‘Model professional’ Stephen Ward loved his season at Brighton

STEPHEN WARD’S view from the bench as Brighton sealed Wolves’ relegation fate at the Amex on 4 May 2013 was enough to convince him it was a place he’d like to get to know better.

Rather than drop down to the third tier with Kenny Jackett’s side, Ward switched from Molineux to the Albion to join Oscar Garcia’s promotion hopefuls.

Having won the Championship with Wolves in 2009, Republic of Ireland international left-back Ward brought ideal experience to a Brighton set-up looking to mount another tilt at promotion after missing out at the play-off semi-finals stage the season before.

The defender made 47 appearances, chipped in with four goals, and was runner-up in the player of the season awards as Albion once again fell at the play-off semi-finals hurdle.

Nonetheless, it looked like Ward would make his stay permanent – until newly-promoted Burnley stepped in and offered him a more immediate return to Premier League football.

Convinced that Brighton had clinched the deal for Ward, boss Jackett told the local press: “The clubs have agreed and now it’s down to Brighton and the player. It is a good move for him, he did well last year, they got into the top six and he was part of it. They have wanted him all along.

“All of us thank him for what he’s done and wish him all the best. He got a club reasonably quickly last season which shows the standard of the player.

“He didn’t let them down. He’s got a good reputation in the Championship and has been professional here. He had been good enough to get a good move last year and he has got a good one now.”

According to the player’s agent, if Albion’s head of football David Burke hadn’t dithered over a deal, Ward would have signed on the dotted line for the Seagulls.

But his prevarication opened the door to Sean Dyche’s Clarets and Ward headed to Turf Moor instead, returning to play at the elite level at which he’d previously made 94 appearances for Wolves between 2009 and 2012.

Ward had also played 128 times at Championship level for Wanderers having joined them aged 21 in 2007, moving over from his native Ireland, where he had spent four years with League of Ireland side Bohemians.

After making his Albion debut in a 1-0 win at Birmingham, Ward told BBC Radio Sussex: “From watching them last year and playing against them, it is a team I admire for how they play the game.

“Every footballer wants to play in a team that likes to pass the ball and keeps the ball. On the last day of the season, they played us (Wolves) off the park. It was one of the reasons I was really excited about the move.”

Although he had enjoyed success at Wolves, he had also been part of back-to-back relegations and he said: “I felt I needed a fresh start and I am thankful Brighton gave me that. I hope I can repay their faith. Hopefully I can help the team go one better than last year.”

Reflecting on his time with the Albion in a matchday programme article, Ward was complimentary about Garcia, saying: “I loved the mentality of the manager, the environment, and I learnt a lot as a result.

“He wanted to play out from the back, he wanted us to be really expansive, and that allowed me to get forward, which I really enjoyed doing.

“I learnt a lot from the manager and would speak to him about his time at Barcelona.

“I was lucky that I also had experienced players around me in defence like Matty Upson, who was great for me, and Bruno. He’s one of the best guys I’ve met in football – he was so welcoming to me and my family.”

Although principally in the side to defend, Ward also scored four times for the Seagulls, one coming in the impressive 4-1 win at Leicester and another in the crucial 2-1 win at Nottingham Forest that helped to clinch a spot in the play-offs.

“Going to Brighton was great for me; I had a fantastic year, a really enjoyable time, and I don’t have a single bad word to say about the club or the city,” he said. “I enjoyed every minute.”

After five years at Turf Moor, Ward went on to play for Stoke City (when Nathan Jones was boss), Ipswich Town and Walsall, hanging up his boots in 2022. He also made 50 appearances for Republic of Ireland, playing for the national side at the Euro 2012 and 2016 finals.

At the end of a 19-year playing career, Ward had clocked up 570 senior appearances.

Disappointed to see the player retire, Walsall manager Michael Flynn told BBC Radio WM: “He’s somebody I’d love to have worked with for a longer period. He’s a breath of fresh air. But, unfortunately, he’s at the age where he thinks his body’s had enough.

“I’ve got nothing but praise for Stephen Ward. He’s had a fantastic career and is still working hard day in, day out and he’s a model professional.

“The way he’s handled himself has been exemplary and I don’t expect anything else from someone who’s had the career he’s had because it’s been an unbelievable career.”

During the 2022-23 season, Ward was part-time assistant manager to former Wolves teammate Roger Johnson at National League North side Brackley Town.

His next steps were in football administration and he achieved a Masters degree in sports directorship through the University of East London while serving as director of football at National League side Solihull Moors. Head coach from June 2023 to January 2025 was Andrew Whing, who played more than 100 games for the Albion between 2006 and 2011.

Stepping down from the role in August 2025 to spend more time with his family, Ward said: “We shared some great moments together most notably watching our club appear at Wembley Stadium in the play-off final.”

Moors missed out on the chance to gain a first ever promotion to the Football League in May 2024, beaten in a penalty shootout by Bromley after twice coming from behind to take the game to extra time and then penalties.

Agonisingly, a week later, Moors lost on penalties again, this time in the FA Trophy final at Wembley, Gateshead edging it 5-4 after the sides were level on 2-2.

“It’s a brilliant club and a very special place to work but it’s time to step away and recharge the batteries,” said Ward. “Football is a fast-moving industry and it can be tough to find the right balance.”

Cattlin bust-up didn’t stop goalscoring ‘Rooster’ Russell

BEING LET GO by the Albion as an apprentice didn’t stop Kevin Russell from going on to enjoy a multi-club league career as a player and a coach involved in no fewer than eight play-off finals and promotions.

A talented teenager good enough to earn selection for the England Youth team, Russell didn’t progress beyond Brighton’s youth and reserve sides between 1982 and 1984.

