Yeovil - Away, Withdean Era
Season 12 (A) 1/3/11 - 1-0 ~ Bennett
This fixture was re-arranged for evening k-o, following Albion's home pairing versus neighbours Portsmouth in FAC3 early Jan weekend tie. Now Brighton fans were used to going north at any time to see an away match, after all, that's one repeatable fact from living in Sussex. But belatedly we were off to the West Country again. We'd already been to Exeter at '11 Bank Holiday, next it was Bournemouth within January and then Bristol R three weeks later. At least it wasn't expected to snow at any of these regional venues. If we compare our position in League1 now, to those below since first visiting Huish Park in '06/7, then we can see things had got a lot better. Gus Poyet was in charge of BHA and assembled a squad accumulating points towards a half decent total. Bennett, Dicker, Murray and Elphick were still part of '9/10 playing staff, while El-Abd and Hart also remained from yesteryear. Of ex-bosses, Russ Slade got a job at Orient, Micky Adams went to Port Vale and then Sheff Utd and Dean Wilkins was coach at Southampton. It was freezing cold on the night and over 500 B'fans attended in support.
Albion stroked it about from early doors and looked likely to score first. A good move forward involving a thrust from Wood, set up Bennett to open our account from range (25min). We bossed the first half but things were different second period when Albion couldn't add to tally. Town got back into it and threatened to equalise. With 25min left, Gus subbed Barnes for Noone but we didn't offer any attacking threat. Sparrow brought fresh legs to proceedings late in the day as B'ton backpedalled. Glovers were getting a big hand from locals and nearly got a grip on things in a frantic snatch and grab. BHA held on to grasp all three points, although Ankergren had to palm a couple of threats out of our busy box. Albion had a lot to learn about going the distance and a tough run-in would test us further on the long road to lg1 honours.
Ankergren, Calderon, Greer, El-Abd, Painter, Bennett (Elphick), Bridcutt, Dicker, Wood (Sparrow), Murray, Barnes (Noone)
League1 P 31 . W 18 D 8 L 5 . F 57 A 23 . Pt 62 Po 1

Season 11 (A) 10/10/09 - 2-2 ~ Crofts, Dickinson
Yet another half decent afternoon in the sun and we all went off to Zummerzet to stand in the open-air. B'ton were struggling this term after yet another pre-season clearout, following change of manager in winter. Russ Slade quit Yeovil but got a good hand when he returned with Albion. Trouble was it was all falling apart again and fourth from bottom wasn't really his game plan. Too many mistakes in defence cost us, plus regular red cards exposed BHA frailties. RS borrowed Gavin Hoyte from Arsenal to plug gaps in rearguard. He needed to do somet coz we'd gone tits up.
Ablion scored quickly after taking the game to Town. On 6min Crofts drove home a dig when receiving the ball in space. Yeovil couldn't get into gear and chances came and went to put 'em to the sword. Dickinson stabbed in (41m) following Ref's harsh decision, to blow for 50-50 with a touch of handbags. Town felt agrieved and hit us tit for tat on 45min. B'ton had lost the initiative and Town went for broke in second period pressure. Ref gave 'em a late pen (82m) to make amends for his incompetence. We held on but silky soccer on the floor went out of the window long before we finally shut it. It appeared typical League1 without too much hustle and muscle from two ordinary sides. So back to the drawing board, a big think needed for RS and some responsibility required for decisions made on the field by players.
Kuipers, Hoyte, Elphick, Tunnicliffe, Wright, Bennett, Dicker, Crofts, Davies (Cox), Dickinson (Murray), Forster.
League1 P 11 . W 2 D 4 L 5 . F 12 A 20 . Pt 10 Po 21

