Scunthorpe - Away, Withdean Era
Season 10 (A) 21/3/09 - 0-2
Scunny were in a play-off spot but Albion were in deep doo-doo in the drop zone. Adams was ancient history, although warning signs flashed in Utd's big win at W'dean way back in early September. If only we knew then, we coulda gone out and got a different squad straight away - instead of playing Tom, Dick and Harry on loan over 8 months. Slade arrived from parting company with Yeovil and could see, previously it was just all talk about 'too good to go down.' He had inherited one helluva job to keep us in League1 but did he have the man management skills to put us on the map again?
Somehow Brighton appeared to lead a charmed life as Scunthorpe bossed the first half and set up chance after chance. We wanted, if not to say needed to go in to coffee at nil-nil - but no. On 42 min United took a dig from distance and in it went. Slade reverted to 442 from 433 after the break but we were pretty hopeless up front. United hit the bar twice in a minute as Albion floundered against a confident outfit looking for easy pickings. Slade made changes but hey - Titanic and deckchairs? With 10 mins left, Heath was sent off for a foul in the area. Iron hammered their second (80m) from the spot. It was another bad day at the office and politics and gossip were also saying, the squad had been taking the piss all season on and off the pitch. What was happening, Prem style excesses?
Andersen, Whing, Elphick, Heath, Borrowdale, Virgo, El-Abd, Bangura (Fraser), Davies, Forster (Owusu), Cox (Carole).
League1 P 37 . W 8 D 11 L 18 . F 42 A 60 . Pt 35 Po 22
Season 8 (A) 14/10/06 - 2-1 ~ Cox, Hart
Losing four League 1 games on the trot and then going up to Glanford park, made even most optimistic fans wonder about completing a nap hand. The wheels appeared to have come off and only two goals were scored over those fixtures. Scunthorpe had beaten Forest 4-0 in Nott'm and had forced themselves up the table with a good run of form. Albion had been sending out changed elevens regularly and still needed to find a winning settled side.
Against the odds, Brighton went ahead after playing some decent football. Cox headed home, stooping to reach a bouncing ball. This was handy because Scunthorpe had just lost a man to a professional foul. Unfortunately they re-doubled efforts and snatched an equaliser just before half time, after Hishelwood had headed a cross onto our bar and a rebound fell nicely for 'em. In bright sunshine, B'ton attacked from the restart and got ahead again quickly when Hart prodded in as of old. Iron went for it and pushed up but Seagulls defence flew in the face of a battering. Super subbing by Wilkins ensured we kept 'em stretched by swapping to 4-3-3 on the counter, in some fast raiding. What a shock victory for Sussex to savour.
Henderson, Whing, Hinshelwood, Butters, Mayo (Lynch), Hart, Fraser (Rents), Hammond, Cox, Williams (Robinson), Revell
League 1 P 14 . W 5 D 2 L 7 . F 17 A 23 . Pt 17 Po 16
Season 2 (A) 6/3/01 - 1-2 ~ Brooker
Glanford Park has a sort of 'out in the countryside' feel of an edge of town development. Almost a kind of freaky flat Falmer, come retail park scenario without an ANOB duck pond in sight. It went up, if that is the best way to describe low-rise stands, double quick in 1988. Home fans have a terrace, which is wierd for a modern continuous roof type structure, in a ground capacity of a mediocre 8500. For historical comparison at the time of this fixture, BHA had cobbled together community stadium plans and were to present a business case to B&H City Council. Site land-owners/lords of Brighton and Sussex Uni's had come on board to/and agree terms. Scunthorpe hadn't remotely had a problem with procedures, permissions, site or building. How involved could it really be? Yeah, right!
In a game of early evening springtime shivers, the 'southern softies' got well and truly steel-shafted in the dark by cold Lincolnshire Iron. Cullip put through our net. They added another by handball and a Brooker consolation meant scant return for a long trip to somewhere in NE lowlands. Talking of which, Phil Stant made a second subs appearance. He'd joined our Sussex FC from, wait for it, Lincoln when sacked as player/manager. As a late thirty something, he added 7 subs' apps for Seagulls and scored once to make it 170 goals from a career of well over 400 league games. Albion were intent on a course to bigger and better things and a promotion was first on the wish list to our own promised land.
Kuipers, Watson, Cullip, Crosby (Virgo), Rogers (Mayo), Hart, Carpenter, Melton, Brooker, Steele (Stant), Zamora.
Div3 (League 2) P 33 . W 20 D 4 L 9 . F 50 A 27 . Pt 64 Po 3
Season 2 (A) 9/12/00 FAC2 - 1-2 ~ Zamora
Albion had beaten Aldershot 6-2 at the Recreation Ground to advance into round two. It could have been worse, alternatively we might have gone to ends of the earth at Dover. Not since 1992 had Brighton received a home tie and therefore suffered many an early exit since, including on more than one mere isolated occasion draws and losses against non-league opposition. For some reason we'd already had that proverbial trip to Man Utd all those years ago, after actually getting through a preliminary round. So it was Scunthorpe now and er, maybe Tottenham later. There was every reason to think Albion could reverse this negative FA Cup trend by visiting Glanford Park and then happily go hunting in round three. League form had been excellent after a poor start and we'd been a tad unlucky versus Millwall in the League Cup during endless summertime. In contrast to previous records, Albion lost only four times in div3 to date and three of those reversals were in the first four fixtures. If ever there was a chance to up the ante, it appeared to be on a trip to hammer old iron.
