Brighton under Clough and Taylor's management - please describe the players!

[One Teddy Maybank]

I started supporting from 1975 and was quite young but.....

Goalkeepers:
Peter Grummitt - very steady, dependable. Rarely made a mistake and remains one of my favourite GKs to have played.
Derek Forster - only saw him once in a friendly, quite spectacular though arguably due to poor positioning.

Defenders:
Paul Fuschillo
Ken Goodeve
Steve Govier
Allen Lewis
Dennis Burnett - my first favourite player. Towards the end of his career, lacked pace but again was steady rather than spectacular.
Joe Kinnear - was a steady performer at right back and took penalties towards the end of the 75/76 season - but clearly seeing out his career
Ken Tiler - Was fairly pacey from what I remember.
Harry Wilson - Was again average and I would describe as a journeyman lower division player in terms of ability.
Steve Piper - actually played in midfield more. Always remember him firing over in front of an open goal in front of the north stand, when it seemed easier to score. Very loyal and hard working..

Midfielders:
Billy McEwan
Ronnie Welch
John Boyle
Ernie Machin - Was captain prior to Brian Horton. I remember little of him.
Jim Walker
Tommy Mason
Wilf Smith
Phil Beal

Attackers:
Fred Binney - was the crowd favourite prior to Ward. Prolific in the lower divisions and lethal in front of goal
Ricky Marlowe
Barry Butlin
Neil Martin - quite injury prone and ended up at Palace. Very committed.
Gerry Fell - Along with Tony Towner very pacey
Ian Mellor (particularly your impressions of what he was like before he 'clicked' in a strike partnership with Ward) - Prior to Ward had formed a partnership with Binney and clearly had a lot of 'class' and ability.
Sammy Morgan - 2 goals against Palace will always remain in my memory in front of the North Stand in '76, 33,000 gate. Great night. Sustained a cheekbone injury and never really regained his place in the team.

 

[The Hon Sec]

Peter Grummitt was perhaps one of the reasons I became a Brighton supporter. He had played for my previous favourites Nottingham Forest when they had an excellent team in the old first division, (Joe Baker, Alan Hinton, Frank Wignall etc etc) Grummitt was unlucky in that he was a contemporary of a number of excellent goalkeepers and I dont believe was ever capped by his country as he he may well have been in any other era.
Harry Wilson was a favourite of mine also. Whole hearted player and got stuck in.
Denis Burnett - very classy for a defender.

 

[Seagull58]

I'm doing some research for the Seagulls TV website, working towards a section that covers each of the seasons in the 1970s. A few months ago I started a thread about the Albion players that featured under Pat Saward and got an incredible, insightful response from many NSCers, such as Freddie Goodwin, severnside gull, GT49er and many, many others who were around at the time. See Pat Saward's Brighton - please describe the players!

This time, I'd like to see whether any NSCers could help me get a better sense of the players brought in by Brian Clough and Peter Taylor. While I'm familiar with many of the names such as Joe Kinnear, Peter Grummitt and Fred Binney, I never had the opportunity to see any of them play and would like to get a better sense of what they were like.

Once again, dry facts such as when the player was signed, who they had spells with, and how many appearances they made are easy to find from Tim Carder's books, as well as matchday programmes and Wikipedia. However, if you were watching Brighton back then, I'd like your sense of the playing styles, strengths, limitations and anecdotes of the players, to help me bring to life the names of these players who graced the Goldstone in the mid-70s. (From the list, I've left off the ones such as Rollings, O'Sullivan, Winstanley and others who went on to play significantly in the glory years that followed).

Anyone can help? Much appreciated if you can

Here's the list:

Goalkeepers:
Peter Grummitt
Derek Forster

Defenders:
Paul Fuschillo
Ken Goodeve
Steve Govier
Allen Lewis
Dennis Burnett
Joe Kinnear
Ken Tiler
Harry Wilson
Steve Piper

Midfielders:
Billy McEwan
Ronnie Welch
John Boyle
Ernie Machin
Jim Walker
Tommy Mason
Wilf Smith
Phil Beal

Attackers:
Fred Binney
Ricky Marlowe
Barry Butlin
Neil Martin
Gerry Fell
Ian Mellor (particularly your impressions of what he was like before he 'clicked' in a strike partnership with Ward)
Sammy Morgan

I went to nearly every home match through that era and I hardly remember any of them! I do seem to remember Paul Fuschillo either breaking his leg or breaking soneone else's. Gerry Fell was a tall galloping winger as I recall. Very direct and had a good shot on him. Mellor was not called spider for nothing, all arms and legs, very tricky.

