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Previous encounters (Watford )
WATFORD - Away, Falmer Years: Prem 17/18-19/20 21/22, seasons 7-9 11 . . C'ship 11/12-14/15, Seasons 1-4. no league meetings in seasons between 2015 to 2017, 2022 onwards. Prem previous encounters home & away: P8 W4 D3 L1 - see Clubs in Archive. Albion PL/EFL record @ Hornets: W = 3 D = 2 L = 3 manager: Tom Cleverley (2024) Vicarage Road: ave gate; 20.5K, cap; 21.5K . nickname: Hornets . shirt: yellow. Prem/EFL record from 11/12: 11 3 13 2 C, 13 17 / 14 11 18 P, 2 C, 19 P, 11 15 C @ 4/5/24. Prem: recent best finish = 11th, worst finish = 19th . C21; stayed up - 1 time in bottom six '17, relegated - '00 '07 '20 '22. Watford v Albion (A) from 17/18: 0-0 2-0 0-3 - 0-2 - < - . . W = 2 D = 1 L = 1 . F5 A2 scorers: og Andone Maupay2 Webster. memorable match: Season9 (A) - one of those trips when opponents net ripples more than once. note: for home Falmer Years results and reports scroll further below. Seasons 12 (6th) (A) onwards - not Premier League. Season11, 5th Premier League (A) Sat 12/2/22 - W 0-2 ~ Maupay, Webster. The Prem resumed following a break from late January and FA Cup R4 ties first week of February. At deadline in the Jan transfer window Dan Burn left for Newcastle, while Deniz Undav signed from RUSG, tho staying there until next pre-season. So deep in mid-winter of our fifth straight season in the PL we got to visit Watford again after they bounced back from a year at level2 last term. We were even-steven on previous results, so today might prove to be a fair measure of respective progress. Brighton were doing better than ok by past standards and our away form was useful. Watford were on their third manager this term, after the first two got sacked due to poor results. They were in the d-z dogfight and for merely that reason considered dangerous opposition. *** match report: Albion continued an unbeaten league run of seven to date with a fourth win on the road. It appeared visitors majority of possession from kickoff would go unrewarded as it remained goalless approaching half time. Then Maupay struck a snap half volley from Lamptey's deep cross to put blue&white into the lead just prior to the interval (44min). After turnaround hosts tried to exert pressure and equalise but nearest they got was to hit the bar. Potter responed by putting two midfielders into the fray and this snuffed out locals challenge. With the clock ticking down and Seagulls back in control we pressed for a second killer goal. Webster got that at the second attempt during a melee at a corner sequence (82min). Brighton were worth three points on the day and travelling fans sang loud & long during celebrations. Potter thought it a good display too and BHA support also recognised his positive contribution via tactical set up and changes. Albion certainly now looked a cut above their old Prem bottom-six form in four campaigns gone before. Perhaps it was time to believe real progress would last and not just be a brief transient thing against old Championship foes. We were away at Man Utd in three days time and this would be another benchmark to reach, especially if gaining our first points there. Stats: ht 0-1, goals 44,82, poss 35%-65%, on target 1-6, off target 5-2, blocks 3-3, corners 4-5, o/s 1-1, crosses 18-21, tackles 18-21, fouls 16-9, yellows 3-2, subs 3-3, shape 442-3142 weather: breezy . gate: 20,975 (away 2279) . MoM: Maupay - striker instincts. team: 1 Sanchez, 2 Lamptey Y, 34 Veltman, 4 Webster, 5 Dunk Y, 3 Cucurella, 13 Gross (10 Mac Allister 64), 15 Moder, 14 Lallana (24 Duffy 91), 9 Maupay, 18 Welbeck (8 Bissouma 64) . bench: 23 Steele, 17 Alzate, 11 Trossard, 20 March, 25 Caicedo, 58 Ferguson. squad: 28 Roberts . injured: 12 Mwepu . rehab: 60 Sarmiento. Prem: P23 . W3 D5 L3 . F10 A11 . W4 D7 L1 . F15 A12 . Pt33 Po9 = 1.43pt/gm . W = 30.4% L = 17.3% Watford: Quatr: Pl . W D L . . . F A GD . . . Pt Po pt/gm . W% L% Total: 38 . 06 05 27 . 34 77 -43 . 23 19 = 0.60 . 15.7 71.0 3qtrs: 29 . 06 04 19 . 29 55 -26 . 22 18 = 0.75 . 20.6 65.5 - R Hodgson Hfwy: 19 . 04 02 13 . 23 37 -14 . 14 17 = 0.73 . 21.0 68.4 - C Ranieri Start: 10 . 03 01 06 . 12 18 -06 . 10 16 = 1.00 . 30.0 60.0 - Xisco Munoz EFL Cup: Stoke 1-3 (H) R3, Palace 1-0 (H) R2. FA Cup: Leicester 4-1 (A) R3. Oct: 16th in table and 3pts above drop zone at Q1. Manager sacked. Jan: 17th, 5pts behind 16th at halfway Q2. Second manager sacked. Out of FA Cup. Mar: 18th, 7pts off 16th at threequarters Q3. May: Manager quit. Finished 19th on 23pts, 15pts adrift of safety - relegated. 21/22 odd at start: top half 8/1, rel 4-5, stay up 4-5 . sack XM 6/1 . expected to finish: in bottom six - relegated. run in from 1/4/22: Liverpool 2-0 (A), Leeds 0-3 (H), Brentford 1-2 (H), Man City 5-1 (A), Burnley 1-2 (H), Palace 1-0 (A), Everton 0-0 (H), Leicester 1-5 (H), Chelsea 2-1 (A). run in forecast @ 1/4/22: 22pt > 29pts . max was 26 . Actual = 23 . Po was 18th . Actual po = 19th Season10 (4th) (A) - not Premier League. Season9 3rd Premier League (A) Sat 10/8/19 - W 0-3 ~ og, Andone, Maupay For the second first-day fixture running, Albion got to go on another short trip westbound up the M25 into suburban Hertfordshire (see season8 below). At very end of that previous difficult campaign, in mid May, Chris Hughton was immediately sacked by Tony Bloom, following Seagulls disappointing slide towards the PL d-z during an unsettling run-in. Our gambling owner then acted very quickly when obtaining man-management services, for 3m compensation to Swansea, of new head coach Graham Potter. He duly brought his close-support team on board to join the revised set up with Dan Ashworth's various admin/pathway depts at Lancing. Club captain Bruno had retired to take a BHA development/coaching role but majority of the remaining Prem squad was retained. After close season staff integration, squad additions of winger Leandro Trossard (Genk 18m), defender Adam Webster (Bristol C 20m), striker Neal Maupay (Brentford 20m) and Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield loan), arrived through pre-season build up. Fans favourite Knockaert departed to Fulham, Kayal & Hemed to Charlton, while Suttner returned to Germany. Several other fringe & senior U23 group players went out on loan in England and Europe. Meanwhile Bissouma, Izquierdo and Schelotto were still on the injury list (see Archive tab - Squads, PL & PL2 Signings). For the annual Amex friendly (v Valencia), after usual July trips to training camp in Austria and Hants/Sussex venue friendlies, Potter selected last-term's Prem regulars for this 'international' match. The big difference being in utilising 343 shape, with wingbacks full of attacking intent. It was therefore assumed 541 would duly be employed away from home, as an expedient to absorb strength of opposition in this division. *** match report: Albion won at Vicarage Road to please and excite travelling support and make pundits take note of the strategy ahead. Many journos had written off BHA as d-z candidates in pre-season supplements but this display had a blue & white colourful happy ending on the day. Seagulls went ahead when one of hosts defenders diverted a Gross centre into his net (28min). Up to the hour mark visitors were playing ok but hanging in there via the different formation. Potter then made a double swap, putting Andone & Maupay on to up the tempo (64min). Andone netted a Propper assist with his first touch (65min). Maupay then secured all points when rounding the keeper after receiving a Dunk long thru ball (77min). The sheet was kept clean to boot and we thank Ryan for doing his job well whenever locals penetrated our 5 man rearguard. Brighton fans sang their hearts out, which was also a turn around from a year ago. Potter said, 'we're not perfect, not getting too carried away and won't when we don't have a good day.' But on todays evidence the old squad was rejuvenated and signings worth every penny, for at least boosting competition to perform from the bench. Stats; shape 4222-541, h-t 0-1, goals 28,65,77, poss 48%-52%, on target 3-3, off target 4-2, blocks 4-0, corners 5-2, o/s 0-3, crosses 14-12, tackles 13-24, fouls 15-11, yellows 0-1, subs 2-3 . Gate 20,245, away 2100 . Weather - windy & warm . MoM - Burn. 1 Ryan, 22 Montoya, 4 Duffy, 5 Dunk Y88, 33 Burn, 20 March (30 Bernardo 92), 13 Gross, 6 Stephens, 24 Propper, 9 Locadia (7 Maupay 64), 17 Murray (10 Andone 64) . Bench; 27 Button, 15 Webster, 18 Mooy, 11 Trossard. Squad - 3 Bong, 8 Bissouma, 14 Balogun, 16 Jahanbakhsh . Injured - 19 Izquierdo, 21 Schelotto. Prem P1 . W0 D0 L0 . F0 A0 . W1 D0 L0 . F3 A0 . Pt3 Po4 = 3.00pt/gm. Wins = 100%, Loss = 0% Quart: Pl . W D L . . F A GD . . . Pt Po pt/gm . W% L% Total: 38 . 8 10 20 . 36 64 -28 . 34 19 = 0.89 . 21.0 52.6 - Nigel Pearson, finish 27/7/20. 3qtrs: 29 . 6 09 14 . 27 44 -17 . 27 17 = 0.93 . 21.4 48.2 - Nigel Pearson. PREM SUSPENDED Hfwy: 19 . 2 07 10 . 12 33 -21 . 13 19 = 0.68 . 10.5 52.6 - Q S Flores. Start: 10 . 0 05 05 . 05 21 -16 . 05 20 = 0.50 . 00.0 50.0 - Javi Gracia. EFL Cup: 4th rnd - Everton 2-0 (A), 3rd rnd - Swansea 2-1 (H), 2nd rnd - Coventry 3-0 (H) FA Cup: Tranmere 2-1 aet (A) 3-3 (H) R3. Aug: the manager was in for a 3rd season and had splashed the cash to boot. But they ended the month as bottom and him sacked. Oct: still bottom of the div and a long way from safety by end of start Q1. New Year: another new manager trying to turn things around. Into FAC4 draw via replay. March: in 17th position above d-z by GD only when Prem suspended. July: 3rd manager sacked - in the bottom three on last day but lost and went down. Season8 2nd Premier League (A) Sat 11/8/18 - L 2-0 Opening day of the second PL campaign saw Seagulls up at Vicarage Road once more in August (see season7 below). Previous personnel on fringes, Ulloa (loaned), Goldson, Huenemeier, Rosenior (U23 coach), Maenpaa, Sidwell, Murphy, Krul, Ince, Baldock & Skalak left during the close season. Norwood went out on loan. The successful promoted U23 squad was also subject to numerous ins & outs up to deadline on Aug 9th. Current Australian handler Maty Ryan & Colombian winger Jose Izquierdo had both played during World Cup group matches of mid June in Russia, rejoining after the BHA pre-season tour to Austria. Through the summer window Chris Hughton added to the revised 25 man PL squad by bringing in Martin Montoya, Ali Jahanbakhsh, Yves Bissouma, Bernardo da Silva, Leon Balogun (also at WC), Florin Andone and homegrown keepers David Button & Jason Steele. Reserve c-d Dan Burn penned on the last day. Friendly results, initially involving mixed PL & PL2 match-day players were; St Gallen 1-1 (A), Crawley W 0-3 (Lancing), Wimbledon L 2-1 (A), Portsmouth 1-1 (Lan), Charlton 1-1 (A), Birmingham 1-1 (A), Nice W 0-1 (A) and FC Nantes W 2-1 (H). On the day in Hertfordshire the starting eleven had just 1 new face, while there were 4 more arrivees on the bench. * * * match report: Distubingly the old guard failed to put in a satisfactory performance and on debut Bernardo was given a torrid time by opposition. Bruno limped off prior to half an hour gone and so sub Bong swapped sides with Bernardo. Seagulls display continued to go downhill and they soon conceded at a corner routine (35min). Not long into the second period Hornets netted again following defensive mistakes (54min). Hughton refreshed BHA around the hour mark by withdrawning Gross and inserting Bissouma, who did good straight away. Later Jahanbakhsh replaced March, with Knockaert moving to left flank. But Albion were always chasing the game and produced very little threat in the final third. Hughton said, 'if we had played well it would have been disappointing. We have lost and not played well.' He also hinted at changes to come during these opening fixtures, to blood new players at this level. Brighton fans went home frustrated and knew form on the road was going to be one helluva long haul this term as well. Stats; shape 442-4411, h-t 1-0, goals 35,54, poss 53%-47%, on target 5-0, off target 9-5, blocks 5-1, corners 8-2, o/s 0-3, crosses 20-15, tackles 17-18, fouls 10-16, yellows 2-2, subs 3-3 . Gate 20,051, away 2119. 1 Ryan, 2 Bruno (3 Bong 26), 4 Duffy, 5 Dunk, 30 Bernardo, 11 Knockaert, 6 Stephens, 24 Propper, 20 March (16 Jahanbakhsh 72), 13 Gross (8 Bissouma 60), 17 Murray. Prem P1 . W0 D0 L0 . F0 A0 . W0 D0 L1 . F0 A2 . Pt0 Po16 = 0.00pt/gm. Wins = 0%, Loss = 100% Quatr: Pl . W D L . . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . W% L% Total; 38 . 14 8 16 . 52 59 -7 . 50 11 = 1.31 . 36.8 42.1 - Javi Gracia 3qtrs; 29 . 12 7 10 . 41 41 0 .. 