Gary Hobson has got a new nickname these days. 'Jonah' was apt for the former Albion skipper as he trawled around a series of struggling clubs.

But now he is known as 'Lucky'.

The Seagulls, with Hull, Chester and now York, have the experienced defender as a common link. money troubles and lowly league positions are others.

Yet Hobson, who turns 30 this year, has now fallen on his feet thanks to a series of happy coincidences.

He said: "Everything seems to have fallen into place. I'd bought a house near York and Hull, and I was with Chester as they were relegated from the league when my old Hull boss Terry Dolan took over at Hull and offered me a three-year contract before the beginning of last season.

"Jonah seemed more appropriate. Hull were struggling financially when I was with them. I spent most of my time at Brighton under chief executive David Bellotti and it was crumbling. Then I joined Chester and now York are second off the bottom after just escaping last term.

"I suppose I could take it as a compliment that struggling clubs wanted me because they thought I could add some experience and steadiness. But being in troubled sides is not fun, it is difficult.

"But the players at York now call me Lucky because of how things have worked out for me."

His arrival at Bootham Crescent did not augur well.

His debut in a pre-season friendly against a star-studded Manchester United line-up which included David Beckham, Roy Keane, Paul Scholes and the Neville brothers ended at half time.

"Unfortunately I twisted my knee against United - they were 0-0 when I went off and lost 2-0. This limited my appearances. I only got in about 12 games because of a recurrence of my knee problem which was torn medial ligaments.

"But now I've had a run of eight or nine games in the first team. We even beat another of my old teams, Hull, the other night, which I particularly enjoyed.

"The FA Cup run was fun and we did well for ourselves and it was no disgrace to go out to Fulham.

"I am now trying to repay the faith Terry Dolan has shown in me."

While Hobson's fortunes have taken an upturn, Albion have gone from strength to strength. Hobson was at the club when they saved themselves from going out of the league with that famous point at Hereford.

Now, of course, they are pushing for a place in Division One.

"Brighton are a shining example of what can be achieved with the right person in charge. Dick Knight has been that person for them. He has helped pull them round and they are very much on the up.

"Dick has the energy and drive they needed. And on top of that he is a supporter. He has been like a breath of fresh air for them.

"It's a bit the same at Hull now where a former Leeds director Adam Pearson has come in. He has been able to invest more than a £1m which is a lot of money for a Division Three club."

Hobson served Jimmy Case, Steve Gritt, Brian Horton and Micky Adams during his time at Albion.

"It was four managers in four years. I got on very well with Steve Gritt. I thought he was a good manager."

The centre-back knew the writing was on the wall for him when Adams went into the transfer market.

"He wanted to keep me at the beginning of the season. But he bought three centre halves and I knew I was living on borrowed time with the club. He dropped me and from then on I didn't get a look in.

"I didn't want to stay in the reserves and become the forgotten man.

"Micky was great and found me a club up North, which is what I wanted. I was able to put myself in the shop window by going on loan to Chester for two months in January 2000.

"Chester then gave me a four-month deal and I got in 18 to 19 games for them and did enough to attract the offers, which included York.

"Chester was a good experience. I enjoyed working for Ian Atkins after joining them when they were six points adrift.

"But they managed to make a recovery to leave themselves needing a point from one of their last two games. Unfortunately the club lost to Cheltenham and Peterborough.

"Even then if Brighton could have defeated Cambridge by a reasonable score Chester would have stayed up. But Brighton only won 1-0 and apparently missed a load of chances."

Hobson's thoughts often go back to his days at Albion. "I miss the south coast. I enjoyed it there.

"There were some good lads at the club and I was proud to be their captain. I had quite a bit of fun writing a column for the Sports Argus during my time there too. But it seemed that column was bad luck for whoever wrote it. Something bad always seemed to happen to the author! Still, it was a good experience.

"My wife also misses the place. Both our children Maisie, five, and Oscar, three, were born in the town.

"We've got a lot of old friends there.

"But my roots are in the North so, although we have fond memories and keep in touch, going back was easy."

Hobson, though, has returned to Brighton. "It was a friend's wedding, my old Hull team-mate Neil Allison. I was best man. Old Albion team-mates like Ross Johnson, Kerry Mayo and Robbie Reinelt were there.

"We had a rowdy reception. It was a good night."

Hobson is now settled in the Yorkshire wolds "It is a lovely setting in the countryside and I'm getting to play regular first team football.

"I've only managed about 25 games in one and a half years at York, but the future looks okay. We are in a lowly position but we are several games behind in our fixtures because of our cup run so it looks worse than it actually is.

"I can't really complain. I've been lucky."