38 Years Ago - Our Previous Division 1 Debut

chaileyjem · Aug 8, 2017

And 38 years ago this week I woke up on our campsite early on a Saturday morning, left the Isle of Wight behind in the middle of a fortnights holiday and my Dad and I made our way back to Hove. Train. Ferry. Train.
I do remember having a battered old radio and listened to Paul Gambaccini on R1 on the way over. Donna Summer was #1 with Bad Girls in the US chart run down. We walked up to the Goldstone and it began.
I can't really remember much about the match at all but do remember it was a bleak and long journey all the way back that same evening. Very bleak.
Still have this of course in a box next to my bed.
So what do you remember ? And What will have changed on Saturday ? (the programme will be £5 not 50p on Saturday for starters, Paul Gambaccini is still on the radio (R2) on Saturday lunchtimes and i'll be there with my Dad again but this time with 2 of my sons in tow. No Isle of Wight trek this time thank god) .

GOM · Aug 8, 2017

I travelled from Yorkshire on public transport, sat in the south stand and was not full of cheer on the way back.

Alba Badger · Aug 8, 2017

Bruno would have been a bump in his mum's Tshirt!

Eric Youngs Contact Lense · Aug 8, 2017

I remember being slightly disappointed with the Crowd.. 28,000 or so I think, but not as big as some Div 2 games, but just remember I expected so much but 3-0 down in no time it seemed. Alan Sunderland's perm was significant, but not out of place.. I was 10 years old, had followed the Albion for 5 years and just wasn't used to seeing us lose, let alone get thumped!

daveinprague · Aug 8, 2017

They even did a commemorative plaque souvenir ..with 0-4 on it... doubt if they sold many. My biggest memory of that season was being 2 - 0 up against Manure after about 15 minutes.. actually, may have been following season...cant really remember now

Tricky Dicky · Aug 8, 2017

I was at Wembley stadium that day, to see The Who, plus the Stranglers, AC-DC and Nils Lofgren. I think it was Hugh Cornwall that announced the result of our game to the crowd - I thought he was joking.

Trufflehound · Aug 8, 2017

Tricky Dicky said:
I was at Wembley stadium that day, to see The Who, plus the Stranglers, AC-DC and Nils Lofgren. I think it was Hugh Cornwall that announced the result of our game to the crowd - I thought he was joking.

Me too. I didn't think Cornwell was joking, just thought he was a tw@t. "If you're a Brighton fan, they just lost 4-nil," was what he said if I recall.

Wouldn't have been so bad, but it was one of only two times he spoke during a very uninspiring performance (the other was in response to some minor scuffling in the crowd, along the lines of: "If you want to fight, go to a football terrace..." or somesuch).

Hamilton · Aug 8, 2017

Alba Badger said:
Bruno would have been a bump in his mum's Tshirt!

We need to talk to you about how babies are conceived and then the gestation period.

Eeyore · Aug 8, 2017

daveinprague said:
They even did a commemorative plaque souvenir ..with 0-4 on it... doubt if they sold many. My biggest memory of that season was being 2 - 0 up against Manure after about 15 minutes

We lost 2-0 to Manchester United away and drew 0-0 at home. It may be the FA Cup match of January 1981 you remember.

I was coming home from a wet week in Weston Super Mare, aged 10, for the Arsenal match. We got in a taxi at Brighton station and asked if he knew the score. "They're 2-0 down already" he replied with dismissive jollity.

My first match was the 3-1 victory at home to Bolton Wanderers three matches later. Our first win in the top flight.

Tricky Dicky · Aug 8, 2017

Trufflehound said:
Me too. I didn't think Cornwell was joking, just thought he was a tw@t. "If you're a Brighton fan, they just lost 4-nil," was what he said if I recall.

Maybe that was it - it's a long time ago and memory fades. I was at school with his cousin. I do remember AC-DCs PA not working for much of the set and Lofgren on a trampoline

The_Viper · Aug 8, 2017

Just over ten years before I was even taking a breath. I might moan a lot about our transfers incoming but I am still so, so excited.

Horton's halftime iceberg · Aug 8, 2017

Went with my Dad and stood low in the East (north end), I had a silk Brighton scarf on one wrist and a silk Arsenal scarf on the other. I just loved the fact we were playing Arsenal and watching all the stars play the Albion.

I went home very happy even though we lost.

Return of the Rev · Aug 8, 2017

Eric Youngs Contact Lense said:
I remember being slightly disappointed with the Crowd.. 28,000 or so I think, but not as big as some Div 2 games, but just remember I expected so much but 3-0 down in no time it seemed. Alan Sunderland's perm was significant, but not out of place.. I was 10 years old, had followed the Albion for 5 years and just wasn't used to seeing us lose, let alone get thumped!

Gave that season a miss

Trufflehound · Aug 8, 2017

Tricky Dicky said:
Maybe that was it - it's a long time ago and memory fades. I was at school with his cousin. I do remember AC-DCs PA not working for much of the set and Lofgren on a trampoline

Yeah, the main speakers failed for AC/DC, but their stage feedback speakers worked fine, so they rocked on for two songs oblivious to the fact that no one could hear them.

Remember Nils Lofgren's nifty back flip during a guitar solo. The NME headline for the gig the following week was 'Mr Trampoline Man'.

Tricky Dicky · Aug 8, 2017

Trufflehound said:
Yeah, the main speakers failed for AC/DC, but their stage feedback speakers worked fine, so they rocked on for two songs oblivious to the fact that no one could hear them.

Remember Nils Lofgren's nifty back flip during a guitar solo. The NME headline for the gig the following week was 'Mr Trampoline Man'.

dejavuatbtn · Aug 8, 2017

Tricky Dicky said:
I was at Wembley stadium that day, to see The Who, plus the Stranglers, AC-DC and Nils Lofgren. I think it was Hugh Cornwall that announced the result of our game to the crowd - I thought he was joking.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing - perhaps I should have gone to Wembley instead, even though I had already seen the Who and Lofgren! Still, it was good to see that first match in Div 1 - a day, like the cup final, that I thought would never happen. Saturday will be a big day for all of us who thought survival, let alone a second stab at the top level, would be a miracle.

Cadiz Seagull · Aug 8, 2017

I was there standing in the west in front of where the Lego stand was, which may or may not have been there then, I can't remember. I think it probably wasn't as I was standing pretty much at the back and it was fairly high.

I watched Liam Brady take us apart. Welcome to Div 1.

severnside gull · Aug 8, 2017

I've tried to erase it from my memory.
I had just moved up to Birmingham so a long but enjoyable trip down and a much longer and decidedly sombre trip back beset by train delays.
North Stand was rocking in fairness.. Was worries the heath Robinson structure in the north west corner was going to come down on us!

Brovion · Aug 8, 2017

Due to some shocking planning on my part I was on holiday and I missed it. No internet in those days (I was in the south of France) and one of the guys I was with (who wasn't even a football fan) rang home and found out the score. Yeah, 0-4, sure. Bloody wind-up merchant.

Worried Man Blues · Aug 8, 2017

Remember absolutely nothing about the match! Came down from East Croydon, yes for work, stayed at mum and dad's Scaynes Hill. Stood on the chicken run, have the prog still, but we lasted four years which was amazing after the first match.

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38 Years Ago - Our Previous Division 1 Debut

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