Ross Barkley will have brought a few memories back for Albion fans when he rounded off a goal feast.

The young Everton midfielder showed a bit of style to cap his side’s 6-3 win over Bournemouth last Saturday.

He rounded the goalkeeper and raised his arms in celebration BEFORE sliding the ball into an empty net.

Veterans of the Goldstone will have smiled – and thought back to the Friday night one of their fleeting stars did exactly the same.

Albion were locked in a tense battle towards the wrong end of the second tier when big Dave Bamber headed a corner into his own net to give them the lead.

That lifted tension – and then Sergei Gotsmanov, the Soviet Union international snapped up by boss Barry Lloyd scampered away to finish in style.

Gotsmanov dribbled around goalkeeper Iain Hesford and then did a jig of delight, arms raided in triumph, before tucking the ball into the South Stand net to complete a 2-0 win.

The Argus:

“I was jumping up and down thinking he had forgotten to put the ball in the net,” Lloyd recalls now.

“But that summed the lad up. He wanted to play football and he really enjoyed himself with us. He was completely dedicated to the game and coming to us did him a favour.”

Lloyd attempted to keep Gotsmanov beyond the end of the season but he was no longer under the radar and moved on to Southampton.

As well as bringing back players such as John Byrne and Michael Small from overseas, the Albion boss was a pioneer in terms of scouting and signing foreign talent.

“I went through different ways of finding where potential signings were,” he said.

“Of course there was no internet to search. There were one or two agents who gave me information.

“The whole of Europe was run by agents back then. That didn’t come to England for a number of years. Plus I had one or two contacts in football.”

All the same, Minsk is not the sort of place you just pop into on the off chance, especially almost 30 years ago.

“There were three of four players there who had been flagged up to me,” Lloyd recalled. “But I didn’t go with anyone particularly in mind.

“Once I’d identified him, persuading him to come was quite comfortable. It was a new experience for him.”

There was extra reason for Gotsmanov to have a spring in his step that Friday night.

He had come to Sussex alone but, after the game, was straight off to the airport to pick up his wife Olga, a gymnastics coach, and sons Sacha, seven, and Andrei, three. They spent the next few months living in Rottingdean.

The Gotsmanovs eventually settled in Minnesota, where the boys both became professional footballers.

Gotsmanov declined interview requests from The Argus made via Andrei and Minnesota United.

But he can be sure memories of his special night have been suitably refreshed this side of the Atlantic.

Albion: Digweed; Chivers, Bissett, Dublin, Chapman; Barham, Codner, Curbishley, Wilkins; Bremner, Gotsmanov. Subs not used: Crumplin, Gabbiadini.