Brighton v Liverpool: History & head-to-head of Seagulls v Reds

There have been 26 league meetings between Brighton and Liverpool in the past – a surprising number given that the Reds are one of the most successful clubs in English football – but it is the cup games between the two that have provided the most memorable encounters in a fixture rich with history.

Where else can we begin than the 1980s? Liverpool were the dominant side of the decade and yet they found themselves eliminated from the FA Cup in consecutive seasons by Brighton & Hove Albion.

The first of those came on Sunday 20th January 1983 when Brighton, on route to the final, went to Merseyside in the fifth round and became the first visiting side to win a cup game at Anfield for nine years.

Gerry Ryan and Jimmy Case scored the goals against the league leaders, whose miserable afternoon was compounded when Phil Neal missed a penalty.

Following the final whistle, Albion manager Jimmy Melia – a former Red’s player – received a standing ovation from the Kop. Nearly 40 years on and that day in Liverpool remains arguably the finest result in Brighton history.

Brighton had been relegated and were back in the second tier by the time the draw paired the two clubs together again in the fourth round of the competition the following season.

This time, the tie was to be played at the Goldstone Ground on Sunday 29th January 1984. The entire nation could tune in to see if Brighton could pull off another piece of giant killing against the reigning English champions.

Not only did the Albion manage to do so, but it was an even more comfortable win than the previous season’s success at Anfield; goals from Gerry Ryan and Terry Connor giving Brighton a 2-0 victory over Liverpool.

The Albion were shocking Liverpool in the FA Cup as long ago as the 1907-08 campaign. The clubs’ first ever meeting came in the second round of the competition at Anfield on Saturday 1st February 1908, where the Division One hosts were largely expected to see off Southern League Brighton without so much as breaking a sweat.

Brighton had different ideas though, drawing 1-1 through a Jack Hall goal to take Liverpool back to Hove for a replay four days later. That drew a then record-crowd of 12,000 to the Goldstone Ground as Brighton gave another good account of themselves before succumbing to a 3-0 defeat.

Then there was the 1991 FA Cup fourth round meeting between the teams on Merseyside. Ask anyone about the Albion’s trip to Anfield on Saturday 26th January 1991 and they will give you one abiding memory – John Crumplin looking like the best defender in the world.

John Barnes was one of the most feared wingers in the country at the time but he could not get out of Crumplin’s pocket, leading to the legend of “Johnny Crumplin Football Genius” being born.

Despite Barnes’ struggles and Crumplin’s efforts, the Reds still went 2-0 ahead and looked comfortable until a late Brighton rally saw goals from Mike Small and John Byrne earn a Goldstone replay. Small and Byrne both scored again but Liverpool’s class showed through as they eventually won 3-2 in extra time.

Whilst Crumplin left Anfield with a new-found reputation as the planet’s greatest full back, there was to be no repeat of that for Lewis Dunk when Brighton and Liverpool met in the FA Cup fifth round in the 2011-12 season.

Gus Poyet’s Albion managed to score four times against their Premier League hosts, but unfortunately three of those were at the wrong end – one own goal from Dunk and two from Liam Bridcutt. The Reds ended up 6-1 winners and marched all the way to the final, where they were beaten by Chelsea.

Dunk has improved no end since that chastening experience, but he still managed to score for Liverpool again when the sides met in the Premier League for the first time on Saturday 2nd December 2017 and Liverpool ran out 5-1 winners.

The Brighton captain has begun to claw himself out of negative goal difference in recent meetings with the Reds, scoring with a cleverly taken free kick at Anfield in the 2019-20 season which caught Liverpool substitute goalkeeper Adrian completely unaware.

Jurgen Klopp was unimpressed by Dunk’s quick thinking that day, ironic really given that the Reds’ Trent Alexander-Arnold had been hailed a genius for a similar bit of streetwise play with a quickly taken corner to knock Barcelona out of the Champions League six months earlier.

Klopp was even angrier when his side came to the Amex a year later and were held 1-1. Brighton were more than a match for the reigning champions with Pascal Gross’ last minute penalty the least the Albion deserved for their efforts.

Rather than Graham Potter’s men getting the praise they deserved, Klopp instead made it all about him with an astonishing rant on BT Sport about fixture scheduling, which merely went to highlight just how rattled the Liverpool boss was by the fact his side could not beat little old Brighton.

It came as something as a surprise then that Klopp was reasonably magnanimous when the Albion won 1-0 at Anfield three months later.

A deflection off Steve Alzate defied Reds goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher for the only goal of the game, sending Liverpool to back-to-back home defeats – Burnley had won there a fortnight earlier – after the Reds had gone unbeaten in their previous 68 games at Anfield.

Whereas the Clarets had won on Merseyside thanks to a backs-to-the-wall performance and an element of fortune, Brighton were worthy of the three points.

The Albion took the game to the reigning champions and perhaps should have won by more. Dan Burn sliced into the Kop when finding himself in nosebleed territory and young Kelleher pulled off a couple of notable second half stops.

“Brighton deserved to win, no doubt about it,” Klopp told the BBC afterwards and he was right. Klopp also had praise for Brighton on their November 2021 visit to Anfield when Graham Potter’s men came from 2-0 behind to draw 2-2.

Aside from cup matches and the past couple of league matches, games with the Reds have traditionally been chastening experiences for the Albion.

Of the 26 league meetings, the Albion have won just two other than that famous 1-0 Premier League success. The first of those came on Saturday 14th January 1961 when goals from Tony Nicholas, Dennis Windross and Roy Jennings secured a 3-1 second tier victory in front of 17,495 at the Goldstone.

The second took place at Anfield on Saturday 6th March 1983 and it involved a huge slice of luck. Andy Ritchie got the Albion goal but it is an afternoon that will forever be remembered for Ian Rush knocking the ball past Seagulls goalkeeper Perry Digweed, only to see the ball get stuck in the mud on its way to goal, allowing Steve Foster to get back and hack clear.

One final fact for you – of the five wins Brighton have managed in their history against Liverpool, three of them have come in seasons in which the Reds were crowned English champions.