Season 10 (A) 13/9/08 - 1-1 ~ Forster
BHA had suffered a first defeat of '08/9 at home to Scunthorpe a week previously. Now we had come to Yeovil and our record there was not good. Only about 600 Albion supporters assembled on Town's open terrace but at least it was a half decent day with shirt-sleeved order prevailing. Micky Adams couldn't remember ever going there before but there is a first for everything in the fascinating world of footy. He was a League1 manager again with a remit to make the Championship in time for Falmer opening. Yeovil had it all to do to be a constant third tier outfit, so dice were rolled accordingly. Basically we had to beat these lesser sides to maintain a top six challenge - harsh but true.
It was nil-nil at half time. Adams had gotten in Joe Anyinsah, a winger on loan from Preston, to make his debut in away colours. He was up against Nathan Jones, Town's ex-Albion full back. On evidence of first 45min NJ was ahead on points. At 59m and 62m Anyinsah got a yellow for fouls on Jones. Adams was outraged at this sending off and bad-mouthed Jonah afterwards. Bizarrely Brighton played quite well with 10 men and got a penalty (77m) when Virgo got knocked down at a corner. Forster converted and all we had to do was hold out. By 81min Yeovil equalised from a ball moved quickly into a convenient space. The rest was quite forgettable. In fact with 11 a side it was heading for nil-nil anyway. We'd somehow lost that scoring touch.
Kuipers, Whing, Elphick, Hawkins, Richards, Cox (Fraser), Thomson, Virgo, Anyinsah, Forster (Hart), Murray.
League1 P 6 . W 2 D 3 L 1 . F 7 A 7 . Pt 9 Po 11

Season 9 (A) 29/12/07 - 1-2 ~ Revell
Don't we just love going there. It was that match squeezed between Xmas and New Year because Saturday is well, for football. Weather was cold but sunny and a decent crowd of 6900 sported new gear from club shop presents. Brighton needed to lift it a tad, due to a tailing-off of first half season form. Not only that loan players had gone, plus Savage - so we'd only local kids and a couple of old timers as a unit. The question was, could they show a top six finish was still possible?
It started as a scrap and about as poor as Lg1 can be. Then B'ton scored (19 min) when Revell tapped in Forster's assist. Suddenly both sides began to play football and entertaiment knew no bounds. We shoulda gone into teatime ahead but no. A defensive lapse let 'em in (41) and FDM flapped. He did it again after the break (50) and the ball fell nicely for their second. Brighton did up it, when Wilkins sent on dual subs. The game was something like a cup tie and coulda gone to a big score. Trouble was Albion had lost the plot in that dept and this would be a big worry - as Wilko seemingly still had to pass go and collect real dosh to compete.
Kuipers, Whing, El-Abd, Lynch, Rents, Martot (Robinson), Fraser (Loft), Hammond, Cox, Revell (Elder), Forster.
League 1 P 22 . W 8 D 6 L 8 . F 27 A 25 . Pt 30 Po 12

Season 8 (A) 26/9/06 - 0-2
Somerset is a place Brighton fans visit to see Cheddar Gorge or Glastonbury on a wet day or three. Now we'd been to Yeovil and also witnessed delights of that switchback A303 in late, late summer. Town were known as FA Cup giant killers years ago but are an established FL side now. They had made a good start to '06/7 and apparently feared no one - in line with past history. Ex-Championship Albion had begun a League 1 campaign with mixed form and went to Huish Park on a cool, dry evening hoping the sun hadn't set on their own aspirations of reaching for the stars.
For the second contest running, Seagulls were grounded inside 6 minutes, as a wonder strike hit the back of our net. We thereafter controlled much of the match but couldn't force an equaliser. Them Glovers had a grip on the game when defending, while B'ton failed to take what few real chances were handed out. In different circumstances it had nil-nil in the boxes, as hoops and stripes squared but didn't altogether match up. A late mistake at the back with Albion pushing on, left room for a counter attack and you know the result. In an anti-climax of 3 defeats in a week, the best therapy supposedly was avertion - as crowd figures began to expose a certain lack of mis-diagnosed addiction.
Henderson, El-Abd, Santos, Lynch, Mayo, Fraser (Gatting), Carpenter, Hammond, Revell, Hart (Robinson), Cox.
League 1 P 11 . W 4 D 2 L 5 . F 14 A 17 . Pt 14 Po 15

* There were no other fixtures, hence there are no histories for the years '99/00 - '05/6, up to dates above.

