Albion rewind: Going Dutch

Today we take a look at the championship-winning season of 2000/01 through the eyes of goalkeeper and Former Dutch Marine… Michel Kuipers

‘Kuips’ made nearly 300 appearances for Albion during a ten-year period when he was part of three promotion-winning squads and involved in some of the most memorable games in our more recent history.

Who can forget the penalty save that knocked Manchester City out of the League Cup in 2008 or the double stop in a televised league match at Wolves in 2002 – both ‘I was there’ moments for Albion fans of a certain vintage.

But his Seagulls career nearly stalled before it had got going. Signed in the summer of 2000 by Micky Adams, his arrival was certainly less heralded than that of his Bristol Rovers team-mate Bobby Zamora, who had scored six times in six games on loan during the previous season and whose goals would help propel his new club to back-to-back promotions.

At half-time on the opening day at Southend, Kuipers had the indignity of being substituted with Adams claiming afterwards, "If people don't do the job I expect them to do they won't be on the pitch.” Albion lost 2-0 despite some fine saves from replacement Mark Cartwright.

Kuipers can afford to smile now as he reflects on his debut nearly two decades later. “Yes, not the best of starts to my Brighton career! Paul Rogers was taken off as well and we lost so Micky wasn’t very happy. I had to get my head down and work my way back into his plans. Because I’d been in the Marines, I had no trouble with my fitness, but I had to prove my skills were good enough and it took a few weeks before I got my place back.”

That Roots Hall setback was one of three defeats Adams’ new-look Albion suffered in their first four league games and they lost in the first round of the League Cup to Millwall. Kuipers was restored to the team on 6th October for a 2-0 win at Hull City and by then Albion were hitting their stride. Victory at Boothferry Park – Hull’s dilapidated former home – was one of six in seven games as autumn turned to winter.

“We had some good players and, of course, we had Bobby who was a natural in front of goal,” Michel adds. “And once the team settled, it more or less picked itself unless there was an injury. But that didn’t happen very often because you didn’t want to lose your place, so sometimes you played through the pain a little bit. Guys like Danny Cullip, Charlie Oatway, Richard Carpenter and Paul Watson were very strong characters. You needed that mentality to succeed. We looked out for each other.”

There was the occasional bump in the road. In late October Albion lost 1-0 at Chesterfield, the side along with Cardiff who were emerging as their main rivals. But Albion only lost five league games over the next five months and, after completing the double over Hull at Withdean with a 3-0 victory in March, they embarked upon an unbeaten run of 12 games, eight of which were won.

Now more settled into their new home at Withdean, Albion only lost twice in the league at home that season – its unique surrounds certainly catching opponents unaware. “It did give us an advantage in the early days because teams would turn up who’d never experienced anything like Withdean,” Michel smiles.

“It wasn’t a traditional football ground. I’d played in stadiums in Holland which had a running track around them, but it was almost unheard of in England. It’s funny, when I signed, Micky said Brighton’s new stadium would be built in 18 months – it took 11 years in the end!”

Promotion was clinched on 1st May in front of 6,847 at Withdean when Danny Cullip’s second-half header sealed a 1-0 win over Chesterfield. “They ended up getting a nine-point deduction [for contravening Football League regulations], but we wanted to win the title by enough points so that we’d have been champions whether they’d had a deduction or not,” Kuips adds.

“We deserved the title no question. We had a solid team and everyone knew their roles. Even now, almost 20 years later, I always say that was the start of the re-birth of the club. Tony Bloom came in and took it to another level of course and it’s great to see where it is today – I’m still a massive fan.”