Brighton 2003/4 team celebrate 'springboard' play-off win

When Leon Knight struck the ball low past Steve Phillips from the penalty spot Brighton were sent into raptures as the club headed back to the Championship.

Now, as the club soar to new heights with their first season in Europe, the team behind that win say that everyone in the squad played their part in Albion’s ongoing success.

Leon Knight slots home the winning penalty

Assistant manager Bob Brooker said that after a last-ditch Adam Virgo header and penalties had saved Albion in the semi-final against Swindon, the squad had “hunger in their eyes” heading into the Millennium Stadium.

He said: “One of my memories is of turning up at the stadium and Mark [McGhee, Albion manager] asked to stop the coach. He put on a CD and the lads were wondering what was going on – it was We Could Be Heroes by David Bowie.

“He pulled another masterstroke just before the game. There wasn’t much of a team talk but he got a whiteboard and wrote down all the teams in our division on one side and all the teams in the division above on the other.

“He asked us did we want to be playing against the likes of Leeds or did we want to stay where we were.”

Having come down from the then Football League First Division the season before, the club were eager to regain promotion at the first attempt.

But for many fans, the opportunity to play at a state-of-the-art stadium like the Millennium was not about promotion but promoting the need for a new ground.

Albion's play-off winning team celebrate (Image: PA)

Banners were unfurled inside in a “military precise campaign” said Paul Samrah, one of the men behind the Falmer For All campaign.

He said: “That game was all about getting the message across – the win was the reward for all the campaigning we had done.

“At Withdean we were playing in front of six or seven thousand fans but here we were able to take 30,000. It proved there was demand for the product.

“I’m enormously proud of what we achieved, none of us dreamed this level of success would be possible but now we anything was possible.

“There are people, some of whom have now passed, who worked their socks off and I’m proud and grateful for everyone who helped.”

One the full-time whistle went fans and players were jubilant to see Albion climb back to the Championship at the first time of asking.

For the players, the game played out much like their season with tight, organised football.

“No one wanted extra time and penalties, play-offs can be cruel”, said Guy Butters. He knew better than most having missed out on promotion with Gillingham five years before despite being 2-0 up at 90 minutes.

He said: “We knew most of our season was about being really tight and being really cagey and really well organised.

“It was an achievement getting there. To get through and win was vitally important for us.

Guy Butters, right, called the play-off win a springboard moment for the club

“As soon as we scored we had something to defend.

“On the way to the stadium we saw Bristol City fans everywhere. I think a lot of Brighton fans got in the stadium early.

“I’ve got a picture on my living room wall of the stadium that day and all the blue on one side. It was two teams calling each other out.

“I nearly missed the photos of the trophy lift because I had been spraying fans with champagne.”

Looking back 20 years on, Butters says that play-off win helped to springboard Albion on their journey to where they are now.

As Bob Brooker said, “I feel as if I played my part towards that climb, everyone up from the tea lady has helped in some way”.

As the club looks ahead to more Premier League success, it’s clear that Albion can look back to 2004 as a big part of where they have come from.