The History of Brighton and Hove Albion v West Ham United

West Ham United are another of those sides with whom Brighton and Hove Albion have rarely crossed paths given that they've spent most of their existence in the top two flight of English football - and when they've been out of it we've either been mooching around the lower leagues or enjoying a brief top flight soirée of our own.

Leonardo Ulloa makes his return to the Amex against the Hammers and hopefully it will end in a similar result to when Peter Ward returned to Albion colours on loan from Nottingham Forest. That was fo West Ham's visit to the Goldstone in October 1982, instantly adding 5,000 to the gate from the previous home game and being the best player on the pitch as goals from Gordon Smith, Steve Gatting and Michael Robinson gave the hosts a 3-1 victory.

We've only ever one twice away at West Ham in the Football League - that 3-0 win at the London Stadium earlier in the season and arguably the greatest triumph of the Mark McGhee era. The 10-0-0 formation that McGhee was using at a time was an interesting way to approach things but worked a treat at Upton Park in November 2004. The Irons had 117% possession and 75 shots on target yet Guy Butters scored the only goal of the game to secure a ridiculous 1-0 win, much to the disbelief and dismay of the 29,514 in attendance.

Peter Ward returned to Albion colours on loan from Nottingham Forest for West Ham's visit to the Goldstone in October 1982, instantly adding 5,000 to the gate from the previous home game and being the best player on the pitch as goals from Gordon Smith, Steve Gatting and Michael Robinson gave the hosts a 3-1 victory.

Managers may complain about fixture congestion in this day and age, but it took five months to decide who would progress to the third round of the Southern League Cup in 1907. Brighton and West Ham originally met at the end of October, drawing 0-0 at the Goldstone. Three months later, at the end of Febraury the replay finally took place and that was another draw, this time 2-2 at Upton Park. One month after that, the second replay eventually delivered a winner with the Irons triumphing 2-1 at neutral venue Stamford Bridge.

And that is about as good as it gets in terms of games against West Ham. Our last encounter with them was that dreadful 6-0 defeat in April 2012 in which they stormed into a 3-0 lead after just 11 minutes, a game that was just about as bad as it can get on the pitch.

But at least we all came home alive from that, unlike one 72-year-old Albion supporter when we faced West Ham in the Football League for the first time. Hooliganism was at its most ripe through the late 1970s and early 1980s and the Hammers fans ran riot at the Goldstone in August 1979, breaking out of their pen in the North East corner of the ground and invading home sections with the result being an elderly gentleman losing his life on the East Terrace.