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Yet another Times article today - this time Solly



tonyt

Active member
Feb 23, 2009
263
Sorry couldn't figure out how to post the actual article but here's the text.

SOLLY MARCH INTERVIEW
Solly March interview: ‘City’s full backs cost more than our home but there’s no fear’
Like Brighton, Solly March has taken the long route to the Premier League but he tells Henry Winter they can cause a surprise

Henry Winter, Chief Football Writer
August 11 2017, 12:01am,

March believes that Brighton, who almost dropped out of the Football League 20 years ago, are good enough not to be relegated this season
Of the many topics of excited debate circulating Brighton & Hove Albion’s training ground this week was the stat that Manchester City, their opening opponents in the Premier League tomorrow, spent more on full backs in the past month than Brighton did on their impressive stadium and training complex. “£130 million worth of full backs in the first game,” Brighton’s home-grown winger Solly March says, smiling.

A threat down either flank, March cannot wait to get running at Kyle Walker and Danilo (with Benjamin Mendy injured). The 23-year-old exudes an ethos of respect for the opposition but no fear, which characterises Chris Hughton’s newly promoted side. It reflects principles taught when attending Bede’s, an independent school in Eastbourne, East Sussex, where March was in Knights House with its mantra of, “We all need a quiet pride in ourselves . . . [but] we should not shy away from demonstrating our talent.”

March is ready. “It’s going to be a challenge for everybody, but we’ll take it in our stride, compete and we’ll surprise a few people,” he says. “City are probably not going to know as much about us as we do about them. It’s going to be tough for them, coming to the Amex. Our fans really get behind us and they’re going to step it up even more because they know we need them even more. The buzz is good here. We’re raring to go.”

Brighton are up against Gabriel Jesus, Sergio Agüero, Leroy Sané, Raheem Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and David Silva, among other stars in Pep Guardiola’s galaxy. “Some of the players in the Premier League are the best in the world,” March says. “Some of the transfer fees are crazy, but it shows how good these players are. I hope I can prove I’m just as good as them. But there’s no fear. We’re not expected to beat teams like City. The odds are against us staying up. But that spurs us even more, everybody writing us off already, so I hope we can prove them wrong.”

Brighton return to the top flight for the first time since 1983, during which epoch in the wilderness they almost went out of business, almost went out of the League and actually did go out of the county to find a home. That is why tomorrow is so special. March’s smile broadens as he recalls the day in mid-April when the return was effectively sealed with his goal against Wigan Athletic at the Amex (and confirmed soon after when Huddersfield Town drew with Derby County). Some of March’s jubilant team-mates joined the fans on the train back into Brighton. Jamie Murphy, Jiri Skalak and Oliver Norwood even crowd-surfed down the carriage. “I wished I did it — it looked good fun,” he says. “Everyone went into town. We met up in a bar that the chairman hired out — great celebrations.”


Mention of the owner, Tony Bloom, prompts reverential appraisal from March. “He stays out of the way most of the time,” he says. “But his reaction [scarf-twirling after the Wigan game] showed his passion for the club. It shows how much it means to him.”

To all of them. “Brighton’s a massive community club,” March adds. “The club over the last 20 years has had problems, ups and downs, without a ground for large periods, almost went out of business, but the fans were still here. We could fill the ground twice for Saturday, that shows how big it is. I hope this clubs stays like this, a community club. There are not going to be many more clubs like this going round for very much longer. A lot of the clubs have foreign investment, big money coming in, signing players. It’s different here.”

He recalls the way Brighton stood strong alongside Anthony Knockaert when the Frenchman’s father died last season. Ten of Chris Hughton’s players travelled over to Lille for the funeral. “You are not just my team-mates but my friends for ever,” Knockaert tweeted. “Coming all the way from England it’s just unbelievable. The respect of this football club is too much.”


March recalls: “It showed massively the togetherness of the club. There are not many clubs like that, especially now, especially like this one. That togetherness helped us last year massively and hopefully this year.”

Born in nearby Eastbourne, March embodies Brighton’s roots-in-the-community feel. His father, Steve, was an apprentice at Brighton before heading into non-League football with local club Hailsham Town. “He was at Brighton during the better years at the Goldstone,” March reflects. “I went to watch Brighton a few times as a kid. I wasn’t a big fan because they played at the Withdean and that’s not attractive to teenagers.”

So he supported Arsenal “because of Thierry Henry” and for another reason. “My dad was a Man U fan, so I went against him. It was the rivalry, Patrick Vieira and Roy Keane, seeing them want to kill each other, the passion, in the tunnel, them arguing. It was great, exciting. But Henry was the player I really looked up to.” Now, the Arsenal legend will be analysing him. “Hopefully I can play well, and he can praise me — that would be great.

