|
Who else but Big Guy eh? The 37 year old centre back is something of a cult hero with the faithful at Priestfield as his stay co-insided with the Gills most successful period including a great performance in the Play Off win at Wembley against Wigan. He was a solid uncompromising defender who (unlike some recent Gills defenders) knew how to defend. Guy spent six seasons with the Gills racking up over 180 appearances and scoring 17 goals (most with towering headers). He joined the Gills from Portsmouth having started his career at Spurs but never really managed to break through. After his release by the Gills in 2002, he established himself as a rock at the back for Brighton. He has made 184 appearances and scored 8 goals (so not quite as prolific as he was at Priestfield!). He proved that there was life in the old dog yet with a great performance against the Gills at Priestfield in the 1-0 win by keeping Mullers and McDonald at bay.
Midfield - Dean Hammond
A product of the Brighton Acadamy, Hammond is the Seagulls' skipper. Making is debut in 2000 in a 2-0 LDV Trophy win against Cardiff, Hammond signed pro terms in 2002 and shortly after scored his first goal against Ipswich. Already he has made 126 appearances for Albion and scored 21 goals including 3 so far this season. Still only 24, Hammond has made great strides in his career to date and is tipped to play at a higher level.
Striker - Nicky Forster
The second of the ex-Gills triplets at Brighton (the other being Bas Savage), Nicky is well known at Priestfield, although some fans remain bitter at the manner of his departure from the club. Most though recall how his goals pretty much maintained Gills' League status and his two goals in a 3-2 FA Cup win against Colchester in the 1992-93 season is one of my best memories of Nicky. Plucked from non league Horsham, Forster turned out almost 70 times for the Gills and scored 26 goals in what was a pretty terrible team. The Gills faithful were sad (many angry and bitter) when he left for better pastures at Brentford in 1994 where he continued his prolific form scoring with 44 goals in 122 games. This form caught the eye of Birmingham City in 1996 but his three seasons at the Blues were injury ravaged. Even so he managed to score 12 times in 29 full appearances before swapping St Andrew's for Elm Park/the Mad Stad in 1999. He took his scoring boots with him and in almost 6 seasons with Reading, he scored 67 goals at almost 2.5 games per goal. Injury hit spells followed at Ipswich and Hull City (although he still scored 14 goals in 49 starts) before he landed at Brighton on a free transfer at the start of the season. Now 34 years old, he has already scored two goals in 6 appearances for the Seagulls this term.