Alan Mullery and the Golden Years

[Thunder Bolt]

Could the Seagull Specials be revived or would it prove to costly and impracticable due to the rise in the numbers of cars now used and their efficiency.

We did for the playoff final in 2004 but would imagine it would be too costly on a regular basis.

 

[Gregory2Smith1]

Here's a stat that will blow you away

Between April 74 to August 79

Some 222 home league games

Brighton only lost 8 of them

The Goldstone really was a fortress


A pie & a pint & comfy seats are superb at the Amex,but until we spent a few seasons in the top flight & reach a major cup final,that era will always be the best

 

[Mo Gosfield]

Here's a stat that will blow you away

Between April 74 to August 79

Some 222 home league games

Brighton only lost 8 of them

The Goldstone really was a fortress


A pie & a pint & comfy seats are superb at the Amex,but until we spent a few seasons in the top flight & reach a major cup final,that era will always be the best

Wow....now that is some stat. Remember each home defeat in that era being like a dagger through the heart. Now, fans just shrug their shoulders and say hey-ho.
Think we won 15 straight home games in one of those seasons and then drew 2-2 with Shrewsbury ( I was gutted )
Six home league defeats already at the Amex, hardly qualifies as a fortress.

 

[somerset]

Alan Mullery was the right person at the right time and is a BHA legend, it is completely wrong that he is not on the wall of fame outside the ground.....

Couldnt agree more,... we had confidence in the team and club management, the Seagull Specials were great for the likes of me who at 16 in 1978 was just on the independance cusp, so a stewarded trip oop north was a happy middle ground both cost-wise (£7 return to Newcastle) and for my folks sanity. Newcastle was magic, I remember passing Wardy on the way back in the players first class carriage, he wasnt much taller than me, but what a player that man was. Forest trip in the cup was mad, two trains didnt arrive ( mine did), and we still seemed to fill our end. Man City, Everton, Liverpool all memorable trips.

 

[BLOCK F]

You are right about Mullery...he should be there ( Leon Knight ffs !!!!!! ). No reflection of that era can be made without reference to Mike Bamber ( How these two are omitted from the ' gallery '..words fail me )He was the man who drove BHA forward. He chased after and secured the services of the biggest management team in football. He saw Mullery punch a team-mate at Fulham and decided that when the time was right, he was the type of guy he wanted managing BHA. He was dynamic and charismatic and responsible for putting us on the football map.
As Cloughie said " the best chairman I ever worked for "....now, it can be argued he said that because Bamber paid him a shed load of money and let him swan off to do his media work, whenever it called. Bamber was no fool and knew the baggage that would come with Cloughie. He just hoped that the biggest gamble of his life would result in just a little bit of the Clough/Taylor magic working and putting us in the spotlight. I don't blame him for that and the seeds they sowed, reaped dividends later.
He got £900k from Liverpool for Lawrenson when Mullery had done a verbal deal with Big Ron for £400k ( yes, I know it caused a rift and Mullery eventually left ) but he was a business man, first and foremost.
Bamber, Mullery, Ward, Lawrenson and Horton were the men that made that era so good ( and for us oldies...still the best, thus far ) but without Bamber, the exciting, gambling, ambitious chairman..none of it would have happened.
RIP Mike and thanks for taking those chances.

Spot on.
In those days we had,passion,excitement,expectation and no little amount of footballing skill.
Those of us who were old enough to be around at that time,were truly fortunate.
Oh yes,we knew how to score goals too.Something that today's players/management don't seem to have come to grips with!
Happy memories.

 

[dejavuatbtn]

The sight of Peter Ward skipping over a defender's outstretched leg on the halfway line, and then creaming the rest for pace will live with me forever.
Whilst Clough did the dirty work of clearing out a lot of old dross, his signings weren't particularly stunning - but I guess that's how he operated - who would have thought the collection of players he put together at Forest would do so well. Taylor's decision to stay behind and do something at Brighton was the big surprise and we should be forever grateful for this. It was a shame at the time when he left because he had promised promotion but saw it as a failure that we didn't go up. There is a view that Taylor had already tapped Preston up for Lawrenson and the deal went through for Mullery. Either way, we had the most amazing 3 years of football - then Arsenal brought us all down to earth in the first game in the 1st Division.

 

[glasfryn]

HovaGirl makes a good point about Brian Clough; when Brighton fans talk about the years BC we mean Before Clough. Playing-wise we didn't actually do much with him, in fact we were a bit shit, but it was just the message it sent out that the club was serious about progressing. The equivalent today would be if we'd appoint Alex Ferguson after Russel Slade was sacked. Then when he left his assistant Peter Taylor stayed and carried on the good work, including signing a scrawny little lad called Peter Ward in whom he saw something. Having just missed out on promotion and having seen the start of the Palace rivalry, Taylor left to re-join Clough, and Mullery built on the foundations.

The Seagull Specials were brilliant, absolutely brilliant. They were charter trains rather than standard services and they ran direct from Brighton to wherever we were playing. The players would sometimes travel on it as well coming home; the journey back after the Newcastle game in 1979 has gone down in legend. The fares were dirt cheap (maximum of about £4 for games in the North East for example) and as it was all Brighton fans the atmosphere was great and it was known as 'a social club on wheels'. Technically there was no alcohol, but people always smuggled it on, much to the chagrin of the chief steward, a lovely man called Tony, but known to all and sundry as 'Stavros'.

