Leeds United take on Brighton & Hove Albion this weekend, in an important Premier League encounter. Ben Scott takes us back to 2008, looking over a classic clash between the two sides in previous years.

Leeds United claimed three points against Brighton & Hove Albion and they scored three goals in the process, taking them into third place in League One table.

This match on Saturday 11 October 2008 went the way of the form book - hosts Leeds had already bagged 17 points from a possible 27.

The star of the show was the young West Yorkshire-born Fabian Delph, in his first of two spells at the club. The 19-year-old showed all the class that would gain him 20 England caps later in his career.

Leeds, buoyed by recent results and great support from the stands, took the game to Brighton. The visitors seemed uncomfortable with Leeds’ attacking duo of Jermaine Beckford and Luciano Becchio from the off – something that would come to fruition throughout the game.

Beckford had notched 20 league goals in 40 league games the previous season, so the pressure on Brighton manager Micky Adams to find a plan to stifle him was high. Adams, a defender himself in his day, had played for Leeds. 

He could only watch in frustration as the home side had large swathes of pressure and caused the Brighton back-line many nervous moments.

The danger for the visitors was often created by Leeds’ overlapping full-backs, Frazer Richardson and Aidy White. The young Yorkshiremen often looked to deliver crosses or cut-backs for the likes of Delph, Beckford and Becchio.

As half-time neared, it looked like the half would be goalless, with the only notes referee Carl Boyeson taking was that of booking visiting players Colin Hawkins, David Livermore and Tommy Elphick. However, two goals for Leeds in two minutes totally changed the complexion of the game.

With only a couple of minutes left before the whistle, Becchio bagged the first, drilling in from eight yards. Then, White linked up well with Delph and he crossed for Beckford to head home, past a now despairing Michel Kuipers, keeping goal for the Seagulls.



The second half saw Adams make an early double substitution, one that included the departure of Livermore, who had signed for Leeds two years earlier but then leave the club 10 days later.

Leeds spent the rest of the half dominating the midfield battle, with Delph and his teammate Neil Kilkenny pulling the strings and putting on a show Leeds boss Gary McAllister would have enjoyed viewing. McAllister himself was often the midfield maestro during his successful, six-year spell as a player with the club.

The only shock was Leeds could only bag one more goal and it was at the end of the half as Beckford slotted home from a Delph assist. Delph was in scintillating form, earning all the plaudits.

Against the run of play, right at the end, the Seagulls pinched a goal back, but it was McAllister’s marauding Leeds marching on up the table when the full-time whistle was blown at Elland Road.