Tommy Elphick proud of career after confirming retirement

The centre-back made only his third start for his hometown club.

Playing alongside veteran Guy Butters, he learnt lessons that August night in 2007 which he still holds dear to this day.

The Seagulls go to the Welsh capital in the second round of the Carabao Cup next week.

Fourteen years ago, they made the trip for a first-round tie as a low-budget League One side based at Withdean.

The underdogs pushed their fancied Championship hosts before losing to an extra-time goal.

It was the third of 384 senior starts in a playing career which Elphick last night confirmed was over as he looks to a new coaching role.

He said: “I’ve worked with some wonderful coaches, going back to the Brighton days.

“People like Dean Wilkins, Martin Hinshelwood, Vic Bragg.

“Managers like Gus Poyet, Eddie Howe, Dean Smith, Steve Bruce. They are so good.

“But, when you get a chance to play two or three seasons with someone like Guy Butters when he gets to the end of his career, it’s brilliant.

“He sees a young kid he wants to help and bring the best out of.

“It was the most wonderful education.

“There are things he would have taught me in that first game at Cardiff which I’d have carried with me to my last game at Brentford.

“One of his greatest lessons was all the time people are in front of you, you have still got a chance of getting the ball.

“When I was breaking through at Brighton I played on my emotions, was quite a passionate player.

“He used to calm me down and give me a pat on the back or a smack around the head. He was the most brilliant teacher.”

Elphick is proud of a career which brought four promotions.

But he still recalls that big first night – including the travel chaos on the way to the ground.

He said: “It was Ninian Park and they were expecting to get out of the Championship that season.

“I think we were delayed getting to the stadium.

“I’d had a terrific pre-season. I’d had a taste of it the previous season and I was ready to take off.

“A lot of it was down to the schooling I got from the academy and from Guy Butters.

“The game has changed. A lot of people now don’t seem interested in taking these kids under their wing.

“The likes of Charlie Oatway, Danny Cullip, Guy Butters, Richard Carpenter, Kerry Mayo or Gary Hart would always take a shine to a young lad who was coming through and trying to do it the right way.

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“I took huge pride in helping young players, trying to be an example to them.

“I remembered my debut at Cardiff when I played in a game at MK Dons a few years later, when Lewis Dunk made his debut.

“I was trying to be the same sort of foil for him that day as Guy Butters was for me.

“Then going down to Bournemouth and trying to do the same for Cooky (Steve Cook).”

Promotion to the Prem as Bournemouth skipper was a highlight for Elphick.

But he also takes huge pride in how he overcame injuries.

He revealed his career could have ended a decade ago with Albion after he ruptured his Achilles on the final day of the victorious 2010-11 season at Notts County.

He said: “The proudest thing I’ve done is come back from injuries.

“I had five operations before I joined Bournemouth at 23.

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“To go on and do what I’ve done there felt like I’d swum the Channel!

“At one stage I remember sitting in a Portacabin at training at Brighton and thinking my career was over.

“I went back to my mum and dad’s house in Woodingdean and we had a serious chat about what life after football looked like at that stage.

“To go on and help take a club to the Premier League, then captain Aston Villa – I’m content with what I’ve done.

“Injuries seem to have determined my career and my life but they have also led to good things.

“I’m a believer that these things happen for a reason.”

One last serious injury - a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament while with Huddersfield - and a ninth operation suggested to Elphick, who turns 34 next month, it was time to turn the page.

He said: “I’ve always thought my life in football would be 30 or 40 years rather than a 15 or 20-year playing career.

“I’m very relaxed with it, very comfortable with it. Very content with what I’ve done.

“I’ve played for some wonderful clubs in front of some brilliant fans.

“I’ve managed to have four promotions.

“I had promotion with my hometown club.

“We went on an unbelievable run at Bournemouth.

“I managed to captain one of the biggest clubs in the country (Aston Villa) and help contribute to getting them back where they belong.

“I don’t need to be out searching to do more.

“It’s a young man’s game and I’d rather be a young, aspiring coach than an old, declining player.”

Elphick accepts the centre-back's game has changed a lot since his early days as a player.

But maybe not that much compared to the way he and his Albion colleagues were brought up.

He said: "There is a huge physical demand and you are expected to be better on the ball now.

TOMMY ELPHICK CONFIRMS HIS RETIREMENT AS A PLAYER

"But we always had forward-thinking coaches, people like Dean Wilkins.

"He is up there with the very best I’ve seen - and I’ve seen enough to know what good and bad looks like.

"We were always taught to be able to handle the ball, taught to defend high up the pitch.

"The game has got a lot quicker and there is a bigger demand on the physical side.

"But the basics are still the same and I think we are seeing sometimes the basics are overlooked and not taught.

"As a centre-half, you still need them."

That is why he can see Shane Duffy keeping himself in Graham Potter's plans after his second 'debut' at Burnley.

Elphick fulfilled an ambition to play for one of the country's biggest clubs when he joined Villa.

But they were in poor shape at the time and the loan did not go as desired.

So, to a degree, he can put himself in the shoes of Duffy after his ordeal at Celtic.

Elphick, who rebuilt his own confidence with a loan at Hull, said: “What he went through resonates with me.

“There are big similarities between the two clubs – Celtic and Villa. You go there with big hopes and it doesn’t quite go to plan, it can knock you.

“Sport is all about confidence, especially when you are a centre-half.

“You seem to grow a couple of inches, you feel a yard quicker, you are a little bit stronger when you are a little bit confident.

“Can he play a part for Brighton? Until you are given that run of games and that education by the manager, you don’t deserve to be judged on whether you can or can’t do it.

“But I think he has proved he can do it at the top level.

“It would be fairer to judge at the end of this run of games he might get rather than the beginning of it.”