his Albion debut, when he went on as a substitute for the injured Hünemeier against Middlesbrough. Unfortunately, the visitors emphatically ended Albion’s 21-game unbeaten run, winning 3-0.

That game was watched from the stands by Jose Mourinho, who’d just been deposed as Chelsea boss, catching up on the progress of his former Real Madrid colleague and Boro manager Aitor Karanka.

For the new young centre-back, the rise to playing in the Championship was all a learning experience, and he said: “I’ve been working with Colin Calderwood a lot, even after training, and as a former centre-back himself, he has put on a lot of good drills.”

Little did he know at the time there would be far greater challenges ahead.

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 M ooy 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.

Injury-plagued Alan Navarro’s loyalties taken as Red

A FORMER midfield partner of Steven Gerrard scored a memorable winner for the Seagulls at Elland Road, but it was a rare highlight in a promising career dogged by injuries.

Alan Navarro trained alongside Gerrard and played with him for Liverpool Reserves. While one went on to become a Liverpool legend and captain his country, the other had to forge a career mainly in the lower leagues.

Navarro talked to the Liverpool Echo about his former illustrious teammate when he prepared to return to Anfield with Brighton a decade after leaving the Merseyside giants.

“I came through as a full-back but then they decided to try me in midfield and I played with Steven a few times,” said Navarro. “It was a good thing but also a bad thing because you knew that you were going to be competing for a place with Steven.

“I trained with him every day for a few seasons….he was always head and shoulders above everyone else. His football, his brain, his pace, his strength, the way he tackles, everything about him was brilliant. He was the player you wanted to be.”

Navarro was talking in a preview to the FA Cup 5^th round tie which saw Liverpool steamroller the Seagulls 6-1, courtesy of three own goals (two for Liam Bridcutt, one for Lewis Dunk).

Apart from the disastrous result, Navarro also picked up a booking on his return to Anfield. It was the second time the Liverpudlian had played against the side who nurtured him: he was also in the Albion side who lost 2-1 to the Reds in a League Cup game at the Amex in September 2011.

The Scouser joined the Seagulls on a free transfer from MK Dons in the summer of 2009, and manager Russell Slade told the Argus: “Alan likes to get on the ball. He is the passer, the one that links you up and tries to make you play. He’s impressed us.”

After picking up an injury early on, he found it difficult to get back in the side until Gus Poyet arrived, and, with his ability to pick a pass for teammates to benefit from, slotted in well.

A cruciate ligament injury in his right knee, suffered in a League Cup game against Northampton Town at the beginning of the 2010-11 season, ruled him out for the season.

Having previously suffered a similar injury in his other knee eight years earlier, he knew what to expect, which he described to Andy Naylor in the Argus.

He later recalled how he feared it might have been the end of his career, but, after proving his fitness to Poyet, he went on to play 39 games for the Albion in the 2011-12 season – finally getting the chance to perform at a level he always felt he was capable of.

Navarro had previously had to contend with life in the bottom two tiers, but he enjoyed a new lease of life playing in the Championship, as he talked about in the Argus.

He played a total of 85 games for the Albion between 2009 and 2012 and only ever scored one goal. But what a memorable one!

It came in the 90^th minute of a Championship game at Elland Road on 11 February 2012, when his final touch after good work from Liam Bridcutt proved to be the winner as the Seagulls prevailed 2-1.

Craig Mackail-Smith (pictured above celebrating with Navarro and Craig Noone) had opened the scoring for the Seagulls but Luciano Becchio equalised and, just as it appeared the game would finish in a draw, up popped unlikely scorer Navarro.

Born in Liverpool on 31 May 1981, Navarro’s home was in Venmore Street, close to Anfield. “Funnily enough I was a Blue when I was younger,” he told the Albion matchday programme. “My family were Evertonians and a couple of cousins really drilled the club into me from an early age. But when I was 10 or 11, we moved to a house right next to Anfield and I fell in love with Liverpool.

“I loved watching John Barnes, Ronnie Whelan and then Robbie Fowler, even though he was not that much older than me. My mum still lives there, six doors away from The Kop.”

He joined the Reds in 1996, signed professional in 2000, and was a regular in the Reserves. He also had occasional travels with the first team, for example to Russia, Porto and Rome, as well as Chelsea, Newcastle and Sunderland for league games.

“It was strange going from fan to playing for the club, but an unbelievable experience,” he said. “From growing up on the club’s doorstep, I was in the youth team, then playing for the reserves and travelling with the first team to some big games.”

player_navarro In the 1999-2000 season, Liverpool Reserves won the Premier Reserve League title with Navarro and Layton Maxwell pulling the strings in midfield.

Navarro only made it onto the first team substitutes’ bench twice but got his first taste of competitive action on loan at League One Crewe Alexandra.

He also went on loan to nearby Tranmere Rovers, whose manager, Dave Watson, told the Liverpool Echo: “Alan is a good quality player who has been in Liverpool’s reserves for a while now.

“I have seen him play several times and so have my assistant, Ray Mathias, and our chief scout, Dave Philpotts. (Anfield coach) Sammy Lee speaks very highly of the lad’s work at Liverpool and he’s certainly worth a look.”

After impressing on loan, Navarro made a permanent switch to Rovers in January 2002, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract. “It was difficult to leave because I love the club and a big part of my heart will always be there, but I needed to get my career up and running. I cherish my time there; I was taught the game by the best.”

