M23 derby
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|
| Locale | Southern England |
|---|---|
| Teams |
Brighton & Hove Albion Crystal Palace |
| First meeting | Brighton 0–2 Palace (25 December 1920) |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 98 |
| Most wins | 37 each |
The M23 derby is the name sometimes given to the derby between English football teams Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace. The name comes from the motorway between Sussex and south London.
The rivalry began in the 1940s and 1950s but came to full force in the late 1970s when both teams, under the guidance of ambitious young managers, rose from the Third Division to the First Division. Until Crawley Town were promoted to the Football League in 2011, Palace were the nearest other professional club to Brighton. Like Brighton, Crawley's biggest rival is a team from London, AFC Wimbledon.
The two teams are evenly matched with 37 wins each and 24 drawn matches. Palace have won five cup games and Brighton two while Brighton have won 35 league games and Palace 32.
Although the rivalry has its beginnings in the 1940 and 1950s when the clubs met 21 times in twelve years - including two memorable back-to-back matches on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, 1951 - it came to full force in the late-1970s.
In the 1975-76 season, both clubs were vying for promotion from the Third Division. Brighton were managed by Peter Taylor, Palace by the flamboyant Malcolm Allison. The league game between the two sides at Selhurst Park was played in front of a crowd of 25,000, while the return at The Goldstone in Hove saw 33,000 crammed in to the stadium to see a third tier match. That game, which the home side won 2-0, is generally attributed as giving birth to Brighton's nickname of 'Seagulls' - later adopted officially by the club (see below) - as it was sung on the terraces as a counter-chant to Palace's 'Eagles!'.
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