| Date | Versus | H/A | Score | Scorers | Position | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8/8/98 | Carlisle Utd. | A | L 0-1 | n/a | I went to this game. As did about 500 other Brighton fans: best away support in the division! But it wasn't that great. At this point we still thought we'd be facing another season of struggle. | |
| 15/8/98 | Chester C. | H | D 2-2 | Barker, own goal | 19th | Came back from 0-2 down. Last draw for a very long time. |
| 22/8/98 | Brentford | A | L 0-2 | 22nd | ||
| 29/8/98 | Torquay U. | H | W 2-0 | Minton (pen), Hart | 17th | First win of the season! We'd only won six games the season before - these were rare and precious things..... |
| 31/8/98 | Scarborough | A | W 2-1 | Minton, Hart | 10th | A trip to the coast for me to watch a completely different team than at Carlisle, not in personnel but in attitude. Running, tackling, passing, going all out to win the game and doing so quite comfortably with two excellent goals. My first win as an Albion spectator for yonks and a thoroughly enjoyable experience. |
| 5/9/98 | Swansea C. | H | W 1-0 | Hart | 10th | Three wins in a row for the first time in 4 seasons. |
| 8/9/98 | Exeter C. | A | L 0-1 | 11th | It couldn't last.... | |
| 12/9/98 | Southend U. | H | L 0-2 | 15th | ||
| 19/9/98 | L. Orient | A | L 0-1 | 19th | Albion fans hate Orient at the moment. The club more than the other fans, a real grudge has developed over bad treatment at the Orient ground over the last few years. So this was especially galling, not to mention that all the optimism built up with three wins in a row had drained away as the club slipped back towards the bottom. | |
| 26/9/98 | Scunthorpe U. | H | L 1-3 | Hart | 21st | We'd only won six games in 1997/98, but two of them were over Scunthorpe! But this abject display at home against that very team seemed to indicate that we were going to struggle to win six again this year.... |
| 3/10/98 | Cardiff C. | A | L 0-2 | 22nd | Apparently this one really was the pits, and Cardiff should have had six. | |
| 9/10/98 | Cambridge U. | A | W 3-2 | Thomas, Allan, Minton (pen) | 20th | Then, a pleasant surprise! New signing Rod Thomas impresses on his debut and the rot is (temporarily) stopped. But only temporarily. |
| 17/10/98 | Mansfield T. | H | L 1-3 | Moralee | 22nd | |
| 20/10/98 | Plymouth A. | H | L 1-3 | Barker | 23rd | Cambridge seemed a false dawn, however. Two 1-3 home defeats in three days against teams that, no offence, we would have expected to squash ten years before..... and 91st in the league again. The season yawned up before us like an abyss. Bleugh. |
| 24/10/98 | Barnet | A | W 1-0 | Ifejiagwa | 19th | Then... THE TURNING POINT. Three new players, one of whom (Ifejiagwa) only stayed two games because of work permit problems but on his debut scored the winner in this second successive away win. The climb up the table started HERE. |
| 31/10/98 | Hartlepool U. | H | W 3-2 | Minton 2, Thomas | 16th | Breaking the run of five successive home defeats. |
| 7/11/98 | Darlington | A | W 2-1 | Hart, Minton (pen) | 13th | In the two previous seasons I'd gone to the Darlington game but had to go to a conference this time. So it was very pleasant to open up the paper on Birmingham New Street station platform and see that we'd come from behind to win for the first time this season! Three consecutive away wins, three consecutive wins, and things were suddenly looking OK again. |
| 10/11/98 | Hull C. | A | W 2-0 | Barker, Hart | 11th | Three days later, another trip to the North-East, and the club equal a 60-year-old record for consecutive away wins. |