Although he was a regular goalscorer in the junior sides, a falling out with manager Chris Cattlin saw him depart the club without earning a competitive first team call-up.

Hailing from Paulsgrove in north Portsmouth, Russell returned home and linked up with his hometown club to complete his scholarship under World Cup winner Alan Ball.

Ball also gave him his first team debut but he only had eight first team outings for Pompey. It wasn’t until he joined Fourth Division Wrexham for £10,000 that his career began to take off and he was in the Wrexham side that reached the 1989 play-off final where they lost 2-1 to Frank Clark’s Leyton Orient. In the first of two spells in north Wales, playing at centre forward, Russell scored an impressive 47 goals in 102 games.

An ever-present in the 1988-89 season, his 25 goals in a total of 60 league and cup matches was recognised by his peers when he was selected in the PFA divisional team of the year.

That caught the eye of David Pleat at Leicester City, then playing in the ‘old’ Second Division, and a fee of £175,000 took him to Filbert Street.

At Leicester he played wide right rather than in the centre but he still had a knack for scoring goals and he eventually became something of a cult hero with Foxes supporters for the goals he scored in City’s escape from second tier relegation in 1991 and in their run up to the 1992 play-off final.

However, only a month after joining Leicester he had to undergo a hernia operation that put him out of action for eight weeks. When fit, he was sent out on a month’s loan to Peterborough …and suffered a broken leg!

When ready to play again, his effort to resume match fitness saw him go on another month’s loan, to Fourth Division Cardiff City. In the meantime, Pleat was sacked and Gordon Lee took over. Russell returned as the Foxes fought to avoid relegation to the third tier.

Perhaps inevitably one of the vital goals he scored (on 6 April 1991) was against promotion-seeking Albion in a 3-0 win that helped the Foxes in the hunt to stave off the dreaded drop.

Two years later, after he had moved on to Burnley via Stoke City, Russell’s first goals for the Clarets (above) were also scored in a 3-0 win over the Seagulls.

Born in Portsmouth on 6 December 1966, the nickname Rooster was coined at an early age because his hair formed something of a quiff when he was a boy – ironically, he went prematurely bald but the name stuck.

Russell’s first appearances in Albion’s colours came in the early autumn of 1982 playing in the junior division of the South East Counties League. He was still a 15-year-old schoolboy at the time.

By the spring of 1983, while the Albion first team were edging towards the FA Cup final at Wembley, Russell had stepped up to the reserves, as the matchday programme reported after he’d been involved in a close game against an experienced West Ham second string.

“Kevin Russell is just sixteen and he doesn’t leave school until he has taken his examinations next month,” it said. “But at Upton Park he found himself playing against such experienced men as Trevor Brooking and Jimmy Neighbour.

“Many schoolboys would have given their right arm to play on the same field as Brooking and there was Kevin playing on equal terms.

“Although we lost 2-1, it should be remembered that in Kieran O’Regan, Mark Fleet, Matthew Wiltshire, Gerry McTeague, Gary Howlett, Chris Rodon and Kevin Russell we had seven players under 20, while the Hammers had Paul Allen, Paul Brush and Pat Holland, all of whom have played in European competition, as well as Neighbour and Brooking in their line-up.”

John Shepherd was in charge of the side, aided by John Jackson, who had been signed as goalkeeping cover and was helping out with coaching too.

Russell’s official arrival as an apprentice at Brighton earned a mention in the matchday programme for the home game with Chelsea on 3 September 1983 and he was one of five apprentices on the staff that autumn, together with Dave Ellis, Darron Gearing, Gary Mitchell and Mark Wakefield. Martin Lambert had stepped up to sign as a full professional that summer.

In those days, the youth team played home matches at Lancing College and were looked after by Shepherd and Mick Fogden before experienced George Petchey was brought in to oversee youth development and run the reserves.

It was while a Brighton player that Russell won the first of six England under-18 caps (five starts plus one as sub), and he scored in the first of them – a 2-2 draw with Austria on 6 September 1984 – and in his fourth game, six days later, which England lost 4-1 to Yugoslavia. His strike partner in that side was Manchester City’s Paul Moulden, later an Albion loanee.

With the likes of Terry Connor, Alan Young and Frank Worthington in the first team, and promising youngsters in the reserves, such as Lambert, Rodon and Michael Ring, it is perhaps not surprising that Russell couldn’t break through.

He did have one outing in first team company, though, in a testimonial match for Gary Williams: he scored (along with Young and Connor) in a 3-3 draw against an ex-Albion XI.

The same game saw defender Jim Heggarty appear: like Russell he also went on to play for Burnley without playing a competitive first team game for the Albion.

While on that theme, a frequent partner of Russell’s in the reserves was Ian Muir, another striker who slipped through Albion’s net and ended up scoring goals for Burnley.

After his departure from the Albion in October 1984, Russell made the most of the opportunity Portsmouth presented him to learn from the former Everton, Arsenal and Southampton midfield dynamo Ball.

“I had three years there under him which was fantastic,” Russell told Leicester City club historian John Hutchinson in March 2018. “He was brilliant as a coach and it was very educational. I got the rest of my (under-18) caps at Portsmouth.

“Alan Ball treated us well. I was playing men’s football at 18. I played a few games in the first team and we managed to get promoted into what is now the Premier League.”

Although disappointed to be advised to move on to get more games, Russell’s switch to north Wales was the launchpad for his career, and the beginning of an association with Wrexham that lasted many years.

“It was a gamble worth taking because it meant first team football,” said Russell. “Dixie McNeill was the manager. He used to be a famous striker for them. He was fantastic for me and was an old school kind of manager; a proper man’s manager. It was a good time.”

