Dave Turner was a hero for many Albion fans of his day.

Those days did not come much brighter than the bitterly cold afternoon when his goal confirmed Albion in top spot in the third division a week into March 1970.

He had already been a key player in their fourth division title in 1964-65.

Now, with the 1969-70 promotion race well and truly on and the second tier beckoning, Albion, in second place, welcomed sixth-placed Barnsley to the Goldstone and beat them 2-0.

That put them a point clear of Orient, whose game was postponed. But therein lies a clue to Albion’s problems.

Terrible weather had played havoc with the fixtures.

Even on this first Saturday in March, 20 games across the four divisions were called off due to blizzards.

The Wembley pitch had to be manually cleared of straw, which had been laid to protect it from frost, before the League Cup final between Manchester City and West Brom could get under way.

Albion were top on Saturday night but rivals Orient, Bristol Rovers, Luton and Fulham had games in hand in the race for two promotion places.

They used them to good effect as Freddie Goodwin’s men lost their way in the run-in and ultimately came home in fifth place. Orient and Luton went up.

Goodwin left the club that summer, headed for Birmingham City, and took full-back Willie Bell, who also coached, with him.

That let-down was all some way off as a slightly disappointing crowd of 15,622 shivered their way through the first hour of action against the Tykes.

Albion were perhaps jaded by a day-long rail trip back through the snow after a depressing 2-0 defeat at Southport in which Norman Gall was sent off.

Maybe the absence of Kit Napier, who pulled out because of back trouble, also played a part.

But the mood was lifted on 65 minutes when Alan Duffy got into the box and was pushed over by Brian Raggett.

Eddie Spearritt sent goalkeeper Brian Sherrett the wrong way with the spot-kick right in front of the North Stand.

Turner confirmed the win in style with a super right-footed half-volley on 89 minutes past Sherrett and goal-line defender Barry Murphy.

So what of Turner? He is not widely celebrated as a star of Albion’s past but ask a few fans from that era and it will become clear how popular he was.

Originally from Retford in Nottinghamshire, he played one top-flight game for Newcastle before moving from first division to fourth for a fee of £4,500.

His nine years at the Goldstone brought 338 appearances in defence and midfield, scoring 34 goals.

After retiring, he moved to Canada but kept in touch with the Seagulls’ fortunes.

He said: “We get a newspaper called the International Express. It comes out midweek and carries all the results.

“I always look for the Brighton result and Newcastle’s. We get the Premier League on TV. I wish they’d show a few other games and spread it around the teams and divisions more.”

Albion colleague Steve Burtenshaw said: “It was wonderful having Dave Turner play for Brighton because you knew, whoever you were playing or however the game was going, you got 100%.”