By Tim Hodges
The Albion take on Liverpool tomorrow (Sunday 19 February) at Anfield in the 5th round of the FA Cup.
The match takes place almost 29 years to the day of their last 5th round win against Liverpool back on the 20 February 1983.
Six thousand Albion fans will cheer the team on tomorrow, many too young to remember a match that changed the course of Seagulls history for ever.
Another person too young to remember the 2-1 win is current Albion midfielder AlanNavarro. Like Jimmy Case in 1983, Navarro is a diehard Liverpool fan.
At a press conference earlier this week Navarro talked about the big game. He mentioned this season’s previous match against the Reds, saying that he felt that the Albion started too slowly that evening and that Liverpool took full advantage.
He thinks that it is important for the Albion to be careful not to concede too early this time.
Navarro told Brighton and Hove News that he had played at Anfield previously for Liverpool reserves.
He went on to say that it was a top ground to play at and that, although he had been a Liverpool fan all his life, he wouldn’t be for those few hours on Sunday.
Navarro was brought up on Anfield’s doorstep and used to kick a ball around outside the stadium. He wasn’t able to attend many games as a kid, but did sneak into the ground on occasions when the gates were opened prior to the end of a match.
Albion also beat Liverpool in the FA Cup at the Goldstone in 1984, winning 2-0.
Back in 1983 the twin towns, as they were then, went FA Cup crazy as Albion just failed to win what one journalist described as “the most precious prize in sport”.
Nowadays sadly the FA Cup does not capture the imagination quite as it did then. I doubt the Albion will need to employ a voucher system that guarantees fans a Cup Final ticket as they did after the 5th round victory in 1983.
This of course ensured a higher than average attendance in their next league game. It was Peter Ward’s last ever match for the Seagulls, a 2-1 home defeat against Stoke.
Almost every match at the Amex is a sell-out now. The ultimate goal this season is to get to the Premier League where every game is Cup Final day.
However, a win tomorrow would evoke happy memories of Albion’s glory years in the 1980s.
My suspicion is that if Albion made the final then they would very much have to employ some form of ticket rationing. If we see 32,000 people travel all the way to Cardif to watch a League one play off then we would be very likely to exceed the ticket allocation for the finalists.
Anyhow, i will be in Liverrpool today, just as in 91 (though sadly not in 83, but at least i made every other round)