1981-82: The season the Seagulls soared higher than ever

The 1981-82 season remains Brighton’s most successful ever campaign. The 13th placed finish that Mike Bailey achieved in his one full season in charge has never been bettered, and yet many Seagulls supporters at the time were left disappointed.

That was partly because it had promised so much more. After winning 1-0 away at European Champions Liverpool on March 6th, Brighton were eighth in the table.

A spot in the UEFA Cup wasn’t out of the question, with the top seven qualifying for Europe at the end of the season. Yet after that famous first win at Anfield, the Albion won only two of their final 14 games as they slid down the table to their final – and let us not forget, still record breaking – finishing position.

The other reason that nobody gets all misty eyed over the 1981-82 season is because the football was dire. Bailey’s number one aim after replacing Alan Mullery in the summer was to tighten up a porous defence which had conceded 124 goals in the two previous top flight seasons.

Bailey’s thinking was that if he built solid he foundations in his first season, he could then improve the attack in future years, creating a solid top flight base that could keep the club in Division One for many years to come.

The result was a brand of football that would have bored even Chris Hughton and which certainly didn’t sit well with Albion fans as gates plummeted. The only Goldstone crowd over 20,000 before Christmas was for the box office visit of Liverpool.

Brighton supporters had become accustomed to the attacking principles of Mullery over the previous five seasons. A strange falling out with the board had led to Mullery departure, the most successful of Brighton bosses angered by Mike Bamber wanting him to make changes to his coaching staff and the sale of Mark Lawrenson to Liverpool for £900,000 after Mulley himself had personally set up an identical deal with Manchester United.

Lawrenson wasn’t the only player who played a huge part in the Albion’s rise through the divisions to leave the Goldstone in the summer. Captain Brian Horton moved to Luton Town and John Gregory went to Queens Park Rangers.

In came Jimmy Case from Liverpool and Tony Grealish from Luton, two players who would go onto leave a profound legacy after their exploits in the following season’s FA Cup run.

The season opened with a 1-1 draw at West Ham United and a 2-1 home defeat to Swansea City. Bailey’s first win – and the Albion’s first ever three point haul following the summer change from two points for a victory – came in a 2-0 Goldstone win over Middlesbrough with new-boy Case on target.

Victory at Wolverhampton Wanderers – these being the days when Brighton never, ever lost to Wolves – made it nine points from a possible 18 to start the campaign and left the Albion in fifth place. That remains the highest position the club has ever occupied on the league ladder.

The garden was full of roses at that point in time, but Bailey wasn’t resting on his laurels and in came Steve Gatting and Sammy Nelson. Manchester City were beaten 4-1 at the Goldstone before the impressive start looked like it would come to an end as the mighty Liverpool were 3-1 ahead with just 11 minutes remaining of their visit to Sussex on October 17th.

The Reds simply didn’t fail to win from that sort of position. Except on this occasion, as goals from Case and Andy Ritchie completed an astonishing comeback. That was followed by a first ever Football League win against Tottenham Hotspur.

It was a dismal November that led to the first grumbles about Bailey’s tactics. The Albion failed to win any of their six games from October 31st through to December 5th with dire Goldstone draws against Stoke City, Birmingham City and Notts County the lowlights.

November was also the month in which Bailey paid £350,000 to Everton for the services of Mickey Thomas, who would go onto have an absolutely ridiculous Brighton career.

It only lasted nine months through to the end of the season, but in that time Thomas managed to go AWOL on at least three occasions as well as simply not bothering to turn up for a home game with Notts County in April.

His wife apparently couldn’t settle on the South Coast, which was one of the reasons behind his frequent disappearances. She lasted just five days in their property at Telscombe Cliffs before moving back to North Wales, taking their baby son with her.

Bailey eventually had enough, saying in an interview, “Thomas has shit on us and the sooner the boy leaves, the better.” But the Albion boss had bigger problems as supporter discontent with his negative football continued to grow.

The FA Cup also became a source of embarrassment. After requiring a replay to eliminate non-league Barnet in the third round, the Albion were torn apart by third tier Oxford United in round four in a 3-0 home hammering. Combined with a 4-1 Milk Cup (what a sponsor) exit to second tier Huddersfield, it was a season to forget in the knockout competitions.

Oxford and Huddersfield may have proven too good for the Albion but still the dream of taking on the European elite remained alive, especially after that famous win at Anfield.

It was delivered by Ritchie’s scrambled goal while there was an element of luck attached, Ian Rush’s effort beating Perry Digweed but getting stuck in the mud before it could cross the line, allowing Steve Foster to get back and clear.

Foster was unbeatable against Liverpool, just one of many superlative performance in what was probably his finest campaign for the club.

That form had seen him make England debut two weeks before victory at Liverpool as the Three Lions defeated Northern Ireland 4-0 in the Home Championships. The Seagulls skipper would win two more caps, including one in Spain at the summer’s World Cup against Kuwait.

With growing supporter resentment, Bailey finally caved and abandoned his defensive methods following a 1-0 defeat away at Birmingham City on March 27th, releasing the shackles and allowing the team to attack.

Initially, this proved a good decision. The Albion drew 1-1 with title chasing Southampton and then beat Arsenal for the first time with a 2-1 Goldstone win thanks to goals from Ritchie and Michael Robinson.

That was as good as it got though for Bailey’s new approach. Seven out of the final eight games were lost including a 3-0 defeat to Aston Villa, a 4-1 loss to Notts County and a 3-0 hammering at Sunderland.

Judging by that spectacular end of season collapse, the Albion boss had perhaps been right to favour defence over all else. After all, it had delivered Brighton’s highest ever finish which, statistically speaking at least, makes it the club’s best ever season – even if it isn’t one that people look back at fondly.