| 21/11/98 | Halifax T. | H | L 0-1 | 13th | A blip. The cup defeat at the hated Orient (see below) and this. Apparently we should have won but the ball just wouldn't go in the net, this time. | |
| 28/11/98 | Shrewsbury T. | A | W 3-1 | Hart, Minton, Barker | 11th | The record is broken: our fifth consecutive away win, with a goal from each of the top marksmen. |
| 12/12/98 | Rotherham U. | H | W 4-1 | Barker 2, Hart, Minton | 10th | The best win of the lot. Rotherham were sixth but were slaughtered by a second-half assault. |
| 19/12/98 | Rochdale | A | L 1-2 | Mayo | 11th | The run ends. Why? 'Cos I was there watching them, that's why. A game that could have gone either way but Rochdale won with a goal in the last minute. We never stopped trying for the win, however, a sign of a team playing with confidence and belief. Thoughts of avoiding relegation again were irrelevant: promotion is the goal. |
| 26/12/98 | Brentford | H | W 3-1 | Arnott, Thomas, Minton | 9th | Brentford were 2nd, bankrolled by Ron Noades, and were as comprehensively stuffed as any Xmas turkey. |
| 28/12/98 | Peterborough U. | A | W 2-1 | Barker 2 | 7th | Brighton rise to their highest position in any league for some 8 seasons, in a play-off spot, with this second instalment of Xmas fun. |
| 2/1/99 | Torquay U. | A | D 1-1 | Arnott | 7th | First draw since August. A somewhat depleted Albion struggle a little, but still come away with a point. |
| 9/1/99 | Carlisle U. | H | L 1-3 | Hart | 7th | A poor performance, the worst for some time. A bad result. |
| 15/1/99 | Chester C. | A | D 1-1 | Armstrong (pen) | 9th | Still a depleted team, so nicking a draw in this one shouldn't be seen as too bad. |
| 23/1/99 | Scarborough | H | W 1-0 | Armstrong | 8th | The first game post-Horton, the first win of 1999. Still on course. |
| 30/1/99 | Peterborough U. | H | W 1-0 | Barker | 7th | Two wins out of two for caretaker-manager Jeff Wood. |
| 5/2/99 | Swansea C. | A | D 2-2 | Johnson 2 | 7th | Wood's first game in full-time charge. |
| 13/2/99 | Exeter C. | H | L 0-1 | 8th | A dire performance by all accounts. Let's hope it's a one-off. | |
| 20/2/99 | Southend U. | A | L 0-3 | 9th | Mmmm.... maybe it wasn't. Heaviest defeat of the season. | |
| 27/2/99 | L. Orient | H | L 1-2 | Nicholls | 13th | A better performance, especially with half a team, but that's still three defeats in a row with two tough games to come. |
| 6/3/99 | Scunthorpe U. | A | L 1-3 | Ryan | 13th | |
| 9/3/99 | Cardiff C. | H | L 0-2 | 13th | ||
| 13/3/99 | Darlington | H | L 0-4 | 13th | As you can see, things definitely did not improve. This was the nadir. Suddenly from a play-off spot we slump to being relegation candidates again. Ridiculous - can a change of manager be so devastating? | |
| 20/3/99 | Hartlepool U. | A | D 0-0 | 14th | We stopped the run of defeats (Hartlepool never beat us anyway) but I was there and it wasn't a pretty match. A team totally lacking in confidence against one lacking greatly in bite. It was always going to be nil-something. We never looked like we'd score. | |
| 27/3/99 | Barnet | H | L 0-1 | 17th | Even worse. Barnet were still below us. If we can't beat them, are we going to get another point all season? Let alone a goal? | |
| 3/4/99 | Mansfield T. | A | L 0-2 | 17th | ||
| 5/4/99 | Cambridge U. | H | L 1-3 | Hart | 18th | The final straw for Jeff Wood. After 11 games in charge - 2 draws, 9 defeats - and having seen the side slump from play-off spot to relegation dogfight, it's goodbye Jeff Wood. A shame, but the results speak for themselves.... |
