Millwall - Away, Withdean Era
Season 11 (A) 28/8/09 - 1-1 ~ Forster
Talk about change, Falmer was a steel construction site growing taller by the day. Russell Slade had revamped BHA's squad during close season but got off to a disatrous start and hadn't won yet. Would money-bags Tony Bloom be asked for more dosh to rescue our failing d-z team, like he'd done to sort out finances for the stadium? We all went off to south of the old Thames docks for an evenings entertainment prior to August Bank Holiday. It was cool and showery but at least we'd be home by midnight.
Brighton went a goal behind inside 5mins when poor defending let runners have a 6yard-box poach. There were over 1100 B'fans in upper tier north and did their best in vocal support. Albion held Lions and their nerve and got to halftime still in the fixture. Slade put Dicker on for injured Navarro at start of second period and Seagulls sought an equaliser. We wuz on top and getting loadsa chances to stick it to 'em. Forster eventually headed the equaliser on 70min to raptuous celebrations above. Ref wasn't a jobsworth and this match was open, clean and often exciting. Lions began to roar and chased us down for a winner. But Brighton held out with a bit of luck, while home fans got out of seats to berate officials and curse east end luck.
Kuipers, Whing, Virgo, Tunnicliffe, El-Abd, Bennett, Navarro (Dicker), Crofts, Cox (Wright), Forster (Hart), Dickinson.
League1 P 5 . W 0 D 2 L 3 . F 4 A 13 . Pt 2 Po 22

Season 10 (A) 21/2/09 - 1-0 ~ Virgo
Talk about lightning striking twice on the way to arriving at the Den. Micky Adams left the club by mutual consent and had only been in the job since May. Previously in this series, McGhee had been replaced by Wilkins (see below 9/9/06) and in turn, he was dropped in favour of Adams. BHA were dumped out of the JPT area final during this very week and had fallen into the bottom four in League1 to boot. White and Booker were now in charge and more than just a few B'ton fans thought they should have been on their way out too. It was a sunny day, mild and so loads of B'ton fans turned up.
Brighton held Millwall at the break but nil-nil didn't reflect true nature of a cut and thrust fixture. Lions had claws out although couldn't draw blood from Albion, who had Kuipers to thank for maintaining even-steven by half time. In fact just on 45 min, Birchall missed a sitter to put BHA ahead slightly against run of play. B'ton were still in it after an hour and Kuipers again made saves to keep it clean. Entering the last quarter of a tense match, Albion were definitely creating opportunities to nick a lead. On 73 min, a f-k by Virgo hit the wall. Jarrett dinked it back in and Virgo who was still running, nodded the late opener. Millwall put subs on but couldn't find a leveller, though they tried hard enough. The Den was a cauldron of noise and a lot was coming from the away end. Ref allowed five mins stoppage and the kitchen sink was seen throw on at one point as B'fans whistled at the death.
Kuipers, Whing, Elphick, El-Abd, McNulty, Birchall, Jarrett, Fraser (Hinshelwood), Cox, Virgo, Forster.
League1 P 30 . W 7 D 10 L 13 . F 34 A 45 . Pt 31 Po 21

Season 9 (A) 26/12/07 - 0-3
Boxing Day and despite rail restrictions, over 1000 Brighton fans filed into the Den. Some were late but perhaps body search lines had held things up. It was dry, sunny and mild after a wet Xmas Day in town. Wilkins went with an unchanged squad, bar Richards who went home for Yuletide. Brighton had been on a fairly decent run of form but hadn't played a competitive fixture for 11 days due to a frozen pitch at Withdean. He'd had 'em in for extra training instead of opening stockings. Wags had to wait for a post festive playtime.
Brighton fans had a collective mare, Albion got done by three and we all trooped off home and waited for New Year. BHA were nothing short of poor and mid table mediocrity at its worst. Even Wilkins thought us rubbish and Millwall fans got a right old knees up. A goal down (7 min) after Lions first attack, set the scene for a mauling. Their second came soon after the break (54) when Cox came on to do the do. Kuipers brought down their dual goalscorer and he completed a hat-trick (71) from the spot. We had two shots on and two off target. What a let down and there was also moans and groans about players contracts, loan signings and next years Xmas list and all.
Kuipers, Whing, El-Abd, Lynch, Rents, Fraser (Cox), O'Callaghan, Hammond, Robinson (Martot), Savage (Revell), Forster
League 1 P 21 . W8 D 6 L 7 . F 26 A 20 . Pt 30 Po 11

