Calderwood’s switch to promotion rivals backfired

SCOTTISH international Colin Calderwood played for and managed Nottingham Forest in a lengthy playing and managerial career that has spanned a host of clubs across the country.

His 21 months as assistant manager to Chris Hughton at Brighton came to an abrupt end that drew harsh criticism at the time but thankfully didn’t hinder Albion’s upward trajectory.

Calderwood worked under Hughton at three other clubs: Newcastle United, Birmingham City and Norwich City.

The pair first met on the same A licence coaching badge course and Hughton was later a coach at Tottenham when Calderwood was a player. He then played a part in Calderwood becoming reserve team coach at White Hart Lane after his playing days were over.

Calderwood went on to become a manager in his own right at League Two Northampton Town, where he got them promotion at the end of his second season (in 2006).

Two and a half years as boss at Forest followed, during which he got them promoted from League One to the Championship. In 2007-08, his Foest side took four points off the Albion, winning 2-0 at Withdean but being held to a goalless draw at home.

Forest were promoted in second place behind champions Swansea City (Albion finished seventh) but Calderwood was sacked just before Christmas in 2008 with the side struggling in the Championship relegation zone.

When Hughton succeeded Sami Hyypiä at the start of 2015, it wasn’t long before he turned to trusted ‘lieutenant’ Calderwood to help Albion’s cause.

The no.2 had first worked with him at Newcastle in 2009 when, after relegation from the Premier League, the pair led the Magpies back to the elite as Championship champions in 2010.

Hibernian in Edinburgh lured him to try a third spell as a no.1 but, after just 13 months in charge, and only securing 12 wins from 49 matches, he was sacked. He was not out of work for long, moving later the same month to Birmingham to become Hughton’s assistant at the Championship side, where another of Hughton’s backroom team, Paul Trollope, was first team coach.

When Hughton left for Premier League Norwich in June 2012, Calderwood, Trollope and chief scout Ewan Chester (who also later joined him at Brighton) all decamped to Carrow Road. City dispensed with their services in April 2014.

Having helped steer Albion to the Championship promotion near-miss of 2015-16 (when they suffered the agonising play-off semi-finals defeat to Sheffield Wednesday), the Seagulls were well geared up to go one better the following season.

So it came as something of a shock when Calderwood quit in November 2016 to become assistant manager to Steve Bruce at promotion rivals Aston Villa.

Hughton was said to be “very disappointed” and “very surprised” by his assistant’s departure, “particularly at this stage of the season”. Albion watcher Andy Naylor reckoned that amounted to a “withering condemnation” from the normally placid manager.

In an excoriating article for the Argus, Naylor wrote: “He clearly feels let down – and he is entitled to feel that way. Is there any justification for treating Hughton the way he has?”

It emerged that the move gave Calderwood a much shorter daily commuting distance from his home in Northampton, but, even so, Naylor reckoned Hughton deserved better.

Thankfully, there was a ready-made replacement in the wings because Trollope had just lost his job at Cardiff City.

Naylor wrote: “Trollope is in the right place at the right moment to bring his promotion-winning mentality as both a player and manager into the camp. Let’s hope he demonstrates more loyalty than Calderwood.”

Perhaps it was the supreme irony that as Albion marched to promotion from the Championship the following spring, the side Calderwood had moved to only finished in 13^th place – although the last-game draw at Villa stymied Albion’s chances of going up as champions.

Nevertheless, there were no bitter recriminations on Calderwood’s part. “Chris did a terrific job turning around the shape and the balance of the team,” he recalled in an interview with the Argus in January 2021.

Ahead of his subsequent club Blackpool’s visit to the Amex for a fourth round FA Cup tie (Albion won 2-1), the former assistant boss said: “We found, as I’ve found at most clubs I’ve been at, there’s a core group of players that have an appetite and an ability level that can give you a chance of success.

“When it falls into place, it is really nice to watch and it is very heart-warming and you feel justified in what you preach and practice.

“A lot of the time you are determined by the quality of the person and the player within the club. We found some really good people down there.”

Born on 20 January 1965 in Stranraer, Calderwood didn’t play professionally in Scotland, instead joining Mansfield Town as a 17-year-old in 1982.

He realised in hindsight that he learned a lot from Town’s manager at the time, the experienced Ian Greaves, and he went on to play over 100 matches for the Stags before Swindon Town boss Lou Macari signed him for £27,500 in 1985.

“Ian and Lou were the ones that built the foundations of my career,” he told the Albion matchday programme.

The centre back spent eight seasons at the County Ground and is recognised as a Swindon legend having featured in 412 matches (plus two as a sub).

At only 21, he was made club captain and, despite a difficult start, led Town to back-to-back promotions as they won the Division Four title in 1986 and overcame Gillingham in a Division Three play-off final replay in 1987.

Calderwood was said to be “a rock at the heart of the defence” and eventually led Town to their first promotion to the top-flight, after beating Sunderland in the play-off final at Wembley in 1990. But Swindon were demoted due an irregular payments scandal in which Calderwood was implicated: he was arrested just four weeks before the Wembley match but released the same day without charge.
Calderwood missed five months of the 1990-91 season following a horror tackle by Wolves legend Steve Bull but he returned stronger than ever and was ever present when, under Glenn Hoddle, Swindon were promoted at the end of the 1992-1993 season, beating Leicester 4-3 in the play-off final.

But instead of featuring for Swindon in the Premiership, Town’s former manager Ossie Ardiles took him to Tottenham for a fee of £1.25 million.

Playing in the top division for Spurs earned him international recognition. He made his Scotland debut aged 30 in a Euro 1996 qualifier against Russia and was a regular under Craig Brown, winning 36 caps in four years, including playing at the 1998 World Cup.

According to Spurs fan website mehstg.com (My Eyes Have Seen The Glory), Calderwood was “a solid defender, who could tackle and was good in the air, but lacked the pace and distribution skills to be a top class centre half.

“Calderwood gave Spurs a tough presence in the middle of the back four they had been missing for some time and showed that Ardiles’ judgement had been sound.”

After 198 appearances for Spurs (more than 150 in the Premier League), he left White Hart Lane in March 1999 when a £230,000 move saw him join Aston Villa under John Gregory. A year later, he switched to David Platt’s second tier Forest for £70,000.

He had only been at Forest a month when, ironically at Birmingham’s St Andrews ground, Calderwood, by then 35, suffered an injury that would ultimately force him to retire.

Forest goalkeeper Dave Beasant had already been injured in a clash with City’s Jon McCarthy earlier in the game but recovered. Calderwood wasn’t so fortunate. He ended up being stretchered off after a collision with the same player. He had fractured his leg and dislocated his ankle, causing ligament damage.

The injury overshadowed Forest’s 1-0 win and it meant he played only a handful of games at the City Ground. He later had a brief spell on loan at neighbours Notts County before calling it a day.

