Glenn Murray’s Brighton Century: Part Four
He’s done it. Glenn Murray has become just the second ever player after Tommy Cook to score 100 goals for Brighton and Hove Albion.
Murray’s century came up in 231 appearances made over 10-and-a-half years and two spells with the Albion across three different divisions. He’s scored against 52 different sides, netted three hat-tricks and one four goal haul.
In this five part series, WeAreBrighton.com are going to look back at all one hundred of Murray’s record-breaking goals as the £300,000 signing from Rochdale (and later £3m signing from Plucky Little Bournemouth) became the greatest Seagulls goalscorer in post-war football.
Part four takes us through goals 61 to 80, all scored in the Championship as Murray fired Brighton to promotion to the Premier League having returned initially on-loan from Plucky Little Bournemouth.
That temporary switch was turned into a permanent one in January 2017 for a fee of £3m, an absolute bargain when you look back at it now as the goals just kept flowing.
There was a mini drought between goal number 60 scored against Rotherham United in the third match of the season and goal number 61 which arrived when Barnsley visited the Amex six games later. Murray ended the clash with the Tykes with two goals, the first coming from a scintillating counter attack. A Barnsley free kick went awry with Anthony Knockaert collecting the loose ball and racing away to set Beram Kayal free who fed across goal to give Murray a tap in.
It’s hard to recall Jiri Skalak contributing anything to the 2016-17 season other than getting pissed when we won promotion and taking a photo of himself standing on a chair in his garden wearing as much Albion merchandise as possible. Turns out he actually got an assist though, the Czech international delivering a free kick which Murray headed home to complete his brace.
63) Brighton 2-2 Preston North End. 15/10/16. Championship. Amex Stadium. 27,606
Jamie Murphy was the architect of goal number 63 when Preston North End visited. The Scottish wingers grounded pass into the penalty area found Murray and he produced a quite brilliant first touch to spin away from Alex Baptiste before slotting under the body of Chris Maxwell in the Preston North End goal. This seems like as a good a time as any to remind everyone of that brilliant Amex moment when the tannoy announcer got in a right muddle and confused Murphy and Murray, announcing an Albion substitute as “Jamie Murray”.
Murray’s third Albion hat-trick came when recently relegated Norwich City were blown away 5-0 at the Amex. His first goal of the afternoon was an absolute gift from Canaries goalkeeper Michael McGovern. McGovern’s attempts to control a pass back from Alex Tettey ended in complete disaster as his first touch saw the ball bounce 10 yards away from him, allowing Murray to chase it down, collect and then leave the Norwich number one on his arse before slotting into an empty net.
65) Brighton 5-0 Norwich City. 29/10/16. Championship. Amex Stadium. 29,469
Oh, remember what we said earlier about Skalak? Well he actually got another assist for Murray’s second against Norwich. Gaetan Bong released Skalak down the left and his pinpoint cross was met by Murray’s head after a perfectly timed run to the back post.
66) Brighton 5-0 Norwich City. 29/10/16. Championship. Amex Stadium. 29,469
It was some more dreadful goalkeeping and defending that allowed Murray to complete his treble. This time, a woeful back pass sent McGovern scurrying across his goal to save a corner. He just about managed to do that but his kick was a poor one, as was Russell Martin’s attempts to bring the ball back under control. Murray picked Martin’s pocket and headed goalwards before hitting a shot that seemed to go straight through McGovern’s arms. Cheers, Norwich.
Murray hit double figures for the season with the equaliser against Aston Villa at the Amex. Nathan Baker had given Steve Bruce’s side the lead before Murray scored his best goal of the campaign right on the stroke of half time. Steve Sidwell started the move, bursting forward to find Murray who back heeled to Sam Baldock for a quick one-two which the veteran striker powered into the bottom corner from outside the box.
68) Brighton 2-1 Fulham. 26/11/16. Championship. Amex Stadium. 29,445
Fulham’s visit to the Amex in November 2016 saw them perform their normal trick of being by far and away the better side against Brighton yet somehow leaving with nothing to show for their efforts. They led 1-0 at half time through Kevin McDonald only for Baldock to equalise just past the hour mark. The Albion’s undeserved come-from-behind win was completed by Murray with 13 minutes remaining, Baldock turning provider this time with a cross to Murray who had been left completely unmarked in the centre of the box and with the time and space to volley left footed into the top corner.
Since missing a penalty away at Huddersfield Town in a 2-1 loss in December 2010, Murray hadn’t been trusted to take another spot kick in Albion colours. His last successful conversion from 12 yards had come against Leeds United in a 1-1 draw at Elland Road in February 2010 and so it seemed poetic that his restoration as a penalty taker came against the same opponents six-and-a-half-years later. Lewis Dunk’s goal bound header from a Knockaert corner was blocked on the line by the hand of Kalvin Phillips, giving Murray the chance to give Brighton the lead from the penalty spot which he duly took. Tomer Hemed added a second penalty in the second half for a 2-0 win.
