Despite it being arguably the worst ground in the Football
League, Withdean will forever hold great memories for
Albion fans - from hometown boy Darren Freeman's hat-trick
scoring debut in the 6-0 demolition of Mansfield in the
opening game to Danny Cullip's header to defeat the cheats
of Chesterfield. From Adam Virgo's 120th minute equaliser
against Swindon to Ben Roberts penalty save in that game.
From three promotions, two relegations and two last day
escapes. With the end in sight for the Theatre of Trees,
we've decided to put together a poll for the Greatest
XI to pull on the stripes during our 12 year stay, with
this weeks vote being for the two centre forwards
Strikers. They score the
goals. They take the glory. And they are arguably the
most important commodity in a successful football team.
When it comes to naming the Albion's Greatest Withdean
XI, it is fair to say that one of the strikers spots is
all but guaranteed - a certain Mr Bobby Zamora. But we've
had some great other forwards down the years, from Leon
Knight to the other 20-goal man Glenn Murray. This shortlist
has been particularly hard to produce, so much like the
Grand National we've gone for a massive field of fourteen
from which you can select your TWO best strikers to pull
on the stripes at the Theatre of Trees with only one thing
guaranteed - the likelihood is that one of them will be
partnering Bobby Z!
Please
note, in this poll you can vote for the TWO strikers
that you feel were the best to represent the Albion at
Withdean
Gary
Hart 1999-,
372 appearances, 45 goals Gary
Hart makes his third entry into the polls with
the position where his Albion career began -
centre forward. His pace made him a dangerous
player up-front and he was an ideal foil for
his first Withdean striker partner Darren Freeman
before he got moved into his more customary
position of right midfield. Hart always viewed
himself as a centre forward though, and he played
a key role when he got the chance to move back
into attack alongside Lloyd Owusu, setting up
many of the big mans goals as the Albion secured
an unlikely escape from the drop in 2009 thanks
in part to their partnership. A bit part player
now and unlikely to make any inroads given the
striking options at Gus Poyet's disposal, Hart
will quite rightly go down as an Albion legend
when his career finally comes to a close
Darren
Freeman 1999-2001,
54 appearances, 12 goals Brighton-born
Freeman made an instant impact after joining
his home town club in the summer of 1999, scoring
a hat-trick on his debut against Mansfield as
the Albion celebrated their first game at Withdean
with a 6-0 victory. He finished the season as
top scorer with 12 goals, including scoring
the first professional goal in English football
of the 21st century with his strike in a 4-2
win over Exeter on New Years Day 2000. A spate
of hernia problems restricted his involvement
the following season before he was forced to
retire in 2001 at the age of only 28, leaving
fans to question just what he could have offered
the club had he been injury free approaching
what should have been the prime of his career
Bobby
Zamora 2000-2003,
119 appearances, 82 goals Zamora
netted six goals in six loan games from Bristol
Rovers in 2000, prompting Micky Adams to splash
out £100,000. What followed was two seasons
in which he broke the 30 goal mark, firing the
Albion to two consecutive championships and
promotions from Division Three and Two. An injury
plagued final season saw him still manage to
net 15 times as the Albion were relegated from
Division One, after which he moved onto Tottenham
Hotspur for £1.5m. Zamora's goals were varied,
ranging from tap in's from a yard to unbelievable
strikes (Halifax at home) to cheeky scoops from
30 yards (Bury away). Arguably one of the greatest
players to ever play for Brighton, he has since
established himself in the Premier League, played
in FA Cup and Europa League Finals and represented
England.
Adam
Virgo 2001-2005,
2008-2010, 134 appearances, 13 goals Just
like Gary Hart, Adam Virgo makes his third appearance
in the polls as a centre forward. A result of
one of one Mark McGhee's more bizarre out of
position experiments, with Albion struggling
for goals following their promotion to the Championship
in 2004, right back Virgo was deployed as a
target man. Bizarrely, it worked as his first
two games up front yielded the clubs first two
wins in the division, and he went onto finish
the season top goal scorer, in the process earning
a £1.5m move to Scottish giants Celtic. Virgo
returned to the club in 2008 and although used
predominately as a defender from then onwards,
he still had the odd forray up front although
never matching his 2004-05 success
Leon
Knight 2003-2006,
106 appearances, 30 goals Arriving
on-loan from Chelsea as Zamora's replacement,
Leon Knight had soon done enough to secure a
permanent move to the Albion for around £100,000.
Despite being only 5'4 and having what could
best be described as a questionable attitude,
Knight netted 23 goals in his first season -
one of only three players to break the 20-goal-a-season
mark at Withdean - including the penalty that
won the Division Two play-off final against
Bristol City to earn promotion to the Championship.
Knight struggled for goals at the higher level,
although he was not helped by manager Mark McGhee
playing him out wide, and his relationship with
McGhee became so strained that he was eventually
sold to Swansea in 2006.
Jake
Robinson
2003-2009, 123 appearances, 13 goals A rare
forward product of the Albion youth system,
Robinson became the clubs youngest ever scorer
when he netted against Forest Green Rovers in
the LDV Vans Trophy in 2003 at the age of 16.
Despite possessing obvious talent, he had to
wait until the 2006-07 season to become a first
team regular under former youth team boss Dean
Wilkins, during which he underwent arguably
his best career form, netting two hat-tricks
in the space of a fortnight away at Huddersfield
and home to Northwich Victoria in the FA Cup.
