WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Brighton’s Division Three runners-up from 1976-77
ANDY ROLLINGS believes that Alan Mullery’s Brighton & Hove Albion would have won promotion a year earlier had they had Peter Ward in their forward line for the whole of the season.
The Seagulls claimed runners-up spot in Division Three, three points behind champions Mansfield Town and two ahead of arch-rivals Crystal Palace in third place.
A season earlier they were coasting to promotion until hitting a bad spell at the wrong time, winning only one of their last eight games to drop from second to fourth place.
That was despite former Rolls Royce engine fitter Ward scoring six times in the last eight games of the season in a sign of things to come.
Ward scored 32 goals in the league and Rollings, a regular member of the side which climbed from the Third to First Division, is quick to acknowledge the contribution of the man who made one brief appearance for England and also played for Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest .
“If you know that you have got someone who is going to put the ball in the back of the net on a regular basis, you don’t worry even if you go a goal down.
“His first season was phenomenal. To come from Non- League to play in the professional ranks and score 36 goals in league and cup was unprecedented.
“The season before he came Peter Taylor was in charge. We always seemed to lose points in the last 10 or 15 minutes because we didn’t have anybody who was scoring on a regular basis.
“Having somebody like Wardy up front, you knew at any time he would score you a goal. That was great for team confidence and morale.
Confident
“And you couldn’t get a more confident person than Peter Ward. He was supremely confident in his own ability. That helps with what you are setting out to achieve but you have still got to perform.
“It obviously helped him playing alongside ‘Spider’ Ian Mellor – he was the perfect foil. He was an experienced player and he helped Peter score a fair amount of those goals.
“Peter would probably be the first to acknowledge having Spider playing alongside him was a fantastic thing.
“He did a lot of unselfish work, the way he linked up with Wardy was fantastic. And he is the first to admit it was one of the best seasons of his career,” said Rollings. 1. Dennis Burnett: A Londonborn defender, he ran a decorating business and managed Non-League clubs in Sussex. Has also worked in hospitality for West Ham. 2. Gerry Fell: A Newark-born forward who settled in the Sussex area working in insurance and then became a financial advisor in Worthing. 3. Graham Cross: A defender who also played county cricket for his native Leicestershire. Served a prison sentence for stealing from the post office and then became a driving instructor. 4. Andy Rollings: A central defender who settled in the Brighton area, running the Chalet cafe in Preston Park, and is a match day host at the Amex Stadium. 5. Peter Grummitt: An England U23 goalkeeper who owned a shop in Brighton before moving to Newark, where he worked as a landscape gardener and with the unemployed before retiring. 6. Ian Mellor: A winger who worked for Puma and Gola before becoming the PFA’s commercial executive for many years. His son Neil played for Liverpool and now pens a regular column for The Football League Paper. 7. Chris Cattlin: A defender who spent three years as Brighton boss before running a property empire and a rock shop. Has also co-owned racehorses. 8. Sammy Morgan: A Northern Ireland international forward. Become a school teacher and coached in the States before running the academies at Norwich and Ipswich. 9. Graham Winstanley: A centre-half who lives in Carlisle and worked for a wholesale electrical company. Has also been a partner in a building supplies firm among other things. 10. Tony Towner: A winger who has run his own removals business in Brighton since retiring from playing in 1996. 11. Ken Tiler: A right-back and the father of former Charlton, Aston Villa and Everton defender Carl. Became a salesman for Baron Foods in his native Sheffield. 12. Harry Wilson: A defender who went into coaching. Became the youth team coach at former club Burnley and lives locally. 13. Peter Ward: The legendary Seagulls striker has spent many years living in Tampa, Florida, running a bar but is also a youth coach and a striker trainer. 14. Alan Mullery: Former England international was a successful manager with a number of clubs and is now working as a television pundit and match day host at Spurs. 15. Brian Horton: Managed a number of clubs including Brighton and Man City, and has been assistant to Paul Dickov at Doncaster since June 2013. 16. Peter O’Sullivan: A Welsh international winger who lives in Steyning, Sussex, and has worked in Brighton for a plant hire company. 17. Fred Binney: The former striker spent many years working as recreation officer at the University of Plymouth, where he was also the coach of the football team before retiring. 18. Steve Piper: A Brightonborn central defender, he has worked in the insurance industry in the Sussex area since retiring. 19. Joe Kinnear: A former Republic of Ireland defender, he is best known for managing Wimbledon and Newcastle. Has also worked as a television pundit. NOT PICTURED Phil Beal: A central defender who ran a car hire business in West Drayton before moving to Cornwall. Then worked for former club Tottenham in corporate hospitality. Eric Steele: The goalkeeper has worked as a goalkeeping coach for many leading Premier League clubs and is currently working for Derby County. Mark Elliott: A Welsh midfielder who is now back in his native Glamorgan living in Tonyrefail running a catering business with his wife.