Leeds - Away, Withdean Era
Season 11 (A) 20/2/10 - 1-1 ~ Murray
Falmer was on schedule, with builders Buckingham Group transforming the site over autumn and winter months. The east and west stands stood in skeleton form and that iconic arch was put together on the 'pitch' over time and erected this week. Meanwhile BHA stumbled from crisis to threat of relegation, as Gus Poyet hadn't won at W'dean since arriving in mid November. However like last term, Albion were half decent on the road and picked up 21pts to date. GP's squad was in transition from Adams & Slade's mottley crews but couldn't do much better overall. Forster was recently in dispute about not getting a contract offer and likes of Davies and Dickinson had gone out on season loans. Murray came good again after probs and we'd also got latest signing Holroyd up front. Midfield was totally different to MA's version of tier-three triers, although getting goals from 'em was same old... There were also some useful outfits in this div now, with likes of United, Norwich, Charlton, So'ton, a rejuvenated Colchester and Millwall to boot. Brighton wanted to be a big club too, although this sleeping giant had to wake up pretty damn quick, or pay the price for years of ineffectual slumber.
Albion shaped up in 451 and set about stopping Leeds playing. That is not to say we didn't make a game of it but it was important to keep a clean, by h-t anyway. As the second period wore on, it was all going to plan. There was plenty of noise around a sunny Elland Road, although home fans were getting slightly irritated. Then Ref gave a pen to us, when Murray got chopped from behind (77min). He got up and scored. It all kicked off and Virgo was dismissed (80m) with a straight red for putting a White in orbit. B'ton hung on and weathered the storm with El-Abd brought into rearguard. On 90 min we still led. Ref gave 5 min stoppage and Leeds equalised with last kick of this crazy match. There was argy bargy going off and you couldn't say LUFC won many friends among BHA coaches, subs or fans either. Footy is a cruel game.
Brezovan, Calderon, Virgo, Elphick, Painter, Bennett, Crofts, Navarro, Dicker, LuaLua (El-Abd), Murray
League1 P 31 . W 7 D 10 L 14 . F 36 A 50 . Pt 31 Po 22

Season 10 (A) 11/10/08 - 1-3 ~ Murray
News reached Brighton fans during October that Falmer wouldn't be ready until 2011. There were certain design changes to implement but the footprint remained as before - a big hole in the Downs. Meanwhile a contractor had been appointed to do all earth moving, foundations and steelwork. It gave us an extra year to try and reach the Championship because at present Albion were struggling in mid table. Micky Adams revolution2 had stalled on a run of poor home form with 3 draws and 2 losses. On the road it was a different story with 2 wins and 2 draws. Adams got Robbie Savage in from Derby to save us and turn it around. He'd looked different class during debut at W'dean. Kevin Thornton came from Coventry and had done good down the left wing previously. Trouble was we'd leaked goals recently and coaches had to sort that out first. This division appeared tougher than before with some very sharp strikers trying to catch the eye.
It shoulda been nil-nil at half time. On 44m Leeds took advantage of a slip and went ahead. They doubled it in first half stoppage from a quick counter as Albion fell apart. Adams subbed Hawkins and Livermore for full second period attacking action but it made no difference to rescuing a point. At the death (90m) United poached a third with Albion over extended. Murray ran solo from halfway to bag plus one in his recent scoring run and give suffering Brighton fans a final cheer (90+m). Adams initially went 433 but switched it a bit with Thornton and Cox attempting to get us going. Unfortunately Albion couldn't really penetrate and seemed way short of Whites class. We were taught a lesson all over the park and compared to six months ago here, just hadn't improved. New blokes came in since for Adams rev2 but inspite of this, same old Albion today we're almost afraid to say. Wilkins wasn't this bad!
Kuipers, Whing, Elphick, Hawkins (Cox), Richards, Virgo, Savage, Thomson, Livermore (Thornton), Anyinsah, Murray.
League1 P 10 . W 2 D 5 L3 . F 13 A 16 . Pt 11 Po 17