Things didn’t go according to plan at Tranmere where he suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury and he went out on loan to Chester City and Macclesfield Town.

Navarro moved on from Tranmere in the summer of 2005, initially linking up with Conference National side Accrington Stanley for a month before Macclesfield boss Brian Horton secured his services on a permanent basis. Horton told the club website: “I’m delighted Alan has joined the team. I think he’s going to fit in extremely well.

“We had him here last season and couldn’t quite come to an agreement with Tranmere to sign him, so he went back there and we missed him badly.

“It was no coincidence that his departure came at the time when our form dipped so we’ve been keeping an eye on him for a long time and we’re delighted to have him.”

After his experience at Tranmere made him contemplate quitting the game altogether, it was Horton’s successor at Macclesfield, former Liverpool midfielder Paul Ince, who helped to reignite his passion for football.

“When he came to Macclesfield, he got me wanting to play football again,” he told the matchday programme. “He gave me the spark that helped me fall back in love with the game, and he took me from Macclesfield to MK Dons, where we had a lot of success.

“He remembered me from Liverpool, while his assistant Ray Mathias had me at Tranmere and knew me really well. It just clicked. I knew what Paul wanted from me and vice-versa.”

In August 2007, Navarro followed Ince to MK Dons, where he made 89 appearances over two seasons.

After his three years with the Seagulls, and following a season in which he played 33 matches, it was a little surprising that he was released in the summer of 2012, although supporter Alan Wares told thewashbag.com: “He will be remembered as a player who never gave less than 100 per cent every time he pulled on the shirt.

“It’s a shame to see such a quality player leave, but it shows how far Brighton have come as a club that Gus Poyet feels he can afford to release him.”

How ironic that his debut for new club Swindon should come in the League Cup against Brighton in August 2012 – Navarro scored twice and made the other in a 3-0 win!

However, that was pretty much as good as it got in his spell with the Robins. His Town career comprised only 15 starts plus five as a substitute, and a subsequent knee injury brought his career to an end.

Skilful Joao Teixeira scored six as Seagulls escaped the drop

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THERE were few positive aspects to Sami Hyypia’s reign as Brighton manager but his Liverpool connections served the club sufficiently well enough to enable them to secure the loan signing of Joao Teixeira.

Here was a highly talented young player who often had supporters on the edge of their seats when he was on the ball.

It seems remarkable to think his six goals in 35 games (28 starts + seven as sub) for the Seagulls made him second top scorer behind Lewis Dunk’s seven in the 2014-15 season, when Albion narrowly avoided dropping out of the Championship.

Joao T His performances earned him the Young Player of the Year accolade even though his season was cut short by injury.

Having impressed as a substitute going on for Albion against Birmingham, Teixeira was on the scoresheet in his first full start, in a 2-0 win away to Leeds United. Hyypiä told Sky Sports: “Of course I am grateful to them for letting Joao come to us and get the games he needs, but it works both ways. They can benefit too because his time with us can hopefully be a stepping stone towards Liverpool’s first team.

“He is a young player and Liverpool have a very big squad. A player of his age needs to play games to improve. We have a quality player and I am very happy to have him with us.”

JT BHAFC The Portuguese youngster scored again four days later, netting the winner as Albion came from behind to beat Bolton Wanderers 2-1 at the Amex.

Sadly, with the Seagulls floundering under the puzzling direction of the former Liverpool central defender, Teixeira didn’t get back on the scoresheet until after Chris Hughton arrived on New Year’s Eve 2014.

He twice scored braces (in a 3-2 home win over Ipswich on 21 January and a 4-3 home win over Birmingham on 21 February) but a leg break in a home game against Huddersfield Town on 14 April brought his season, and Albion career, to a premature end.

Born in Braga, Portugal, on 18 January 1993, he first caught the eye with his hometown club, before being snapped up by Sporting Lisbon where he continued to make progress through its youth teams.

Liverpool paid £830,000 in the January 2012 transfer window to take him to Anfield and he impressed playing for their under 21 side which led to him making a loan move to League One Brentford in August 2013. But what was originally due to be a six-month arrangement was cut short in October after only two substitute appearances because the Bees couldn’t guarantee him the game time Liverpool had been expecting him to get.

Back on Merseyside, he made it into the first team squad and on 12 February 2014 Brendan Rodgers sent him on as a substitute for Raheem Sterling in a 3-2 win at Fulham.

getty liv Teix Captain Steven Gerrard told the Liverpool FC website: “I watched this kid a couple of years ago playing for Sporting Lisbon against Liverpool at Anfield in a youth game; I could see straight away he was the best player on the pitch.

As it turned out, his next senior action came at Brighton and he had to wait until October 2015 before his next chance at Liverpool. That came in a League Cup game in a 1-0 win over Bournemouth. He went on to make five cup appearances for Jurgen Klopp’s Reds in 2015-16, and scored his only goal for the club in a 3-0 FA Cup win over Exeter City. But he appeared only once in the Premier League.

Although Liverpool offered him a new contract, he chose to return to Portugal and join Porto. After making only eight appearances during the 2016-17 season, Teixeira joined hometown club Braga on a season-long loan, and this season is playing for Primeira Liga side Vitoria Guimaraes.

In parallel lines

Memories from 55 years following Brighton & Hove Albion

Tag: Steven Gerrard