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The History of Brighton and Hove Albion v Arsenal

Three wins in 26 games makes for pretty grim reading ahead of Brighton v Arsenal but it doesn't really come as a surprise given that the Gunners have spent most of their history being good and we, well, haven't.

Our only league meetings have come in the top flight which is where the Albion have recorded two of their victories, winning 1-0 at the Goldstone in September 1982 thanks to a Gerry Ryan goal and triumphing 2-1 five months earlier also at home through Andy Ritchie and Michael Robinson.

Brighton's first ever game in the top flight was against the Gunners in 1979 and was quite an eye opening experience as to what we could expect now we were mixing with the biggest names in the country. The Gunners ran out comfortable 4-0 winners with three of their goals coming in the first half. The fourth was scored by future Albion boss Liam Brady.

Bizarrely, Brighton have played more games against Arsenal at White Hart Lane than they have at either Highbury or the Emirates Stadium. Highbury was requisitioned as a first aid post and air-raid patrol centre during the Second World War, meaning we took on the Gunners on six occasions at the home of Tottenham Hostpur.

Nobody thought to tell centre half Peter Trainor this though. He turned up to the second leg of our League War Cup first round tie with Arsenal at Highbury, completely unaware of the situation. Fortunately, Albion had a spare player with them - Jack Westby - and so they were able to field a full 11 in what turned out to be a 3-1 defeat.

If that was a comical story from war time football, then there was a far more heroic one when it came to Stan Morgan. Morgan was a member of the 11th Battalion Royal Fusiliers and in February 1942, he played a part in a raid on Bruneval on the Normandy Coast. Morgan and his fellow soldiers manned machine guns on a landing craft which retrieved a force of parachutists who successfully captured German radar technology which had a significant effect on the war effort.

Less than a month later, Morgan was back not just playing, but also scoring for the Albion as a guest player against his former club Arsenal in a 4-2 away defeat. He would go onto return to the Gunners after the war, winning the First Division title with the club in 1948.

 
Football League P W D L F A
Top tier 9 2 1 6 4 16
FA Cup 5 0 0 5 5 12
League Cup 2 0 1 1 0 4
Total 16 2 2 12 9 32
             
Wartime League P W D L F A
WWII League South 4 1 2 1 8 10
WWII League London 2 0 0 2 4 7
WWII League South Cup 2 0 1 1 1 6
WWII London Cup 2 0 0 2 1 10
War League Cup 2 0 0 2 2 7
Total 12 1 3 8 16 40
             

