Why are Crystal Palace and Brighton Rivals?

The M23 Derby: Where Did It Start?

Crystal Palace and Brighton & Hove Albion share one of English football’s most unusual and fiercely contested rivalries, known as the M23 derby. Despite being separated by around 40 miles, the hostility between South London and the South Coast runs deeper than simple geography.

Unlike traditional local derbies, this feud grew from a series of heated encounters in the 1970s, when both clubs battled for promotion and their outspoken managers, Terry Venables and Alan Mullery, developed a personal grudge that spilled onto the pitch. A chaotic FA Cup tie and numerous ill-tempered league clashes helped cement the hostility, which has endured for decades and still continues now.

As both sides climbed through the divisions and eventually reached the Premier League, the rivalry only intensified, fuelled by one passionate fan base (Palace) and dramatic, hard-fought matches. Today, every meeting carries extra significance, making Palace versus Brighton one of the most anticipated fixtures outside England’s traditional local derbies.

In 1976-77, Crystal Palace & Brighton played each other 5 times (including 3 FA Cup games!) & bad blood between managers Terry Venables and Alan Mullery spawned a club rivalry.
Here are the programmes from the initial First Round and replay games.#cpfc #bhafc #facup pic.twitter.com/D44dxen8Db

— Aaron Porter (@AaronPorter) May 27, 2020

Where did it all start?

We have to take a trip back to the 1970s for the opening day of the 1974/75 season. Tensions between the sides were already evident, with crowd disturbances reported among more than 26,000 spectators. Brighton secured a 1-0 victory over a Crystal Palace team reeling from back-to-back relegations.

The hostility grew further in February 1976, when a crowd exceeding 33,000 saw Brighton claim a 2-0 win. During the match, home supporters mockingly hijacked Palace’s ‘Eagles’ nickname by chanting ‘Seagulls’ instead. The taunt stuck, and Brighton soon embraced the seabird identity, officially adopting the Seagulls nickname and imagery two seasons later.

Both sides were promoted in the 1976/77 season from what was then known as the Third Division. However, it was not these league clashes that kick-started this whole thing; it was the prestigious FA Cup. Two former Spurs teammates, Terry Venables and Alan Mullery, took to the sidelines as the respective managers of the two clubs. It was the FA Cup first round, and the two sides had already drawn twice, sending it to a third and final replay.

Back in the 1970s the replays would continue until someone won. Palace came out 1-0 victorious on this day, despite Brighton being the better team. The newly found Seagulls had a penalty chalked off and retaken after controversy from the referee; this is what really sent Alan Mullery over the edge.

The Brighton gaffer went mental at the referee at full-time. He had completely lost his head, throwing up the 'V' towards Palace supporters and repeatedly throwing his spare change towards the opposition players and staff, quoted as saying, "Palace ain't worth that."

The funny thing behind it is that Mullery would go on to become Palace, an unsuccessful and unpopular tenure between 1982 and 1984. He then made the switch again for a brief spell at Brighton from 1986. He's gone down as arguably the most controversial figure and villain in the fixture's history, and could not have imagined what would follow.

Crsytal Palace arriving at Brighton earlier today #CPFC pic.twitter.com/DgdC1D89Ir

— FootballAwaydays (@Awaydays23) February 29, 2020

The Progression of the M23 Derby

Mullery's Brighton won 3-1 at Newcastle on the final day of the 1978/79 season to earn promotion to the top flight for the first time, an incredible feat. But the shine was taken off their triumph when Venables' Palace beat them to the title with a victory at their Selhurst Park home against Burnley six days later.

Although Palace were labelled the ‘Team of the Eighties,’ their results against Brighton told a different story. They won only three of 14 meetings during the decade and suffered five straight defeats as part of a poor run that included eight losses and two draws in 10 derby matches between 1979 and 1986.

The sides did not meet in the league for over a decade, from 1990 to 2001, but Palace enjoyed greater success during that time. They recorded their highest-ever top-flight finish in 1991 and earned two promotions from the second tier, making them the stronger club overall despite the break in the rivalry.

Brighton went through some tough times over the year; they almost went out of business, leaving their Goldstone Ground home, where they had spent 96 years. Brighton made a recovery that was marked when they finally faced off against Palace again, but the result was far from what they wanted. Palace eased to a 5-0 victory at Selhurst Park with a hat-trick from Andy Johnson. This led to that famous Palace chant, "Andy Johnson's magic..."

The two shared many fixtures over the coming years, including Brighton's first win over the Eagles in 17 years, and Palace becoming the first team to beat Brighton at their new Amex Stadium home in 2011. They went on to a 2-0 win on aggregate in the 2013 Championship playoff semifinals, when Wilfried Zaha scored both goals within 20 second-half minutes, etching his name into the history books.

Wilfred Zaha's goal for Crystal Palace against their fierce rivals Brighton in the 2013 play off semi final causes some genuine movement in the away end.

SHIFT! #Palace #CPFC #BHAFC #Brighton #Eagles pic.twitter.com/1QO8h1LjxQ

— Genuine Movement (@GenuineLimbs) May 17, 2018

In 2020, Palace won away at Brighton for the first time in the Premier League when Jordan Ayew scored the only goal of the game, which led to some of the best limbs the Amex has seen. Lockdown then struck, with fans unable to attend the fixture, but this did not leave it short of drama. In February 2021, Christian Benteke netted a 95th-minute winner, with Palace scoring both of their shots on target. Later that year, when fans were back, Neal Maupay scored a 95th-minute goal of his own, snatching a point for the away side.

Since the start of the rivalry in the 70s, we've seen fights, goals and pure cinematic drama that have all led to this current moment. The two sides face off on Sunday, the 8th of February, in the Premier League, with Brighton looking to pick up their first win in the fixture since 2024.