Season 8 (A) 28/11/06 JPT (SAQF) - 1-1 ~ Robinson
Brighton won this intense battle on penalties 3-2, after equalising two min from normal time. There was five minutes of stoppage but not extra time as such. Butters got sent off after 20 min for a last man trip outside our box. Video evidence still won't change Ref's decision. Albion laboured and went one down as tea cups were being filled. Wilkins set out his stall to hit 'em on the counter but an equaliser seemed like it wasn't forthcoming. B'ton lost El-Abd to injury and reverted to three at the back and four across mid-field. Then Robinson made a very late break-thru with a solo effort, counter attacking from deep. He went right on into their box and beat all and sundry, while firing off a fierce shot.
There was a super turn-out by noisy Albion fans and Wilkins capitalised on this for the penalty shoot out. We were definitely a er, sixth man. Millwall were rattled and missed two, while Henderson saved another one. Hammond, Robinson and super sub Mayo bagged enough spot kick ticks for victory. Scenes of celebration were akin to beating Palace at Selhurst over a year before. And locals knew nobody liked 'em either.
Henderson, Whing, Hinshelwood, Butters, Lynch, Fraser (John), El-Abd (Mayo), Hammond, Cox, Revell (Gatting), Robinson

Season 8 (A) 9/9/06 - 1-0 ~ og
Mark McGhee was sacked on the eve of this clash with south London strugglers, who could have been bottom but for Rotherham starting on -10 points. Dean Wilkins and Dean White took charge of an Albion side beaten in their last three league games. Dick Knight had acted in interests of the club after a reduced home crowd berated McGhee at Withdean and away support booed down at Bristol. The plot had well and truly been lost somewhere in between. Assistant manager Bob Booker also left with six BHA years on his CV working for several bosses. A Championship capitulation had gone against this pressurised pair and at the end of those days, Brighton was now a selling club. Accent soon focused on youth but even at League 1 level, it was a baptism of fire beginning for battling B'ton boys.
It was always going to be tough there. Brighton fans turned up in a big bunch and were in good voice. A single goal might sway the dour contest one way or another but Albion lost any immediate advantage. A two footed, studs up challenge from Carpenter received a red card - once the punch up finished. It stayed at nil-nil virtually throughout as Lions broke their teeth on a massed flock of Seagulls. The kids done good and FDM made saves, blocks, scrambles and parrys to keep Millwall shut out. A local SE16 pride reached new lows of verbal bullying - of their own outfit! They sliced a very late og into our away end goal and Sussex by the sea rang out around the Den until final whistle. It had been a long time since a real up-beat attitude pervaded post match passion and celebrations. Most were peased the two Deans had got lucky to kick off their chance to re-awaken a comatose sleeping giant.
Kuipers, El-Abd, Santos, Lynch, Rents (Mayo), Reid (Fraser), Carpenter, Hammond, Cox, Hart, Revell.
League 1 P 7 . W 3 D 1 L 3 . F 7 A 9 . Pt 10 Po 11

