Albion's hopes of a £150,000 windfall were dashed yesterday when Watford crushed Leeds United in the Championship play-off final at the Millennium Stadium.
The cash-strapped Seagulls would have landed the cash bonus had Kevin Blackwell's Leeds beaten Watford to return to the Premiership.
The bonus would have been due as part of the package laid down by a transfer tribunal when defender Dan Harding signed for the Yorkshire club last summer.
A clause in the deal included a £150,00 lump sum if Leeds won promotion during the three years of the England under-21 player's contract.
The former Albion leftback was not in the 16 yesterday in Cardiff as former Seagull loan signing Darius Henderson helped Adrian Boothroyd's dark horses cap a remarkable season.
Goals from Jay DeMerit and James Chambers and a late penalty from Henderson saw the Hornets home in a match estimated to be worth £40 million to the winners.
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