THE Pole in the goal has topped our poll.

Argus readers have voted Tomasz Kuszczak as Albion’s all-time No. 1.

Kuszczak has secured the first spot in the Seagulls’ all-time XI.

We asked you to choose from ten of the finest keepers in the club’s history.

One in every five plumped for the formidable 33-year-old from Krosno, whose performance helped Albion reach the Championship play-offs at the Amex in successive seasons.

Kuszczak clawed enough support to edge out Albion’s 1983 FA Cup final custodian Graham Moseley.

Moseley topped our last poll a decade ago. He has to settle for runner-up this time, four per cent adrift of Kuszczak.

Moseley’s long-time rival Eric Steele makes it on to the podium in third place, a further four percentage points behind.

That would ensure no handshake at the medal ceremony. Kuszczak and Steele did not see eye to eye when they were together at Manchester United, the latter in a coaching capacity.

Kuszczak’s place in Albion history will also come as a surprise to former managers Oscar Garcia and Sami Hyypia.

Spaniard Oscar was in charge in Kuszczak’s second season at the club, when Albion squeezed into the top six.

He inherited the former Hertha Berlin, West Brom and Watford glove man from Gus Poyet.

Kuszczak’s two-year contract expired last summer and Albion decided against keeping him.

Chairman Tony Bloom was prepared to offer Kuszczak a new deal but, according to a well-placed source, Oscar had decided before quitting that he wanted a goalkeeper “who is better with his feet”.

That judgment was ratified by Hyypia when he took over, together with his goalkeeping coach Antti Niemi.

The judgment of Argus readers is that they were wrong. David Stockdale, Kuszczak’s successor, finished tenth in our poll with only three per cent of the votes following a fluctuating debut campaign.

Kuszczak, speaking in March before his return to the Amex with current club Wolves, admitted: “I was surprised. At the time I was really happy there and the fans kept asking on my fan page ‘why aren’t you signing? Why don’t you want to stay?’ “You have to take it. The club did not offer me a new contract and went for someone else.

“I have to accept that but the important thing is that it wasn’t my decision, the club didn’t even ask me.

“There wasn’t a contract issue or any talks. The season finished, I went on holiday and the proposal was never there.

“Time passed and I found out they were looking for somebody else, simple as that.”

Kuszczak could be back at the Amex again next season. He is hoping to earn a new deal with Wolves after ending the campaign in the team for the injured Carl Ikeme.

Wanderers took 29 points from the 13 matches he played in and he kept six clean sheets as they narrowly missed out on the play-offs.

Kuszczak believes Albion’s long-term goalkeeping future is in safe hands in the shape of England under-20s prospect Christian Walton.

“To have an English national team player at Brighton is a good thing for the club and him as well,” Kuszczak said. “He has a long way to go still and big competition but he has the potential.”

Perhaps another ten years on Walton will usurp Kuszczak in popularity. For now though it is the Pole in the goal who has both hands on the accolade of Albion’s all-time No. 1.