Tiger’s volley was denied its place in FA Cup history
THERE’S always a massive chance for players to make a bit of history in cup competitions.
Brighton have been struggling in the Championship this season, but their morale would get a massive boost if they could shock Arsenal in today’s FA Cup Fourth Round tie.
The game could be played in front of a record crowd at the Seagulls’ Amex Stadium.
Back in 1967, the South Coast side took on First Division Chelsea, and came agonisingly close to creating a major upset.
Brighton left- winger Brian Tawse had already tasted the big time during a three- year spell with Arsenal.
He recalls his chance to make the headlines being denied by a refereeing decision.
He said: “I smashed a volley past Peter Bonetti from 20 yards out with the score at 1- 1 and thought I’d got the winner.
“It was a goal that could have made my career – but the referee chalked it off.
“He claimed there had been an infringement by my fellow Scot, Kit Napier.
“The game ended in a draw and we really had to beat them at home to have a chance of going through.
“We got turned over 4-0 in the replay at Stamford Bridge.”
The first match saw the Chelsea players get their marching orders before the first blow of the referee’s whistle.
Brian recalled: “We had a very fussy groundsman who was rightly proud of the pitch at the Goldstone Ground.
“Tommy Docherty’s boys were one of the first teams to have a warm- up before games, but our man was having none of that.
“They were very quickly thrown off the turf.”
Brian began his professional career with Arsenal after joining from Aberdeen boys’ team, King Street A.
He reckons freezing weather sealed his move to Highbury.
“I went down for a trial game with Arsenal in 1963, and got stuck in London because of the terr ible winter,” he went on.
“I trained with the youth team that was taken care of by famous Scottish player, Alex Forbes.
“I think I just blended in with the surroundings and they decided to give me a contract.
“My first-team debut arrived in 1964, but I found it hard to get a regular game.
“The main problem was that regular winger George Armstrong never seemed to get injured.
“I eventually moved to Brighton and had five happy seasons there.”
Brian then spent two years at Brentford before moving abroad to play for Durban City in South Africa.
He spent 17 years abroad before returning to settle in the Brighton area where, now aged 69, he still lives.
His nickname “Tiger” follows him to this day. He said: “People think it’s maybe because I was a real terrier on the pitch, but the truth is that it was about petrol.
“Esso had a campaign – ‘Put A Tiger In Your Tank’ – and gave away a free tiger’s tail to put on your car. “At the age of 19, I turned up for training with one on my Mini and was immediately christened ‘Tiger’ Tawse!”