43 08 = 1.48 . 41.3 34.4 Hfwy; 19 . 08 3 08 . 26 27 -1 . 27 10 = 1.42 . 42.1 42.1 Start; 10 . 06 1 03 . 16 12 4 .. 19 07 = 1.90 . 60.0 30.0 - Javi Gracia. EFL Cup; 3rd rnd - Spurs 4-2 pens 2-2 (A), 2nd rnd south - Reading 0-2 (A). FA Cup; lost final - Man City 6-0, s-f - Wolves 3-2 aet, q-f - Palace 2-1 (H), 5th rnd - QPR 0-1 (A), 4th rnd - Newcastle 0-2 (A), 3rd rnd - Woking 0-2 (A). Aug; it depends on whether there is another nugget from usual foreign recruitment. And if integration is a fit for the Prem. October; doing ok to be in top ten and pushing on for Q2. Out of EFL Cup on pens. New Year; in top ten middle order but well adrift of sixth place. FA Cup progress. March; in a fight for seventh position. FA Cup semis. Season7 1st Premier League (A) 26/8/17 - 0-0 This was the third fixture in the Premier League and second consecutive regular Saturday afternoon away game. Chris Hughton had added to the already enhanced squad during the August window by bringing in Jose Izquierdo from Bruges for 13.5 million. Hughton said of the Colombian winger, 'he can score goals but I'm conscious we can't heap so much responsibility on just one player. Jose will be part of a team ethic.' But Albion had no points or goals for, when going into this benchmark match prior to the international break. Kayal, Baldock, Murray & Izzy Brown (on loan from Chelsea) were already out injured, while summer new boys Ryan, Propper, Gross & Suttner, all needed to up the ante at this level. Hughton considered the core of the Championship runners-up side to be capable on stepping up but the two previous displays had not proven good enough overall at end of both those ninety minutes. * * * match report: Albion should have won the contest rather than merely keeping a clean sheet, to ensure a point they started with at kick-off. Watford had a man dismissed for a bad lunge at Knockaert and this was after the winger struck a post (24min). Bruno got booked, so Rosenior replaced him for the second forty-five minutes. Chances continued to come & go but Seagulls couldn't take advantage against locals ten-men who played a fast counter-attacking tactic. Stats showed BHA were on top but in the final analysis, they failed to score for the third time in the Prem. Izquierdo got a run out for 15 minutes or so but by then stalemate was name of the game. Albion were denied a penalty, Ref bizarrely giving an indirect f-k inside the area. Hughton said, 'that's gone against us and as newly promoted team you need the fortune, the luck and the decisions to go your way.' Brighton fans could see the real problem. We just didn't have one forward player clinical enough to turn various half chances & full chances, as & when they appeared, into goals. Stats; shape 433-4411, h-t 0-0, goals - none, poss 42%-58%, on target 0-2, off target 5-8, blocks 3-6, corners 3-11, o/s 0-5, crosses 10-31, tackles 10-11, fouls 7-18, yellow 0-1, red 1-0, subs 3-3 . Attendance 20,181 (away 2227). 1 Ryan, 2 Bruno (23 Rosenior), 22 Duffy, 5 Dunk, 29 Suttner, 20 March, 6 Stephens, 24 Propper, 11 Knockaert (19 Izquierdo), 13 Gross, (15 Murphy), 10 Hemed. Prem P 3 . W 0 D 1 L 2 . F 0 A 4 . Pt 1 Po 17 = 0.33pt/gm . Wins = 0%, Loss = 66.6% Quatr: Pl . W D L . . F A GD . . . Pt Po pt/gm . W% L% Total; 38 . 11 8 19 . 44 64 -20 . 41 14 = 1.07 . 28.9 50.0 - Javi Gracia. 3qtrs; 29 . 10 6 13 . 39 47 -08 . 36 09 = 1.24 . 34.4 44.8 Hfwy; 19 . 06 4 09 . 27 34 -07 . 22 10 = 1.15 . 31.5 47.3 - Marco Silva. Start; 10 . 04 3 03 . 15 18 -03 . 15 08 = 1.50 . 40.0 30.0 Aug - another new manager and similar hopes of maintaining status but there are also random trials & tribulations to face this term. New Year - just in the top ten and all to play for with latest new manager. March - around mid table. EFL Cup & FA Cup early exits. WATFORD home; Prem, Vicarage Road. Seasn . W D L . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm %Pt . . W% L% 22/23 onwards - not Premier League. 21/22 - 02 2 15 . 17 46 -29 . 08 19 = 0.42 34.7 . 10.5 78.9 - R Hodgson, C Ranieri & X Munoz 20/21 - not Premier League. 19/20 - 06 6 7 . 21 26 -5 . 24 19 = 1.26 70.5 . 31.5 36.8 - Nigel Pearson, finish 27/7/20. 18/19 - 08 3 8 . 26 28 -2 . 27 11 = 1.42 54.0 . 42.1 42.1 - Javi Gracia 17/18 - 07 6 6 . 27 31 -4 . 27 14 = 1.42 65.8 . 36.8 31.5 - Marco Silva & Javi Gracia 16/17 - 08 4 7 . 24 29 -4 . 28 17 = 1.47 70.0 . 42.1 36.8 - Walter Mazzarri. 15/16 - 06 6 7 . 20 19 1 .. 24 13 = 1.26 53.3 . 31.5 36.8 - Quique Sanchez Flores. 11/12 - 14/15 not Premier League - see Seasons 1-4 in scroll below . WATFORD PREVIOUS PREM; Prem points: - - - -, 45, 40, 41, 50, 34 / -, 23, - < - recent managers; Valerien Ismael (23-24) Chris Wilder (2023) . Experience: ex-Prem coach trying to improve ex-Prem club. Slaven Bilic (22-23), Rob Edwards (2022). Roy Hodgson (2022) . Experience: came out of retirement to add a little to pension income. Claudio Ranieri (2021) . Experience: Prem title winner, been round the block several times. Xisco Munoz (20-21) - P27 wins = 66.6% @ Aug '21 . Experience: left field but got results at lower level. Nigel Pearson (19-20), Quique Sanchez Flores (2019), Javi Gracia (18-19), Marco Silva (17-18), Walter Mazzarri (16-17), Quique Sanchez Flores (15-16), Slavisa Jokanovic (14-15), Oscar Garcia (2014), Giuseppe Sannio (13-14), Gianfranco Zola (12-13), Sean Dyche (11-12) Seasn . W D L . . . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . . W% L% 22/23 onwards - not Premier League. 21/22 - 06 05 27 . 34 77 -43 . 23 19 = 0.60 . 15.7 71.0 - Roy Hodgson @ 22/5/22 Interim manager retired at the end and club dropped back to C'ship with merely a whimper. Difficult for fans with way club is run. 20/21 - not Premier League. 19/20 - 08 10 20 . 36 64 -28 . 34 19 = 0.89 . 21.0 52.6 - Nigel Pearson. PL SUSPENDED, complete @ 27/7/20. Shocking state of affairs with club in disarray before and after Prem lockdown and restart. Relegated from results last day of season. 18/19 - 14 08 16 . 52 59 -07 . 50 11 = 1.31 . 36.8 42.1 - Javi Gracia Progress of a sort without setting the top ten alight. FA Cup final thrashing exposed gulf in standards thru Prem. 17/18 - 11 08 19 . 44 64 -20 . 41 14 = 1.07 . 28.9 50.0 - Javi Gracia & Marco Silva. At start of last campaign Italian speaking Walter Mazzarri took charge. By end of that term he was history, as yet another European boss disappeared in clouds of dust up Vicarage Road. Cue a man from Portugal who again tried to invigorate a struggling Prem outfit. 16/17 - 11 07 20 . 40 68 -28 . 40 17 = 1.05 . 28.9 52.6 - Walter Mazzarri. Owners, the Pozzo family, chopped & changed again in rapid repeat fashion. Italian was spoken but the points total was always gonna be about what translated most. 15/16 - 12 09 17 . 40 50 -10 . 54 13 = 1.42 . 31.5 44.7 - Quique Sanchez Flores. Having got to the Prem, Hornets gained a middling level of respect for stinging opposition. But Flores was not seen as having killer instincts, for all his defence of the nest. 11/12 - 14/15 not Premier League - see below, Seasons 1-4. FA CUP from 11/12; 4th rnd, 3rd, 4th, 3rd, s-f, 4th, 4th, final, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd 3rd. LEAGUE CUP; 1st rnd, 2nd, 3rd, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 3rd, 3rd, 2nd. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Watford away, Falmer years - C'ship 11/12-14/15 . Seasons 1-4. Hornets v Albion (A) from 11/12 @ C: 1-0, 0-1, 2-0, 1-1, -, - . . W = 1 D = 1 L = 2 memorable match: Season2 (A) - an early season visit to Vicarage Road that bode well for the campaign ahead. Seasons 5-6 - not C'ship. Season4 Championship (A) 4/10/14 - 1-1 ~ Dunk. How many head-coaches does it take to change a light bulb in the home changing room at Vicarage Road? Well, this season so far... three (later 4). Brighton fans thought we were in for a meeting with ex-Albion boss Oscar Garcia (see season3 below) following his move to replace Beppe Sannino. But OG resigned within a month due to ill health. Meanwhile Sami Hyypia was doing his own thing at BHA, which was certainly a quicker version of the original passing game fromearlier Poyet/Garcia Championship campaigns. Albion had never been recognised as a counter attacking side in the last couple of decades but there was certainly much more pace up front these days. The squad was different and Kuszczak, Upson, Ward, Andrews, David, Ulloa, Orlandi, Rodriguez, Barnes, El-Abd, Bridcutt & Buckley were all long gone. Hyypia wanted wingbacks not wingers, 4141 not 442 and play thru defenders not over them. On the day, over 1800 BHA faithful got along to see what would happen this term. * match report: At halftime it was still goalless but Albion had given good account for stalemate and were not getting pinned back in defence. Then a lapse moment early into the second period meant Seagulls were now chasing the game. Hornets duly netted directly from a f-k o/s the area, driven right thru the wall (53min). Immediately Sami threw on LuaLua to up the ante in the final third. On the hour mark Hyypia also withdrew Ince for more attack-minded Holla in midfield. Crofts went off injured ten minutes later and playmaker McCourt got a chance for limelight. This trio proved BHA capable of taking the game to opposition and shortly afterwards levelled the match. Dunk went to the near post for a LuaLua corner and headed firmly home - as Albion leading scorer!! (77min). Final moments got a bit frantic and visitors were looking most likely to score as the clock counted down. In stoppage, several chances were created to collect all three points but that final finish went begging. Stats showed an even-steven contest, although Sami was far from happy. He said, 'it would be easier to change something if we played badly. It is only a little adjustment we need to make. We need to be more clinical and maybe more determined in the final third.' Well, yes, we got the point if you see what he meant!! Stockdale, Bruno, Greer, Dunk, Bennett, Crofts (McCourt), Ince (Holla), Gardner, Teixeira, O'Grady, Colunga (LuaLua). Champ's P11 . W2 D5 L4 . F10 A12 . Pt11 Po19 . W = 18.1% 36.3% Season3 (A) 2/2/14 - L 2-0. We were into Feb now and the transfer window had just shut. El-Abd, Barnes & Bridcutt had gone to other clubs. So Head coach Oscar Garcia gave debuts to new signings Stephens & Rodriguez. The move of Bridcutt to join Gus Poyet at Sunderland for 2.5mill had been an open secret for weeks. The other two transfers were perhaps overdue from long-serving squad members no longer guaranteed a starting position. Also the dev group was producing players and time does not stand still for any pros at any time. Brighton had ambitions to reach play-offs again and further. You had to live the dream apparently. * match report: This fixture was a total disaster for the many devoted travelling support who turned up on that particular Sunday. They would have been better praying for a miracle in church somewhere quiet. Against run of play Watford led (13min) by taking a half chance. Seagulls huffed & puffed during the second period but could not get back into it. On the hour Greer gave a suicidal backpass and thank you & good night. Albion got the ball in the net via Ulloa from a David f-k but guess what? Yeah, off side - disallowed anyway. In three consecutive away fixtures, Brighton had taken merely one point from nine. On evidence to date, we would not make play-offs and possibly slip into mid-table mediocrity. Kuszczak, Bruno, Greer, Upson, Ward, Stephens, Andrews, Forster-Caskey (LuaLua), David (March), Ulloa, Orlandi (Rodriguez). Champ's P28 . W10 D10 L8 . F30 A25 . Pt40 Po9 . W = 35.7% L = 28.5% Season2 (A) 18/9/12 - W 0-1 ~ Mackail-Smith. It happened to be another evening fixture for our second Falmer-based Championship season travelling via the M25. Albion had played two away games to date and although a tad unlucky in defeat to Hull, got a right result at Burnley. That score reversed a trend set in tarmacadam last term, when goals and therefore points were harder to go the extra mile for. Gus Poyet revamped his squad to that playing at Vicarage Road last season - see below. Polish signing Tomasz Kuszczak (Man U) was the new keeper, while Bruno Saltor (Valencia) and Wayne Bridge (loan Man City) were wing backs. Andrew Crofts came back from Norwich but Craig Noone went to Cardiff. In midfield there was more choice, with Dean Hammond (loan So'ton), Andrea Orlandi (Swansea) and David Lopez (Bilbao) all now on board since August deadline day. Up front he added Stephen Dobbie (Swansea) to assist with the important goals-for column. On the night nearly 2k travelling support got along in a crowd