Albion take on arch-rivals Crystal Palace at the Amex this lunchtime in the sixth Premier League clash between the teams but there have been a few games you might have forgotten about.
1) The clubs first met on Christmas Day 1920. Albion lost 2-0 at the Goldstone in their debut Division 3 South season. They lost again 3-2 at Selhurst two days later.
2) On the last day of September 1936 Albion beat Palace 3-2 at the Goldstone in the virtually forgotten Division 3 South League Cup. Over 3,000 went to the Goldstone. Not bad for a Wednesday night with no floodlights.
3) The Seagulls beat the Eagles 3-2 at the height of the rivalry in October 1985 at Selhurst in the much-maligned and probably unnecessary Full Members Cup, a lowly attended competition that was discontinued in the early 1990s …
4) … But not before it was renamed and given sponsorship to allow the clubs to meet in the Zenith Data Systems Cup in February 1991. Albion lost 2-0 at the Goldstone. The fact that the clubs hadn’t met for over two years ensured a bumper crowd. The former Albion trialist Ian Wright was on the scoresheet for Palace.
5) One of Albion’s first ever games at Gillingham during the controversial ground share was a friendly against Palace on 2 August 1997. Not only did the visitors win 1-0, the sparse Albion contingent were taunted by their Palace counterparts with a chant of “where’s the Goldstone gone”.