Season 9 (A) 29/3/08 - 0-0
Leeds had been penalised 15 points for wrong-doing in the Championship when going into Admin while relegated. Ken Bates was going to appeal this unusual case anyway. They would otherwise be in third spot and challenging for auto promo but were on verges of play-offs like Albion. BHA were on a good run and had only lost twice in eleven. Away form wasn't particularly brilliant but we'd got a goal-less draw previously at Forest on Easter Monday of the same week. Since end of Jan xfer window, Wilkins had rebuilt midfield out of necessity, where Racon was the latest in a holding role. El-Abd got crocked earlier in a hectic month and Mayo went to his old lb berth after Richards was hamstrung. This fixture was Albion's ninth in mad March.
Whing cleared off the line as Leeds pressed from k-o. United were all over us like a rash but couldn't make a breakthrough. Brighton defended heroically and United were a tad off their game, similar to the Forest affair. The weather didn't help because it rained almost continuously. A superb Seagulls turn-out sang their hearts out, to make sure a 22k crowd didn't have free home advantage. Whites came out second half and had another go but Kuipers tipped one over and was well protected by defenders. Murray kept getting caught off-side and his 'goal' was ruled out. Up front we looked a bit light and couldn't keep it enough. Brighton began to get into this match at long last, although didn't worry the dirty northern third-tier big club too much in their area. We got a point and lived in hope of sixth slot come May. Leeds did as well.
Kuipers, Whing, Elphick, Lynch, Mayo, Cox, Thomson, Racon, Martot (Robinson), Murray, Forster.
League1 P 40 . W 16 D 12 L 12 . F 50 A 42 . Pt 60 Po 7

Season 7 (A) 10/9/05 - 3-3 ~ Knight, Carole, og
Going to Elland Road, even with a half full stadium of 20k+ crowds was still something a bit special for Championship venues. Brighton needed another victory to put more points on the board and McGhee picked an unchanged side from that last of win number one, playing a progressive 4-2-4 formation. We had not been considered a counter attacking side in years gone by but such was being tried at this standard, in the name of Champ's performances at least.
Leeds were hit on the break, after Albion survived an initial battering and Knight got one on half an hour or so, from in close. Teatime came and went and before much longer B'ton were two up. Carole got into United's area and shot past ex-Albion kid Harding, his keeper and to inside a post. By the hour mark, Leeds were hammering on Brighton's door, which was forced open twice in the following ten minutes. McGhee had a decision to make but looked at his lightweight bench and went for broke. An own goal saw B'ton ahead once more but a safety first tactic failed to be put in motion. Instead it was like a frantic cup tie finish in full flow. Utd bagged a late equaliser as Albion couldn't hold the ball up-field and give an overworked defence a rest. We'd let it slip finally succumbing to pressure.
Henderson, Hart, McShane, Butters, Reid, Carole, Hammond, Carpenter, Jarrett (Kazim-Richards), Knight, Robinson (Oatway).
Champ's P 7 . W 1 D 4 L 2 . Pt 7 Po 16

Season 6 (A) 29/1/05 - 1-1 ~ Butters
This away game was brought forward from a Tuesday night in late February to a regular Saturday. Apparently it was a win-win situation for both clubs who had been scheduled for FA Cup ties but failed to get into round four. Albion had previously given a good account of themselves at Spurs and apart from that defeat were unbeaten in six Championship games. Martin Perry commented, 'we have secured extra tickets for Brighton supporters from Leeds. Mark McGhee would prefer not to have a two week break without a fixture.' An agreement all-round there obviously.
Incidentally Brighton fan John Baine had received loads of dosh for getting a version of Tom Hark into music charts at no. 17. His group er, Seagulls Ska donated royalties to Alive & Kicking fund coffers. A 'creative' exercise therefore accomplished with some aplomb and was perhaps pure poetry.
Oatway was sent off at Leeds in the 87th minute. Hardly anyone knew why except the Ref, our Palookaville blue-man and a less than all white character from an outfit of dirty northern bastards. Albion fielded a new goalkeeper David Yelldell, on loan from Blackburn, to stand between posts after Kuipers and Roberts injuries. It was a baptism of fire in an Albion jersey, which he had to change to pink for the second half, when Ref objected to blue. Yelldell made a couple of good saves and otherwise looked the part at Champ's level. Leeds went ahead just before the break but Brighton came out fighting after more liquid intake. Ten minutes from time Butters headed an equaliser from a corner routine to send travelling devoted into raptures of delight. So Albion earned a heart-warming draw at Bates place and crossed the great north - south divide in prosperity. We were getting established in the Champ's and perception of BHA had changed - also Leeds.
Yelldell, Reid, Virgo, Butters, Hinshelwood, Mayo, Oatway, Carpenter, Harding (Jones), Knight (Nicolas), McCammon (Hart).
Champ's P 31 . W 10 D 8 L 13 . F 25 A 37 . Pt 38 Po 17

