Brighton v Fulham: History and head-to-head of Seagulls v Cottagers

Brighton and Fulham first met in Southern League Division Two on Saturday November 13th 1901, making Seagulls v Cottagers one of the oldest fixtures in Albion history.

The match outdates even the Goldstone Ground, which the Albion did not take up residency in until the summer of 1902.

That means that Fulham are one of only two current Football League clubs – Wycombe Wanderers being the other – who have played Brighton in a competitive game at the Sussex County Cricket Ground.

That November afternoon on Eaton Road was a good one for the Albion, too. They beat the Cottagers 2-0 thanks to goals from Clem Barker and Frank McAvoy to put themselves in a commanding position in the race for promotion to Southern League Division One.

Unfortunately for John Jackson and his players, Fulham managed to overhaul Brighton by the end of the campaign to lift the title.

The Seagulls had to settle for third place behind both Fulham and Grays United, setting the tone for future relations between the clubs as it has been a fixture dominated by the Cottagers ever since.

In 73 matches across 13 different competitions, Fulham have won 38, Brighton 25 and there have been 10 draws. Those early skirmishes over the Southern League Division Two championship created something of a rivalry between the clubs which extended beyond the pitch and into the boardroom thanks to the events of the 1904-05 season.

On Saturday 11th February 1905, the Cottagers came to the Goldstone for a Southern League Division One match just two days before Fulham were due to play Reading in an FA Cup Replay.

Clearly, the game against the Biscuitmen in the world’s greatest cup competition was the priority for Fulham and so they became possibly the first team in football history to deploy squad rotation, sending their reserve side to Brighton to fulfil the league fixture.

This was hugely inconvenient to spectators and the press as the Cottagers’ line up was now completely different to the one which had been printed on the day’s match card.

To complicate the issue even further, Fulham refused to reveal the names of those who would be pulling on the lilywhite shirt to either Brighton or the journalists covering the game.

The Brighton board were incensed and reported the matter to the Southern League, who fined Fulham £20 for fielding a second XI. In true Albion style, Fulham’s reserves had the last laugh by running out 4-1 winners.

Fulham won the Southern League title in the 1906-07 season, joining the Football League for the first time in their history for the following campaign, after which matches between Brighton and the Cottagers became few and far between.

In fact, it was over 50 years before the next notable clash in the history of the fixture arrived when Fulham visited Brighton on December 27th 1958 and the Goldstone Ground’s attendance record of 36,747 was set.

Given that the Amex cannot be majorly expanded, it seems likely that number will never be surpassed in terms of the biggest crowd to ever witness a Brighton home game. Unless of course Brighton make up a fictitious attendance of over 37,000 at some point.

The Albion put on quite a show for those packed into the old ground. Fulham were gunning for promotion from the second tier at the time yet they had no answer to Billy Lane’s Brighton, who ran out 3-0 winners through goals from Adrian Thorne and a Tommy Dixon brace.

One person who holds less fond memories of Fulham than those who were part of that record-breaking Brighton crowd is Chris Cattlin.

The Brighton manager was said to be close to quitting after the bottom-of-the-table Cottagers won 3-2 at the Goldstone on Wednesday 16th April 1986 to all but end the Albion’s hopes of promotion back to the top flight

To make matters worse, Alan Mullery – that most revered of Albion bosses who just so happened to be seeking new employment at the time – was watching from the stands.

The presence at the Fulham game of the only man at that point in the Albion’s history to have led Brighton to the top flight was no coincidence.

Cattlin was dismissed just three games later with Mullery installed in his place for a second spell at the helm ahead of the 1986-87 season.

After managing to avoid each other in cup competitions for much of the previous 90 years, the 1995-96 campaign threw the Albion and Fulham together in both the League Cup and the FA Cup.

The Cottagers were in the bottom tier at the time, yet they had no problem eliminating Brighton from both competitions.

Fulham delivered a crushing 5-0 aggregate victory over two legs in the League Cup and followed that up with a shoot out win in a second round replay in the FA Cup. Not many teams manage to lose 4-1 on penalties, so fair play to Jimmy Case’s Albion for doing so.

A season later and the Albion gained a little revenge when knocking the Cottagers out of the EFL Trophy. James Virgo scored the only golden goal winner in Brighton history against a Fulham side managed by Micky Adams and with a squad including Richard Carpenter, Danny Cullip, Paul Brooker, Darren Freeman, Paul Watson, Simon Morgan and Mark Walton.

By time Adams and that little lot were on the payroll at Brighton and on their way towards back-to-back promotions as one of the most successful sides in Albion history, Fulham had begun their march to the Premier League under the flamboyant ownership of Mohamed Al-Fayed.

From (the other) Virgo’s last minute heroics, it would be 18 years until Brighton and Fulham next met when hostilities resumed in the Championship for the 2014-15 season. It has rarely been dull ever since.

Brighton have lost just two of the 10 encounters played over the past nine seasons, although in reality the Albion are lucky to have such a record.

We have garnered quite the reputation for snatching results against Fulham despite being completely outplayed, most notably in the 2016-17 Championship promotion season under Chris Hughton.

Trips to Craven Cottage have been particularly enjoyable with Brighton supporters taking over the Putney End’s entire away section and neutral area, often meaning that there are 7,000 Seagulls roaring on their side in west London.

Some big celebrations have been had at Fulham by the travelling contingent. In December 2014, it was Nathan Jones going mad at the final whistle as he led the Albion to a vital 2-0 win in his second caretaker game in charge thanks to goals from Adrian Colunga and Solly March.

Eight months later and Tomer Hemed scored his first Brighton goal with a coolly despatched last minute penalty in front of a packed away end to secure a 2-1 win at the start of the 2015-16 season.

Sam Baldock also netted as we got our first glimpse of the promising strike partnership they would go onto forge, later supplemented by Glenn Murray, who loved a goal against Fulham.

In January 2017, David Stockdale saved a penalty against his former team before two goals in the space of 90 seconds from Hemed and Lewis Dunk took the Albion from trailing 1-0 to winning 2-1 in a game in which they were completely outclassed by the Cottagers for 89 minutes.

Brighton’s visit to Fulham in the 2018-19 season was memorable for both good reasons (the weather) and bad (the football).

The Cottage looked like something from a Christmas Card as heavy snow fell and a Murray double looked like it was going to send the Albion to an equally dreamy result as they easily led 2-0 going into half time.

Fulham though had other ideas and Brighton fell apart alarmingly, conceding four times as the match turned completely on its head.

Brighton never really recovered from the psychological damage that their 4-2 defeat at Fulham inflicted, winning just two Premier League games in the next four months, a run which ended up costing one the best managers in Albion history his job as Hughton was relieved of his duties at the end of the 2018-19 season.

That goal-laden evening was a far cry from Brighton’s next trip to Fulham in December 2020. The Cottagers had not drawn a home game in the league 0-0 for nine years until the Albion rocked up.

In a battle between two sides who were amongst the least clinical in the Premier League, a goalless stalemate was grimly predictable. The result was repeated a month later at the Amex, extending the Albion’s club-record winless home run to 14 matches.