Calderwood initially returned to Spurs as reserve team manager before leaving for Northampton in October 2003. Spurs director of football and caretaker manager, David Pleat, said: “Colin leaves us with our very best wishes. He’s had two-and-a-half years here as a coach which I’m sure has been valuable experience.

“Colin is young, he has energy, ideas and, most importantly, ambition. This could be a terrific apprenticeship for him and everyone at the club wishes him well in his new role.”

Fast forward 15 years, and after he left Villa along with Steve Bruce in October 2018, two months later he was back in the game at League Two strugglers Cambridge United. He was given an initial 18-month contract and a year later he was given a two-year extension on his deal.

However, after a 4-0 home defeat to Salford City in January 2020 which meant Cambridge had taken only one point from their previous six games, he was sacked.

In October that year he was taken on at Blackpool as part of Neil Critchley’s managerial team and was part of the set-up that saw the Tangerines win a place in the Championship in 2021.

In June 2021 Calderwood returned to his old club Northampton as assistant manager to Jon Brady, and he told the League Two club’s website: “I have learned a lot in the years since I was last at the club and hopefully I can put all of that experience to good use.

“The situation here is similar to the situation I arrived in at Blackpool in working with a talented young manager.
“I have spoken with Jon Brady a number of times, that relationship will build quickly and I am really looking forward to working with him and the rest of the coaching staff.”

The Cobblers finished fourth in League Two and made it through to the division’s play-off semi-finals where they lost 3-1 on aggregate to Calderwood’s first club, Mansfield.

They made up for it in 2022-23 when they earned automatic promotion in third place behind Leyton Orient and Stevenage.

Nevertheless, in October 2023, Calderwood returned to Championship level as part of Russell Martin’s backroom team at Southampton.

“First and foremost, he’s a brilliant human being. I really trust him and know him very well,” Martin told the Daily Echo.

“We worked together at Norwich many moons ago when he was the assistant manager. I used to moan all the time to him and he had a brilliant way of being able to deal with that.

“He just has a great relationship with the players, and he’s a coach throughout my career who I’ve stayed in real constant contact with and discussed football.

“We’ve spoken a lot even when he’s not worked with me. I tried to get him at my two previous clubs and it couldn’t quite happen for various reasons.

“He’s been a manager, an assistant manager, he’s helped some young managers recently get promoted in Neil Critchley and Jon Brady, and added huge experience and value to them.”

Three-time Clough signing Jamie Murphy was an Albion promotion winner

BRIGHTON provided a step up in class for Jamie Murphy when they bought the Scottish winger from League One Sheffield United in August 2015.

“I feel like I’ve been able to play in the Championship but I’ve never been given the opportunity,” he said. “It’s thanks to the club for giving me that opportunity.”

Murphy was 25 when he joined the Albion on a four-year deal. The fee was undisclosed but was reported to be £1.8m.

He was Albion’s ninth summer signing and his arrival was somewhat overshadowed by the return of Bobby Zamora to the Albion. But boss Chris Hughton said at the time: “He is somebody we monitored very closely last season and he was one of Sheffield United’s most influential and creative players.

“He’s a winger who can play on either flank and he will give us extra options in both wide positions. He’s a very good age, an age where he can continue to develop as a player and build on his experience.”

Murphy quickly settled at the club, finding a few familiar voices in the likes of captain Gordon Greer (he discovered their respective parents lived round the corner from each other in Glasgow and even drank in the same pub!), sports therapist Antony Stuart who Murphy knew at his first club, Motherwell, and assistant manager Colin Calderwood, whose Hibernian side he had played against.

He scored his first goal for the club in a 2-2 draw at Bolton on 26 September 2015 – but was later sent off in the same match. Zamora, making his first Albion start since returning to the club, set up Dale Stephens to put Albion ahead and Murphy increased the lead after a surging run into the penalty area by Liam Rosenior.

Neil Danns pulled one back before half time and Murphy saw red for a heavy tackle on Danns in the 75^th minute. Albion had to settle for a point when Gary Madine headed an injury-time equaliser.

Impressive displays and another goal, against MK Dons, helped to earn him the November player of the month award – and, courtesy of the sponsor, the opportunity to drive a Porsche for 48 hours.

Murphy scored four more goals in a season’s total of 31 starts plus six appearances off the bench and he revealed in a matchday programme article how his eye for a goal stemmed from playing as a striker earlier in his career.

“When I was a kid, I was always the quickest so I always scored a lot of goals but as I got older and then turned professional with Motherwell it got harder and harder. I’m not the biggest player in the world, so I got moved out to the wing, but I still think like a striker when I’m in front of goal.”

Unfortunately, the campaign ended in disappointment when Albion missed out on promotion from the Championship. Hughton’s side finished third and Murphy’s form for Brighton earned him a call-up to the Scotland squad for two friendlies in March 2016, although he remained an unused sub.

When Albion lost in the two-legged Championship play-off semi-final to Sheffield Wednesday, Murphy was an unused sub (Anthony Knockaert and Jiri Skalak got the nod) but it was a familiar feeling for Murphy who had experienced semi-final heartache in two League One play-offs (2013 and 2015) for Wednesday’s fierce city rivals.

Hughton had plenty of competition for the wide spots in Albion’s 2016-17 promotion challenge, reducing Murphy’s starts to 20 plus 15 appearances off the bench.

He tried hard to seize his chance when it was presented. He scored twice in a 4-0 League Cup win over Colchester United at the start of the season and was the ‘other’ scorer in the Bonfire Night 2-0 win at Bristol City when Steve Sidwell scored a worldy from the halfway line.

A 3-0 home win over Reading at the end of February saw Murphy put in a man-of-the-match performance and he scored his first goal in 16 matches (Sam Baldock and Knockaert the other scorers).

He was praised for his pace on the break and excellent decision-making and later told the matchday programme: “It was one of my best performances. I always feel as if I’ve given 100 per cent – but sometimes things go for you, sometimes they don’t.

“I was delighted to get the goal; it’s been coming these past couple of weeks. But all across the team we’ve played well, done our jobs and obviously come away with a great win. It was a big game and we put in a very professional performance.”

Expanding on the whole-squad approach, Murphy said: “Anyone can come in and do a job. When I was on the bench I always felt there was a chance for me coming and I’m sure the boys on the bench feel that as well.

“We’re in this as a squad, it’s not just about the starting 11.” And he also spoke about the part the Amex crowd played. “It’s great as a player when you know you’ve got that backing of the fans behind you.

“When this place is rocking it really makes a big difference to us as a team. The fans get right behind us home and away.”

Murphy was certainly at the heart of the celebrations (above) when the Seagulls finally made it over the promotion finishing line, via a 2-1 win over Wigan Athletic, and he fondly recalled crowdsurfing (together with teammates Ollie Norwood and Skalak) on a happy, packed train from Falmer to the centre of Brighton as players joined with fans to celebrate the achievement.