After Russell’s part in keeping Leicester in the second tier in 1991, he found himself on the outside looking in when Brian Little replaced Gordon Lee as manager and to get some playing time went on a month’s loan to Hereford United and then spent a month at Lou Macari’s Stoke City.

But Little recalled him in February and in his first game back he once again found the net against a former club, scoring in a 2-2 draw with Portsmouth. He kept his place through to the play-off final at Wembley, where they faced Kenny Dalglish’s Blackburn Rovers, and lost to a “dodgy penalty” scored by ex-Leicester player Mike Newell.

“It was a very scrappy game. Both teams were under a lot of pressure and never really got into their rhythm,” said Russell. “We had worked so hard that season to get to where we did get to. The result was a big disappointment, but it was an occasion that I’ll never forget.”

It also turned out to be his last game for Leicester because that summer he returned to third tier Stoke on a permanent basis. He is fondly remembered for his part in Stoke winning promotion in 1992-93, scoring six goals in 39 league and cup matches (plus 11 as a sub), but he moved on again, this time to Burnley.

Third-tier Burnley signed him from Stoke for £150,000 (or was it £95,000 – I’ve seen both prices quoted) in June 1993 and, although he only stayed for eight months at Turf Moor, he scored eight goals in 35 games (plus two as sub) in Jimmy Mullen’s Clarets side.

Two of those goals – his first for Burnley – were scored against the Albion. I was at Turf Moor for a midweek game on 14 September 1993 when Russell scored with only a minute on the clock and he got a tap-in on 47 minutes in a 3-0 stroll for the home side. Steve Davis got Burnley’s third.

Brighton were a very different club to the one Russell had left in 1984, though. With a win in a League Cup match their only victory in the opening eight matches, it was the beginning of the end of Barry Lloyd’s tumultuous reign in charge, against a backdrop of financial hardship and boardroom mismanagement off the pitch.

Russell’s habit of scoring against his former clubs manifested itself again two days after Christmas, when he netted in a 2-1 home win over Wrexham. He scored again five days later in a New Year’s Day 3-1 home win over Lancashire rivals Blackpool.

But he was not around to be part of the side promoted via the play-offs, having moved back south, to Bournemouth, for £125,000 in March 1994.

• Another move, a return to north Wales and a career in coaching as Russell’s story continues.

Kiwi Chris Wood took off with the Seagulls

TWO former Chelsea teammates were instrumental in enabling fledgling Kiwi international striker Chris Wood to develop his goalscoring craft with the Seagulls.

Roberto di Matteo allowed Wood to leave West Brom on loan in the 2010-11 season to add attacking options to Gus Poyet’s promotion-seeking Seagulls.

It was a temporary move that not only bolstered Division 1 Brighton’s goalscoring threat that season but also sowed the seeds of a partnership with Ashley Barnes that Burnley have profited from in the Premier League.

The pair dovetailed well with Glenn Murray (during his first spell at the Albion) and it is testimony to just how good the third-tier trio were that they all went on to score goals at the highest level.

Wood, who only scored three times in 27 games for the Baggies, scored nine in 24 matches (plus seven as sub) for the Albion, who he joined after an expected 93-day loan stint with Barnsley had been cut short.

Described by The Argus as “a fresh-faced teenager in a man’s body”, towards the end of the season, Wood told Andy Naylor: “It has been a big experience. I have been playing week in and week out. That is something I needed to do at my age.

“You don’t know if you really want to drop down that many levels, but I thought I could start scoring some goals, kick on my season and hopefully push my career up. It’s worked out very well.”

He somewhat presciently added: “I want to play in the Premier League one day, hopefully consistently.”

While that time would still be a little way off, Wood’s role in Brighton’s promotion squad earned him a League One winners’ medal and Poyet reckoned he left the south coast a much better player than the one who arrived six months previously.

“We helped him a lot,” Poyet told The Argus. “When he was here, he was one type of player and, when he went back, he was in shape, he was quicker, more mature, he scored ten (sic) goals, he did well.”

Wood went on to become something of a nemesis for Brighton, often scoring against the club for various other sides he played for on loan or on a permanent basis.

After he scored twice against the Seagulls in December 2012 while on loan at Millwall, Poyet sang his praises to the media, declaring: “He is the kind of player we would like to bring in. He’s only 21 and I feel he will be a top, top player.

“When he was with us on loan, he was a baby but now he is maturing. He’s a man now.

“He’s clinical and brave and we have played a part in helping him on his way.”

Di Matteo’s successor at West Brom, Roy Hodgson, had also sent the young striker out on loan, the shorter distance to Midlands neighbours Birmingham City, during Chris Hughton’s tenure as manager. He scored 11 in 15 games (+ 14 as a sub) for the Blues before spending the second half of the 2011-12 season at Bristol City.

Next up was Millwall for the first half of the 2012-13 season but WBA curtailed that stay because they wanted to sell him, and he joined Leicester in a permanent deal.

At Leicester, Wood was mainly involved off the substitutes’ bench as Nigel Pearson’s Foxes won the Championship in 2014, but one of his most memorable goals was a stunning long-range volley against his future employers, Burnley, in a 2-0 win at Turf Moor. “That was a nice one,” he said. “It kind of clinched Leicester’s championship. It was a ‘make or break’ game for who was going to win the league that year.”

Wood found his chances of Premier League football stymied by the arrival of Leonardo Ulloa from Brighton and after only seven substitute appearances ended the season on loan at Ipswich Town. Before Leicester’s famous title-winning season was under way, Wood had moved on to Leeds for £3m.

