Before they were famous – England’s semi finalists against Brighton

Much has been made about how England’s surprise run to the World Cup semi finals has been provided by previously unheralded players, most of whom have done the hard graft in the lower leagues of English football.

That means that Brighton and Hove Albion have come across most of them during our spells in the Championship and League One, more often than not without even realising or remembering.

Who would’ve thought for example that Harry Kane, unused substitute against Gus Poyet’s Albion in a 0-0 draw at Brisbane Road in 2011, would become only the third man to captain England in a World Cup semi final as well as being in contention for the golden boot?

You’d have had to be on some serious glue to predict that John Stones would be a standout defender in a World Cup when he was part of a Barnsley defence that was shipping five at the Amex or that Kieran Tripper would look like the best right back in the world when he was on the losing side for Burnley against the Albion three consecutive times between 2012 and 2014.

We’ve gone through England’s starting line up against Croatia to find out when the Albion first came across them, and you’d be surprised by some of the answers.

Jordan Pickford
Goalkeeper Pickford spent the 2015-16 season on-loan at Preston North End from Sunderland, playing in a 0-0 draw against the Albion at the Amex in October 2015. The result extended Chris Hughton’s sides unbeaten start to the campaign to 13 games but it was a disappointing afternoon as we struggled to make much of an impression on the newly promoted visitors, largely due to the absence of both Beram Kayal and Dale Stephens. Pickford also played for Everton in both the 1-1 home draw and 2-0 defeat at Goodison Park this season.

Kyle Walker
Walker spent part of the 2008-09 season on loan at Northampton Town from Sheffield United, but his temporary spell at the Cobblers started two months after we’d drawn 2-2 at Sixfields and came to an end two months before we met again in a 1-1 draw at Withdean. Walker made his Manchester City debut at the Amex on the opening day of last season but didn’t feature in the return game at the Etihad Stadium in May.

John Stones
Stones made the second league appearance of his career for Barnsley in a 0-0 draw against Brighton in the final game of the 2011-12 season. The following season, he was part of the Tykes defence that got torn apart by Craig Mackail-Smith and Ashley Barnes in a 5-1 Albion win at the Amex, a game in which he was booked for good measure. Just like Walker, he too played in the season opener in 2017-18 but was rested for the penultimate game of the campaign at the Etihad.

Harry Maguire
England’s new hero and his huge head played in Hull City’s 1-0 win over the Albion in the third round of the FA Cup in January 2016. He became the first player to exploit our inability to mark from set pieces last season, escaping the attentions of Shane Duffy to head home as Leicester City won 2-0 at the King Power Stadium in August. He picked up a booking as the Foxes triumphed by the same scoreline at the Amex in March.

Kieran Trippier
Remember that mad game against Burnley in the first season at the Amex in which referee Craig Pawson sent off Romain Vincelot and Barnes inside of 12 minutes? The Great Escape reverberated around the stadium as the Albion battled bravely with nine men for over 80 minutes, only to go down to a 1-0 defeat. The Clarets scorer that day was Trippier, and he went onto play against us four times for Burnley over the next two seasons with Brighton winning three and drawing one. He was rested for both our encounters with Tottenham Hotspur last season.

Jesse Lingard
The first time we came across ‘J Lingz’ was actually in a Brighton shirt. Oscar Garcia signed him on loan from Manchester United in March 2014 and he was a highly impressive performer, scoring four goals in 17 games as the season ended in traditional play off semi final heartbreak, this time at the hands of Derby County. He looked a class act then, but even so you’d have to have sniffed some seriously strong glue to predict he would be a United regular, score the winning goal in an FA Cup final and be a linchpin of an England team that would reach the semi finals of a World Cup.

Jordan Henderson
Henderson must love playing against Brighton – he’s only ever done so for Liverpool, but in those three games he has registered a 6-1 win, a 5-1 and a 4-0 win.

Dele Alli
Alli’s emergence at McDons came just after the Albion had escaped League One, so we’ve only come across him once in the 2-0 defeat against Spurs at Wembley last December.

Ashley Young
The winger-turned-left back was on the pitch for Watford when Chris Eagles scored his famous goal from the halfway line at Withdean in February 2006. That was his second appearance against the Albion, having played in a 1-1 draw at Vicarage Road in September 2004 in which Adam Virgo scored. It always seems to be eventful for him against Brighton with bookings picked up in both those games, a goal for Aston Villa in their 3-2 FA Cup win over Poyet’s side in 2010 and last season it was his shot that Lewis Dunk deflected in for the only goal of the league game at Old Trafford. He also played in both the FA Cup Quarter Final and United’s 1-0 defeat at the Amex.

Raheem Sterling
The man that The Sun want us all to hate for being black, talented and successful has only ever come up against the Albion once when he was booked after coming on as a 78th minute substitute for Manchester City at the Amex. He was another one of Pep Guardiola’s superstars that the manager rested for the game at the Etihad.

Harry Kane
England’s captain and the World Cup’s potential golden boot winner was an unused substitute for Leyton Orient when Poyet’s side drew 0-0 at Brisbane Road on their way to the League One title in February 2011. A year later on a predictably winless Valentines Day for Brighton, he came off the bench in the 73rd minute for Millwall in a 2-2 draw at the Amex. Sam Vokes and Kazenga LuaLua scored that day and LuaLua was on target in April 2013 when Kane again appeared for the final 15 minutes at the Amex, this time for Leicester City in a 1-1 draw. Kane has played against the Albion for Spurs three times, scoring in the fourth round of the League Cup at White Hart Lane in 2014 and in the 1-1 draw at the Amex back in April.