of about 12k. * match report: Watford, now with Poyet's old Chelsea colleague Gianfranco Zola as manager, started smartly and put Brighton under early pressure. But Albion withstood all and worked back into the game. At halftime it was still goalless, although chances fell to both teams to open scoring. Early in the second period CMS got brought down and so smashed the pen home down the middle (50 min). Buckley was running amok on both flanks and a second goal seemed imminent. However more chances came and went and Zola subbed to try and get a point. Poyet introduced Barnes on the hour mark and Dobbie later (75m) to add to the slim lead. Unfortunately the home outfit got second wind and pressed for parity. Ref denied them at least two shouts for spot kicks and they went down a tad unluckily at the death. Seagulls hung on to their lofty position and Gus was pleased too with that battling performance. Kuszczak, Bruno (Calderon), Greer, El-Abd, Bridge, Hammond, Bridcutt, Dicker, Buckley, Mackail-Smith (Dobbie), Orlandi (Barnes). Champ's P6 . W4 D1 L1 . F12 A3 . Pt13 Po3 . W = 66.6% L = 16.6% Season1 (A) 1/11/11 - L 1-0. Brighton were situated in mid division and finding feet in the Championship following three months of tough campaigning. Gus Poyet wanted to continue with the passing game that had been so successful at tier three but this was a different league altogether. He brought loan players here to bolster a small squad hit by injuries, which was in reaction to these events and a winless run of poor form. BHA was competing with clubs that were regulars at level two and had the know-how to deal with upstarts from further down the pyramid. On the night, which wasn't bad for autumn, over 1500 Brighton fans turned up at Vicarage Road to see how things were shaping up these days. * match report: Albion lost holding midfielder Bridcutt before half an hour gone and veteran defender Taricco took to the field at right back. He'd previously hung up boots but was needed now in light of ongoing squad problems. It was still all square by coffee time, although Hornets failed to capitalise on early dominance. Into the second period, Brighton matched Watford for application and possession but couldn't create enough chances to score from one. Gus then introduced Barnes who slotted in behind the strikers. Against run of play the home outfit snatched a vital lead following Harpers save that fell nicely to a supersub attacker (77min). Poyet was desperate to salvage a point and threw on LuaLua at the death. But Seagulls overall display wasn't up to speed and he was first to admit, long ball and route one didn't help set up breaking through the local rearguard. Travelling hordes went home disappointed and we needed to up our game or the slide into worse than mere mediocrity was thought possible. Harper, Vincelot, Greer, Calderon, Painter, Noone, Bridcutt (Taricco), Sparrow (Barnes), Harley (LuaLua), Paynter, Mackail-Smith. Champ's P15 . W5 D5 L5 . F17 A17 . Pt20 Po13 . W = 33.3% L = 33.3% * * * * * Withdean Era: 12 seasons from 1999 to 2011 - Seasons 4 02/3, 6 04/5, 7 05/6 - Championship. Withdean era: Hornets v Albion 1-0, 1-1, 1-1 . . . W = 0 D = 2 L = 1 0-1 FA Cup. memorable match: Season6 (A) - an early season visit when Seagulls were finding out about this level. Noughties last there: 3/12/05 (A) - C'ship Our final fixture to Vicarage Road this decade, 2 at level2 and initially level3. 29/1/11 (A) - FA Cup R4. Victory there saw us thru to round 5 and face a trip to Stoke ahead... oh dear! see: Seasons 4, 6, 7 for club & stadium info. Also Dick Knight, Martin Hinshelwood, Mark McGhee & Gus Poyet.
Watford - Home, Falmer Years: Prem 17/18-19/20 21/22, seasons 7-9 11 . . C'ship 11/12-14/15, seasons 1 - 4. Albion record @ Amex: W = 2 D = 4 L = 2 Albion v Watford (H) from 17/18: 1-0 0-0 1-1 - 2-0 - < - . . W = 2 D = 2 L = 0 . F4 A1 scorers: og Gross Duffy Maupay. memorable match: Season11 (H) - first home game of the season and a very good way to start this campaign. note: for away Falmer Years results & reports scroll further up. Seasons 12 (6th) (H) onwards - not Premier League. Season11, 5th Premier League (H) Sat 21/8/21 - W 2-0 ~ Duffy, Maupay. Covid: no restrictions on gate size . Covid pass & photo id required for entry. The vast majority of Brighton fans now returned to the Amex following nearly eighteen months non-admission due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Hornets were here too, on a mid August evening for our first home match, after they'd buzzed around the Championship last term. We'd entertained the Hertfordshire outfit on three previous Prem occasions and not lost. But through all four PL seasons Albion's overall home form had been far from outstanding, so no time like the present to collect three points and kick our domestic campaign off with an initial victory. During the close season, White (50m), Jahanbakhsh (5m), Ryan, Propper, Bernardo, Izquierdo and Gyokeres had left. New signings were Enock Mwpeu (20m) in m-f and Kjell Scherpen (4m) between the posts. Hornets bought more players in than Seagulls acquired but didn't spend a whole heap of Lira via their long-standing Pozzo family Italian owners. Spaniard Xisco Munoz wasn't a manager's name familiar to Brighton fans, so to some extent we didn't fear getting beat anyhow. Given Watford's long record of bosses dismissals, perhaps it was a novelty to play them this early. Pundits predicted their immediate return to level2, therefore was this a basement level six pointer already? Albion previously had dramatically lost, in our only pre-season friendly here, against 'beatable' La Liga opposition and failed to score to boot. As Micky Adams used to say: 'fail to prepare and prepare to fail.' * match report: Albion went ahead when Duffy headed home from a Gross corner (10min). Hosts remained in charge for much of the first half and went into the break two goals up. Bissouma robbed an opponent outside their box and put Maupay through to net (41min). After turnaround Connolly replaced injured Maupay who'd been flattened in stoppage time. Visitors almost got back in the game but Ref ruled o/s. However they kept coming forward and Seagulls rearguard had to earn their money - four were booked. Ref got on the wrong side of home fans, although it would have taken a lot to lower levels of excitement at being back at the Amex for live football. The standard was good and Bissouma & Lallana ran the show from midfield. Potter put on two late subs for a have & hold tactic. He must have appreciated two wins from two fixtures but in usual diplomatic style suggested improvement was possible. Brighton fans said bring it on! Stats: ht 2-0, goals 10,41, poss 57%-43%, on target 3-1, off target 5-5, blocks 5-4, corners 7-2, crosses 20-17, o/s 1-1, tackles 19-12, fouls 11-6, yellows 4-0, subs 3-3, shape 433-4141 weather: cloudy . gate: 29,485, away 2488 . MoM: Duffy - a monster. team: 1 Sanchez, 4 Webster Y, 24 Duffy Y, 5 Dunk, 20 March Y, 8 Bissouma, 10 Mac Allister, 13 Gross, 14 Lallana (15 Moder 80), 11 Trossard (12 Mwepu Y 71), 9 Maupay (7 Connolly 45) . bench: 23 Steele, 17 Alzate, 19 Zeqiri, 25 Caicedo, 28 Roberts, 30 Richards. squad: 6 Karbownik, 21 Andone, 22 Tau . injured: 2 Lamptey, 16 Scherpen, 18 Welbeck, 33 Burn, 34 Veltman. Prem: P2 . W1 D0 L0 . F2 A0 . W1 D0 L0 . F2 A1 . Pt6 Po2 = 3.00pt/gm . W = 100% L = 0% Season10 (4th) (H) - not Premier League. Season9, 3rd Premier League (H) Sat 8/2/20 - 1-1 ~ og The PL campaign had been allotted a week's winter break for the very first time this particular season, covering a fortnite over all. In hosting Hornets as scheduled, Albion were one of four fixtures from ten in the Prem to play today then resume regular weekend games on the 22nd. This contest was also selected for pay tv broadcast and thus kicked off at teatime. Both clubs were now involved in a tough relegation battle as developed during recent months since the halfway stage at Xmas. Of other fellow strugglers, none had actually been cut adrift to an extent that they could be dismissed as down & out already. So every goal scored, clean sheet kept and point gained, counted for a lot in the bid for Prem survival. No significant striker signings had happened in the January transfer window but on loan Mooy was made permanent at BHA and veteran Murray penned an extention until 2021. Youngster Tariq Lamptey joined from Chelsea, while Alexis Mac Allister was brought back from a seasonal loan in S America. Meanwhile Kayal had returned injured from Charlton. Coach Graham Potter seemed happy with numbers in the revised 25 man squad, although Bong had left and Izquierdo remained long term injured. There was also a long list of on loan players out to EFL clubs or sent abroad from both senior/junior pros and U23/18 groups. Of these, Knockaert & Andone were biggest names. * match report: Potter rotated his squad to start and also tactically during play but once again Albion failed to win in 2020 to date. It was also becoming a habit for Seagulls to go a goal behind and then chase the game for a point. Once the early rush of blood had settled Albion slowed to walking pace going forward and played into opponents hands. Against run of play Hornets netted on the counter and quietened home support to boot (19min). During the second period Potter switched men around and introduced subs in an attempt to break through a solid visitors rearguard. All to no avail as quality of delivery was poor and penetration spasmodic. Before the death travellers scored an og to throw away two points and hand one to hosts (78min). Brighton never looked likely to score on their own anyway. There are not too many goal-scorers in the squad, so with Murray & Maupay short on service, the others from around the pitch were long odds against to bag one. Potter was pleased with the fightback and made suitable noises in support. Brighton fans knew what they had witnessed and not for the first time were short changed by a side that flattered to deceive. It was not good enough and everybody understood that more of these kind of displays would not ensure survival asap. The question was, who could possibly step up as saviour, while games ran out, to hit a necessary 40 points target? Stats: shape 4231-4231, ht 0-1, goals 19-78, poss 67%-33%, on target 2-2, off target 5-2, blocks 3-1, o/s 2-2, crosses 28-6, corners 3-2, tackles 12-22, fouls 9-12, yellows 2-2, subs 3-2 . MoM - March . Gate - 30,443, away 2960 . Weather - dry, windy. 1 Ryan, 21 Schelotto Y (16 Jahanbakhsh 71), 4 Duffy, 5 Dunk, 33 Burn (7 Maupay 61), 18 Mooy, 24 Propper, 20 March Y, 13 Gross (46 Alzate 57), 11 Trossard, 17 Murray . Bench: 27 Button, 30 Bernardo, 15 Webster, 44 Connolly. Squad - 8 Bissouma, 22 Montoya . Injured - 6 Stephens, 19 Izquierdo. Prem: P26 . W4 D6 L3 . F17 A14 . W2 D3 L8 . F14 A24 . Pt27 Po15 = 1.03pt/gm. Wins = 23%, Loss = 42.3% Season8 2nd Premier League (H) Sat 2/2/19 - 0-0 The Amex was regularly sold out and in fact BHA had lately featured in the top 30 international rich club list, having turned a healthy profit from recent PL participation. The academy was doing well too, with regard to development of young players and quite a few were bought in from abroad with potential as future sales from bargain buys. The January transfer window had shut and three prospects duly signed, only to be returned on loan to current parent clubs in Europe & S America. Watch this space! It didn't take somebody with a freeby honorary doctorate, like Chris Hughton had just received from neighbours Sussex Uni, to realise why Albion hadn't got too many points recently. It was because we didn't score enough goals in proportion to chances created. Murray accounted for bulk of the 'For' column with 10, next Duffy had 4 but all others were well behind them in very low single figures. Indeed some, like Propper had yet to figure on the list. All outfield players were capable of scoring but it was once in a blue & white moon for majority of the squad. * * * match report: This match followed a trend at the Amex and petered out into stalemate despite numerous attempts to break deadlock. Visitors keeper was their hero when pulling off at least three super saves as Seagulls bombarded the box with crosses. Locadia & Duffy looked certain to bag one as BHA piled on pressure but Hornets goalie buzzed up, down & around to hold things at nil-nil. Hughton put on Andone and he too went one on one with the hero custodian and his punt somehow got deflected. In contrast Ryan had an easy winter afternoon, probably trying to keep warm so as to be ready if the ball got near him. Hughton said, 'it's frustrating, we deserved to win. We were at home. We created lots of chances but you have to put some of them away.' Brighton fans made for bus queues long before stoppage time, knowing hosts would not score even if it took until midnight. Every season has a goalless draw or two and this was another one of them. Stats; shape 433-4222, poss 55%-45%, on target 4-0, off target 13-5, blocks 4-0, crosses 27-13, o/s 4-0, corners 7-0, tackles 21-26, fouls 15-10, yellows 1-0, subs 1-2 . Gate 30,414, away 2986 . MoM - March . Weather - cold, sunny intervals. 