Rival fans will put aside their differences to play a charity football match in memory of a victim of the US terrorist attacks.

Albion supporters will join fans of arch-rivals Crystal Palace for a game on November 9, organised in honour of Seagulls fan Robert Eaton who worked in the World Trade Centre.

The match is being organised by members of Albion chatroom web site North Stand Chat (NSC), to which Robert was a regular contributor under the name Ricky Marlowe's Hairpiece.

It is hoped the game will become an annual charity event in which rival supporters will compete for the Robert Eaton Memorial trophy.

The fans have even managed to track down the real Ricky Marlowe, a former fringe Albion player from the mid-Seventies, who has agreed to play in the match.

Now 58 and living in Edinburgh, Ricky readily agreed to take part when he heard Robert had been using his name as a pseudonym on the NSC web site.

Fans were stunned when they heard Robert, 37, was among the thousands of people feared dead in the terrorist attacks.

During the last fortnight, the new club flag has been dedicated in his name while an Albion jersey and several pages of tributes were taken to New York and left in a memorial square.

Proceeds from next month's match will go to a football academy for underprivileged children in New York being set up in Robert's name by his wife, Jacqui.

Organiser Gareth Glover, 39, said: "We had been thinking about a match between players in North Stand Chat when the Crystal Palace fans started posting on the web site they would play us.

"It's a nice touch that Crystal Palace will be involved. It means two rival clubs coming together for a good cause."

He said fans also hoped to persuade several Brighton-based celebrities to get involved.

The match, at Southwick Football Club, will kick off at 7.45pm.

Entry, with a programme, is £2. There will also be a raffle and an auction on the night offering a two-week holiday in Tenerife.

All proceeds from the match will go to the Robert Eaton Memorial Fund/Football Academy for underprivileged children in New York.