Brighton transfers in frame as they sought Peru World Cup stars

But some fans will recall the time when it seemed the Seagulls were about to bring two Peruvian stars to the Goldstone back in early 1979.

Percy Rojas and Juan Carlos Oblitas were the players in question, eight months on from Peru’s decent run at the World Cup finals in Argentina.

Peru had caught the eyes of British viewers with their 3-1 win over much-hyped Scotland in the opening group game of the 1978 tournament.

While Teofilo Cubillas took the limelight that day with two stunning goals, winger Oblitas was also a regular in the side while attacking midfielder Rojas tended to be on the bench.

Both played for Sporting Cristal and would have come for £400,000.

(Image: Argus) They watched Albion win 1-0 at Fulham in February 1979, in the company of chairman Mike Bamber, and had talks at the Goldstone.

However, they had not played or trained for several weeks and looked unfit in a practice match at Hove’s greyhound stadium.

Albion duly rejected Rojas but remained interested in Oblitas and it appeared they would enter into a joint deal worth £200,000 shared with NASL side Tampa Bay Rowdies.

By early March, it seemed Oblitas was almost certain to sign. Then it emerged Gordon Jago, the Tampa manager, wanted English striker Mike Flanagan rather than Oblitas.

The deal duly fizzled out, with Albion left to get on with the business of clinching promotion to the top flight for the first time in their history.

The two Peruvians eventually arrived in Europe in 1981 when they joined the now defunct Belgian side Seresien.

Oblitas went on to manage the Peruvian national team and later became their FA’s technical director, where one of his main goals was to develop the type of young talent Albion now scout.

(Image: Argus) Maybe going to Craven Cottage was a bad omen. Here we see Liverpool’s famous supersub David Fairclough watching the Seagulls lose 2-0 at Fulham in February, 1985.

He is, of course, in the company of Seagulls forward of the time, Frank Worthington, and back-up goalkeeper Perry Digweed.

Albion were on the look-out for a striker at the time and boss Chris Cattlin revealed he had made an enquiry for St Mirren’s Frank McAvennie (who went to West Ham for £340,000 that summer) but could not afford him.

So what about deals which DID happen? Well, Albion added defender Eric Young to their ranks in November, 1982.

He was rated the best centre-back in non-league football and was plucked from Crystal Palace territory as Albion paid Sutton £10,000 for his services.

(Image: Argus) Seagulls boss Mike Bailey can be seen enjoying a joke with the new boy but the smiles disappeared when he was sacked after a defeat at Coventry a couple of weeks later.

Young did not feature that season as Albion were relegated from the top flight while reaching the FA Cup final.

He made his debut in a 2-2 draw at Blackburn early in the 1983-84 campaign and went on to be a real force – to the extent that Albion felt able to sell Steve Foster to Aston Villa.

(Image: Argus)

The new addition being welcomed by boss Peter Taylor in 1975 is Dennis Burnett, the former West Ham and Millwall defender who arrived on a free transfer from Hull City.

Burnett impressed alongside Andy Rollings as Albion finished fourth in the third tier and narrowly missed out on promotion.

He had faded from the scene by the time they went up a year later but history can judge him as one of the men who laid the foundations for the golden area of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The Londoner remained in the area after his professional playing days and appeared for several Sussex non-league clubs.