Former Leeds United goalkeeper Mark Beeney has spoken about the time he 'saved' Brighton from going under when he was forced to move to Elland Road against his wishes.
In the early 1990s, the Seagulls were up to their eyeballs in debt and with their drop down to what is now known as League One, everything was pointing to the club eventually having to fold after they were getting into trouble with the High Court for their overspending.
But that all changed when Beeney was, unknowingly to him, sold to the Whites for £350,000 in April 1993 - this was back when transfer windows went up until late March - and told by then-Brighton boss Barry Lloyd.
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"It was a Friday evening," the goalkeeper recalled to Sussex Live. "We were down in Plymouth, getting ready to play them the following day. Correct me if I am wrong, but we were still in the running for promotion, or at least the play-offs, which isn't really when you want to be selling players," he said in the pre-match Fulham programme notes.
"Barry Lloyd comes up to me and says, 'Leeds want to sign you asap'. I think I might have asked what that meant, as in, 'Now, or do I get to play tomorrow?' It all happened so quickly and, to be honest, I was in shock.
"It turned out Leeds were sending a chauffeur-driven car down to Plymouth which would take me up to Yorkshire straight after the game. It wasn't a question of go up there, have a look around, see if you like it, then decide if you want to sign. It was, 'You have to go, otherwise we're not going to have the money to pay the players and the club's going to fold'.
"Then there was the court case. Being players, we were just trying to focus on the playing side of things, but obviously the club needed money for that as well."
As it turns out, the 25-year-old Beeney at the time didn't want to move away from Brighton. He enjoyed the seaside, he enjoyed the town he'd spent three years playing for and although the move was to a Premier League team, he was initially against it.
He saw himself as a talented, up-and-coming player that would've simply ridden the bench behind John Lukic if he went to Elland Road - something he did end up doing - but his hand was eventually forced.
"If anyone else had told me besides the manager, I would have thought they were pulling my leg. But it was Barry, who wasn't really like that anyway, so I had to believe him. I didn't want to go but it was put to me that there was no other option. Leeds were sending me a car so I had to call my wife and tell her to drive up and meet me there. It really was all very bizarre.
"Leeds wanted it kept hush-hush because I think it was after the transfer deadline so there were doubts whether it would go ahead. In the end, there were no problems. Barry just told me to go out there the next day and not get injured. I actually think I had a bit of a stinker. We lost 3-1 and although I wasn't directly responsible for any of the goals, I've played better."
The now 55-year-old went on to make 35 appearances for the Whites over a six-year stint between 1993-1999 but notes that it didn't had to have been him and that the plaudits for saving the club could've gone to any of his teammates.
"It could have been any one of two or three people who went. There were some good young players there at the time, like John Robinson, who were all capable of playing at a higher level and could have earned the club a nice transfer fee," he said.
"It's just that it happened to be me and it was so close to the winding-up order. That's why I'm remembered as the guy who saved Brighton but I never wanted to leave."
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