The players were headed to a party in central Brighton laid on by chairman Tony Bloom and Murphy told The Athletic’s Andy Naylor in 2021: “There was no other way to get from the stadium to the party. The train station is 100 yards away, so we thought, ‘Why not just jump on a train?’.

“I don’t know what we were thinking, or if we thought it was going to be empty. Obviously, it wasn’t!

“It’s one of the best memories I have of that day. I’ve still got the video on my phone of us crowdsurfing and then coming off the train and getting carried down on someone’s shoulders, all the way down to the party.”

Once the Albion were in the Premier League, Murphy’s playing time was virtually non-existent (one start and three sub appearances in the league; one League Cup outing), and although speculation arose about a possible move, Hughton tried to play it down.

In December 2017, he told the Argus: “At this moment, if I am looking at the options I have in the wide areas, it’s been unfortunate for Jamie because of what we’ve had and no injuries in that area.

“He is still very much part of our plans. It only takes a lack of form, an injury or a couple of injuries and then he is very much back in the squad.”

Within weeks, though, the winger joined Glasgow Rangers (the team he supported as a boy), initially on loan until the end of the season, before making the move permanent in the summer of 2018.

Hughton told the club website: “Jamie is a great lad, a fantastic professional and has a desire to play – and while we were in no hurry to see him leave, we do understand his desire to play for his boyhood team and one of the biggest clubs in Scotland.

“He’s been excellent for the club, ever since we signed him from Sheffield United, and wrote himself into club folklore as a crucial part of our promotion-winning side last season.”

Murphy played 18 league and cup matches (plus one as a sub) as Graeme Murty’s reign came to an end and during that initial time back in Scotland earned two full caps to go with his previous under 21 honours. They came in friendlies against Costa Rica and Peru: going on as an 87^th minute sub for Matt Ritchie in a 1-0 win over Costa Rica and starting in a May 2018 2-0 defeat in Peru ((he was replaced by Oli McBurnie in the 67^th minute).

Murphy signed a three-year contract with Rangers and was the club’s first goalscorer under new manager Steven Gerrard, netting the opener in front of a crowd of 49,309 at Ibrox in a Europa League qualifying match against North Macedonian side Shkupi.

He had played in just five Europa League games and two Scottish Premiership games before suffering a career-changing injury in a League Cup tie at Kilmarnock in late August.

The anterior cruciate ligament tear in his left knee, sustained on the astroturf pitch at Rugby Park in an innocuous coming-together with an opponent, put him out of action for 14 months.

Gerrard told the Glasgow Times: “Jamie’s coming to terms with it. He’s found it tough. He was upset at the beginning and understandably so.

“It is a tough one to take as a footballer. But we will give him every bit of help and support off the pitch that he needs. We will make sure that he sees the right specialists and gets the job done properly.

“Then as a team we will rally around him and make sure he is in good spirits. He is here for the long term. He is a big player for us.

“What Jamie has to do now and what we have to help him do is make sure he does everything in his powers to come back strong and doesn’t have any setbacks.

“He has got an opportunity to work on his whole body and make sure he comes back really strong.”

“It is a big blow. He found consistency straight away. He was on a big buzz from signing long-term for the club.

“He knows the league, he knows the club, he is very well-liked in the dressing room. We have had a big cog, a big piece of the jigsaw, taken away from us.

“We are still coming to terms with it. I know Jamie is as well. I’m not going to try and play it down. It’s a big blow.”

As it turned out, Murphy played only two more matches for Rangers after returning to fitness in October 2019 and in January 2020 linked up once again with his former Sheffield United boss Nigel Clough on a six-month loan at League One Burton Albion.

“I have worked with Nigel Clough before and had some of my greatest moments as a footballer under him, so it was an easy one to pick,” he said. “I want to be back enjoying football again. It has been a nightmare time with my knee but I’m now just looking forward to playing again.

Clough said: “To get a player from Rangers of Jamie’s quality is brilliant. The fact that we have worked with him before and that we get on well with his agent has helped.

“He wants to get out and play some football. He was out for a while with a knee injury, which is one of the reasons he’s coming out, but he’s fully fit now. What he did for us at Sheffield United and how he played there means we are very excited to have him on board.

“He plays wide mainly but can play up the middle as well. He carries the ball very well, makes goals and scores goals. He will be a great asset as we try and push for a place in the top six.”

He scored seven goals in 10 matches but then returned to Scotland and joined Hibernian, initially on loan and then permanently.

After making a total of 50 league and cup appearances for Hibs, he linked up with Clough for a third time in February 2022, signing on loan at League Two Mansfield Town. He scored once in 16 appearances for the Stags.

When he left Hibs at the end of his contract in June 2022, he switched to Perth for a year to play for St Johnstone where he scored five times in 29 appearances and in June 2023 was on the move again, this time to Scottish Championship side Ayr United.

Born in Glasgow on 28 August 1989, Murphy was inspired by Rangers strikers Ally McCoist and Mark Hateley as a boy and played junior football at Westwood Rovers and Drumchapel Thistle before linking up with Clyde. He joined Motherwell aged 11 and broke through to the first team at 17 in 2006 under former Albion boss Mark McGhee.

He said of McGhee: “He was the first man to give me a real chance in the first team. I played a good run of games, played in Europe and played well so he was big for me at the time.”

In 11 years at Fir Park, Murphy helped the club reach a Scottish Cup Final and regularly qualify for European football.

Having scored 50 goals in 215 games for Motherwell, he was then bought in January 2013 by former Albion captain Danny Wilson, who had switched allegiance in Sheffield to manage United.

It was Stuart McCall who sold Murphy to a club he had served as a player and a manager, and he believed at a reported fee of £106,000 they were getting a bargain for the 23-year-old.

McCall told the Daily Record: “We are not getting anywhere near what he is worth but he has given this club great service over the years. He is a great kid and goes with our blessing.

“It is probably the right time for Jamie to move on and flourish elsewhere.

“I would love to have kept him until the summer and it is disappointing for us. But Jamie is a talented boy and can force himself into the Sheffield United team.

“Sheffield United may be a League One side now but they are a great club for him to go to.

“I am hopeful they will be in the Championship next season and they are a Premiership club in the making as they have that status.”

McCall added: “I told Jamie they have a great fanbase, fantastic set-up and good manager in Danny Wilson.” However, Wilson’s two-year tenure at Bramall Lane came to an end in May that year. He was replaced by David Weir (now Albion’s technical director) and Murphy’s third United boss was Clough, who, on awarding Murphy a two-year contract extension in January 2015 said: “Jamie has caused Premier League defenders countless problems in our cup runs.”

With his playing days now winding down, Murphy has an eye on the future and on X (formerly Twitter) in October 2023 he posted that he had successfully passed the UEFA A coaching licence.

