In line with the general doom and gloom today I was wondering what was the most depressing Albion defeat you ever saw? Not necessarily the biggest but the one that left you smothered under a dark cloud of misery?
I suppose the 5-0 at Palace will rate highly but for me it as a 4-0 defeat away at Barnsley in the League Cup in about 1983. It was a midweek game, the excitement and novelty of reaching the top division had long since worn off, we were a struggling side and Barnsley, no glamour team obviously, were in the 2nd divison at the time. All these factors combined to reduce the travelling attendance to only about 70-80 Brighton fans; basically one coach and a few intrepid souls like me and my mate who'd made our own way up. Barnsley utterly outplayed us and the Brighton players, like the fanbase, were totally disinterested in the match. Because of the exploits in the 1970s the League Cup was still 'our' cup at the time and for the first time I had a real fear for the future if the fans were going to desert the club like that.
Mind you, our away attendances in the 1st division were never THAT great, certainly not a patch on what we get now.
I suppose the 5-0 at Palace will rate highly but for me it as a 4-0 defeat away at Barnsley in the League Cup in about 1983. It was a midweek game, the excitement and novelty of reaching the top division had long since worn off, we were a struggling side and Barnsley, no glamour team obviously, were in the 2nd divison at the time. All these factors combined to reduce the travelling attendance to only about 70-80 Brighton fans; basically one coach and a few intrepid souls like me and my mate who'd made our own way up. Barnsley utterly outplayed us and the Brighton players, like the fanbase, were totally disinterested in the match. Because of the exploits in the 1970s the League Cup was still 'our' cup at the time and for the first time I had a real fear for the future if the fans were going to desert the club like that.
Mind you, our away attendances in the 1st division were never THAT great, certainly not a patch on what we get now.