Wood felt he wasn’t given a fair crack of the whip at the King Power Stadium, telling the Leicester Mercury: “I was disappointed that I didn’t get more of a chance.

“I did well and felt I deserved at least an opportunity with the way I had played. That’s football at the end of the day, managers make the decisions, you have to live by them and move on.

“I think that experience has made me into a better player. It helped me to adapt and do things in a different way. It helps you prepare mentally, to understand and control.

“Not everything is going to be rosy along the way in your career. You’ll always have your ups and downs and it’s about how you deal with the downs which helps you become so much better.

“I don’t like sitting in the stands. I just wanted to get out, play football and progress my career.”

Wood scored 27 goals in Leeds’ 2016-17 Championship season under Garry Monk but, after beating Brighton 2-0 on 18 March, they fluffed their lines in the run-in, winning only one of the remaining eight matches and missing out on the top six as Brighton went up with Newcastle. To rub salt in the Yorkshire wounds, Huddersfield were promoted via the play-offs.

Wood, though, had the chance finally to make it to the elite when Burnley dangled a £15m fee to take him to Turf Moor, where he was to be reunited with Barnes.

Explaining his decision to make the move, Wood told The Times: “It had been my dream since I was a kid to play in the Premier League.

“I had spent seven years in the Championship waiting to get that break and I couldn’t guarantee that I would get another chance.”

The success of the Wood-Barnes partnership was analysed in a 2019 article by Benedict O’Neill for planetfootball.com in which Murray harked back to the 2010-11 season.

“I was the older head when they came in as two young lads,” he said. “We forged quite a formidable trio. It was good because they were just young and learning their trade – they got valuable game time and scored plenty of goals in that season.

“They’ve both gone on to have fantastic careers.”

Wood ended the 2020-21 season as Burnley’s top goalscorer with 12 goals (his fourth consecutive season in double figures) and he also collected their Player of the Season and Players’ Player of the Season accolades.

After netting a hat-trick against Wolves in April 2021, Andy Jones, for The Athletic, purred: “Unstoppable, unplayable. This was Wood at his best.

“Burnley’s big No 9 epitomised all the key components of the display, setting the tempo, pressing with energy, intensity and importantly, intent. No ball was a lost cause, no pass was going to be easy for Wolves.”

Burnley boss Sean Dyche told the Burnley Express: “His hold up play is improving all the time, his physicality is improving – he can be a real handful as well as being a talented player.

“I’ve been very impressed with him over the season for sure.”

In January 2022, Wood made a £25m move to Newcastle United but after finding his first team starts limited moved on to Nottingham Forest a year later, initially on loan until the end of the season. The move was made permanent in the summer of 2023.

He was Forest’s top scorer with 15 goals in 35 appearances in the 2023-24 season and when he scored the winner in Forest’s 3-2 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford in December 2024, his header meant he became Forest’s record Premier League scorer, overtaking Bryan Roy, by moving to 25 in the competition.

Born in Auckland, New Zealand, on 7 December 1991, Wood swiftly showed great promise in his homeland before his coach over there, Roger Wilkinson, switched to West Brom and recommended the youngster be taken on at Albion’s academy.

Wood’s English mother, Julie, had been instrumental in him taking up football rather than the oval-shaped ball game Kiwis are more accustomed to.

“I came over and they liked what they saw and offered me a scholarship,” he told the Birmingham Mail.

After he proved successful at youth team and reserve level, Wood made his West Brom first-team debut in 2009 away to Portsmouth.

In the same year, he made his international debut and, aged just 18, was in the New Zealand squad at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. He has gone on to play nearly 60 times for his country. He also became the youngest captain of New Zealand when he led the side for the first time in November 2014.

A goal by over-age Wood against South Korea helped New Zealand secure their first ever men’s football win at an Olympic Games in Tokyo but the host nation beat them in a penalty shoot-out to deny the striker the chance of a medal.

Admirable Crichton on standby for the Seagulls at 39

JOURNEYMAN goalkeeper Paul Crichton played 540 games in a 22-year career and, even at the age of 39, found himself on the Brighton subs bench ready to be called on in an emergency.

As things turned out, the former Burnley custodian’s time with the Seagulls remained in a coaching capacity, helping to develop youngster John Sullivan and improve no.1 Michel Kuipers.

However, he was registered as a player and when either Kuipers or Sullivan were unavailable, Crichton answered the call as stand-by ‘keeper, as well as making an appearance as a sub in a pre-season friendly.

Much of Crichton’s career was as a back-up no.1 but he stepped up as a coach, working with the likes of Rob Green and Fraser Forster, and obtained a UEFA A licence in outfield and goalkeeper coaching.

Crichton arrived at Withdean in July 2007 after previous goalkeeping coach John Keeley moved along the coast to take up a similar role with Portsmouth.

Manager Dean Wilkins told the club website: “Paul has impressive coaching qualifications and we have already seen him in action on the training ground.

“He also has a huge amount of experience from over 20 years playing professional football.”

No. 1 Kuipers certainly appreciated the influence the coach had on his game. He told an Albion matchday programme: “Paul approaches things from a different angle. He has given me extra information and a different opinion on how I can get the best out of myself.

“His input has improved me as a goalkeeper and my performances on the pitch have improved. We’ve worked on me playing more as a kind of sweeper, letting the defence sit a little higher up the pitch. It helps the defenders out as they don’t have to worry as much about the space behind them and allows them to go tighter on the strikers and gives them a better opportunity to win the ball or defend against strikers.”

Kuipers said he also felt more confident leaving his goal to claim crosses, and with his kicking. “It’s an aspect I feel has improved,” he said. “Paul and I have practised it on an almost daily basis in training, and the more I am doing it, the better I am getting at it.”

