They surely spelt his name wrong in the programme.

Albion will certainly not forget Steve Bratt in a hurry.

The hapless West Midlands referee condemned them to a cruel opening defeat with two controversial penalty decisions.

Bratt, in fact, did not award one at all. He relied on an assistant to present Crewe with parity midway through the first half and then, in the last minute, deprived Albion goalscorer Dean Cox.

I get bored by managers and players endlessly bleating about referees costing them matches, rather than examining their own shortcomings. On this occasion, however, the Seagulls have every justification to feel hard done by.

Bratt's part in both incidents has to be seriously questioned.

Cox had "no complaints" about Dean Hammond being penalised for handball from a Billy Jones cross as it bounced inside into the area, once the video had been studied inside the Albion dressing room.

What was strange, though, is that Bratt, only yards away, immediately gestured with his own hands that it was not a spot-kick, only to change his mind once he spotted the linesman's flag.

Although much closer to the incident, Bratt might have been obscured by bodies in his line of vision. Perhaps the linesman had a much clearer view but why then, if he did not see it, did Bratt instantly indicate no penalty?

That was bad enough but what followed in the closing stages was worse. Teenager Byron Moore, making his first start for Crewe and back helping his defence, tugged down Cox.

It looked inside the box, an impression confirmed by replays, yet Bratt, perfectly placed, awarded a free-kick instead a yard outside the right hand edge of the penalty area.

Cox and his colleagues were aghast but the little man, cautioned just a few minutes earlier, somehow kept his cool to avoid a repeat of his dismissal for two bookable offences on the opening day at Rotherham a year ago.

You cannot help wondering whether the manner in which Cox received his yellow card sub-consciously played a part in Bratt's verdict, especially as manager Dean Wilkins revealed referees told him last season they take into account a player's disciplinary reputation.

Cox theatrically rolled on the floor after clipping substitute David Vaughan and then jumped to his feet but he insisted he was booked for a foul, not play-acting.

Albion's midfield midget might have guessed it was not going to be his day when he got lost on his way into the ground, although the way things started, yesterday's birthday boy looked as if he would have plenty to celebrate.

Hammond had already angled a header against a post and Nicky Forster had been denied a debut goal by keeper Ben Williams with another header when Cox slotted the Seagulls into a 14th-minute lead to reward their early enterprise.

Kerry Mayo's cross was nodded back by Tommy Fraser for Cox to find the bottom righthand corner of Williams' net with unerring accuracy from 15 yards.

It should have paved the way for a comfortable victory. I counted a dozen decent efforts on goal for Albion inside the opening hour, which at least dispelled doubts about an absence of creativity following their limited summer transfer dealings.

Hammond should have scored with a free header from a corner, which Forster almost scrambled over the line, and the woodwork came to Crewe's rescue again after the break when Fraser's diving header was deflected onto the bar.

Albion were caught out at the back just once but how costly it proved. Gary Roberts, having blasted the hosts level from the spot, crashed in a header at the far post from another Jones cross 11 minutes from time for a flattering win.

I have a horrible feeling this result is going to look worse and worse as the season progresses. Crewe were very ordinary.

They were suspect in the air at the back and lost their only striker with any pedigree, Nicky Maynard, with a suspected broken ankle sustained in an innocent challenge with Mayo immediately after Roberts' penalty equaliser.

No beating about the bush, they were there for the taking, but there was still a lot to admire about Albion's performance.

They were sound in defence, the home-grown midfield quartet were all influential in their own way and it will not be long on this evidence before the ever-dangerous Forster is banging the goals in.

Wilkins said: "I am just staggered we didn't actually win the game, yet alone lose. I thought we looked a more solid unit. The midfielders had shots and when we got the ball in their box we looked a threat, so there are a number of positives to take out of it.

"We hit the bar twice and had a penalty denied, so we could quite possibly have scored four goals away from home.

"The thing that has let us down again, as it did at times last year, is a lack of concentration. All we had to do was deal with one cross which went into our box with any sort of quality and we failed to do that."

Cross is the operative word. That is how the Albion players and staff collectively felt after Bratt's telling part in their downfall.

Disbelieving coach Ian Chapman summed it up as he trudged off after the warm-down. "How did we lose that," he declared, more as a statement than a question, before laying the blame firmly at the feet of the officials.

Bratt by name, you know what by nature.

ALBION (4-4-2): Michel Kuipers (GK), Andrew Whing (RB), Guy Butters (CB), Joel Lynch (CB), Kerry Mayo (LB), Tommy Fraser (RM), Adam El-Abd (CM), Dean Hammond (CM), Dean Cox (LM), Alex Revell (CF), Nicky Forster (CF).

Subs: Paul Reid (for Fraser 69), Bas Savage (for El-Abd 81), Nathan Elder (for Revell 83), John Sullivan, Tommy Elphick.

CREWE (4-4-2): Ben Williams (GK), Danny Woodards (RB), Julien Baudet (CB), Chris McCready (CB), Billy Jones (LB), Byron Moore (RM), Steven Schumacher (CM), Neil Cox (CM), Gary Roberts (LM), Nicky Maynard (CF), Shaun Miller (CF).

Subs: David Vaughan (for Maynard 25), Tom Pope (for Roberts 81), Danny O'Donnell (for Woodards 83), Eugen Bopp, Stuart Tomlinson How bad was the referee on Saturday?