Puppet Master
non sequitur
- Aug 14, 2012
- 4,056
How the **** did we manage it
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Timeline 1997
- Thread starter scousefan
- Start date
SK1NT
Well-known member
wow..
glasfryn
cleaning up cat sick
all those clubs around us then are not doing that well now
even Helen cannot mention us without saying Brighton with a slight sneer jeff Stelling is always nice about it.
Fans from other clubs are incredulous "how the hell have they got there"
well let me let you into a little secret,we got there through bloody hard work, a great chairman,and good loyal fans and supporters
we fecking well deserve to be where we are....................the final step will be in the next few weeks ,,,,,,thankyou
even Helen cannot mention us without saying Brighton with a slight sneer jeff Stelling is always nice about it.
Fans from other clubs are incredulous "how the hell have they got there"
well let me let you into a little secret,we got there through bloody hard work, a great chairman,and good loyal fans and supporters
we fecking well deserve to be where we are....................the final step will be in the next few weeks ,,,,,,thankyou
Each new ST holder should be made to watch this and/or take a Brighton and Hove Albion citizenship test *wink* prior to taking ownership of their ticket.
If there was one football media person that I wouldn't accuse of playing down the Brighton miracle, it would be Helen Chamberlain - the one who actually attended Fans United off her own back, as a humble Torquay United fan.
- Thread starter
- #67
Belated update to this timeline -
Belatedly catching up-
On 19 April 1997 we were away at Cambridge and drew 1-1. I wasn't at the game and can't find any reports so any memories would be much appreciated.
On the same day the team that had seemed like our target to catch, Hartlepool won 2-1 away to Darlington - a great result for them. Hereford drew 1-1 at home to Torquay. This just about kept them in our sights- 3 points ahead of us with two games to go.
Next game for the Albion the dramatic, emotional and historic last home game at the Goldstone Ground against Doncaster on 26 April ....
Belatedly catching up-On 19 April 1997 we were away at Cambridge and drew 1-1. I wasn't at the game and can't find any reports so any memories would be much appreciated.
On the same day the team that had seemed like our target to catch, Hartlepool won 2-1 away to Darlington - a great result for them. Hereford drew 1-1 at home to Torquay. This just about kept them in our sights- 3 points ahead of us with two games to go.
Next game for the Albion the dramatic, emotional and historic last home game at the Goldstone Ground against Doncaster on 26 April ....
m20gull
Well-known member
My memory of the Cambridge game is that, despite going to nearly every game, I didn't know it was all ticket. Luckily it was only all ticket for away fans. So back to the car to lose the colours and then in with the home fans. The turnstile operator challenged us "are you Brighton fans?" to which my then-wife replied "no, Colchester" which in her case was true!
- Thread starter
- #70
On 26 April 2016 the fateful day came where Albion had to play the last game st the Goldstone. Having been bottom of the division for many months the 1-0 win at Doncaster took us off the bottom of the table. https://youtu.be/Cp4q-LIIkqw
Brighton team: Ormerod , Humphrey, Tuck, Minton, Johnson, Morris, Storer, Mayo , Baird, Maskell, McDonald (inj. sub Reinhelt). Subs: Martin, Hobson, Reinhelt
I had really struggled to get a ticket having already moved away from Brighton more than 10 years before. A friend in Brighton managed to get me a ticket and I drove down from Liverpool dreading seeing the old ground for the last time.
It was quite a game. As if fitting for the occasion, it rained all day. A huge punch up saw Moore (Doncaster) and Baird (Brighton) sent off after 18 minutes. After 67 minutes Stuart Storer scored the last and perhaps most important goal at the Goldstone. The ball had seemed to bounce around endlessly in the Doncaster penalty area before the ball went in and we all went mental. At full time there were tears and emotions everywhere. I don't remember much at the end apart from walking away. I remember people digging up turf and collecting anything they could get. I hated every minute of the long drive home.
On the same day Hereford lost 2-1 away to Leyton Orient. Hartlepool (who had just a couple of weeks before seemed like the team to catch) escaped up the table with a 4-0 win at home to Barnet. Below them, Torquay, Darlington, Doncaster (Brighton's opponents) and Exeter all lost.
Going into the last game the mathematics were simple. To avoid relegation Brighton needed at least an away draw against bottom club Hereford. This was despite the fact that Brighton had poorer goal difference. Uniquely in that fateful year, the final positions were decided by goals scored.
I have never been back to the site of the ground. I want to remember it as it was.
RIP The Goldstone Ground and may Bellotti, Archer and Stanley forever rot in hell.
Barry Izbak
U.T.A.
All I remember about this game was the relief of being at an away game that we didn't lose, because we hadn't picked up a point away from home for months
Barry Izbak
U.T.A.
This page makes some horrific reading
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996–97_Brighton_&_Hove_Albion_F.C._season
............except of course, for us, there was a happy ending
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996–97_Brighton_&_Hove_Albion_F.C._season
............except of course, for us, there was a happy ending
AZ Gull
@SeagullsAcademy @seagullsacademy.bsky.social
I was living in Brierley Hill and working in Tipton at the time. The day tickets went on sale I spent virtually the entire day trying to get through on the phones (no internet ticket system back then!) but couldn't get through. However, there was no way I was going to miss that match.
