Seb Carole was the tricky winger from near Paris, via Monaco, who brought a touch of French flair to muddy afternoons at Withdean.

He delighted fans with his skills on the right in the days of Mark McGhee and Bob Booker.

Getting on for two decades late, he will be watching his old club take on Marseille via a TV at home in Wetherby.

Carole has settled in Yorkshire ever since signing for Leeds United after that initial sparkling season with the Seagulls.

He is one of surprisingly few French connections for the club.

But he was something of a trailblazer, along with his Belgian colleague Alexandre Frutos on the other wing.

Having a player from Monaco felt so exciting at the time.

Carole joined Albion after a previous loan at West Ham and has never returned to live in France.

His eldest son Keenan, a baby back in those Withdean days, is now in the second year of his first professional contract with Leeds United.

Carole said: “What happened? Basically, life happened. I’ve got three kids and they were all brought up in England with English educations.

“They have got their social lives here.

“If we had to go back to France, our window was probably when I left Brighton for the first time.

“But I went to Leeds and we decided to stay for the sake of the kids because they have got everything here.

“We stayed in Yorkshire. It’s a great area to raise kids.

“They have got great friends and it’s kind of difficult to think about going back to France.”

Carole has not ruled out a return to his hometown Pontoise, just outside Paris, when his youngest, who is nine, is older, saying he and his wife miss their families.

As it is, he looks on from afar knowing the challenges off the field which the many foreign players face.

He said: “My first time was on loan from Monaco to West Ham 2004.

“I wanted to go there but my manager at Monaco advised me that it wasn’t the right fit for me in terms of football.

“It was really hard. My wife was pregnant with Keenan and I don’t think it was the right time to move to a foreign country. I was only 20.

“West Ham looked after us well but regardless it was really hard. I didn’t speak a word of English.

“It was a nightmare for my missus because she was travelling between England and France just to get a doctor’s appointment every month.

“When I came to Brighton in 2005 we were in a better frame of mind to come to England.

“I came by myself at first to sort out accommodation, see how life was in Brighton, so I could get everything ready for my wife and Keenan, who was one year old.

“The fact we took time to get settled made it easier.

“The club really helped us a lot, finding the right flat.

“If you remember Colin Kazim-Richards, helped me a lot with everything.

“Trying to sort out the TV, lots of things in life in general.

“As for the football, after a couple of months I was settled.”

Carole arrived as a midfielder but his trickery was best suited to the wing.

The football was completely different to what he had been used to.

He said: “I was a trainee at Monaco and the football we played was attractive football where you have to retain possession, play out from the back, play short passes and try to build the way forward.

“Brighton was more old school. Not kick and rush but a bit more long-ball, more direct.

“It felt like a volleyball game sometimes. The midfield was just the net!

“But I enjoyed it in the first season, performed well.

“The second and third times I was there weren’t the same.”

But English football now is not as English as it was.

“I 100% agree. We could see that coming with the amount of money they were putting in to developing academies, trying to produce better young players and trying to basically copy the French model or the Dutch or Spanish models, even German model.

“Football-wise I think it is easier for foreign players to settle now. We are all playing the same way.

“All teams try to play out from the back, try to play the right way.

“If it’s not on, they go a bit more direct.

“But it’s not just a long ball, it’s a long pass.”

Carole is thrilled to see the progress made by Albion with Tony Bloom and can remember the battle to secure permission and funding for the Amex.

He traces the on-field progress back to Gus Poyet’s influence.

And he will be intrigued to see how they cope this week.

He said: “Marseille has good and bad. Everybody there supports Marseille. They are crazy about it.

“Brighton should expect a big, big atmosphere. It’s like playing in Turkey.

“They are going to try to get into your head.

“But I don’t think Marseille know much about Brighton.

“I think they will be surprised and that is what Brighton should play with - that element of surprise. They don’t know us.”

Carole was in touch with his compatriot Florent Chaigneau, the former Albion goalkeeper for a while.

“He came on trial at Leeds, he did really well. Dennis Wise was our manager, I think.

“But he didn’t get signed and we lost touch.”

But his main contact from those Withdean days is his French-speaking fellow winger, Frutos.

“He lives in Lille. He’s 41, like me, and he only stopped playing last season.

“He is with his wife and his kid and he has opened a furniture business which is going well for him.”

ALBION'S FRENCH CONNECTION - WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Anthony Knockaert: The popular winger recently returned to his homeland and joined struggling Valenciennes in the second tier.

Romain Vincelot: The former defender or midfielder, who also had a stint at Crawley, is now a personal trainer in Niort.

Georges Santos: One of the very few connections between Albion and Marseille. The former centre-back is now an international scout at West Ham having had a similar role at OM for almost four years.

The Argus: Alexis Bertin (left) and David Martot meet up in Le Havre

Alexis Bertin: The former midfielder is now manager of a gym in his home city of Le Havre and head coach of Deauville in the sixth tier.

David Martot: Like Bertin, the ex-midfielder is back in Le Havre. He has a day job with fruit syrup manufacturers Teisseire and is head coach of seventh-tier Octeville.

Seb Carole: Lives in Wetherby. Has worked as a football agent but is now operations manager with a transport company, manages a local Sunday league side and keeps an eye on the career of his son Keenan at Leeds.

Florent Chaigneau: The giant former goalkeeper hung up his gloves and became a salesman for a central heating company back in Brittany. He was until recently the goalkeeping coach at his local amateur club US Montagnarde.