Rotherham - Away, Withdean Era
Season 8 (A) 5/8/06 - 1-0 ~ Revell
Relegation from the Championship had tested Mr Knight. He stood by his manager Mark McGhee, after a behind the scenes battle of an angry Board to oust the failing Scot. A compromise was reached when McGhee stayed and Dean Wilkins became first team coach. His success with the youth team, where several had signed pro forms, heralded a bright beginning to build a winning future Championship side. Several fringe squad members had departed after that gloomy spring of under achievement. Kuipers was demoted to reserve keeper and had to say sorry for being so outspoken. Revell joined from non-league, while Hinshelwood had gotten another knee injury and Butters a bad back.
On opening day Brighton journey'd up to Rotherham, who started '06/7 season with -10 points, courtesy of FA discipline edicts. Wearing an all blue strip as opposed to white, Albion took the game to deficient Millers using a flexible 4-3-3 formation. Shortly before a break for cold drinks on a warm, humid afternoon, Revell spun and curled an effort just inside an upright. Cox got booked celebrating with Brighton fans at their Railway end stand. Minutes later he got to make a last tackle near the opposite area as Ref reached for pocket, pencil, book and colourful cards. In the second half Rotherham came forward as expected but had an off day as B'ton defended with nine back and a free front man. There was plenty of route one, hustle, bustle and grind to claim three points. However in flashes, a pattern of play involving cross-field passes to wings appeared a sound way for a future attacking style when again on the long road to Yorkshire.
Henderson, Reid, El-Abd, Lynch, Mayo, Stokes, Carpenter, Hammond, Cox, Hart, Revell (Kazim-Richards).
League 1 P 1 . W 1 D 0 L 0 . F 1 A 0 . Pt 3 Po 6

Season 6 (A) 30/4/05 - 1-0 ~ og
Brighton hadn't won for two months, crawled to 47 points in a multi-club scrap to avoid the last relegation place and went to rock bottom Rotherham badly needing a victory. Leading goal-scorer and Player of the Season Adam Virgo was sidelined with a knee injury. Two and a half thousand Seagulls' supporters at Millmoor wondered where our goal would come from. Albion ground out a result as one of those desperate Millers didn't exactly use his loaf to prevent a half-baked job overall.
Brighton played in their yellow strip, when 'Argentina' blue and white 'elite' stripes would psychologically have been more appropriate. When scores from other relevant matches filtered through, these were shouted across to the team from the Railway End stand. Results certainly went our way at the death as Albion scrambled out of the bottom three. It logged BHA's ninth one-nil win and thirteenth by one goal of thirteen victories in total - a remarkable stat. Two such matches had ended in our favour through own goals. Ironically it was these that helped keep deficient Brighton in the Championship.
Blayney, Reid, El-Abd, Butters, Harding, Hart (Robinson), Oatway, Carpenter, Hammond, McPhee (Mayo), Knight.
Champ's P 45 . W 13 D 11 L 21 . F 39 A 64 . Pt 50 Po 20

Season 4 (A) 21/9/02 - 0-1
You finally get to go back to Millmoor in the 21st century, long since we partied as a goodbye to those more than naughty nineteen nineties and what's different? Apart from a few seats, where a terrace used to stand, nowt. There is an atmosphere but it's a kind of northern retro feel, of Saturday afternoons from a bygone industrial age. BHA went up there as latest div1 hopefuls but we couldn't exactly shout about our own modern home, now can we? Clubs with small capacities will eventually feel the pinch and by law of averages, slip to a lower tier. It just seemed to be happening much to damn quickly in our case. Brighton crashed to an eighth successive defeat, conceding a bizarre goal as luck turned against us yet again in our first attempt at the big time.
The Millers' man who scored was way offside initially. However that original if illegal pass to him, deflected off a swooping Seagull on route. Thus making it all quite ok, as per interpretation of FL rules and regulations. He chipped Albion's little on-loan Aussie keeper as a linesman's flag rose, in some sort of flaccid but ultimately mocking gesture. To score was a banker. B'ton fans easily found a 'descriptive' word forthcoming - to insult, shock and also rhyme.
Petterson, Watson, Cullip, Butters, Mayo, Piercy (Rogers), Carpenter, Oatway, Jones (Wilkinson), Marney, Hart.
Div1 (Champ's) P 10 . W 1 D 1 L 8 . F8 A 18 . Pt 4 Po 23

Season 1 (A) 28/12/99 - 3-1 ~ Freeman, Rogers, Cullip
Brighton fans travelled to Yorkshire, post Xmas festivities, for a fixture that marked the halfway stage of '99/'00. There were more celebrations on offer, as the northern automatic promotion candidates were turned into turkey carcases in a feast of Albion attacking. Micky Adams who employed three up front, thought it our best display since he took over a difficult managerial job. Standards were set here and on their day, Albion could attain these with the best of them. At the start of this initial term housed in Brighton, expectation had been impossibly high and perhaps adjustment was part of a natural process of evolution. In order to reach knockout stages for clubs 4-7 at the end of the second half, B'ton had to up the ante for more points at stake. Something like 72 pts was required in total, meaning an additional 41 over the next 23 games. That would be equivalent to auto promo form and a tall order by any ones measurements. Narrow defeat became a theme, often repeated this term and if Adams could manage to reverse these, he knew a giant leap would surely appear achievable, if not inevitable.
Walton, Watson, Carr, Cullip, Crosby, Mayo, Rogers, Oatway, Hart (Aspinal), Pinamonte (Cameron), Freeman.
Div3 (League2) P 23 . W 8 D 7 L 8 . F 34 A 28 . Pt 31 Pos 15

