The Curse of October
Brighton may have comfortably beaten last season’s Champions League finalists in their opening game of October 2019 and won three games out of three in the Premier League in October 2018, but it wasn’t that long ago when they couldn’t win for love nor money in the tenth month of the year.
After dismantling Peterborough United 3-0 in the famous “Nightmare on London Road” game on October 30th 2010, the Albion didn’t win again in October until Bobby Zamora scored a late winner away at The Leeds United on October 17th 2015, five whole years later.
In that time, Amy Winehouse died, Barack Obama was re-elected, Jimmy Saville lost his knighthood, Prince William and Kate Middleton got engaged, married and had two babies and there were 267 managerial changes in the Football League. The Albion got through three managers themselves.
The run covered 20 games with 13 draws and seven defeats in which time we managed to score 12 times and concede 20. There was no real pattern to it either, 10 away games and 10 at home against a variety of opponents, ranging from those who were struggling at the foot of the table such as Yeovil Town and Sheffield Wednesday to high flying, big spending clubs like Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur.
Here is that full list of horror for what remains one of the most baffling runs in Albion history.
October 2011 – P5 W0 D3 L2 F2 A5
Saturday 01/10/11: Ipswich Town 3-1 Brighton
Vicente scored a stunning first goal for the club to give the Albion the lead at half time, only to see Michael Chopra net twice along with Ibrahima Sonko in 15 second half minutes to give Paul Jewell’s Ipswich side the three points at Portman Road. Those were Chopra’s last goals before checking into the Sporting Chance rehabilitation clinic to receive treatment for a gambling addiction. Should have stuck a tenner on the Albion not to win another game in October for five years, Michael.
Saturday 15/10/11: Brighton 0-0 Hull City
0-0 usually suggests a bore draw but this was far from the case as Nigel Pearson’s Hull City visited. The Saturday kick off time was pushed back to 5.30pm due to an open day at the University of Brighton, the first time that’s ever happened in English football. Not many people were happy about it, not least the Tigers fans whose travel plans were cocked up as a result, but goalkeepers Casper Ankergren and Adrian Basso both seemed to enjoy it as they had outstanding games.
Tuesday 18/10/11: Millwall 1-1 Brighton
If Ryan Harley could take penalties, then there is a chance that the October curse wouldn’t exist. The new arrival from Swansea City had bragged in the lead up to the Albion’s trip to Millwall that he didn’t feel the need to practice set pieces as he was so good at them; words which didn’t so much bite him on the arse as chew his whole back off after his terrible back pass to David Forde in the first half at The Den meant the Albion had to settle for a point after Jay Simpson cancelled out Craig Noone’s opener.
Monday 24/10/11: Brighton 0-1 West Ham United
Gus Poyet gave debuts to loan signings Stephen Harper and Gonzalo Jara but they couldn’t help turn the tide as West Ham United won 1-0 in front of the Sky cameras. Kevin Nolan scored the only goal of the game and then proceeded to do that wank chicken dance celebration in front of the North Stand. Twat.
October 2012 – P5 W0 D3 L2 F2 A4
Tuesday 02/10/12: Brighton 1-1 Ipswich Town
Daryl Murphy gave the Tractor Boys a first half lead before Will Buckley popped up with his second of the season 10 minutes from time to rescue a point. This was a game that the Albion dominated and yet couldn’t win – which was pretty much the story of the first half of the 2012-13 season.
Saturday 06/10/12: Derby County 0-0 Brighton
In just two short months at the Amex, Tomasz Kuszczak had already made enough of an impression for some to hail him as the best Brighton goalkeeper of all time. He was quite literally unbeatable away at Derby County, putting in a sensational performance as the Albion withstood a barrage of pressure from the Rams to escape from the iPro Stadium with a point.
Saturday 20/10/12: Brighton 0-1 Middlesbrough
Another home game in which opposition are completely outplayed, another home game in which Brighton fail to score, another home game in which opposition take three points. This time it was Marvin Emnes doing the damage as Middlesbrough made their long journey to Sussex worthwhile with a 1-0 win with their only shot on target.
Tuesday 23/10/12: Leicester City 1-0 Brighton
Andy King scored the only goal for Leicester City at the King Power Stadium as they ran out 1-0 winners. Brighton had a glorious chance to claim a point when Buckley went down in the box 10 minutes into the second half, but Ashley Barnes saw his penalty saved by Kasper Schmeichel and Barnes then fired the rebound over the bar with the goal gaping. That led to the surreal scenes of Kuszczak and Barnes nearly having a full-on fight on the pitch after the game. Poyet meanwhile came out and told the press he was “bored”. At least he wasn’t forking out £100 on match tickets and travel.
