Brighton & Hove Albion 1919-20 Season

Brighton & Hove Albion 1919-20 Season Overview

Professional football returned to England following World War I for the 1919-20 season and it was all change at Brighton & Hove Albion after their four-year hiatus from playing. While some clubs had continued to operate throughout the conflict, Brighton had shut down completely to concentrate of “far more serious business, winning the war.”

There were several challenges to overcome before the Albion could get up and running again. First was appointing a new manager. Alf Nelmes had seen out the second half of the 1914-15 season as caretaker boss following Jack Robson’s move to Manchester United, but after just six wins in 18 Southern League Division One games, the board decided that he wasn’t the answer.

They instead turned to Charlie Webb, writing to Webb while he was still a prisoner of war in the German town of Mainz to offer him the player-manager job. Webb accepted, although he would not play a game again in Albion colours following the career-ending injury he had suffered in a 2-2 draw at home to Millwall back in November 1914.

The second challenge was the state of the Goldstone Ground, which had lay unused for the four years of war. The pitch was in reasonably good state having been used for grazing animals, but the stands were falling apart, windows were broken and turnstiles rusted. As players returned from their war commitments, they were employed to renovate the stadium and by the time that the Division One season kicked off in late August 1919, the Goldstone was ready for action.

Webb made a glut of summer signings but one player really caught the eye – former England international George Holley, who became Brighton’s record buy when arriving from Sunderland for £200. Holley had fired the Roker Park outfit to the Football League championship in the 1912-13 season and his arrival in Hove was the first team that a genuine big-name player had signed for the Albion.

Attendances were up across the country as civilians sought entertainment following the harrowing experience of the war years. Brighton recorded an average of 9,206 in the 1919-20 season, far outstripping the previous best of 6,833 from the 1909-10 Southern League title winning campaign.

Sadly, the increased crowds didn’t have too much to cheer as the Albion enjoyed a mixed season, finishing 16^th in Division One.  The first half was something of a disaster with just four wins recorded before Christmas and all of those coming at the Goldstone.

Bristol Rovers were the first opponents Brighton managed to beat in the fifth game of the campaign, a 3-1 win on Saturday 20^th September 1919. Southampton (1-0), Gillingham (3-0) and eventual runners up Watford (3-2) were the Albion’s three other successes and a 4-0 defeat away at Crystal Palace on Boxing Day 1919 left Webb’s men in the relegation zone.

That hammering at the hands of Palace sparked a much improved second-half of the season. Jut 24 hours after losing at the Nest, the Albion picked up their first away victory of the campaign by winning 5-1 at Northampton Town. They followed that up with a 4-0 success over Brentford at the Goldstone on Saturday 3^rd January 1920 and won eight more matches to end the campaign seven points clear of the bottom two.

The FA Cup provided little joy as Brighton were eliminated in their first match in the competition. That came in the sixth qualifying round stage against Luton Town, a disappointing 1-0 reversal at the Goldstone on Saturday 20^th December 1919 against opponents who would go onto finish below the Albion in the table.

Jack Doran finished as top scorer despite only having signed for the club from Norwich City in March 1920. Webb turned to the Canaries striker when it became clear that the unfortunate Holley’s football career was at an end after he received a terrible leg injury in a 0-0 draw with Exeter City on Saturday 1^st November 1919 in only his 10^th game after signing from Sunderland.

Although Holley did return to play three more times over Christmas, he was forced to retire in March 1920 after five goals in 12 appearances. Doran notched 10 in 10 and having also hit 18 for Norwich before his move to Sussex, he had the distinction of finishing as top scorer for two different clubs