 

[Seagull58]

clough left in 74 wardy came in 75

Cloughy sent Peter Taylor to watch Wardy at Burton but the deal wasn't done until after Clough left.

 

[The Large One]

Cloughy sent Peter Taylor to watch Wardy at Burton but the deal wasn't done until after Clough left.

I was always led to believe it was Taylor who spotted the talent.

As Brian Clough famously stated (after he'd signed a couple of dud centre-forwards for Forest - Ward and Ian Wallace): "I'm the worst spotter of centre-forwards since Walter Winterbottom, who only picked me twice for England..."

 

[Seagull58]

I was always led to believe it was Taylor who spotted the talent.

As Brian Clough famously stated (after he'd signed a couple of dud centre-forwards for Forest - Ward and Ian Wallace): "I'm the worst spotter of centre-forwards since Walter Winterbottom, who only picked me twice for England..."

That's pretty much what I meant. If Cloughie got word about a player Taylor went to see if he was any good. I believe Taylor's report on Wardy was "he can turn on a tanner".

 

[macky]

did'nt they fall out over ward at forest taylor wanted him clough never Which iswhy he never got much of a chance there ?

 

[perseus]

Fred Binney was left at Millwall after the 0-3 defeat scuppered the promotion plans. He wanted a lift back to Brighton but our convoy (three vehicles full up) were staying over night in London before heading for the Aldershot match.

It was then we guessed after the wonder kid Peter Ward, waiting for his first touch of the ball against Hereford. Before that it was Binney or the Hereford forward who used his hands to score against the Albion (before Maradonna).

 

[Daffy Duck]

Used to know Steve Piper's auntie and she said that when Cloughie arrived at the Albion he called all the players, one by one, into his office. When it was Steve's turn, Cloughie just said to him "I don't want you. You can go", without even seeing him kick a ball.

And Gerry Fell works as a financial adviser. Spoke to him on the phone a few times when I worked at Legal & General. I asked him if he was THE Gerry Fell who played for the Albion, and he said "blimey, you're going back a bit". Nice bloke and we had a good old chat about footie.

 

[Peter Grummit]

Great comments from FG which I have tried to EMBELLISH below..

More than happy to oblige, my friend....


Goalkeepers:
Peter Grummitt - experienced keeper with Wednesday & Forest and pretty near an England cap. In his veteran stage on joining Albion and my fav Albion keeper of all time, until FDM came along! Grummit would win it hands down on actual keeping. he controlled the back four, coaching them all the time. HIS TRADEMARK SHOUT WAS HARRY! HARRY! HARRY! TO GET WILSON INTO POSITION AS THE MAIN COVERING DEFENDER. often he was so good at it he had little to do but, when called upon he could be safe & he could be spectacular. Shame his Albion career would be short because of his age. I HAVE A MEMORY OF HIS 'TESTIMONIAL' GAME BEING PLAYED ON THE 'SUNDAY LEAGUE' PITCH AT WITHDEAN (WHERE THE TOP CAR PARK IS NOW) IN FRONT OF 2 MEN AND A DOG. THE REF ASKED ME TO RUN THE LINE BUT I CBA(!). WOULD BE INTERESTING TO ASK HIM ABOUT THIS - QUITE A CONTRAST TO FDM'S GAME!

Derek Forster - bought as cover, rarely played. Claim to fame was that, I believe, he was the youngest league player (keeper) when making his Charllton debut at 15.

Defenders:
Paul Fuschillo - big & powerful, looked a good prospect but I think his knees did for him. Not to be confused with a player of same surname who played for Luton and had his leg broken at the Goldstone.

Ken Goodeve - The 1st signing, a centre half. One of quite a few through the revolving door. Came, went, who?
Steve Govier - Another centre back who did much as above but , like many, injury did for him.
Allen Lewis - Struggling to remember him!
Dennis Burnett - veteran Millwall centre half, class and could organise. A good centre back pairing needs brains & brawn, he was the brains. CLASSY PLAYER ALWAYS HAD LOTS OF TIME.
Joe Kinnear - Spurs legend, came along for the free ride. major dissapointment, lazy & uncommited. TRUE. Was actually jeered from the pitch when carried off with broken leg. Can't believe the manager Kinnear, was the same bloke.
Ken Tiler - tall, classy right back, fine & dependable. Played a few years after leaving Albion & father of Carl (not the weatherman!)
Harry Wilson - left back and a bit of a cult hero. Cultured left foot, fans favourite. HARD AS NAILS WHEN HE HAD TO BE.
Steve Piper - Product of Sawards youth team, classy centre half who became a midfielder in the Hammon mould so his work was not always apperciated. TRUE LOCAL LAD WENT TO RUDYARD KIPLING PRIMARY IN WOODINGDEAN.

