Brighton v Palace – ‘A rivalry as big as any other’

“A rivalry as big as any other” between Brighton and Palace

Despite being 45 miles (72.4 km) apart, supporters of Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace claim that their rivalry is one of the greatest in football.

The strong rivalry between former Tottenham Hotspur players Terry Venables and Alan Mullery, as well as the drama surrounding the FA Cup in the 1970s, gave rise to this animosity, which shows no signs of abating. “People who write off the match do it due to ignorance,” stated Dan Cook, a Palace supporter and host of the HLTCO podcast. The clubs are one point apart when they play each other in the Premier League on Sunday. Russell Guiver, host of the Brighton Rock Podcast and a fan of the Seagulls, stated: “It’s the game I’m always looking forward to the most.” However, he claimed that it was “getting tiresome” to explain the rivalry to supporters of other teams.

“It does certainly seem to confuse people because it’s not seen as the nearest team,” he stated. Additionally, Mr. Guiver continues to encounter supporters of other teams who claim there isn’t a true rivalry. “I just scoff at them, and tell them they’re wrong,” he continued. “It really is. Indeed, it is. Our supporters and theirs feel it just as strongly as other national rivalries.” The rivalry’s history began in 1976, when clubs faced off five times.

Venables was in charge of Palace, while Mullery was in charge of Brighton. Although they had been teammates at Spurs, they were never particularly close. The initial dispute was sparked by an FA Cup first-round tie that year. Games that were drawn would be repeated instead of using extra time and penalties to determine the winner; Crystal Palace ultimately defeated Brighton 1-0 in the third game. In a more recent match between the two teams, Palace, under Wilfried Zaha’s leadership, eliminated Brighton from the Championship play-offs on their route to winning promotion to the Premier League in 2013.

However, the Eagles were met by excrement in their dressing room prior to the game. Brighton season ticket holder Kieran Maguire co-hosts the podcast The Price of Football. “The derby match which nobody else can understand apart from Palace and Brighton fans” is how he described Sunday’s match. He goes on to say that it’s a hatred that appears as a “birth right” that is inherited by families. There was, nevertheless, “grudging respect” between the parties.

“Neither of us is a glitzy club. We both understand that we are likely living on borrowed time in the Premier League and should make the most of it while we are there. With Southampton and Portsmouth “too busy hating each other” and Bournemouth not being “rival” material, he added, Brighton had few other possibilities. He declared, “You can’t dislike Bournemouth,” “There’s nothing to dislike about them.”

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