[Albion] who are your Albion cult heroes?

[whitelion]

That is he. One of my pals Dad's used to live opposite him. If I recall correctly he would sit in front of his house on a folding chair in hot weather. Proper throwback. Would be surprised if he is still alive given his size and lifestyle. Hope I'm wrong though.

That's it I lived briefly in the street and sometimes would have a chat to him outside where he'd sit. That would be 2006. His Mrs was a big Albion fan too. I hope he's still around but he'd be in late 60s now.

 

[dejavuatbtn]

That is he. One of my pals Dad's used to live opposite him. If I recall correctly he would sit in front of his house on a folding chair in hot weather. Proper throwback. Would be surprised if he is still alive given his size and lifestyle. Hope I'm wrong though.

Broke his back years ago in a car crash going to an Albion away game. I am not sure if he is still around but respect to an Albion fan whose passion for the club impacted severely on his life.

 

[sydney]

Paul Clark , Lawrenson , Peter Ward........"get that bloody board out of the way"

 

[Bevendean Hillbilly]

Perry Digweed..used to get on the bus with us!
OGH. Found myself sitting next to him in the stands at Brentford when he was injured. Top bloke.
Guy Butters. Helped me wind up my girlfriend on the phone.
Tiny Cox...for the song
Jake Robinson...NICE HAIR
Darren Freeman.
Virgs. Used to drink in the Hollingbury when he was at Celtic...told us some great tales.

 

[Hiney]

As a child of the Withdean era;

Guy Butters

Rocket Man

Adam Virgo

Gary Hart

That fat geezer who used to hang around next to the gates at Withdean to get players autographs, stank of piss, covered in Albion pin bages. I always knew him as The Honey Monster.

Pissy Mick

 

[Bevendean Hillbilly]

Pissy Mick

Whilst YOU are not actually a Brighton Player...you’re still a legend.

 

[cardboard]

Steve Penny
Garry Nelson
Dale Jasper
Alan Young

 

[Justice]

The lady who used to work in the Queen st ticket office, never let me down. Had Spurs & Cardiff PO tickets before they went on sale. Can’t remember her name unfortunately a true ticket office hero.

 

[Tiptoe through the NSC]

Goldstone vintage...
Peter O'Sullivan
Reggie Goodwin
Alan Duffy
Paul Clark
Fred Binney
Eric Young
Neil McNab
Kurt Nogan

 

[Napier]

Brian Powney, Peter Grummitt, Tony Towner, Ken Beamish, John Templeman (the goal that promoted us in 1972), Willie Irvine, Kit and John Napier, Brian Bromley.

No one can accuse me of being stuck in an era!

 

[The Lemming Stomper]

Steve Jacobs

 

[AnotherArch]

Working on the principle that the cult hero has enthusiasm/recklessness/length of service inversely proportional to football ability, I give you - Phil Stant. Especially in substitute role charging about like a headless chicken with the staring eyes!
Non-player is Keith Cuss. Then Ron Pavey in semi-caricature form.
Far too good a player to really be here, but Dunk tackling with his head whilst laying flat on the ground has to appear high in some category list for single cult action.

 

[seagull_special]

A cult hero should be defined as somebody as not mainstream good and a borderline sociopath.Hans Kraay and Frank Worthington for me.

Adam Mohammed Al Abd is the epitome of this

Proper cult

 

[blue'n'white]

Gary Hart
Dave Clarkson (Goldstone era blond haired Aussie)
Peter Smith
and possibly the greatest of all Hans Kraay

 

[Albion Dan]

Didn't the BBC run this as a competition a few years ago and John Crumplin Football Genius came out on top? Actually just checked and Ward won it.....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/football_focus/4184877.stm

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Harry Wilson, but mostly for personal reasons.

 

[GloryDays]

Loads.

Brooker, Freeman, Watson, Bobby, Cullip. Basically nearly all of Micky Adams Blue Army mk1. So much optimism, so many bargains.

 

[TSB]

As a child of the Withdean era;

Guy Butters

Rocket Man

Adam Virgo

Gary Hart

That fat geezer who used to hang around next to the gates at Withdean to get players autographs, stank of piss, covered in Albion pin bages. I always knew him as The Honey Monster.

"Mr Smelly" courtesy of [MENTION=3761]El Turi[/MENTION]

I reckon Doug Loft counts. I have a Cult Zeros shirt adorned in his honour.
Surely Colin Hawkins must qualify.

 

[Gregory2Smith1]

That's the fella thank you. I had to Google for his exploits....

In ‘A Light in the North – Seven Years With Aberdeen’, Alex Ferguson wrote a fine summary of what a ‘supersub’ was, when he described bringing on eventual match winner John Hewitt against Bayern Munich on a famous night in 1982/83:

‘John is a tremendous substitute and although he lacks the consistency for a full game, he can come on and change a match and often score. Some players are not good substitutes. They are not used to it mainly because they take a long time to get warmed up and cannot get into the swing of a game, but John is excellent is this role.’

Go back five years, and into the English Second Division, and that description would have been apt for Eric Potts. The winger and midfielder played for Brighton & Hove Albion for just that one season, in 1977/78, and yet he claims a place in club folklore for his goalscoring exploits as substitute.

Joining Brighton from the Owls in a £14,000 deal, the red-headed signing made his Albion debut as the number seven in the club’s opening fixture, at Cambridge in the League Cup. In the next round’s replay at Oldham, he notched up his first goal for the Seagulls. The 5ft 5in winger held onto his starting place until he lost out to Tony Towner for the visit to Tottenham in November. From this point onwards, Potts only started five more matches for Brighton, such was the form of Towner, and it was in the number twelve shirt that Potts made his most memorable impact.

He scored Brighton’s second against Scarborough in the 3-0 win in the FA Cup 3rd Round in January 1978. Then, sensationally, he hit two goals in the last two minutes against Sunderland the following month, as Albion overturned a 1-0 deficit, after future Brighton loanee Jeff Clarke had given the Rokerites the lead. I know that match was televised by Southern TV but, sadly, I haven’t yet been able to track down the video footage. All I can offer is this image of the flame-haired one celebrating his winner:

Returned by Alan Mullery to the starting line-up, Potts opened the scoring against Stoke in a 2-1 win at the Goldstone in March. Then, combining well with John Ruggiero, Potts hit the late, solitary goal at Blackburn that these produced delirious scenes amongst the visiting players:

And how did his manager reward his match winner for the next match? Yes, by dropping him to the bench for the Tottenham game, for the second time that season. Nevertheless, unperturbed, when he came on, ‘Supersub’ scored in the second half to clinch a famous 3-1 win. And that concluded Potts’ goalscoring at Brighton. Five League goals, four of which were as substitute.

Here he is, in action in his Albion swan song, against Blackpool on the final day of the season:

Once the season ended, he joined Preston for £37,000 in August 1978 before closing his Football League career with Burnley from 1980 and Bury for two seasons from 1982.

didn't he come on in the last few minutes against Sunderland when losing 1-0 then bagged a brace for a 2-1 victory?

 

[Gregory2Smith1]

Barry Butlin