Leeds - Home, Withdean Era
Season 11 (H) 21/11/09 - 0-3
It was new gaffero Gus Poyet's first L1 fixture at W'dean and he'd got stuck with United for a kick-off. He done good as assistant at LUFC for a while, before drifting into higher coaching but made himself a respected name there. You couldn't make it up, like bad guy makes good, if you tried. GP's reputation was as a winner but we wondered if it was at all-costs, or thru skill, hard work, motivation and a capacity to understand grassroots footy. Time would tell if he had all these atributes or only a few. Tony Bloom signed him for twelve months for starters, so was hedging his bets too - as per yer gambler looking for the proverbial jackpot. At least Falmer was work in progress and an attraction to 'top' management if we went tits up again in '9/10. Btw 7600 turned up on a wet afternoon.
And it all started so well. Albion pushed the ball around on the deck and matched United for work rate and chances created. Then we got knocked over and heads dropped. Smith got beat over his head from range (27min) and it was uphill now. Just before h-t we committed the cardinal sin and went in two down (43m). LUFC top striker ran on to a long ball and finished sweet as. Poyet made changes in the last twenty mins but the game was up. Whites were much better and soaked us up like a flooded sandbag. They got a third (90m) with B'ton still going forward in 253 shape - oh dear! We all went home wet and sick as a S American rain-forest parrott to boot. Poyet had lots to think about too.
Smith, Whing (Navarro), Tunnicliffe, Elphick, El-Abd (C Davies), Bennett, Crofts, Dicker, Cox (McLeod), Murray, Forster.
League1 P17 . W 4 D 5 L 8 . F 21 A 31 . Pt 17 Po 20

Season 10 (H) 17/1/09 - 0-2
Going into this fixture, Brighton hadn't had a match for three weeks due to postponements. A cold snap at New Year froze Withdean and wiped out most of League1 the following week too. Micky Adams squad was a bit thin on the ground and all because Thomson went back to Scotland, Anyinsah signed for Carlisle and others on loan returned home. Thornton left for Coventry, Johnson to Leeds and Richards off to Ipswich. Although Hinshelwood had become part of the first eleven again, Kuipers, Hawkins, Livermore and Hart were injured. Lynch elected to stay at Forest, while Dixon and Gargan were on loan as well. Albion needed to strengthen but were seemingly a bit backward in getting forwards. Chris Birchall signed and went straight into midfield.
It was nil-nil at half-time but this match was not without incident. Ref had blown-up at a harmless corner with the ball high in the sky and going away from play. He pointed to the spot for some reason but justice was done when Sullivan saved. Fleetwood went one on one but their goalie touched it round a post. On the hour Leeds got a f-k and pushed it up field. They had blokes there and netted a tad easily. Brighton laid siege to Whites line but failed to trouble 'em that much. They broke fast on 82m from defending a set piece and their guy went on a solo run. He wasn't challenged and planted it in pukka style. It wasn't that we were really bad but they were better. Our attack lacked enough chances to bag one by law of averages from crosses supplied. Brighton tried to move the ball about but we ended running round and round in circles of depair. Adams had to wake BHA soon or drop into a drop zone dog fight. Oh no!
Sullivan, Virgo, Elphick, Hinshelwood, Whing, Birchall (Murray), Fraser (Cox), El-Abd, Fleetwood, Forster (Loft).
League1 P 24 . W 5 D 8 L 11 . F 27 A 36 . Pt 23 Po 20

