Brighton fans take on Palace in the Robert Eaton Memorial Trophy 2021
It is back. After a hiatus caused by you-know-what, the Robert Eaton Memorial Trophy match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace supporters takes place on Friday 16th July 2021.
The annual event takes place at Woodside Road, Worthing for the second time. Kick off is at 7:45pm and entrance is by cash at a cost of £5 adults and £2 for under 16s – unless accompanied by an adult, in which case it is free.
All money raised on the night goes towards the Robert Eaton Memorial Fund. Social distancing measures will be in place and that means no indoor spaces for the public, but there will be outdoor bars and kiosks available for your alcohol and food needs. These will be accepting card.
The REMF was set up in 2001 in memory of Brighton fan Robert Eaton who was killed whilst working in the World Trade Centre on 9/11. It helps to support youth football programmes in Sussex, Croydon, New York and across the world and has so far raised over £260,000 through golf days, quiz nights and other fundraising events.
Among those to have benefited from this money are Seagulls Specials – a club which works with disabled youngsters – that received £7,000 to help with their amazing work. Coaching For Hope – a charity which uses football to support youngsters orphaned by the Aids epidemic in areas like Cambodia – has been given £3,000 while a £30,000 minibus was purchased for Albion in the Community.
A quickfire donation of £2,500 went toward helping Croydon FC within days of thieves breaking into their clubhouse and stealing laptops, cash, stock and memorabilia, leaving the place ransacked and damaged.
The first ever club to receive a donation from REMF were Los Peladitos, a youth football team in Queens, New York, who use football to help underprivileged with the ultimate aim of trying to aid them in gaining soccer scholarships to US universities.
The Robert Eaton Memorial Trophy between Albion and Palace fans is REMF’s flagship event and biggest fundraiser. Ex Brighton striker Ricky Marlowe, who Robert’s North Stand Chat username was based on, travels down from Scotland to play each year with Peter Ward also flying across from his home in the United States to turn out regularly.
Unfortunately, the current restrictions mean that Wardy is not able to attend to this. That will come as a blow to pubs across the Sussex area, given the amount of money his visits tend to bring to the local hospitality economy. The man can drink.
Other former professionals to have taken part include Paul Rogers for the Albion and Simon Rodger and Andy Johnson for Palace. Johnson gave one of the all-time great performances in the game when winning the cup for the Eagles in the year it was held at the Amex, almost single handedly winning the trophy for the Eagles.
Given that he had been playing for England less than a decade before and cost Fulham over £10m just eight years previously, it was no surprise to see him coming out on top against a defence featuring players from the likes of Sussex Sunday League Division Six side Amici Athletic.
Brighton are the current holders of the trophy having won the 18th edition of the game back in 2019 on penalties. The Seagulls triumphed 4-3 from the spot after a 2-2 draw in normal time with the game featuring some very strange and yet highly entertaining goals.
That completed a perfect 2018-19 season for the Albion against Palace. Chris Hughton’s side earned a famous league double over their Palace counterparts in the slightly-less-important world of the Premier League, winning 3-1 at the Amex and then triumphing 2-1 at Selhurst Park a month before the REMF Trophy game at Woodside Road.
If you cannot make the evening but would still like to support the fundraising efforts, then you can do so through the REMF Just Giving Page by clicking here.