Thankfully one of my work colleagues was from Yorkshire and he knew someone who was a Doncaster fan and season ticket holder. He pulled a few strings and managed to sort out three tickets; it was all last minute and they arrived by recorded delivery at my sister's address in Eastbourne on the morning of the match. Oh, and they were amongst the Donny fans in the South Stand (the one and only time I ever went in that stand). But at least I was there.
That was also the last time I saw the Goldstone. In my mind's eye the ground is still standing, and I have no desire to allow reality to intrude on the scene.
Return of the Rev
Well-known member
Pos Team P W D L F A W D L F A Pts
1 Manchester United 38 12 5 2 38 17 9 7 3 38 27 75
2 Newcastle United 38 13 3 3 54 20 6 8 5 19 20 68
3 Arsenal 38 10 5 4 36 18 9 6 4 26 14 68
4 Liverpool 38 10 6 3 38 19 9 5 5 24 18 68
5 Aston Villa 38 11 5 3 27 13 6 5 8 20 21 61
6 Chelsea 38 9 8 2 33 22 7 3 9 25 33 59
7 Sheffield Wednesday 38 8 10 1 25 16 6 5 8 25 35 57
8 Wimbledon 38 9 6 4 28 21 6 5 8 21 25 56
9 Leicester City 38 7 5 7 22 26 5 6 8 24 28 47
10 Tottenham Hotspur 38 8 4 7 19 17 5 3 11 25 34 46
11 Leeds United 38 7 7 5 15 13 4 6 9 13 25 46
12 Derby County 38 8 6 5 25 22 3 7 9 20 36 46
13 Blackburn Rovers 38 8 4 7 28 23 1 11 7 14 20 42
14 West Ham United 38 7 6 6 27 25 3 6 10 12 23 42
15 Everton 38 7 4 8 24 22 3 8 8 20 35 42
16 Southampton 38 6 7 6 32 24 4 4 11 18 32 41
17 Coventry City 38 4 8 7 19 23 5 6 8 19 31 41
18 Sunderland 38 7 6 6 20 18 3 4 12 15 35 40
19 Middlesbrough 38 8 5 6 34 25 2 7 10 17 35 39
20 Nottingham Forest 38 3 9 7 15 27 3 7 9 16 32 34
Another 2nd place for our northern chums
1 Manchester United 38 12 5 2 38 17 9 7 3 38 27 75
2 Newcastle United 38 13 3 3 54 20 6 8 5 19 20 68
3 Arsenal 38 10 5 4 36 18 9 6 4 26 14 68
4 Liverpool 38 10 6 3 38 19 9 5 5 24 18 68
5 Aston Villa 38 11 5 3 27 13 6 5 8 20 21 61
6 Chelsea 38 9 8 2 33 22 7 3 9 25 33 59
7 Sheffield Wednesday 38 8 10 1 25 16 6 5 8 25 35 57
8 Wimbledon 38 9 6 4 28 21 6 5 8 21 25 56
9 Leicester City 38 7 5 7 22 26 5 6 8 24 28 47
10 Tottenham Hotspur 38 8 4 7 19 17 5 3 11 25 34 46
11 Leeds United 38 7 7 5 15 13 4 6 9 13 25 46
12 Derby County 38 8 6 5 25 22 3 7 9 20 36 46
13 Blackburn Rovers 38 8 4 7 28 23 1 11 7 14 20 42
14 West Ham United 38 7 6 6 27 25 3 6 10 12 23 42
15 Everton 38 7 4 8 24 22 3 8 8 20 35 42
16 Southampton 38 6 7 6 32 24 4 4 11 18 32 41
17 Coventry City 38 4 8 7 19 23 5 6 8 19 31 41
18 Sunderland 38 7 6 6 20 18 3 4 12 15 35 40
19 Middlesbrough 38 8 5 6 34 25 2 7 10 17 35 39
20 Nottingham Forest 38 3 9 7 15 27 3 7 9 16 32 34
Another 2nd place for our northern chums
Imagine what the song police would have to say today if they saw Brighton fans singing YNWA. I'm not sure 'cringeworthy' would even cut it. This board would be in uproar.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
But in the best form of nominative determinism I'd back you to Police any errant individuals accordingly!
Mr Banana
Tedious chump
I always thought the team - and Reinelt, who scored, I think - deserved more credit for this result. Hereford would have been completely different without this point at a top-half side (think they won the league by a stretch the following season.)
My first away game as well. Don't remember much about it, apart from walking through cowpat to get there and sitting in sandpit seats. Was in total awe of all the players, more interested in the warm-up than the actual game.
Seagull
Yes I eat anything
Great thread. The absolute nadir as I recall it was after the 2-3 home defeat to Darlo (http://www.statto.com/football/stats/england/division-three/1996-1997/table/1996-12-03). 9 adrift, it felt hopeless. I joined a group sitting in the middle of the Old Shoreham Rd stopping the traffic and then outside the west stand, where a window got broken. Albion's home form after that miraculously turned from 2-4-5 to 12-6-5 at the end of the season. Some ferocious atmospheres, 4-4 v Orient with Ray Wilkins sticks in the mind with the fans on the pitch.
Seagull
Yes I eat anything
http://www.statto.com/football/stats/england/division-three/1997-1998/table
Also amazing table the following season (97-98). 4 of the bottom 5 have subsequently made it back to the PL, the other to the Championship.
While 11 of the teams above them have since played non-league football!
Nottseagull
Well-known member
Whoops!