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22 May 2023

Hundreds celebrate 40th anniversary of 1983 cup final at special event

Hundreds celebrate 40th anniversary of 1983 cup final at special event

Over 400 guests, including a cohort of Albion legends past and present, joined together to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the 1983 FA Cup final.

The 1983 final was Albion’s greatest ever cup run, which culminated in a hotly contested final against Manchester United at Wembley.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of that historic achievement, so to celebrate we invited Albion fans to join us for a special dinner at the Amex.

As well as fans, a large contingent from the 1983 Albion squad were in attendance, including the likes of Gordon Smith, Steve Foster, and Gary Stevens.

Guests enjoyed a three course meal, interviews with famous club figures hosted by Richard Reynolds, and the chance to win iconic memorabilia in a raffle and a charity auction run by Albion favourite Ian Hart.

The evening raised a fantastic £54,000 in total – with all funds going towards supporting our life-changing work all over Sussex.

Mark Barkaway, who heads up fundraising at AITC, was delighted to see fans enjoying the sold-out evening.

“It was brilliant to see so many happy Albion fans coming together to celebrate this historic anniversary.

“We’d like to thank all of our guests for coming to support this event, our former players for helping make this such a special occasion, and our generous sponsors who made it all possible.”

The run to the FA Cup final was littered with unforgettable moments. It saw an Albion team packed full of legends like Jimmy Case and Michael Robinson, and led by Jimmy Melia, punch above their weight and come within inches of lifting the club’s first major trophy.

Beating Newcastle United and Manchester City, Albion then won 2-1 away at Liverpool – one of their greatest performances ever – thanks to goals from Gerry Ryan and Jimmy Case, to reach the last eight for the first time.

Case then scored the only goal to defeat Norwich City and set up a semi-final against Sheffield Wednesday at Arsenal’s old stadium at Highbury.

There Case hit a thunderbolt from 35 yards, and Michael Robinson netted from close range to give Albion a 2-1 win and earn a final against Manchester United at Wembley, where after a very tight 2-2 draw, they fell short in the replay.

The evening was kindly sponsored by American Express, AITC’s title partner.

Hannah Lewis, UK Country Manager, at American Express, said: “We’re glad to have played a part in AITC’s journey and in bringing Albion fans together for this special evening.

“This event is a great way to celebrate club’s history and the importance of AITC in the local community.”

We’d like to thank everyone who sponsored the evening and helped us make the event a big success: Fileder Filter Systems, Parco EV Solutions, Focus Group, JRC Facilities, Sodexo, Seagull Travel, City Cabs Brighton, and Fontwell Racecourse.

Find out more about how AITC change lives.

This article was written when our name was Albion in the Community. As of August 1 2023, we are the Brighton & Hove Albion Foundation.

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