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The History of Brighton and Hove Albion v Swansea

Swansea City love a clean sheet against Brighton and Hove Albion, having kept one in nearly a third of our total meetings down the years. In 61 games in the Football League against the Swans, the Albion have failed to score on 18 occasions.

One of those was nearly extremely costly for the Albion, coming as it did on the final day of the 1947-48 season. We needed to win at the Vetch to guarantee not finishing bottom of Division Three South having started the day third from bottom. A 0-0 draw coupled with wins for both Bristol Rovers and Norwich City meant a last placed finish.

This was of course in the days before automatic relegation into non league - the way you were demoted was via an election against a non league side wanting to step up to the Football League. Thankfully, the Albion were re-elected to the league along with Norwich, meaning that Colchester United, Gillingham and Worcester City remained in non league.

Glenn Murray's winner at the Liberty Stadium in November broke a run of five games without a goal against the Swans but that isn't even our longest sequence of failing to net against them, that being a six game scoreless which featured a period when we only managed to score in four games out of 14 between 1920 and 1949.

The Vetch Field remains one of the only grounds at which one of the most popular Brighton kits of all time made its appearance. Liam Brady's arrival at the club and his links with the great Inter Milan saw the Albion have a blue and black stripe away kit for 1994-95 season. There were very few opportunities to actually wear it but one of those came on the opening day of the campaign, Kurt Nogan scoring in a 1-1 draw.

Our last ever game at the Vetch was attended by just 87 away fans in the LDV Vans Trophy of 2001-02 but they were lucky enough to see German Pornstar Dirk Lehmann's only goal for the club while Swansea away holds less fond memories for anyone who went in February 1998 when a Swansea supporter invaded the pitch to throw a load of racial abuse at Albion midfielder Mickey Bennett.

 
Football League P W D L F A
Top tier 5 2 2 1 5 4
Second tier 10 2 5 3 16 19
Third tier 18 5 6 7 21 25
Third tier South 14 1 6 7 8 15
Fourth tier 8 2 2 4 7 11
FA Cup 2 1 0 1 3 2
League Cup 2 1 0 1 1 3
Football League Trophy 2 1 0 1 2 2
Total 61 15 21 25 63 91
             
