Brighton v Crystal Palace: The history of the Seagulls v Eagles rivalry

For most football fans, Brighton and Crystal Palace is a rivalry that makes no sense. Why do supporters of two clubs with no geographical links and who have rarely played each other over the past 30 years detest each other with a passion rarely seen outside of the Balkans?

Because the hatred is very real. Brighton versus Crystal Palace is a rivalry that is every bit as fierce as the most famous derbies in the land.

Neither set of fans are known for having a reputation for trouble, but there is something about this game that sends normally sane people mad. Sussex Police have struggled to cope with the animosity, famously claiming that Palace fans were carrying knives and knuckledusters at the Amex in November 2017.

The Met don’t fare much better, their answer traditionally being to lock Albion fans inside Selhurst Park for up to an hour afterwards before marching everyone back to Norwood Junction Station and forcing them on trains back to Sussex. The atmosphere on that walk is poisonous from both sides.

To gain entry to the relevant away end on derby day long before Covid-19 restrictions made it a part and parcel of life, you had to turn up with photo identification which matches the name on your ticket.

Without it, you are not even allowed within 10 nautical miles of the ground. It is a security operation that would impress even Kim Jong-un.

It has not always been this way. Long before the rivalry existed, the first ever fixture between Brighton and Crystal Palace took place on Saturday 22nd December 1906, the Albion running out 2-1 winners at the Goldstone Ground in Southern League Division One.

Over the next 65 years, the clubs were frequent opponents, both joining the Football League in 1920 and facing off mainly in Division Three South without so much of a hint of hostility.

Crystal Palace versus Brighton games were popular with the crowds owing to direct railway line between East Croydon and Brighton, but that did not extend to the rivalry and bile we see today.

That all changed in August 1974. Palace had just suffered back-to-back relegations from top flight to third tier and as a result, were one of the biggest clubs in the division.

They were expecting to challenge for an immediate return to Division Two under the management of the flamboyant Malcolm Allison.

Allison brought his Eagles to the Goldstone on the opening day of the 1974-75 season, but things did not go their way – Ian Mellor scored the only goal of the game on his debut to give Peter Taylor’s Brighton victory.

The crowd of 26,235 was the Goldstone’s biggest for several years and was swelled by a significant contingent from Croydon.

Despite a police operation involving 85 officers, dogs, horses and motorbikes, there were still 20 arrests and outbreaks of violence as rival fans clashed.

Palace’s next visit to the Goldstone came the following season, by which point the Albion were in the process of developing themselves a new nickname.

Every time the Palace supporters in the 33,300 that had packed into the Goldstone on February 24th 1976 gave their way cry of “Eagles! Eagles!”, the home fans responded with a cry of their own – “Seagulls! Seagulls!”

A group of Albion fans led by Lee Phillips and including future director Derek Chapman had come up with the chant in a West Street pub and it rapidly caught on as Sammy Morgan scored twice to give Brighton a 2-0 win.

That victory ensured that Brighton ended the campaign in fourth place in the Division Three standings, one spot higher than Palace.

Both sides looked well positioned for a promotion push in 1976-77, but they first had to overcome the losses of their managers that summer.

Taylor resigned citing his failure to win promotion in two seasons at the helm. Allison meanwhile was sacked, partly due to his off-the-field antics, which rather brilliantly included getting himself photographed in the team bath with porn star Fiona Richmond.

Both clubs settled on former Tottenham Hotspur players to take the reigns, which is really where the fun began. For Palace, that was Allison’s assistant, Terry Venables. For Brighton, chairman Mike Bamber turned to Alan Mullery.

Two clubs with a simmering rivalry now had two managers in charge who hated each other, a situation that had developed a decade previously when new Brighton boss Mullery was handed the Spurs captaincy by Bill Nicholson over new Crystal Palace boss Venables.

Mansfield Town ended that 1976-77 season as Division Three champions but both Brighton and Palace followed them into Division Two, the Albion as runners up and the Eagles two points back in third.

The league meetings saw a 1-1 draw at the Goldstone – a game in which Mullery had to appeal for calm after smoke bombs were launched onto the pitch – and a 3-1 win for Palace at Selhurst.

There were also three meetings in the FA Cup played in front of near-30,000 crowds. The first was a 2-2 draw at the Goldstone and the replay was another stalemate, this time 1-1 at Selhurst.

That necessitated a second replay, eventually held at neutral Stamford Bridge on Monday 6th December 1976 after two previous attempts to get the game played had fallen to waterlogged pitches. It was here that the Brighton – Crystal Palace rivalry was elevated to the levels of bitterness we see today.

Paul Holder put Palace ahead and Peter Ward had a perfectly good goal disallowed for handball, with Eagles defender Jim Cannon confessing afterwards that Ward had only handled because he had pushed the Albion striker.

Still, Brighton would have another chance to get back into the game when they were awarded a penalty 12 minutes from time.

Brian Horton duly converted, only for referee Ron Challis to make him retake the spot kick because of encroachment – from Palace players, who therefore had gained no advantage which should have meant the goal stood. Needless to say, Horton’s second effort was kept out by Paul Hammond and the Albion were out of the cup.

Mullery was far from impressed as he confronted “Challis of the Palace” afterwards and his mood was not improved when an Eagles fan then threw a cup of coffee at him as he headed down the tunnel.

