Brighton & Hove Albion 1922-23 Season

Brighton & Hove Albion 1922-23 Season Overview

After 18^th and 19^th place finishes in their first two seasons in the Football League, Brighton & Hove Albion enjoyed a much improved 1922-23 campaign in Division Three South, ending the campaign in fourth spot after a stunning run of form post-Christmas.

The Albion’s struggles in the previous two years had largely been down to their lack of goals. They had scored just 42 in 42 games in 1920-21 and 45 in 1921-22. Striker Jack Doran had been responsible for more than half of those, netting 44 times.

Doran’s sale in the summer of 1922 to Division One side Manchester City for £1,050 left most Seagulls supporters fearing the worst, even if manager Charlie Webb did spend £275 on four new signings. None of those were forwards to fill the void left by Doran however.

Webb instead converted half back Eddie Fuller into a striker and his promising partnership with Andy Neil blossomed as the season went on. Fuller ended the season as top scorer with 13, Neil notched 10 and Webb also promoted 21-year-old Tommy Cook into his first team squad, who chipped in with six goals in 18 appearances to underline his potential. The defence also played its part, ever-present goalkeeper Billy Hayes conceding just 34 times in Division Three

Not that there was much indication of the success that was about to come in the opening weeks of the season. Brighton won just one of their first seven fixtures, a 3-0 success over Exeter City on Wednesday 6^th September 1922. They failed to score in five of those, heightening concerns over where goals were going to come from following Doran’s departure.

Results picked up slightly over October and November and by the time December arrived, the Albion were sitting in a relatively comfortable mid table position of 11^th. It was events over Christmas that really lit the touch paper under Brighton’s campaign, sparking an unlikely charge for promotion.

On Christmas Day 1922, Portsmouth came to the Goldstone Ground and were hammered 7-1. As if that wasn’t enough, the teams faced off 24 hours later at Fratton Park on Boxing Day where the Albion again beat their south coast rivals, 2-1 on this occasion.

From that point on, Brighton lost just four of their remaining 24 fixtures. Two goals from Cook saw off eventual champions Bristol City 2-1 at the Goldstone on Saturday 20^th January 1923. Runners up Plymouth Argyle were beaten 1-0 in Hove on Saturday 3^rd March 1923 and the Albion also overcame Millwall (2-0), Northampton (1-0) and Watford (3-0), all of whom finished in the top 10.

Unfortunately, the Albion’s run had come a little too late and there were unable to overhaul Bristol City, finishing eight points behind the Ashton Gate outfit who won the title by a clear six points. Plymouth were just two points ahead of Brighton in second, so had the Albion not lost two of their final four games against Southend United (0-1) and Merthyr Town (0-2) after taking their foot off the pedal once promotion was mathematically ruled out, they might have claimed the runners up berth.

The FA Cup brought a huge amount of national attention as the Albion were paired with Corinthians in the first round of the competition. Prior to the 1922-23 season, the famous amateur club had only played non-competitive football before a change in their rules allowed them to enter the FA Cup.

Brighton provided the opposition for Corinthians first ever competitive game in the first round of the competition and a Goldstone record of 23,642 turned out to see the amateurs. A moving picture was taken of the tie which was shown in cinemas all over the country and Brighton were very much second favourites, given their visitors included eight full-England internationals and one Welsh international in their ranks.

The first meeting at the Goldstone on Saturday 13^th January 1923 ended 1-1 as Neil cancelled out a goal from one of those ex-England internationals, Norman Creek. A replay took place four days later at The Crystal Palace on Wednesday 17^th January 1923 and again, nothing could separate the teams. Cook was the Brighton scorer this time before Miles Howell netted for Corinthians to force extra time but neither side could find a winner.

Stamford Bridge was the venue for the second replay, where 43,760 turned out on Monday 22^nd January 1923, an astonishing ground for a weekday afternoon match at a neutral venue. Cook decided the tie in Brighton’s favour, a 1-0 win setting up a second round meeting with West Ham United at the Goldstone on Saturday 3^rd February 1923.

Cook gave the Albion the lead, only for Vic Watson to level for West Ham with 15 minutes remaining. The replay was held at the Boleyn Ground on Wednesday 7^th February 1923, where a Billy Moore goal two minutes before the break sent the hosts through to round three. West Ham ended up going all the way to the final, where they were beaten by Bolton Wanderers in the first final held at Wembley Stadium – the famous ‘White Horse Final’.