A fan favourite who loved scoring spectacular goals

Main Club Sponsor

TICKETS

SHOP

Nick Szczepanik looks back on the career of Albion legend Solly March.

2026-06-05T06:00+01:00

Solly March with the signed shirt marking his 300th appearance for the club last month.

A locally-born player who has come through the ranks is always going to have a chance of becoming a fan favourite. When that player regularly gets those fans out of their seats with spectacular goals and assists, and blends that with a modest approach and an exemplary work ethic over a decade or more, the word ‘legend’ begins to feel appropriate.

Solly March announced his arrival on the Albion scene with a memorable goal in a pre-season friendly at home to Norwich in 2013. Cutting in from the right, he unleashed a ferocious left-foot shot from distance that tore into the top far corner of the North Stand net. And there would be more to come.

New manager Oscar Garcia could not understand why the winger from Hailsham, signed from Lewes, had not been a squad regular before his arrival. But that changed, and Solly was showing his promise when an anterior cruciate ligament injury in a game at Derby in December 2015 cut short his progress.

But when he returned eleven months later, he looked even better. His run and cross for Anthony Knockaert to equalise at Birmingham City before Glenn Murray nodded a late winner was a turning point on the road to promotion, as was his goal in a chaotic 3-3 draw at Brentford.

Solly March celebrates after scoring what turned out to be his final Albion goal at Norwich City in January 2024. 📷 by James Boardman.

And of course it was his goal against Wigan Athletic on 17 April 2017 that proved to be the strike that secured Albion’s place in the Premier League – not a trademark blast, but a sinuous swerve past a couple of defenders and a right-foot finish. And he was rewarded with a recall to the England under-21 squad and a second Albion young player of the season award.

If he had any doubts that he could continue to shine at the top level, they soon disappeared with a teasing cross from the left that found Pascal Gross in space to score Albion’s first Premier League goal, against West Bromwich Albion. But he was equally at home on the right or at either full back position.

Strangely, as Albion attracted more TV coverage, commentators often referred to him by both his names – he was always “Solly March” as if there were other Marches on the field. Perhaps it was a subconscious nod to his Brazil-level skills, in the style of “Roberto Carlos”. (The fans, though, preferred his name spread over three words, as the “Solly, Solly March” chant to the tune of Boney M’s “Daddy Cool” regularly rang out at the Amex).

Even more mysteriously, he endured a goal drought of over two seasons between a rare right-footed strike at an empty Villa Park during the COVID outbreak in 2000 and a Solly spectacular on Boxing Day 2002 at St Mary’s.

Solly celebrates after scoring in Albion's 2-1 win at Villa Park in November 2020 when no fans were allowed inside the stadium. 📷Paul Hazlewood.

After that, though, the goals flowed again, and what goals they were – a memorable brace at home to Liverpool, the winner against Crystal Palace, and two more at Molineux early in the 2003-04 season.

Everything seemed set fair and there was even England talk. He started both of Albion’s first two games in Europe. But disaster struck again in the form of a second ACL injury, this time while doing defensive duties against Manchester City at the Etihad in October 2023.

This proved an injury too far. There were tantalising glimpses of Solly on the grass at Lancing in training photographs, occasional under-21 outings, and even a goal off the bench in the FA Cup at Norwich in January 2025. It was a reprise of his first strike against the Canaries all those years ago, a touch, a look up and a thunderbolt that nestled in that top far corner that he favoured.

But his 30-minute cameo at home to Manchester United in the final game of the season was to be his farewell appearance in the Albion shirt he wore so proudly.

He had started in the number 27, then 20, and finally the number 7, a number that has been worn by so many outstanding wide men in the past. So although the East Sussex Jairzinho may no longer be an Albion player, March 7 – as the shirt says – will always be Solly March day.