When you think of all the great derbies in English football, three characteristics usually come to mind: regional proximity, a long history and a battle for honour.
In the case of the Crystal Palace-Brighton and Hove Albion rivalry, it's literally none of that. In fact, people can't even agree on the name of the thing: is it the A23 Derby or the M23 Derby?
Well, both, more or less. And Brighton vs Palace has an origin story which, while devoid of the above qualities, is as wicked, tribal and strong as the Liverpool-Manchester United North West Derby or the Wolves-West Brom Black Country Derby.
Let's start with a brief historical overview of each club, adapted from our book A Groundhopper's Guide to Soccer in England. Buy your copy today!
History of Brighton and Hove Albion
Founded in 1901, Brighton played in the lower leagues until 1979 when they first reached the top flight and stayed there for four years. In 1983 they lost the FA Cup final in a replay to Manchester United. They were also relegated after that season.
By the mid-1990s they were bottom of the Fourth Division and in such bad financial shape that they had to sell their stadium. In the last game of the 1996/97 season, Robbie Reinelt scored a last minute goal just to keep them in the Football League.
Whilst being rebuilt from there they had to play two seasons at Gillingham FC's home stadium 75 miles away and spent twelve years at a local athletics stadium with a capacity of around 9,000 spectators. But they rebuilt it, winning the Championship in 2007 and the Premier League in 2018. Along the way they opened the fantastic Falmer (Amex) Stadium and went there to watch a game and visited the great city of Brighton . it is highly recommended
Crystal Palace History
Very briefly, yes, there was a Crystal Palace. It was built for an exhibition in Hyde Park in 1851, then moved to south London and gave the area its name. It burned down in 1936.
During this time the palace built a stadium and hosted the FA Cup final until 1914. But the owners wanted more games, so in 1905 they formed Crystal Palace Football Club. The Glaziers, as they were known for Glass in the Palace, joined the Football League in 1920 and moved to their current home (Selhurst Park, not the Crystal Palace area!) in 1924.
They didn't reach the top flight until 1969. They danced a lot in the 1970s, descending to the Third Division and then rising again before financial problems caused another relegation to the Second Division in 1981. The next thirty years were a dizzying series of promotions, relegations, near misses, managers and financial problems.
In 2010, during their second bankruptcy, they were bought by a group of wealthy supporters and returned to the Premier League via the 2013 play-offs. They have been there ever since.
Why do Brighton and Crystal Palace hate each other? And now we get to the heart of the matter. Let's start with the name. Many people, including the media, call it the M23 derby, which doesn't really make sense as this road doesn't connect the two clubs. The A23 does. So count that among the oddities of the Palace-Brighton rivalry.
The other oddity is the distance between the two, a relatively tall 37 miles. However, Palace were Brighton's closest professional club until 2011 when Crawley Town reached the Football League. But that did not make them rivals.
Promotion Hunter, Litigation Manager The hate started in the 1970s when the two teams were looking for promotion and faced each other. Crowds grew and caused more and more trouble, games were fiercely contested, and in 1976 each club hired a new manager. These two men, Terry Venables at Palace and Alan Mullery at Brighton, were teammates at Tottenham Hotspur and did not like each other. And it started in the 1976/77 season.
First, a league game had to be canceled several times due to crowd issues. They were then drawn in the FA Cup and had to go through two replays, the last at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge. Palace scored an early goal in the process, Brighton were disallowed two goals in controversial circumstances and after Palace passed Brighton boss Mullery confronted Palace fans then stormed into the dressing room from the Palace and threw £5 on a table. Venables says, "Your team isn't worth it."
Both teams were promoted after the season, and in the meantime Palace had changed their nickname to Eagles and switched to red and blue shirts. So Brighton moved on to the Seagulls. Did I mention that Brighton Palace thing is petty?
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Tove Svendson
When you think of all the great derbies in English football, three characteristics usually come to mind: regional proximity, a long history and a battle for honour.
Read Also : How many questions can you ask chatgpt in an hour?In the case of the Crystal Palace-Brighton and Hove Albion rivalry, it's literally none of that. In fact, people can't even agree on the name of the thing: is it the A23 Derby or the M23 Derby?
Well, both, more or less. And Brighton vs Palace has an origin story which, while devoid of the above qualities, is as wicked, tribal and strong as the Liverpool-Manchester United North West Derby or the Wolves-West Brom Black Country Derby.
Let's start with a brief historical overview of each club, adapted from our book A Groundhopper's Guide to Soccer in England. Buy your copy today!
History of Brighton and Hove Albion
Founded in 1901, Brighton played in the lower leagues until 1979 when they first reached the top flight and stayed there for four years. In 1983 they lost the FA Cup final in a replay to Manchester United. They were also relegated after that season.
By the mid-1990s they were bottom of the Fourth Division and in such bad financial shape that they had to sell their stadium. In the last game of the 1996/97 season, Robbie Reinelt scored a last minute goal just to keep them in the Football League.
Whilst being rebuilt from there they had to play two seasons at Gillingham FC's home stadium 75 miles away and spent twelve years at a local athletics stadium with a capacity of around 9,000 spectators. But they rebuilt it, winning the Championship in 2007 and the Premier League in 2018. Along the way they opened the fantastic Falmer (Amex) Stadium and went there to watch a game and visited the great city of Brighton . it is highly recommended
Crystal Palace History
Very briefly, yes, there was a Crystal Palace. It was built for an exhibition in Hyde Park in 1851, then moved to south London and gave the area its name. It burned down in 1936.
During this time the palace built a stadium and hosted the FA Cup final until 1914. But the owners wanted more games, so in 1905 they formed Crystal Palace Football Club. The Glaziers, as they were known for Glass in the Palace, joined the Football League in 1920 and moved to their current home (Selhurst Park, not the Crystal Palace area!) in 1924.
They didn't reach the top flight until 1969. They danced a lot in the 1970s, descending to the Third Division and then rising again before financial problems caused another relegation to the Second Division in 1981. The next thirty years were a dizzying series of promotions, relegations, near misses, managers and financial problems.
In 2010, during their second bankruptcy, they were bought by a group of wealthy supporters and returned to the Premier League via the 2013 play-offs. They have been there ever since.
Why do Brighton and Crystal Palace hate each other? And now we get to the heart of the matter. Let's start with the name. Many people, including the media, call it the M23 derby, which doesn't really make sense as this road doesn't connect the two clubs. The A23 does. So count that among the oddities of the Palace-Brighton rivalry.
The other oddity is the distance between the two, a relatively tall 37 miles. However, Palace were Brighton's closest professional club until 2011 when Crawley Town reached the Football League. But that did not make them rivals.
Promotion Hunter, Litigation Manager The hate started in the 1970s when the two teams were looking for promotion and faced each other. Crowds grew and caused more and more trouble, games were fiercely contested, and in 1976 each club hired a new manager. These two men, Terry Venables at Palace and Alan Mullery at Brighton, were teammates at Tottenham Hotspur and did not like each other. And it started in the 1976/77 season.
First, a league game had to be canceled several times due to crowd issues. They were then drawn in the FA Cup and had to go through two replays, the last at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge. Palace scored an early goal in the process, Brighton were disallowed two goals in controversial circumstances and after Palace passed Brighton boss Mullery confronted Palace fans then stormed into the dressing room from the Palace and threw £5 on a table. Venables says, "Your team isn't worth it."
Both teams were promoted after the season, and in the meantime Palace had changed their nickname to Eagles and switched to red and blue shirts. So Brighton moved on to the Seagulls. Did I mention that Brighton Palace thing is petty?