Wigan - Away, Withdean Era
Season 6 (A) 21/8/04 - 0-3
At the top of the table was Wigan, a club that had won div2 in '02/3, when Brighton went down from div1. At the bottom was Albion, having regained second tier status after one season back at lower level. In truth mere numerical representation of their measure, also held a perspective to past, present and indeed future positions. Wigan had a new stadium, multi million backing and a manager who could cut the mustard among elite. Brighton were not allowed a stadium of choice, became very restricted financially and had a series of managers yet to prove equal to higher echelons of coaching and admin.
One aspect of man management is to impress on the squad a need to be aware of the dangerous psychological zone either side of the interval. Two goals were conceded, one just before and the other just after halftime. Body language from the dugout said it all for a dejected but barely vocal Albion support - game over. As a team we were not up to required standard. The difference in ability, how chances were created and taken was so much more marked in this division. A Wigan exhibition in the second period underlined relative levels of class.
Albion's starting eleven appeared a mismatch, compromising on playing strengths and degree of skill. As in '02/3 a lack of true preparation was finding us out and unfortunately there was no new money to throw at it as a solution. They had to battle on irrespective with makeshift formations, a shortfall in experience and dearth of quality. Brighton had a long way to go before they could emulate the success of Wigan. One thing was in our favour - there wasn't another Football League club around for almost fifty miles. McGhee said, 'we consign the match to history books and quickly move on.'
Kuipers, Virgo, Cullip, Butters, Harding, Currie, Nicolas, Hinshelwood, Mayo (Jarrett), Knight, Molango (Robinson).
Champ's P 4 . W 0 D 1 L 3 . F 3 A 9 . Pt 1 Po 24

Season 3 (A) 12/1/02 - 0-3
At climax of the '96/7 season Wigan had won div3, while Albion were also celebrating - at Hereford. For '99/'00 Wigan were given a brand spanking new stadium to play in, with an athletics track next door. At the same time Brighton returned to Sussex from a two-year exile to rent a converted suburban sports complex, where six lanes of all-weather surface separated players from crowds. Wembley it wasn't and half the ground didn't have a roof anyway. Wigan continued to flourish, backed by JJB funding, while BHA were just Skint. Then a funny thing happened on the way to living the dream. Wigan couldn't breakout of div2 and Albion were coming with a run to head towards div1 on a wing, a prayer and seemingly sponsors shirt buttons. Withdean was always sold put. Robin Park was too once, for a pop concert! Still, Dick Knight had got the services of McAlpines ex-special projects manager, who reckoned we could build our own brand spanking, non rugby sharing, community stadium on a piece of set-aside far from any cinema complex.
To more than merely state facts, Brighton got a right hammering at Wigan. We'd been a long time unbeaten in the league and a run of twelve represented the second quarter to end of 2001. A tally of 24 points had improved on the first quarter and the average was just shy of two points per game. A Latic scored a hat-trick - one a disputed penalty, to end the sequence in a turn of year calendar reversal. On acknowledging his first defeat Taylor said, 'that's football, you never know what will happen but you must never relax standards. I felt we started well and could have scored early but they suddenly scored against run of play. They doubled their advantage from the penalty spot soon afterwards. I felt the officials should be ashamed of the decision. Firstly the player was offside. Secondly it wasn't even a foul. Anyone who saw TV highlights would agree with that assessment. Looking at their squad Wigan should be higher in this division. They are stronger than their league position suggests.'
Royce, Watson, Cullip, Morgan (Virgo), Mayo (Webb), Hart (Brooker), Carpenter, Oatway, Jones, Steele, Zamora.
Div 2 (League 1) P 25 . W 12 D 10 L 3 . F 34 A 22 . Pt 46 Po 4

Wigan - Home, Withdean Era
Season 6 (H) 15/3/05 - 2-4 ~ Virgo, Hammond
It was like a surrealistic surrender, a flashback to those multi-scoring lost games in div1 of two seasons before in '02/3. Withdeanites delayed by work commitments, road, rail or big Mac queues were still turning up to empty seats as season ticketed serial sufferers sat stunned. Deafening silence betrayed the fact it was evening and not the darkest hour just before dawn. For a second match running Brighton really were four - one down after 35 minutes. Mark McGhee said, 'I presume many watched the first four minutes and wondered exactly what was going on. At the time I couldn't see why we should have conceded two goals seemingly from thin air. Wigan hadn't made any passes, built momentum or had opportunity to show why they are top of the league - except perhaps in the quality of their finishing.' Thereby hangs a tale as Albion had seemed more suspect with a flat back four facing pacy, direct attacks. That said, Wigan were very good and were prepared to stand up to tackles, with every chance to keep or regain the ball. Ref's didn't tend to go for our fall-over and whinge style so we tended to get wound up for nothing.
McGhee continued, 'we were definitely complicit in presenting them with two golden opportunities to score. In the first half hour Wigan were far too good for us. However even 3-1 at halftime would have given us a chance of gaining something from the match.' The truth was Albion were four down before Virgo showed some fight. In a sense Brighton won the second half but so what. Hammond's late header was hardly consolation for a heavy defeat at a time when B'ton were falling apart. McGhee further went on to admit he had left loopholes in his preparation. Perhaps that was actually more disturbing than using plausible excuses.
Shaaban, Reid (Watson), Hinshelwood, Butters, Harding, Hart, Oatway, Nicolas (Hammond), Knight, McCammon (McPhee), Virgo.
Champ's P 38 . W 12 D 8 L 18 . F 33 A 54 . Pt 44 Po 19

Season 3 (H) 18/8/01 - 2-1 ~ Zamora, Steele
BHA were back in div2 since 1996, when other things apart from relegation were to the fore after shock sale of the Goldstone Ground. They were to visit some of the bigger names in this tier like QPR, Stoke, Notts Co, Bristol C, Reading and Wigan. The last club on this list and now opponents at Withdean for a first home fixture had got a brand new stadium to show off to the whole division. It was something Albion could only dream about in their title winning centenary year but at least there had actually been one, with renewed optimism for a future at Falmer along the way. There had also been a civic reception for the club and an open-top bus ride along the prom. People had turned up in thousands, which showed huge potential for filling a community stadium of much greater capacity than paltry Withdean. The city council was on board and proposals were included in their Local Plan for adoption as planning proceeded. Norman Cook was going to put some dosh into the club and Skint records continued as leading sponsors. Brighton fans had ordered books, videos and Championes memorabilia and wondered what Micky Adams could conjure up next. He had signed a new contract - for three years and supposedly had money to spend. There was also a new pitch for the team to play on - 130 grands worth! Oh, it had to rain for good measure on the day.
Adams had signed Simon Morgan, Dirk Lehman, Geoff Pitcher and Robbie Pethick in the summer. Div3 hero and millennium man Darren Freeman retired through injury and Thomas, Stant and goalie Cartwright had also gone. Adams said, 'I think the step up will be a very big test for all of us, we'll have to wait and see if we can cope with rigours of the second division.' Following the fixture he said, 'I felt we showed a lot of character to come back from an early goal to beat a team of Wigan's calibre. For the first thirty minutes they dictated the pace. Once we scored confidence levels rose and it was really only a matter of time before we got the all important winner.' Zamora equalised with a penalty and Steele came on to snatch victory. Div2 - no probs!
Kuipers, Watson, Cullip, Morgan, Jones, Hart, Rogers, Carpenter, Brooker, Lehman (Steele), Zamora.
Div 2 (League 1) P 2 . W 1 D 1 L 0 . F 2 A 1 . Pt 4 Po 6