Saturday 27/10/12: Blackpool 1-1 Brighton
Yet another Kuszczak masterclass as the Albion took a point away at Blackpool. We even managed to score a goal which should have made Poyet a little less “bored”, Barnes making up for that penalty miss by opening the scoring before Elliott Grandin equalised for the Tangerines.
October 2013 – P4 W0 D3 L1 F3 A5
Tuesday 01/10/13: Brighton 1-1 Sheffield Wednesday
Oscar Garcia was now the man at the helm but he couldn’t stop the October curse either. The writing was on the wall in the Spaniard’s first October game in charge, when it took an 89th minute goal from Keith Andrews to secure a point in a 1-1 draw against struggling Sheffield Wednesday, for whom Matty Fryatt had opened the scoring.
Saturday 05/10/13: Brighton 1-1 Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest were reduced to 10 men for the last half hour and still ran out 3-1 winners as second half goals from Darius Henderson and a Henri Lansbury brace cancelled out Andrew Crofts first half goal. Nathaniel Chalobah saw red for Forest, sparking a fantastic melee between the two benches. Albion goalkeeper coach Ruben Martinez got a little overexcited as he began swinging his arms around like an out-of-control windmill with referee Craig Pawson sending him to the stands once order had been restored. Forest manager Billy Davies then tried to spend the last 10 minutes of the game preventing a television camera from filming his dugout.
Saturday 19/10/13: Yeovil Town 0-0 Brighton
Just like Sheffield Wednesday, Yeovil Town were struggling near the bottom of the Championship and just like Sheffield Wednesday, they too claimed a point off the Albion. This was one of the most boring games of all time in the glamour surroundings of Huish Park as the sides played out a 0-0. Leroy Lita made his Brighton debut as he became the latest loan striker charged with the task of trying to replace the goals of Glenn Murray three seasons after Murray had departed for Crystal Palace.
Monday 28/10/13: Brighton 1-1 Watford
The marketing department took a huge risk in branding the home game against Watford as Fright Night, especially in light of the Albion’s disastrous October record and Watford’s place towards the top of the table. In the end, the Sky cameras were treated to a 1-1 draw as Crofts cancelled out Sean Murray’s fourth minute opener for the Hornets.
October 2014 – P5 W0 D3 L2 F4 A5
Saturday 04/10/14: Watford 1-1 Brighton
Sami Hyypia’s side hadn’t managed a league win since August, so hopes were understandably low about breaking the October curse with the Finn in charge. Having said that, they could quite feasibly have won at Vicarage Road against Watford. Lewis Dunk’s head levelled things up after Daniel Tozser’s first half free kick. The introduction of Paddy McCourt sparked a mad last 15 minutes with the Albion missing several good chances to win the game.
Saturday 18/10/14: Brighton 1-2 Middlesbrough
Brighton never seem able to beat Middlesbrough at the best of times, let alone in October. The visitors were 2-0 ahead before the hour mark through Lee Tomlin and Albert Admoah with Gordon Greer adding a late consolation to keep up the defences fine record of scoring goals – at this point in the 2014-15 season, Bruno, Dunk and Greer had seven goals between them – which was more than all of the Hyypia’s strikers combined.
Tuesday 21/10/14: Huddersfield Town 1-1 Brighton
The Terriers took a 1-0 lead as early as the 10th minute before top scorer Dunk grabbed another equaliser just before half time. And that is how it stayed, with Kazenga LuaLua managing to get himself sent off in the last minute for good measure.
Saturday 25/10/14: Brighton 1-1 Rotherham United
Another defender opened the scoring for the Albion, making it nine goals for the back line as on-loan Aston Villa left back Joe Bennett scored his first in the stripes. Alex Revell cancelled that out early in the second half and the Millers dominated from that point on. They could quite easily have won the game too were it not for an inspired performance from David Stockdale.
Wednesday 29/10/14: Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Brighton
This was never going to be the game to end the run. With no win against higher league opponents away from home in the cup since 1994, a full-strength Tottenham Hotspur side strolled to a 2-0 victory and a place in the Capital One Cup quarter finals thanks to second half goals from Erik Lamela and Harry Kane. For Brighton, 18-year-old Christian Walton made his debut in goal.