“It was just the way Henry played: he looked like he wasn’t trying, and then he glided past players, and scored a hat-trick. I remember he tore [Jamie] Carragher to pieces. Henry made it look easy, cutting in, finishing, the bottom corner. I’d go out in the back garden, try finishing like he did, try to emulate Thierry Henry. More recently, I’ve looked at [Gareth] Bale and [Arjen] Robben, left-footed players similar to me. I don’t mind either side: I maybe score more goals [cutting in] from the right but I can also go down the left, deliver balls and make assists. I’m versatile.”

The winger has already shown what he can do against distinguished full backs in pre-season. When Atletico Madrid visited the Amex last weekend, March took on and beat Juanfran for pace, putting in the ball for Steve Sidwell to head in during the 3-2 loss. “That’s what I’m about, beating full backs and crossing or having a shot on goal. It’s nice to excite the fans.”

In pre-season Hughton, a former full back, encouraged March even more to get in behind defenders. “That comes from all of the staff, making runs in behind, because that’s what full backs hate the most, when they can’t see you,” he explains. “He [Hughton] is a good guy, everyone gets on with him and hopes he’s going to steer us to safety this year.”

March cannot wait to get running at Kyle Walker and Danilo
There’s creative talent in this side, including March, Knockaert and Izzy Brown, the Chelsea loanee who shone for Huddersfield Town in their promotion last season. “Izzy’s been sharp since coming in,” March says. “He signed a new deal at Chelsea, deserves it, and if he plays as well for us as he did for Huddersfield he’ll help us stay up.”

March has been waiting so long for this chance. Continuing to take inspiration from Henry, he honed his technique in academies as well as in the back garden. “I was at Crystal Palace for three years from 12, travelling up three or four times a week. My parents took me. They sacrificed a lot for me. My grandparents helped out when they could. It was a big effort for all of them. The traffic! Sometimes it took two hours to get to Palace training. I sometimes left school early.”

It was too much. March focused on his scholarship to Bede’s, drawing inspiration from David Leggett, his football coach. “Mr Leggett could see my potential and he taught me discipline as well, on and off the pitch. I wasn’t naughty as such but he taught me the importance of showing respect to people, giving me the drive to achieve what I want, and telling me I could do that if I put in the hard work.”

March was invited to a trial at Newcastle United. “But I got ill. In the car from the hotel to training, I passed out. Nerves.” He was already involved with the local side Lewes, even making his debut as a 17-year-old in the Isthmian Premier League.

“I played ten minutes off the bench at the Dripping Pan, I was so happy,” he says. “I’d never have imagined being here now but I always wanted to be.” He never lost the dream, like other non-League players such as Jamie Vardy, Charlie Austin and Chris Smalling, all now England players. “Their success helps people motivation-wise,” March continues. “It shows those in the lower levels of the game that they’re not in the dumps, that the glamour game of the Premier League is not impossible. What they did makes you want it even more.”

Millwall offered a deal but home beckoned and he signed for Brighton after a “brief meeting” with Gus Poyet, the manager at the time. March worked his way up the ranks, his progress only stymied by an anterior cruciate ligament injury suffered against Derby County in 2015. Those of a squeamish propensity will be well advised to avoid the photo that March posted online of his scarred knee post-op, skin criss-crossed with stitches. “When I first saw it I felt sick. I thought there’d just be a little slit, I was shocked.” He stares down at the right knee. “But it’s healed well.”

March was inundated with upbeat messages from friends in the game such as Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse, an England Under-21 colleague. “It wasn’t an easy time. But I had support from everyone, team-mates, family, and my fiancée [Amelia] and that all helped,” he says. “I’m more mentally strong now. In a way, it’s helped me, because I know I got through it.”

Injury derailed his rise up the England Under-21 rankings, but he played under Gareth Southgate. “Gareth’s a great guy, everyone gets on with him well, he talks to players. Now Gareth is with the seniors, and giving youngsters a chance.”

March believes that the centre back Lewis Dunk, a leader who is pivotal to Brighton’s fortunes, has a very good chance of playing for England. “Yes, definitely, with his quality on the ball he could probably play in midfield,” he says. “His touch is unbelievable, sprays the ball around. He’s definitely got a chance of England. It’s a target for me, too, and hopefully, one day it will happen.”

As March signals, Brighton are not just dreaming, they are working hard at turning such reverie into reality.
 

Triggaaar

Well-known member
Oct 24, 2005
49,900
Goldstone
"It’s going to be tough for them, coming to the Amex. Our fans really get behind us and they’re going to step it up even more because they know we need them even more."
Oh great, no pressure on us then.
 

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