Albion Nostalgia: Brighton & Hove Albion consolidated play-off push with victory over Leicester in 1991

There have been a number of memorable encounters in league and cup, the first of which was in 1931, when we were drawn in the third round of the FA Cup at Filbert Street.

At the time, Leicester were a well-established first division side, and the crowd of nearly 26,000 expected an easy victory. Despite being a third division club, Albion came from behind to win 2-1, with Potter Smith scoring both.

Sixty years later, in February 1991, we welcomed the Foxes to the Goldstone for a Division Two fixture. Stakes were high because, due to a league re-structure, four promotion places were available at the end of the season. We were tucked nicely in sixth place, but Leicester were struggling at the wrong end of the table.

Albion manager Barry Lloyd was keen for his players to maintain their focus on league matters, despite the distraction of recent games against Liverpool in the FA Cup, and Crystal Palace in the prestigious Zenith Data Systems Cup. Both games had been lost (Liverpool after a thrilling replay), and we really needed to concentrate on the league campaign.

Lloyd opted for his tried and tested line-up, with Perry Digweed in goal behind a back four of Johnny Crumplin, Steve Gatting, Wayne Stemp and Ian Chapman. Stemp made just two appearances that season, to add to the two he had made the previous campaign.

He wasn’t helped by the consistency of Gary Chivers and eventually drifted into lower-league football after being released in May 1992.

The midfield impetus was provided by Dean Wilkins, John Robinson and Clive Walker. Up front, we had the potent attacking force of John Byrne, Robert Codner and Mike Small. On the bench was Bryan Wade who, despite scoring four times on his home debut a month before, couldn’t force his way into the starting line-up.

It was important we got off to a good start and after a long ball forward, the ball was fed into the box for Small to power home a header to open the scoring. Despite pressure, it remained 1-0 at the break.

Midway through the second half, the lead was extended in unusual circumstances. Codner was obstructed just ten yards from the Leicester goal-line and Wilkins thundered home the indirect free-kick with the entire Leicester team lined up between the posts.

The scoring was completed when Wade, on for Small, hooked home from close range after a Byrne shot had been saved. The 3-0 victory consolidated our position in the play-offs.

At the end of March 1991 we had risen to fourth, but after a defeat at Port Vale, we won only two of the next eight. This included an exact reverse of the scoreline when we visited Filbert Street for the return against Leicester City.

Our play-off hopes were rescued by a last-minute Wilkins free-kick against Ipswich Town on the last day of the season. Millwall were thrashed 6-2 on aggregate before we ran out of steam against Notts County in the play-off final at Wembley.

We go to the King Power Stadium on Tuesday on the back of a poor run of results. The month of March will be crucial in our bid for survival, but a positive result and performance in Leicester will help to settle everyone’s nerves!

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