Brighton beat Newcastle in 1979 to win promotion as talk of the Toon
When Brighton missed out on promotion to the top fight by nine goals at the end of the 1977-78 season, Albion manager Alan Mullery did something rather brave. He stood in the director’s box at the Goldstone Ground, grabbed a microphone and promised 33,431 heartbroken Seagulls supporters that Brighton would have a spot in the top flight within a year.
It was the sort of declaration that normally backfires spectacularly. Mullery himself realised that almost immediately, later saying, “With hindsight, it wasn’t the cleverest thing to do because I was setting myself up for a fall.”
“But I had real belief that this team was good enough.” Mullery’s faith was well placed. 370 days after his bold pledge and 345 miles away from where he’d announced it, Brighton duly delivered as on May 5th 1979 they won 3-1 at St James’ Park, Newcastle to earn promotion to the top flight of English football for the first time ever.
Over 10,000 Albion fans made the long journey north by car, coach, plane and train to witness what they hoped would be a piece of history.
They weren’t to be disappointed and the contrast in mood among the Brighton footballing public couldn’t have been more different from a year previously.
In 1978, the Albion were the victim of a scandalous stitch up. Victory for Mullery’s men in their final game of the season against Blackpool at the Goldstone would see them promoted, providing one of Southampton or Tottenham Hotspur lost.
The only problem here was that Spurs and Southampton were playing each other. If they drew, then both would be promoted behind champions Bolton Wanderers and the scoreline at the Goldstone – Brighton won 2-1 – would be immaterial.
And would you believe it, the final score at the Dell was 0-0. Strangely, two sides who had plundered 153 goals between themselves over the course of the 41 previous games suddenly found themselves unable to muster a single shot on target.
It was a result contrived beforehand so that both sides might take a place in Division One. Albion fans were pissed off, the players were pissed off and Mullery was pissed off. Which is probably why he demanded the mic and promised to overturn the injustice the following season.
Thankfully, Brighton had their fate in their own hands for the trip to Newcastle in 1979. Victory would guarantee promotion and there was nothing that any of the Albion’s rivals could do to collude and prevent it this time.
Interestingly, one of those rivals for promotion happened to be Sunderland. A Brighton defeat at Newcastle coupled with a Sunderland win away at Wrexham would have seen the Mackems promoted instead.
Sunderland took 12,000 to Wrexham that day. Many of the Roker Park regulars who didn’t head to the Racecourse Ground instead made the significantly shorter journey to St James’ Park, where for probably the first and only time, Sunderland wanted their great rivals Newcastle to win.
The Toon meanwhile were already guaranteed a top 10 finish and therefore had nothing to play for. That led to many of their supporters secretly wishing for Brighton to beat Newcastle to prevent Sunderland taking a spot in the top flight in 1979.
As a result, St James’ Park was a right melting pot. Over 10,000 Brighton fans desperate for the two points that would guarantee Division One football, many thousands of Sunderland supporters wanting a Newcastle win and thousands more Newcastle fans who wouldn’t be too upset if their own team got beat.
Keen to avoid all the noise surrounding the fixture, Mullery and the Albion set off for Tyneside on the Wednesday. They watched Newcastle beat Bristol Rovers 3-0 at St James’ Park that evening, something that Mullery credits with focusing the players’ minds on the task at hand. They saw for themselves that their hosts were going to be no slouches.
The Thursday was spent either playing golf or shopping to help the players relax. On the Friday, they undertook a light training session as their final preparation for a date with destiny.
By lunchtime on 5th May 1979, Newcastle had been turned into a sea of Brighton blue. The huge Lazes End terrace was packed with expectant Albion supporters. Not even the locals trying to storm the terrace before bizarrely launching ketchup bottles into the stand could dampen the mood.
Brighton came into the game having lost just two of their previous 24. Not that they looked like a team in excellent form in the opening exchanges.
It often gets forgotten in amongst the largely scintillating football that Brighton played in the first half, but the Albion actually conceded the first ‘goal’ of the game.
Newcastle had the ball in the back of the net inside of five minutes but a friendly linesman flag ruled it out. 10 minutes later and Brighton’s captain fantastic Brian Horton rose like the proverbial salmon to head home a pinpoint Gary Williams corner.
The Albion had to survive another scare as Newcastle ratted the bar before Mullery’s men truly settled into the game. Peter Ward turned on the magic, jinking his way past a couple of players before hitting a low show under the body of Toon goalkeeper Kevin Carr for 2-0.
When Gerry Ryan added a third before half time, it was game over. Although Newcastle did pull one back in the second half through Alan Shoulder, there was no way back for the Toon.
Choruses of Sussex By The Sea rang out around St James’ Park, getting louder with each second that passed of the last 45 minutes of the season. At the final whistle, there were scenes of utter jubilation. After 78 long years, Brighton had finally made it to the top flight.
That was just the start of the celebrations. The players travelled home on the Seagulls Special train with supporters, which had to stop before it had even reached Doncaster to restock with celebratory refreshments after the bar ran dry.
The likes of Mark Lawrenson and Horton played card games with fans. Mullery meanwhile wandered the carriages, talking to supporters while carting around two bottles of champagne, one precariously perched under his left arm and the other under the right.
Horton was later asked about the train journey home by Spencer Vignes for a Seagulls programme in 2019. “Oh my word! The paralytic express! We always used to travel to away games by train anyway, so Newcastle wasn’t any different in that respect.”
“It seemed to go on forever, but nobody cared one bit. All the players and the fans and directors were mixing. We got back to Brighton in the early hours of Sunday morning and I don’t think anyone could stand up by that point. It was just incredible – the best train trip ever. Anyone who was on it will say the same thing.”
Over 500 supporters were waiting in Brighton Station when the Seagull Special finally pulled in at 2am. The party continued long into the night, although Mullery and his assistant Ken Craggs had left the train earlier and the players were whisked away in preparation for an open top bus parade through the streets of Brighton & Hove a few hours later.
In the space of 14 years, Brighton had gone from Division Four to Division One. Under Mullery, they’d ripped through Division Three and Division Two in just three seasons.
There hadn’t been a better day in Brighton & Hove Albion history before that victory at Newcastle in 1979 and there aren’t many to hold a torch to it even now. The main reason for that was the optimism which reaching the promised land brought.
Back in 1979, a side like Brighton or Newcastle could join the top flight and make a real impact – ambitions didn’t start and end with staying out of the bottom three.
Derby County and Nottingham Forest had both been crowned champions in the previous eight years. The Goldstone was full every week, chairman Mike Bamber had plans to either develop it further or move the club to a new stadium befitting of its top flight status and the sky seemed the limit.
One supporter recalls Mullery and Craggs receiving a rousing reception as they alighted onto the platform for their early departure from those still on the train cheering out the windows.
Somebody shouted “See you in Europe” to the Albion’s management. Mullery sensibly didn’t make any promises this time, instead settling for a wave. Even so, it didn’t seem like a completely outlandish suggestion.
Newcastle away was the end of one chapter; of Brighton as a small club plodding around the lower leagues. Now, the Seagulls would be rubbing shoulders with the giants of the game, ready to make a real name for themselves.
That’s what made the champagne so sweet for all those giddy fans heading back from the north east. As for Mullery and the personal stash he was keeping on his person on the Seagull Special home – it must have tasted even better with the knowledge that he’d kept his promise. Brighton were a top flight club.
