Oh ah Stantona: Phil Stant, the strangest free transfer in Brighton history

Phil Stant had only been sacked as Lincoln City manager one hour before taking a call from Brighton boss Micky Adams.

Adams was not phoning to offer the normal condolences managers exchange when one of them loses their job; instead, he had a proposition for Stant to get him out of the dole queue before he had even joined it.

Come and sign for Brighton as a player. Stant mulled it over for a bit, eventually deciding to take Adams up on the offer. After one training session with the Albion, Stant put pen to paper on a non-contract basis in what must rank as one of the most bizarre transfers Brighton have ever completed.

How many other clubs have signed a sacked manager from the club second-bottom of their division as a centre forward? When they are in the middle of a three-way battle for the league title? And when they had a certain 20-year-old leading the line called Bobby Zamora?

At 38, Stant was old enough to be Zamora’s father. He also had the sort of bleached blonde hair that nobody over the age of 24 should be sporting, making him look like a geriatric Eminem. What was Adams thinking?

Brighton’s 2000-01 squad was not exactly short of experience or characters. Michel Kuipers, Paul Watson, Danny Cullip, Andy Crosby, Richard Carpenter, Charlie Oatway, Lee Steele and Darren Freeman could tell you some stories. Many of the those names had won promotion from Division Three in the past under Adams at Fulham.

None though had been a bomb disposal expert in the army as Stant had. Nor had they served in the Falklands. By signing Stant, Adams was bringing a new dimension to the Albion, a bloke who was unlikely to be phased by anything the title race would throw up given all he had seen during his time in the army.

Stant went into the army straight after leaving school. He was sent to the Falklands aged 18 in 1982 and was one of the first soldiers on the scene attending to casualties after the Bluff Cove air attacks, when the Argentinian Airforce bombed two Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships, RFA Sir Tristram and RFA Sir Galahad, as they delivered supplies and reinforcements.

After the conflict, Stant was posted to Hereford were he progressed to the SAS and bomb disposal. In 1986, Hereford United paid £600 to buy him out of the army and give him a second crack at professional football; Stant had previously played four times for Reading in the 1982-83 season, scoring twice before his service.

Stant announced himself in some style to the Edgar Street faithful, scoring a hat-trick on his debut against Notts County. He scored 38 times in 89 appearances for the Bulls, securing a £175,000 move in 1989 to Notts County who had clearly not forgotten him.

From that point on, Stant became something of a nomad. He played for Blackpool, Huddersfield Town, Fulham, Mansfield Town, Cardiff City, Bury and Northampton Town before landing at Lincoln in 1997.

He scored goals wherever he went and with a playing career total of eight promotions, you could see why Adams thought Phil Stant might be able to offer something to Brighton if you took a moment to look past his age and haircut.

Stant had been appointed as Lincoln boss for the start of the 2000-01 season. His first ever victory as a manager actually came against Brighton on that afternoon when the Albion went down to 2-0 to a brace from Dave Cameron (Scottish striker as opposed to future Prime Minister).

Cameron had famously been hauled after just 19 minutes of a 2-0 loss at Hull City six months earlier whilst a Brighton player. Assistant manager Alan Cork then used his post-match interview at Boothferry Park to describe Cameron as “Useless, full stop” and Cameron had never been seen again. Until now.

Irony of ironies, the defeat Stant and Lincoln inflicted on the Albion that August day increased the pressure on Adamsas Brighton made a stuttering start to a campaign in which they were favourites for the Division Three title.

48 hours later on Bank Holiday Monday and Football League newcomers Kidderminster Harriers inflicted an even worse defeat on the Albion when winning 2-0 at Withdean. The players were booed off and chants of ‘Adams out’ echoed around the Theatre of Trees.

Had Dick Knight had a slightly itchier finger, Stant and Lincoln beating Brighton might have caused Adams to get sacked rather than Adams being the man to offer Stant a chance to add another promotion to his CV. Funny how these things work out.

Although Phil Stant had not played senior football for nearly a year by the time he rocked up at Brighton with the ink barely dry on his Lincoln P45, he had played regularly for the Imps’ reserves over the course of the 2000-01 season.

Adams said upon Stant’s signing: “He did enough in training to suggest he certainly wouldn’t disgrace himself if I throw him on for 10 minutes. It is an open-ended agreement which either of us can finish when we want to.”

“Towards the end of the season you need a few more experienced bodies. Unfortunately they are usually expensive. Stanty is a cheap alternative and the beauty is that it also does not use up one of my loan options.”

Phil Stant made his Brighton debut as an 85th minute substitute in a 2-0 win at Leyton Orient on Saturday 3rd March 2001. Three days later and he got the final 10 minutes in a 2-1 away defeat against Scunthorpe United for whom a young Matt Sparrow scored the winner.

The Withdean crowd got their first look at Stant on Saturday 10th March 2001 – and talk about a first impression. Stant had only been on the pitch for four minutes of Hull City’s visit when he stooped to head in Freeman’s knock down from close range to make it 3-0 to the Albion, becoming the clubs oldest ever post-war goal scorer in the process.

It took Stant a while to get to his feet after the ball hit the back of the net – he was 38 after all. His celebration passed into Withdean folklore as he first headed towards the barren west end, realised there was nothing there other than a hammer net and some gardens, and diverted instead towards the South Stand.

Stant’s teammates were already aware of what a card he was – “a monument in the dressing room when it comes to motivation” – and his Hull goal was a sign for supporters that maybe Adams’ decision to sign Lincoln City’s former manager and play him up front was not as mental as it first appeared.

The header on his home debut represented his 198th goal in professional football. The dream would have been for Stant to find the back of the net twice more in Brighton colours to reach his double century, but unfortunately his subsequent four substitute appearances saw him go goalless.

By the time the season was completed, Brighton though had completed their aim. Adams’ side won the title with two games to spare ahead of Cardiff City and Chesterfield, the first silverware the Albion had won since 1958.

Phil Stant, Division Three champion. Who would have predicted that when he was getting sacked by lowly Lincoln two months earlier? A bizarre and yet brilliant turn of events.