Southern Professional Charity Cup

Brighton & Hove Albion Southern Professional Charity Cup Overview

Although the Southern Professional Charity Cup only existed for 14 seasons between 1901 and 1915, it was a competition which Brighton & Hove Albion enjoyed great success in for the eight seasons they partook, lifting the trophy once and reaching the final on three other occasions.

The Southern Charity Cup was open to any professional club in the south of England with a third of the proceeds raised going to charities chosen by the entrants. Although largely contested by members of the Southern League, there were occasions when one of the big sides from the Football League would take part with both Woolwich Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur known to have entered at various points in the competition’s history.

Brighton’s first entered the Southern Charity Cup in the 1907-08 season. They eliminated Queens Park Rangers in the first round on Monday 9^th September 1907. West Ham United were up next in round two and it took two replays and five months to find a winner.

The initial second round tie took place on Monday 30^th October 1907 at the Goldstone Ground and finished 0-0. A replay at the Boleyn Ground on Thursday 27^th February 1908 resulted in a 2-2 draw with the tie eventually being settled 2-1 in the Hammers’ favour at neutral Stamford Bridge on Monday 30^th March 1909.

Victories over Reading (1-0) and Portsmouth (2-1) saw the Albion reach the Southern Charity Cup final in the 1908-09 campaign in Jack Robson’s first full season in charge. The final was held at the Goldstone but despite having home advantage, Brighton were beaten 2-0 by Brentford on Thursday 29^th April 1909.

Robson again took Brighton to the final in the 1909-10 season and this time they went one better, beating Watford 1-0 on Monday 4^th April 1910 at Stamford Bridge. Bullet Jones’ scored the only goal of the game to give the Albion their first ever knockout trophy.

Reading (3-1), Southampton (1-0) and Swindon Town (3-0) were defeated on the road to the final and 19 days after lifting the Southern Charity Cup, Brighton were crowned Southern League Division One champions to complete a league and cup double.

Swindon were the team that Robson and his players beat to the Southern League title and the Robins duly got their revenge in the 1910-11 season, completing the double themselves with a Southern Charity Cup Final win over Brighton at Craven Cottage. The initial game on Monday 24^th April 1911 finished 0-0 with a replay taking place three days later in which Swindon triumphed 1-0. Brighton had seen off Portsmouth (1-0), Reading (2-0) and Watford (2-1) to make it to the Cottage.

The Albion’s fourth and final appearance in the Southern Professional Charity Cup Final came in the 1912-13 season. A first round replay victory over Southampton (4-1) was followed by another replay success against Reading (3-1 after extra time) and a semi final win away at Watford (2-1). Brighton met QPR in the final and although the game finished level after 90 minutes, Rangers blew Brighton away to run out 4-1 winners.

With the outbreak of World War I, the Southern Professional Charity Cup was put on hold at the end of the 1914-15 season and when professional football resumed for the 1919-20 season, it wasn’t resurrected. The Albion’s final game in a competition which gave such joy in its short existence was a disappointing one as they were hammered 5-0 away at Reading on Saturday 19^th December 1914.