Midfielders:
Billy McEwan - tough tackiling blond midfielder. Didn't stay too long but had a long career after leaving Albion and went into management.
Ronnie Welch - quite small midfielder, busy player.
John Boyle - A Saward loanee from Chelsea. Unpopular as had been a Chelsea hard man and sent off against Albion many years before. At end of career and attitude a bit like Kinnears.
Ernie Machin - Midfield battler, experinced player and captained the side without being outstanding. Remember, we were not an outstanding or flair team.
Jim Walker - another fitting the role of hard working midfielder. Journeyman player. REMEMBER A WAG IN THE CHICKEN RUN SHOUTING "WALKER, GIVE YOUR LEGS TO CHARITY"
Tommy Mason - little tiger of a player, snapping around and winning tackles all over the place. I liked him, helped by the fact I'd see him out & about down Sherry's in a time when players were not all superstars. Somehow he was only a bit part player.
Wilf Smith - classy coventry, Wednesday veteran, rarely played. Injuries I reckon.
Phil Beal - Another fine player with Spurs who came done for the ride, although he did have a few good games. mullery, an old team mate, soon sussed him and showed him the door.

Attackers:
Fred Binney - The guy just scored. been doing it for years at Exeter and did the same with Albion. Deadly in the box and, when we were unbeatable at home, Fred was awesome. but away from home, when we often had to attack from the half way line, he was lost. Big, big favourite. Would take a special player to have him out of the side....OVERWEIGHT, LIKE A POOR MAN'S MICKEY QUINN. REMEMBER A GREAT GOAL AGAINST IPSWICH IN THE LEAGUE CUP SHOCK WIN.
Ricky Marlowe - another blond, white straggly hair & balding. Worked his socks off but, a bit like barn door, the harder he worked the less he produced. A long goal drought ended when a ball hit him and deflected into goal. Wholeharted and still connected vis REMF as Robert Eaton took Marlow's name.
Barry Butlin - on loan from Derby and scored after 4 mins in a 1-0 win at Selhurst at a time whenthat was a shock result. Gangly forward, only on loan.
Neil Martin - experinced forward, ex Coventry & Forest I saw him score 2 at Hillsborough in an early match but seems to have fallen out of favour quickly as not garaunteed a place..
Gerry Fell - tall and big built for a winger, type that would kick & run and quite fast with a rocket shot, and some even hit the target! SCORED A LOT OF GOALS FOR THE STIFFS (RESERVES), COULD PLAY UP FRONT OR ON THE WING.
Ian Mellor (particularly your impressions of what he was like before he 'clicked' in a strike partnership with Ward) - Mellor was a prospect with man City before moving to norwich. he was quite a coup for us. gangly forward, but not much good in the air. Obvious talent but could look clumsy. Things really changed when he was able to use his footballing brain, with Wardy, rather than being a striker.
Sammy Morgan - Northern ireland Internation and bought in to beef up the frontline Old style muscle and could score but didn't really suit our style. HELD UP THE BALL WELL, NOT THE QUICKEST.

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

Thank you so much for everyone who has posted their insights and memories about the players of the mid-70s. Really enjoyed reading it all, especially Freddie Goodwin's very thorough post. Thanks for clarifying about Paul Fuschillo - I had assumed it was the ex-Luton player. Just looked it up and the Luton player who broke his leg from a Paul Clark challenge in 1978/79 was Paul Fuccillo - as you say, easy to confuse the two.

