Brighton and Hove Albion Fan View: Let's end the 1983 comparisons

Forget comparisons to 1983! This is not going to be another year when Brighton reach the FA Cup final and get relegated from the top-flight of English football.

It is easy for some to draw similarities with that landmark year in Brighton’s history, the year we took Manchester United to a Cup final replay and also went down from the First Division, losing a status which it took us 34 years to regain.

With fourth-tier side Coventry City at home in the last 16 of the FA Cup on Saturday, a 1983 repeat is being spoken about, particularly as we still have a lot to do to avoid relegation from the Premier Division.

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But, for me, the comparisons stop here. Okay, we are expected to beat Coventry and we will do if we pay them due respect and not under-estimate either the threat they pose or the fact that this is their cup final. But there are some extremely good sides left in the FA Cup this year and even if we got through there would be an awful lot of work still to be done to reach the final.

As for our Premier Division status, it is very different to 1983. I’m not necessarily saying we are going to stay up because I feel it is in the balance – not because we aren’t picking up results (we are), but I’m concerned at how other times are winning games they are not expected to, like Newcastle beating Manchester United last Sunday, Watford defeating Chelsea and Swansea grabbing wins against both Arsenal and Liverpool.

In 1983, we seemed to put all our resources into the FA Cup run, because with a squad as limited as ours it was almost impossible to go full pelt in both competitions. Remember, they were very different times and not the days of large squads. In the FA Cup semi-final in 1983 – when only one substitute was allowed – we had a 17-year-old (Kieran O’Regan) on the bench who had never previously appeared in the first team. That was how small our squad was. If the permitted substitutes had been seven then, as they are now, Brighton would not have been able to field a full bench for the Cup final. And that is a fact, not a Pep Guardiola-type hissy fit!

Our squad numbers in 1983 meant it was one or the other – staying up or reaching the FA Cup final – and I would not want to change history because those two games at Wembley provided me with memories which will last a lifetime.

Brighton can field an appropriate side against Coventry this weekend, which pays our opponents due respect but should still be enough to win without jeopardising anything in terms of injuries or fatigue ahead of an absolutely huge game at home to Swansea the following week.

Let us also not forget we are playing rather well at the moment, unlike the tail end of our 1982-83 league campaign. Our goal against Stoke City last Saturday was outstanding and would have been played a hundred times over if Manchester City, Barcelona or Real Madrid had scored it. Sadly, the Match of the Day pundits did not even comment on it!

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Brighton are unbeaten in three in the Premier League and that is decent, albeit two of those were draws at Southampton and Stoke where we conceded leads. We are giving Premier League survival a really good go and that is why I am not comparing things to 35 years ago.

There is also one other reason why this season is not a repeat of 1983. Brighton and Swansea were two of the three teams who were relegated that year, which could happen again although not on current form. The other team that went down from the top-flight in 1983 were Manchester City and, if you want a tip from me, don’t put any money on that happening this year!

@GriggoHome