The Withdean Rocketman – a cult figure in Brighton history

Between 2001 and 2003, the foxes, badgers, common pipistrelle bats, great spotted woodpeckers and firecrests who lived in the Withdean & Westdene Nature Reserve were joined by a new inhabitant. Every time Brighton & Hove Abion had a home game in the stadium below, a cult figure would take up residency among the the tress – the Withdean Rocketman.

Like all great superheroes, the identity of the Withdean Rocketman was never revealed. Neither was the location of the secret base from where he – or she – worked his magic.

The only thing we can say with certainty about Rocketman is that whenever a Brighton goal hit the back of the net, he – or she – would mark the moment by letting off a firework to explode high above the South Stand.

For a short yet glorious period, the Withdean Rocketman became as much a part of the furniture of Brighton & Hove Albion’s temporary home as wearing a poncho, willing a wayward shot to fly into the hammer net and opposition managers liking the Theatre of Trees to playing a pre-season friendly in Scandinavia.

As soon as Brighton scored, Withdean would celebrate the goal and wait. And just as the teams were setting up for the restart, it would happen – the unmistakable sound of a firework streaking upwards, the bang of it exploding and the “HOORAY” of 6,000 Brighton fans at the ritual being completed.

Away fans were housed in the north east corner of Withdean during the Rocketman era. Once they had finished berating their team for conceding against the Albion, they would look up to the sky agog as a firework exploded above the South Stand.

No other club in the Football League had such a unique way of marking a goal. But then again, no other club in the Football League played at a converted athletics track in which the biggest stand was built into a nature reserve.

When Rocketman first appeared on the scene, Brighton were actually good. It was at some point in the 2001-02 season that he – or she – first lit a banger as Peter Taylor was leading the Albion towards the Division Two title.

Bobby Zamora was banging in the goals and opponents were regularly beaten at Withdean. To set off a firework every time the Albion scored was a serious commitment from whoever was doing it.

Goals were harder to come by in the following 2002-03 campaign as the Albion struggled with the step up to Division One. But that made the work of Rocketman even more important as he – or she – lit up an otherwise gloomy season. Quite literally.

Rocketman must have let off at least 70 fireworks during his – or her – career. And yet the majority of Brighton fans at Withdean were sat in the South Stand with the fireworks going off behind them.

As a result, most never saw one explode, they simply heard the bang and cheered. Never being able to bear witness to the actual firework display just added to the mystery.

On occasions, Rocketman’s displays went awry. When Cardiff City came to Withdean in January 2002, the burning stick from his firework dropped to ground onto the running track.

With a particularly nasty contingent of away fans present, one Albion fan mistakenly thought that the Cardiff support were firing arrows into the South Stand, like Football Factory meets Lord of the Rings.

The Football Association once asked the club for their ‘observations’ when a referee mentioned a firework dropping onto the pitch. The official in question’s killjoy attitude caused a serious headache.

Another occasion saw Tony Rougier nearly hit by falling debris when celebrating a debut goal against Millwall in February 2003.

Then there was the incident which occurred during the final home game of the 2002-03 season against Watford. The one which sadly forced Rocketman into retirement.

Zamora scored Brighton’s third of the afternoon against the Hornets but the goal was overshadowed as the accompanying firework didn’t go entirely according to plan.

It dropped into Block E of the South Stand, setting a startled supporter on fire. Five days later and Rocketman wrote to The Argus to say that he – or she – would be hanging up their lighter for good.

“It is with considerable regret that I announce my decision to hang up my lighter,” the Withdean Rocketman said on Thursday 1st May 2003, a dark day in the history of Brighton & Hove Albion.

“Although I have shifted launch sites on a number of occasions I have to conclude that I cannot guarantee my rockets will not land in the ground.”

“The last thing I want to do is expose anyone (particularly the fans in the North Stand – many know who I am!) to any risk to their safety.”

“I congratulate the stewards on their numerous searches of the woods attempting to find me. The woods are a lot bigger than many people realise. Perhaps there are some woods near Falmer?”

It is just as well there isn’t an adjoining forest. A supporter letting off fireworks every time Brighton score – not that they would have had a particularly busy time of it in the 2019-20 season – would be enough to give Paul Barber kittens.

All of which makes it seem even more remarkable that the Albion of old were never too fussed about the Withdean Rocketman, especially when the modern-day club now consider a bottle top to be on a par with a nuclear bomb in the dangerous weapons stakes.

Brighton’s Head of Security at the time was Richard ‘Hairpiece’ Hebbard and even when that supporter got set on fire, he was still broadly supportive of Rocketman, saying, “Like everyone else we enjoy hearing the rockets go up after Albion score.”

“It has been a feature of our temporary stay in Withdean but the FA has written to us asking for our observations and on safety grounds, we welcome the retirement of Rocketman.”

There were many attempts to unmask Rocketman, but none were ever successful. Such was the position held by the Withdean Rocketman that Brighton chairman Dick Knight even devoted a section of his autobiography to him – or her – in which the former Albion chairman claimed to know the identity of the mysterious hero.

According to Knight, the fireworks were in fact coming from the back garden of a nearby property. If this were true, then Rocketman was a Withdean resident, which would go some of the way towards explaining why the steward’s regular searches of the woods never found him – or her.

But why did a Withdean resident want to celebrate every Brighton goal, especially when most of them fought tooth and nail to stop the Albion moving in?

The rumour mill said that Rocketman’s young daughter was a football fan and so he set off fireworks to amuse her, damaging several cars in Withdean Crescent (as well as setting supporters on fire) in the process.

Other legends said that Rocketman was actually Rocketwoman, the wife of a Withdean season ticket holder. While her husband trotted off down the road to roar on the Albion, she would head into the woods with a stash of gunpowder like a 21st century Guy Fawkes.

Another rumour said that Rocketman was so dedicated to his craft that when he went on holiday, he got his brother to take over fireworks duty so that no Brighton goal went unmarked, like Peter Parker nipping off for a weekend away with Mary Jane and giving the Spider-Man mask to Uncle Ben for a bit.

Whoever he – or she – was, their work added to the mystique and distinctiveness of the Football League’s strangest stadium, earning Rocketman a strange yet deserved place in the history of Brighton & Hove Albion.

Maybe one day someone will come clean and hold their hands up to being the person behind the rockets. Or maybe not. In a way, not knowing just adds to the mystery and the legend of the Withdean Rocketman.

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