Season 7 (A) 1/4/06 - 2-0 ~ Reid, McShane
Brighton went four games unbeaten with a victory at the Den but those three previous matches had been draws. We might have beaten fellow drop zone strugglers and claimed much needed points but a place in the bottom three would be difficult to avoid on the run-in. We were left 7 points behind 'safe' Sheffield Wednesday with 5 fixtures to play, including hosting a Withdean relegation decider against them. Positive people were digging up surprising stats from decades before, showing how miracles could happen. A majority of Brighton fans had already accepted their fate. Mr McGhee had been under fire from disgruntled supporters for not getting hold of a target-man up-front. Things had picked up since a belated loan signing arrived and Albion had then scored for the first time in a month. Suddenly we'd got another 2 on the score-sheet since before Xmas, although neither were accredited to goal-shy strikers. Could it really be our dreams would come true, like at the conclusion of last term? Would we be going to big stadiums again, in a crowd of 20 or 25 thousand? Could McGhee turn around misguided and forlorn tactics, which had seen us fall still further behind those on course for 50 points, to ensure a bright future? Was attacking 4-3-3 the new 4-2-4 that had failed to lift BHA to mid-table mediocrity? Should he now build anew, round a young home-grown team, as today and ditch expensive foreign imports? Seemingly there were more questions than answers.
The flawed Falmer planning decision was to be referred back to John Prescott for a second but valid judgement. The ODPM had made a basic mistake in describing the diversity of the whole site. But his was a very important Secretary of State position and local authorities, both Unitary and District would surely respect such a high office - wouldn't they? If not, they'd see us in Court!
Henderson, Hinshelwood, El-Abd, McShane, Lynch, Reid, Hammond, Carpenter, Hart (Gatting, Mayo), Noel-Williams (Butters).
Champ's P 41 . W 6 D 17 L 18 . F 36 A 60 GD -24 . Pt 35 Po 23rd

Season 6 (A) 11/12/04 - 0-2
Darren Currie transferred to Ipswich, Steve Claridge went off to Brentford and Mark McCammon would arrive in a week from, yes Millwall. Danny Cullip had played his last game for Brighton & Hove Albion. We were suddenly a selling club. Certain signings had proved partially successful, like Alex Nicolas. Not so other squad additions, for instance Maheta Molango and Albert Jarrett. That's professional football and Mr McGhee a prudent Scot, more than knew the score in trading reputations.
Brighton were beaten by the time Millwall's keeper saved Knight's last minute penalty. Thereby hangs a tale. Virgo had got 5 goals in 18 appearances, Knight 2 in 19, other fringe attackers couldn't even get a game let alone goals. Defence and midfield contributed another six. Injuries, inexperience and loss of form were having an effect on those telling, 'since last score' statistics. Oh dear - BHA though had accumulated 25 points at this halfway stage, our target was 50 by early May. Game very much still on.
Kuipers, Reid (Knight), Hinshelwood (Watson), Cullip, Butters, Harding, Oatway, Nicolas (Hammond), Carpenter, Claridge, Virgo.
Champ's P 23 . W 7 D 4 L 12 . F 17 A 31 . Pt 25 Po 20th

Season 4 (A) 7/9/02 - 0-1
Martin Hinshelwood was newest manager at BHA and Mark McGhee current boss of Millwall. Twelve hundred Brighton fans turned up in the Lions' Den to see new boys Butters and Kitson play - appropriately in black. Our meeting at Zampa Road was a typical affair on our recent return to division 1 since 1992. Brighton lost 0-1, a score-line repeated again and again during an unlucky attempt to establish at higher standard. Pethick was sent off after we conceded and defeat in 'docklands' became inevitable. Albion's anguish continued following this fifth loss running and didn't stop for weeks, until Steve Coppell arrived at Withdean. It looked a tall order for Brighton to emulate south, west or east end clubs and consolidate - you know it went right to the wire. A little over a year later, McGhee drove down to the Channel coast for interview as candidate for BHA manager - our fifth in nearly as many years at Withdean.
Petterson, Watson, Cullip, Butters, Pethick, Melton, Carpenter, Oatway, Brooker (Jones), Marney (McPhee), Kitson.
Div 1 (Champ's) P 7 . W 1 D 1 L 5 . F 5 A 11 . Pt 4 Po 22nd