Rotherham - Home, Withdean Era
Season 8 (H) 3/2/07 - 0-0
A lot of transfer window activity beforehand but surprisingly, a move for free-agent Savage after deadline bids had failed on three goal-getting strikers for half decent money. Mr Knight had apparently got some dosh now and some of it was from the sale of Henderson to Preston for £150k. Bertin came on board the Le Harvre ferry with his French contract to end of season. Ward was on loan from QPR and was an Aussie kid who liked to get forward from mid-field. Otherwise apart from Bakayogo on the bench, faces were tried and tested.
If Albion had scored early on, things would probably have been different and perhaps ended with a comfortable win. Saturdays were becoming something of part of a frustrating weekend, as Sunday supplements inevitably recorded our failure to win consistently at Withdean. This season was a little disappointing at this stage to say the least. The scrap down near the drop zone was too close for comfort in terms of points, where a proverbial pocket handkerchief covered a third of the table. We certainly could not afford to drop too many points like today. Basically defence was sound, we'd got three clean sheets in a row and if only we could hit the net just once in 90 minutes?
Kuipers, O'Cearuill, Butters, Lynch, Mayo, Ward, El-Abd (Bertin), Hammond, Cox, Savage, Robinson.
League 1 P 30 . W 10 D 6 L 14 . F 34 A 41 . Pt 36 Po 16

Season 6 (H) 4/12/04 - 1-0 ~ Harding
Albion went with three at the back, with wingbacks pushing on. It worked, eventually. Harding smashed in a late winner after finding space down the left. Up to then we had some chances but failed to convert apparent superiority. Patience was the game being played and turn of cards almost went right to bottom of the deck. It continued to be frustrating for spectators from the wooded fringe and H block got to their feet to try and create some spasmodic support. At the end of the day B'ton would take any number of one - nil wins and forgo luxury of positive goal difference in silence. Progress would be made if strikers received better service. The final third was an area where Seagulls could swoop more effectively - like deep into the box! In a sense Albion were still attempting to find and play their best first eleven. Defence seemed relatively settled but midfield and forwards needed refinement. We hoped there could be enough goals from all over the field to eventually keep us above the bottom three.
Kuipers, Reid, Hinshelwood, Cullip, Butters, Harding, Oatway, Nicolas, Currie, Claridge, Knight.
Champ's P 22 . W 7 D 4 L 11 . F 17 A 30 . Pt 25 Po 20

Season 4 (H) 8/3/03 - 2-0 ~ Zamora, og
Brighton desperately needed extra points, as the bottom four clubs were separated by just two pts. By comparison, Rotherham required a mere couple to reach 50 and consolidate their achievement at this level. It was something Albion aspired to and if the northern no-hopers could do it, so could we. The trick appeared to be in assembling a squad that would battle against all odds, though continue to improve as a unit over a long hard season. Coppell had got Seagulls so motivated and capable.
BHA climbed above the bottom three on goal difference with a positive home result. There was more than a glimmer of hope after a pretty mediocre first half, when a Millers' man put through his own net an attempt by Rougier. A volley from Zamora to a Carpenter corner sealed the win, although the game was far from dead in the last twenty minutes.
Beasant, Watson, Ingimarsson, Cullip, Blackwell, Mayo, Carpenter, Rodger, Brooker, Rougier, Zamora.
Div 1 (Champ's) P 36 . W 8 D 8 L 20 . F 36 A 55 . Pt 32 Po 21

Season 1 (H) 15/4/00 - 1-1 ~ Watson
Withdean season no.1 was drawing to a conclusion, if not exactly a climax and the word 'fortress' couldn't presently be applied. Nevertheless an undefeated run was developing nicely since that incredible 7-1 trouncing of Chester in Cheshire. Zamora had gone back from whence he came and his duties were taken over by an equally young Ramsay. Rogers, Hart and Freeman also added to their goal tallies, while a sort of mid-table mediocrity settled on proceedings. Table topping Millers dropped in on route to div2 and also 5800 odd witnessing punters, unsuitably squeezed in but outside a puddled athletics track interior. Watson got his name in the papers, with what was to elevate score-wise and become a trademark free kick. The rest was a familiar story of try, try and try again. Adams had seen play-off ambition founder but still wanted a professional approach to remaining games. The run-in had included clubs scrapping it out at top and bottom of the league. Although a lack of desire became a bigger south coast crime than losing to those with something left to play for.
Walton, Watson, Cullip, Crosby, Mayo, Freeman (Thomas), Roger, Oatway, Ling (Aspinal), Brooker (Ramsay), Hart.
Div 3 (League 2) P 42 . W 15 D 14 L 13 . F 61 A 45 . Pt 59 Po 13