1 Ryan, 22 Montoya, 4 Duffy, 5 Dunk, 3 Bong, 13 Gross, 24 Propper, 8 Bissouma, 20 March, 17 Murray (10 Andone 72), 9 Locadia. Bench: 27 Button, 14 Balogun, 33 Burn, 7 Kayal, 11 Knockaert, 16 Jahanbakhsh. Prem P25 . W5 D4 L3 F15 A12 . W2 D2 L9 F12 A24 . Pt27 Po13 = 1.08pt/gm. Wins = 28%, Loss = 48% Season7 1st Premier League (H) 23/12/17 - W 1-0 ~ Gross This pre-Xmas fixture was the first return game of the PL season and also marked the halfway stage of a very tough campaign to date. Albion were currently in midtable but every single goal scored & point gained counted for much because they were merely 3pts off the drop zone going into this contest. Home form was very average - w2 d5 l2 = 1.22pt/gm or 61.1% of total points so far. So Seagulls really needed to step up during second half of the season at the Amex, to reach a notional survival target of 40pts overall. That meant picking up at least another 15 points at the community stadium to give locals a fighting chance of making the cut next term. * * * match report: Albion edged an average contest with a first goal in open play for over ten hours. They took the game to visitors but could not score from any number of opportunities created prior to the hour mark. Then Hemed put Gross thru and he let fly outside the area - to see the ball squirm under the keeper (64min). Hornets tried to get back in it but Seagulls rearguard stood firm and Ryan kept a clean sheet. Goldson on debut, following heart surgery in the summer, was outstanding and MoM. Hughton made very late changes just to see time out but BHA had safely bagged their three points before Xmas. Hughton said, 'I work with a group who know it is going to be a tough season. it's always the most difficult part of playing at the top level, getting the goals you want.' Brighton fans went home happy and on checking other results found the drop zone was now 5pt below. Stats; shape 4411-4231, ht 0-0, goal 64, poss 52%-48%, on target 3-1, off target 8-7, blocks 3-5, corners 6-4, crosses 21-19, o/s 6-0, tackles 14-19, fouls 8-11, yellows 0-0, subs 3-3 . Gate 30,473 (away 3025). 1 Ryan, 2 Bruno, 18 Goldson, 5 Dunk, 29 Suttner, 11 Knockaert, 6 Stephens, 24 Propper, 20 March (19 Izquierdo), 13 Gross (7 Kayal), 10 Hemed (17 Murray). Prem P 19 . W 5 D 6 L 8 . F 15 A 23 . Pt 21 Po 12 = 1.10pt/gm . Wins = 26.3%, Loss = 42.1% WATFORD AWAY; Prem. Seasn . W D L . F A GD . . . Pt Po pt/gm %Pt . W% L% 22/23 onwards - not Premier League 21/22 - 4 3 12 . 17 31 -14 . 15 19 = 0.78 65.2 . 21.0 63.1 - R Hodgson, C Ranieri & Xisco Munoz 20/21 - not Premier League. 19/20 - 2 4 13 . 14 37 -23 . 10 19 = 0.52 29.4 . 10.5 68.4 - Nigel Pearson, finish 27/7/20. 18/19 - 6 5 08 . 26 31 -05 . 23 11 = 1.21 46.0 . 31.5 42.1 - Javi Gracia. 17/18 - 4 2 13 . 17 33 -16 . 14 14 = 0.73 34.1 . 21.0 68.4 - Marco Silva & Javi Gracia. 16/17 - 3 3 13 . 15 39 -24 . 12 17 = 0.63 30.0 . 15.7 68.4 - Walter Mazzarri. 15/16 - 6 3 10 . 20 31 -11 . 21 13 = 1.10 46.6 . 31.5 52.6 - Quique Sanchez Flores.. 11/12 - 14/15 not Premier League - see scroll below, Seasons 1-4. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Watford home, Falmer years - C'ship 11/12-14/15 . Seasons 1-4. Albion v Hornets (H) from 11/12 @ C: 2-2, 1-3, 1-1, 0-2, -, - . . W = 0 D = 2 L = 2 memorable match: Season1 (H) - an end of season affair when we reflected on what needed to change. Seasons 5-6 (H) - not C'ship. Season4 Championship (H) 25/4/15 - L 0-2. Hornets were really buzzing and had just hit top spot in an incredible race for the title this season. Meanwhile back at the Amex, Albion were struggling to get enough points to mathematically ensure safety. The last nine matches overall, going into March were - ldl llw ddl. And results at the community stadiumrecently, back to end of Feb were - 0-0, 0-2, 0-1, 1-1, 2-0. So there was plenty of room for improvement on stats of - W6 D8 L8 F26 A27 to date. Chris Hughton was wracking his brains as to how he could motivate Seagulls to pick up those elusive points but in truth Albion were in much the same state as when Sami Hyypia resigned prior to Xmas of 2014. Brighton fans had hoped other relegation threatened sides would fail to win their matches because there seemed little chance of beating these promotion candidates. In the event there was no satisfaction in staying up due to others failings. * match report: Hughton went with the unusual formation of 5 at the back... but only one up front as usual! For a while Albion appeared to contain intrepid visitors but opposition changed shape to cope and very soon the game was up. If Seagulls had initially converted chances it mighta been different. But a series of errors in defence allowed Hornets top striker to take a dig inside the area (29min). Lifted by huge away support, the Prem-bound outfit were too cute to let it slip to lowly southern softies. Hughton sent on Mackail-Smith after an hour for his last app in blue & white at the Amex. Later other old hands, LuaLua and PoY Calderon showed up too, although it didn't make much difference to the score. With Ref looking at his watch, travellers broke thru as B'ton flooded forward and netted again on the counter (90+4). Hughton said, 'nobody will say they were better than us but we found it difficult to get goals. We lack composure and it has put pressure on us. Their first goal was poor from our point of view. But they have strikers who have scored 20 goals apoece this season.' The obvious answer was for Hughton to recruit in the close season and Bloom to pay the going rate for quality in several positions across the park. No names, no packdrill but more than one or two were looking like lower league was better for them next term. Stockdale, Bruno (Calderon), Greer, Halford, Dunk, Bennett, Kayal, Stephens, Carayol (Mackail-Smith), O'Grady, Forster-Caskey (LuaLua). Champ's P45 . W10 D16 L19 . F44 A54 . Pt46 Po20 . W = 22.2% L = 42.2% Season3 (H) 28/10/13 - 1-1 ~ Crofts. Yes, the old tv cameras wanted to show this fixture and so Brighton fans turned up on a Monday night following aftermath of the storm of St Jude (or was it Jute?). K-o was delayed coz of train disruption. Well anyway, the official attendance got recorded in excess of 27k (about 1300 away fans) but you could tell from numerous gaps, where blue seats showed thru the Amex crowd that some sums didn't quite add up. Yeah, we know there are a hellava lot of season ticket holders, so umm, is it inclusive in the crowd figure or what? Answers on a postcard to Paul Barber, Chief Executive. He always has a lot to say on every subject and all. Oscar Garcia was trying to find his best eleven. His only help toward progress was in the fact that he didn't have too many too choose from to make a squad - due to an ongoing injury crisis. * match report: Albion went a goal down inside five minutes. From a fast counter, the ball flew into the top corner from down range, via an Albion head (4min). During the rest of a quick paced first half, Brighton were chasing the game. We had chances but Hornets keeper was on song like the rest of his outfit. They din't let us alone for a minute. Not long into second period, Crofts pulled on back with a snap effort thru a crowded area following a corner (54min). The Amex woke up and wanted more, although visistors looked very dangerous on the break and we had plenty of luck with decisions. Bruno mighta got 2 yellows, Greer cleared off the line (was it over?) and Ward blocked a certainty that broke looose to glance off a post. Home debutant Leroy Lita got on for twenty minutes but BHA could not edge ahead - using 433 as usual. In a rousing finish both side went for it and with the match in balance, the final result was probably about right on the night. Back to the training pitch lads - to practice shooting? Kuszczak, Bruno, Greer, Upson, Ward (Calderon), Crofts, Andrews, Forster-Caskey, Buckley, Barnes, Conway (Lita). Champ's P13 . W3 D6 L4 . F12 A13 . Pt15 Po16 . W = 23% L = 30.7% Season2 (H) 29/12/12 - L 1-3 ~ David. Albion had quite a break from competitive footy over the Xmas period. Our last match prior to festivities turned out to be that re-sheduled Boxing Day clash with Millwall at the Amex on Tuesday 18Dec. The following Saturday 22Dec away-game against Blackburn was then postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. So players got Crimbo off but had to be up to speed immediately afterwards for the first fixture in 11 days. Gus Poyet had most of the squad fit for selection and went with an attacking line-up as was his manatra. On the day, in front of tv cameras, 26k attended for a teatime k-o. * match report: It was a familiar story during the first half of Albion superiority but distinct lack of converting chances into goals. A pep-talk at the break was surely all that was needed to spark the side into scoring. But it all fell apart soon after turn around. Watford went one up thru poor marking (54 min) against run of play. Poyet put Barnes on around the hour mark and next, LuaLua got decked in the area. So David stepped up to net the spot kick (65min). Within five minutes we were two behind and facing an uphill task. The first was deflected over Kuszczak (68m) and the second was a fast counter that outpaced our toiling defence (69m). Gus sent two more strikers into the fray (75m) but we were pissing in the wind as thousands left the Amex early doors to join bus and train queues. It ended in shambles and many fans were getting frustrated with repeated pretty football but shortage of points on our own turf. Poyet said, 'it was not a good day.' Yeah, too right. Kuszczak, Bruno, Greer, El-Abd, Bridge, Crofts (Hoskins), Bridcutt, Orlandi (Barnes), David (Dobbie), Mackail-Smith, LuaLua. Champ's P24 . W8 D10 L6 . F32 A26 . Pt34 Po10 . W = 33.3% L = 25% Season1 (H) 17/4/12 - 2-2 ~ Calderon, Buckley. Albion's playoff hopes had stalled and we'd merely picked up two points from a possible fifteen since our last win at the Amex a month ago. This poor run of form included three consecutive losses, culminating in a six-nil thrashing at West Ham last time out. Gus Poyet told the press, 'I know what I am going to change probably for next year, I know what we need to improve. We need to be better, stronger, quicker, more intelligent. We need to have better players.' So now we knew too, confirming what more than just a few fans suspected this season anyway, given the overall campaign was largely successful. Quite how Brighton would respond to acute disappointment would be revealed tonite in the last evening fixture. But Brighton fans couldn't really complain about our first year in the Championship, where we'd exceeded expectations since promotion from League One last term at Withdean. * match report: Brighton were quick off the mark but fell behind early when visitors got a f-k on edge of the area (6min). Brand new keeper Gonzalez couldn't keep it out and yeah, welcome to the Amex. Just prior to half-time, he faced a penalty when Barnes fouled - but luck was out and BHA went two-nil down (44min). In the second period Calderon pulled on back thru determination and a re-bound (55min). Poyet then put Vicente on for a bit more buzz in midfield and shaped to 433 from 442. Backed by reinvigorated support, Albion went after the equaliser. Vicente was pulling strings and he set up Buckley to slide home as time ticked away (79min). At the death a fierce drive from the super Spaniard was blocked just before Ref blew. Gus was glad we didn't get beat but had plenty to think about for next term anyway. Gonzalez, Calderon, Dunk, El-Abd, Painter (Vincelot), Buckley, Bridcutt, Dicker, LuaLua (Vicente), Barnes, Mackail-Smith. Champ's P44 . W17 D13 L14 . F51 A51 . Pt64 Po9 . W = 38.6% L = 31.8% * * * * * Withdean era: seasons 4 6-7, 02/3 04/5-05/6 - C'ship. Withdean era: Albion v Hornets 4-0, 2-1, 0-1 . . . W = 2 D = 0 L = 1 memorable match: Season7 (H) - a single goal game but one scored in bizarre fashion. see: Seasons 4, 6, 7 for club & stadium info. Also Dick Knight, Mark McGhee & Charlie Oatway.
