Brighton face south coast rivals Portsmouth in League Cup second round
Brighton & Hove Albion have been given an intriguing tie in the second round of the League Cup with south coast rivals Portsmouth set to make the journey along the A27 to the Amex Stadium.
Although Crystal Palace are the Albion’s main rivals and Portsmouth have a deep-rooted hatred of Southampton, games between the Seagulls and Pompey are often fiery affairs both on and off the pitch.
It is therefore typical that a rare home League Cup tie that the majority of Brighton supporters might have an interest in occurs when the game has to be played behind closed doors. Paul Barber is probably hitting his head over and over again on his desk in frustration.
The sides last met in a competitive game in the 2011-12 season with the Albion recording a league double. Craig Mackail-Smith scored the only goal at Fratton Park in the second match of the campaign with Vicente netting twice on Pompey’s only previous visit to the Amex. That was one of those afternoons when the Spaniard was simply unplayable.
Brighton have hosted Portsmouth in top secret pre-season friendlies in the past two summers. For reasons that nobody seems able to explain, the Albion have banned any media from attending and the result must not be reported under any circumstances, as if it were a classified MI6 plot to assassinate Donald Trump rather than a game of football.
Despite all Brighton’s efforts to keep it under wraps, the news still came out that the Albion had won 3-0 with Aaron Connolly scoring twice.
It was not a good week for leaks for the Albion, actually. Not only did the Pompey scoreline become public knowledge, but the new yellow away kit appeared on Twitter before its official release and someone with an itchy finger in the social media department announced Aaron Mooy’s departure to Shanghai a couple of hours early.
This will be the third time that Brighton and Portsmouth have faced each other in the League Cup. The two previous matches came in the swinging 60s, Brighton pulling off something of a shock in 1969 when defeating their higher division opponents 1-0 at the Goldstone Ground. Alex Dawson scored the only goal of the game in front of 19,787, one of the biggest crowds of the 1969-70 season.
The 1962 meeting was a far less enjoyable experience from an Albion point of view as Pompey left the Goldstone with a 5-1 victory. It was a weakened visiting team too, Portsmouth being somewhat ahead of the curve when it came to resting players in the competition as is now commonplace.
Graham Potter of course took the concept of resting players to the extreme last year when naming Brighton’s Under 14s for the third round clash with Aston Villa.
The youngsters put up a brave fight, but understandably found Villa’s reserves to be just too good. Villa won 3-1 that night and in example of what is possible, they went all the way to a memorable Wembley final.
Wouldn’t it be nice if Brighton took the competition seriously for once? Supporters might not be able to attend, but who cares? The Seagulls already know their opponents in round three; either Derby County or Preston North End away, another winnable tie that would put Brighton into round four and just three victories from Wembley.
Potter could write himself into the history books as the first Albion manager to ever win a major trophy (if you discount Jack Robson lifting the Charity Shield in 1910).
That would also open up the possibility of Brighton playing in Europe for the first time. In fact, you could argue that there are more reasons for naming a reserve line up as opposed to a team of kids against Pompey than there are excuses for not doing so.
Not least because it is Portsmouth. Should the Albion lose to them on Thursday 17th September, the crowing from Fratton Park will be unbearable. Do not let it happen, Brighton.