Murray’s first 12 goals of the 2016-17 season and had all come at the Amex, a remarkable quirk especially when you consider at one point during his first spell he went a year without scoring at Withdean. His first goal on the road during spell two proved to be the winner ina topsy-turvy game at Blackburn Rovers which the Albion eventually triumphed 3-2 in. Lewis Dunk hit a low effort from 30 yards which future Brighton goalkeeper Jason Steele spilled straight to the feet of Murray, who was left with a basic tap in.
If the sign of a good team is winning when not playing well, then for many Brighton fans this was the day we realised that promotion was a very real possibility. For 80 minutes at St Andrews, the Albion were absolutely terrible against Birmingham City and quite rightly looked like they would leave with nothing. Then Knockaert scored an undeserved equaliser with eight minutes remaining, setting the stage for Murray to score one of his most important goals for the club, heading home Knockaert’s 95th minute corner before sprinting the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of an away end that was going absolutely mad. Incredible scenes.
You wait over six years for Murray to score a Brighton penalty, and then two come along in 18 days. Massimo Luongo’s clumsy challenge on Dale Stephens felled the Albion midfielder as he charged into the box, leaving Murray to fire the spot kick into the bottom left hand corner of Alex Smithes goal.
73) Brighton 4-1 Burton Albion. 11/02/17. Championship. Amex Stadium. 29,464
Hughton shuffled his pack for the game against lowly Burton Albion, resting Murray and starting Hemed. This proved to be an excellent decision as the Israeli striker netted a brace before being replaced by Murray with 15 minutes remaining. Nine minutes later and goal number 16 for the season was in the back of the net, Knockaert whipping in a brilliant left footed delivery which Murray rose to power a header into the far corner.
The biggest game of the season saw the Championship’s two best sides meet at the Amex with Newcastle United leaving with all three points via a 2-1 win. Murray had given the Albion a first half lead after he’d been bundled over in the box by Ciaran Clark with referee Bobby Madley pointing to the spot and Murray converting.
Murray bought up his three-quarter century with the third goal of a routine 3-0 win over Derby County. A long free kick forward from Dunk set Knockaert clear down the left and his volleyed cross was swept home by Murray who just about beat Rams goalkeeper Scott Carson to the ball, giving the Little French Magician his fourth assist in the process.
Brighton took a huge step closer to the promised land of the Premier League after this gritty 1-0 win over Blackburn. Liam Rosenior’s right wing cross was headed goalwards by Knockaert, allowing Murray to capitalise on a static defence, bring the ball under control and toe poke it past Steele as Rovers appealed in vein for an offside.
Birmingham’s visit to the Amex was less than two minutes old when Murray set the Albion on their way to a 3-1 victory with his 20th goal of the season. Knockaert released Bruno down the right and his pull back to the penalty spot was smashed home first time by Murray past former Brighton goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak.
All the goals came in the second half of Brighton’s Friday night trip to face QPR at Loftus Road. Murray got the opener, finishing off a swift counter attacking move with 58 minutes played. It was actually Murray who started the break, winning the ball back inside his own half before finding striker partner Hemed, who played a perfectly weighted volleyed through ball which Murray raced through the Rangers defence to latch onto and smash emphatically home. Sebastien Pocognoli doubled the advantage shortly afterwards with a stunning free kick, leaving the Albion needing just two more wins to secure promotion to the top flight.
The day that many of us thought we’d never see as Brighton were promoted to the Premier League. It was Murray who got the party started, scoring the opener just before half time when he collected Hemed’s knockdown from a 70 yard hoof up the pitch from Dunk and fired low and hard past Jakob Haugaard from the edge of the area. Solly March added a second just past the hour mark and despite Nick Powell pulling one back for Wigan Athletic late on, the Albion held on for a 2-1 win and a place among the elite for the 2017-18 season.
Promotion may have been in the bag, but there was still a title to win. Brighton needed just one win from their final three games to be crowned champions, but defeats against Norwich City and Bristol City meant it went down to the last game of the campaign at Aston Villa. Murray looked to have ensured the silverware was coming to the Amex, converting a 64th minute penalty after Baldock went down in the box and celebrated by bringing back “the Glenn” for the first time since rejoining the club. Not even that was enough to get the job done though as Stockdale let Jack Grealish’s shot slip through his legs in the last minute for 1-1 which, coupled with a win for Newcastle United over Barnsley, was enough to see the Toon Army lift the title. A disappointing end to an otherwise fantastic season and as we pondered what the future would hold, there were many Albion fans questioning whether Murray’s goalscoring days would be over as a 33-year-old going into the Premier League. How wrong they would be…
