Paul Kitson, who’s name was nearly an anagram of sicknote
Rearrange the letters of Paul Kitson’s surname, and you get the word Siknot. That’s only two letters away from accurately describing his one season spell with Brighton and Hove Albion.
The former Newcastle United and West Ham United striker managed a grand total of 10 appearances in the 2002-03 season, scoring twice. He became more acquainted with Malcolm Stuart’s physio table than the Withdean pitch, all the while picking up an extremely handsome pay packet.
It wasn’t meant to be this way. Brighton were about to embark on their first season of second tier football for 11 years and that meant the Albion could attract a quality of player to Withdean that we’d never have dreamed of two summers previously when Micky Adams side were slogging it out in the bottom division.
Kitson was the quality of player we were talking. Sure, he’d had his injury problems, but only nine months previously he’d scored a Premier League hat-trick for West Ham away at Charlton Athletic live in front of the nation on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football.
He’d hit 21 goals for the Hammers from 81 appearances, including eight in 14 games in his first half-season at the Boleyn Ground. That went a long way to helping Harry Redknapp’s side avoid relegation and his partnership with John Hartson was considered the best Hammers strike force since Tony Cottee and Frank McAvennie played up top together. Some praise, that.
Phrases like “massive coup”, “lethal partnership with Bobby Zamora” and “marquee signing” were banded around to stoke the hysteria surrounding the 31-year-old with 71 goals in 264 League games upon his arrival at Withdean in mid-August 2002.
Martin Hinshelwood was certainly delighted to have made Kitson his first signing as Albion boss, although given we were already four games into the season and he was having to field Dan Marney and Shaun Wilkinson up front due to the lack of new arrivals and an injury to Zamora, he’d probably have taken a one legged donkey at that point in time. Ironically.
“I’m very pleased,” Hinshelwood said. “It’s my first signing and he is somebody we have been chasing for a couple of weeks.”
“We have been patient, but it just shows we want to go for a bit of quality. He has played in the Premier League and hopefully he will be right for us.”
“It will be a couple of weeks yet before Kitson is fit, but it is great signing for the club to get somebody of that calibre. ”
It would actually turn out to be eight months before Kitson was even semi-fit, by which point Hinshelwood was long gone and Steve Coppell was trying to rescue the Albion from relegation after a disastrous start to the season in which the Albion suffered 10 consecutive defeats which cost Hinshelwood his job.
Kitson made his debut in loss number two of that sequence, a 1-0 defeat to Wimbledon at Selhurst Park. He lasted 45 minutes of loss number three when Walsall won 2-0 at Withdean and, in an ominous sign of what was to come, missed loss number four, a 4-2 defest away at Portsmouth.
He was back for losses five and six, a 1-0 defeat at Millwall and a 4-2 defeat at home to Gillingham, after which he was packed away into a box with some straw and put into hibernation for the next four months after having surgery on a troublesome back.
Kitson was only meant to be out for a month or two after that surgery. The club announced that he would return from the problem away at Preston North End in November before that plan was shelved. It would be a further six weeks before he pulled on his boots again, playing for the stiffs in a laboured 2-1 Sussex Senior Cup win against County League side East Preston at the start of January.
Coppell named him on the bench for the visit of leaders Portsmouth to Withdean a week later and he was afforded the final eight minutes as the Albion picked up a hugely impressive 1-1 draw against the eventual champions.
Kitson’s introduction into proceedings was greeted with some superbly sarcastic celebrations from the South Stand. Already, patience was growing thin with his lack of availability. Nobody was being sarcastic or laughing 11 days later when he was ruled out for another lengthy spell.
The problem this time was a hamstring injury picked up in the stiffs 2-1 win over Bristol Rovers, minutes after Kitson had hit what proved to be the winner. He trudged off in disconsolate fashion but his visible upset at this latest setback still wasn’t enough to placate Albion supporters who again questioned his desire to play for the club and his commitment to the cause.
As a result, Coppell stopped offering any sort of updates as to when Kitson would be seen again in order to avoid the inevitable disappointment that would come with him being ruled out with a sprained hair the day before his supposed return. The Brighton boss would only say that Kitson “still had something to offer.”
There was great surprise then when, completely out of the blue, Kitson was named among the substitutes for a Friday night trip to Reading three months later. When he didn’t appear for the pre-game warm up with the rest of the 15 players selected, it began to look like it must have been mistake. Kitson surely couldn’t be fit, could he? Dean White must have written the wrong name on the team sheet. He used to sell televisions, after all.
Yet in the 72nd minute, Coppell turned to Kitson to replace the ineffectual Graham Barrett with the Albion leading 1-0 through Paul Brooker’s first half opener. “He’s coming on, he’s coming on, he’s coming, Kitson’s coming on,” sang the 2,078 supporters in the away end at the Madjeski Stadium to much amusement.
Withing five minutes of Kitson’s introduction, that laughter and mocking was replaced by wild celebrations and cheers as Kitson ghosted away from his marker to head home a Richard Carpenter free-kick to double the advantage. It proved to be a vital, vital goal as Jamie Cureton pulled one back for Reading in injury time.
Kitson refused to celebrate scoring, possibly out of shock that it was his first goal in 18 months or more likely because of his strained relationship with supporters. His team mates were quick to mob him however and they were also keen to back him up in the press afterwards, in particular Dave Beasant.
“He wants to do well now. I think a lot of people have taken Kits the wrong way at this club,” said Beasant. “Obviously I haven’t been here all the time. People are saying he hasn’t justified himself here, but he’s had a problem. He’s been injured and you can’t do anything when you are injured.”
Zamora was also keen to praise Kitson. “The lads see him in training, so we know what a quality player he is. Hopefully he will be injury free for the run-in.”
“I was looking forward to playing with him when he signed. Nathan Jones has been playing with him in the Reserves recently and he’s had nothing but praise for him. He’s basically a Premiership player, which says it all.”
Zamora did belatedly get to play with Kitson and he did remain relatively injury free for the final five games of the season. After coming on as a substitute again in a 2-0 loss at home to Preston North End, Kitson missed the 2-0 defeat at Leicester City but started the final three games, scoring his second Brighton goal in the penultimate game of the campaign, a 4-0 win over Watford.
There were glimpses of what that “lethal partnership with Bobby Zamora” that people were dreaming of back in August might have offered in those final three games. Kitson, the wily veteran who would get into positions and see passes other players couldn’t helping to feed the Zamora, the fearless young striker who could score from anywhere.
Unfortunately though, it was all too little, too late. The Albion ended up relegated and Kitson was released that summer. He may have taken a huge wage cut to join Brighton from West Ham and clearly still offered some quality if he could stay fit, but Coppell knew he couldn’t take the risk of wasting resources on passengers if Brighton were to mount a successful challenge for promotion the next season.
And that is what Kitson was during his time at the Albion – an expensive passenger. A siknot.
