Top 50 Palace Games Countdown: No.4 - Palace 5 Brighton 0

Originally published on www.fiveyearplanfanzine.co.uk, 2 August

Saturday 26th October 2002

Whilst most of the games in this illustrious Top 50 list concern important victories that sealed promotion, fought off relegation or simply gained a valuable three points, Saturday 26th October 2002 saw an altogether different type of contest. A seaside team from 40 odd miles away was making the journey up the A23 to Selhurst Park to battle an old adversary it hadn’t seen since 1988. 13 years and all that distance had, if anything, intensified the rivalry. This wasn’t about points, this was about pride.

As if a Palace-Brighton fixture wasn’t enough, this was also a game with a number of interesting sub-plots. The Seaweed, in an attempt to emulate their esteemed opponents, had recruited a couple of Palace old boys to bring to the party. Simon Rodger contented himself with a place on the bench, but all eyes were on Steve Coppell as he attempted to mastermind the downfall of his previous club. Of course, Coppell received a very warm reception, but it did leave the Palace faithful with a slightly bitter taste in the mouth.

This was also one of those rare occasions where Palace went into a match as favourites, although that was more to do with Brighton’s poor form than Trevor Francis’ samba football. Eleven straight defeats had seen the ‘weed languishing at the bottom of the table, and looking apprehensively towards a swift return to Division 2. And all this with talismanic striker Bobby ‘he’ll never amount to anything’ Zamora in their ranks. Palace too had hit something of a bump in the road, and the pressure was mounting on Francis. The previous game summed up our recent performances – drawing 2-2 having been 2 nil up after 75 minutes in our ‘away’ game against Wimbledon (thanks Shipperley).

The biggest gate of the season meant the atmosphere in the ground was electric, tampered only by the news that a few scuffles outside had meant kick off had to be delayed by 15 minutes. It didn’t matter though, as Palace were on the front foot from the get go. Barely four minutes had gone by when a looping corner from Julian Gray was volleyed back into the mix by Danny Granville, and Andy Johnson was at hand to delicately poke it home. In unusual fashion the Eagles continued to press, and were unlucky to have a Tony Popovic header from another corner ruled out because of a foul.

It was another Gray corner on 35 minutes that saw the Johnson score his second. Whipped low and hard to the near post, AJ dived acrobatically to nod it past ‘keeper Michael Kuipers to leave the Palace fans happy and in great voice come the half time whistle. This was Palace though, we had to remind ourselves, and as comfortable as the first half performance was it would presumably be a tighter second half affair –wouldn’t it?

We needn’t have worried though. Less than 10 minutes had passed after the restart when the Doog set AJ off and his little legs did the rest. Scurrying into the box with three players trailing in his wake, AJ was met by Danny Cullip who decided it was best to stop him by all means, unceremoniously dumping him on the floor, and the referee was given no choice but to award the penalty. With Palace fans calling for Johnson to be given the honours, Freedman instead stepped up and calmly smashed the ball into the roof of the net. This, AJ decided, would not do, and so he promptly won another penalty in almost a carbon copy of the first decision. This time the Scot could afford to be a little more generous, and so Johnson gratefully received the chance of a hat-trick, rolling the ball into the bottom right-hand corner. Brighton’s Paul Brooker was given his marching orders for this latest misdemeanor, wisely deciding to get out of Selhurst Park as quickly as he could.

By this stage the Palace fans were in full party mood, and the stadium was practically rocking. Everyone was happy, it seemed, apart from Julian Gray. Always an admirer of sexy football, he decided that two penalties were no way to end this mouth-watering match. Skipping past the bedraggled Brighton defenders, he rounded off the historic game with a beautiful fizzing shot low into the net.

After the game Francis claimed his side could have scored six or seven, but five suited me perfectly thank you very much. The performance more than matched the occasion, and in Johnson a Palace hero was born (he would go on to score another three goals in the following game against Walsall). As much as we love to hate Brighton, our games against them always promise to be something special. Bring on 27th September.