BHA had introduced an away members scheme for all-ticket matches and being Brighton fans, there was a right old bull and cow going on by way of grassroots backlash. Season-ticket holders wanted first refusal and in the case of Scunthorpe, many did. Over 900 members arrived to swell a gate of 3800 and at least make it look like there was a crowd in attendance. Iron proved to be on their mettle and tough to crack. Crucially they went ahead, which wasn't a situation Albion had been used to this term. Scunny's home form was also pretty good, as expected for a side pushing for a play-off spot. Brighton got back in it and from a header, Zamora levelled before half time. But the whole idea is to score goals and as a frustrated actress moaned to the vigorous Bishop, it just wouldn't come. Ref was winding up Brighton fans who were questioning his parentage when Scunthorpe knocked us out and another artistes dream died on some godforsaken northern field. Oh, Zamora was sent off in injury time for a climax.
Kuipers, Watson, Cullip, Wicks, Mayo, Rogers (Crosby), Carpenter, Oatway, Jones (Brooker), Hart (Steele), Zamora.
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Scunthorpe - Home, Withdean Era
Season 10 (H) 6/9/08 - 1-4 ~ Robinson
It's almost an embarrassment to cut to the chase for this early season Withdean fixture, so like Albion we'll go thru motions. Summer was a bit of a washout and it dawned an autumnal showery day. However Brighton were unbeaten in 6, including LC and JPT competitions. There was high expectation, what with Micky Adams second homecoming and perhaps every reason to anticipate a first League1 home win. Then again, two unconvincing draws at ours in August left a slight feeling of what if? Adams had lost Virgo to injury but apart from JPT tinkering, more or less went with his regular eleven as below. There were plenty with Championship experience and were required to cut the mustard against er, ex-Champ's outfit Scunny. We clapped Andy Crosby coz we liked him from years ago in seasons 1&2.
Inside 5 mins Iron hammered home a killer strike. To cut a long story short, one of their forwards got a hat-trick and they were 0-4 up before 70 min. Goals came at 4m, 45m, 55m & 68m, while Albion swapped Richards and Livermore on 46m, then subbed wingers on 65m and defenders at 70m. It was a debacle of the first order. Brighton had chances but failed to take 'em, plus United's keeper played a blinder. But you couldn't put it all down to hard luck, where Iron delivered blows on their anvil of a strong attacking side. We were shown as not having a lot of mettle after going behind and that was very disturbing. It hadn't happened before this term and suddenly, Seagulls appeared acutely lightweight and a tad airy-fairy. Adams 2nd honeymoon ended ignominiously and all that superfluous summer hype got washed away on a wet afternoon. We were gutted, memory still pains but had to know hard truths sooner rather than later. It was like 1999 all over again, talk about history repeating. See Torquay, Chester, York, Northampton, Plymouth, Rochdale (who could forget) and Orient. Adams, eat your heart out again.
Kuipers, Whing, Elphick, Hawkins (Lynch), Richards, Cox, Thomson, Livermore, McLeod (Robinson), Murray, Forster.
League1 P 5 . W 2 D 2 L 1 . F 6 A 6 . Pt 8 Po 8
Season 8 (H) 17/3/07 - 1-1 ~ Savage
Iron came down as League leaders but no way did they give us a hammering. In fact their opening goal at a little past the hour, was completely against run of play. We shoulda been miles clear by then but it was a same old sixties song of countless shot-shy seasons in the mid noughties - 'I can't get no satisfaction.' Savage levelled with a lob from a fast counter attack 10 minutes later. If he could score like BZ had over three seasons, we'd be back in the Championship by... Wilkins admitted Scunthorpe's coach had said we'd battered 'em. Six thousand fans could see it too but you only get one point for equalising and just as well we did.
This season was grinding out in frustrating fashion, where the only attractive thing in nets at Withdean was Gully's Girls. Btw Albion were given public recognition for an FL award of Community Club of the Year - read it and weep Lewes District Council. If only they could!! It all seemed to be going for the long haul with a lot of work still to do, on the field and in a foreign field called Falmer up the A27. We were told there would be a decision by July - but hey, if it was 'no', it was League 1 for God knows how many years yet for sure. The kids we had to develop would end up dispersed around the country, in all manner of stadiums that at least had roofs for their fans to shout about. Although today was actually a mild and sunny one to say the least.
Flinders, O'Cearuill, Butters, Lynch, El-Abd, Cox, Bertin, Robinson, Hammond, Revell (Gatting), Savage.
League 1 P 38 . W 13 D 9 L 16 . F 42 A 47 . Pt 48 Po 16
Season 2 (H) 14/10/00 - 0-0
Restless Brighton fans, long before the big digital clock counted down to another double zero through 45 second half monotonous minutes, mouthed 'boring, boring, Scunthorpe!' to ease their mind numbing tedium. Oh well, it was a first draw in six at home and goal-less too - there are usually a couple per season. Iron came to squeeze us out and flatten any bulges in their line. Steam was rising from frustrated supporters, irritated by their tough tactics to wrinkle our shirts and leave us out with the wet washing. They started, finished and pressed a point, you just have to score to break persistent stalemate. So, a problem shared is a problem then, er, of thirds?
Brighton had gotten thru the first quarter of a campaign of potential, if not to say expectation. At a little under two points per match, a quick fumble on a calculator projected an end product of 88 pts - enough for automatic promotion in a level playing field type scenario. However, Adams was not carried away by an eight game unbeaten run, including six clean sheets. Know for a turn of phrase like, 'marathon not a sprit' in this instance his man management skills had rated alongside a 'one for all' philosophy.
Kuipers, Watson, Cullip, Wicks, Mayo, Rogers, Carpenter, Oatway (Melton), Jones (Brooker), Hart (Steele), Zamora.
Div 3 (League 2) P 12 . W 7 D 2 L 3 . F 19 A 10 . Pt 23 Po 3
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