OVERALL

 28 3 5 20 25 72

Arsenal 2-0 Brighton Sun 01/10/17 / Top flight / Emirates Stadium / 59,378
Brighton 2-3 Arsenal Sun 25/01/15 / FA Cup R4 / Amex Stadium / 30,278
Chris O'Grady, Sam Baldock
Chris O'Grady scores one of his three Brighton goals as holders Arsenal prove to be too strong for a struggling Albion side in the FA Cup
Brighton 2-3 Arsenal Sat 26/01/13 / FA Cup R4 / Amex Stadium / 49,196
Ashley Barnes, Leonardo Ulloa
A debut goal for Leonardo Ulloa wasn't quite enough to secure a replay at the Emirates Stadium as Theo Walcott's 85th minute winner sends Arsenal into round five of the FA Cup
Brighton 1-2 Arsenal Sat 30/01/88 / FA Cup R4 / Goldstone Ground / 26,467
Gary Nelson
The last ever time the Goldstone held a crowd above 20,000 as Arsenal ran out 2-1 FA Cup winners over the Albion, Garry Nelson with the Brighton goal
Arsenal 3-1 Brighton Sat 05/02/83 / Top tier / Highbury / 17,972
Michael Robinson
Brighton 1-0 Arsenal Tue 07/09/82 / Top tier / Goldstone Ground / 13,507
Gerry Ryan
Brighton secured their first win of the 1982/83 season with a 1-0 success over Arsenal at the Goldstone thanks to Gerry Ryan's goal.
Brighton 2-1 Arsenal Sat 10/04/82 / Top tier / Goldstone Ground / 21,109
Andy Ritchie, Michael Robinson
Arsenal 0-0 Brighton Tue 26/01/82 / Top tier / Highbury / 17,992
Brighton 0-1 Arsenal Sat 04/04/81 / Top tier / Goldstone Ground / 21,015
Arsenal 2-0 Brighton Sat 01/11/80 / Top tier / Highbury / 28,569
Arsenal 2-0 Brighton Sat 26/01/80 / FA Cup R4 / Highbury / 43,202
The fifth meeting of the 1979/80 season between the two sides saw Arsenal win 2-0 on their way to the FA Cup Final, where they would suffer a shock defeat at the hands of lower division West Ham United.
Arsenal 4-0 Brighton Tue 14/11/79 / League Cup R4 Replay / Highbury / 34,400
Brighton gave their worst performance for many years as they exited the League Cup 4-0 away at Arsenal, leaving them out of the competition, bottom of the table and without a win in two months
Arsenal 3-0 Brighton Sat 01/11/79 / Top tier / Highbury / 34,400
Brighton 0-0 Arsenal Tue 30/10/79 / League Cup R4 / Goldstone Ground / 25,231
Brighton 0-4 Arsenal Sat 18/08/79 / Top tier / Goldstone Ground / 28,604
The Albion's first ever game in the top flight was a bruising lesson as they suffered a 3-0 Goldstone defeat. Future Albion boss Liam Brady notched the Gunners fourth.
Brighton 3-0 Arsenal Sat 20/01/45 / WWII South / Goldstone Ground / 10,000
Joe McDermott, Cyril Hodges (2)
Brighton secure a first win over weakened Arsenal side. Former Gunner Cyril Hodges netted a brace against his old side on his way to registering 19 goals in 19 games in the 1944/45 season
Arsenal 6-3 Brighton Sat 07/10/44 / WWII South / White Hart Lane / 10,5681
Ted Crawford, Bert Stephens, R.Cook,
Arsenal 3-1 Brighton Mon 10/04/44 / WWII South / White Hart Lane / 9,000
Joe Wilson
Brighton 1-1 Arsenal Sat 25/09/43 / WWII South / Goldstone Ground / 8,000
John Shafto
Brighton nearly pull off a famous win over Arsenal, only being denied by an equaliser from the penalty spot from legendary Gunner Cliff Bastin with 14 minutes left.
Arsenal 5-0 Brighton Sat 27/03/43 / WWII South Cup / White Hart Lane / 8,000
Brighton 1-5 Arsenal Sat 06/03/43 / WWII South Cup / Goldstone Ground / 8,500
George Eastham
Arsenal 5-1 Brighton Sat 18/04/42 / WWII London Cup / White Hart Lane / 8,400
Jock Davie
Brighton 0-3 Arsenal Sat 11/04/42 / WWII London Cup / Goldstone Ground / 12,000
The joint biggest Goldstone crowd for wartime football watches an outstanding Arsenal team triumph 3-0. Despite topping the group in the WWII London Cup, the Gunners lost in the semi final to Brentford
Arsenal 4-2 Brighton Sat 15/03/42 / WWII London / White Hart Lane / 7,500
Stan Ridson, Stan Morgan
Goalscorer Stan Morgan played his second game back for the Albion less than a month after being part of a daring raid on a German radar station at Bruneval on the Normandy Coast.
Brighton 2-3 Arsenal Sat 06/12/41 / WWII London / Goldstone Ground / 7,500
Jock Davie, Joe Wilson
Arsenal 3-1 Brighton Sat 22/02/41 / War League Cup R1 L2 / White Hart Lane / 3,846
Bert Stephens
Arsenal played their home games throughout the war at White Hart Lane - a fact that escaped Albion centre half Peter Trainor who missed this match after mistakenly turning up at Highbury
Brighton 1-4 Arsenal Sat 06/12/41 / War League Cup R1 L1 / Goldstone Ground / 12,000
Bert Stepens
Brighton 0-2 Arsenal 12/01/35 / FA Cup R3 / Goldstone Ground / 22,343
Arsenal would end the season by a winning a third consecutive title and they never really got out of second gear in this 2-0 FA Cup win, fielding seven full England internations much to the crowds delight