Brighton v Watford and the 9 million to one FA Cup draw

Have you ever wondered what the odds are of drawing the same opponents in the FA Cup for four successive seasons? No is probably the answer, but just in case it is a yes then we can tell you it is over 9 million to one. How do we know this? Because the FA Cup made it happen to Brighton and Watford in the 1920s.

Across the 1924-25, 1925-26, 1926-27 and 1927-28 season, 88 Football League clubs entered the world’s greatest cup competition. There were numerous non-league outfits involved too.

And yet despite this plethora of possible combinations, Brighton’s ball was always drawn towards Watford’s ball. It was the Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor of the FA Cup.

What made matters worse is that the Seagulls and the Hornets were evenly matched, Division Three South sides at the time. With teams taking the competition deadly seriously for the prestige and the chance of a payday against one of the big boys of English football, that meant full strength sides with not much to separate them.

So not only did we get Brighton v Watford in the FA Cup, but we also got Brighton v Watford in FA Cup replays. It is little wonder that the Hornets are the side who the Albion have faced more than any other in their 120 year history with over 150 meetings between the clubs.

For that first FA Cup clash in the first round of the 1924-25 competition at least, Brighton were happy to be paired with Watford and supporters were treated to two cracking ties as – unsurprisingly – a replay was required.

The first game finished 1-1 at Vicarage Road on Saturday 10th January 1925, Jimmy Hopkins scoring the Albion goal. Four days later and 10,500 turned out for the Wednesday afternoon rematch at the Goldstone, a seven goal thriller which eventually went the way of the Seagulls 4-3 in extra time.

Fortunes ebbed and flowed throughout and both sides could have easily won. Brighton eventually got the job done thanks to a marvellous hat-tick from inside right Bob Dennison, one of two trebles he managed within his first 18 appearances for the Albion.

Hopkins scored the other as Brighton progressed to meet Southampton in the second round. They were beaten 1-0 at the Dell by their second division hosts although it was a game with plenty of controversy, decided by a fourth minute penalty after Syd Bedford was adjudged to have deliberately handled a ball which took a wicked bounce off a terrible surface much to Brighton’s anger.

A year later and it was a case of role reversal when the first round draw this time sent Watford to the Goldstone on Saturday 28th November 1925. Yet another replay was required as again it finished 1-1.

Wally Little gave the Albion a first half lead from the penalty spot and it looked like that would be enough to send the Seagulls through until Fred Pagham equalised with five minutes remaining.

Cook and his strike partner Sam Jennings both picked up injuries which ruled them out for the second match at Vicarage Road. Despite being without their two leading attackers, Brighton put up a brave fight before going down to two goals in the final 10 minutes.

The 1926-27 FA Cup first round draw did at least give the Albion and Watford a bit of respite from each other, although it was admittedly short lived.

Jennings scored twice and Cook once as Brighton overcame a potential banana skin against giant killing experts Barnet at the Goldstone, with their reward for that 3-0 victory over the Athenian League Bees being a second round meeting with… Watford.

The players were by now sick of the sight of each other but the fans seemed to be lapping up this new found rivalry and a crowd of 15,789 including a sizable contingent from Sussex rocked up to Vicarage Road on Saturday 11th December 1926 for the latest instalment.

For once, a replay was not required although that was largely thanks to the brilliance of Reg ‘Skilly’ Williams in the Albion goal.

Williams was no stranger to the Brighton v Watford FA Cup phenomenon having played for the Hornets in both ties the previous season before Charlie Webb brought him to the Goldstone in the summer of 1926.

Watford had originally spotted Williams some 16 years earlier playing for the staff team of Leavesden Mental Hospital. He went onto make 399 appearances in all competitions for the Hornets, still a record to this day for a Watford goalkeeper.

It would have been more too had World War I not got in the way, Williams serving – and suffering Shrapnel Wounds – on the Western Front.

Williams’ clean sheet against his former club combined with a Cook goal in the fourth minute meant that Brighton won 1-0 to progress to a third round clash away at top flight Sheffield Wednesday.

Brighton were confident going to Wednesday but as Albion supporters know, wins at Hillsborough are rarer than hen’s teeth and there was no upset as the Owls ran out 2-0 winners thanks to goals in either half.

Whilst Albion fans may have lapped up facing Watford in the previous three seasons, by the time the first round of the 1927-28 competition put the clubs together again even supporters were bored of what was now a nine million to one cup draw.

Not just supporters, but mother nature too. Saturday 26th November 1927 saw her envelope the south of England with thick fog, clearly because she could not stomach another Watford v Brighton FA Cup game.

It took four hours for the Albion team to make it to Vicarage Road. Upon arrival, it became clear that there was no prospect of the match taking place as the fog refused to lift. This wasted journey did little to improve the apathy towards facing the Hornets again.

Watford v Brighton was hastily rearranged for the Wednesday when only 6,058 turned up for the afternoon kick off. For some idea of what a disappointing attendance that was, over 3,000 had gone to the Goldstone on the day the original cup tie with the Hornets was schedule to take place with the intention of watching Brighton reserves take on Sheppey United in the Southern League.

Unfortunately, the fog also put paid to that one. Sheppey United ended up stranded somewhere on route, failing to show up in Hove much to the embarrassment to officials at the Goldstone who had insisted the visitors would arrive shortly and that game would go ahead.

In this sixth FA Cup meeting between the sides, Watford had a half time lead but within 16 minutes of the restart the Albion were 2-1 ahead through Dai James and Cook.

Brighton won the game 2-1 and headed to Northampton Town in round two, were they were eliminated 1-0. The Cobblers’ victory was fully deserved as they were forced into playing for much of the game with only 10 men after striker Harry Loasby broke his leg in a collision with Williams early on, this being the days before substitutions existed.

The Albion were paired with Brentford in the first round of the 1928-29 FA Cup, suffering a heavy 4-1 loss at Griffin Park to ensure that for the first time in five seasons they would not face Watford. It was almost worth getting knocked out the competition to avoid the Hornets.

After two Watford-free FA Cup season, the fourth round draw did its worst in 1930-31 and sent Brighton to Vicarage Road. Hardly a worthy reward for Charlie Webb and his players for pulling off one of the biggest upsets in Albion history when winning 2-1 away at top flight Leicester City in round three.

Thankfully, there have only been three more FA Cup meetings between Brighton and Watford in the intervening 80 years. Watford were 3-1 victors in the 1983-84 season on their way to the final whilst the Albion ran out 3-0 winners in 1975-76 and 1-0 winners in 2010-11, Gus Poyet He Who Must Not Be Named overseeing a shock win for his League One outfit over the Championship Hornets.

Brighton supporters in the 21st century will (hopefully) never know the pain of facing Watford so frequently in the FA Cup, only that the chances of it happening four seasons in a row are bigger than 9,000,000/1.