5 players who crossed the Palace - Brighton divide

Originally published on www.fiveyearplanfanzine.co.uk, May 25

Not many players have been brave enough to make the switch between Palace and Brighton, but after the news that the Eagles had snatched the Seagulls' best player in Glenn Murray this week, FYP's Sam Priddy looks at five others who have been as brave.

Dave Sexton

Dave Sexton joined Crystal Palace at the end of a short and relatively undistinguished career (he retired with us at the age of 29 in 1959). A striker, arguably his biggest achievement came in his two years at Brighton immediately preceding his move to green South London when, leading the line, he helped the club win the 1957-58 Third Division (South) Title. It was a particularly successful season for Sexton on a personal level too, as he notched up an impressive 26 goals. Being a high-scoring Brighton striker in a title-winning team meant the inevitable move to Palace came next where, despite a modest return of 11 goals in his one and only season with us, he then decided to hang up his boots. Sexton is best remembered for his managerial exploits – he won the FA Cup and European Cup Winners’ Cup with Chelsea – but I’m sure his fondest memories would have been of those beautiful 11 goals.

Neil Smillie

Neil Smillie is another member of that rare breed of players who achieved more success with Brighton than Crystal Palace. Starting his career at the Palace, Smillie notched up an impressive seven years in South London from 1975 to 1982, although in that time he only played for the Eagles 83 times. Lack of game time led to a succession of loans, including a dream move to North American Soccer League heavyweights the Memphis Rogues (“We’re the Ramblin’ Rogues from Memphis, the biggest kick in town!”), before he signed for our south coast chums in 1982. Smillie was part of the Brighton team that reached the FA Cup final against Manchester United in 1983. He played at left midfield in both games as the Seagull underdogs drew 2-2 in the first leg before being beaten in the second fixture (I think we can all empathise with that) by a team that included Ray Wilkins and Bryan Robson.

Gary O’Reilly

Gary O’Reilly only ever scored two goals for Crystal Palace, but ask any Palace fan and they’ll probably be able to tell you which ones they were (and possibly give you a play-by-play run through). His four years at Selhurst Park coincided with our most successful period of all time (1987-91), so I think we can probably forgive him his two spells and 107 caps with the Seagulls either side. Most memorably O’Reilly was part of the side that beat Liverpool 4-3 in the FA Cup semi-final of 1990, only a few months on from that 9-0 drubbing. Reflecting since, O’Reilly stated that ‘we knew we were never going to outplay Liverpool, so there had to be something else we could do’. O’Reilly himself scored our second goal on the way to a famous victory. In the final it was O’Reilly again who scored the opener with a header, before Ian Wright’s double took us to the second leg (but there’s no need to dwell on that). Brighton who?

Simon Rodger

There’s not really much I can say about Jolly that Palace fans don’t already know. Twelve years and 276 caps tell you all you need to know about his love for the club, and the feeling was most definitely mutual. Not bad for a £1,000 signing from Bognor Regis Town eh? Rodger was there through it all – from the highs of the promotions in 1994 and 1997 to the administration lows that swiftly followed – and he was never tempted to jump ship. Summing up his career on HOL one person wrote ‘if you cut Simon Rodger open, he would probably bleed red and blue’. After he left Palace in the early 00s Jolly soon found himself taking pity and joining Steve Coppell at our arch rivals to end his career, but no one at the Palace begrudged him his decision.

Jamie Smith

Prior to Glenn Murray’s arrival youngster Jamie Smith was the most recent player to cross the bitter divide when he joined Brighton from Palace in 2009. Full of initial promise, Smith progressed through the Palace Academy and was rewarded at the start of the 2008-09 season when he was given a one-year contract. Youth team coach Gary Issott was full of praise for Smith, describing him as ‘a diminutive attacking central midfielder in the mould of Eyal Berkovic’. Alas it was not to be and come the end of the season Smith was forced to look for a new club having failed to make an appearance for the Eagles. Following a successful trial he signed with Brighton, and had his contract renewed for a further season in 2010. Under Gus Poyet this season Smith has found his chances limited, and at 22 will be hoping to make a bigger impression soon.