It might seem a strange thing to say this morning, as Charlie Oatway contemplates the start of life as an ex-footballer, but the popular Albion club captain bowed out in style.

Forget those images of him being taken away on a stretcher on that freezing Boxing Day against QPR.

Forget, if you can, the long months of treatment and re-hab and the short-lived comeback in pre-season at Worthing.

And, if you went to Billericay recently, consign images of his final Albion performance to the recesses of your memory (if you hadn't forgotten that sorry 0-0 draw already).

Try to think about two titles and a play-off success. And remember this fact: Charlie Oatway, not known as a goal machine, scored the winner in his final full game as a professional footballer.

That's why you could say he finished in style.

It was a cracking goal too, fired in from the edge of the box right on half-time to earn a 2-1 win over Peter Taylor's Hull City at Withdean to lift Albion out of the Championship relegation zone.

Glowing with pride after the match, he told The Argus: "I don't really like talking about those things when I'm fortunate enough to score a goal. The gaffer says to get things on target and I just tried to do that.

"What was pleasing was, having gone 1-0 down after being beaten 5-1 at Reading last week, we rolled our sleeves up and had a go.

"We managed to stand strong and everybody stood up and was counted."

That was the spirit which galvanised the Albion team which Micky Adams built. Gathering players from around the lower divisions who he knew, and who he knew could do a specific job, Adams took the Seagulls out of the bottom flight.

They did it at the second attempt in 2000-01. By then, Adams and Albion had had a first season at Withdean, during which Oatway and Paul Rogers emerged as the central midfield pairing.

In some ways, Rogers and Oatway were Albion's version of David Platt and Gazza.

Oatway was the joker. In Q&A sessions, players would always name him as the funniest character in the changing room.

He was there through two titles, the play-offs and a relegation and his injury was seen as a major factor as to why Albion went down in 2006.

He started exactly 200 League games for the Seagulls, the first of them coming in that 6-0 welcome-to-Withdean rout of Mansfield in August 1999.

Even after his injury, he remained club captain and a popular figure around the club.

Just recently, Adam Hinshelwood highlighted how having Oatway to keep him company helped him through the long, monotonous process of recovering from cruciate ligament surgery.

While fans see Oatway as a comedian and a midfielder not afraid to get stuck in, those behind the scenes tell of a more thoughtful character, who has found the last few days and weeks exceptionally hard to handle.

There was, of course, one final irony about the tackle, right in front of the North Stand, which broke his ankle and, as it turned out, ended his career.

And that was that it came against QPR, the team Oatway and his family have always supported.

When he first joined the Seagulls from Brentford, the Sports Argus headline read: "Albion sign the biggest name in football."

We then highlighted how Anthony, Philip, David, Terry, Frank, Donald, Stanley, Gerry, Gordon, Stephen, James Oatway was named after the QPR side which won the Second Division in 1973.

Then came a quote from Adams as he prepared to add Oatway and Paul Watson to his new-look squad.

The relatively new Seagulls boss told us: "Oatway is a midfield terrier who enjoys the physical aspect of the game.

"I think the fans will like him. I've had letters asking me to get players who will die for the shirt and that's the way Charlie plays the game."

Oatway did not disappoint.

What is your favourite memory of Oatway's seven years at Albion? Leave your comments below.