Now absolutely fuming, Mullery pulled a load of change out of his pocket and threw it on the floor while shouting “That’s all you’re worth, Crystal Palace,” and flicking V’s at any Palace fans in the general vicinity.

Mullery was not done there either and he stormed into the Palace changing room, this time throwing a fiver on the floor and telling Venables that was what his team was worth, before being led away by police. Mullery was later fined £100 for this fantastic meltdown.

The 1977-78 season saw Brighton further antagonise Crystal Palace, stoking the rivalry by officially adopting “Seagulls” as the club’s nickname and incorporating the bird into a new badge.

Mullery’s men meanwhile missed out on promotion to the top flight by just nine goals, with Palace consolidating in ninth place.

The clubs’ synchronised climbs through the divisions would resume in 1979-80, Crystal Palace winning the Division Two title by a point from Brighton in second, ensuring that the rivalry would now be a top flight one.

Mullery and Venable’s departures from their respective roles did not lessen the rivalry between Brighton and Crystal Palace. There was a horrific reminder of that when an appalling tackle form the Eagle’s Henry Hughton shattered the leg of Gerry Ryan at Selhurst Park in April 1985. Ryan would never play again.

That was not the end of the controversy through the 1980s. The Easter Monday meeting at Selhurst Park in 1989 saw another referee write his name into the history of the fixture. 13 years on from “Challis of the Palace”, Kelvin Morton awarded the Eagles a remarkable four penalties in less than 30 minutes as part of a world-record total of five in one game.

Palace were already 1-0 ahead through Ian Wright when Mr Morton showed Mike Trusson a straight red and then awarded a penalty for a foul on Mark Bright, which the striker duly dispatched past John Keeley.

Just five minutes later, Eddie McGoldrick went down in the area under a challenge from Dean Wilkins and again, Mr Morton pointed to the spot.

This time, Keeley managed to turn Bright’s kick around the post. From the resulting corner, Bright went down in the box and again Mr Morton awarded a penalty.

Wright decided he fancied a crack at this one but his effort hit the post and 10 minutes after that, the Albion had a penalty of their own after Kevin Bremner was fouled.

Alan Curbishley showed both Bright and Wright how it was done by successfully converting, but one man who clearly had not been watching was John Pemberton.

He became Palace’s third taker of the day when they were given their fourth penalty after Ian Chapman was adjudged to have handled in the box, only to end up blasting his kick miles into orbit.

The fixture took something of a hiatus after that madcap encounter and there was not another league meeting for 13 years.

Neither that abstinence nor the fact that an entire generation of supporters had never experienced a Brighton versus Crystal Palace game dampened the hatred ahead of the renewal of the rivalry in 2002.

Crystal Palace won 5-0 at Selhurst that October and over the last 17 years, it has been the Eagles who have enjoyed the better of the rivalry compared to Brighton.

Palace became the first visitors to win a league game at the Amex and then eliminated Gus Poyet’s side from the 2012-13 Championship play offs, despite the fact Brighton had ended the regular season above their enemy.

Brighton have had their moments – a 1-0 win at Selhurst Park in October 2005 despite a huge gulf in class between those two particular teams.

Then of course there was the 2018-19 season’s double. Brighton won 3-1 at the Amex even though they had to play for over an hour with 10 men after Shane Duffy’s ill-advised headbutt and Wilfried Zaha had a pie thrown at him for good measure in the most middle class piece of football violence imaginable.

Three months later and Anthony Knockaert scored the goal of the season to earn the Albion a 2-1 win at Selhurst. That was one of only two games that Brighton won in the second half of the campaign, the irony of ironies being that it was a Palace win over Cardiff City that sent the Bluebirds down and kept the Seagulls in the Premier League. Six points, and you kept us up.

The 2020-21 season saw two more extraordinary games between Brighton and Palace, although for different reasons. Palace managed only three shots on target in 180 minutes of football against the Albion, despite which they took four points out of a possible six.

Brighton needed a last minute equaliser from Alexis Mac Allister to rescue a 1-1 draw at Selhurst. That was followed by one of the most ridiculous games you will ever see four months later at the Amex.

Palace had two touches all evening in the Brighton penalty area, scoring from both. Jean-Philippe Mateta put a back heel through the legs of Ben White and Robert Sanchez and worse was to come when the game ticked into the 95th minute.

Joel Veltman had levelled by that point, only for Christian Benteke to hit a winner with seconds remaining. Brighton recorded 75 percent possession and took 25 shots and yet it was the Eagles who headed back up the A23 with all three points.

It was the Albion’s turn to score during injury time at Selhurst in September 2021. Neal Maupay latched onto a long ball over the top and with Palace fans screaming “WHY DID YOU LET IT BOUNCE” volleyed over Vicente Guaita to make it 1-1 right at the death.

Maupay taunted the Palace family stand and there was a near-riot at the full time whistle when Robert Sanchez goaded Eagles players and supporters as the teams made their way down the tunnel.

The return fixture was a slightly more placid affair which again ended 1-1. That meant Graham Potter could not manage a Brighton victory over Crystal Palace in six attempts, leading to accusations that he simply did not get the rivalry.

There seems little danger of the passionate Roberto De Zerbi falling into the same trap. What on earth will happen next?