In an extended interview with the Hibernian club website in January 2021, he spoke about his desire to become a manager. “That’s something I definitely want to try,” he said. “I like the problem-solving aspect of it, being able to watch a game and pick apart a team’s strengths and weaknesses.

“I probably watch games in a different way now and it started when I was injured. I wasn’t able to train for the best part of a year, so I found myself taking down notes in a journal whenever I’d watch a game – about how teams would play, how they won or lost the game.”

Tony Rougier couldn’t have wished for a better Albion start

TRINIDAD and Tobago international Tony Rougier played an eye-catching role in trying to help Albion avoid relegation.

He got off to a cracking start, scoring a goal within three minutes of his debut.

Manager Steve Coppell sent on the Reading loanee as a 61^st minute substitute for winger Paul Brooker and he made an instant impact.

Relegation-threatened Albion were slogging out a stalemate against Mark McGhee’s mid-table Millwall at the Withdean Stadium on 22 February 2003.

Into the fray went Rougier, who had been sidelined by Alan Pardew at Reading having previously been a £325,000 signing from Brian Horton’s Port Vale.

When Bobby Zamora dummied Kerry Mayo’s pass to allow Arsenal loanee Graham Barrett to turn and move the ball goalwards, Rougier nipped in to complete a neat finish past Tony Warner in the Millwall goal.

Horton had given the Argus an insight of what Albion fans might expect when he said in an interview: “Tony has a great build and he is a threat with his pace and strength.

“We had to sell him because we needed the money and he was one of our major earners.”

He had been Vale’s leading goalscorer with eight goals in 38 games when they were relegated from the First Division in 2000 before moving to Reading that August.

Rougier made a total of 84 appearances for Reading, scoring six goals, and in his first season helped them to the Division Two play-off final where they lost 3-2 to Walsall (and Rougier scored an own goal after going on as a substitute). But a year later, he made 20 starts and 13 appearances off the bench as Reading were promoted in second place – behind the Albion!

He had scored twice in 12 outings for Pardew’s high-flying Royals in 2002-03, including in a 1-0 win against Albion at Withdean. But competition for places was fierce, with the likes of Nicky Forster, Darius Henderson, John Salako and Nathan Tyson.

Coppell told the Argus: “I speak with Alan fairly regularly but this came totally out of the blue when I phoned him up.

“Tony is a big, strong lad and he gives us options. He can play as a wide man or down the middle and the move suits Reading, the player and me.”

*Getting to grips with Jason Brown of Gillingham*

Coppell needed forward cover because Gary Hart was about to start a four-match suspension, Zamora was banned for the next away game at Gillingham, Paul Kitson was still injured and Barrett was struggling for form and goals.

The following matchday programme observed Rougier had not been signed for his goalscoring prowess, but rather for his “power, direct running, and causing havoc that others can exploit”.

But the goal was very welcome in a season that might well not have ended in relegation if Coppell had started the season in charge rather than joining after so many games had already been lost under Martin Hinshelwood.

Rougier made his first start in a 3-0 defeat away to Gillingham playing up front with Barrett when Zamora and Hart were suspended.

He featured in home wins over Rotherham United (2-0) and Nottingham Forest (1-0) as well as an away defeat at Stoke City (0-1), but he missed the 2-1 defeat at Sheffield United after twisting his right ankle against Forest.

He bowed out in style in his final appearance, making one goal and scoring a second in a memorable 2-2 draw away to Ipswich Town.

I took my then 14-year-old son Rhys to the clash at Portman Road and the lively midfielder-cum-striker in the no.34 shirt, who had been taken to the hearts of the Albion faithful, was suitably serenaded with the chant ‘Ra-ra-ra Rougier’ to the tune of the popular vaudeville and music hall song Ta–ra–ra Boom-de-ay.

His first significant involvement saw him go up for a header from Hart’s cross and Town goalkeeper Andy Marshall diverted the ball into his own net to gift Albion an equaliser.

Future Albion loanee striker Darren Bent missed a penalty that would have put Ipswich back in front, and then, with 10 minutes to go, Albion fans were buoyant with expectation when Rougier slammed the ball into the roof of the net after Ipswich had failed to clear their lines.

Unfortunately for Brighton, a 30-yard thunderbolt from Martin Reuser flew past Dave Beasant to put the home side level and Albion had to be content with a point, which ultimately wasn’t enough to avoid making an immediate return to the division they’d left the previous season.

While the player was keen to extend his stay, Pardew wanted him back to help with Reading’s promotion run-in, although thankfully he wasn’t involved in Brighton’s shock 2-1 win at the Madejski Stadium on 4 April (and Steve Sidwell, who had been on loan at the Albion earlier that season was an unused sub). Goals from Brooker and sub Kitson took the spoils for the Albion, Cureton netting for the home side.

The Royals finished fourth in the league before losing 3-1 on aggregate to Wolves in the play-off semi-finals, and Rougier was released on a free transfer having scored three times in 13 starts and nine appearances off the bench.

Rougier told the Argus he would be interested in returning to the Albion, but nothing came of it and he joined Brentford instead. Wally Downes was manager at the time and Rougier made 34 appearances for the Bees, scoring five goals.

But when Martin Allen took over as manager in March 2004, Rougier was one of five players he allowed to leave Griffin Park as part of a squad overhaul that ultimately helped them to a last-day escape from relegation.

Maybe the Brentford fans weren’t too disappointed to see the back of Rougier. For instance, ‘Boston Bee’ on griffinpark.org said: “Even when he actually tried (15min/match) he looked like he wasn’t trying” and added: “His lack of interest in the game going on around him drove me crazy.”

Meanwhile, Rougier linked up with another ex-Albion captain, Danny Wilson, at Bristol City on a free transfer. Indeed, Rougier appeared for the Robins when they lost 1-0 to Mark McGhee’s Albion in the divisional play-off final in Cardiff on 30 May.

But when Wilson lost his job that summer, Rougier followed him out of the exit and he returned to Trinidad, where he won the last of 67 international caps for Trinidad and Tobago.

He has since turned to coaching, becoming a UEFA A licensed coach, and attained a degree in sports development. On his LinkedIn profile, he describes himself as the founder, president and technical director of FC South End, and, in 2014, among his past coaching experiences was a spell working with his nation’s under 20 squad.

Four years later, he had moved to the United States to coach the New England Revolution academy team.

Born on 17 July 1971 in Sobo, a village in south west Trinidad, his footballing career was initially confined to his home country.

Tom Lunn, writing for Reading fan website thetilehurstend.sbnation.com in 2019, profiled Rougier describing how the player began his senior footballing career in his home country with La Brea Angels. His Wikipedia page says he also played for Trintoc, United Petrotrin, and Trinity Pros.

An Albion matchday programme article said Rougier then moved to New York where he spent a year working in the baggage department at John F Kennedy airport before heading to the UK.

After overcoming work permit issues, he was taken on by Raith Rovers where, over the course of two years, he became something of a cult hero. In 2018, he returned to Fife to be inducted into the club’s Hall of Fame.