Sullivan was also grateful for Crichton’s input, telling the matchday programme: “Paul’s brought some great new ideas into the club – he’sa very, very good coach. Paul is not long retired so he’s well aware of how the modern game has changed so much for ‘keepers.”

Crichton remained in post until February 2009 when the lure of returning to Norwich City, one of his former clubs, four and a half years after leaving the club as a player, was too great and he went back to East Anglia, even though he had started to put down roots in Sussex.

“We’d just started to get settled in Eastbourne,” he told pinkun.com. “The manager, Micky Adams, and the backroom staff have been fantastic and I’m sad to leave. But I had three great years here, ending in the Championship winning season.

“I didn’t play many games, but I just wanted to return – it’s a great place.”

Adams told the Argus: “I am very disappointed to lose Paul. He was a hard-working and highly-valued member of the backroom staff and he has done a fantastic job with all the goalkeepers at the club.

“I have no doubt he is going to be one of the top goalkeeping coaches in years to come but, after he expressed a desire to go back to Norwich for both footballing and family reasons, it was not right for us to stand in his way.”

Crichton had been understudy to the aforementioned Green during his time as a player at Carrow Road, and boss Bryan Gunn (a former City goalkeeper himself) told the pinkun.com: “We want someone to continue to develop not only the first team goalkeepers but those in the academy and I know he’s looking forward to putting a development programme in place, which is important as we’ve had a good record in this position in recent years.”

Crichton had first moved to City on a two-year contract in June 2001, signed for £150,000 by former Burnley coach Nigel Worthington, who’d taken charge of the Canaries.

At Turf Moor, Crichton had been one of Stan Ternent’s first signings after he took over as manager from Chris Waddle in 1998. He made his debut on 8 August 1998 in a 2-1 win at home to Bristol Rovers and was a regular in their third-tier side, helping them to promotion in 2000.

Clarets fans have mixed opinions of his attributes, if a 2019 discussion on uptheclarets.com is anything to go by. For example, ‘jdrobbo’ said: “Used to be a big fan of his. Thought his kicking was excellent for a keeper at that level. Occasionally left stranded off his line. A key player in our 2000 promotion side, but not good enough for the next level up.”

‘ClaretTony’ reckoned: “A master of a goalkeeper at not being where he should be. Never known a goalkeeper out of position so much.”

Although ‘Lord Beamish’ said: “A key part of the last Burnley team to play in the third tier. He’ll always be fondly remembered by this Claret fan.”

Born in Pontefract, Yorkshire, on 3 October 1968, Crichton began his career with Nottingham Forest, turning professional in 1986. But with Hans Segers and Steve Sutton ahead of him, he didn’t break into the first team at the City Ground and went out on loan to six different league clubs to get games, making his debut across the Trent at Notts County.

Eventually he moved on permanently, in 1988, initially spending two years with Peterborough United, then three years with Doncaster Rovers.

Alan Buckley signed him on a free transfer for Grimsby Town, where he played the most games (133) for any of the clubs he represented. Mariners Memories on Facebook, noted: “Crichton was a good shot stopper…..he was made the Supporters Player of the Season in 1994”.

In September 1996, he followed Buckley to West Bromwich Albion for £250,000.

It was during his time at West Brom that he had two loan spells with Burnley in 1998 before joining them permanently for £100,000 in November that year.

His playing career following his departure from Carrow Road took him to eight different clubs, Gillingham and Cambridge United among them, together with some non-league outfits. During a brief and controversial spell at York City, when he was alleged to have clashed with supporters, he coached a young David Stockdale. He moved to the Albion from King’s Lynn.

His subsequent return to Carrow Road was briefer than expected when Paul Lambert took over from Gunn and brought in his own goalkeeping coach.

In March 2010, Crichton became goalkeeping coach at Northampton Town but, in the summer of 2010, he linked up with Danny Wilson at Sheffield United, where he was also registered as a player to provide emergency cover. He spent two seasons at Bramall Lane before becoming part of Simon Grayson’s management team at Huddersfield Town.

After two years with the Terriers, he switched to Blackpool and spent just over a year working as goalkeeper coach and interim assistant manager alongside Jose Riga.

Next up was a brief spell in London, at QPR, where he was appointed by former Albion full-back Chris Ramsey to succeed Kevin Hitchcock.

After leaving the Hoops in early 2016, his next port of call was Swindon Town, to work under Luke Williams, Brighton’s former under-21s manager, but he left after only a couple of months to move to America.

He had several short spells coaching with different clubs in Florida before becoming assistant head coach at The Miami FC in January 2020, when head coach was Kenny Dalglish’s son, Paul.

He became goalkeeper and interim assistant coach for North American professional women’s team the Washington Spirit during the 2021 and 2022 seasons, helping lead goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury to the 2021 NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year award and guiding the club to the 2021 NWSL Championship.

Then in April 2023 he switched in a similar role to Florida based women’s team Orlando Pride.

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.

Injury-hit Albion among six to borrow Borrowdale

DEFENDER Gary Borrowdale couldn’t have been more aptly named for a loanee which is just as well because he found himself in that situation half a dozen times over five years.

He made a temporary switch to Brighton from QPR in March 2009 to fill the spot vacated when Albion’s regular left-back Jim McNulty suffered a shocking injury in a 4-0 home defeat to Crewe Alexandra.

While McNulty needed an operation to remove a kidney, former England under 20 international Borrowdale had the chance to resurrect his flagging career with the Seagulls.

For a player who’d clocked up 100 appearances for Crystal Palace by the time he was 21, there was the inevitable ‘noise’ about helping out the arch rivals, but Borrowdale just wanted some game time, and he was one of five debutants who pulled on Albion’s sky blue second kit for the game at Brisbane Road on 7 March 2009.