Season 2 (A) 5/9/00 LC1/2 - 1-1 ~ Jones
Year 2000 was one when both Brighton and Millwall hoped to launch promotion trail campaigns to put them back where each club belonged. Or thought realistically, where they should be. In the case of the south Bermondsey club it was div1 at least and possibly better. For Brighton, stuck at Withdean and developing slowly with more dreams than reality, div2 would do in the interim. That age-old question of how many bums on seats usually determined how far an ambitious club could go and while both undeniably had potential, actually getting those required punters was problematical. Football League minimum capacity was for 6000 and BHA had converted a decrepit athletics stadium by adding thousands of extra seats. They could fill the place on a regular basis and at present would get another fifteen to twenty five hundred due to ongoing demand for tickets per week. Millwall already had a half decent venue at 20k but couldn't get near gates of those in, good old bad days. What each FC needed was some success to make a quantum leap to a higher plane, followed by effective consolidation. Plus when they finally got there of course, loads of dosh.
Brighton lost the first leg of 90 minutes on home turf by conceding twice to individual efforts. Over 750 Albion supporters saw a repeat of efficient marksmanship when letting a first half stalemate slip from grasp just before break for a swift one. Five thousand at the Den thought it must be all over but Jones was on the pitch. He slid in Brooker's centre and all to play for again as they say in London by the sea. Brighton certainly raised their game but couldn't go the extra mile that was a measure of how far we needed to extend over a longer journey. Adams said, 'we were terrific all round the pitch. To say we were unfortunate would be an understatement. Millwall's management paid us a complement that we were very unlucky not to progress. Since I've been at the club that was the best all round performance.'
Cartwright, Watson, Cullip, Wicks, Mayo, Rogers (Brooker), Carpenter, Oatway, Jones, Hart (Thomas), Zamora.

Millwall - Home, Withdean Era
Season 11 (H) 30/1/10 - 0-1
This was Brighton's first home fixture since Boxing Day, due to L1 postponement and a foray up to Villa for FAC4 action. Gus Poyet was boss now, since Slade departed at end of October. But Albion had still been pretty dire at W'dean and we'd lost 8 there in '09. Falmer was going up steadily, even tho bad weather hampered progress around early Jan. BHA were desperate to play there in 2011 as a Championship outfit but it wasn't gonna happen this term bar a miracle of biblical proportions. Today was the day to show if the present squad could cut the mustard, or whether GP needed to start from scratch again in close season. It was a very cold day but B'fans were getting used to it in a freezing winter not too far from discontent.
It was nil -nil at h-t and Albion had held p-o prospects from the capital to a few chances. The surface was frost covered and passed an inspection but was the same for both sides at end of the day. Navarro got injured and Cox appeared for second period. Soon after (49min), Virgo lost possession and a Lion pounced, going on to beat FDM's shocked reaction. B'ton tried to hit back and GP worked out his strategy for a point. Dickinson and new kid Holroyd got on past the hour mark to go 433 in all out attack. BHA pushed forward and went so close to equalising. Elphick's header was cleared off the line and Murray's hit a post. Millwall defended the proverbial kitchen sink and our efforts drained away to nought. Plenty of effort went in to a frustrating defeat and we'd play worse without being pointless, if perhaps goal-less.
Kuipers, Calderon, Virgo, Elphick, Painter (Dickinson), Bennett, Crofts, Navarro (Cox), Murray, Forster (Holroyd).
League1 P 27 . W 7 D 7 L 13 . F 33 A 48 . Pt 28 Po 20

