Iconic Brighton and Hove Albion figure remembered in new book

Webb’s granddaughter Ann Spike performed the ceremony at the Amex Stadium, Falmer.

Author Phil Dennett, 71, of Burgess Hill has captured Webb’s 39 years of service in his newly released book “Mr Albion, The Life of Charlie Webb.”

Ann, of Ridgewood, near Uckfield, said: “What a tribute to my grandfather this book is. Phil’s detective work has unearthed so much from grandad’s early family life of which I wasn’t previously aware - a fascinating read.

"To me Charlie Webb was my granddad, the quiet, modest, affectionate man who taught me how to high jump …. to others he was Mr Albion.”

The book contains 50 pictures, many of them never before made public, and reveals details of Charlie’s family life as well as his football triumphs.

“Mr Albion” is available at £15 from the Brighton and Hove Albion store, City Books, Hove, through bookshops quoting ISBN number 978-0-9513590-8-2 and on [email protected].

Ireland-born Webb scored a record number of Southern League goals for the club before World War 1 and then managed the team from 1919 to 1947 before concentrating on administration until retirement in 1948.

He won only a minor war-time league as manager, but earned huge respect from the wider football world for keeping Albion alive in some of the most perilous periods of its existence in the 1920s,30s, and wartime 40s.

His sides also won admiration for many thrilling FA Cup wins over First Division sides in the old Football League.

Phil, a retired former news editor of the Mid Sussex Times, thought of writing “Mr Albion” while researching his 2021 book on the life of Cuckfield-born Albion goal ace Tommy Cook, still the club’s leading peacetime goalscorer, more than 90 years after setting the record.