Southern League P W D L F A
Southern League One 2 1 1 0 5 3
Total 2 1 1 0 5 3
             

OVERALL

 63 16 22 25 68 94

Swansea 0-1 Brighton Sat 04/11/17 / Top tier / Liberty Stadium / 20,822
Glenn Murray
Swansea 3-0 Brighton Tue 11/08/09 / League Cup R1 / Liberty Stadium / 6,400
Brighton 0-1 Swansea Sat 03/05/08 / 3rd tier / Withdean Stadium / 7,283
Swansea 1-0 Brighton Tue 08/01/08 / FL Trophy SSF / Liberty Stadium / 6,066
Swansea 0-0 Brighton Sat 29/09/07 / 3rd tier / Liberty Stadium / 11,058
Swansea 2-1 Brighton Sat 21/04/07 / 3rd tier / Liberty Stadium / 11,972
Alex Revell
Brighton 3-2 Swansea Tue 05/12/06 / 3rd tier / Withdean Stadium / 5,209
Dean Cox, Alex Revell (2)
Swansea 1-2 Brighton Tue 16/10/01 / FL Trophy R1 / Vetch Field / 2,851
Dirk Lehmann, Lee Steele
The 87 Albion fans who braved a Tuesday night trip to the Vetch were rewarded by getting to see German Pornstar Dirk Lehmann score his only goal for the club
Brighton 1-1 Swansea Sat 01/04/00 / 4th tier / Withdean Stadium / 5,718
Gary Hart
Swansea 2-0 Brighton Sat 18/12/99 / 4th tier / Vetch Field / 4,555
Flu ripped through the Brighton camp meaning debuts for youth team players Shaun Wilkinson and Chris McPhee and Lorenzo Pinamonte on-loan from Bristol City
Swansea 2-2 Brighton Fri 05/02/99 / 4th tier / Vetch Field / 6,563
Ross Johnson (2)
Ross Johnson scores twice in Jeff Wood's first game in permanent charge - a strange evening in which one Swansea fan invaded the pitch to racially abuse Albion midfielder Mickey Bennett.
Brighton 1-0 Swansea Sat 05/09/98 / 4th tier / Priestfield Stadium / 2,931
Gary Hart
Brighton 0-1 Swansea Sat 10/01/98 / 4th tier / Priestfield Stadium / 2,997
Swansea 1-0 Brighton Sat 09/08/97 / 4th tier / Vetch Field / 7,500
Brighton kick off what would be the worst ever season in their history with a 1-0 defeat the Vetch which rather set the tone for what was to come.
Brighton 3-2 Swansea Sat 22/02/97 / 4th tier / Goldstone Ground / 6,645
Ian Baird (2), Craig Maskell
Swansea 1-0 Brighton Tue 19/11/96 / 4th tier / Vetch Field / 2,692
Swansea 2-1 Brighton Sat 13/04/96 / 3rd tier / Vetch Field / 2,373
Own Goal
Brighton 0-2 Swansea Tue 31/10/95 / 3rd tier / Goldstone Ground / 4,230
Brighton 1-1 Swansea Sat 17/12/94 / 3rd tier / Goldstone Ground / 6,817
Robert Codner
Swansea 1-1 Brighton Sat 13/08/94 / 3rd tier / Vetch Field / 4,640
Kurt Nogan
A real treat for kit fans as the Albion wear their popular blue and black Inter Milan away kit for one of the only times in a competitive game
Brighton 4-1 Swansea Wed 06/04/94 / 3rd tier / Goldstone Ground / 9,303
Steve Foster, Robert Codner, Kurt Nogan, Andy Kennedy
Swansea 3-0 Brighton Tue 08/03/94 / 3rd tier / Vetch Field / 2,893
Brighton 0-2 Swansea Sat 27/03/93 / 3rd tier / Goldstone Ground / 7,558
Swansea 0-1 Brighton Fri 20/11/92 / 3rd tier / Vetch Field / 4,645
Andy Kennedy
Brighton 1-1 Swansea Sat 11/02/84 / 2nd tier / Goldstone Ground / 11,979
Steve Gatting
Brighton 2-0 Swansea Sat 07/01/84 / FA Cup R3 / Goldstone Ground / 11,330
OG, Terry Connor
Brighton defeat Swansea to book an FA Cup fourth round tie with Liverpool - a game they would famously go onto win 2-0 against their higher division opponents
Swansea 1-3 Brighton Sat 10/09/83 / 2nd tier / Vetch Field / 7,643
Alan Young, Terry Connor (2)
Swansea 1-2 Brighton Tue 01/03/83 / Top tier / Vetch Field / 8,825
Michael Robinson, Jimmy Case
A first away win of the 1982-83 season is recorded seven months into the campaign with a 2-1 victory at the Vetch Field
