Brighton and Hove Albion will face fierce rivals Crystal Palace in the FA Cup third round.

The tension in the so-called A23 derby spans back to the 1970s because of a rivalry between then managers Alan Mullery and Terry Venables that began during their playing days together at Tottenham Hotspur.

The two clubs were then involved in an infamous FA Cup tie that went to a second replay at Stamford Bridge. A feisty game, with a contentious refereeing decision, ended and Mullery was taunted by Eagles fans – responding by flicking a V-sign with his fingers, throwing spare change in the air and claiming it was all “Palace are worth”.

The pair have produced some excellent matches since: including a 3-2 thriller at the Withdean Stadium, in which Jobi McAnuff scored a stoppage time winner for Palace, and the 2013 Championship Play-off semi-final second leg which the Eagles also won thanks to Wilfried Zaha’s brace at the Amex Stadium.

Fixture six days ago ended goalless

Brighton, recently promoted to the Premier League, hosted the south Londoners just six days ago but the game ended goalless.

The match at the Amex was overshadowed by crowd trouble, with ‘at least 150’ Palace fans denied entry despite having match tickets. Other fans had jumped the turnstiles without tickets and gained entry into the away end, with several pyrotechnics were set off in the away end.

The Eagles were given a reduced allocation of 2,000 for the game last week but FA rules state away clubs must be given 15% of the ground for FA Cup fixtures, which works out at around 4,600.

The match will be played on the weekend 5th to 8th January. 

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About the author
Sam Smith
VAVEL UK sub-editor. Premier League and Football League accredited journalist.