Brighton lost that match 2-1 but, under Russell Slade’s astute stewardship, Borrowdale acquitted himself well during 12 matches through to the end of the season and the Albion just managed to retain their third-tier status.

Borrowdale montage “I made my debut for Palace at 17 and played my first game in the Premiership at 18, so it was a great start and Palace will always be dear to me as a result,” Borrowdale told Spencer Vignes for a matchday programme article.

“The highlight of my career would be the promotion I had with Palace when we went from the Championship to the Premiership,” he said, referring to the play-off win over West Ham, the day before Albion beat Bristol City in their own divisional play-off.

Borrowdale returned to west London after his spell on the south coast but in March 2010 he went on loan to Charlton Athletic and the following year had temporary spells at Carlisle United and Barnet.

His league career seemed to be over when QPR released him in June 2012 and he went over to Northern Ireland to join second tier outfit Carrick Rangers.

In January 2014, he looked to have got a foothold back in the English professional game when loaned by Margate to Gillingham, but he didn’t play any first-team games and was released at the end of the season.

Former Albion boss Peter Taylor told the club’s official website: “He’s done very well, lost weight every week and looked fitter every week.

“I just don’t think he’s ready for League One football, especially considering if we have to play Saturday and Tuesday. As a result, I have decided to let him go.”

Borrowdale then linked up with Greenwich Borough, initially as a player, before becoming a coach.

Born in Worcester Park, south London, on 16 July 1985, Borrowdale came through the youth ranks at Selhurst Park and Trevor Francis handed him his debut for Crystal Palace in December 2002.

When Iain Dowie took over as manager, Borrowdale quickly became a regular in the first team. He also represented England at each of the age groups from 16 to 20, playing alongside the likes of Gary Cahill in defence.

In a 2-2 draw with the Netherlands, played at Turf Moor, Borrowdale’s teammates included fellow Palace youngster Scott Flinders in goal and future Albion player Will Hoskins.

Borrowdale won Palace’s Young Player of the Year award in 2006-07, but, when Dowie moved on to manage Coventry City, Borrowdale joined him there, a tribunal fixing the transfer fee at £650,000.

The move didn’t work out, though, and, with Dowie gone, Borrowdale was sidelined, eventually being sent out on loan to Colchester United and then QPR.

Paulo Sousa took him on loan in November 2008 and, although he didn’t feature, made the move permanent in January 2009 on a three-and-a-half-year deal. He made just 22 appearances for QPR during that time.

Borrowdale stripes

• Pictures as featured in the Albion matchday programme.

Brighton briefly on the trail of the ‘loansome’ Sam Vokes

‘LOANSOME’ Sam Vokes joined Brighton temporarily on the eve of transfer deadline day in January 2012.

He was 22 at the time and had already had five loan spells away from Molineux since joining Wolverhampton Wanderers in the summer of 2008. Vokes told BBC Sussex: “I need to settle down in my career and it’s a fantastic chance for me to come here and play some football.

“It’s a matter of playing games and, as a striker, scoring goals.”

Vokes had been troubled by injury and had found it difficult to establish himself in the Wolves side. The season before, he had been out on loan at Bristol City, Sheffield United and Norwich, and earlier in the 2011-12 season had scored two goals in nine appearances on loan at Burnley.

Eddie Howe, who’d managed Vokes during his first spell at Bournemouth, had taken him to Turf Moor to partner Jay Rodriguez. But when his deal with Burnley expired in mid-January, Albion boss Gus Poyet stepped in and persuaded him to join the Seagulls.

Vokes was invited to the Amex to watch the side’s FA Cup fourth round tie against Newcastle and, two days after the 1-0 win, put pen to the loan deal.

7188430 “I don’t want to sit around – I love playing,” said Vokes. “Brighton have a great way of playing football that is different to a lot of teams in the Championship.”

The young striker told the Albion matchday programme: “I’m a southern boy. I know the area well, and I know what football means to people down here.

“It’s been difficult for me to settle anywhere, moving from place to place on loan, but now I just want to play football. I love the game. I need to play, it’s all I want to do.

“I would like to stay and if all goes well we will see what happens in the summer, but my main aim at the moment is to start playing football again and scoring goals.”

Poyet told the media: “Sam was one of the players we’ve been following for a long time but it’s been difficult to get him.

“The idea was to bring someone who will give us that presence and strength in the air that we don’t have.

“We’ve got the time to explain how we play, and what he needs to do for us. The quicker he adapts, the easier for us. I’m delighted to have him and I hope it works for him.

“He’s been trying to find that place that he can stay for a few years.”

As it turned out, Vokes struggled to dislodge incumbent strikers Ashley Barnes and Craig Mackail-Smith, and he made just seven starts plus five substitute appearances.

SV- BHA stripes

Although he scored on his full home debut in a 2-2 draw v Millwall, he only got two more goals, a last-minute equaliser in another 2-2 draw, at home to Cardiff City, and Albion’s lone strike in a 1-1 draw away to Nottingham Forest.

In July 2012, it was reported Wolves were demanding £500,000 for the player’s signature on a permanent basis, and that Brighton and Burnley were both keen to sign him.

Vokes burnley

Howe had always been keen to get the player back to Burnley and, although officially undisclosed, it’s believed a £350,000 fee took him to Turf Moor where he finally settled down and, over the next seven years, scored 62 goals in 258 appearances.

Born in Southampton on 21 October 1989, Vokes was brought up in Lymington and was a Southampton fan at an early age. He even had a trial with them when he was just 10 but wasn’t taken on.

