Andrew Crofts can thank his hard work and commitment to fitness for his return to the Albion spotlight.

Those attributes might just have saved his career after suffering two serious knee injuries in successive seasons.

A work ethic in the gym and during rehab certainly accelerated his comeback.

But, as the Seagulls midfielder prepares to take on Reading, The Argus can reveal how a man who played up front for both clubs resurrected his career as a teenager.

And how he might just have been the man who instilled that love of physical training which has served Crofts so well in the last two years.

Kevin Bremner will be remembered by many Seagulls and Royals fans as a tenacious Scottish striker who helped their clubs to promotion in the 1980s.

He played a big part in a record-breaking start to a season by Reading which puts even Albion’s current 13-match unbeaten series in the shade.

Then he moved to the Goldstone and helped the Seagulls win promotion from the third tier.

Great memories. But his more lasting relevance to today’s contest dates back to his days as youth team manager at Gillingham.

Because that was when he met a teenage Crofts, urged him to work on his physique – and ultimately provided him with a lifeline into the professional game.

These days, the former Gills midfielder is renowned for his physical condition.

He underlined that with 90 minutes against Preston last Saturday, just a week after returning from a year-long absence.

But Bremner said that was not always the case.

He told The Argus: “Crofty was my captain when I was youth team manager at Gillingham.

“He had been at Chelsea since the age of nine years old and they dumped him when he was 15, going on 16.

“He was local to Gillingham and Darren Hare, who was in charge of the youth development programme, told me he’d got this lad who had been released by Chelsea.

“He asked me to have a look at him and I said ‘No problem’. That would have been in April.

“Crofty came and played a couple of games and I said to him ‘Go away and build yourself up and come back for pre-season and I’ll have another look at you’.

“I said to him ‘I ain’t going to make a decision on you now. You’ve got a bit of talent but you’re a bit slight so, if you go away and build yourself up, I’ll give you a fair crack of the whip when you come in for pre-season’.”

The Argus:

Young Andrew Crofts came through the ranks at Gillingham

 

The response from Crofts was along the same lines as his reaction to those two knee injuries in the past two seasons.

He went away, got his head down and worked hard.

Bremner said: “If you’d have seen his body when he came back, you’d have given him a contract on that. He must have worked so hard to improve his physique.

“He could play football, no doubts. In fact, I might have put him too much the other way. He tends to give away too many free-kicks!

“He was a good footballer when he came to us but, by the time he left us, he was a proper all-round football player.

“He ended up being my head boy within the youth set-up. He had a three-year scholarship in which to prove himself.

“He had his people to look after, the likes of Paul Smith who was skipper and Barry Ashby.

“But he has worked hard to get where he is. He wasn’t handed anything on a plate.

“He could have easily got lost in the system at 15 or 16 but he grafted hard and came back for pre-season.”

The Argus:

Kevin Bremner won promotion with both Albion and Reading

 

Crofts would appear to have a good chance of playing today as Albion look to extend their unbeaten start to 14 games.

Bremner knows what it means to be on a 13-game run to kick-off the season.

Reading have just celebrated the 30th anniversary of their league record 13 wins to open a campaign.

 The previous record, set by Spurs, stood at 11 wins and game No.12 for Reading was a 2-0 success at Newport, rubber-stamped by Bremner’s second-half header. They went on to beat Bolton for the 13th win before being held to a draw by Wolves.

Bremner said: “It was made more exciting by the fact Man United had been going neck and neck with us for the record.

“When you go on a run like that it seems like everything is going your way. When you are 1-0 down you think things are going to happen. Brighton might feel like that now.

“When the run ended, we went to Bury in the next game and got battered 4-0. We had come to the end of our run but after that it was okay again. And we went on to win the Third Division title.”