Glenn Murray’s Brighton Century: Part Three
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 three takes us through the majority of Murray’s 22 haul in the 2010-11 League One title winning season, including his four goals in the Marvelous March in which Gus Poyet’s Albion side won eight games out eight to all but secure promotion to the Championship.
It also looks at his 50th goal for the club against Plymouth Argyle and his return to the stripes after five years away which at the time had plenty of supporters up in arms – which is mad when you look back at it.
41) Huddersfield Town 2-1 Brighton. 11/12/10. League One. Galpharm Stadium. 14,398
Brighton may have been top of League One since the end of September, but Murray was in one of his longest dry spells as an Albion player when the leaders travelled to third place Huddersfield in mid-December. He hadn’t scored for nearly two months, a run stretching back nine games to the 2-0 win over Yeovil Town on October 23rd. It didn’t look like that barren period would end at the Galpham Stadium when Alex Smithies saved his first half penalty, but Murray responded in the best way possible by giving the Albion the lead. Elliott Bennett claimed his sixth Murray assist when providing a bouncing cross which the striker stretched out a leg to poke past Smithies. Huddersfield scored twice late on to win the game, but this was the start of a brilliant run of form for Murray in the second half of the season.
42) Brighton 1-1 Charlton Athletic. 29/12/10. League One. Withdean Stadium. 8,374
Things didn’t get off to the best of starts when fellow promotion chasers Charlton Athletic visited Withdean. Johnnie Jackson put the Addicks 1-0 up from the penalty spot after three minutes and Inigo Calderon saw red for a horror tackle on former Albion midfielder Therry Racon after eight. Poyet’s side battled back though and it was Murray who grabbed the equaliser with a brilliant piece of improvisation as he used the back of his calf to hook Adam El-Abd’s volley into the box over the head of Rob Elliot for a valuable point.
43) Brighton 5-0 Leyton Orient. 01/10/11. League One. Withdean Stadium. 7,198
Murray’s second Brighton hat-trick came in the visit of Leyton Orient to Withdean on New Year’s Day 2011. His first came when came charging into the box to turn a low cross from Chris Wood under the body of goalkeeper Jamie Jones.
44) Brighton 5-0 Leyton Orient. 01/10/11. League One. Withdean Stadium. 7,198
Wood had added Brighton’s second with some more help from questionable Jones goalkeeping but there was nothing the Orient number one could do about Murray’s second. Liam Bridcutt found himself in time and space on the right and he delivered a low cross to the middle of the box where Murray turned the ball into the bottom corner, despite the best efforts of Bennett to knock him out the way to claim the shot on goal for himself.
It was Bennett’s industry that created goal number three for Murray as he slipped the ball through under heavy pressure from a couple of Orient defenders, allowing Murray to guide it past the advancing Jones. Ashley Barnes added the fifth with 15 minutes remaining for the Albion’s biggest win of the League One title campaign.
46) Exeter City 1-2 Brighton. 03/01/11. League One. St James’ Park. 6,352
Murray made it six goals in his past four appearances when he levelled things up away at Exeter City. The Grecians had gone into the break 1-0 ahead through Richard Logan’s close range effort before substitute Barnes floated a brilliant ball onto the head of Murray who powered past Paul Jones in the Exeter goal with just over an hour played. Barnes netted what proved to be the winner with virtually the last kick of the game, maintaining the Albion’s six point lead over Southampton.
It was another come-from-behind win away at struggling Bristol Rovers. Will Hoskins, one of the players Poyet tried to sign to replace Murray, opened the scoring for Rovers and ended the game with two goals. They counted for nothing though as the Albion scored four times, Murray notching the last of those when he headed home a cross from recent £250,000 arrival from Plymouth Argyle, Craig Noone.
48) Brighton 4-1 Hartlepool United. 12/02/11. League One. Withdean Stadium. 7,296
The visit of Hartlepool United to Withdean saw Murray notch his first brace of the 2010-11 season and his sixth in Brighton colours. Poyet started Murray, Wood and Barnes together against the Monkey Hangers and was rewarded for that boldness with a 4-1 victory. Wood gave Brighton the lead with 12 minutes played and Murray doubled it with his first of the afternoon, tapping a Barnes cross into an empty net after Barnes had lured ex-Albion goalkeeper Scott Flinders off his line.
49) Brighton 4-1 Hartlepool United. 12/02/11. League One. Withdean Stadium. 7,296
Murray’s second of the afternoon was the Albion’s fourth. Gary Dicker made the goal, dispossessing Antony Sweeney in central midfield and then slipping a slide-rule pass through to Murray who beat the offside trap, took a touch and then finished low and hard past Flinders.
You wait six months of the season for a Murray brace, and then two come along in back-to-back home games. His first of a double against Plymouth Argyle was also his 50th for the club, Wood running with the ball attached to his head like a seal through the Pilgrims defence before it fell to Murray who hit a first time volley past future Albion team mate David Button to bring up the half century.
