Former Albion winger Peter Sayer knows what it is like to be in a Wales team which beat England on their own territory.

Sayer was in the side which ran out 1-0 winners at Wembley in a Home International in May, 1977.

The omens for a repeat when the two countries meet in a World Cup qualifier at Old Trafford on Saturday don't look good.

That success 27 years ago was one of only three Welsh wins against the old enemy in the last 30 years and one of only 14 England have lost in 97 meetings between the countries.

Memories are clouded by time but Sayer, now 49, says that result was one of the highlights of his career.

He said: "We got a penalty near the end which Leighton James put away and that was it.

"It is hard to remember everything about it. Like a Cup final, the day passes you by a bit but it is great to look back on.

"I also played for Wales in a World Cup qualifier against Scotland, which I remember for the wrong reasons as we lost. But playing England at Wembley was great. It was the only time I played there."

Nine months after that famous Welsh win, Sayer turned up on the south coast.

Alan Mullery paid Cardiff City £100,000 for Sayer, who had seven Wales caps to his name by then.

The player went on to make 64 appearances for Albion over the next two years, scoring six goals and playing a key role as Albion reached the top flight of English football for the only time in the clubs history.

Sayer was in the team as the Seagulls clinched promotion to the old First Division with a 3-1 win at Newcastle on the final day of the 1978-79 season but he recalls his move to Albion came out of the blue.

He said: "I had burst into the Cardiff team and we had a great run in the FA Cup. I had also got into the Welsh squad and it had propelled me into being a saleable asset.

"Cardiff were struggling for cash and had the idea of selling me. Alan Mullery offered £100,000 and off I went. It was a transfer totally out of my hands."

Sayer had caught Mullery's eye with a dazzling display for Cardiff at the Goldstone four months earlier and, after making his debut midway through the 1977-78 campaign, he went on to impress the Goldstone faithful during a two-year spell with the club.

He said: "They were great times. We were getting crowds of 30,000 every week and we had a really good side.

"We missed out on promotion by a small margin the first year but carried things on for the second year when we went up.

"They were happy times and it was like a big family down there.

"I have never been back down there and that is one of my biggest regrets."

Sayer played the first 14 games of Albions inaugural season in the First Division before being replaced in midfield by the versatile Mark Lawrenson, who he still keeps in touch with.

At the start of the following campaign Sayer was sold to Preston for £85,000 and he has lived in the town ever since.

He regrets leaving Albion. He said: "It was a bad move dropping out of the First Division with Brighton although it seemed an obvious move to me at the time.

"Alan Mullery was bringing in lots of new players and I was one of the ones surplus to requirements. It was disappointing because I thought I was playing well for the reserves at the time."

After short spells at Cardiff and Chester, he dropped into non-league football and ran a pub in Preston for ten years. Further work came with Preston North End's football in the community scheme and then their commercial department.

These days Sayer is bar manager at Preston Golf Club, one of the area's premier clubs, and he also coaches in the West Lancashire League.

His involvement with Mossley Reserves means he will probably miss Saturdays showdown between England and Wales but he refuses to rule out a repeat of that 1977 scoreline.

He said: "I think a draw is probably the best they can ask for but you never know.

"It always adds an different edge when you are playing against England."