On Christmas Day 100 years ago, one of English football’s most notable rivalries began in earnest, as Crystal Palace faced Brighton & Hove Albion for the first time in the Football League.
Although they wouldn’t become fierce opponents until the 1970s, the Christmas encounters of 1920 marked the beginning of a long history between the two that has seen them face each other more than a hundred times since.
After becoming founders of the Third Division, Palace made an ignominious start to life in the Football League. The competition’s administrators had done them no favours in handing them an away match at Merthyr Town to start their league season.