Season 9 (H) 20/10/07 - 0-1
8700 punters turned up which made for a ground record and one hard to beat and all. Leeds were also hard to beat, having started the season on -15 pts for going into admin after relegation from the Champ's. They were unbeaten in 11, with 9 wins - so no wonder plenty of interest was generated. A lot of SE Leeds fans turned up and sat with Brighton faithful on a cool but fairly sunny afternoon. Albion were on a run of half decent form and Wilkins put out almost his best line-up. There was a minutes applause before k-o for Frankie Howard who died a week earlier.
It was gonna be one of those battling nil-nil affairs after Albion couldn't convert one of numerous chances created earlier in the match. Leeds weren't outplaying us for all their confidence but defended well. B'ton's shots were just off target and if one coulda notched, we'd be on our way ok. It wasn't to be and 11 mins from time we dropped off and they scored. Kuipers had been playing well but could only parry a miscued clearance and United got a tap-in. Wilkins esponded a tad late in the day to put fresh legs on and we'd been done up like kippers. It never got to be a Champ's style contest but football was quite ok for this standard. On another occasion we'da cruised to an easy win. But not against lucky Leeds today.
Kuipers, Whing, Elphick, El-Abd, Richards, Savage (Elder), Fraser (Loft), Hammond, Martot, Revell, Robinson (Forster).
League 1 P 12 . W 5 D 2 L 5 . F 13 A 11 . Pt 17 Po 11

Season 7 (H) 14/1/06 - 2-1 ~ Reid, Hart
Kuipers was back between the posts and Chaigneau reverted to sub. Both goalkeepers had a difference of opinion with their manager at various times recently. The tall Frenchman thought erroneously he was going o be selected, saying 'I believe I am improving with every game and will continue to do so.' He didn't start after all or indeed ever play again for Brighton's first eleven. Kuipers meanwhile had played a blinder in reserves against a strong Reading outfit. Hinshelwood also then completed an hour on his comeback from serious knee injury. He was one of a number of past Albion players whose career was threatened by such persistent problems.
A sell-out crowd of nearly 7500 on a cloudy winter day, settled in to watch a David versus Goliath re-match. On ten minutes Reid touched in a Frutos cross come shot. Our Aussie utility man was in thick of the action five minutes from tea-break, when wrongly adjudged to have given away a penalty. He said, 'I thought I'd held him off and gone away with the ball.' Ref thought otherwise. Reid was then checked in Leeds area but Ref waved play on in equally dubious circumstances. Just before being subbed, Reid provided a cutback after another surging run forward for Hart to poach a winner. Hart started up front with Carole in an unlikely partnership but actually provided a successful trickery with thuggish combo. Brighton fans celebrated as of old, when OGH used to bag plenty of kills and wondered why we don't use these strengths more often. McGhee was looking at candidates all over the place to find a competent front man. He said, 'what we need is someone who can come in with authority, can dictate and instruct a little bit.' If Hart had been six feet two, he might as they say in the trade, have gone on to bigger and better.
Kuipers, El-Abd, McShane, Butters, Lynch, Reid (Robinson), Hammond, Carpenter, Frutos, Carole, Hart.
Champ's P 29 . W 5 D 13 L 11 . F 29 A 44 . Pt 28 Po 21

Season 6 (H) 23/10/04 - 1-0 ~ Virgo
'We're going into this game with no Cullip, Nicolas, Reid, McPhee or Roberts and yet we're stupid enough to believe we can actually win this game.' So stated an excited Mark McGhee, prior to a test of our Championship credibility. First of all it was raining. Second of all, Virgo claimed the winner that other reports credited as down to an own goal. Leeds were disappointing and weren't really at the chariot races anyway. It was an equivalent Biblical epic of David and Goliath proportions, where the slingshot found its mark via an in-off. Seven hundred Leeds fans went home very unhappy and would be more so by the following springtime. They were, after all was said and done watching an ex-Prem outfit, who were very ordinary second tier class on this and subsequent days. Albion's cause to try and establish in the Championship was also helped when United lost two men in the second half to red cards. Six thousand Brighton fans therefore went home very happy indeed.
Leon Knight said, 'four years ago they were in the Champions League, now they are at Withdean.' By employing Virgo up front, McGhee had created a new little and large pairing. He hoped this duo might bear fruit, as in the run-in to play-off finals of six months previously, when Iwelumo similarly came on board. Knight added, 'I think we can match anyone. We're not frightened. It's eleven of them against eleven of us... man for man all over the park.' McGhee prophetically said, 'It's also crucial for Leon to have Adam Virgo alongside him. Adam physically takes the workload off Leon.' And large had actually scored more too.
Kuipers, El-Abd, Hinshelwood, Butters, Harding, Hammond, Oatway (Hart), Carpenter, Currie, Knight, Virgo.
Champ's P 15 . W 5 D 4 L 6 . F 14 A 19 . Pt 19 Po 15