It was when he was playing football for local sides in the New Forest that he was spotted by Bournemouth and joined them in 2005. He was only 17 when he made his first team debut in December 2006 (in a 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest) and although he scored 12 goals in the 2007-08 season, the Cherries were relegated from League One.

Vokes Wolves Wolves stepped in to sign him that May and he came off the bench in the opening game of the following season to score an equaliser in a 2-2 draw at Plymouth Argyle. However, Chris Iwelumo and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake were the main men scoring goals as Wolves won the Championship that year, and Vokes’ involvement was mainly off the bench.

With his parent club in the Premier League, Vokes was loaned out to League One Leeds United on a three-month deal, although he only scored once in eight games. One of those matches was against the Albion at Withdean and Vokes recalled picking up his first footballing scar when an Adam El-Abd elbow caught him in the face.

Once Vokes finally settled down at Burnley after his various loan moves, it can’t have helped his cause when the man who signed him quit Turf Moor to return to Bournemouth.

Indeed, when Sean Dyche replaced Howe, his go-to centre forward at first was Charlie Austin, but when Austin was sold Vokes got more of a chance to show his worth alongside Danny Ings.

The partnership that began to evolve surprised Burnley fans who’d wondered whether Vokes was only ever destined to be a bit-part player.

“Everyone was concerned to be honest,” said Tony Scholes on uptheclarets.com. “We’d seen some potential in Ings but there wasn’t much confidence that Vokes could become a regular, goalscoring striker at Championship level.

Burnley Football Club_1st Team head Shots_30/7/15 He went on: “Our shortage of strikers was highlighted by the fact that he played the full 90 minutes in all of the first 26 league games that season, but he wasn’t just filling in. He was turning in some outstanding performances, linking up really well with Ings and both were scoring goals aplenty.”

Unfortunately, a cruciate knee injury sidelined him for a lengthy spell and Burnley bought Ashley Barnes from Brighton as they sought to bolster their forward options.

A fit Vokes eventually reclaimed his place and formed a useful partnership with big money signing Andre Gray when Barnes himself was also hit by a cruciate injury.

In the early part of last season, Vokes often found himself on the bench, with Barnes and Chris Wood starting ahead of him, and, in January, he decided to drop back down to the Championship, joining Nathan Jones’ new regime at Stoke City, with former England international Peter Crouch going in the opposite direction.

As is often the way these days, the fee was ‘undisclosed’ but was rumoured to be in the order of £7m, and Stoke offered Vokes a three-and-a-half-year contract.

His popularity at Burnley was reflected in a thoughtful parting message thanking the club and the Clarets fans, in which he said: “You made the club a ‘home’ for myself and all my family and for that I’m eternally grateful.”

He added: “It’s been an incredible journey that we’ve been on over the past seven years, with promotions, relegation, survival and even European football through the Europa League.

“There have been so many highlights and every step along the way has been a joy, but now I am looking forward to a new challenge.”

Dyche, meanwhile, told the Stoke Sentinel: “Sam has been an absolutely fantastic servant, not just as a player but as a person.

“There was a bit of frustration that he hasn’t played as much as he’d like and this presents a fresh challenge, so, with all that factored in, it became a win-win deal.

“We feel we’ve got a good deal financially for the business and Sam has got a fresh chance somewhere different.”

Since July 2021, Vokes has been leading the line for League One Wycombe Wanderers.

Vokes Wales

Vokes may have been born and brought up in England but, thanks to having a grandfather born in Colwyn Bay, he became eligible to play for Wales and has earned more than 60 caps since making his debut in 2008, including their most recent game against Belarus.

A stand-out moment for his adopted country came during the Euro 2016 tournament when he came on as a substitute and (pictured above) sealed Wales’ 3-1 win over Belgium with an 85^th-minute goal to reach the semi-finals.

Pictures from various online sources.

Left back Harry Wilson “something of a fire-eater”

BRIGHTON boss Brian Clough turned up at Burnley to capture the signings of two of their fringe first team players – and ended up having pie and chips with the groundsman!

When Clough arrived at Turf Moor, he found manager Jimmy Adamson, chairman Bob Lord and secretary Albert Maddox were nowhere in sight, it being lunchtime.

In their absence, as recounted to respected writer Dave Thomas, groundsman Roy Oldfield made the famous visitor a cup of tea, popped to a nearby chippy to get them both pie and chips and chatted all things football until the office re-opened after lunch.

Although Clough hadn’t got quite what he expected on arrival, his journey did bear fruit. In exchange for £70,000, he secured the services of left-back Harry Wilson, a 20-year-old who had made 12 appearances for the Clarets, and midfielder Ronnie Welch, 21, who had played one game.

At the time, Clough was desperately trying to bring in new recruits to a beleaguered Brighton side that he and sidekick Peter Taylor had taken on in October 1973, a period covered in detail in a recent book, Bloody Southerners, by author and journalist Spencer Vignes.

The man who only the season before had led unfashionable Derby County to the First Division Championship, couldn’t quite believe what he had inherited at Third Division Albion.

The players seemed bewildered by what the new celebrity boss expected of them.

Heavy defeats – 4-0 to non-league Walton and Hersham in the FA Cup; 8-2 at home to Bristol Rovers and 4-1 away to Tranmere Rovers in the league – reflected the disarray.

Clough and Taylor weren’t slow in pointing the finger. Their only solution was to find replacements – and quickly.

Former Manchester United reserve Ken Goodeve was first to arrive, from Luton Town, although he failed to impress and made only a handful of appearances before joining Watford at the end of the season.

Goalkeeper Brian Powney was axed in favour of former England under 23 international, Peter Grummitt, initially on loan from Sheffield Wednesday.

