Terry McDermott, Hughie Gallacher and…Trelford Mills | OneFootball

What have Hughie Gallacher and Terry McDermott got in common?

There might be other things, but the thing that is on my mind, is that they are the only players in the history of Newcastle United to have scored against Brighton and Hove Albion in the FA Cup.

Gallacher, a precocious talent signed from Aidrieonians in 1925 and scorer of 133 goals in just 166 appearances in the black and white jersey, grabbed a hat-trick in the first ever meeting between the two sides in the FA Cup, United winning the 5th round tie in 1930 at St James Park by three goals to nil.

Over half a century elapsed between Hughie’s hat-trick and Terry Mac’s solitary strike at the Goldstone Ground in the third round tie of 1983, earning United a replay against Brighton, which took place at a packed St James’ Park the following week.

Wednesday 12 January 1983 might seem an unremarkable date, but what took place that evening at St James’ Park is one of those matches that is forever etched in the memory of the 32,697 hardy souls, that braved the elements that bitterly cold evening.

United lost the game 1-0.

It is remembered for the disgraceful performance of the man in the middle that night, a certain Trelford Mills, who twice denied Newcastle perfectly good goals, the first from Imre Varadi, the second from King Kev, before later waving away a stonewall penalty, in the dying embers of a match that had promised so much and yet delivered nothing other than such an unjust early departure from the most famous cup competition in the world.

I was one of those packed into the corner of the Gallowgate that night, due to turn 14 years of age later in the week, and over forty years later, the manner of that loss still rankles. To add insult to injury, not that we knew this at the time, but our opponent was to go all the way to the 1983 FA Cup final, eventually succumbing to Man U in a replay, the first game having proved inconclusive and ending all square at 2-2.

After drawing a blank that evening thanks to nothing other than disgraceful officiating, we’ve since played the Seagulls in the FA Cup on another three occasions, drawing a blank in each of those encounters, and exiting the competition in either round three or four. The omens don’t look particularly good!

If we are to progress past Brighton this time, I don’t think it’ll be easy.

They are an accomplished Premier League outfit and we haven’t beaten them since that splendid 4-1 win at Gallowgate in May 2023, edging closer to the promised land of the UEFA Champions League as we swatted them aside.