40 years on from 1983 and Brighton have FA Cup fever again

They say the past and present rhyme, and it would be poetry indeed if Brighton & Hove Albion marked the 40th anniversary of their one and only FA Cup final with another trip to Wembley.

There were two visits to North West London back in 1983, for the final itself and a best-forgotten replay. This time there would be the semi and the final – if all went well – and a trophy decided on the day.

Little else would mirror that day in 1983. Wembley of course has long since lost the iconic twin towers in favour of a new, ultra-modern and somewhat claustrophobic bowl familiar to those of us who went to the 2019 semi final against Manchester City.

The 1983 game wasn’t my first trip there, having been on a coach trip to an England U21 game previously. But there was surely no stadium more soaked in history than the one where once a copper on a white horse kept thousands off the pitch, where Bobby Moore lifted the Jules Rimet, where dozens of memorable finals and international games had played out.

It was not a comfortable experience, even for a 15-year-old, particularly as we arrived via the Manchester United end and had to walk through thousands of angry-looking United fans. It was hard to see the game on the shallow terraces, and the tube station afterwards was a terrifying crush.

But the FA Cup Final in the 70s and 80s was the absolute pinnacle of the British sporting calendar. The country more or less stopped, both main channels showed it, and there were weeks of excitement leading up to a day that had many traditions and rituals not associated with any other game.

Albion’s legendary cup run overshadowed relegation from the top flight that season after just four years in the old Division One.

It was still a fairy tale giants v giant killers cup final, with the famous Manchester United the runaway favourites.

None of us who were around at the time can forget Jimmy Melia’s white shoes leading the side out across the vast space of the old athletics track as the military band played on the pitch.

I think my most vivid memory is half time. We had seen Gordon Smith find the net in front of the Albion end early in the game, and had held that lead till the break.

It really seemed possible that Brighton would lift the famous trophy in just under an hour’s time. The buzz around the Albion end was tangible.

The high drama of the second half of course is written into FA Cup history and Albion mythology. Gary Stevens’s dramatic equaliser just three minutes from time.

And then… possibly one of the most memorable bits of commentary (made on the radio rather than the TV) about what would have been a Roy of the Rovers style winner for the plucky underdogs in the dying seconds of the game. And Smith must score… but he didn’t.

Then followed a replay under stormy skies, one that went entirely to script and marked the end of a dream. Some would say that was the start of our decline that culminated at Hereford United and our near demise only 15 years on from that final.

None of today’s Albion Premier League team were even close to being born that day. Tony Bloom was just in secondary school, Roberto De Zerbi a three year old in Italy probably barely able to kick a ball.

Albion having a squad containing individuals from Japan and various European and South American nations would be unrecognisable to a fan transported from 1983.

Even United’s team that day featured only one player not from the UK or Ireland. To have a World Cup winner from Argentina amongst the Albion ranks, well that is just the stuff of dreams.

It would, of course, be an incredibly Brighton thing to lose our quarter final match to League Two Grimsby – just as we exited the Carabao Cup to Charlton Athletic. I am probably tempting fate to even dream of Wembley at this point.

If we don’t fall victim to the curse of the cup and make it to the final two, we would still likely be second favourites to whichever Manchester club makes it.

But whoever we play, we would be far more of an equal than we were as a newly relegated top tier side 40 years ago.

Brighton would be clear favourites if it’s Sheffield United, Burnley or Blackburn Rovers we are up against, whoever they were to overcome in the semis.

The Albion are an established Premier League side, challenging for Europe and perhaps a season away from being a properly established top 10 side, notwithstanding the fact that we don’t have the spending power of the Big Six and Newcastle.

We have beaten every team in the country at one point or another across the past two seasons, and pundits would be foolish to dismiss our chances against whoever we were to face at either stage at Wembley.

The FA Cup isn’t quite what it was 40 years ago, but a final and our first proper trophy would be a seismic event in the clubs history.

Some might argue that qualifying for the Champions League might be a more lucrative aim, more beneficial in the longer term, but having that cup winners tag would be such poetic justice, four decades on, particularly if it were Manchester United we faced.

“And March must score…and he does! Brighton and Hove Albion have now surely won the FA Cup for the first time in their history…”

Warren Morgan @WarrenBHAFC