The Brighton & Hove Albion–Crystal Palace rivalry is between English football teams Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace. The matches played between these sides are sometimes nicknamed the A23 derby or the M23 derby by the media.
Although the two clubs have played each other since 1905, the rivalry did not become well-known until the mid-1970s. Roy Hodgson, former manager of Crystal Palace, has stated that he does not recall any rivalry with Brighton as a Palace fan in the 1950s–60s. The two clubs did not face each other from 1963 until 1974, when Palace's first game in the Third Division for ten years was at Brighton. Palace lost and the following season their first league defeat was also against Brighton. After failing to gain promotion in either season, in May 1976, Terry Venables (aged 33) was appointed manager of Crystal Palace and two months later, his former England and Tottenham Hotspur teammate Alan Mullery (aged 34) was appointed manager at Brighton. Under the guidance of their ambitious young managers, both clubs, the two best supported in the division, climbed from the Third Division to the First Division within three years.
The two teams are unusually distant for an English football rivalry (although for much of the rivalry – up until the promotion to the Football League of Crawley Town in 2011 – Crystal Palace were the closest team to Brighton), about 40 miles apart. The A23 and M23 derby names sometimes used by the media come from the A23 road and the M23 motorway between Sussex and south London.
As of 2026, the clubs are roughly equal in their head-to-head results accounting for all trophies and tournaments, with Brighton performing slightly better in total league wins.
Background Brighton and Crystal Palace had both been founding members of the Football League Third Division in 1920, having transferred from the Southern Football League with other founding members; the two clubs had met in regular Southern League matches since 1906. During the 1940s and 1950s the clubs met 21 times in twelve years – including two memorable back-to-back matches on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, 1951. However, the animosity between the two sets of supporters only arose in the mid-to-late 1970s.
The teams had not met at all for 11 years, when they played each other on the opening day of the 1974-75 season in the Third Division, Palace having been relegated from the second tier the previous season. Brighton were then managed by Peter Taylor, following the recent departure of Brian Clough, and Palace by the flamboyant Malcolm Allison. Extra police were deployed to control the 26,000 crowd, far higher than Brighton's usual attendance, and there were multiple arrests and fighting between fans inside and outside the Goldstone Ground, with excessive drinking due to the hot weather blamed for the trouble. Brighton won 1–0, Palace winning the return fixture later that season 3–0.
The following season witnessed both clubs vying for promotion. The league game between the two sides at Selhurst Park was played in front of a crowd of over 25,000, Palace's highest home attendance for two years. Allison complained that Brighton had secured their 1–0 victory by their overly physical tactics. The Evening Argus reported that the game had been played in a "cup-tie atmosphere" with "the cut and thrust carried through with the zest of deadly rivals".
The return match at the Goldstone Ground saw over 33,000 crammed in to the stadium to see a third tier match. That game, which the home side won 2–0 with two goals by Sammy Morgan, is generally attributed as giving birth to Brighton's current nickname of 'Seagulls' (they had been known previously as "the Dolphins") – later adopted officially by the club (see below) – as it was sung on the terraces as a humorous counter-chant to Palace's 'Eagles!'. The home side's victory was overshadowed by more crowd trouble, as referee Ron Challis threatened to abandon the game due to Palace fans throwing smoke bombs and other missiles on the pitch.
Both teams narrowly missed out on promotion that year. In the summer of 1976, Terry Venables became Crystal Palace manager and Alan Mullery Brighton manager. The pair had spent time together on the field as players at Tottenham and Venables was second in command to Mullery's captaincy at the club; Mullery has described this power dynamic as a reason for the rivalry between them. Whilst at Tottenham, Venables reportedly did not have a good relationship with his manager Bill Nicholson, believing him to have a negative attitude that "drained him of enthusiasm". Venables also felt that he was not appreciated by Spurs fans, in contrast to Mullery, who was Nicholson's and the fans' favourite.
The two young managers were set the same task: promotion from the Third Division.
The first meeting between the clubs that season was the league match at The Goldstone on 2 October, which ended 1–1; during the game smoke bombs were thrown onto the pitch and play was stopped three times throughout the match.
The clubs were then drawn together in the first round of the FA Cup, played on 20 November at The Goldstone; the match ended 2–2. After the game, Mullery was critical of his opposite number, bemoaning what he perceived to be Palace's negative tactics.
A replay took place at Selhurst Park three days later; the match finished 1–1 after extra time and the teams faced a second replay. Brighton were described as dominating much of the play in the two games, which both attracted attendances of almost 30,000. This attendance figure was a significant increase on both club's averages for the season, with Palace averaging just 15,925 that season and Brighton 20,197.
