Brighton vs Crystal Palace: A rivalry with a colourful past and more than just three points at stake

This was a rivalry born out of competition in the third tier during the 1950s and later inflamed by the actions of teammates-turned-rivals Terry Venables and Alan Mullery in the 1970s

Wilfried Zaha stirred up the rivalry on social media this week with a video of his match-winning play-off brace (Getty)

For fans that endured seven consecutive defeats to start the season - defeats that came without even scoring a goal - it says much about the enduring hostility between Crystal Palace and Brighton that Palace fans’ seasons would be turned completely by a win at the Amex on Tuesday night.

It won't be easy with Palace yet to take a point on the road all season but they boast two away wins in the short history of Brighton’s shiny, lop-sided new home at Falmer. Those wins, the first by an away team at the Amex and then a play-off semi-final second leg victory en route to a Premier League return, rank among the biggest wins in the south Londoners’ recent history if you ask any supporter.

Wilfried Zaha was the hero of both of those wins and further stirred up the rivalry on social media this week with a video of his match-winning play-off brace.

"All the players know the importance of it by now," Zaha said at the weekend, when asked about the upcoming derby. "We obviously speak about it among ourselves.

"I am looking forward to playing them again, it should be a good game. The atmosphere in those games is crazy."

The Eagles’ rivalry with Brighton isn’t one that is immediately understood by the wider footballing world, but the ill feeling that has raged for over 40 years now will make its Premier League bow in Falmer tonight.

Albion have mostly found themselves in a lower division than Palace in those intervening years but it was a dislike born out of competition in the third tier during the 1950s and later inflamed by the actions of teammates-turned-rivals Terry Venables and Alan Mullery - managers of Palace and Brighton respectively - in the 1970s.

Mullery remains public enemy number one among Palace fans to this day, having fanned the flames of hatred only to later take over for an unhappy spell at Selhurst Park in the early 1980s. He would return to manage Brighton but this was a rivalry that would then see just four renewals in over 20 years from 1990 after Albion ran into financial problems and slipped down the league pyramid.

Wilfried Zaha was the hero in the Eagles' two wins at the Amex (Getty)

Tony Bloom, the club’s owner since 2009, has been the major catalyst in Albion’s rise to the Premier League and with him came the Amex Stadium, a state-of-the-art complex that not only re-homed the club but saved them. With their resurgence came a renewal of the rivalry that had lain dormant.

Albion were unbeaten at their new stadium until Palace came to town in September 2011 and capping that victory was former Seagull Glenn Murray, who refused to celebrate then and, knowing the importance of this fixture to both sets of fans, would do the same again if he scores against Palace this week having returned to Brighton last year.

“I wouldn't celebrate, no,” said Murray when asked how he would react.

"I had some great years at Palace, got supported really well by the fans. They were patient with me in my first year and throughout my injury. They welcomed me back with open arms when I had been out on loan at Reading… so I wouldn’t celebrate.”

Glenn Murray has played for both clubs during his career (Getty)

Murray has been discarded by both of these clubs, decisions that his subsequent performances made a mockery of, and he will lead the line for Brighton as they look to continue their impressive maiden campaign in the Premier League.

On the other hand, Roy Hodgson says he hasn’t even looked at the league table recently because he doesn’t want to “depress” himself. But closer examination shows Crystal Palace can count on far more hope than anyone might’ve imagined after their nightmare start.

Indeed, far from depressing, should Palace continue that winning run over their arch-rivals at the Amex then Hodgson will have the fans in raptures, newly confident not only of beating the drop with the Eagles three points from safety but of overhauling the south coast outfit whose good start currently has them riding high in ninth.

“After the first seven game we got our act together, we’re getting harder to beat and scoring more goals,” said Hodgson in his press conference on Monday.

“We’ve set a bench mark now for what we want to do, it’s just a question of how often we can keep that up.

Hodgson believes his side team has "got our act together" (Getty)

"I know the rivalry's very strong and dates back a long time. We have several as a London club but this one is the most important one for the fans.

"We need to make sure we're ready physically and tactically, but that's the case with every game. What changes with the derby is the pressure not to disappoint the fans."

While Palace still sit bottom, a look at the league table shows an ever-widening gap between the top eight – formed of the Premier League’s ‘big six’ plus a couple of lingering upstarts – and the remaining 12 sides that are separated by just eight points.

At the bottom of that group, propping up the table, are Palace - while Brighton top it - but with the Eagles winning on Saturday, the only bottom-half team to do so, they are upwardly mobile and heading into a mediocre pack from which any team could drop.

Albion, facing their arch-rivals for the first time in the Premier League, know that they could still be dragged into the mire in a division that is unforgiving. But after an impressive if ultimately fruitless performance at Old Trafford on Saturday, Chris Hughton remains positive going into such a big game.

“We’ll certainly go into the game in good spirits, because we will have gained a lot,” he said. “But it will be completely different.

“We are up against a Palace side on the back of a last minute winner and there’s nothing that lifts you as a team as much as that.

“And it will be a different type of game. The onus was on Manchester United to win it, we are at home on Tuesday and the onus turns around.”