51) Brighton 4-0 Plymouth Argyle. 22/02/11. League One. Withdean Stadium. 7,261
The second half was less than three minutes old when Murray added his second and the Albion’s fourth. It was one of his better goals of 2010-11, collecting Barnes’ pass with his back to goal before rolling Jim Paterson and smashing a thunderbolt past Button from the edge of the box.
Brighton faced eight games in a hectic March as they played two times a week throughout the penultimate month of the season. Remarkably, they ended up winning all eight to all-but secure promotion to the Championship. The second of those games was one of the most memorable that was ever played at Withdean as the Albion squeaked past Carlisle United 4-3. The Cumbrians had taken the lead inside of three minutes through Tom Taiwo with Murray equalising on 23 after he latched onto a Barnes through ball to beat onrushing visiting goalkeeper Adam Collin with a low effort. Two goals from Barnes looked like it would secure all three points until Harry Arter netted a 92nd minute equaliser. The game still wasn’t done though as straight from kick, Brighton somehow fashioned another attack which ended up with Bridcutt scoring a 25-yard volley with his weaker left foot for 4-3. The stuff of dreams, the stuff of champions.
Win number four of March was a pretty routine one as struggling Tranmere Rovers were dispatched 2-0, giving the Albion an eight point lead at the top of League One. Murray scored the second goal with 20 minutes remaining, collecting a Marcos Painter throw, holding off the challenge of the giant Ian Goodison and then bending the ball over the head of Tony Warner and into the top corner from 25 yards out.
54) Brighton 2-1 Swindon Town. 26/03/11. League One. Withdean Stadium. 7,562
Consecutive win number seven equalled a run of form last achieved 55 years previously and moved the Albion 13 points clear at the top of the table. Murray netted what proved to be the winner against Swindon Town in the 64th minute, collecting Fran Sandaza’s pass and bursting past both Andy Frampton and Alan Sheehan before burying a low shot into the opposite bottom corner of the Robins goal for 2-1.
This was a night of milestones at Victoria Road. The Albion made it eight wins from eight in March in their first ever competitive meeting with Dagenham & Redbridge. Murray got the only goal of the game for his 20th of the season, volleying home Noone’s scissor kick cross at the far post to spark wild scenes in the brilliant away end at Victoria Road. For all the talk at the start of the campaign about how Brighton needed to sign a 30-goal-a-season striker if they were to achieve promotion, it turned out that having Murray and Barnes both passing the 20 mark would do fine.
Brighton confirmed their promotion to the Championship with five games remaining of the League One season in a 4-3 thriller at home to Dagenham. The Daggers had gone ahead inside of 60 seconds with Calderon equalising on 18 minutes. Murray got in on the act less than a minute later when his downward header from a Noone cross beat the visitors’ veteran goalkeeper Tony Roberts. Dagenham remain determined to ruin the party and ended up going 3-2 ahead early in the second half but goals from Bridcutt and Barnes ensured that the job was done. The Albion were back in the second tier after a five year absence.
With promotion secured, next on the agenda was the League One title. Victory over Walsall would guarantee the championship and it was duly delivered with a comfortable 3-1 win. Murray notched the second, heading home a Bennett corner at the front post. That would prove to be Bennett’s last ever assist for Murray, leaving him on eight, one behind Dean Cox. It was also Murray’s final goal of his first spell as an Albion player. He picked up a shoulder injury in the penultimate home game of the season against Southampton a week later, ruling him out for the rest of the season, after which he moved to Crystal Palace on a free transfer after Poyet decided that paying £3.5m for Craig Mackail-Smith would be a better piece of business than giving Murray a pay rise. It would be five long years before we saw Murray in the stripes again.
The surroundings for Murray’s second home debut after returning on-loan from Plucky Little Bournemouth were slightly different to his first, with 20,946 more people at the Amex Stadium for the visit of Nottingham Forest than had been at Withdean for the game against Crewe Alexandra eight-and-a-half-years previously. The result was the same however as Brighton won 3-0 and Murray netted a brace. His first came on 68 minutes, stabbing home after being teed up by Tomer Hemed.
Murray’s second of the evening against Forest came from a devestating counter attacking move led by Anthony Knockaert. Knockaert broke at pace up the pitch before feeding Sam Baldock who, having replaced Hemed just seven minutes earlier, fed Murray for a tap in. The encounter also represented the first time that Murray had played in an Albion game in which an outfield player ended up going in goal, Lewis Dunk taking over from David Stockdale in the closing stages after Stockdale was forced off injured.
Four days after his triumphant home return, Murray notched again in a routine win over Rotherham United. He grabbed the Albion’s second after Knockaert’s opener, converting Liam Rosenior’s cross with a neat finish at the far post. Hemed added the third from the penalty spot with Murray winning the spot kick after he was bundled over by Stephen Kelly. Despite scoring three times in three games and claiming an assist, there were still plenty of Albion fans who were neither convinced nor happy about Murray being back in a Brighton shirt. It wouldn’t take long for him to silence the doubters however, as we’ll find out in part four of our look at Glenn Murray’s Brighton Century.
