Cup Rivals Who Did Time In Both Camps 

Brighton were the third club Freddie Goodwin had taken Geoff Sidebottom to and the Yorkshireman vied for the keeper’s jersey at the Goldstone Ground with local lad Brian Powney.

He revelled in the prospect of facing his old club, though, in a Wednesday-night third-round League Cup tie played in front of a packed house.

John Vinicombe spoke to Sidebottom before the big game and quoted him in his Evening Argus preview as saying: “It’s always nice to play against your old club and I know what this draw means to our supporters. They don’t come much bigger than the Wolves – wherever they play, the crowds flock to see them.”

At a time when Brighton’s average crowd for Division Three games was around 12,000, no fewer than 32,539 packed in to see if the underdogs could pull off a remarkable hat-trick, having previously vanquished higher League opposition in the shape of Portsmouth and Birmingham.

The size of the crowd certainly wouldn’t have fazed Sidebottom. When he made his Wolves debut 11 years earlier in the Black Country derby against the other Albion, it was in front of 48,898 at The Hawthorns.

Although Allan Gilliver and Eddie Spearritt had Brighton 2-1 up at half-time, Wolves ultimately showed their superiority when Hugh Curran got the ball past Sidebottom twice in eight second-half minutes to secure a 3-2 victory. But what of Sidebottom as time moved on?

It was in another knock-out match two months later, during an FA Cup second-round marathon with Walsall, that the 32-year-old sustained the first of the worrying head injuries that would ultimately force him into retirement.

The tie went to three replays before the Saddlers prevailed 2-1 but it was in the first of the four-parter that a concussed Sidebottom was stretchered off at three-quarter time, midfielder Spearritt taking over in goal as Brighton hung on for a 1-1 draw. The keeper missed the following nine games but recovered to play another nine times before the end of the season. 

After manager Goodwin departed for Birmingham, his successor, Pat Saward, preferred Powney as his senior keeper and Sidebottom played only a handful of games in 1970-71, the last of his 45 first-team appearances for the club coming in a 3-0 win over Doncaster in January, 1971.

Injuries continued to be a worry as well. After his misfortune against Walsall, he also had to leave the field with severe concussion when he cracked his head against a post while playing for the reserves at Southwick.

Forced to Retire

He couldn’t shake off the pain and double vision, and a series of consultations followed. Even when the club’s own doctor advised him to give up the game, he was reluctant to accept the verdict. Only when he saw leading Harley Street neurologist Dr Roger Bannister (of sub-four minute mile fame) did he accept that he would have to quit at the age of 35.

“We went to the top to find out why Geoff has been getting these pains,” Saward told the Argus. “I cannot say how sorry we all are. Geoff is the finest sort of professional; he is admired and liked throughout the game.”

Goodwin, who brought his Birmingham side to the Goldstone to play a testimonial match for Sidebottom in May, 1972, said: “He was certainly the bravest goalkeeper I have ever seen. He was a marvellous club man. I signed him for Scunthorpe, New York Generals and Brighton and he never destroyed the faith I had in him.”

At 5ft 10in, Sidebottom was not tall for a keeper but no-one doubted his courage. He became a window cleaner and a building contractor following his playing days and died aged 71 in November, 2008.

Drafted into Wolves’ line-up for the trip to Brighton was Bertie Lutton, who generally found his opportunities limited at Molineux.

Saward, nicknamed ‘The Loan Ranger’ because of the number of players he borrowed, acquired the forward’s services on a temporary basis between September and November in 1971. The Northern Ireland international made his debut in a 2-0 defeat at Villa and scored twice in seven games before returning to Wolves.

Then, on March 9, 1972, with the clock ticking down to the transfer deadline, Saward completed a double transfer swoop, securing Lutton’s permanent signing for £5,000 together with Ken Beamish from Tranmere.

A delighted Saward declared to Argus reporter John Vinicombe: “Bertie can do a job for us anywhere. At 21 and with two caps for Ireland, he has a future and played very well for us while on loan. He can play right or left, up the middle, or in midfield.”

Lutton scored in key fixtures against Bournemouth and Torquay as Brighton secured promotion to Division Two after ten years in the lower divisions.

But maybe it was the versatility Saward referred to that worked against the player. When Brighton began the 1972-73 season, Lutton was substitute. He went on in three games, then had four successive starts before going back to the bench.

The Seagulls were finding life tough at the higher level and although Saward switched things round and brought in new faces, results deteriorated.

Lutton started three games in December which all ended in defeat and the 3-0 Boxing Day reverse at Oxford turned out to be his last appearance for Brighton. His farewell came in the middle of a nightmare spell of 12 successive defeats during which only five goals were scored – and two of those were penalties and another an own goal.

Saward couldn’t put his finger on the reason for the slump and Lutton was one of three players placed on the transfer list.

Paradoxically, the manager did him a good turn as he allowed him to step up a division on loan to West Ham. He did well enough to secure a full-time switch to Upton Park and, almost a year to the day after his arrival at the Goldstone, he was gone and Saward managed to show a £10,000 profit.

Lutton’s only goal for West Ham came in a 1-1 draw at Derby in April, 1973 and, sadly, his Hammers career lasted only 12 games before injury forced him to quit English football in 1974 at the age of only 23.

Wolves Heroes readers will know he subsequently emigrated to Australia and played semi-professional football there for a number of years and settled in Melbourne.

*Chris Westcott, a boyhood Wanderers fan, was quoted in the previous long piece we wrote about the 1969 Brighton-Wolves League Cup tie Stripes On The Brain…..A Double-Header – Wolves Heroes and was the ghost-writer of the Ernie Hunt and Davie Gibson autobiographies that we have previously referred to on this site.