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Brighton & Hove Albion Statistics and History

Brighton & Hove Albion 1920-21 Season

Manager: Charlie Webb
Division: Football League Division Three South (18th out of 22)
FA Cup: Second Round
Most appearances: Jack Woodhouse (45)
Top scorer: Jack Doran (21)
Average attendance: 9,333

Overview
Results
Brighton & Hove Albion 1920-21 Season Overview

The 1920-21 season saw Brighton & Hove Albion make their Football League bow. They joined the newly formed Division Three South along with 21 other Southern League Division One clubs and Grimsby Town, who had been relegated from Division Two at the end of the 1919-20 campaign. Cardiff City were elected to take the Mariners place in Division Two.

There was a great deal of excitement about the expanded Football League and Charlie Webb made seven new signings as the Albion sought to make an impression. One of those, Jack Rutherford from Luton Town, was installed as club captain although he was ruled out of the opening games of the campaign through injury.

Brighton began life in the Football League with a 2-0 defeat away at Southend United on Saturday 28th August 1920. In the five seasons following World War I, the Division Three fixture list was scheduled so that clubs would face each other in quick succession, often in back-to-back weekends. And so, seven days after they lost at The Kursaal, Brighton again took on the Shrimpers on Saturday 4th September 1920, this time winning 1-0 at the Goldstone Ground for their victory as a Football League club.

Jack Doran scored the winner against Southend and he would end the campaign with 21 goals, exactly half of Brighton’s total. He was rewarded for his goal scoring form with an Ireland debut in a 2-0 Home Championship defeat against England at Roker Park on Saturday 23rd October 1920. Just seven other players found the back of the net over the entire 42-game league season with the Albion drawing blanks on 17 occasions.

The Albion had looked on course for a top half finish as late as Easter Weekend, sitting 13th in the table after beating Norwich City 2-0 at the Goldstone Ground on Good Friday 25th March 1921. They then failed to score in seven of their nine last games to slip to a final finishing position of 18th, six points clear of Brentford and Gillingham who filled the bottom two places.

The change of leagues didn’t help to end the disparity between Brighton’s home and away form which had characterised their time in the Southern League. The Albion won 11, drew six and lost only four times at the Goldstone with the most impressive result being a 2-1 win over Queens Park Rangers on Saturday 4th December 1920. Doran scored both against the side who would go onto finish in third behind champions Crystal Palace and runners up Southampton.

Away from home, there were just three victories and only 14 goals scored. Four of those came in one game which proved to be the biggest win of the season as the Albion hammered Newport County 4-0 at Somerton Park.

The return game with QPR showed the stark contrast between Brighton’s performances in Hove and those outside Sussex; a week after Doran’s double secured victory at the Goldstone, QPR hammered the Albion 4-0 at Loftus Road on Saturday 11th December 1920.

Brighton forgot their struggles in front of goal in the first round of the FA Cup, hammering Division One opponents Oldham Athletic 4-1 at the Goldstone in front of a record crowd of 16,972 on Saturday 8th January 1921. Clearly, the Albion enjoyed taking on the Latics as they had also eliminated them from the competition in a similarly seismic shock in the 1913-14 season.

The second round draw paired Brighton with Cardiff, who were enjoying an excellent first season in Division Two. The Goldstone recorded another record attendance for the visit of the Bluebirds as the first crowd of over 20,000 packed into the ground, 20,260 witnessing a 0-0 draw. Brighton finished that game with only 10 men after Jack Bollington suffered a career-ending broken leg. The replay took place three days later at Ninian Park and again the Albion finished shorthanded after Andy Neil was sent off. Cardiff won 1-0 and would advance on all the way to the semi-finals.

Despite the lack of goals, attendances were good with an average of 9,300 making the 1920-21 season that best supported campaign Brighton had recorded. The crowds weren’t always well behaved, however. For the visit of Luton Town on Saturday 30th October 1921, the award of a controversial 85th minute equaliser for the visitors sparked a pitch invasion at the final whistle. A bottle was thrown at the referee and a police officer was hit on the head with a corner flag.

It was only when Jack Doran appeared to appeal for calm that order was restored. The Football Association warned the Albion that any further trouble would result in the Goldstone being closed with future games played behind closed doors.

Brighton & Hove Albion 1920-21 Season Results