Back in the early 1970s Albion were given the nickname Dolphins as the result of a newspaper competition. If you went to the equivalent of the club shop at the Goldstone Ground back then your souvenir would be of the rubbery-skinned aquatic mammal. It never caught on.
The Albion-Palace rivalry was barely established in 1976, when both teams were going for promotion from the old Third Division. Hooliganism was starting to take hold in English football and the Goldstone wasn’t immune. In fact, the club’s first ‘hooligan’ rivals were Luton Town. Throwing toilet rolls at rival fans and post-match pitch invasions eventually morphed into fighting between fans outside and inside grounds. At the Goldstone, rival supporters weren’t segregated until 1978.
Before the first game of the 1974-75 season, 400 Palace supporters spent Friday night sleeping on Brighton beach and 21 fans were arrested in disturbances ahead of kick-off. The crowd of 26,000 was the biggest opening-day attendance at the Goldstone for 15 years and saw Albion win 1-0 thanks to a goal from Ian Mellor.
40 miles up the A23 at Selhurst Park, and under the flamboyant Malcolm Allison, Palace had undergone a bit of a rebrand. They dumped their old nickname of ‘The Glaziers’ to ‘The Eagles’ in 1973 and Palace fans began chanting ‘Eagles, Eagles’ as terrace culture took hold at Selhurst Park and other English grounds.
Fast forward to 1975/76. Albion won the first meeting at Selhurst Park 1-0 in front of 26,000 – 27% higher than Palace’s average gate that season. The return on a Tuesday night in February 1976 attracted a 33,000 sell-out – the sixth highest gate in Albion’s history which included 4,200 Palace supporters. Twenty extra stewards were employed as ‘crowd packers’ to ensure that as many people as possible were crammed onto the Goldstone’s terraces.
Smoke bombs were hurled onto the pitch and at one stage referee Ron Challis threatened to take the teams off. Palace fans started to sing: ‘Eagles, Eagles’ and Albion fans responded.
Club historian Tim Carder takes up the story. “Over Christmas 1975 a group of them (including future Albion director Derek Chapman) at The Bosun pub in West Street came up with a response to counter the vocal threat from Palace. Actually, they’d had four home games to try out their new idea before 24th February without much joy, but against Palace themselves their efforts paid off spectacularly.
"As “Eagles” was chanted by the visiting fans, there was at first a small cry of “Seagulls, Seagulls!” probably emanating from the North Stand, but then it began to spread around the ground as more and more Albion supporters heard it and joined in. Before long the chant of “Seagulls” was coming from all parts of the Goldstone, reverberating into the cold night air and drowning out the cries of “Eagles”.
“This was the right time, place and circumstance for “Seagulls” to take off. For the vast majority in the crowd that night it was a spontaneous and highly apt riposte to an opposition chant, and everyone just took to it. It was truly a marvellous, organic moment from the heart of Albion fandom.
"Over the next few games it was clear that a genuine new nickname had been born, arising from the club’s supporters. The “Seagulls” name, chant and image all combined over the next few years to strengthen the bond between the club and its growing support. This was an even more dramatic re-branding than Palace’s; so much so that the club had to ditch its stock of dolphin souvenirs – and it all stemmed from Palace’s own change!”
It was some night on the pitch too. Albion won 2-0 thanks to goals from Sammy Morgan.
“The Palace fans present at the Goldstone that night were left reeling,” adds Carder. “Not only had they seen their promotion-seeking team well beaten by the relatively unheralded team from the Sussex coast (who moved into second place), but they had also had their special war cry appropriated, modified and flung back at them en masse. That, surely, would have led to resentment amongst the Palace fanbase towards Brighton & Hove Albion supporters.
“Equally, Albion fans delighted in seeing their team beat the much-vaunted “big club” from 40-odd miles up the line and their annoying manager; and they revelled in the birth of a new nickname at the expense of the Palace fans.”
It was the night the Albion-Palace rivalry took off.
*Extract from issue 78 of The Albion Chronicle, the magazine of the Brighton & Hove Albion Heritage Society.