Season 10 (H) 1/11/08 - 4-1 ~ Murray 2, Johnson, Cox
Lions were second in the League1 table and came to our place on the back of 9 wins and 2 draws. They'd only lost up at Oldham (4th) on opening day and to leaders Scunthorpe in their last away match. Meanwhile Brighton had just finally won on Withdean turf, against Leicester (6th) after three months of sheer frustration. Adams had plenty of injury problems for excuses but his second revolution squad was under-achieving, while this division shaped toward a regular top, middle and bottom. Relieved Adams was desperately trying to play catch-up after that first victory for eleven fixtures. Fifty percent of matches had been drawn, including three nil-nils so early in the season already. He'd got attacking midfielder Brad Johnson in on loan from Leeds to bolster goal-less makeshift strikers. Robbie Savage had proved something of an expensive failure and defenders, holding players and wingers couldn't notch for toffee either. Morale was still good, although B'fans patience got a bit thin in the last ten weeks. To rub it in, this was one of the wettest afternoons in 10 years at Withdean, especially for regular south-standers. The gate was boosted by Millwall support to just short of 6000.
Adams set 'em up as 442 and not much happened during a first half where Millwall were better. Virgo went off just before half an hour with injury. Prior to h-t Murray opened our account (45m) with a well-taken attempt. Lions hit back (49m) when strolling thru no probs as we kinda nodded off. Murray then had two stabs to notch again(57m), having a pen saved but following up. He then provided quality centres for Johnson (65m) and Cox (81m) in fine style from Albion breaks. There was plenty of pace, thrills, spills and incidents with Murray MoM. He even blocked a f-k on the line from 10 yards out. No one could steal his moment, least of all out-manoeuvered Lions left hungry.
Sullivan, Whing, Elphick, Hawkins, Richards, Thornton (Livermore), Thomson, Johnson (Fleetwood), Cox, Anyinsah, Virgo (Murray).
League1 P 15 . W 4 D 7 L 4 . F 20 A 20 . Pt 19 Po 14

Season 9 (H) 7/9/07 - 3-0 ~ Hammond, Cox, Martot
It was a Friday night and warm if a bit cloudy but floodlights made for a half decent atmosphere. Over 6500 got along to celebrate getting Falmer rubber stamped and DC & MP handed BHA certificates to Falmer for All campaigners at half time. There would be 3 years for fans to wait, so Ken Brown had been brought in as Managing Director while MP ran the Falmer project. DC said he'd see us all there soon, so no pressure eh? We hoped by then Brighton would be a Championship club and it could begin here now, with a third straight win at home from 3 opening fixtures at temporary Tongdean Lane.
Wilkins had got O'Callaghan from Ipswich and Martot via Le Havre on loan for a few months. Albion went one up on 12 min when Ref adjudged Hammond had been illegally felled. Our Captain took the spot kick and made it two pens from three goals in 5 apps. Cox put Brighton two ahead on 19 min from a well taken individual effort, chipping Lions goalie from distance. We expected a big score as Albion bossed a pretty useful first half performance. Millwall tried hard second period to hit back but didn't have real pukka finishing, although Seagulls defended their nest A-ok. Subs were made as Lynch was injured and Wilko wanted to keep up a high tempo. Mertot got on the end of a fine break to measure an unchallenged shot and celebrate a la Frenchie style. Millwall musta felt a bit choked to get done by 3 and had increasingly become physical. They had a bloke sent off in stoppage from 2 yellows after Forster was clouted again. No pain, no gain.
Kuipers, Whing, Elphick, Butters, Lynch (El-Abd), Robinson (Mertot), O'Callaghan, Hammond, Cox, Savage (Revell), Forster.
League 1 P 5 . W 3 D 0 L 2 . F 9 A 7 . Pt 9 Po 5

Season 8 (H) 13/1/07 - 0-1
Another wet afternoon at Withdean which coincided with fans' scarf day, supposedly where we waved them at times of high excitement. Trouble was these moments were few and far between and it was all rather dumbed down by the W'dean effect and level of performance. The free flowing football that had brought support back up to break-even sized crowds, had gone missing since before Xmas. This was a sixth straight defeat in a row and only a well filled away end were anything like enjoying a dour League 1 scrap. One ray of sunshine on a miserable Saturday, was found in the family stand, where kids could build their own future fan base to a high pitched crescendo.
Albion fell behind in bizarre circumstances, when a punt upfield split our defence and a loping Lion lobbed an advancing Hendo. It was a typical crazy giveaway that seemed to be repeated week in and out, in one form or another. Only a single lg1 clean sheet had been recorded at home and that from an opening evening fixture, when McGhee picked the recently relegated side. He had come out in local press, saying words to the effect that Albion could have a new drop zone battle on their hands. After a great scoring run in Cup competitions, we couldn't now hit the net for toffee. Such was the sticky fundamental problem in McGhee's time as boss-man and almost an annual case of deja vu.
Henderson, O'Cearuill, Lynch, Butters, Rents, Hart (Frutos), Carpenter (Fraser), El-Abd, Cox, Gatting (Elder), Robinson.
League 1 P 27 . W 9 D 4 L 14 . F 33 A 41 . Pt 31 Po 18