“This is where it all started,” he said in an interview with the club’s TV channel. “It never felt the same whichever club I went to afterwards. The Fife people gave me respect and it’s something I’ll never forget.”

During the interview, Rougier remembered fondly an occasion when he man-marked Paul Gascoigne, playing central midfield against Rangers.

His stand-out moment was a UEFA Cup second round tie in Munich’s Olympic Stadium on 30 October 1985 when Raith only narrowly lost 2-1 to Bayern Munich who boasted the likes of Oliver Kahn in goal and Jurgen Klinsmann up front.

His performances for Raith earned him a £250,000 move to Hibernian. He scored four times in 45 matches for Alex McLeish’s Edinburgh outfit but in January 1999 joined Port Vale, signed by Horton’s predecessor John Rudge for £175,000.

By then, he had established himself in the Trinidad and Tobago national side, a teammate of Dwight Yorke, and often being chosen as captain.

In his own words, he describes himself as: “A highly experienced football coach and former professional player with a career in the game spanning more than 25 years, I has successfully made the transition into coaching, management and club operations through a consistent focus on long term player and team development.

“A former national team captain with Trinidad & Tobago and a promotion winner in both England and Scotland, I have been able to effectively apply my on-field experience to guide team success and coaching strategy at professional, grassroots and school level.

“I am a positive, dynamic and passionate professional who is committed to my continued progression as a coach. I am always open to opportunities in which I can develop while positively impacting a football club or organisation, and would relish the opportunity to work with elite players within an ambitious environment.”

Things didn’t click for wanderer Stephen Dobbie

A 93^RD-MINUTE winning goal in a Championship match against Peterborough United was as good as it got in Stephen Dobbie’s brief stay with Brighton.

Dobbie left the Albion for Crystal Palace just five months into a three-year contract after failing to live up to the hope that he would be the answer to Albion’s shortage of a genuine goalscorer.

“He has great quality which will unlock defences and I have no doubt he will also score plenty of goals,” Poyet said on capturing a player who had a goalscoring pedigree at Championship level with Swansea City and Blackpool, as well as in Scotland.

“He has played and proven himself at this level and in the Premier League. His goals helped Blackpool win promotion in 2010 and he returned on loan to help them reach the play-off final last season,” he said.

Dobbie was one of four players who joined Brighton on 31 August 2012; fellow Swansea player Andrea Orlandi also arrived, along with Dean Hammond, on loan from Southampton, and Athletic Bilbao’s David Lopez.

Seldom a starter, Dobbie’s first Albion goal came after he’d gone on as a 64^th minute substitute for Andrew Crofts at home to Peterborough. Despite relentless Albion pressure, the game looked to be heading for a goalless draw when Dobbie produced a composed finish from an Ashley Barnes pass in the third minute of added on time.

A delighted Poyet said: “We needed quality and Dobbie showed us what he is capable of and that won us the game. It was real quality and that’s what we needed to score tonight.

“On another day, another player would have smashed that and it would not have gone in. The touch was magnificent and we are all delighted.”

Dobbie added: “Before I came on the gaffer told me to keep doing what I have been doing in training. I was confident that my time would come. Hopefully I can kick on and show the sort of form I have showed before in the Championship.”

As it happened, Dobbie did score in the next match too although an astonishing game at Molineux possibly summed up his time with the Albion. He had a great chance when through on goal that Carl Ikeme saved; he then put Albion 3-2 up with an 89^th minute penalty – but 10-man Wolves hit back with a 90^th-minute equaliser.

“We are all a bit gutted because the three points were there to be taken and on another day we probably would have scored four or five,” said Dobbie afterwards.

Dobbie didn’t score again and after just five starts plus 10 appearances off the bench Poyet decided to cut his losses and ship the player out on loan to Palace.

He couldn’t put his finger on exactly why it hadn’t worked out and was open in his assessment when talking to the Argus about it.

“I don’t think there is one reason, one person responsible,” said Poyet. “I think it didn’t click, that’s all. I am more than happy to take the blame but it’s a mix of things, the way we play, the player, the results, the team.

“The moment it was a possibility to get him I was convinced he was the perfect player for us, to play between the lines, arrive late, get goals, play in different positions in a front three or even behind the striker.”

Earlier in the season, Dobbie said matters off the pitch had made it difficult for him to settle. He had been living in a hotel with his wife and young son for a month during which time his wife gave birth to their second child.

“It was quite hard living in the hotel with my wife and little boy but thankfully we’re now settled in a house and another little boy has since come along, so I can concentrate fully on my football,” he told the matchday programme. “It’s not easy when you’ve got so much going on, it takes a period of adjustment, but now I’m able to just focus on what I’m doing on the training ground.”

At least the move to Palace reunited Dobbie with a familiar face: he had played under Palace boss Ian Holloway during two loan spells at Blackpool. Dobbie scored three times in 15 matches for Palace as they won promotion via the play-offs (thankfully he didn’t play in the semi-finals v Brighton).

Albion and Palace had to make the transfer a loan initially to comply with FIFA regulations regarding the number of clubs a player can play for on a permanent basis in one season, but the loan became permanent in the summer.

Although he signed a two-year deal at Selhurst Park, he only played in one Premier League game and one League Cup tie before returning to Bloomfield Road on loan to Blackpool for a third time.

It was perhaps inevitable that Dobbie should score an equaliser for relegation-threatened Blackpool when they salvaged a point in a disappointing 1-1 draw at the Amex on 21 April 2014.

Blackpool player-manager Barry Ferguson said: “It was a great strike. [Dobbie] has quality and it’s up to him to produce it more often.

“I let him play where he wants to. I’ve known him a long time and, apart from what he does on the ball, his work-rate off the ball is excellent.”

Although still under contract with Palace, Dobbie spent the 2014-15 season on loan at newly promoted League One side Fleetwood Town.

Released by Palace at the end of that season, he spent pre-season on a trial basis at Championship side Bolton Wanderers and when boss Neil Lennon liked what he saw he was given a one-year contract with the Trotters.

In 2016, Dobbie returned to the club where he’d previously been most prolific as a goalscorer: Queen of the South. In his first spell (2006-09), he scored 55 goals in 105 games for the Scottish First Division outfit.

That level of goalscoring prowess returned second time around, as he netted 111 goals in 178 games over five seasons in the Scottish Championship. He topped the Championship scoring charts in 2017 and 2018 and his 43 goals in 2018-19 was the best ever total for a Queens player in a single season.

Born in Glasgow on 5 December 1982, Dobbie grew up in the tough Barlanark district of the city, and in an interview with the Daily Record he described his experience playing street football in the area.

He was a Rangers fan and, although it was Hearts who first showed interest in him, he spent two years as a youth player at Ibrox Park.

