On Thursday, Crystal Palace and Brighton will rekindle their rivalry when Roberto De Zerbi’s daring Seagulls visit Selhurst Park in an attempt to extend their winning streak in the “M23 Derby.”
On Thursday night, Crystal Palace and Brighton will play at Selhurst Park in a match that has been dubbed the “M23 Derby.” This is a resurgence of a sort of rivalry.
Though the match did not develop into a rivalry until the 1970s, it was their first league meeting, which took place on Christmas Day in 1920. The Seagulls have historically had greater success in this matchup, winning 41 games, drawing 30, and losing 38.
Solly March’s goal in the first half of the match helped Roberto de Zerbi’s team win their first derby in four years back in March. Mirror Football’s examination of the match’s past on Thursday will put the rivalry back in the spotlight.
The two teams’ inaugural league encounter also took place during the holiday season. In actuality, Palace’s first trip to Brighton in the Third Division took place on Christmas Day of 1920.
Over 14,000 spectators flocked to the Goldstone Ground to witness the early victory of the Seagulls. However, the first half finished in a scoreless draw, and Palace was reduced to 10 men when Edwin Smith was forced out due to injury. Substitutes were not allowed.
Though the pair had been team-mates at Tottenham, a rivalry soon developed between the two. Mullery was critical of Venables tactics, while the first game had to be stopped three times as smoke bombs were thrown onto the pitch.
During an FA Cup clash, which had to replayed twice, Mullery was furious with a Palace win, swearing at Eagles fans, allegedly entering their dressing room and throwing five pounds on the floor, before telling Venables: “Your team’s not worth that.”
Zaha’s Amex moment
Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha memorably scored twice against Brighton in the play-offs in 2013
Cut to the modern day and it has really been Palace’s derby. One of the most memorable moments came in 2013 in the semi-finals of the Championship play-offs.
The first leg ended in a goalless draw at Selhurst Park, making the second game a blockbuster winner-takes-all affair. Wilfried Zaha wrote himself in Palace’s history books by opening the scoring after 69 minutes, before sealing the win two minutes from time.
“This means the world to me – I’ve played for Palace for 10 years so this is the perfect way to cap it,” he said after sending Palace to Wembley. “I just wanted to finish one of my last games for the club in a strong way and getting two goals is a dream.”
Poo-gate
Ian Holloway and Gus Poyet were left furious after excrement was smeared over the Palace dressing room ahead of a 2013 clash
The lead-up to that clash was marred with controversy as the visiting dressing room at the Amex Stadium was smeared with excrement over the floor and toilets. Brighton boss Gus Poyet was left furious, as was Palace chief Ian Holloway.
“Holloway went off his head, we arrived fired up anyway and the fact we think someone’s done this in the dressing room. Everyone was, ‘What the f***?’. The smell was hitting the back of your throat, it was horrible,” former Palace striker Aaron Wilbraham said.
But rather than anything sinister, the culprit turned out to be the Palace team bus driver, who had an untimely accident, though the incident did not dent the Eagles’ hopes of winning.
Awkward transfers
Glenn Murray is one of the 29 players to feature for both clubs
Despite contentious moves between the teams, at least 29 players have played for both clubs. When Glenn Murray moved from Brighton to Palace in 2011, he encountered criticism.
Regarding his choice to join the Eagles, Murray has since stated: “Shortly after the [2010–11] season ended.” A few teams showed interest, but I was particularly drawn to Palace, and the rest is history, I guess.”
Murray returned to Brighton after making a name for himself at Palace, where he scored 23 goals to propel Brighton to promotion in 2017. For the Seagulls, he remained a consistent goal scorer until finishing his career at Watford and Nottingham Forest.