Season 7 (H) 31/12/05 - 1-2 ~ Hammond
Millwall were bottom of the table and came to Withdean with only three wins from twenty six fixtures. Brighton were just above relegation positions and an easy three points would further increase the space from those strugglers. There appeared to be every reason to hope New Year would bring extra points and eventually a doubling of the present total come May. More than 6800 holiday makers got down to W'dean for a final lunch time footy extravaganza in 2005. The pitch was soft after heavy rain but blue sky showed at kick off.
Inside two minutes Albion went one up when Hammond nodded a Frutos cross past a flapping keeper. Then things apppeared to go pear shaped as chances galore went begging throughout the first half. Still, there was 45 minutes left to keep a clean sheet. Lions tore us apart with a quick double strike after the break. It was like playing a different team as a half time 3 sub change-over payed dividends for previously bankrupt south Londoners. B'ton had an opportunity to have made a killing and ended up victims of their own poor shooting. There were some big cats prowling around but also a few pussies - you decide exactly where. Very dark shower clouds gathered and a section was singing - in the Worthing end. Someone had been 'avin a larf.
Kuipers, Reid, McShane, Butters, El-Abd, Carole, Carpenter, Hammond, Frutos, McCammon, Kazim-Richards (Knight).
Champ's P 27 . W 4 D 13 L 10 . F 26 A 41 . Pt 25 Po 21

Season 6 (H) 26/2/05 - 1-0 ~ Hart
Rami Shaaban kept goal for Brighton on six occasions during spring of 2005. A year and three months later he represented Sweden in a World Cup Group match. 'It's a funny old game', as '66 sidelined Jimmy Greaves used to philosophically remark. Gary Hart reached 300 appearances for Brighton and scored a late, late winner to boot from a goalmouth scramble. Kerry Mayo notched up 300 league games and Richard Carpenter 200 for Seagulls. Soon afterwards Charlie Oatway also made it 200. Grass may look more inviting elsewhere but we've got green and pleasant land in Sussex and know about loyalty, pride and commitment.
Three quarters of the season had been completed and Albion were mid-table, several points clear of the drop zone. There was an air of optimism before the run-in. Brighton were over achievers and two months ahead of getting to a similar points total recorded in '02/3. We wanted to be taken seriously as a pukka Championship side and gain some credibility. Mr McGhee could tinker with the squad, try out ideas and develop an outfit capable of keeping us ahead of the game. What did Greavsie really know?
Shaaban, Reid, Hinshelwood, Butters, Harding, Hart, Carpenter, Nicolas, Knight, McCammon (Oatway), McPhee (Mayo)
Champ's P 35 . W 12 D 8 L 15 . F 30 A 43 . Pt 44 Po 15

Season 4 (H) 22/2/03 - 1-0 ~ Rougier
Brighton had missed Millwall in league games for several years, before Mark McGhee wandered into Withdean with them, ably assisted by former Albion gaffer Steve Gritt. While Albion assailed division 3 heights two seasons previously, McGhee also took the Lions up from div2. To some extent this meeting was our local London derby, bearing in mind Wimbledon only shared Saturdays at Selhurst and so a useful test of current standards.
Coppell usually played five at the back and often as not Zamora alone up front. He had just acquired Tony Rougier on loan from Reading to add some hustle and bustle by way of support. He came on as sub after an hour and five minutes later was on the score sheet, for some strange-but-true Seagulls' statistic.
Beasant, Watson, Ingimarsson, Cullip, Blackwell, Mayo, Carpenter, Rodger, Brooker (Rougier), Barrett, Zamora.
Div 1 (Champ's) P 33 . W 7 D 8 L 18 . F 34 A 51 . Pt 29 Po 22