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Previous encounters (Watford )
WATFORD - Away, Falmer Years: Prem 17/18-19/20 21/22, seasons 7-9 11 . . C'ship 11/12-14/15, Seasons 1-4. no league meetings in seasons between 2015 to 2017, 2022 onwards. Prem previous encounters home & away: P8 W4 D3 L1 - see Clubs in Archive. Albion PL/EFL record @ Hornets: W = 3 D = 2 L = 3 manager: Tom Cleverley (2024) Vicarage Road: ave gate; 20.5K, cap; 21.5K . nickname: Hornets . shirt: yellow. Prem/EFL record from 11/12: 11 3 13 2 C, 13 17 / 14 11 18 P, 2 C, 19 P, 11 15 C @ 4/5/24. Prem: recent best finish = 11th, worst finish = 19th . C21; stayed up - 1 time in bottom six '17, relegated - '00 '07 '20 '22. Watford v Albion (A) from 17/18: 0-0 2-0 0-3 - 0-2 - < - . . W = 2 D = 1 L = 1 . F5 A2 scorers: og Andone Maupay2 Webster. memorable match: Season9 (A) - one of those trips when opponents net ripples more than once. note: for home Falmer Years results and reports scroll further below. Seasons 12 (6th) (A) onwards - not Premier League. Season11, 5th Premier League (A) Sat 12/2/22 - W 0-2 ~ Maupay, Webster. The Prem resumed following a break from late January and FA Cup R4 ties first week of February. At deadline in the Jan transfer window Dan Burn left for Newcastle, while Deniz Undav signed from RUSG, tho staying there until next pre-season. So deep in mid-winter of our fifth straight season in the PL we got to visit Watford again after they bounced back from a year at level2 last term. We were even-steven on previous results, so today might prove to be a fair measure of respective progress. Brighton were doing better than ok by past standards and our away form was useful. Watford were on their third manager this term, after the first two got sacked due to poor results. They were in the d-z dogfight and for merely that reason considered dangerous opposition. *** match report: Albion continued an unbeaten league run of seven to date with a fourth win on the road. It appeared visitors majority of possession from kickoff would go unrewarded as it remained goalless approaching half time. Then Maupay struck a snap half volley from Lamptey's deep cross to put blue&white into the lead just prior to the interval (44min). After turnaround hosts tried to exert pressure and equalise but nearest they got was to hit the bar. Potter responed by putting two midfielders into the fray and this snuffed out locals challenge. With the clock ticking down and Seagulls back in control we pressed for a second killer goal. Webster got that at the second attempt during a melee at a corner sequence (82min). Brighton were worth three points on the day and travelling fans sang loud & long during celebrations. Potter thought it a good display too and BHA support also recognised his positive contribution via tactical set up and changes. Albion certainly now looked a cut above their old Prem bottom-six form in four campaigns gone before. Perhaps it was time to believe real progress would last and not just be a brief transient thing against old Championship foes. We were away at Man Utd in three days time and this would be another benchmark to reach, especially if gaining our first points there. Stats: ht 0-1, goals 44,82, poss 35%-65%, on target 1-6, off target 5-2, blocks 3-3, corners 4-5, o/s 1-1, crosses 18-21, tackles 18-21, fouls 16-9, yellows 3-2, subs 3-3, shape 442-3142 weather: breezy . gate: 20,975 (away 2279) . MoM: Maupay - striker instincts. team: 1 Sanchez, 2 Lamptey Y, 34 Veltman, 4 Webster, 5 Dunk Y, 3 Cucurella, 13 Gross (10 Mac Allister 64), 15 Moder, 14 Lallana (24 Duffy 91), 9 Maupay, 18 Welbeck (8 Bissouma 64) . bench: 23 Steele, 17 Alzate, 11 Trossard, 20 March, 25 Caicedo, 58 Ferguson. squad: 28 Roberts . injured: 12 Mwepu . rehab: 60 Sarmiento. Prem: P23 . W3 D5 L3 . F10 A11 . W4 D7 L1 . F15 A12 . Pt33 Po9 = 1.43pt/gm . W = 30.4% L = 17.3% Watford: Quatr: Pl . W D L . . . F A GD . . . Pt Po pt/gm . W% L% Total: 38 . 06 05 27 . 34 77 -43 . 23 19 = 0.60 . 15.7 71.0 3qtrs: 29 . 06 04 19 . 29 55 -26 . 22 18 = 0.75 . 20.6 65.5 - R Hodgson Hfwy: 19 . 04 02 13 . 23 37 -14 . 14 17 = 0.73 . 21.0 68.4 - C Ranieri Start: 10 . 03 01 06 . 12 18 -06 . 10 16 = 1.00 . 30.0 60.0 - Xisco Munoz EFL Cup: Stoke 1-3 (H) R3, Palace 1-0 (H) R2. FA Cup: Leicester 4-1 (A) R3. Oct: 16th in table and 3pts above drop zone at Q1. Manager sacked. Jan: 17th, 5pts behind 16th at halfway Q2. Second manager sacked. Out of FA Cup. Mar: 18th, 7pts off 16th at threequarters Q3. May: Manager quit. Finished 19th on 23pts, 15pts adrift of safety - relegated. 21/22 odd at start: top half 8/1, rel 4-5, stay up 4-5 . sack XM 6/1 . expected to finish: in bottom six - relegated. run in from 1/4/22: Liverpool 2-0 (A), Leeds 0-3 (H), Brentford 1-2 (H), Man City 5-1 (A), Burnley 1-2 (H), Palace 1-0 (A), Everton 0-0 (H), Leicester 1-5 (H), Chelsea 2-1 (A). run in forecast @ 1/4/22: 22pt > 29pts . max was 26 . Actual = 23 . Po was 18th . Actual po = 19th Season10 (4th) (A) - not Premier League. Season9 3rd Premier League (A) Sat 10/8/19 - W 0-3 ~ og, Andone, Maupay For the second first-day fixture running, Albion got to go on another short trip westbound up the M25 into suburban Hertfordshire (see season8 below). At very end of that previous difficult campaign, in mid May, Chris Hughton was immediately sacked by Tony Bloom, following Seagulls disappointing slide towards the PL d-z during an unsettling run-in. Our gambling owner then acted very quickly when obtaining man-management services, for 3m compensation to Swansea, of new head coach Graham Potter. He duly brought his close-support team on board to join the revised set up with Dan Ashworth's various admin/pathway depts at Lancing. Club captain Bruno had retired to take a BHA development/coaching role but majority of the remaining Prem squad was retained. After close season staff integration, squad additions of winger Leandro Trossard (Genk 18m), defender Adam Webster (Bristol C 20m), striker Neal Maupay (Brentford 20m) and Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield loan), arrived through pre-season build up. Fans favourite Knockaert departed to Fulham, Kayal & Hemed to Charlton, while Suttner returned to Germany. Several other fringe & senior U23 group players went out on loan in England and Europe. Meanwhile Bissouma, Izquierdo and Schelotto were still on the injury list (see Archive tab - Squads, PL & PL2 Signings). For the annual Amex friendly (v Valencia), after usual July trips to training camp in Austria and Hants/Sussex venue friendlies, Potter selected last-term's Prem regulars for this 'international' match. The big difference being in utilising 343 shape, with wingbacks full of attacking intent. It was therefore assumed 541 would duly be employed away from home, as an expedient to absorb strength of opposition in this division. *** match report: Albion won at Vicarage Road to please and excite travelling support and make pundits take note of the strategy ahead. Many journos had written off BHA as d-z candidates in pre-season supplements but this display had a blue & white colourful happy ending on the day. Seagulls went ahead when one of hosts defenders diverted a Gross centre into his net (28min). Up to the hour mark visitors were playing ok but hanging in there via the different formation. Potter then made a double swap, putting Andone & Maupay on to up the tempo (64min). Andone netted a Propper assist with his first touch (65min). Maupay then secured all points when rounding the keeper after receiving a Dunk long thru ball (77min). The sheet was kept clean to boot and we thank Ryan for doing his job well whenever locals penetrated our 5 man rearguard. Brighton fans sang their hearts out, which was also a turn around from a year ago. Potter said, 'we're not perfect, not getting too carried away and won't when we don't have a good day.' But on todays evidence the old squad was rejuvenated and signings worth every penny, for at least boosting competition to perform from the bench. Stats; shape 4222-541, h-t 0-1, goals 28,65,77, poss 48%-52%, on target 3-3, off target 4-2, blocks 4-0, corners 5-2, o/s 0-3, crosses 14-12, tackles 13-24, fouls 15-11, yellows 0-1, subs 2-3 . Gate 20,245, away 2100 . Weather - windy & warm . MoM - Burn. 1 Ryan, 22 Montoya, 4 Duffy, 5 Dunk Y88, 33 Burn, 20 March (30 Bernardo 92), 13 Gross, 6 Stephens, 24 Propper, 9 Locadia (7 Maupay 64), 17 Murray (10 Andone 64) . Bench; 27 Button, 15 Webster, 18 Mooy, 11 Trossard. Squad - 3 Bong, 8 Bissouma, 14 Balogun, 16 Jahanbakhsh . Injured - 19 Izquierdo, 21 Schelotto. Prem P1 . W0 D0 L0 . F0 A0 . W1 D0 L0 . F3 A0 . Pt3 Po4 = 3.00pt/gm. Wins = 100%, Loss = 0% Quart: Pl . W D L . . F A GD . . . Pt Po pt/gm . W% L% Total: 38 . 8 10 20 . 36 64 -28 . 34 19 = 0.89 . 21.0 52.6 - Nigel Pearson, finish 27/7/20. 3qtrs: 29 . 6 09 14 . 27 44 -17 . 27 17 = 0.93 . 21.4 48.2 - Nigel Pearson. PREM SUSPENDED Hfwy: 19 . 2 07 10 . 12 33 -21 . 13 19 = 0.68 . 10.5 52.6 - Q S Flores. Start: 10 . 0 05 05 . 05 21 -16 . 05 20 = 0.50 . 00.0 50.0 - Javi Gracia. EFL Cup: 4th rnd - Everton 2-0 (A), 3rd rnd - Swansea 2-1 (H), 2nd rnd - Coventry 3-0 (H) FA Cup: Tranmere 2-1 aet (A) 3-3 (H) R3. Aug: the manager was in for a 3rd season and had splashed the cash to boot. But they ended the month as bottom and him sacked. Oct: still bottom of the div and a long way from safety by end of start Q1. New Year: another new manager trying to turn things around. Into FAC4 draw via replay. March: in 17th position above d-z by GD only when Prem suspended. July: 3rd manager sacked - in the bottom three on last day but lost and went down. Season8 2nd Premier League (A) Sat 11/8/18 - L 2-0 Opening day of the second PL campaign saw Seagulls up at Vicarage Road once more in August (see season7 below). Previous personnel on fringes, Ulloa (loaned), Goldson, Huenemeier, Rosenior (U23 coach), Maenpaa, Sidwell, Murphy, Krul, Ince, Baldock & Skalak left during the close season. Norwood went out on loan. The successful promoted U23 squad was also subject to numerous ins & outs up to deadline on Aug 9th. Current Australian handler Maty Ryan & Colombian winger Jose Izquierdo had both played during World Cup group matches of mid June in Russia, rejoining after the BHA pre-season tour to Austria. Through the summer window Chris Hughton added to the revised 25 man PL squad by bringing in Martin Montoya, Ali Jahanbakhsh, Yves Bissouma, Bernardo da Silva, Leon Balogun (also at WC), Florin Andone and homegrown keepers David Button & Jason Steele. Reserve c-d Dan Burn penned on the last day. Friendly results, initially involving mixed PL & PL2 match-day players were; St Gallen 1-1 (A), Crawley W 0-3 (Lancing), Wimbledon L 2-1 (A), Portsmouth 1-1 (Lan), Charlton 1-1 (A), Birmingham 1-1 (A), Nice W 0-1 (A) and FC Nantes W 2-1 (H). On the day in Hertfordshire the starting eleven had just 1 new face, while there were 4 more arrivees on the bench. * * * match report: Distubingly the old guard failed to put in a satisfactory performance and on debut Bernardo was given a torrid time by opposition. Bruno limped off prior to half an hour gone and so sub Bong swapped sides with Bernardo. Seagulls display continued to go downhill and they soon conceded at a corner routine (35min). Not long into the second period Hornets netted again following defensive mistakes (54min). Hughton refreshed BHA around the hour mark by withdrawning Gross and inserting Bissouma, who did good straight away. Later Jahanbakhsh replaced March, with Knockaert moving to left flank. But Albion were always chasing the game and produced very little threat in the final third. Hughton said, 'if we had played well it would have been disappointing. We have lost and not played well.' He also hinted at changes to come during these opening fixtures, to blood new players at this level. Brighton fans went home frustrated and knew form on the road was going to be one helluva long haul this term as well. Stats; shape 442-4411, h-t 1-0, goals 35,54, poss 53%-47%, on target 5-0, off target 9-5, blocks 5-1, corners 8-2, o/s 0-3, crosses 20-15, tackles 17-18, fouls 10-16, yellows 2-2, subs 3-3 . Gate 20,051, away 2119. 1 Ryan, 2 Bruno (3 Bong 26), 4 Duffy, 5 Dunk, 30 Bernardo, 11 Knockaert, 6 Stephens, 24 Propper, 20 March (16 Jahanbakhsh 72), 13 Gross (8 Bissouma 60), 17 Murray. Prem P1 . W0 D0 L0 . F0 A0 . W0 D0 L1 . F0 A2 . Pt0 Po16 = 0.00pt/gm. Wins = 0%, Loss = 100% Quatr: Pl . W D L . . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . W% L% Total; 38 . 14 8 16 . 52 59 -7 . 50 11 = 1.31 . 36.8 42.1 - Javi Gracia 3qtrs; 29 . 12 7 10 . 41 41 0 .. 43 08 = 1.48 . 41.3 34.4 Hfwy; 19 . 