“I signed for the club when I was about 10 or 11,” he recalled. “I was quite lively as a kid but I was soon brought back down to earth whenever I got to meet my heroes. It was intimidating walking into a room and there’s Gazza, Brian Laudrup and Ally McCoist sitting there.”

He added: “They were world class and although I never got to follow them into the first team, it was a brilliant club and I loved my time there.”

While he scored goals for Rangers reserves, he didn’t break through to the first team with his boyhood heroes. The first of many loan moves in his career saw him go to Sydney in Australia and score three times in three games for Northern Spirit.

In the summer of 2003, he was transferred to Hibernian and made a total of 33 Scottish Premier League and cup games during his first season at Easter Road. But a regular starting berth eluded him and he went on loan to Scottish First Division St Johnstone.

That move was turned into a permanent switch but in 2006-07, when once again he couldn’t nail down a regular starting spot, he was loaned to Third Division Dumbarton, where he hit a purple patch, scoring 11 goals in 18 matches.

Such form attracted Queen of the South; he joined them on 5 January 2007 and enjoyed a successful two-and-a-half-year spell.

After he’d finished the 2008-09 season as the Scottish First Division’s top goalscorer with 24 goals, Swansea City, then in the Championship, made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.

“Dobbie has reinvented himself in the last two seasons and is at the best stage of his career,” said Swansea manager Roberto Martinez.

Aged 26 at the time, Dobbie was reunited with Swans top scorer Jason Scotland who he’d played with at St Johnstone in 2005-06.

“He has been through many different moments since his Rangers days, but I firmly believe he is now ready for a new challenge,” said Martinez. “He is a typical Swansea player – very gifted and strong technically.

“He’s also a natural goalscorer, has high standards and is hungry to show off his talent in the Championship.”

Dobbie’s first goals for Swansea somewhat ironically came against Brighton when the Welsh side dumped Russell Slade’s side out of the Carling Cup with a 3-0 victory at the Liberty Stadium.

He scored again in the next round but injury then kept him out of the side and by the following February he was on his way to Blackpool on loan for the first time.

Ironically, Dobbie went on to play for Blackpool in their 3-2 Championship play-off win over the Swans bitter rivals Cardiff City, which saw him branded “Secret Agent Dobbie” by a certain section of the Swansea faithful.

Back at Swansea, Dobbie finally got his place back after Brendan Rodgers had taken over from Paulo Sousa in the manager’s chair.

Dobbie score four times for the Swans but he eventually found himself back on the bench playing second fiddle to loan signing Marvin Emnes and Craig Beattie.

Nevertheless, he chipped in with some important goals from the bench and once again found himself playing in the Championship play-off final, this time getting on the scoresheet as Reading were beaten 4-2.

Remarkably, he featured in a third successive Championship play-off final, again with Blackpool, having failed to hold down a place in Swansea’s Premier League side. He made eight appearances at the elite level but didn’t get on the scoresheet.

Dobbie joined Holloway’s Blackpool in March 2012 but they missed out on another promotion when West Ham beat them 2-1 at Wembley.

In April 2021, Dobbie announced his departure from Queen of the South, with the Daily Record declaring: “The 36-year-old has scored 166 times in 282 games over two spells with the club and is regarded as one of their best players of all time.”

Having put down roots in the North West (even when he was playing for Queen of the South he would commute from his home on the Fylde coast), it was little surprise to see him start the 2021-22 season with AFC Fylde of the Vanarama National League North.

Pass ‘master’ Steven Thomson’s unhappy year with Brighton

STEVEN THOMSON didn’t enjoy his year playing for Brighton in League One and the former Crystal Palace midfielder seized an escape route to return to Scotland to see out the remainder of his long professional career.

It had been considered quite a coup when Dean Wilkins secured the signing of the Falkirk captain in January 2008. In effect a replacement for the departing Dean Hammond, Thomson was soon a victim of Wilkins’ tinkering with the formation, and over his 41 matches for the Seagulls had a conveyor belt of midfield partners, not to mention a change in manager, as Wilkins’ replacement, Micky Adams, introduced a different style – in vain – to try to galvanise the side during his second spell as boss.

Although Thomson had signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with the Seagulls, in January 2009 the disillusioned Scot headed back north of the border.

“I didn’t enjoy it there at all and was keen to try and get myself back up the road,” he admitted in an interview with the Daily Record in 2018.

Having wound down his full-time career at St Mirren, after 18 seasons as a professional, and having moved to London to begin a business career, Thomson linked up with his former Albion teammate Nicky Forster to spend a season as a part-time player with Dover Athletic, where the former Seagulls striker was manager at the time.

In an in-depth interview for the Dover Athletic website, Thomson gave a great insight into his career, revealing the lengths he went to to get a break into the professional game.

Born in Glasgow on 23 January 1978, he explained: “After playing for a local boys club I was invited to go and train with a few clubs, so, at the age of 10, I found myself training with Rangers on a Monday, Celtic on a Tuesday, Hearts on a Wednesday and Hibs on a Thursday.”

When he reached 14, he was advised to choose one club over the others and opted for Rangers. Daunted by the high numbers of youngsters all trying for the same opportunity, aged just 16 he took the bold move to head to Croydon and signed on as an apprentice with Palace.

He progressed from the youth team to be offered a pro contract at 17, worked his way through the reserves and then got some calls up to the first team subs bench when they were still in the Premier League. He also played for Scotland’s under-18 side between 1995 and 1997.

During his brief return as manager, Terry Venables gave Thomson his debut aged 19 in the 1998-99 season. Thomson wasn’t renowned for goalscoring, but Palace fans do remember a particularly sweet strike he succeeded with in a 3-0 Worthington Cup win at Leicester City in November 2000.

Leicester’s back-up goalkeeper Simon Royce, who would later join Albion on loan, was beaten from 35 yards by Thomson’s spectacular shot.

The midfielder’s 121 games spanned the spells of five managers – Venables, Steve Bruce, Trevor Francis, Steve Coppell and Dave Bassett – before he left the club at the end of the 2002-03 season. It would be fair to say he divided opinion among Eagles supporters.

On fans forum cpfc.org, ‘Hairybear’ said: “Thomson was a warrior. Very little ability but did a good job when called upon under Bruce and co. He would never let you down.”

But ‘Baron Greenback’ said: “As well as THAT goal against Leicester, he also scored great goals at home to Sunderland in the FA Cup and Wolves.”

It was the ebullient Barry Fry who took Thomson to Peterborough United, (above) where he played 75 games in two seasons before moving back to Scotland to play for Falkirk in the Scottish Premier League.

When Brighton signed him, his former Falkirk teammate and one-time Albion loanee, Graham Barrett, told the Argus what Seagulls supporters could expect.

“They are getting a fantastic professional and a really good player,” said Barrett. “We have been going really well and he has been a massive part of that.

“He is a box-to-box player, he is comfortable on the ball and he has got a bit of everything.

