When Brighton & Hove Albion clinched promotion to the Second Division for the very first time, they did so in glorious style. Reserve forward Adrian Thorne plundered five goals against Watford in April 1958 in a 6-0 victory.Here’s the report from the Daily Express that day.The Albion manager enjoying this triumph, Billy Lane, had been a prolific goalscorer for Watford in the 1930s, once hitting a hat-trick against Clapton Orient in under three minutes in another 6-0 success in December 1933.
Speaking of emphatic wins, the Seagulls ran up a 3-0 scoreline at Vicarage Road in the FA Cup in November 1975. John Vinicombe of The Evening Argus gave a glowing account of this happy away day under Peter Taylor.
Back then, Watford were in the wrong half of Division Four. However in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Hornets staged a remarkable rise up the Football League under Graham Taylor, with ex-Seagulls striker Malcolm Poskett helping the Hornets out of the Second Division in his two-and-a-half-year spell at Vicarage Road from 1980.
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By the time of the return fixture in Division One on New Year’s Day 1983, George Aitken was joint caretaker manager of Albion alongside Jimmy Melia. Aitken had been on Watford’s coaching staff when the Hertfordshire club reached the FA Cup semi-final in 1970. Defeat for the Seagulls in the January 1983 clash looked to be on the cards until Peter Ward pulled out a late equaliser.[h=2]UPCOMING HOME FIXTURES[/h][h=3]ALBION V MIDDLESBROUGH
[/h]SATURDAY 18TH OCTOber, KICK-OFF 3PM
[h=3]ALBION V ROTHERHAM
[/h]SATURDAY 25th OCTOBER, KICK-OFF 3PM
[h=3]Albion v WIGAN
[/h]tuESDAY 4TH NOVEMber, kick-off 7:45pm
When Watford met Brighton in a First Division match in November 1982, with Barnes and Blissett in top form, they had enough power and pace to hand the Seagulls a 4-1 drubbing.Footage of the match was even used in Central TV’s cult youth series ‘Murphy’s Mob’, with the fictitious ‘Dunmore United’ represented by the men in yellow.
While Brighton made it as FA Cup runners-up in 1983, Watford achieved this the following year. On their way to Wembley in 1984, Graham Taylor’s high-flyers defeated the Seagulls 3-1 at Vicarage Road.
Both Watford keepers in that side had spells with the Albion. Eric Steele was a great favourite at the Goldstone from 1977 to 1979. What is largely forgotten is that Steve Sherwood had a loan spell with Brighton earlier on in the 1970s, although he did not play any matches.
Other club connections from that era include Seagulls winger Neil Smillie, who joined the Hornets in June 1985, and Northern Ireland’s Gerry Armstrong who went the opposite direction a year later.
Another World Cup player who played for both sides is USA’s Tony Meola in 1990/91. However, it was future Watford player, Perry Digweed, in goal for Brighton in this rather flattering 3-0 victory over the Hornets in January 1991.
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[h=2]UPCOMING HOME FIXTURES[/h][h=3]ALBION V MIDDLESBROUGH
[/h]SATURDAY 18TH OCTOber, KICK-OFF 3PM
[h=3]ALBION V ROTHERHAM
[/h]SATURDAY 25th OCTOBER, KICK-OFF 3PM
[h=3]Albion v WIGAN
[/h]tuESDAY 4TH NOVEMber, kick-off 7:45pm
Original article