08 3 08 . 26 27 -1 . 27 10 = 1.42 . 42.1 42.1 Start; 10 . 06 1 03 . 16 12 4 .. 19 07 = 1.90 . 60.0 30.0 - Javi Gracia. EFL Cup; 3rd rnd - Spurs 4-2 pens 2-2 (A), 2nd rnd south - Reading 0-2 (A). FA Cup; lost final - Man City 6-0, s-f - Wolves 3-2 aet, q-f - Palace 2-1 (H), 5th rnd - QPR 0-1 (A), 4th rnd - Newcastle 0-2 (A), 3rd rnd - Woking 0-2 (A). Aug; it depends on whether there is another nugget from usual foreign recruitment. And if integration is a fit for the Prem. October; doing ok to be in top ten and pushing on for Q2. Out of EFL Cup on pens. New Year; in top ten middle order but well adrift of sixth place. FA Cup progress. March; in a fight for seventh position. FA Cup semis. Season7 1st Premier League (A) 26/8/17 - 0-0 This was the third fixture in the Premier League and second consecutive regular Saturday afternoon away game. Chris Hughton had added to the already enhanced squad during the August window by bringing in Jose Izquierdo from Bruges for 13.5 million. Hughton said of the Colombian winger, 'he can score goals but I'm conscious we can't heap so much responsibility on just one player. Jose will be part of a team ethic.' But Albion had no points or goals for, when going into this benchmark match prior to the international break. Kayal, Baldock, Murray & Izzy Brown (on loan from Chelsea) were already out injured, while summer new boys Ryan, Propper, Gross & Suttner, all needed to up the ante at this level. Hughton considered the core of the Championship runners-up side to be capable on stepping up but the two previous displays had not proven good enough overall at end of both those ninety minutes. * * * match report: Albion should have won the contest rather than merely keeping a clean sheet, to ensure a point they started with at kick-off. Watford had a man dismissed for a bad lunge at Knockaert and this was after the winger struck a post (24min). Bruno got booked, so Rosenior replaced him for the second forty-five minutes. Chances continued to come & go but Seagulls couldn't take advantage against locals ten-men who played a fast counter-attacking tactic. Stats showed BHA were on top but in the final analysis, they failed to score for the third time in the Prem. Izquierdo got a run out for 15 minutes or so but by then stalemate was name of the game. Albion were denied a penalty, Ref bizarrely giving an indirect f-k inside the area. Hughton said, 'that's gone against us and as newly promoted team you need the fortune, the luck and the decisions to go your way.' Brighton fans could see the real problem. We just didn't have one forward player clinical enough to turn various half chances & full chances, as & when they appeared, into goals. Stats; shape 433-4411, h-t 0-0, goals - none, poss 42%-58%, on target 0-2, off target 5-8, blocks 3-6, corners 3-11, o/s 0-5, crosses 10-31, tackles 10-11, fouls 7-18, yellow 0-1, red 1-0, subs 3-3 . Attendance 20,181 (away 2227). 1 Ryan, 2 Bruno (23 Rosenior), 22 Duffy, 5 Dunk, 29 Suttner, 20 March, 6 Stephens, 24 Propper, 11 Knockaert (19 Izquierdo), 13 Gross, (15 Murphy), 10 Hemed. Prem P 3 . W 0 D 1 L 2 . F 0 A 4 . Pt 1 Po 17 = 0.33pt/gm . Wins = 0%, Loss = 66.6% Quatr: Pl . W D L . . F A GD . . . Pt Po pt/gm . W% L% Total; 38 . 11 8 19 . 44 64 -20 . 41 14 = 1.07 . 28.9 50.0 - Javi Gracia. 3qtrs; 29 . 10 6 13 . 39 47 -08 . 36 09 = 1.24 . 34.4 44.8 Hfwy; 19 . 06 4 09 . 27 34 -07 . 22 10 = 1.15 . 31.5 47.3 - Marco Silva. Start; 10 . 04 3 03 . 15 18 -03 . 15 08 = 1.50 . 40.0 30.0 Aug - another new manager and similar hopes of maintaining status but there are also random trials & tribulations to face this term. New Year - just in the top ten and all to play for with latest new manager. March - around mid table. EFL Cup & FA Cup early exits. WATFORD home; Prem, Vicarage Road. Seasn . W D L . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm %Pt . . W% L% 22/23 onwards - not Premier League. 21/22 - 02 2 15 . 17 46 -29 . 08 19 = 0.42 34.7 . 10.5 78.9 - R Hodgson, C Ranieri & X Munoz 20/21 - not Premier League. 19/20 - 06 6 7 . 21 26 -5 . 24 19 = 1.26 70.5 . 31.5 36.8 - Nigel Pearson, finish 27/7/20. 18/19 - 08 3 8 . 26 28 -2 . 27 11 = 1.42 54.0 . 42.1 42.1 - Javi Gracia 17/18 - 07 6 6 . 27 31 -4 . 27 14 = 1.42 65.8 . 36.8 31.5 - Marco Silva & Javi Gracia 16/17 - 08 4 7 . 24 29 -4 . 28 17 = 1.47 70.0 . 42.1 36.8 - Walter Mazzarri. 15/16 - 06 6 7 . 20 19 1 .. 24 13 = 1.26 53.3 . 31.5 36.8 - Quique Sanchez Flores. 11/12 - 14/15 not Premier League - see Seasons 1-4 in scroll below . WATFORD PREVIOUS PREM; Prem points: - - - -, 45, 40, 41, 50, 34 / -, 23, - < - recent managers; Valerien Ismael (23-24) Chris Wilder (2023) . Experience: ex-Prem coach trying to improve ex-Prem club. Slaven Bilic (22-23), Rob Edwards (2022). Roy Hodgson (2022) . Experience: came out of retirement to add a little to pension income. Claudio Ranieri (2021) . Experience: Prem title winner, been round the block several times. Xisco Munoz (20-21) - P27 wins = 66.6% @ Aug '21 . Experience: left field but got results at lower level. Nigel Pearson (19-20), Quique Sanchez Flores (2019), Javi Gracia (18-19), Marco Silva (17-18), Walter Mazzarri (16-17), Quique Sanchez Flores (15-16), Slavisa Jokanovic (14-15), Oscar Garcia (2014), Giuseppe Sannio (13-14), Gianfranco Zola (12-13), Sean Dyche (11-12) Seasn . W D L . . . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . . W% L% 22/23 onwards - not Premier League. 21/22 - 06 05 27 . 34 77 -43 . 23 19 = 0.60 . 15.7 71.0 - Roy Hodgson @ 22/5/22 Interim manager retired at the end and club dropped back to C'ship with merely a whimper. Difficult for fans with way club is run. 20/21 - not Premier League. 19/20 - 08 10 20 . 36 64 -28 . 34 19 = 0.89 . 21.0 52.6 - Nigel Pearson. PL SUSPENDED, complete @ 27/7/20. Shocking state of affairs with club in disarray before and after Prem lockdown and restart. Relegated from results last day of season. 18/19 - 14 08 16 . 52 59 -07 . 50 11 = 1.31 . 36.8 42.1 - Javi Gracia Progress of a sort without setting the top ten alight. FA Cup final thrashing exposed gulf in standards thru Prem. 17/18 - 11 08 19 . 44 64 -20 . 41 14 = 1.07 . 28.9 50.0 - Javi Gracia & Marco Silva. At start of last campaign Italian speaking Walter Mazzarri took charge. By end of that term he was history, as yet another European boss disappeared in clouds of dust up Vicarage Road. Cue a man from Portugal who again tried to invigorate a struggling Prem outfit. 16/17 - 11 07 20 . 40 68 -28 . 40 17 = 1.05 . 28.9 52.6 - Walter Mazzarri. Owners, the Pozzo family, chopped & changed again in rapid repeat fashion. Italian was spoken but the points total was always gonna be about what translated most. 15/16 - 12 09 17 . 40 50 -10 . 54 13 = 1.42 . 31.5 44.7 - Quique Sanchez Flores. Having got to the Prem, Hornets gained a middling level of respect for stinging opposition. But Flores was not seen as having killer instincts, for all his defence of the nest. 11/12 - 14/15 not Premier League - see below, Seasons 1-4. FA CUP from 11/12; 4th rnd, 3rd, 4th, 3rd, s-f, 4th, 4th, final, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd 3rd. LEAGUE CUP; 1st rnd, 2nd, 3rd, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 3rd, 3rd, 2nd. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Watford away, Falmer years - C'ship 11/12-14/15 . Seasons 1-4. Hornets v Albion (A) from 11/12 @ C: 1-0, 0-1, 2-0, 1-1, -, - . . W = 1 D = 1 L = 2 memorable match: Season2 (A) - an early season visit to Vicarage Road that bode well for the campaign ahead. Seasons 5-6 - not C'ship. Season4 Championship (A) 4/10/14 - 1-1 ~ Dunk. How many head-coaches does it take to change a light bulb in the home changing room at Vicarage Road? Well, this season so far... three (later 4). Brighton fans thought we were in for a meeting with ex-Albion boss Oscar Garcia (see season3 below) following his move to replace Beppe Sannino. But OG resigned within a month due to ill health. Meanwhile Sami Hyypia was doing his own thing at BHA, which was certainly a quicker version of the original passing game fromearlier Poyet/Garcia Championship campaigns. Albion had never been recognised as a counter attacking side in the last couple of decades but there was certainly much more pace up front these days. The squad was different and Kuszczak, Upson, Ward, Andrews, David, Ulloa, Orlandi, Rodriguez, Barnes, El-Abd, Bridcutt & Buckley were all long gone. Hyypia wanted wingbacks not wingers, 4141 not 442 and play thru defenders not over them. On the day, over 1800 BHA faithful got along to see what would happen this term. * match report: At halftime it was still goalless but Albion had given good account for stalemate and were not getting pinned back in defence. Then a lapse moment early into the second period meant Seagulls were now chasing the game. Hornets duly netted directly from a f-k o/s the area, driven right thru the wall (53min). Immediately Sami threw on LuaLua to up the ante in the final third. On the hour mark Hyypia also withdrew Ince for more attack-minded Holla in midfield. Crofts went off injured ten minutes later and playmaker McCourt got a chance for limelight. This trio proved BHA capable of taking the game to opposition and shortly afterwards levelled the match. Dunk went to the near post for a LuaLua corner and headed firmly home - as Albion leading scorer!! (77min). Final moments got a bit frantic and visitors were looking most likely to score as the clock counted down. In stoppage, several chances were created to collect all three points but that final finish went begging. Stats showed an even-steven contest, although Sami was far from happy. He said, 'it would be easier to change something if we played badly. It is only a little adjustment we need to make. We need to be more clinical and maybe more determined in the final third.' Well, yes, we got the point if you see what he meant!! Stockdale, Bruno, Greer, Dunk, Bennett, Crofts (McCourt), Ince (Holla), Gardner, Teixeira, O'Grady, Colunga (LuaLua). Champ's P11 . W2 D5 L4 . F10 A12 . Pt11 Po19 . W = 18.1% 36.3% Season3 (A) 2/2/14 - L 2-0. We were into Feb now and the transfer window had just shut. El-Abd, Barnes & Bridcutt had gone to other clubs. So Head coach Oscar Garcia gave debuts to new signings Stephens & Rodriguez. The move of Bridcutt to join Gus Poyet at Sunderland for 2.5mill had been an open secret for weeks. The other two transfers were perhaps overdue from long-serving squad members no longer guaranteed a starting position. Also the dev group was producing players and time does not stand still for any pros at any time. Brighton had ambitions to reach play-offs again and further. You had to live the dream apparently. * match report: This fixture was a total disaster for the many devoted travelling support who turned up on that particular Sunday. They would have been better praying for a miracle in church somewhere quiet. Against run of play Watford led (13min) by taking a half chance. Seagulls huffed & puffed during the second period but could not get back into it. On the hour Greer gave a suicidal backpass and thank you & good night. Albion got the ball in the net via Ulloa from a David f-k but guess what? Yeah, off side - disallowed anyway. In three consecutive away fixtures, Brighton had taken merely one point from nine. On evidence to date, we would not make play-offs and possibly slip into mid-table mediocrity. Kuszczak, Bruno, Greer, Upson, Ward, Stephens, Andrews, Forster-Caskey (LuaLua), David (March), Ulloa, Orlandi (Rodriguez). Champ's P28 . W10 D10 L8 . F30 A25 . Pt40 Po9 . W = 35.7% L = 28.5% Season2 (A) 18/9/12 - W 0-1 ~ Mackail-Smith. It happened to be another evening fixture for our second Falmer-based Championship season travelling via the M25. Albion had played two away games to date and although a tad unlucky in defeat to Hull, got a right result at Burnley. That score reversed a trend set in tarmacadam last term, when goals and therefore points were harder to go the extra mile for. Gus Poyet revamped his squad to that playing at Vicarage Road last season - see below. Polish signing Tomasz Kuszczak (Man U) was the new keeper, while Bruno Saltor (Valencia) and Wayne Bridge (loan Man City) were wing backs. Andrew Crofts came back from Norwich but Craig Noone went to Cardiff. In midfield there was more choice, with Dean Hammond (loan So'ton), Andrea Orlandi (Swansea) and David Lopez (Bilbao) all now on board since August deadline day. Up front he added Stephen Dobbie (Swansea) to assist with the important goals-for column. On the night nearly 2k travelling support got along in a crowd of about 12k. * match report: