Lights out at the Goldstone: Photos from Brighton 1-0 Barnet, 01/04/97
Tuesday 1st April 1997 was an emotional day for Albion fans as the last ever evening match at the Goldstone Ground took place. This collection of photos capture the night when Brighton beat Barnet 1-0 and the famous floodlights at the Goldstone illuminated a small corner of Hove for the final time.
A crowd of 9,525 were present to see those glorious Drenchlighting pylons in action. Drenchlighting was a Scottish technique in which the entire gantry rather than just the lamps were angled down towards the pitch, giving the appearance that the floodlights were bowed in prayer.
The Goldstone was the only ground in England to have such floodlights. When the ground was demolished following Brighton 1-0 Doncaster Rovers at the end of April, four pieces of English footballing history were swept away along with the crumbling concrete terraces.
It seemed rather apt that former Albion boss Alan Mullery was serving as Barnet’s director of football for the last floodlit game at the Goldstone.
Mulley had delivered some of the greatest nights under lights that the Albion crowd had seen when leading Brighton from the third tier to the top flight in the space of three seasons in the late 1970s.
Those heady days of 20 years previously now seemed a million miles away. Brighton were now bottom of the Football League and in desperate need of three points as Steve Gritt continued his mission to lead the club towards an unlikely escape from relegation.
Barnet meanwhile were stuck in mid table, safe from the dogfight at the bottom and unlikely to trouble the playoff spots. The Bees had very little to play for as the Division Three campaign entered its final month.
Ian Baird scored the only goal of the game in the 42nd minute, although the Albion created enough opportunities to have won much more comfortably. Jon Ford was sent off for Barnet with 15 minutes remaining.
The result allowed Brighton to close the gap to Hereford United and Hartlepool United to two points at the bottom of the table.
If you have any photos you’d like included in our Brighton 1-0 Barnet gallery of the last evening game at the Goldstone Ground, please e-mail them to wearebrighton@hotmail.co.uk or tweet them to us @wearebrighton
