The Opponent: Brighton and Hove Albion
Following the correct score prediction from my boy and the correct amount of visiting supporters for last Saturday’s pre season friendly against a woeful Crewe, I think this could be our season. To add to the positivity, the piss stained inbreeders from up the A420 are currently sat firmly at the bottom of the entire Football League and heading for a reunion with the Gasheads next season in The BSP, their natural home. Funnily enough, I know of at least 3 of the backward tools that read our matchday threads, why?, I really don’t know, but hello John Lennon and comrades and I look forward to the copying and pasting of my efforts on you’re tinpot forum in due course, Previous experiences may prove otherwise but I would love to play their shower of shit right now. Under the Di Canio regime we really didn’t have any regular starters that gave a shit about Swindon. I would imagine 1, if not both of the Thompson brothers would start crying if they were in a team that lost at home to Oxford. Things feel a bit different now, we have a team that shows maturity beyond their years and a sense of togetherness on the pitch. The manager has done well with what he has in my opinion, well done Mark Cooper and the team.
Anyway, Brighton in the 2nd Round of the League Cup. The ancient settlement of Brighthelmston dates from before the Doomsday Book (1086), but it emerged as a health resort during the 18th Century and became a destination for day-trippers after the arrival of the railway in 1841. In June 1514 Brighthelmstone was burnt to the ground by French raiders during a war between England and France. Brighton experienced rapid population growth reaching a peak of over 160,000 by 1961. Modern Brighton forms part of a conurbation stretching along the coast, with a population of around 480,000. The locals are considered to be an environmentally friendly bunch having elected the one and only Green Party MP in 2010, party leader Caroline Lucas. She seems a nice enough lady but reminds me of a vegetarians fart for some reason.
Brighton & Hove Albion played at the Goldstone Ground for 95 years until they were forced to sell it in 1997 to pay off debts. The club spent two years ground-sharing at Gillingham (caravans not included) before returning to the town as tenants of the Withdean Athletics Stadium. The AMEX Stadium was put together by The Buckingham Group, the same firm who built Stadium: Franchise. The club's notable achievements including winning promotion to the Football League First Division for the first time in 1979, staying there for four seasons, during the last of which they reached the FA Cup final and took Manchester United to a replay before losing 4-0. Notable former managers of the club include Brian Clough, Peter Taylor, Jimmy Melia, Liam Brady, Jimmy Case, Steve Gritt, Brian Wanker Horton, Steve Coppell and Mark McGhee. Notable former players include Gareth Barry, Dave Beasant, Justin Fashanu, Dennis Mortimer, Gordon Smith, Frank Stapleton, Howard Wilkinson and Bobby Zamora. Current boss is former Liverpool defender Sami Hyypia.
Last Time Out – Saturday 22nd August, Championship. Brighton 2 Bolton 1. Brighton proved they have some decent attacking options which managed 26 shots (11 on target) against Wanderers. Mackail-Smith scored the 1st and the winner was scored by the highly rated Joao Teixeira, currently on a season long loan from Liverpool.
Starting XI – Stockdale, Calderon (Lua Lua 67’), Bennett (Chicksen 74’), Crofts, Greer, Dunk, Bruno, Holla, Mackail-Smith, Teixeira (Ince 84’), Forster-Caskey. 2 double barrelled named strikers? They must cash in when it comes to getting the names on the shirts.
They have served us both – Grant Hall, harry Egan, Paul Crichton, Sam Brown, Steve Book, Ernie Beecham, Calvin Andrew, George Barker, Trevor Benjamin, Peter Brezovan, Ray Clarke, Ian Culverhouse, Wayne Gray, Ryan Harley, Ken Beamish, Harry Bentley, Arnold Broadhead, Glenn Cockerill, Peter Downsborough, Gordon Greer, Fred Hawley, Bob Innes, Yasser Kasim, Phil King, Peter Leggett, Bertie Lyon, Mick McGovern, Ian Muir, Ray McHale, Craig Maskell, Junior Lewis, Dan Kirkwood, Jimmy Kennedy, Albert Jarrett, Darius Henderson, Chris McPhee, Mark McCammon, Martin Ling, Tony Knight, Stewart Kerr, Fred Jones, Ron Howell, Alan Navarro, Kieran O’Regan, Lionel Piggin, Ossie Randall, Anton Rodgers, Bobby Smith, Dai Thomas, Bryan Wade, Garry Nelson, Billy Paynter, Gustavo Poyet, Raphael Rossi Branco, Andy Rollings, Jack Smith, Norman Thomson, Danny Wilson, Denny Mundee, Joe O’Brien, Andy Petterson, Chris Ramsey, Alex Revell, George Rushton, John Templeman, Wilf Tranter, Mark Yeates. Strewth.
One From The Past – Swindon Town 4 Brighton 1 - 9th November 1994 – League Cup 3rd Round Replay – Att: 6,482 A goal apiece from Keith Scott and Jan Fjortoft in the opening eight minutes gave Town a great start after the first match was drawn 1-1 and they both scored again in the second half to secure a comfortable victory over Brighton. Of our 3 previous League Cup meetings we have won 2 and drawn the other.
The Odds – Swindon 2/1 Draw 12/5 Brighton 13/8 – Michael Smith is as short as 5/1 with several outlets but Coral are currently offering 7/1 if he scores first. Greer is 50/1 with Tote Sport to score 1st, 33/1 elsewhere.
The Son Says – After his correct prediction from Saturday he thinks he could be on a roll. 3-0 victory.
The Prediction – I see our decent start to the season being put to the test by a strong Brighton team although we should have enough to see them off. 3-2 Town, 2-2 after full time, Smith and Williams with a goal each and a Branco towering header in the 123rd minute. 4’765 in attendance, 355 from Sussex.
And Finally – In 2012 it was revealed that the Brighton and Hove unitary authority has been permanently banned from accessing information from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. This information is normally made available to local authorities for purposes such as enforcing parking fines, but access can be withdrawn if they are found to be misusing the service. The Big Brother Watch organisation, which obtained the information about the ban under a Freedom of Information request, claimed that "the public are right to be worried that their privacy is at risk across a range of government services”