Watford, now with Poyet's old Chelsea colleague Gianfranco Zola as manager, started smartly and put Brighton under early pressure. But Albion withstood all and worked back into the game. At halftime it was still goalless, although chances fell to both teams to open scoring. Early in the second period CMS got brought down and so smashed the pen home down the middle (50 min). Buckley was running amok on both flanks and a second goal seemed imminent. However more chances came and went and Zola subbed to try and get a point. Poyet introduced Barnes on the hour mark and Dobbie later (75m) to add to the slim lead. Unfortunately the home outfit got second wind and pressed for parity. Ref denied them at least two shouts for spot kicks and they went down a tad unluckily at the death. Seagulls hung on to their lofty position and Gus was pleased too with that battling performance. Kuszczak, Bruno (Calderon), Greer, El-Abd, Bridge, Hammond, Bridcutt, Dicker, Buckley, Mackail-Smith (Dobbie), Orlandi (Barnes). Champ's P6 . W4 D1 L1 . F12 A3 . Pt13 Po3 . W = 66.6% L = 16.6% Season1 (A) 1/11/11 - L 1-0. Brighton were situated in mid division and finding feet in the Championship following three months of tough campaigning. Gus Poyet wanted to continue with the passing game that had been so successful at tier three but this was a different league altogether. He brought loan players here to bolster a small squad hit by injuries, which was in reaction to these events and a winless run of poor form. BHA was competing with clubs that were regulars at level two and had the know-how to deal with upstarts from further down the pyramid. On the night, which wasn't bad for autumn, over 1500 Brighton fans turned up at Vicarage Road to see how things were shaping up these days. * match report: Albion lost holding midfielder Bridcutt before half an hour gone and veteran defender Taricco took to the field at right back. He'd previously hung up boots but was needed now in light of ongoing squad problems. It was still all square by coffee time, although Hornets failed to capitalise on early dominance. Into the second period, Brighton matched Watford for application and possession but couldn't create enough chances to score from one. Gus then introduced Barnes who slotted in behind the strikers. Against run of play the home outfit snatched a vital lead following Harpers save that fell nicely to a supersub attacker (77min). Poyet was desperate to salvage a point and threw on LuaLua at the death. But Seagulls overall display wasn't up to speed and he was first to admit, long ball and route one didn't help set up breaking through the local rearguard. Travelling hordes went home disappointed and we needed to up our game or the slide into worse than mere mediocrity was thought possible. Harper, Vincelot, Greer, Calderon, Painter, Noone, Bridcutt (Taricco), Sparrow (Barnes), Harley (LuaLua), Paynter, Mackail-Smith. Champ's P15 . W5 D5 L5 . F17 A17 . Pt20 Po13 . W = 33.3% L = 33.3% * * * * * Withdean Era: 12 seasons from 1999 to 2011 - Seasons 4 02/3, 6 04/5, 7 05/6 - Championship. Withdean era: Hornets v Albion 1-0, 1-1, 1-1 . . . W = 0 D = 2 L = 1 0-1 FA Cup. memorable match: Season6 (A) - an early season visit when Seagulls were finding out about this level. Noughties last there: 3/12/05 (A) - C'ship Our final fixture to Vicarage Road this decade, 2 at level2 and initially level3. 29/1/11 (A) - FA Cup R4. Victory there saw us thru to round 5 and face a trip to Stoke ahead... oh dear! see: Seasons 4, 6, 7 for club & stadium info. Also Dick Knight, Martin Hinshelwood, Mark McGhee & Gus Poyet.
Watford - Home, Falmer Years: Prem 17/18-19/20 21/22, seasons 7-9 11 . . C'ship 11/12-14/15, seasons 1 - 4. Albion record @ Amex: W = 2 D = 4 L = 2 Albion v Watford (H) from 17/18: 1-0 0-0 1-1 - 2-0 - < - . . W = 2 D = 2 L = 0 . F4 A1 scorers: og Gross Duffy Maupay. memorable match: Season11 (H) - first home game of the season and a very good way to start this campaign. note: for away Falmer Years results & reports scroll further up. Seasons 12 (6th) (H) onwards - not Premier League. Season11, 5th Premier League (H) Sat 21/8/21 - W 2-0 ~ Duffy, Maupay. Covid: no restrictions on gate size . Covid pass & photo id required for entry. The vast majority of Brighton fans now returned to the Amex following nearly eighteen months non-admission due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Hornets were here too, on a mid August evening for our first home match, after they'd buzzed around the Championship last term. We'd entertained the Hertfordshire outfit on three previous Prem occasions and not lost. But through all four PL seasons Albion's overall home form had been far from outstanding, so no time like the present to collect three points and kick our domestic campaign off with an initial victory. During the close season, White (50m), Jahanbakhsh (5m), Ryan, Propper, Bernardo, Izquierdo and Gyokeres had left. New signings were Enock Mwpeu (20m) in m-f and Kjell Scherpen (4m) between the posts. Hornets bought more players in than Seagulls acquired but didn't spend a whole heap of Lira via their long-standing Pozzo family Italian owners. Spaniard Xisco Munoz wasn't a manager's name familiar to Brighton fans, so to some extent we didn't fear getting beat anyhow. Given Watford's long record of bosses dismissals, perhaps it was a novelty to play them this early. Pundits predicted their immediate return to level2, therefore was this a basement level six pointer already? Albion previously had dramatically lost, in our only pre-season friendly here, against 'beatable' La Liga opposition and failed to score to boot. As Micky Adams used to say: 'fail to prepare and prepare to fail.' * match report: Albion went ahead when Duffy headed home from a Gross corner (10min). Hosts remained in charge for much of the first half and went into the break two goals up. Bissouma robbed an opponent outside their box and put Maupay through to net (41min). After turnaround Connolly replaced injured Maupay who'd been flattened in stoppage time. Visitors almost got back in the game but Ref ruled o/s. However they kept coming forward and Seagulls rearguard had to earn their money - four were booked. Ref got on the wrong side of home fans, although it would have taken a lot to lower levels of excitement at being back at the Amex for live football. The standard was good and Bissouma & Lallana ran the show from midfield. Potter put on two late subs for a have & hold tactic. He must have appreciated two wins from two fixtures but in usual diplomatic style suggested improvement was possible. Brighton fans said bring it on! Stats: ht 2-0, goals 10,41, poss 57%-43%, on target 3-1, off target 5-5, blocks 5-4, corners 7-2, crosses 20-17, o/s 1-1, tackles 19-12, fouls 11-6, yellows 4-0, subs 3-3, shape 433-4141 weather: cloudy . gate: 29,485, away 2488 . MoM: Duffy - a monster. team: 1 Sanchez, 4 Webster Y, 24 Duffy Y, 5 Dunk, 20 March Y, 8 Bissouma, 10 Mac Allister, 13 Gross, 14 Lallana (15 Moder 80), 11 Trossard (12 Mwepu Y 71), 9 Maupay (7 Connolly 45) . bench: 23 Steele, 17 Alzate, 19 Zeqiri, 25 Caicedo, 28 Roberts, 30 Richards. squad: 6 Karbownik, 21 Andone, 22 Tau . injured: 2 Lamptey, 16 Scherpen, 18 Welbeck, 33 Burn, 34 Veltman. Prem: P2 . W1 D0 L0 . F2 A0 . W1 D0 L0 . F2 A1 . Pt6 Po2 = 3.00pt/gm . W = 100% L = 0% Season10 (4th) (H) - not Premier League. Season9, 3rd Premier League (H) Sat 8/2/20 - 1-1 ~ og The PL campaign had been allotted a week's winter break for the very first time this particular season, covering a fortnite over all. In hosting Hornets as scheduled, Albion were one of four fixtures from ten in the Prem to play today then resume regular weekend games on the 22nd. This contest was also selected for pay tv broadcast and thus kicked off at teatime. Both clubs were now involved in a tough relegation battle as developed during recent months since the halfway stage at Xmas. Of other fellow strugglers, none had actually been cut adrift to an extent that they could be dismissed as down & out already. So every goal scored, clean sheet kept and point gained, counted for a lot in the bid for Prem survival. No significant striker signings had happened in the January transfer window but on loan Mooy was made permanent at BHA and veteran Murray penned an extention until 2021. Youngster Tariq Lamptey joined from Chelsea, while Alexis Mac Allister was brought back from a seasonal loan in S America. Meanwhile Kayal had returned injured from Charlton. Coach Graham Potter seemed happy with numbers in the revised 25 man squad, although Bong had left and Izquierdo remained long term injured. There was also a long list of on loan players out to EFL clubs or sent abroad from both senior/junior pros and U23/18 groups. Of these, Knockaert & Andone were biggest names. * match report: Potter rotated his squad to start and also tactically during play but once again Albion failed to win in 2020 to date. It was also becoming a habit for Seagulls to go a goal behind and then chase the game for a point. Once the early rush of blood had settled Albion slowed to walking pace going forward and played into opponents hands. Against run of play Hornets netted on the counter and quietened home support to boot (19min). During the second period Potter switched men around and introduced subs in an attempt to break through a solid visitors rearguard. All to no avail as quality of delivery was poor and penetration spasmodic. Before the death travellers scored an og to throw away two points and hand one to hosts (78min). Brighton never looked likely to score on their own anyway. There are not too many goal-scorers in the squad, so with Murray & Maupay short on service, the others from around the pitch were long odds against to bag one. Potter was pleased with the fightback and made suitable noises in support. Brighton fans knew what they had witnessed and not for the first time were short changed by a side that flattered to deceive. It was not good enough and everybody understood that more of these kind of displays would not ensure survival asap. The question was, who could possibly step up as saviour, while games ran out, to hit a necessary 40 points target? Stats: shape 4231-4231, ht 0-1, goals 19-78, poss 67%-33%, on target 2-2, off target 5-2, blocks 3-1, o/s 2-2, crosses 28-6, corners 3-2, tackles 12-22, fouls 9-12, yellows 2-2, subs 3-2 . MoM - March . Gate - 30,443, away 2960 . Weather - dry, windy. 1 Ryan, 21 Schelotto Y (16 Jahanbakhsh 71), 4 Duffy, 5 Dunk, 33 Burn (7 Maupay 61), 18 Mooy, 24 Propper, 20 March Y, 13 Gross (46 Alzate 57), 11 Trossard, 17 Murray . Bench: 27 Button, 30 Bernardo, 15 Webster, 44 Connolly. Squad - 8 Bissouma, 22 Montoya . Injured - 6 Stephens, 19 Izquierdo. Prem: P26 . W4 D6 L3 . F17 A14 . W2 D3 L8 . F14 A24 . Pt27 Po15 = 1.03pt/gm. Wins = 23%, Loss = 42.3% Season8 2nd Premier League (H) Sat 2/2/19 - 0-0 The Amex was regularly sold out and in fact BHA had lately featured in the top 30 international rich club list, having turned a healthy profit from recent PL participation. The academy was doing well too, with regard to development of young players and quite a few were bought in from abroad with potential as future sales from bargain buys. The January transfer window had shut and three prospects duly signed, only to be returned on loan to current parent clubs in Europe & S America. Watch this space! It didn't take somebody with a freeby honorary doctorate, like Chris Hughton had just received from neighbours Sussex Uni, to realise why Albion hadn't got too many points recently. It was because we didn't score enough goals in proportion to chances created. Murray accounted for bulk of the 'For' column with 10, next Duffy had 4 but all others were well behind them in very low single figures. Indeed some, like Propper had yet to figure on the list. All outfield players were capable of scoring but it was once in a blue & white moon for majority of the squad. * * * match report: This match followed a trend at the Amex and petered out into stalemate despite numerous attempts to break deadlock. Visitors keeper was their hero when pulling off at least three super saves as Seagulls bombarded the box with crosses. Locadia & Duffy looked certain to bag one as BHA piled on pressure but Hornets goalie buzzed up, down & around to hold things at nil-nil. Hughton put on Andone and he too went one on one with the hero custodian and his punt somehow got deflected. In contrast Ryan had an easy winter afternoon, probably trying to keep warm so as to be ready if the ball got near him. Hughton said, 'it's frustrating, we deserved to win. We were at home. We created lots of chances but you have to put some of them away.' Brighton fans made for bus queues long before stoppage time, knowing hosts would not score even if it took until midnight. Every season has a goalless draw or two and this was another one of them. Stats; shape 433-4222, poss 55%-45%, on target 4-0, off target 13-5, blocks 4-0, crosses 27-13, o/s 4-0, corners 7-0, tackles 21-26, fouls 15-10, yellows 1-0, subs 1-2 . Gate 30,414, away 2986 . MoM - March . Weather - cold, sunny intervals. 