Experienced left-back George Ley never played for the Albion again after the defeat at Tranmere, while utility man and former captain, Eddie Spearritt, also lost his place (although he eventually forced his way back into the side briefly).

Lammie Robertson, who knew the pair from his early days at Burnley, was asked to introduce them to their new teammates in the dressing room before an away game at Watford (they’d not been signed in time to play).

Robertson told Spencer Vignes in a matchday programme interview how Wilson was sporting a rather loud checked suit at the time and, in his own inimitable style, Clough boomed out: “Flipping hell, I never want to see that suit again.”

Needless to say the players laughed out loud, only for Clough to say: “What the hell are you all laughing at? They’ll be in the team next week.” And sure enough, they were.

Wilson and Welch made their debuts against Aldershot in a home game on Boxing Day when a crowd of 14,769 saw Albion slump to their fifth successive defeat, although at least the deficit this time was only 1-0.

A win finally came in the next game, a 1-0 success at home to Plymouth Argyle – Ken Beamish scoring the solitary goal.

In a 2010 matchday programme article, Wilson said: “I really didn’t want to go to Brighton. No disrespect but I loved it up at Burnley.

“The people there had been so friendly and helpful when I arrived from the North East so it broke my heart to leave. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Brighton and met some fantastic people, so, looking back now, I’m glad that Jimmy Adamson let me go.”

In the Evening Argus, reporter John Vinicombe purred about the impact of the new recruits from Burnley, saying Wilson “is looking something of a fire-eater. He has a rare zest for the game and relishes the close, physical contact that is synonymous with his position.

“He knows how to destroy and create, and does both in a manner befitting a five-year background at the academy of fine footballing arts (editor’s note: at the time, Burnley had a reputation for producing highly-talented young players).

“His colleague from Turf Moor, Ronnie Welch, is not so completely extrovert, but is no less involved in midfield, and has a fine turn of speed. He made one mistake through trying to play the ball instead of hoofing it away, but this can only be described as a ‘good’ fault.”

Further signings followed and the ship was steadied. Wilson kept the no.3 shirt through to the end of the season. But Welch made only 36 appearances for Albion before Taylor, by then under his own steam, traded in him and fellow midfielder Billy McEwan as a makeweight in the transfer that brought full-back Ken Tiler to the Goldstone from Chesterfield.

Wilson, meanwhile, became a mainstay in Albion’s left-back spot for three years, including being ever-present in the 1975-76 season.

Ever-present Wilson in action against Millwall at The Den

Born in Hetton-le-Hole, near Durham, on 29 November 1953, Wilson played for Durham County Schools and made four appearances for England schoolboys (under 15s) in the 1968-69 season. He was taken on as an apprentice at Burnley before signing professional forms in December 1970.

In 1971, he earned an England Youth cap going on as a sub for Coventry’s Alan Dugdale in a 3-2 defeat against Spain in Pamplona. Don Shanks also played in that game.

He made his first-team debut at home to Chelsea on 26 April 1971 and the last of his 12 appearances for the Clarets was on 3 April 1972: away to Sunderland.

*Young apprentice Wilson with experienced pros John Angus and Colin Waldron*

He was part of Alan Mullery’s Third Division promotion-winning squad in 1976-77, although he was restricted to 22 appearances. The arrival of the experienced Chris Cattlin meant he was no longer first choice left-back, although in several games they both played – the versatile Cattlin being equally at home as right-back.

A bare-chested Wilson was pictured (above) in the Albion dressing room alongside Mullery enjoying the celebratory champagne after promotion was clinched courtesy of a 3-2 win over Sheffield Wednesday on 3 May 1977. But that game was his Goldstone swansong.

He’d made a total of 146 appearances for the Albion – as well as chipping in with four goals – but when Mullery signed Mark Lawrenson and Gary Williams from Preston that summer, Wilson went in the opposite direction along with Graham Cross.

Only six months after arriving at Preston, Wilson was badly injured in a road accident after his car skidded on black ice and collided with a transit van. He suffered a punctured lung and damage to his knees. Doctors told him he wouldn’t play again, but he proved them wrong and ended up spending three years at Preston, playing 42 games.

“I suppose I was lucky to be alive,” he said in an Albion matchday programme article. “I lost a couple of yards of pace, but then again I ws never exactly the quickest of players.”

With his best days behind him, he moved back to his native north-east in 1980 to play for Darlington, making 85 appearances in three years.

He stayed in the north east in 1983, switching to Hartlepool for a season, but only played 16 times for them before dropping out of the league to play for Crook Town.

According to The Football League Paper, Wilson stayed in the game as manager of Seaham Red Star and, in 1988-89, Whitby Town.

He then worked as a community officer for Sunderland before joining the coaching staff at Burnley in the 1990s.

When Chris Waddle took over as manager, Wilson was sacked but he took the club to an industrial tribunal, which found in his favour.

He later worked for his long-term friend, Stan Ternent, at Bury, and as a monitor for the Football League, a job that saw him checking that the right procedures were being followed by the youth development set-ups of clubs in the north-west.

Wilson was in the news in 2007 when Ternent appeared at Lancaster Crown Court accused of assaulting Wilson’s son, Greg, on the steps of Burnley Cricket Club (a venue familiar to visiting supporters as a popular watering hole before games at the neighbouring football ground).

Greg Wilson required hospital treatment for a deep cut above his left eyebrow and needed nine stitches in his forehead.

Ternent said he had accidentally clashed heads, denied causing actually bodily harm, and was cleared by a jury.

Wilson in an Albion line-up alongside Peter Ward

In parallel lines

Memories from 55 years following Brighton & Hove Albion

Tag: Turf Moor