 

[macky]

Thank you so much for everyone who has posted their insights and memories about the players of the mid-70s. Really enjoyed reading it all, especially Freddie Goodwin's very thorough post. Thanks for clarifying about Paul Fuschillo - I had assumed it was the ex-Luton player. Just looked it up and the Luton player who broke his leg from a Paul Clark challenge in 1978/79 was Paul Fuccillo - as you say, easy to confuse the two.

i think you wil find it was lil fuccilo who played for luton

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

i think you wil find it was lil fuccilo who played for luton

Thank you. In that case, like me, Football Handbook (the wonderful Marshall Cavendish magazine of the late 1970s) got things muddled too in their write up of the Luton v Brighton match from 1979. Quote:

"Outside Luton station the team stands one side while the police escort the line of Brighton supporters which snakes its way past us. As they disappear down the road a chant of 'Clark is E-vil' goes up. Paul Clark is the young Brighton ball winner. When Albion played Luton earlier in the season Paul Fucillo's leg was broken in a challenge with Clark."

 

[Lenny Rider]

Having heard numerous anecdotes in journeys up and down the country, your forgot Sir Norman Gall on your list, very much part of the Albion squad when Cloughie arrived.

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

Having heard numerous anecdotes in journeys up and down the country, your forgot Sir Norman Gall on your list, very much part of the Albion squad when Cloughie arrived.

I omitted almost all the players that played under Pat Saward and had been covered in the previous thread. https://nortr3nixy.nimpr.uk/showthread.php?t=243186

Steve Piper was an exception as he had only just broken through under Saward and was used by Mullery exclusively as a midfielder, so I wanted to find out more about what he was like under Clough and Taylor as an established defender in the side.

 

[macky]

Thank you. In that case, like me, Football Handbook (the wonderful Marshall Cavendish magazine of the late 1970s) got things muddled too in their write up of the Luton v Brighton match from 1979. Quote:

"Outside Luton station the team stands one side while the police escort the line of Brighton supporters which snakes its way past us. As they disappear down the road a chant of 'Clark is E-vil' goes up. Paul Clark is the young Brighton ball winner. When Albion played Luton earlier in the season Paul Fucillo's leg was broken in a challenge with Clark."

pasquale was his name but he was known as lil

 

[dejavuatbtn]

Whilst Clough came in with a load of publicity and creating eager anticipation of things to come for the fans, my recollection was one of extreme disappointment. The existing team weren't that bad, and if you look at the team that lost 2-8 to Bristol Rovers on 1/12/73, many were crowd favourites, albeit that some were coming to the end of their careers. Non of the team that day were on your list, so were all pre-existing players and Clough took the view to get rid of as many as possible, irrespective of the quality of their replacements. I know that Clough was expert in making silk purses out of pigs' ears, but the sort of players he brought in were, overall, pretty lacklustre to say the least.
I would be interested in being reminded who Taylor brought in and had reasonable success with.

 

[Freddie Goodwin.]

Clough did seem intent (as bourne out by Steve piper's coments above) to get rid of everyone already here and build a new team and this must have had an unsettling effect especially on players like Powney & Gall.

Thing is, although we really pushed the boat out pn the top management team of the day, we had little money so loads of very average and industrious players were bought.

Albion were in a relegation fight but, once they were safe & Clough moved on, Taylor was able to build for the future and this is something like the side Taylor left us with...

Grummit
Tiler Rollings Burnet, Wilson.
Horton Piper, O'Sullivan
Towner Binney Ward..

Add to that new signings Cattlin & Cross (signed but Taylor left before the played) Morgan, Fell and Ian Mellor and also consider that Mullery didn't have to buy a player for months, and you get a better picture of what a talent spotter taylor was and he really did lay the foundation for our success in the 70's.

 

[Seagull on the wing]

barry butlin was on loan from sheff utd,didn't play that many games as i recall,but famously got the winner at selhurst

sammy morgan went a few games without scoring when he joined then bagged 2 in front of the north stand against palace

remember the joe kinnear testimonial,he scored our only goal from the penalty spot,lost 6-1 i think,loads of aggro in the north stand

I was at the JK testimonial and according to my programme with all the goal scorers marked JK scored from the Pen....not saying you are wrong but as it was his testimonial he was given the honour of the spotkick.

 

[del strangefish]

barry butlin was on loan from sheff utd,didn't play that many games as i recall,but famously got the winner at selhurst

sammy morgan went a few games without scoring when he joined then bagged 2 in front of the north stand against palace

remember the joe kinnear testimonial,he scored our only goal from the penalty spot,lost 6-1 i think,loads of aggro in the north stand

Remember this was against Spurs. (Kinnears old club)
All the Tottenham fans got down three hours before kick off and climbed into the North Stand. When all the Brighton Nth Stand Regulars turned up to claim their place it all kicked off. I was only about 12 at the time and was right in the middle of it. Scary stuff.