What happened to the Brighton Youth Team Class of 2006?
Dick Knight used to have a dream. It was a pretty far-fetched one, but he still had it – when the Amex Stadium opened, he wanted a Brighton and Hove Albion team consisting of 11 home grown players to be taking to the pitch at the new Community Stadium.
That dream was fuelled by the Brighton Youth Team of 2006. They were viewed as something of a golden generation as under the management of Dean Wilkins, they knocked big spending Chelsea and another Premier League outfit Blackburn Rovers out of the FA Youth Cup.
Wilkins’ side suffered a heartbreaking elimination to Newcastle United in the quarter finals. That’s still a record run in the competition, despite the many millions of pounds thrown at young players and the Albion’s elevation to category one academy status.
The Withdean victory over a Chelsea side managed by Brendan Rodgers and containing the likes of Ryan Bertrand, Scott Sinclair, Sam Hutchinson and a certain Liam Bridcutt has become the stuff of Brighton legend in the intervening 14 years.
Over 4000 supporters turned up at Withdean when the club were only expecting 1500 odd to fill the North Stand. Eventually, the South Stand had to be opened and the fixture was played out in front of a better atmosphere than many first team games in that relegation season took place in.
The Albion ran out 2-1 winners through goals from Joe Gatting and Dan Leach. Sinclair scored for Chelsea, but there could be no complaints about the final score come the full time whistle. Wilkins, ever the perfectionist, told The Argus afterwards that he felt his side could play even better.
Six of Wilkins’ starting XI that night went onto play first team football for the Albion – making them one of the most successful youth teams in the club’s history – but none of them appeared in a Brighton shirt at the Amex as Knight had hoped.
So, where did the Albion’s golden generation end up? Here’s what happened to the Brighton Youth Team of 2006 who shocked Chelsea.
John Sullivan
Both of the goalkeepers in Brighton’s Class of 2006 were highly rated. John Sullivan got the nod for the victory over Chelsea and justified that decision with a stunning first half save from Shaun Cummings. Sullivan had to wait a while to make his first team bow for the Albion, it coming under Micky Adams in that extraordinary 2008 Withdean game in which Brighton came from 2-0 down at half time to beat League One leaders Leicester City 3-2.
He went onto play 17 times before being released by Russell Slade in the summer of 2009 to join Millwall. Sullivan went onto play for Yeovil, Charlton Athletic, Colchester United, AFC Wimbledon, Portsmouth and Cambridge United. Sullivan has bravely spoken about the depression he suffered while at Pompey. He now seems to be living a much happier life as a real estate agent in Las Vegas.
The other goalkeeper in the Brighton Youth Team of 2006 was Richard Martin. He left the Albion in 2007 without having made a competitive appearance which led to one of the strangest transfers in Brighton history when Sven-Göran Eriksson took him on a free transfer to Manchester City. Martin five appearances as a professional during a loan spell with Yeovil.
Paul Hinshelwood
Younger brother of Adam Hinshelwood and nephew of the Albion’s Director of Football Martin, Paul signed a one-year professional contract for the 2006-07 but failed to play a senior game for the club.
He joined Torquay United in 2007 before going onto play for Tiverton Town, Bognor Regis Town, Havant & Waterlooville and Gosport.
Tommy Elphick
The most successful player from the Brighton Youth Team of 2006, Tommy Elphick would have been the one to fulfil Knight’s dream and play at the Amex had injury not intervened. He made his first team debut just over a month before Chelsea rocked up at Withdean, coming on as a substitute in the horrific 5-1 defeat at Championship leaders Reading in mid-December.
Elphick had to wait a while for appearance number two, Wilkins giving him his first start in April 2007 as Doncaster Rovers won 2-0 at Withdean. There was no looking back from there and Elphick established himself as a mainstay of the side in 2007-08, winning the Albion’s Player of the Season award.
He remained an automatic pick under Adams, Russell Slade and Gus Poyet and went onto play a huge role in the League One title winning side of 2010-11. It was in the final game of that season that disaster struck when Elphick suffered a serious knee injury away at Notts County, leading to a 14 month spell on the sidelines.
