1983 Brighton and Hove Albion F.A cup run

[gizza25]

WOW!!
Following the club from the 3rd Round through the Highbury Semi-Final to the Wembley Final. I remember it all well and this bought it all back. I must watch if havnt already seen!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HG7OOKII-U

 

[00snook]

Us JCL's don't acknowledge anything pre-Falmer

 

[GingerBeerMan]

Were Brighton good back in 79-83? Or did they just scrape by (a la S'ton). What was the highest league finish in their First Division years and did they deserve it?

 

[Philzo-93]

12:20 - was this the start of Gully's Girls

 

[Peter Grummit]

Great footage. Contains my best ever Albion match (Liverpool A) and best ever goal (Jimmy Case in the SF) in 41 years watching. Great to hear the Albion fans loud and clear as we went up to get the losers medals; we lost 4-0 but nobody left before the end and most stayed to see the team do a lap of honour. Contrast with today when the losers' fans in playoffs or cup finals are gone well before the presentations.

Were we any good in the top division? Well we had a couple of mid-table finishes and a last day survival as well as the relegation season. My wife and I were recalling a previous visit to Wolves when we won 1-0 to go 5th in the top division. So yes, we competed well at times. I can recall wins against Liverpool, Man U, Arsenal (twice), Spurs (twice), Man City (twice)and Villa, and we did the double over champions (European and English) Forest in our first season. It was great fun, more of a rollercoaster even than Saturday's game! So when people go off on one about the latest tragedy (pies sold out; draw at Wolves; only beating Peterborough 1-0) I for one try and put things in perspective.

PG

 

[LamieRobertson]

Were Brighton good back in 79-83? Or did they just scrape by (a la S'ton). What was the highest league finish in their First Division years and did they deserve it?

Most successful season as I recall was under Mike Bailey finished 12th? Got sacked because his players used to pass the ball sideways ..hmmm

 

[BarnhamBlue]

Yep, great footage and brought back many happy memories, i was 15 at the time. I went to both Newcastle (very fortunate!) and Liverpool away, the latter being one that sticks in the memory. The BHA fans made so much noise that my friend perforated his ear drums. Called St Johns ambulance and, to get to the first aid 'shed', we were allowed to walk across Anfield's pitch with the players warming up at the same time. That will never happen nowadays!!

Thanks for the video!

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

Most successful season as I recall was under Mike Bailey finished 12th? Got sacked because his players used to pass the ball sideways ..hmmm

He got the sack because his team was on a losing run of 20 defeats in 31 League games. These included some very heavy away defeats in 1982/83.

Being a boring side was excusable with Albion in mid-table. Being a boring AND losing side didn't afford him any protection.

 

[LamieRobertson]

He got the sack because his team was on a losing run of 20 defeats in 31 League games. These included some very heavy away defeats in 1982/83.

Being a boring side was excusable with Albion in mid-table. Being a boring AND losing side didn't afford him any protection.

I stand corrected ..memory failed me

 

[Peter Grummit]

He got the sack because his team was on a losing run of 20 defeats in 31 League games. These included some very heavy away defeats in 1982/83.

Being a boring side was excusable with Albion in mid-table. Being a boring AND losing side didn't afford him any protection.

We actually finished 13th in 81/82. Crowds dropped significantly at the start of 82/83 as less fans renewed season tickets. This was a time of a severe recession as Thatcher's 'medicine' was forced on us. The reputed break-even figure was 22k and early season crowds were not much more than half that (13k for Arsenal; under 10k for Birmingham). So there was an economic imperative to do something. When fans today (perhaps jokingly) say 'where did the FA Cup money go?' Well perhaps that was the answer, to shore up the underlying finances and wage bill of Robinson, Smith, Foster etc. Remember there was precious little TV money then and merchandising was a small operation. Nearly all the club's money came through the turnstiles.

PG

 

[Sussex Nomad]

That was brilliant to watch again... misty eyes! Great run, brings all the memories flooding back. How did we go down with that squad?

 

[Vegas Seagull]

He got the sack because his team was on a losing run of 20 defeats in 31 League games. These included some very heavy away defeats in 1982/83.

Being a boring side was excusable with Albion in mid-table. Being a boring AND losing side didn't afford him any protection.

Selling Lawrenson in 81 (albeit for an enormous 900k) remains the key single factor in our decades long slump

 

[Easy 10]

Our cup run to the final:

Newcastle
Man City
Liverpool
Norwich
Sheff Weds

Palace's cup run to the final:

Portsmouth
Huddersfield
Rochdale
Cambridge
Liverpool

Just saying.

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

We actually finished 13th in 81/82. Crowds dropped significantly at the start of 82/83 as less fans renewed season tickets. This was a time of a severe recession as Thatcher's 'medicine' was forced on us. The reputed break-even figure was 22k and early season crowds were not much more than half that (13k for Arsenal; under 10k for Birmingham). So there was an economic imperative to do something. When fans today (perhaps jokingly) say 'where did the FA Cup money go?' Well perhaps that was the answer, to shore up the underlying finances and wage bill of Robinson, Smith, Foster etc. Remember there was precious little TV money then and merchandising was a small operation. Nearly all the club's money came through the turnstiles.

PG

While we finished 13th in 1981/82, we had an atrocious finish to the season. Having beaten Liverpool at Anfield in early March, and pushing for a UEFA Cup place, we ended the campaign with ten defeats and two wins in 14. At some point in 1982, a fans' forum persuaded Bailey to shift from a keep-it-tight-at-the-back approach in favour of a more open game in order to try to win fans back. As you say, the low attendances were sinking the club further into debt. This shift in the team's tactics (described as pretty but ineffective in one of the newspaper report excerpts in one of the home programmes that season) may have contributed to the away pummellings we received at the start of the 1982/83 season.

 

[Hiney]

All the Cup Run programmes here:

HOME - Seagulls Programmes

 

[Cadiz Seagull]

Selling Lawrenson in 81 (albeit for an enormous 900k) remains the key single factor in our decades long slump

The (alleged) 10 year contracts being dished out at the time may have had something to do with it!

I'll probably get flamed but personally I don't think it was a particularly good team. We were lucky to get through the first round, we drew decent teams in the cup but we managed to pull out good performances when we needed them.

But our league form was crap. If we hadn't understandably taken our eye off the ball as Wembley loomed then we may have stayed up but we would have been in a relegation fight for most of the season.

Having said that, fantastic times. Would I have swapped mid-table obscurity for the cup run? Absolutely not!

 

[Storer 68]

Most successful season as I recall was under Mike Bailey finished 12th? Got sacked because his players used to pass the ball sideways ..hmmm

Boring as hell under Bailey and the most expensive ground in Division 1 to stand on terraces

 

[Storer 68]

That was brilliant to watch again... misty eyes! Great run, brings all the memories flooding back. How did we go down with that squad?

cos they weren't good enough to stay up

 

[Paris]

Big Ron was giving it large before the final. Shame we didn't beat them. Would have loved to have seen his face

YouTube

 

[Storer 68]

The (alleged) 10 year contracts being dished out at the time may have had something to do with it!

!

Steve Foster was the only one on a ten year deal I think. And fat lot of good it did him, as we flogged him off to Villa for 200k in 1983. for 200k