Lacking consistency, he found himself drifting
from striker to winger, and a series of discipline
issues eventually lead to his release in 2009
having never really realised his full potential
at Withdean
Chris
Iwelumo
2004, 10 appearances, 4 goals Mark
McGhee bought in Iwelumo on-loan from Stoke
as the Albion looked to gain promotion through
the the Division Two play-offs, and the big
Scot had a huge part in helping the club to
succeed in their aim. He scored a magnificent
25-yarder on his debut away at Chesterfield,
adding another 3 goals in a further 7 appearances.
With his height and aerial ability causing all
manner of problems for opposition defences,
he was the perfect foil for little Leon Knight
as the two struck up a dream partnership, with
Iwelumo earning the penalty that allowed the
Albion to win promotion in the play-off final.
He turned down a permanent move to Withdean
that summer, instead moving to Aachen in Germany
and has since played Premier League football
and been capped 4 times by Scotland
Colin Kazim-Richards
2005-2006, 33 appearances, 6 goals
Kāzım Kāzım, as he is now known,
arrived at Withdean from Bury following
Albion fan Aaron Berry winning the Coca
Cola "Buy a player" competition.
A player with undoubted talent, he finished
his one and only season with the club
as top scorer as the Seagulls ended up
being relegated from the Championship,
with virtually all of his goals being
out of the wonder goal handbook. Despite
his ability, questions arose surrounding
his attitude which eventually lead to
a transfer request being submitted after
he began the 2006-07 season only on the
bench, and moves to Sheffield United and
Fenerbache followed, which ultimately
lead to him scoring against Chelsea in
the Champions League and representing
Turkey in their run to the semi-finals
of Euro 2010
Alex Revell
2006-2008, 59 appearances, 13 goals
Arriving from non-league Braintree for
£8000 in the summer of 2006, Revell netted
on his Albion debut away at Rotherham
and established himself as a regular in
the starting line-up for his 18 month
stay at Withdean. While a limited player
in terms of talent, you could never doubt
his commitment as he chased everything
and always gave 110% in every game. His
Withdean highlight was without doubt a
hat-trick against AFC Bournemouth in the
first game of 2007, and shortly afterwards
he was sold to Southend United at the
closure of the January transfer window
for a fee of £150000, representing a massive
return on the Seagulls investment
Bas
Savage 2007,
36 appearances, 9 goals Bas
Savage had just two career goals in 62 appearances
when Dean Wilkins signed him on a free at the
end of the 2007 January transfer window. By
the time he had played 8 games for the Albion,
he had scored 4 times and gained cult hero status
for his trademark moonwalk celebration and his
sheer entertainment value. A player who seemed
to be, for want of a better word, awful, Savage
had the bizarre ability to bamboozle opposition
players with his often clumsy style and was
surprisingly effective infront of goal. His
run of form at the end of the 2006-07 season
played a large part in keeping Brighton in League
One, and they were firmly in the hunt of for
a play-off place when his contract expired in
January 2008 on which he headed to Millwall
and has lived a somewhat nomadic existence ever
since.
Nicky
Forster 2007-2010,
118 appearances, 51 goals A £75000
summer signing from Hull City in 2007, Forster
took a bit of time to get going in an Albion
shirt but once he did, there was no looking
back. He was appointed club captain following
the departure of Dean Hammond in January 2008,
and ended both his first and second seasons
as top scorer despite suffering a set of niggling
injuries throughout both. A class act who was
coming towards the end of his career, Forster
was still able to show that Zamora-esque quality
of mixing the easy goals with the difficult
strikes, and most fans were upset to see him
leave following a contractual dispute in January
2010 and a falling out with Gus Poyet that lead
to a loan move to Charlton before his contract
expired last summer
Glenn
Murray 2008-,
115 appearances, 51 goals Murray
became one of the most expensive signings for
years when Dean Wilkins signed him from Rochdale
in January 2008 for £300,000. He has done more
than enough to justify the fee though in his
three years at the club so far, including ending
last season as top scorer and joining Bobby
Zamora and Leon Knight in the list of players
who have broken the 20 goals in a season mark
since we have moved to Withdean. His career-best
haul this season has played a massive part in
the Seagulls promotion bid as they look a different
team on the occasions Gus Poyet has left the
marksman on the bench, and every Albion fan
will be hoping he agrees a new contract for
next season and does not walk away for nothing
this summer
Lloyd
Owusu 2009,
14 appearances, 7 goals With
Glenn Murray and Nicky Forster out, caretaker
boss Dean White bought in Lloyd Owusu on-loan
from Cheltenham in a bid to ease the clubs striking
worries. It was an inspired move as his seven
goals in 14 games towards the end of the season
had a massive hand in ensuring that the Albion
avoided the drop into League Two, and without
him it is probably fair to say the Seagulls
would be in League Two right now rather than
enjoying their current success. The big striker
also became a popular figure at Withdean for
his "raise the roof" goal celebration.
Unfortunately, Owusu turned down Russell Slade's
offer of a permanent deal in the summer to try
his luck in Australia with Adelaide United
Ashley
Barnes 2010-,
36 appearances, 13 goals Originally
arriving on-loan from Plymouth Argyle last season,
Barnes impressed with a couple of goals towards
the end of the campaign with Glenn Murray injured
that eventually persuaded Gus Poyet to pay out
around £100,000 for the young forward in the
summer. He has been in equally fine form this
season and while missing a plethora of chances
over the course of the campaign, has still hit
double figures to help bear the load of his
strike partners Murray and Chris Wood. Still
only 21, Barnes is learning the game and should
go onto top his Withdean achievements at The
Amex next season as he appears to be a firm
part of Poyet's plans for the club
