West Brom v Brighton? Alexa, show me the most boring FA Cup draw ever
Ask a Brighton fan at 6.55pm the most boring FA Cup third round draw that they could imagine and West Brom away would have been high on that list.
Opponents who were Premier League relegation rivals last season? Check. And who we faced in the FA Cup just three seasons ago? Check. And who we can now look forward to getting their knickers in the twist whenever we refer to Brighton as ‘the Albion’? Check.
A stadium where Brighton hardly ever win? Check. And where they managed the impressive feat of missing two penalties in under an hour back in February? Check. And where one of our players reported being racially abuses by the Baggies’ Jay Rodriguez? Check.
The only redeeming features about a trip to West Brom is that Birmingham is excellent for pubs and the Hawthorns is one of the only stadiums in England where you can have a brandy on the concourse. Goodness knows we normally need it there.
You would think it should be a winnable game for Brighton given that West Brom’s ultimate aim for the season is promotion out of the Championship at the first attempt. They will play a weakened side and not care if they are eliminated.
That though would be to ignore the Albion’s terrible record at West Brom, where they have only ever won on two of their 13 visits.
The first of those came in the third round of the League Cup in the 1976-77 season. The Seagulls were a Division Three club travelling to Division One opponents, but that didn’t matter to Alan Mullery and his players as they delivered a scintillating display to win 2-0 at the Hawthorns in what was an almighty shock.
Peter Ward scored twice and Brighton were given a standing ovation at full time from the home crowd and Baggies manager Johnny Giles.
Brighton can at least take solace from the fact that the second of those victories came in the FA Cup. A 0-0 draw at the Amex in the fourth round of the 2018-19 competition necessitated a Wednesday night replay.
It ended up being an eventful evening that really caught the imagination of the West Midlands public as 8,645 paying customers turned out for the game.
Florin Andone showed that he could score the odd goal and be a complete liability, netting the Albion’s opener and picking up a three match ban for swinging his elbow into the skull of Sam Field in an off-the-ball incident punished retrospectively.
Andone’s goal could not win it and so it went to extra time. Chris Hughton turned to Glenn Murray to try and avoid a penalty shoot out and Murray duly delivered, scoring twice in 11 minutes following his introduction from the bench to secure a 3-1 win.
Murray’s first of the evening was notable for being the only one of his 111 Brighton goals to have been scored with his penis.
With the Albion’s current 10 game winless streak in the Premier League meaning Europe is now looking unlikely to happen through a top six finish, it would be nice to see Graham Potter take the FA Cup seriously as a means for securing Thursday night trips to Albania and Belarus next season.
Brighton’s growing injury list will be a concern for Potter, however. If many more senior players are struck down, then those fans who are dedicated enough to travel to the Hawthorns might as well take their boots as they could get a game. < Insert joke about being a better option than Jurgen Locadia here >.
The tie is set to take place over the weekend of January 7th to the 10th. It is safe to assume that it will be on Saturday 8th as the only way West Brom v Brighton in the FA Cup is being selected for live television coverage is if whoever makes the decision has taken an unhealthy amount of ketamine.
