Have Palace become pantomime villains rather than a sworn rival?
I was there when it all began. The cup ties. Alan Mullery and Terry Venables. Challis of the Palace. When the Seagulls versus Eagles rivalry came into being and the flares were on our trousers rather than being thrown by the Holmesdale Fanatics.
With the latest clash between Brighton and the team from Croydon being a Saturday 3pm kick off which will not be televised in the United Kingdom, we are spared another telling of the story of the rivalry.
In fairness to Sky and TNT Sports, they have become a lot better at explaining how and why the Albion and Crystal Palace became hated enemies.
Glenn Murray is always involved in telling the story. The broadcasters have even started calling it a rivalry rather than a derby. Because you can’t have a local derby with a club 45 miles away.
For the benefit of the casual reader or one of our legions of newer fans, the rivalry evolved from around 1974 when the two clubs started to play each other more regularly, having previously been in different tiers.
Brighton had already adopted their new Seagulls nickname to taunt their nearest Football League counterparts by the time of the 1976-77 season, when Brighton and Palace met an astonishing five times in the old Division Three and the FA Cup.
Three matches were needed to decide who would progress to round two of the FA Cup. It was in the second replay held at neutral Stamford Bridge (scene of Albion’s Charity Shield triumph a half a century earlier) that Mullery famously gave the Croydon faithful a V-sign before throwing some coins on the ground and shouting “that’s all Crystal Palace are worth.”
Mullery’s anger had been sparked by missed penalties, controversial referring decisions from the aforementioned Ron Challis and a fierce atmosphere. So fierce that even my normally shy and retiring 10-year-old self offered a Palace ball boy out for a scrap.
That 1976-77 campaign sparked 40 years of bitter rivalry, promotion battles and now in-depth features on television programmes covering the Premier League which are needed to explain to Americans just why Brighton and Palace hate each other so much.
And now for the controversial bit…
There were plenty of emotional and poignant moments following the Albion in 2023, from our European exploits to saying farewell to World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister.
For me, the final Roberto Eaton Memorial Fund game played at the Amex in June before the charity was closed was up there too.
Played for over 20 years between fans of Brighton and Palace, the REMF raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for charities in Sussex, Croydon, New York and beyond in memory of Albion fan Robert Eaton, who was killed in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre.
The charity clearly meant a lot to the organisers, Robert’s sisters and all those involved from both Brighton and Palace.
To see Seagulls and Eagles come together so brilliantly for a common good got me thinking – has the rivalry run its course? Say it quietly, but is it time to move on?
A potential thawing of relations was not the only reason for such thoughts. In the 2022-23 season, the Albion’s games with Chelsea had more of an edge and a much better atmosphere than matches against Palace.
The Blues poached Graham Potter and his entire coaching team, having also bought Brighton Player of the Season Marc Cucurella a few months earlier.
Potter, Cucurella and company were then humiliated on their return to the Amex, giving Roberto De Zerbi a memorable first victory as Brighton boss over his predecessor.
Into last summer and transfer speculation involving Levi Colwill moving permanently to the Albion and Moises Caicedo becoming a Blue reached fever pitch.
Albion fans were swamped by a tsunami of patronising comments from Chelsea supporters, complaining how it was an outrage that a “small club” like Brighton were holding out for what they felt was the true value of Caicedo, rather than saying yes to Todd Boehly’s laughable opening offer of £60 million.
The ill-feeling created by Chelsea’s ransacking of the Albion and Mr Boehly having lots of money but no sense showed itself between both players and fans when Brighton went to Stamford Bridge in December.
Another Seagull-turned-Blue Robert Sanchez was involved in a clash with Lewis Dunk having tried to confront the away end.
Skirmishes then broke out between rival groups of fans comprised entirely of lads born decades after the genesis of our Palace rivalry.
Was all this talent-poaching the start of a new rivalry? Is it time to give up on Palace and focus on a side we arguably now have more beef with and who are challenging us for a top 10 spot?
Or maybe we need to find another team with a decent stadium who play in Europe… all those things Palace lack (insert laughing emoji/winking emoji).
Rivalries can be healthy and fun, or they can be negative and ugly. The Brighton versus Palace rivalry has been both throughout the vast majority of my time as an Albion fan.
But as one North Stand Chat contributor asked last year, with Brighton making moves into the top 10, having a state-of-the-art home and a clear plan and identity whilst Palace are merely content to tread water and survive each year, have the Eagles become more pantomime villain than sworn rival?
Regardless of the increasing gap in quality between the clubs, we will still see a police presence when the Eagles come to the Amex matched only by the big security operations put in place for our Europa League home games.
Not that Palace fans would know what that is like, unless you count their 4-0 drubbing by Turkish giants Samsunspor in the Intertoto Cup a quarter of a century ago.
Having said all that, the fact the Albion don’t share a city with a league rival like clubs in London, the West Midlands, Manchester and Merseyside probably means we are stuck with Palace.
It is a rivalry which has been passed down through the genes of fans born long after Mullery started flinging loose change around – and it has stuck, lasting the course of time even when the clubs barely faced each over through the 1990s and 2000s.
And of course, if the powers that be at Selhurst Park turn to Potter to replace Roy Hodgson, it will kick off all over again.
Maybe if Potter winds up at Selhurst for a new chapter of the rivalry, I can find that ball boy and finally have a scrap with him. He would have to wait until I have put some Voltarol on though.
Or maybe we could just have a quiet pint and reminisce about Mr Challis…
Warren Morgan @WarrenBHAFC