Brighton 1-1 Swansea Sat 09/10/82 / Top tier / Goldstone Ground / 11,050
Steve Foster
Swansea 0-0 Brighton Tue 24/11/81 / Top tier / Vetch Field / 14,459
Brighton 1-2 Swansea Tue 01/09/81 / Top tier / Goldstone Ground / 19,885
Andy Ritchie
Brighton 1-0 Swansea Sat 29/01/72 / 3rd tier / Goldstone Ground / 13,083
Bert Murray
Swansea 2-1 Brighton Tue 19/10/71 / 3rd tier / Vetch Field / 6,206
Bert Murray
Swansea 0-1 Brighton Tue 17/08/71 / League Cup R1 / Vetch Field / 5,680
Eddie Spearritt
Swansea 2-1 Brighton Sat 06/01/68 / FA Cup R2 / Vetch Field / 9,520
Mike Hickman
Brighton fell to a shock defeat away at Division Four Swansea for whom 38-year-old Wales international Ivor Allchurch was the best player on the pitch
Swansea 1-1 Brighton Sat 11/03/67 / 3rd tier / Vetch Field / 5,702
Charlie Livesy
Brighton 3-2 Swansea Wed 08/03/67 / 3rd tier / Goldstone Ground / 8,970
Charlie Livesy, Brian Tawse, Kit Napier
Swansea 2-2 Brighton Sat 28/05/66 / 3rd tier / Vetch Field / 5,864
Jimmy Collins, Dave Turner
Brighton 1-1 Swansea Sat 30/10/65 / 3rd tier / Goldstone Ground / 13,906
Bill Cassidy
Swansea 3-0 Brighton Sat 23/12/61 / 2nd tier / Vetch Field / 7,937
Brighton 2-2 Swansea Sat 26/08/61 / 2nd tier / Goldstone Ground / 16,078
Johnny Goodchild, Mike Tiddy
Brighton 0-0 Swansea Sat 15/03/61 / 2nd tier / Goldstone Ground / 12,903
Swansea 2-3 Brighton Sat 05/11/60 / 2nd tier / Vetch Field / 11,029
Jack Bertolini (2), Adrian Thorne
Swansea 2-2 Brighton Sat 13/02/60 / 2nd tier / Vetch Field / 10,163
Bill Curry, Freddie Jones
Brighton 1-2 Swansea Sat 26/09/59 / 2nd tier / Goldstone Ground / 20,567
Bill Curry
Swansea 4-2 Brighton Sat 11/04/59 / 2nd tier / Vetch Field / 6,743
Freddie Jones, Glen Wilson
Brighton 2-2 Swansea Sat 22/11/58 / 2nd tier / Goldstone Ground / 18,674
Mike Tiddy, Freddie Jones
Brighton 0-2 Swansea Sat 23/04/49 / 3rd tier South / Goldstone Ground / 19,974
Swansea 3-0 Brighton Sat 29/01/49 / 3rd tier South / Vetch Field / 26,045
Swansea 0-0 Brighton Sat 01/05/48 / 3rd tier South  / Vetch Field / 15,918
Needing to win at Swansea to avoid finishing bottom of the table, the Albion could only draw 0-0. In the days before automatic relegation to non league, the Albion were thankfully re-elected.
Brighton 0-1 Swansea Wed 01/10/47 / 3rd tier South / Goldstone Ground / 4,712
Swansea 1-0 Brighton Sat 18/04/25 / 3rd tier South  / Vetch Field / 18,000
Brighton 0-0 Swansea Sat 13/12/24 / 3rd tier South / Goldstone Ground / 6,000
Brighton 4-1 Swansea Sat 24/11/23 / 3rd tier South  / Goldstone Ground / 11,500
Jack Nightingale (2), Andy Neil (2)
Swansea 1-0 Brighton Sat 17/11/23 / 3rd tier South / Vetch Field / 12,000
Swansea 0-0 Brighton Sat 11/11/22 / 3rd tier South / Vetch Field / 15,000
Brighton 1-3 Swansea Wed 04/11/22 / 3rd tier South  / Goldstone Ground / 9,000
Jack Feebery
Brighton 0-0 Swansea Sat 10/12/21 / 3rd tier South / Goldstone Ground / 7,500
Swansea 2-1 Brighton Mon 12/09/21 / 3rd tier South  / The Dell / 12,000
Jack Doran
Brighton 1-1 Swansea Sat 27/11/20 / 3rd tier South / Goldstone Ground / 8,500
Dave Williams
An early example of squad rotation as the Albion fielded a reserve side in this Southern Cup game, with the stiffs doing so well in winning that they played the remainder of the competition, reaching the final
Swansea 0-0 Brighton Sat 20/11/20 / 3rd tier South  / Vetch Field / 17,000
Brighton 4-2 Swansea Sat 06/03/20 / Southern 1 / Goldstone Ground / 10,000
Jack Woodhouse (2), George Ritchie, Jack Doran
Swansea 1-1 Brighton Sat 25/10/19 / Southern 1 / Vetch Field / 10,000
Jack Best