Albion assessed

We notched up our third win of the season beating Wigan 1-0 but it was much of the same. After scoring in the first minute and not through a striker but Craig Gardner we were hanging on by the end and were somewhat fortunate to get all 3 points. I know Hyppia has lost Ulloa, and the injuries to Crofts, Stephens and Stockdale have disrupted the side, but we did expect more after 2 play off seasons and the Hyppia signings have been poor.

During the day I called in at the Brighton Museum. There in the Voices of the World War One exhibition was the story of the Brighton keeper Bob Whiting.

He enlisted with 4 of this teammates in the Football Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment. Taken ill, he returned to Blighty and then deserted. He then went back to the front where he died in April 1917 heroically caring for his fellow soldiers whilst under fire.

Sadly the earlier blemish never went away and his family were distressed that he was always regarded as a deserter. It was a simple but moving tale one of several of local Brighton families in the Great War.

One Jewish fellow called Max Goldmann fought in the Great War for the Kaiser and came to Brighton dispossessed in 1938 and his story was told by his great nephew rabbi.

My neighbour and I at the Amex were empathising how in later years we get vexed by small incidents. I for example was furious when my medication for blood pressure was refused because the pharmacy had the wrong prescription and told me it was not their fault. The tale of young lives lost such as Whiting’s, who wore the colours of both the Albion and his country, do rather put my problems in perspective.