Elphick never played for Brighton again, missing out on the chance to play at the Amex in the process. He moved to Bournemouth who he captained during their rise from League One to the Premier League with spells at Reading, Hull City and current club Huddersfield Town following. He’s made 409 career appearances to date.
Tommy Fraser
Joel Lynch – another player who’s gone onto have a very successful career – wasn’t selected for the Chelsea game as he’d already become a first team regular and Mark McGhee needed him for the Championship clash at Sheffield United three days later.
Wilkins turned to Tommy Fraser to fill in at centre back. Fraser was very much a Wilkins favourite, making his debut in Wilkins’ first game in caretaker charge following McGhee’s sacking nine months later. Fraser would play 102 times for Brighton with his best form coming in the Great Escape under Russell Slade, after which he was ironically released.
Adams took him to Port Vale and made him captain with 64 appearances following at Vale Park. Barnet was his next stop off with spells with various Sussex non league sides following including Whitehawk and Burgess Hill Town. Fraser has spent this season turning out for Sussex Sunday League Premier Division leaders KSD Support Services.
Sonny Cobbs
Wilkins’ first choice left back Sam Rents missed the Chelsea game, which presented an opportunity for 17-year-old Sonny Cobbs to shine. Cobbs was given a professional contract once he’d finished his apprenticeship in the summer of 2008 but didn’t make a senior appearance for the club. He’s now running his own coaching programme in the Middle East.
Rents meanwhile played 37 times for the first team between 2006 and 2008, scoring in the famous 8-0 with over Northwich Victoria in the first round of the FA Cup in November 2006.
Wes Fogden
Wes Fogden’s story is the most remarkable of the 2006 Brighton Youth Team given everything he went through to make it as a professional. Fogden was diagnosed with a tumour that was eating into his spine a few months after the Chelsea game.
He underwent surgery and spent three months in a restrictive body cast before battling his way back to make four appearances for the Albion. Fogden was released in 2009 to join Havant & Waterlooville where he impressed enough to convince Bournemouth to give him a second shot at professional football.
Fogden went onto win promotion out of League One with the Cherries and has since played for Portsmouth and Yeovil. He has made 139 career appearances, scoring 26 times.
Daniel Taylor
There’s too many Daniel Taylor’s in the world to find out what happened to him on Google. Answers on a postcard, please.
Scott Chamberlain
Midfielder Scott Chamberlain made two substitute appearances in two-and-a-half years as a professional with the Albion. In 2009, he joined Bognor Regis Town and has spent the past decade doing the rounds on the Sussex non-league circuit, playing for Haywards Heath Town, Lewes and Eastbourne Town among others.
Ashley Jarvis
Ashley Jarvis never signed a professional contract for the Albion, dropping into County League football after leaving Brighton with clubs mainly in the Eastbourne area.
Dan Leach
Dan Leach’s clinical 21st minute following a goalmouth scramble proved to be the winner against Chelsea but not even that was enough to earn him a professional contract with the Albion.
Just like Jarvis, Leach has spent most of his time playing for clubs in the east of Sussex with spells at at Eastbourne Borough, Eastbourne Town, Rye United and Hailsham Town following. He also ran the Brighton Marathon in 2017 for St Wilfrid’s Hospice.
Joe Gatting
The star player in Wilkins’ 2006 Brighton Youth Team, Joe Gatting was an absolute goal machine at Under 18s and Reserve team level. That sent Albion supporters into overdrive with many anointing him as the saviour of the first team’s season, despite the fact that leading the line in the Championship was a very different challenge to doing so in the stiffs.
Three weeks before his barnstorming performance against Chelsea, Gatting had made his first team bow at Southampton. He was regularly involved for the remainder of the 2005-06 season, but it took him until the 8-0 FA Cup win over Northwich to notch his first senior goal in the stripes.
That was a rare high point as Gatting struggled for both goals and confidence, perhaps as a result of having so much pressure heaped on his shoulders at the age of 18. He scored five times in 67 appearances for the Albion before quitting football in 2009 to play cricket for Sussex. Gatting is now a coach with the Darren Lehmann Cricket Academy.