“He is not particularly big (5ft 8in) but he is also very good in the air for his height.”

Barrett reckoned he would be “a massive influence” if he could continue the form he’d shown in Scotland. “He is great in the dressing room as well, a real leader,” said Barrett.

Thomson made his Albion debut in a 1-1 draw at home to Huddersfield on 19 January, starting at the base of a midfield diamond with Paul Reid and David Martot out wide and Dean Cox at the top of it.

Brian Owen, of the Argus, described him as “a neat and tidy passer who only gave the ball away when trying something ambitious”.

Within a couple of months, the Argus was reporting: “It has not been easy for Thomson since his January move back to England from Falkirk.

“He has had to adjust to playing with a number of different partners and now Adam El-Abd is a long-term casualty with the medial knee ligament injury he suffered at Huddersfield.”

Although mostly recognised as a centre back, El-Abd had been one of the options tried in midfield. Thomson admitted to the newspaper: “I know I can perform better. There is more to come. I am adjusting to playing so many games. In Scotland you just play Saturday to Saturday.

“It has been a big move for my family as well. My wife (originally from London) is a lot closer to her parents now and she has got a lot of family around, which helps with our young son.”

In rather a similar vein to the Palace faithful, Brighton fans were also divided as to Thomson’s merits. ‘The Complete Badger’ declared on North Stand Chat: “The only midfielder of any class we’ve got. A real touch of quality about everything he does in my opinion. Much better than Hammond, and much better than anyone else we’ve got.”

But ‘Napper’ reckoned: “Thomson just seems to have nothing about him, not quick, no killer passes. Just seems to either waste possession or go backwards. I’ve really given him more than enough time, but facts are he just isn’t very good. I’ve been watching him closely for many games now.”

In his end-of-season summary, Andy Naylor, Albion reporter for the Argus in 2008, reckoned Hammond had been a hard act to follow, and commented: “Thomson looks a tidy player who will benefit from playing as a central midfielder in a 4-4-2, not the dreaded diamond.”

After Wilkins was shown the door, new boss Adams recognised Thomson’s leadership qualities, making him vice-captain to skipper Nicky Forster, as well as saying he was going to play him in a role further forward than he had been previously.

“I enjoyed the responsibility at Falkirk and I will be willing to help Nicky as much as I can,” Thomson told the Argus. “The manager has stressed that he wants me to try and push forward a lot more, rather than just sitting in front of the back four, and I am quite happy with that.

“I look after myself off the park, so I’m quite fit. Maybe he thinks I have got the engine to get up and down!”

However, problems mounted for Adams when Forster was ruled out by injury and, as in the previous season, Thomson found himself alongside different midfield partners, including, at one time, the flamboyant Robbie Savage, trying to recover some fitness on loan from Derby.

As the year drew to a close, it became public knowledge that Thomson was unsettled and itching to go back to Scotland, so a deal was lined up for him to join St Mirren as soon as the January transfer window opened.

He joined them on the day they played their final game at Love Street ahead of their move to Greenhill Road, and he went on to make more than 100 appearances for the Buddies.

Their fans’ abiding memory of his time there centre on a surprise 4-0 win over Celtic on 24 March 2010, when Thomson scored twice. The result so shocked the Parkhead bosses that they sacked Hoops boss Tony Mowbray.

On joining Dover in May 2012, Thomson told the club’s website: “I made the decision last year that this would be my final season as a full-time player. I have been studying for four or five years and I’m now fully qualified and have secured a job in London.

“My wife Bryony is from London anyway and she wanted to move closer to her family. I’ve been a footballer for 18 years and now it’s time to enter the real world.”

Thomson now works as a financial advisor, with a stylish looking profile on LinkedIn.

Shankly ‘disciple’ George Aitken coached Mariners and Seagulls

MEDIA-friendly Jimmy Melia stole all the limelight as Brighton stormed to the final of the 1983 FA Cup but a quiet, wavy-haired Scot alongside him played a big part in the achievement.

George Aitken was joint caretaker manager with Melia for three months after Mike Bailey’s dismissal in December 1982, and he’d previously been in the dugout alongside Alan Mullery and Ken Craggs during Albion’s rise through the divisions having originally been brought to the club by Peter Taylor.

When he died aged 78 in August 2006, Jimmy Case told the Cumbrian Times & Star: “George was a great character, a great friend and coach right the way through my time at the club. “Jimmy Melia was in the front line with his white shoes but George was right there in terms of the workings of the club and picking the team. He was well respected for his knowledge of the game.”

Mark Lawrenson also paid tribute in an interview with Argus reporter Paul Holden, telling him: “George never got carried away. He had seen it all before. He was a very wily old fox. He was from the old school, a good, honest, true, loyal man.

“He knew his football, knew his players and liked a laugh. He had one of those infectious laughs.”

Micky Adams said: “He was a great football man, George. When I first joined Brighton as manager, he was one of my biggest allies. He always popped into the office to chew the cud and talk football. He loved Brighton and was a well-respected man who loved the game.”

Holden also reported that at Aitken’s testimonial dinner in 1988, former Albion secretary, Stephen Rooke, said: “He may never have reached the dizzy heights attained by many of his friends and acquaintances over the years but he represents a rare breed, in fact the very lifeblood of our national game.

Aitken tiler sully 78

Aitken puts Ken Tiler and Peter O’Sullivan through their paces in pre-season training in 1978

“Deep down George is a very private person but his reliability and honest, down-to-earth approach has, quite rightly, earned him enormous respect throughout the football world.”

Aitken had been a manager in his own right at Workington, and he and Melia had both been players under one of the game’s legends – Bill Shankly.

Shankly managed Workington between 6 January 1954 and 15 November 1955, when Aitken was a strong and commanding centre back for the Cumbrian side, and five of Melia’s 10 years playing for Liverpool were under Shankly’s managership.

Born in Dalkeith, Scotland, on 13 August 1928, Aitken was educated at Dalkeith High School and played football for Midlothian Schools.

His step up to senior football came at Edinburgh Thistle, which was essentially a feeder side for Hibernian.

David Jack, remembered as the first player ever to score at Wembley, had become manager of Middlesbrough in 1944, and took Aitken to Ayresome Park after the war.

“I was 20 at the time and it took me two seasons to reach the first team,” Aitken recalled in an Albion matchday programme article.

“Middlesbrough had a great team at the time and I played alongside the likes of (England internationals) Wilf Mannion and George Hardwick.”

Aitken made his debut against Fulham in 1951-52, but only made 18 top division appearances and, in July 1953, was sold to nearby Workington for £5,000.

It was the beginning of a long-standing relationship with a club who in those days played in the basement division of the Football League and is now in the Northern Premier League – the seventh tier of English football.

Aitken amassed 262 league appearances for Workington and, in the 1957-58 season, played against the famous Busby Babes at home in the 3^rd round of the FA Cup in front of a record 21,000 crowd – just a month before the Munich air crash. Dennis Viollet scored a hat-trick for United in a 3-1 win.

