Brighton & Hove Albion 1923-24 Season

Brighton & Hove Albion 1923-24 Season Overview

The 1923-24 season saw Brighton & Hove Albion record another top five finish in Division Three South – and it might have been even better had they managed more than five wins and only 12 goals from their 21 away games.

Brighton finished eight points off top spot for the second year running, the league being won by Portsmouth. The Albion’s most pleasing result of the season came at Fratton Park against the champions on Saturday 6^th October 1923, when they scored a quarter of their season’s away goals total in one game, winning 3-1 along the south coast. More performances like that could have put Charlie Webb’s side into title contention.

It was a quiet summer on the transfer front. Webb decided to keep faith with the players who had delivered a best-ever finish of fourth at the end of the 1922-23 campaign and brought in just three new faces. Reg Smith arrived from Scunthorpe United, Fred Brown from Sheffield United and Steve Wright from Norwich City.

Brighton had been Division Three South’s form team in the second half of the previous season, losing just four of their last 24 fixtures. It took them some time to rediscover that form though as they tasted victory just once in the first four matches when beating Northampton Town 2-0 at the Goldstone Ground on Saturday 1^st September 1923.

Seven wins in eight games followed that slow start to move the Albion into the top five and between the end of October and the final game of the season away at Watford on Saturday 3^rd May 1924, Brighton only dropped below fifth once.

The Goldstone crowd were treated to some huge wins in Hove; Brighton’s total of 56 home goals was only bettered by champions Pompey. Aberdare Athletic were beaten 5-0 on Saturday 3^rd November 1923; Swansea would go onto finish one place above the Albion in fourth but they were hammered 4-1 at the Goldstone on Saturday 27^th November 1923 and Luton Town, Reading and Newport were all seen off 4-0.

The two most impressive Goldstone victories of the season arrived in the space of one week at the start of February. After seeing off Division Two side Barnsley 1-0 in an FA Cup first round replay on Wednesday 16^th January 1924 following a 0-0 draw at Oakwell four days earlier, the Albion were paired with Division One giants Everton in the second round of the competition.

Everton were one of the most entertaining teams of the era and arrived at the Goldstone with six full internationals in their starting line up. Not many gave Brighton a hope but Webb’s side delivered a magnificent performance to pick up the biggest FA Cup scalp in their history, winning 5-2. Tommy Cook helped himself to a hat-trick with Wally Little and Andy Neil also on target.

A Goldstone record crowd of 27,450 witnessed the win over Everton. Only 6,350 turned out the following week for an equally important win as Brighton hammered runners up Plymouth Argyle 4-1. Cook helped himself to another two and would go onto end the campaign with a return of 25 goals following Webb’s inspired decision to turn him from an inside left into a centre forward.

The Albion’s reward for beating Everton was another plum home tie with Division One opponents as this time, Manchester City came to the Goldstone. Brighton were unable to repeat their heroics of the second round as they were well beaten 5-1 by City in front of 24,734.