Brighton & Hove Albion 1913-14 Season

Brighton & Hove Albion 1913-14 Season Review

Brighton & Hove Albion’s 1913-14 Southern League Division One campaign was a season of two halves. At Christmas, Brighton sat third in the table and looked like they might be able to make it a three-way fight for the championship with Swindon Town and Crystal Palace. A poor second half of the campaign saw those hopes collapse and the Albion had to settle for a seventh placed finish, eight points behind Swindon who took the title on goal average from the Eagles.

The fact that Brighton were even involved in the title race was something of a surprise. They won only three games away from home all season and scoring goals proved to be a real problem with just 43 notched from 38 Southern League games. Bill Miller top scored with 13 of those from only 21 appearances.

Goldstone Ground form was once again spectacular with very few teams leaving Hove with anything to show for their efforts. The Albion lost just twice at home all season, both defeats coming within 12 December days of each other as West Ham United picked up a 1-0 win on Saturday 13th December 1913 and Reading secured a 2-0 success on Christmas Day. Brighton had been third at the time of the Hammers’ visit and it was those two results which sparked the slide down the table in the second half of the campaign.

Brighton had lost just three of their opening 16 Southern League games prior to the West Ham game. Southampton (1-0), Gillingham (2-0), Queens Park Rangers (1-0), Portsmouth (1-0), Millwall (2-0), Cardiff City (2-1), Bristol Rovers (2-1) and Merthyr Town (1-0) were all beaten in that run with the only real disappointment being a first round exit from the Southern Professional Charity Cup at the hands of lower division Croydon Common, the Albion being well beaten 3-0 at the Nest.

There were still some highlights to be had in the post-Christmas slump. The Albion inflicted defeat on Swindon on Saturday 28^th March 1914 when beating the eventual champions 2-0 at the Goldstone. They faced runners up Palace twice over the Easter Weekend, drawing 0-0 at home on Good Friday 10^th April 1914 before recording the same result at the Crystal Palace three days later on Easter Monday 13^th April.

Those results provided a reminder of the quality Brighton possessed. There were further reminders in both the midweek Alliance League and the FA Cup, two competitions which the Albion enjoyed memorable campaigns in.

Victories in the final four games of the Alliance League season against Portsmouth (3-0), Cardiff City (4-0), Southend United (4-2) and then the Shrimpers again at the Goldstone on the last day (3-1) saw Brighton come from nowhere to pip Luton Town to the title by a single point.

In the FA Cup, the Albion made it through to the third round for the first time in the club’s history. They were handed a daunting task in the first round with a trip to Football League Division One side Oldham Athletic. Oldham would go onto finish the campaign in fourth placed in the top flight, which made Brighton’s success in eliminating them from the competition the biggest upset the Albion had ever pulled off.

The sides shared a 1-1 draw at Boundary Park on Saturday 10^th January 1914, Bill Miller’s 78^th minute equaliser bringing the Latics back to the Goldstone on Wednesday 14^th January 1914. Again, nothing could separate the sides over 90 minutes and so the tie went to extra time where Billy Booth fired home following a goalmouth scramble to give Brighton a famous 1-0 win.

Clapham Orient, enjoying a good season in Football League Division Two, were next up in round two. A record crowd of 15,727 packed into the Goldstone and were duly treated to the Albion upsetting another higher division opponent, a stunning 3-1 success with Charlie Webb scoring twice and Bullet Jones once.

The draw for the last 16 threw up a trip to Sheffield Wednesday, two-time Football League champions and two-time FA Cup winners. In front of 38,997 at Hillsborough, Wednesday proved to be too strong and three second half goals sent the Albion out of the Cup but with their reputation for giant-killing enhanced.