1 Ryan, 22 Montoya, 4 Duffy, 5 Dunk, 3 Bong, 13 Gross, 24 Propper, 8 Bissouma, 20 March, 17 Murray (10 Andone 72), 9 Locadia. Bench: 27 Button, 14 Balogun, 33 Burn, 7 Kayal, 11 Knockaert, 16 Jahanbakhsh. Prem P25 . W5 D4 L3 F15 A12 . W2 D2 L9 F12 A24 . Pt27 Po13 = 1.08pt/gm. Wins = 28%, Loss = 48% Season7 1st Premier League (H) 23/12/17 - W 1-0 ~ Gross This pre-Xmas fixture was the first return game of the PL season and also marked the halfway stage of a very tough campaign to date. Albion were currently in midtable but every single goal scored & point gained counted for much because they were merely 3pts off the drop zone going into this contest. Home form was very average - w2 d5 l2 = 1.22pt/gm or 61.1% of total points so far. So Seagulls really needed to step up during second half of the season at the Amex, to reach a notional survival target of 40pts overall. That meant picking up at least another 15 points at the community stadium to give locals a fighting chance of making the cut next term. * * * match report: Albion edged an average contest with a first goal in open play for over ten hours. They took the game to visitors but could not score from any number of opportunities created prior to the hour mark. Then Hemed put Gross thru and he let fly outside the area - to see the ball squirm under the keeper (64min). Hornets tried to get back in it but Seagulls rearguard stood firm and Ryan kept a clean sheet. Goldson on debut, following heart surgery in the summer, was outstanding and MoM. Hughton made very late changes just to see time out but BHA had safely bagged their three points before Xmas. Hughton said, 'I work with a group who know it is going to be a tough season. it's always the most difficult part of playing at the top level, getting the goals you want.' Brighton fans went home happy and on checking other results found the drop zone was now 5pt below. Stats; shape 4411-4231, ht 0-0, goal 64, poss 52%-48%, on target 3-1, off target 8-7, blocks 3-5, corners 6-4, crosses 21-19, o/s 6-0, tackles 14-19, fouls 8-11, yellows 0-0, subs 3-3 . Gate 30,473 (away 3025). 1 Ryan, 2 Bruno, 18 Goldson, 5 Dunk, 29 Suttner, 11 Knockaert, 6 Stephens, 24 Propper, 20 March (19 Izquierdo), 13 Gross (7 Kayal), 10 Hemed (17 Murray). Prem P 19 . W 5 D 6 L 8 . F 15 A 23 . Pt 21 Po 12 = 1.10pt/gm . Wins = 26.3%, Loss = 42.1% WATFORD AWAY; Prem. Seasn . W D L . F A GD . . . Pt Po pt/gm %Pt . W% L% 22/23 onwards - not Premier League 21/22 - 4 3 12 . 17 31 -14 . 15 19 = 0.78 65.2 . 21.0 63.1 - R Hodgson, C Ranieri & Xisco Munoz 20/21 - not Premier League. 19/20 - 2 4 13 . 14 37 -23 . 10 19 = 0.52 29.4 . 10.5 68.4 - Nigel Pearson, finish 27/7/20. 18/19 - 6 5 08 . 26 31 -05 . 23 11 = 1.21 46.0 . 31.5 42.1 - Javi Gracia. 17/18 - 4 2 13 . 17 33 -16 . 14 14 = 0.73 34.1 . 21.0 68.4 - Marco Silva & Javi Gracia. 16/17 - 3 3 13 . 15 39 -24 . 12 17 = 0.63 30.0 . 15.7 68.4 - Walter Mazzarri. 15/16 - 6 3 10 . 20 31 -11 . 21 13 = 1.10 46.6 . 31.5 52.6 - Quique Sanchez Flores.. 11/12 - 14/15 not Premier League - see scroll below, Seasons 1-4. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Watford home, Falmer years - C'ship 11/12-14/15 . Seasons 1-4. Albion v Hornets (H) from 11/12 @ C: 2-2, 1-3, 1-1, 0-2, -, - . . W = 0 D = 2 L = 2 memorable match: Season1 (H) - an end of season affair when we reflected on what needed to change. Seasons 5-6 (H) - not C'ship. Season4 Championship (H) 25/4/15 - L 0-2. Hornets were really buzzing and had just hit top spot in an incredible race for the title this season. Meanwhile back at the Amex, Albion were struggling to get enough points to mathematically ensure safety. The last nine matches overall, going into March were - ldl llw ddl. And results at the community stadiumrecently, back to end of Feb were - 0-0, 0-2, 0-1, 1-1, 2-0. So there was plenty of room for improvement on stats of - W6 D8 L8 F26 A27 to date. Chris Hughton was wracking his brains as to how he could motivate Seagulls to pick up those elusive points but in truth Albion were in much the same state as when Sami Hyypia resigned prior to Xmas of 2014. Brighton fans had hoped other relegation threatened sides would fail to win their matches because there seemed little chance of beating these promotion candidates. In the event there was no satisfaction in staying up due to others failings. * match report: Hughton went with the unusual formation of 5 at the back... but only one up front as usual! For a while Albion appeared to contain intrepid visitors but opposition changed shape to cope and very soon the game was up. If Seagulls had initially converted chances it mighta been different. But a series of errors in defence allowed Hornets top striker to take a dig inside the area (29min). Lifted by huge away support, the Prem-bound outfit were too cute to let it slip to lowly southern softies. Hughton sent on Mackail-Smith after an hour for his last app in blue & white at the Amex. Later other old hands, LuaLua and PoY Calderon showed up too, although it didn't make much difference to the score. With Ref looking at his watch, travellers broke thru as B'ton flooded forward and netted again on the counter (90+4). Hughton said, 'nobody will say they were better than us but we found it difficult to get goals. We lack composure and it has put pressure on us. Their first goal was poor from our point of view. But they have strikers who have scored 20 goals apoece this season.' The obvious answer was for Hughton to recruit in the close season and Bloom to pay the going rate for quality in several positions across the park. No names, no packdrill but more than one or two were looking like lower league was better for them next term. Stockdale, Bruno (Calderon), Greer, Halford, Dunk, Bennett, Kayal, Stephens, Carayol (Mackail-Smith), O'Grady, Forster-Caskey (LuaLua). Champ's P45 . W10 D16 L19 . F44 A54 . Pt46 Po20 . W = 22.2% L = 42.2% Season3 (H) 28/10/13 - 1-1 ~ Crofts. Yes, the old tv cameras wanted to show this fixture and so Brighton fans turned up on a Monday night following aftermath of the storm of St Jude (or was it Jute?). K-o was delayed coz of train disruption. Well anyway, the official attendance got recorded in excess of 27k (about 1300 away fans) but you could tell from numerous gaps, where blue seats showed thru the Amex crowd that some sums didn't quite add up. Yeah, we know there are a hellava lot of season ticket holders, so umm, is it inclusive in the crowd figure or what? Answers on a postcard to Paul Barber, Chief Executive. He always has a lot to say on every subject and all. Oscar Garcia was trying to find his best eleven. His only help toward progress was in the fact that he didn't have too many too choose from to make a squad - due to an ongoing injury crisis. * match report: Albion went a goal down inside five minutes. From a fast counter, the ball flew into the top corner from down range, via an Albion head (4min). During the rest of a quick paced first half, Brighton were chasing the game. We had chances but Hornets keeper was on song like the rest of his outfit. They din't let us alone for a minute. Not long into second period, Crofts pulled on back with a snap effort thru a crowded area following a corner (54min). The Amex woke up and wanted more, although visistors looked very dangerous on the break and we had plenty of luck with decisions. Bruno mighta got 2 yellows, Greer cleared off the line (was it over?) and Ward blocked a certainty that broke looose to glance off a post. Home debutant Leroy Lita got on for twenty minutes but BHA could not edge ahead - using 433 as usual. In a rousing finish both side went for it and with the match in balance, the final result was probably about right on the night. Back to the training pitch lads - to practice shooting? Kuszczak, Bruno, Greer, Upson, Ward (Calderon), Crofts, Andrews, Forster-Caskey, Buckley, Barnes, Conway (Lita). Champ's P13 . W3 D6 L4 . F12 A13 . Pt15 Po16 . W = 23% L = 30.7% Season2 (H) 29/12/12 - L 1-3 ~ David. Albion had quite a break from competitive footy over the Xmas period. Our last match prior to festivities turned out to be that re-sheduled Boxing Day clash with Millwall at the Amex on Tuesday 18Dec. The following Saturday 22Dec away-game against Blackburn was then postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. So players got Crimbo off but had to be up to speed immediately afterwards for the first fixture in 11 days. Gus Poyet had most of the squad fit for selection and went with an attacking line-up as was his manatra. On the day, in front of tv cameras, 26k attended for a teatime k-o. * match report: It was a familiar story during the first half of Albion superiority but distinct lack of converting chances into goals. A pep-talk at the break was surely all that was needed to spark the side into scoring. But it all fell apart soon after turn around. Watford went one up thru poor marking (54 min) against run of play. Poyet put Barnes on around the hour mark and next, LuaLua got decked in the area. So David stepped up to net the spot kick (65min). Within five minutes we were two behind and facing an uphill task. The first was deflected over Kuszczak (68m) and the second was a fast counter that outpaced our toiling defence (69m). Gus sent two more strikers into the fray (75m) but we were pissing in the wind as thousands left the Amex early doors to join bus and train queues. It ended in shambles and many fans were getting frustrated with repeated pretty football but shortage of points on our own turf. Poyet said, 'it was not a good day.' Yeah, too right. Kuszczak, Bruno, Greer, El-Abd, Bridge, Crofts (Hoskins), Bridcutt, Orlandi (Barnes), David (Dobbie), Mackail-Smith, LuaLua. Champ's P24 . W8 D10 L6 . F32 A26 . Pt34 Po10 . W = 33.3% L = 25% Season1 (H) 17/4/12 - 2-2 ~ Calderon, Buckley. Albion's playoff hopes had stalled and we'd merely picked up two points from a possible fifteen since our last win at the Amex a month ago. This poor run of form included three consecutive losses, culminating in a six-nil thrashing at West Ham last time out. Gus Poyet told the press, 'I know what I am going to change probably for next year, I know what we need to improve. We need to be better, stronger, quicker, more intelligent. We need to have better players.' So now we knew too, confirming what more than just a few fans suspected this season anyway, given the overall campaign was largely successful. Quite how Brighton would respond to acute disappointment would be revealed tonite in the last evening fixture. But Brighton fans couldn't really complain about our first year in the Championship, where we'd exceeded expectations since promotion from League One last term at Withdean. * match report: Brighton were quick off the mark but fell behind early when visitors got a f-k on edge of the area (6min). Brand new keeper Gonzalez couldn't keep it out and yeah, welcome to the Amex. Just prior to half-time, he faced a penalty when Barnes fouled - but luck was out and BHA went two-nil down (44min). In the second period Calderon pulled on back thru determination and a re-bound (55min). Poyet then put Vicente on for a bit more buzz in midfield and shaped to 433 from 442. Backed by reinvigorated support, Albion went after the equaliser. Vicente was pulling strings and he set up Buckley to slide home as time ticked away (79min). At the death a fierce drive from the super Spaniard was blocked just before Ref blew. Gus was glad we didn't get beat but had plenty to think about for next term anyway. Gonzalez, Calderon, Dunk, El-Abd, Painter (Vincelot), Buckley, Bridcutt, Dicker, LuaLua (Vicente), Barnes, Mackail-Smith. Champ's P44 . W17 D13 L14 . F51 A51 . Pt64 Po9 . W = 38.6% L = 31.8% * * * * * Withdean era: seasons 4 6-7, 02/3 04/5-05/6 - C'ship. Withdean era: Albion v Hornets 4-0, 2-1, 0-1 . . . W = 2 D = 0 L = 1 memorable match: Season7 (H) - a single goal game but one scored in bizarre fashion. see: Seasons 4, 6, 7 for club & stadium info. Also Dick Knight, Mark McGhee & Charlie Oatway.
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