Yeovil - Home, Withdean Era
Season 12 (H) 23/10/10 - 2-0 ~ Murray, Calderon
It was to be the last occasion we'd host Yeovil again in L1 here, actually for a fifth consecutive time during the previous up and down Withdean era. Twelve months ahead we'd all be at Falmer and hopefully, back in the Championship to boot. Prior to '06/7, Brighton couldn't maintain a foothold at level two due to well documented reasons concerning finances. Capacity at our temporary sports complex wouldn't sustain enough dosh required to run the club at higher level, therefore we got stuck at third tier grade and so never the twain shall meet. Now Gus Poyet was trying to break this repetitive cycle of under achieving, that Slade, Adams and Wilkins couldn't over recent four seasons. To date it was A-ok for club and manager alike, with Albion top of the pile and so far accepting accolades from anyone who actually offered. Over 7300 attended and although cool and breezy, rain showers stayed clear of Withdean.
Gus had asked fans to be patient during opening skirmishes at home because he wanted us to keep the ball and probe for an opening. This was all very well but the first half was instantly forgettable barring a moment just prior to h-t. LuaLua crossed from left flank by-line and Murray headed home (43min). In the second period, Painter took a f-k from left upfield and it found Calderon on the diagonal. He had plenty to do but worked space inside right channel and unleashed a quality drive into the bottom corner (56m). That strike put Albion in command and with over 75% possession, saw out rest of this routine match. El-Abd had his nose broken but Elphick deputised (50m) with no probs, he coulda bagged one from a header too. Poyet made a couple of changes to keep things on the boil late in the day (15min left). B'ton were fairly fluid in shape with 4132 becoming 4141, 433 or 442 depending on personnel or tactics required as per circumstances. Gus was fast becoming a God, supreme strategist, motivator and man manager. He appeared to have all necessary attributions to be a future big-time boss and all.
Ankergren, Calderon, Greer, El-Abd (Elphick), Painter, Bennett, Kishishev, Dicker, LuaLua (Baz), Barnes (Bridcutt), Murray.
League1 P 13 . W 8 D 4 L 1 . F 21 A 8 . Pt 28 Po 1

Season 11 (H) 8/5/10 - 1-0 ~ Bennett
Yes folks it was the very last day of another very average season. Could we complain? Well, considering the number of ex-managers claiming contractural payouts, perhaps we shoulda. Russ Slade merely lasted six months in our BHA hot seat, including '09 close season, before the ex-Yeovil boss got replaced in turn, by new chairman Tony Bloom. That annual Withdean hoodoo had returned to haunt him, which also did for Adams previously in '08. It too took Gus Poyet absolutely ages to get his first win at Tongdean Lane, although fans grinned and beared it over our desperately cold winter of twenty-ten. Somehow GP brought S American sun to yer channel coast, with his warm smile and engaging climate of Samba soccer. We all wanted to live the dream but had at least another year to wait before Falmer was on stream. On the day over seven thousand turned up and it was chilly and drizzly for bad measure.
Crofts got voted player of the year, with Bennett runner up. Walker made his debut between the sticks but Kuipers was let go by the club he had served for over a decade. Caskey became the youngest player to don B&W stripes when he came on as sub. Bennett hit a wonder strike from outside the area just before half time to win it for the home side. The rest of the game is best forgotten in the great scheme of things. BHA shaped for 451 as usual but we prayed to God this wasn't gonna be the formation for '10/11. It wasn't that we were particularly inept but end of season fare is very apt in these circumstances. Albion turned out in a new blue strip and at least we already knew what to expect from the kit man next term.
Walker, Hoyte, Elphick, El-Abd, Painter, Bennett, Crofts (Dicker), Navarro, Hendrie, Carole (Caskey), Holroyd (Barnes).
League1 P 46 . W 15 D 14 L 17 . F 56 A 60 . Pt 59 Po 13