Season 2 (H) 22/8/00 LC1/1 - 1-2 ~ Watson
We were now in the noughties but that League Cup sponsored by Worthington was still a two-leg affair for starting this early season competition. At one time Coca Cola supplied their name and money to this multi league knockout and even Littlewoods took a twentieth century punt at one stage. Brighton had run across Millwall in the lowly AWS trophy during the last two years of the old millennium - for 'football calendar' styled years anyway. In 1999 Lions reached Wembley but in Y2k we knocked them out at Withdean. Millwall had been kicking around in div2 for a while and finished 14th in '97, 18th in '98, 10th in '99 and 5th in '00. Wigan did 'em in p-o semi finals to halt a southeast London advance into div1. The Bermondsey outfit came down to Withdean on an August evening already leading their division and intent on staying there. A policy of developing talent from a youth set-up had begun to bear fruit. Brighton too embarked down this route but in the meantime Micky Adams had assembled what he thought was a squad fit to challenge for promotion. Quite a number of Albion's experienced side came in from Adams old clubs like Fulham and Brentford. He had paid 100k though for an unknown kid from Bristol Rovers reserves but at least he was London born and fitted in, with no worries at all John.
Six thousand people watched an entertaining tie, which was a sizable audience for the time of year. Adams said, 'it was a slightly disappointing result. We knew they would be fit and organised and test us severely. But I took great encouragement from certain aspects of the team's performance and I've seen a steady improvement over the first three games of the season. It is important we didn't finish too far out of the game and Millwall will realise the tie is not won yet. We're more than capable of getting a result at the Den.' It was true that Lions looked sharp on this occasion and struck two tidy goals to hold an advantage in SE16. You could see Albion had to step up on regular div3 standards and Ref helped us with a free kick given a few yards from the goal that Watson didn't miss.
Cartwright, Watson, Cullip, Crosby, Mayo, Freeman (Jones), Carpenter (Rogers), Oatway (Melton), Brooker, Zamora, Hart.

Season 1 (H) 7/12/99 AWS1 - 1-0 ~ Hart
At Gillingham on a Tuesday night in early January 1999, BHA hosted Millwall for the first home game since Boxing Day. Being an AWS round one tie, it was a distraction from regular league fare. Almost unbelievably that Xmas '98/99 div3 fixture against Brentford had resulted in a win over those table toppers from 'local' west London. Over 4800 had attended and we won't pretend they were all for Albion. A last match at Priestfield watched by a few extra punters only surpassed that 'massive' gate, before a new season homecoming to Brighton three months later. At the time Seagulls were flying high when an away draw from the New Year fixture made it seven points from nine to complete a festive programme. Brian Horton had gotten his heroes into a play-off spot and somehow the bad old days seemed like a fading nineties memory. Millwall were a div2 outfit of some repute and although mid table, had designs on achieving a higher standard. Just above 2000 went to have a look and quite a number came from Bermondsey and down river out of Docklands. In this sponsored FL trophy tie for lower league clubs, Albion were put in their true berth and hammered 5-1. Within three weeks Horton jumped ship and Jeff Wood took over the helm. But off course BHA nose-dived, with nine losses in a ten game spell and Micky Adams came on board to steady a rocking boat.
Eleven months later Brighton had again drawn Millwall at home but this time at Withdean. Only 2400 bothered to buy a ticket and spent a cool evening in central open-air blocks. In fairness it transpired there happened to be five home games in a row during 17 days and four were at night! Lions were after a play-off place, so didn't field a line-up full of savage pride. They must have treated it as a training exercise after an Albion death in outer London's jungle on a New Year night out. One other thing Horton is remembered for was in bringing Hart round the M25 for pocket money. He was joint top scorer in '98/99 with 12 goals from 48 appearances. This term OGH was on 3 from 23 and in midst of a drought. Adams had Cullip and Freeman suspended but otherwise basically went with a first eleven team. Brighton duly won 1-0 and Hart notched from a set piece in the final minute. Adams said, 'we produced a pleasing display and must carry on from where we left off.' In other words he desperately wanted to reverse poor league form by gaining three points and very soon.
Walton, Watson, Hobson, Carr, Crosby, Campbell, Rogers, Oatway, Aspinall, Hart, Ramsay.