Crystal Palace vs Brighton: Poo-gate, awkward transfers and Wilfried Zaha heroics - The Mirror

Crystal Palace will renew their rivalry with Brighton on Thursday when Roberto De Zerbi's high-flying Seagulls travel to Selhurst Park looking to continue their unbeaten run in the 'M23 Derby'

A rivalry of sorts is renewed on Thursday night when Crystal Palace host Brighton at Selhurst Park, in a game which has previously been christened the 'M23 Derby'.

Their first league meeting came back on Christmas Day in 1920, though the clash did not become a rivalry until the 1970s. Traditionally, the Seagulls have enjoyed the fixture more, winning 41 games, drawing 30 and losing 38.

Roberto de Zerbi's men won their first derby for four years back in March thanks to Solly March's first-half goal. The rivalry will be back in the spotlight on Thursday, with Mirror Football taking a look over the history of the match.

First meeting

The first-ever league meeting between the two teams also came during the festive period. In fact, it was on Christmas Day in 1920 when Palace travelled to Brighton for the first time in the Third Division.

More than 14,000 people turned up to the Goldstone Ground to watch, with the Seagulls on top early on. But the first-half ended goalless, with Palace then going down to 10 men after Edwin Smith was forced off through injury, with no substitutes permitted.

Brighton then won a penalty, which was saved by Jack Alderson, before Jack Conner headed the visitors in front. Conner netted his second minutes later to secure their first-ever league win for Palace.

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Derby origins

It took more than 50 years for the derby ferocity to really spark into life though. In the summer of 1976, Terry Venables became Crystal Palace manager and Alan Mullery was appointed Brighton boss.

Though the pair had been team-mates at Tottenham, a rivalry soon developed between the two. Mullery was critical of Venables tactics, while the first game had to be stopped three times as smoke bombs were thrown onto the pitch.

During an FA Cup clash, which had to replayed twice, Mullery was furious with a Palace win, swearing at Eagles fans, allegedly entering their dressing room and throwing five pounds on the floor, before telling Venables: "Your team's not worth that."

Zaha's Amex moment

Cut to the modern day and it has really been Palace's derby. One of the most memorable moments came in 2013 in the semi-finals of the Championship play-offs.

The first leg ended in a goalless draw at Selhurst Park, making the second game a blockbuster winner-takes-all affair. Wilfried Zaha wrote himself in Palace's history books by opening the scoring after 69 minutes, before sealing the win two minutes from time.

“This means the world to me – I’ve played for Palace for 10 years so this is the perfect way to cap it,” he said after sending Palace to Wembley. “I just wanted to finish one of my last games for the club in a strong way and getting two goals is a dream.”

Poo-gate

The lead-up to that clash was marred with controversy as the visiting dressing room at the Amex Stadium was smeared with excrement over the floor and toilets. Brighton boss Gus Poyet was left furious, as was Palace chief Ian Holloway.

“Holloway went off his head, we arrived fired up anyway and the fact we think someone’s done this in the dressing room. Everyone was, ‘What the f***?’. The smell was hitting the back of your throat, it was horrible,” former Palace striker Aaron Wilbraham said.

But rather than anything sinister, the culprit turned out to be the Palace team bus driver, who had an untimely accident, though the incident did not dent the Eagles' hopes of winning.

Awkward transfers

At least 29 players have represented both clubs, though transfers between the teams have been controversial. Glenn Murray faced a hostile response after joining Palace from Brighton in 2011.

Murray has since said on his decision to move to the Eagles: "Not long after the end of the [2010/11] season. There were a few clubs interested but Palace were one I took a liking to and the rest is history I suppose."

After starring for Palace, Murray would return to Brighton, scoring 23 goals to fire them to promotion in 2017. He continued to be a regular goalscorer for the Seagulls before ending his career at Watford and Nottingham Forest.

Continuing the fire

The fire between the two sides has continued despite the mocking of the rivalry by other supporters. Players at the clubs clearly are aware of the hostility, with Palace keeper Dean Henderson insisting that his side are well up for Thursday's game.

He said: “We’re at home. We’ve got to attack the game and have a right go at them. Obviously, we know they’re a good team, but it’s a derby and the lads will be right up for it. Hopefully the atmosphere can pull us through."

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