Brighton & Hove Albion 1928-29 Season

Brighton & Hove Albion 1928-29 Season Overview

After several seasons of challenging at the right end of the Division Three South table, the 1928-29 season was something of a disappointing campaign for Brighton & Hove Albion as they sunk to 15^th spot in  a season in which they struggled at both ends of the pitch.

The prolific Sam Jennings moved to Nottingham Forest in the summer and Tommy Cook endured a campaign beset by injuries. Dan Kirkwood arrived from Sheffield Wednesday and although he scored 21 times, nobody other than Cook managed more than seven. That contributed to a meagre total of 58 goals in 42 league matches, far below the 81 of the 1927-28 campaign.

Defensively, 1928-29 was Brighton’s worse campaign since joining the Football League seven years earlier. The 76 goals conceded was the Albion’s highest in Division Three South so far and there were some pretty big defeats littered throughout the season.

The tone was set in the opening two months. Brighton lost their first three games 1-0, going down at Luton Town on Saturday 25^th August 1928, Merthyr Town on Monday 27^th August 1928 and at home to Coventry City on Saturday 1^st September 1928. The Albion beat Merthyr at the Goldstone Ground on Wednesday 5^th September, but that 2-1 success was their only victory in the first eight games and by the end of the September, Brighton were bottom of the table.

A mini-revival of sorts took place with a 2-2 draw at home to Swindon Town on Saturday 29^th September 1928, a 3-2 home win against Exeter City on Saturday 6th October 1928 and a 1-1 draw away at Southend United on Saturday 13^th October 1928 which lifted the Albion into 18^th but a 5-1 defeat at Torquay United on Saturday 20^th October 1928 sent them back into the relegation zone.

Results improved slightly following that heavy defeat at Plainmoor and from that point on, the Albion never slipped below 19^th in the table. Among the most impressive score lines were a 2-0 home win over recently relegated Fulham at the Goldstone on Saturday 10^th November 1929 and a 2-1 victory over fourth paced Plymouth Argyle on Saturday 16^th March 1929. Charlton Athletic ended the season as champions on goal average from Crystal Palace.

Palace inflicted one of those aforementioned heavy defeats, winning 5-1 at the Goldstone on Saturday 22^nd December 1928. It was Brighton’s biggest home loss since a 5-0 hammering at the hands of Portsmouth back in the 1905-06 Southern League Division One season. Other games which are best not talked about include reversals at Brentford (1-5), Bristol Rovers (0-3) and Exeter (1-4).

Exeter ended the campaign in the relegation zone alongside Gillingham with Brighton nine points clear of danger. Things would not have been anywhere near as comfortable had there not been three successive wins from the final four games.

Walsall were beaten twice as part of that run, the Albion winning 2-1 at Fellows Park on Saturday 20^th April 1929 and by the same scoreline at the Goldstone on Wednesday 1^st May 1928. Cook scored the opener in the second of those with his 123^rd and last Brighton goal. He would leave to take up a cricket coaching post in South Africa in the summer with the club’s record goal haul to his name. Sandwiched between those Walsall victories was a 2-1 home win over Newport County on Saturday 27^th April 1929.

The FA Cup provided no joy as Brighton were eliminated in the first round stage following a 4-1 defeat at Brentford on Saturday 24^th November 1928. It was no surprise that attendances – already dropping even when Brighton had been challenging at the right end of the Division Three South table in recent seasons – continued to fall. The average of 6,871 represented the lowest since the 1914-15 season which had been played while the first year of World War I raged on the continent.