The second replay, postponed twice due to bad weather, took place at Stamford Bridge on 6 December. Palace took the lead after 18 minutes through Phil Holder. Brighton dominated much of the game's remainder, with striker Peter Ward having a goal disallowed shortly after as he was adjudged to have handled the ball, although Palace's Jim Cannon later said that this only occurred due to him shoving the Brighton striker. In the 78th minute, Brighton were awarded a penalty which was converted by Brian Horton only to be disallowed as referee Ron Challis adjudged that players had encroached upon the penalty area. Horton retook the penalty and this time it was saved by the Palace keeper, Paul Hammond. The match ended 1–0 to Crystal Palace.
After the final whistle, Mullery approached Challis to discuss the decision and was escorted off the pitch by police while flicking 'v-signs' and swearing at the Palace supporters in the stands, one of whom had thrown a cup of coffee at him. The Brighton manager then allegedly entered the Palace dressing room, threw five pounds on the floor and told Venables: "Your team's not worth that." Mullery was fined £100 by the FA for bringing the game into disrepute.
On 12 March 1977, the two sides met again in the league at Selhurst and Palace ran out 3–1 winners. A crowd of 28,808, nearly double Palace's average for the season, was present.
That season both teams were promoted with Brighton finishing as runners up, two points in front of Palace. Brighton also changed their official nickname from the Dolphins to the Seagulls, in direct opposition to the Crystal Palace nickname the Eagles.
The rivalry continued with the clubs meeting with the same objective and same managers in the 1977–78 season and 1978–79 season, this time vying for a spot in the top flight of English football.
In 1978, Brighton missed out on promotion on goal difference, finishing in fourth place and well ahead of Crystal Palace in ninth, but the head-to-head battle continued the following season. Both of the league meetings between the two teams in 1977-78 finished level.
Brighton completed their 1978–79 campaign top of the league. Palace, though, still had a game in hand to play against Burnley due to postponements throughout the season; Palace won the match, played in front of 51,000 spectators, and took the title by one point. For the second time in three years, the two clubs had been promoted together. Palace also boasted the bragging rights head-to-head with Brighton that season, after they had defeated Brighton 3–1 at Selhurst, a win that would prove vital at the end of the season, while the return game in February was goalless.
The two clubs subsequently met in the top flight of English football in the 1979–80 season, and Brighton emerged with the bragging rights early in the season, by beating Palace 3–0 on Boxing Day 1979 at the Goldstone.
Mullery states that the rivalry was fuelled by both competition between the teams and directly between the managers. Terry Venables, highly controversially, left Palace in 1980 for Queens Park Rangers while Alan Mullery left Brighton in 1981.
Both clubs were relegated from the first division within several years, Palace in 1981 and Brighton in 1983. The two years that Brighton spent above Palace from 1981 to 1983 have since been the only years that Brighton have competed in a higher league than Crystal Palace.
Mullery went on to manage Crystal Palace for two seasons (1982–1984) and then returned to Brighton for the 1986–87 season.
1980s The rivalry between the two clubs carried on throughout the 1980s. Following their joint promotion to the First Division in 1979, the teams met four times in the top flight with Palace failing to record a victory against Brighton.
In 1982, Crystal Palace chairman Ron Noades appointed Alan Mullery as Palace manager, which was met with hostility by Palace fans. Crowds at Selhurst dropped significantly partly as a result of the appointment, and Mullery's record against Brighton as Crystal Palace manager was poor, losing both his clashes against the Seagulls. Mullery eventually left the club in 1984.
With both sides back in the second tier, the 1985 match at Selhurst Park saw the end of Brighton favourite Gerry Ryan's career following a tackle by Palace defender Henry Hughton which broke the winger's leg in three separate places. The game was followed by some of the worst violence seen between the two sets of fans.
Brighton dominated the rivalry throughout much of the 1980s, with Palace earning their first win of the decade against Brighton in 1986 under the management of Steve Coppell, a 1–0 win that put an end to Brighton's promotion push that season.
Alan Mullery returned as Brighton manager in 1986, and on Boxing Day the same year, Palace earned a 2–0 victory against their former manager's team at Selhurst Park. Mullery left Brighton soon after, and they finished the season at the bottom of the table. Palace, after losing 2–0 to Brighton at the Goldstone amidst violent scenes in the crowd in late April 1987, missed out on the newly formed playoffs by two points.
Brighton earned promotion back to the Second Division in 1988, bringing back the rivalry with Palace after a season's absence.
In 1989, referee Kelvin Morton awarded five penalties in a Crystal Palace v Brighton game, all awarded in a 27-minute spell - a Football League record. Palace were awarded four of the penalties, and they missed three of them but still won the match 2–1, with a goal from Ian Wright and a successful penalty from Mark Bright enough to earn victory against 10 man Brighton. Crystal Palace earned promotion to the First Division that season, while Brighton remained a Second Division club.
1990s and 2000s Brighton's off-the-field ownership problems in the 1990s led to the clubs only meeting four times in the league between 1990 and 2011, with Brighton struggling in the third and fourth tiers of English football for much of the 1990s. In both 1997 and 1998, Brighton nearly drifted out of the Football League altogether, finishing 91st out of 92 clubs in the football league in both seasons.