Brighton United F.C. were an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club based in Brighton, Sussex who were active for a few years at the end of the 19th century.

History

The club joined the Southern League in

1898 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, B ...

. Their first match was at

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

where they played the inaugural match at the hosts' new stadium, The Dell, on 3 September 1898. In their first match Brighton fielded a team including nine Scottish players, several of whom had played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

, including the scorer of their consolation goal in a 4–1 defeat, Roddy McLeod. Former Football League or Scottish Football League players included: * Jock Caldwell, full back formerly with Woolwich Arsenal *

Joe Clark Charles Joseph Clark (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian statesman, businessman, writer, and politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980. Despite his relative inexperience, Clark rose quickly in federal polit ...

inside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

formerly with Dundee * Patrick Farrell,

centre half In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

formerly with Woolwich Arsenal *

Billy Hendry William Harold Hendry (20 June 1869 – 4 May 1901) was a Scottish footballer who played as a defender. Born in Newport-on-Tay he played in the Football League for Bury, Preston North End, Sheffield United, Stoke and West Bromwich Albion. ...

, full back formerly with

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

, Stoke, Preston North End and

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

* William Longair,

formerly with

Newton Heath Newton Heath is an area of Manchester, England, north-east of Manchester city centre and with a population of 9,883. Historically part of Lancashire, Newton was formerly a farming area, but adopted the factory system following the Industrial R ...

, Sunderland and

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

* Willie McArthur, forward, formerly with Bolton Wanderers,

Leicester Fosse Leicester City Football Club is an English professional association football, football club based in Leicester in the East Midlands of England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football league system, Eng ...

and Dundee * Francis McAvoy,

wing half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

formerly with Woolwich Arsenal * Roddy McLeod, forward, formerly with

and

Maurice Parry played for Brighton United in the 1899–1900 season, before having a long career with

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

and making 16 appearances for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. Brighton were moderately successful in their first season in the Southern League finishing in tenth place (out of 13), but they had over-reached themselves financially and were forced to release McLeod and several other players before the end of the season. They started the 1899–1900 season but resigned in March 1900 with four games left to play, with their record then being expunged.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Details on Football Club History Database
Defunct football clubs in England Association football clubs disestablished in 1900 Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Southern Football League clubs Sport in Brighton and Hove 1900 disestablishments in England Defunct football clubs in East Sussex