“The game was an experience that I’ll never forget,” said Aitken, who kept on the wall of his house a picture of him with United’s skipper that day, Roger Byrne, who not long after that match perished in the Munich air crash.

Aitken retired as a player in 1960 but he stayed on at Borough Park as a coach, initially under Joe Harvey, who later enjoyed success at Newcastle United, and then Ken Furphy, who went on to manage Watford, Blackburn and Sheffield United before moving to the USA and taking charge of four different clubs.

Aitken had a brief spell as Workington manager between March and June 1965 (stepping in after Keith Burkinshaw – later famously boss of Spurs – had left) but then followed Furphy to Watford in 1965 as his coach. During that time, Watford, then in Division Two, famously beat Shankly’s Liverpool 1-0 in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup before losing to eventual winners Chelsea in the semi-finals.

The lure of Workington was to draw him back to the north west, though. When the manager’s job became vacant in 1971, Aitken took over and stayed for three seasons, eventually leaving in October 1974.

grimsby 75

In the 1975-76 season, he was trainer-coach during Tommy Casey’s spell managing Grimsby Town (where, as in picture, one of the players was former Albion defender Steve Govier), but left the Lincolnshire outfit to join Peter Taylor’s coaching set-up at Brighton in 1976. The Scot ended up staying for 10 years.

Aitken and wife Celia had three children and I well remember one of them, Bruce, appearing for Worthing FC. Aitken 2

George was clearly football daft, and in a matchday programme feature of September 1985, Celia told Tony Norman: “Football has always been his hobby, as well as his way of earning a living. He really loves the game. It’s not unusual for us to be driving somewhere and to stop because George has seen a game going on in a park by the road. He can’t resist watching for a while.”

During Chris Cattlin’s reign as manager, Aitken was the reserve team manager and chief scout, and in the programme article he said: “I can look back on some very happy memories. I was assistant manager when we took the club to Wembley and that experience is something I’ll never forget. But that is all in the past and what really matters to me is the future for Brighton Football Club. So, I enjoy going out to look for youngsters who could do a good job for us in years to come.”

After being sacked by Brighton, Aitken did scouting work for Graham Taylor during his spells at Watford and Aston Villa and then had three years working for the FA during Taylor’s reign as England manager. His last football role was at Bolton Wanderers when Colin Todd was the manager.

end shot aitken armchair

Pictures from a variety of sources including the matchday programme, online sites and the Argus.

Striker Neil Martin among the first to score 100 goals in Scotland and England

2 Martin SCOTTISH international Neil Martin remains a legend at one of his homeland clubs but his brief time at Brighton was more like a bad dream after a goalscoring start.

The striker’s youthful picture can still be found on the legends section of Queen of the South FC’s website where it notes he was the among the first players to score 100 league goals in both Scotland and England.

Martin scored 28 goals in 119 games for Nottingham Forest having moved down from Scotland in the 1960s and begun his English league career with Sunderland.

It was while playing for the Wearsiders that he gained three Scotland international caps, all in 1965.

Martin partnered the legendary Denis Law up front in World Cup qualifiers against Poland and Finland and his third and final cap was earned in a 1-0 win over Italy playing alongside Tottenham’s Alan Gilzean.

One of his most prolific spells was at Coventry City (above) where, in three years, between 1968 and 1971, he scored 40 goals in 106 appearances.

He was slightly less prolific for Forest (although he was on the scoresheet in Clough’s first game in charge) before Peter Taylor brought him to the Albion on 26 June 1975.

Four new players were presented to the assembled press that pre-season and standing alongside Martin was one Peter Ward.

Martin scored on his league debut for Brighton as Rotherham United were dispatched 3-0 but he didn’t stay in the side long because Taylor brought in loan signing Barry Butlin, also from Forest, for five games to play up front alongside Fred Binney and Gerry Fell.

Martin did get a run back in the side during the autumn, when he added to his goals tally. But Taylor obviously felt the attack needed something extra and the £30,000 arrival of Northern Ireland international Sammy Morgan from Aston Villa spelt the beginning of the end of Martin’s short spell at the club.

He scored eight league goals and one in the FA Cup in 18 starts (plus four substitute appearances) but it all ended somewhat acrimoniously.

The Argus reported on February 13 1976 that the 32-year-old former Scotland international had been transfer listed and banned from the Goldstone.

Words had evidently been exchanged after Martin had been subbed off in a reserves game and, try though he did, reporter John Vinicombe couldn’t find out exactly what had gone on.

Taylor was renowned for his tough stance with players. He suspended six players in the September that season and he had fallings out with Ian Mellor, Joe Kinnear and reserve ‘keeper Derek Forster.

Martin didn’t play for the club again, instead being moved on to Crystal Palace where he scored just the once in nine appearances.

At the end of the season, he joined what was a familiar exodus for ageing English league players at the time and played alongside England’s World Cup winning captain Bobby Moore, and ex-Arsenal full back Bob McNab, for San Antonio Thunder in America.

It wasn’t unfamiliar territory for Martin because, in the summer of 1967, he was part of the Sunderland contingent who played in the NASL as Vancouver Royal Canadians. The 16-man squad also included the above-mentioned Forster.

After Martin’s 1976 stint at San Antonio, he didn’t play in England again. His final playing days were in the Republic of Ireland, interestingly being given a lifeline by another former international striker who’d played for Brighton – Barry Bridges.

The former Chelsea, Birmingham, QPR and Millwall striker had a couple of seasons managing Dublin side St Patrick’s Athletic, where Martin joined him.

The Scot had a brief managerial foray with Walsall, mainly in tandem with Alan Buckley, but it didn’t end well and he left the club in 1982.

Born in Tranent, just east of Edinburgh, on 20 October 1940, Martin’s break into the professional game came at Alloa Athletic. His 25 league and cup goals in the 1960-61 season brought about a move to Queen of the South where he continued to score plenty of goals – 33 in 61 appearances.

A £7,500 transfer fee took him to Hibernian in 1963. He’d supported them as a boy and after Jock Stein took over as manager in 1964, Martin netted 29 league and cup goals in the 1964-65 season. He said later that Stein was the biggest influence on his career.

It was top-tier Sunderland who paid £45,000 to take Martin south of the border. His goalscoring in his first taste of English football wasn’t quite as prolific as it had been in Scotland, mainly due to the Wearsiders not being able to decide on the best strike partner for the Scot.

Eventually, in 1968, he moved on to Coventry City, newly-promoted to the old First Division. He spent three years at Highfield Road, developing good partnerships with Ernie Hunt and John O’Rourke, with the emerging talents of Willie Carr and Dennis Mortimer providing good service from midfield.

His switch to Nottingham Forest towards the end of the 1970-71 season helped them survive the drop, but they went down the following season and that was the last Martin saw of top-flight football.