Great days.


EDIT: The subject of the 'Glory Years' is obviously a popular one on NSC and I've written similar posts before, but I never get tired of talking about them! However, like with England's World Cup win in 1966 I live in hope that someday the achievement of those years will be surpassed and us old buggers can finally shut up!

super post and absolutely spot on
the only thing I will say was the charter trains were great if you could put up with Ron Pavey's jokes
bless him

 

[NS Herald]

Magic - simply magic

 

[MACROBLUE]

Fantastic days, and those were the days when the Albion fans WERE noisy. I think its probably why the atmosphere at the Amex is a tad disapointing to those who were there during those years. Wardy and Mellor et al in full flight was something to behold.

 

[the wanderbus]

I remember a home game against Millwall where we went 2-0 down by half-time and the players went off into the tunnel.
A couple of minutes later they were all back out on the pitch & we all wondered what on earth was going on. Evidently, Mullers had been so pissed off with them he sent them back out on to the pitch for half-time and wouldn't let them in the dressing room.

Needless to say, we won 3-2.

That was the game that turned me from occasional supporter to die hard fan, didn't miss another home game for years after that. That side was entertainment at it's best, the atmosphere at The Goldstone was amazing and Mullery talked the talk, as attendances at the time show, us supporters lapped it up.

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

Marvellous to see Mullers at the Amex tonight Our best ever manager.

 

[Gwylan]

Here's a stat that will blow you away

Between April 74 to August 79

Some 222 home league games

Brighton only lost 8 of them

We didn't play 92-game seasons: your maths are wrong


I can join in the hymn of praise to those great days and to the Seagulls Specials. I especially remember the trip to Derby in the cup. I won so much in a card game, I paid for my match ticket, train ticket, programme, chips, a taxi home and some money left over.

Remember that old station at Reading and ducking down as the opposition chucked stones at the train.

What a team, what memories.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

A bit bizarre that he looks almost exactly the same now as he did then!

 

[mel blyth]

Fantastic days, and those were the days when the Albion fans WERE noisy. I think its probably why the atmosphere at the Amex is a tad disapointing to those who were there during those years. Wardy and Mellor et al in full flight was something to behold.

Even as a Palace fan I loved those days when I see footage of Palace v Brighton with spider Mellor,Ward,Maybank,Horton,Foster and of course Mullery it brings back great memories we had the best team I'm probably ever going to see in my lifetime and of course all the fun we used to have in H ove Park

 

[life on mars 73]

Lovely piece you wrote there Brovion, really enjoyed it.

 

[jackcgull]

Here's a stat that will blow you away

Between April 74 to August 79

Some 222 home league games

Brighton only lost 8 of them

The Goldstone really was a fortress


A pie & a pint & comfy seats are superb at the Amex,but until we spent a few seasons in the top flight & reach a major cup final,that era will always be the best

What a great stat. No wonder I have few memories of losing as a young'un. And probably why losing now is so painful, despite plenty of practice.

 

[getreal1]

Very special. As a wide eyed impressionable teenager those years will always bring a tear to the eye, much as Mullers' recollections did last night. I think those who today are the age I was then are lucky though. Obviously because of the new stadium and the great potential for something even better than we had then. Sadly for them though, they'll never have Wardy!

 

[perseus]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/A6xjL2QCMAAyQuR.jpg:large

 

[pork pie]

They were great days to be an Albion fan. Mullery inherited a good team and turned it into an exceptional one. His motivational skills were second to none and his footballing philosophy was based around attack.
He got the best out of players like Nobby, Wardy and Sully and made some superb signings such as Lawrenson, Willliams and Fozzie.

It was THE BEST time to be an Albion fan on the terraces. You cannot start to imagine the thrill unless you were there.

Great attacking football.
Great atmosphere.
Great away days on the seagulls specials and/or massive fleets of coaches.

 

[Buckley's Mad Eye]

You are right about Mullery...he should be there ( Leon Knight ffs !!!!!! ). No reflection of that era can be made without reference to Mike Bamber ( How these two are omitted from the ' gallery '..words fail me )He was the man who drove BHA forward. He chased after and secured the services of the biggest management team in football. He saw Mullery punch a team-mate at Fulham and decided that when the time was right, he was the type of guy he wanted managing BHA. He was dynamic and charismatic and responsible for putting us on the football map.
As Cloughie said " the best chairman I ever worked for "....now, it can be argued he said that because Bamber paid him a shed load of money and let him swan off to do his media work, whenever it called. Bamber was no fool and knew the baggage that would come with Cloughie. He just hoped that the biggest gamble of his life would result in just a little bit of the Clough/Taylor magic working and putting us in the spotlight. I don't blame him for that and the seeds they sowed, reaped dividends later.
He got £900k from Liverpool for Lawrenson when Mullery had done a verbal deal with Big Ron for £400k ( yes, I know it caused a rift and Mullery eventually left ) but he was a business man, first and foremost.
Bamber, Mullery, Ward, Lawrenson and Horton were the men that made that era so good ( and for us oldies...still the best, thus far ) but without Bamber, the exciting, gambling, ambitious chairman..none of it would have happened.
RIP Mike and thanks for taking those chances.

Rip out the Knight banner and replace with this image: