Culverhouse in the middle of defence

Some players are given songs so good that it’s bordering on criminal that they never catch on. Think the current Bernardo song to the tune of Fernando by ABBA. In 1999, Brighton & Hove Albion fans came up with the best football chant ever for veteran defender Ian Culverhouse.

It was sung to the tune of Our House by Madness. “Culverhouse in the middle of defence” was how it went and it is an absolute travesty that only a few thousand fans ever heard it as the Albion played their home games in the bottom tier at Gillingham.

Ian Culverhouse didn’t just have a brilliant song – he was actually a really good defender during his brief time as a player with Brighton.

It took manager Brian Horton a while to realise that, but once he did the 34-year-old was made club captain and became an integral part of an unlikely push for the Division Three play offs until Horton departed for Port Vale.

Culverhouse began his career with Tottenham Hotspur. He made just two senior appearances for Spurs before transferring to Norwich City in 1985 for £50,000, the start of a wonderful nine year spell with the Canaries.

During his time at Carrow Road, Culverhouse won promotion to the top flight in his first season with the club as Norwich claimed the Division Two title.

That was the start of the best period in Norwich’s history; they finished fifth in 1986-87, reached two FA Cup Semi Finals and came third in the inaugural Premier League season.

That saw them qualify for the 1993-94 UEFA Cup. For their European adventures, Norwich manager Mike Walker switched to a continental-style sweeper system with Culverhouse moving from his normal right back berth to fill the sweeper position.

Norwich reached the third round of the UEFA Cup, famously knocking out Bayern Munich along the way. Culverhouse played on that night when the Canaries became the only British side ever to beat Bayern at the Olympic Stadium.

Walker left Carrow Road to take over at Everton shortly after that success in Munich. His replacement was first team coach John Deehan and when Culverhouse publicly criticised Deehan for dropping him and the club for their approach to contract negotiations, he was sold to Swindon Town for £150,000 in October 1994.

To say Norwich fans weren’t pleased would be an understatement. Culverhouse remains a popular figure having won their Player of the Season award in 1990-91.

He’s a member of the Canaries’ Hall of Fame and his name frequently crops up in the right back spot whenever anyone names their greatest ever Norwich City XI.

Culverhouse spent four years with Swindon before being released in the summer of 1998. He began the 1998-99 season with Kingstonian but his spell in non league football didn’t last long as Horton approached him three games into the campaign.

Brighton had just drawn 2-2 at home with Chester City. The Albion had looked good going forward with a new-look strike force of Gary Hart and Richard Barker promising goals. Keeping them out at the other end however looked a real problem.

Horton saw Culverhouse as the answer. The Brighton manager told The Argus, “Ian Culverhouse is an experienced player. I’ve seen a lot of him. He was at Norwich for a long time, then he did a good job at Swindon.”

Culverhouse’s arrival saw Horton switch from a back four to a sweeper system to accommodate his new arrival. At the same time, Horton re-signed left back Graeme Atkinson. Atkinson had spent the second half of the 1997-98 season with the Albion before being released in the summer.

The duo’s first outing in Horton’s rejigged defence didn’t go too well. It was the infamous afternoon at Griffin Park when Brighton defender Glenn Thomas gave one of the all-time great performances in the club’s history to gift Brentford two goals in a 2-0 defeat to the Bees.

Things soon improved though and the Albion won their next three games, defeating Torquay United, Scarborough and Swansea City.

Despite the improvement, Horton wasn’t a fan of the sweeper system and Culverhouse paid the price when Brighton declined to renew his month-to-month contract in the middle of October.

He wasn’t unemployed for long. In the first game following Culverhouse’s release, Brighton gave their worst performance of the season to lose 3-1 at home to Mansfield Town.

Horton realised the error of his ways and just five days after he’d been let go, Culverhouse was back at the Albion. Not only that, but he was also handed the captaincy with Gary Hobson ruled out injured.

Ian Culverhouse had suddenly gone from being told he was surplus to requirements to being made Brighton captain in the space of less than a week.

Quite the turnaround – and one of the reasons that he became so popular so quickly with Albion fans, worthy of his own Madness-inspired ditty.

With Culverhouse in the middle of defence, the Albion won eight of their next 13 games to move into promotion contention.

The goals of Hart and Barker, the performances of Jeff Minton in the middle of the park and the inspired signing of Rod Thomas bought with money raised by supporters through the Buy a Player Fund are often credited with the Albion’s unlikely rise into the top six.

Culverhouse’s place at the heart of defence was equally important though. His experience and class was evident as he marshalled a back line that suddenly went from conceding an average of over two goals a game to one pushing for promotion.

His lack of pace didn’t matter as he was one of the best readers of the game the Albion have had. Culverhouse would always be in the right place at the right time, on the scene to stop danger before anybody realised that there was danger coming. He was a grey-haired goliath in the team that was somewhat prematurely christened “Horton’s heroes”.

Because it wouldn’t last. Brighton’s improved form saw Horton headhunted by Division One Port Vale and he departed for Vale Park in January 1999.

Horton’s assistant Jeff Wood was appointed in his place but Brighton’s form fell off an absolute cliff and Wood was sacked after just 14 games in charge.

Wood did at least open the door to the next stage in Culverhouse’s career before he departed. One of Wood’s first acts as Brighton boss was to appoint Culverhouse as reserve team manager, a role he combined with his on-the-pitch duties.

Micky Adams liked what he saw when he replaced Wood as manager in April 1999 and Culverhouse was one of the few players retained when Adams embarked on a mass clear out ahead of the 1999-00 campaign.

Adams wanted Culverhouse to concentrate on his coaching duties, passing on his experiences to a promising bunch of youth team players stepping into the reserves including Will Packham, Danny Davis and Scott Ramsay. Wonder what happened to them?

We know what happened Culverhouse. He played one final game for the Albion, a 2-0 defeat at Hull City in February 2000 when Adams asked him to step in after a defensive injury crisis.

Culverhouse officially retired after that outing at Boothferry Park – the same day that assistant manager Alan Cork described Dave Cameron as useless.

Six months after that final appearance and Culverhouse left the Albion completely, heading to Barnet to become youth team manager.

He’s since gone onto have a fine coaching career, firstly as part of Paul Lambert’s backroom team at a number of clubs – including his beloved Norwich – and then as a number one in his own right with Grantham Town and Kings Lynn Town.

Culverhouse was even linked with the managers job at League One Lincoln City when the Cowley Brothers left Sincil Bank for Huddersfield Town.

That shouldn’t come as a surprise. His leadership skills and quality were in evidence from the moment he arrived at the Albion as the glue that held together a defence who embarked on a remarkable climb up the Division Three table.

Signed, released, re-signed, made club captain and appointed reserve team coach. All in six short months. Ian Culverhouse certainly packed it all into his brief Brighton career.

And that’s before you even take into account that song. Culverhouse in the middle of defence.