| 10/4/99 | Plymouth A. | A | W 2-1 | Hart, Moralee | 15th | And as if by magic: the luck changed, the clouds drift away... suddenly it's alright again. Funny game, football. |
| 13/4/99 | Shrewsbury T. | H | W 1-0 | Hart | 13th | First game in charge for former Fulham boss Micky Adams. A win in terrible weather, and a promising start. |
| 17/4/99 | Halifax T. | A | L 0-1 | 15th | A good performance but no luck. Other results leave us definitely safe, however, and it's time to concentrate on next season. | |
| 24/4/99 | Hull C. | H | D 0-0 | 14th | ||
| 1/5/99 | Rotherham U. | A | L 1-2 | Moralee | 16th | A good game which I attended, a nice day in South Yorkshire. A last-minute winner made it a fruitless trip for Albion fans, however - Rotherham qualifying for the play-offs with this win. |
| 8/5/99 | Rochdale | H | D 1-1 | Barker | 17th | Another last-minute goal prevents the last game at Gillingham ending in a win - here's to the return to Brighton next season!! |
Nationwide League Division Three: 1998-99 season
FINAL TABLE
Pos Team P W D L F A W D L F A Pts ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 Brentford 46 16 5 2 45 18 10 2 11 34 38 85 2 Cambridge United 46 13 6 4 41 21 10 6 7 37 27 81 3 Cardiff City 46 13 7 3 35 17 9 7 7 25 22 80 ________________________________________________________________________ 4 Scunthorpe United 46 14 3 6 42 28 8 5 10 27 30 74 5 Rotherham United 46 11 8 4 41 26 9 5 9 38 35 73 6 Leyton Orient 46 12 6 5 40 30 7 9 7 28 29 72 7 Swansea City 46 11 9 3 33 19 8 5 10 23 29 71 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 8 Mansfield Town 46 15 2 6 38 18 4 8 11 22 40 67 9 Peterborough United 46 11 4 8 41 29 7 8 8 31 27 66 10 Halifax Town 46 10 8 5 33 25 7 7 9 25 31 66 11 Darlington 46 10 6 7 41 24 8 5 10 28 34 65 12 Exeter City 46 13 5 5 32 18 4 7 12 15 32 63 13 Plymouth Argyle 46 11 6 6 32 19 6 4 13 26 35 61 14 Chester City 46 6 12 5 28 30 7 6 10 29 36 57 15 Shrewsbury Town 46 11 6 6 36 29 3 8 12 16 34 56 16 Barnet 46 10 5 8 30 31 4 8 11 24 40 55 17 Brighton & Hove Alb. 46 8 3 12 25 35 8 4 11 24 31 55 18 Southend United 46 8 6 9 24 21 6 6 11 28 37 54 19 Rochdale 46 9 8 6 22 21 4 7 12 20 34 54 20 Torquay United 46 9 9 5 29 20 3 8 12 18 38 53 21 Hull City 46 8 5 10 25 28 6 6 11 19 34 53 22 Hartlepool United 46 8 7 8 33 27 5 5 13 19 38 51 23 Carlisle United 46 8 8 7 25 21 3 8 12 18 32 49 ________________________________________________________________________ 24 Scarborough 46 8 3 12 30 39 6 3 14 20 38 48
| 14/11/98 | L. Orient | A | 2-4 | Barker, Mayo | See above for the lowdown on Orient. Again, not helped by this game. Three goals from Orient's Richards finished our interest in the Cup. Ah well - concentrate on the league, isn't that what they say? |
| 11/8/98 | Northampton T. | A | 1-2 | Storer | ||
| 25/8/98 | Northampton T. | H | 1-1 | Barker | An aggregate defeat over Div.2 Northampton, but no shame, unlike many previous League Cup exploits. Albion were heading towards a win on away goals until an extra time goal ruined the dream. Northampton went on to beat West Ham in the next round. |
| 5/1/99 | Millwall | H | 1-5 | Moralee | Does anybody really care about this competition? The players certainly didn't. Not quite as one-sided as the score suggests, but we'd certainly stopped bothering by the end. |
13 goals: Gary Hart
12 goals: Richie Barker
9: Jeff Minton
4: Jamie Moralee
3: Rod Thomas
2: Kerry Mayo, Andy Arnott, Paul Armstrong, Ross Johnson
1: Stuart Storer, Emeka Ifejiagwa, Kevin Nicholls, Darragh Ryan, Derek Allan, own goals
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