Season 10 (H) 14/3/09 - 5-0 ~ Forster 2, Cox 2, Murray
There had been yet another shake-up at the Albion. Adams was long gone and now Russell Slade was picking our match-day sixteen. He'd just got to know his inherited squad, a lot of whom Brighton fans weren't familiar with anyway. White & Booker were forced to instantly add faces, to replace those injured as BHA fell deeper into the bottom four. They got in Anderson, Borrowdale, Heath, Bangura and Owusu all within a week prior to Slade's arrival at Withdean. On a nice afternoon, nearly 6300 got along to support
Brighton were up against poor opponents in their new manager's old squad from Somerset. Cox got the ball rolling (16min) when Jarrett thread a pass inside Town's defence. Next Forster finished smartly (29m) when Cox back-heeled into his run. Seagulls were cruising to a win when Forster (62m) grabbed a driven second, assisted from Cox set up. Fozzy soon came off to be replaced by Murray. He then notched a penalty (80m) after glovers handled Coxy's cross. On 83 min Yeovil's goalie received a second yellow when tripping Davies o/s the area. Just before time Cox shot home for his brace (89m) to grab MoM accolades and get his name in papers. Slade and B'fans were happy, while players thought they'd done more than enough to beat the drop. Perhaps the home hoodoo had been laid to rest at last.
Andersen, Whing, Heath, El-Abd, Livermore, Carole, Bangura, Jarrett (Fraser), Cox, Forster (Murray), Owusu (Davies).
League1 P 35 . W 8 D 11 L 16 . F 42 A 55 . Pt 35 Po 22

Season 9 (H) 22/9/07 - 1-2 ~ Hammond
A lovely late September day at official change-of-season weatherwise. The pitch was perfect and even Sussex made it feel like summer again with a third County Championship title by teatime. A crowd of 5200 turned up and although a bit sparse at the east end, at least they had sunshine throughout. For most of the first half it was pretty low key from south-standers because basically Brighton hadn't got out of the dressing room. Whatever they practiced in a week up at Falmer during training was forgotten down at Tongdean Lane on Saturday afternoon. Yeovil came and played their part, enjoying a good half of possession. It was no surprise when visitors went ahead after 15 minutes from a fortunate ball that landed at an unmarked Glovers foot. Just before half time they netted a second as B'ton stood about and let 'em play.
Wilkins brought on Revell and Robinson and finally switched new man Richards to m-f. He was struggling at lb and everybody just pushed up anyway. For an hour we'd not been on the park but Ref gave us a lifeline from a penalty. Cox had a free kick handled in the area and Hammond stepped up to oblige from the spot. A usual sort of frantic Withdean closing period ensued with fans down on the track howling for a second goal. It never happened but in all honesty we didn't think it would. You win some you...
Kuipers, Whing, Elphick, Butters (El-Abd), Richards, Martot (Robinson), O'Callaghan, Hammond, Cox, Savage (Revell), Forster.
League 1 P 7 . W 3 D 0 L 4 . F 10 A 10 . Pt 9 Po 12

Season 8 (H) 26/12/06 - 1-3 ~ Gatting
A fair sized crowd of 6500 for the Boxing Day, first return fixture at Withdean - to kick off part two of a season rebuilding. Anti-cyclonic gloom hung above the place to put a damper on festivities on a chilly afternoon. Brighton started brightly enough, as opposed to previous matches when virtually at walking pace. The breakthrough that was to supply an early goal failed and we paid a high price for missing chances. The visitors netted just before and after the break to defensive blunders. Two behind and on the hour Yeovil scored again, as no amount of changes to game plans could get us a foothold in the match. Relatively they weren't three goals better than us and Albion finally started to play proper football. Too little, too late added a consolation. The contest opened out like a cup tie but such a similar saving miracle had only happened two thousand years earlier, when three wise men gave gifts away.
Henderson, Whing, Hinshelwood (Lynch), Butters, Rents, Fraser (Gatting), Carpenter, El-Abd (John), Cox, Revell, Robinson.
League 1 P 24 . W 9 D 4 L 11 . F 32 A 37 . Pt 31 Po 13

* see note in Away section above