Brighton & Hove Albion 1914-15 Season

Brighton & Hove Albion 1914-15 Season Overview

A month before Brighton & Hove Albion’s 1914-15 Southern League Division One season kicked off, the United Kingdom declared war on Germany to enter World War I. The call to arms was made and from Wednesday 5^th August 1914, hundreds of thousands of men rushed to sign up to fight for King and county.

Yet football continued and a full Southern League season ended up being completed. Attendances were understandably down massively on previous years with the Goldstone average nearly halving from 5,558 in the previous season to 3,168. The campaign was on course to be a memorable one with Brighton in title contention right up until January.

Manager Jack Robson was then approached by the mighty Manchester United, an offer that everyone at the Goldstone realised was too good to turn down. Robson, the man who’d turned Brighton into the Champions of England in 1910, departed for Old Trafford with the blessings of the Albion supporters and board who presented him with a silver rose-bowl in recognition of his achievements.

Brighton decided against appointing a replacement for Robson and so trainer Alf Nelmes was put in caretaker charge for the second half of the season. Nelmes oversaw six wins from his 18 Division One games at the helm, a run that saw the Albion slip from 3^rd after beating Cardiff City 2-1 at the Goldstone on Saturday 23^rd January 1915 to a final position of 10^th, their lowest since the 1908-09 campaign.

Robson lost the services of Gunner Higham before the season kicked off. Higham was an Army Reservist who was called up as soon as war was declared and by the time Brighton were making the long trip to Plymouth Argyle on Saturday 2^nd September for the opening fixture, he was serving in France.

The Albion lost 2-0 at Home Park but that was there only defeat from the opening nine games. After their second loss, a 2-1 reversal on Saturday 17^th October 1914 away at reigning champions Swindon Town, Brighton won their next two games 1-0 at home to Southend United and away at Queens Park Rangers to top the table going into November.

Early in November, the Goldstone’s groundsman Fred Bates was killed in action serving for the Royal Scots Fusiliers. By the end of the conflict, four Brighton players – Jasper Batey, Charlie Dexter, Charlie Matthews and Bob Whitting – and four former players – Alan Haigh-Brown, Arthur Hulme, Tom Morris and Jimmy Smith – had all joined Bates in making the ultimate sacrifice.

A collection for Bates’ widow was held at the Albion’s next home match against Croydon Common which raised £3 2s 9d for Fred’s widow. The players did their part to pay a fitting tribute, winning 4-1 thanks to a Billy Miller hat-trick and one from Bill Jones.

Most of the Albion squad signed up for the 17^th Battalion of the Duke of Cambridge’s Own Middlesex Regiment, made up of professional footballers. The members trained at White City during the week before being released at the weekends to represent their clubs.

The FA Cup paired Brighton with Football League opponents Lincoln City in round one on Saturday 9^th January 1915. Goals from Bullet Jones and Bert Longstaff saw off the Imps 2-1 and the Albion were drawn with another Division Two outfit in Birmingham. Nothing could separate the two at the Goldstone in a 0-0 draw in front of a biggest home crowd of the season of 12,530 on Saturday 30^th January 1915. Birmingham ran out easy 3-0 winners in the replay four days later at St Andrew’s.

From the start of March, Brighton only tasted success against QPR (1-0), Reading (2-0), Northampton Town (1-0) and in the final game of the season against Crystal Palace. Watford lifted the Division One title and they did it at the Goldstone, winning 2-1 in Hove in the penultimate round of matches on Saturday 24^th April 1915.

Brighton’s successful association with the Southern Professional Charity Cup came to a painful end when they were hammered 5-0 in the first round away at Reading on Saturday 19^th December 1914. The Southern Charity Cup was discontinued at the end of the 1914-15 season, the Albion having won the trophy in the 1909-10 season and finished runners up on three other occasions. There was no midweek competition either, Brighton pulling out of the Southern Alliance at the end of the 1913-14 season despite winning the title.

Jones ended the campaign as top scorer with 12 goals from 35 games. Brighton only managed 46 games all season, firing blanks in six of their final 16 fixtures which partly explains their troubles from February onwards.

Although football continued throughout World War I, the Albion decided to shut down until the conflict was at an end. The Goldstone laid unused and fell into a state of disrepair with the pitch being used to graze animal. In the Albion’s place, a new club called Brighton & Hove were formed playing at Wish Park in Hove and a number of Albion’s ex-players turned out for the side when on leave.

With the quality of players available, Brighton & Hove dominated the Sussex football scene throughout the war years until Germany signed an armistice on Monday 11^th November 1918. The Albion returned to Southern League action when football resumed in the 1919-20 season.