Brighton and Crystal Palace had both been founding members of the
Football League Third Division in 1920, having transferred over from the
Southern Football Leaguewith other founding members; the two clubs had met in regular Southern League matches since 1906. The rivalry, however, had its beginnings in the 1940s and 1950s when the clubs met 21 times in twelve years – including two memorable back-to-back matches on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, 1951 – and it came to full force in the mid-to-late 1970s.
The teams had not met for 11 years, when they played each other on the opening day of the 1974-75 season in the
Third Division, Palace having been relegated from the tier above the previous season. Brighton were managed by
Peter Taylor, following the recent departure of
Brian Clough, Palace by the flamboyant
Malcolm Allison. Extra police were deployed to control the 26,000 crowd, far higher than Brighton's usual attendance, but there were multiple arrests and fighting between fans inside and outside the Goldstone Ground, with excessive drinking due to the hot weather blamed for the trouble.
[6][7] Brighton won 1-0, Palace winning the return fixture 3-0.
The following season witnessed both clubs vying for promotion. The league game between the two sides at
Selhurst Park was played in front of a crowd of more than 25,000, Palace's highest home attendance for two years.
Malcolm Allison complained that Brighton had secured their 1-0 victory by their overly physical tactics.
[8] The Evening Argus reported that the game had been played in a "cup-tie atmosphere" with "the cut and thrust carried through with the zest of deadly rivals".
[9]
The return at
The Goldstone in Hove saw over 33,000 crammed in to the stadium to see a third tier match. That game, which the home side won 2–0 with two goals by Sammy Morgan, is generally attributed as giving birth to Brighton's nickname of 'Seagulls' – later adopted officially by the club (see below) – as it was sung on the terraces as a counter-chant to Palace's 'Eagles!'. The home side's victory was overshadowed by more crowd trouble, as referee
Ron Challis threatened to abandon the game due to Palace fans throwing smoke bombs and other missiles.
[10]
Both teams narrowly missed out on promotion that year. In the summer of 1976,
Terry Venables became Crystal Palace manager and
Alan Mullery Brighton manager. The pair had spent time together on the field as players at
Tottenham, and Venables was second in command to Mullery's captaincy at the club; Mullery has described this power dynamic as a reason for the rivalry between them. Whilst at Tottenham, Venables reportedly did not have a good relationship with his manager Bill Nicholson, believing him to have a negative attitude that "drained him of enthusiasm". Venables also felt that he was not appreciated by Spurs fans, in contrast to Mullery, who was Nicholson’s and the fans’ favourite.
[11]
The two young managers were set the same task: promotion from the
Third Division.
[4]
The first meeting between the clubs that season was the league match at
The Goldstone on 2 October, which ended 1–1; during the game, as once again smoke bombs were thrown onto the pitch and play was stopped three times throughout the match.
[11]
The clubs were then drawn together in the first round of the
FA Cup, played on 20 November at The Goldstone; the match ended 2–2. After the game, Mullery was critical of his opposite number, bemoaning what he perceived to be Palace’s negative tactics.
[11]
A replay took place at
Selhurst three days later; the match finished 1–1 after extra time and the teams faced a second replay. Brighton were described as dominating much of the play in the two games, which both attracted attendances of almost 30,000.
[4] This attendance figure was a significant increase on both club's averages for the season, with Palace averaging just 15,925 that season and Brighton 20,197.
[11]
The second replay, postponed twice due to bad weather, took place at
Stamford Bridge on 6 December.
[4] Palace took the lead after 18 minutes through
Phil Holder. Brighton dominated much of the game's remainder, with striker
Peter Ward having a goal disallowed shortly after as he was adjudged to have handled the ball, although Palace’s
Jim Cannon later said that this only occurred due to him shoving the Brighton striker. In the 78th minute, Brighton were awarded a penalty which was converted by
Brian Horton only to be disallowed as referee
Ron Challisadjudged that players had encroached upon the penalty area. Horton retook the penalty and this time it was saved by the Palace keeper,
Paul Hammond. The match ended 1–0 to Crystal Palace.
[4]
After the final whistle, Mullery approached Challis to discuss the decision and was escorted off the pitch by police while flicking 'v-signs' and swearing at the Palace supporters in the stands. The Brighton manager then allegedly entered the Palace dressing room, threw five pounds on the floor and told Venables: "Your team's not worth that." Mullery was fined £100 by the
FA for bringing the game into disrepute.
[4]
On the 12 March 1977, the two sides met again in the league at Selhurst and Palace ran out 3–1 winners.
[4] A crowd of 28,808, nearly double Palace’s average for the season, was present.
[11]
That season both teams were promoted with Brighton finishing as runners up, two points in front of Palace. Brighton also changed their official nickname from the Dolphins to the Seagulls, in direct opposition to the Crystal Palace nickname the Eagles.
[4]
The rivalry continued with the clubs meeting with the same objective and same managers in the
1977–78 season and
1978–79 season, this time vying for a spot in the top flight of English football.
In 1978, Brighton missed out on promotion on goal difference, finishing in fourth place and well ahead of Crystal Palace in ninth, but the head-to-head battle continued the following season. Both of the league meetings between the two teams in 1977-78 finished level.
[11]
Brighton completed their 1978–79 campaign top of the league. Palace, though, still had a game in hand to play against
Burnley due to postponements throughout the season; Palace won the match, played in front of 51,000 spectators, and took the title by one point.
[4] For the second time in three years, the two clubs had been promoted together. Palace also boasted the bragging rights head-to-head with Brighton that season, after they had defeated Brighton 3–1 at Selhurst, a win that would prove vital at the end of the season, while the return game in February was goalless.
[11]
The two clubs subsequently met in the top flight of English football in the 1979-80 season, and Brighton emerged with the bragging rights early in the season, by beating Palace 3–0 on Boxing Day 1979 at the Goldstone.
[11]
Mullery states that the rivalry was fuelled by both competition between the teams and directly between the managers. Terry Venables, highly controversially, left Palace in 1980 for Queens Park Rangers while Alan Mullery left Brighton in 1981.
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