Brighton & Hove Albion 1904-05 Season

Brighton & Hove Albion 1904-05 Season Overview

It was a new look Brighton & Hove Albion for the 1904-05 season, both in terms of playing personnel and colours. The Albion wore their now-famous blue and white stripes for the first time while 13 new signings were made by manager John Jackson in the summer.

Jackson’s recruitment drive was in response to his side’s fortunate escape from relegation out of Southern League Division One at the end of the 1903-04 campaign. Bottom side Kettering Town withdrew from the league, handing Division Two champions Watford an automatic spot in the top flight. Portsmouth Reserves have finished runner up to Watford but with Pompey’s first team already in Division One, they were ineligible to come up and the Albion were spared the drop.

They made the most of the reprieve by enjoying a much improved campaign. Of their opening 15 fixtures, Brighton lost only four – to Northampton Town (1-2), Portsmouth (0-1), Brentford (0-1) and Fulham (0-1) – and they all came in the first seven matches. Once Jackson’s new faces gelled, the Albion began to climb up the table at the same time as embarking on their best FA Cup run as the made it to the Intermediate Round for the first time.

Shoreham, New Brompton, Ilford and West Ham United were all accounted for before an eventual January exit at the hands of eventual Division One champions Bristol Rovers. Eliminating Ilford and West Ham were two sweet successes for the Albion, given that those two opponents had knocked Brighton out of the competition in the two previous seasons.

The first league meeting with West Ham at the Goldstone on Tuesday 27^th December 1904 sparked an excellent run of results which lifted the Albion up to the dizzy heights of fifth by the middle of March. Included in that sequence was a 1-0 home win over eventual third placed finishers Southampton on Saturday 28^th January 1905.

A rare blip came when Fulham came to the Goldstone on Saturday 11^th February 1905. The Cottagers were due to face Reading in an FA Cup replay two days later and so chose to rest their first team, sending their reserves to fulfil the Southern League game at Hove instead. Fulham were fined £20 for fielding a weakened team although that was little consolation to Brighton who suffered their biggest home defeat of the season, going down 4-1 to the Londoner’s second string.

That was nothing compared to the trouble that was brewing off the pitch, however. With rumours swirling that the Football Association were to investigate the club’s books due to financial impropriety, an EGM was called for Thursday 16^th March 1905.

At the meeting, the Brighton board were forced to defend themselves from the allegations. They also announced that Jackson was to be replaced as manager with immediate effect as a consequence of the off-the-field problems.

Jackson was responsible for the upkeep of the books and with no entries or receipts for outgoings from the past three months, the club had no record over who had been paid or what for. This was particularly problematic given the strict rules governing what amateur players could receive and bonuses offered to professionals. An FA investigation later discovered a number of illegal payments.

Jackson’s departure wasn’t without regret. He had been the founding father of football in Brighton and the Albion were enjoying their best ever season under his management. As part of his severance package, Jackson became the first ever recipient of a testimonial, a fixture against Tottenham Hotspur, and was paid £75 in compensation. He at least signed off in style, his final game in charge being an excellent 2-0 home win over Plymouth Argyle who ended the campaign in fourth.

Frank Scott-Walford replaced Jackson but understandably given all the upheaval, performances on the pitch tailed off and with it, hopes of a top 10 finish. Scott-Walford wasn’t helped by a difficult run-in. Four of the final six games were on the road, which yielded only two points out of a possible 12 from a 2-0 home win over Swindon Town on Saturday 15^th April 1905.

Still, a 12th place finish for Brighton in the 1904-05 season was highly commendable given the struggles of the previous year and the dramas of March. Andy Gardner, one of Jackson’s summer signings from Bolton Wanderers, finished the season as top scorer with 12.<<