Cook, Dunk, Lawrenson? Who is Brighton's greatest ever player?

Mail Sport — with the help of our readers — are on a mission to find the greatest player of all-time at each of the 20 Premier League clubs.

Today it’s the turn to look at the legends of Brighton, from 1920s record scorer Tommy Cook to today’s captain fantastic Lewis Dunk.

And once you’ve made up your mind who is the best ever, it’s time to vote...

This is the best period in Brighton’s history. Though the club has never won a major trophy – coming closest when they reached the FA Cup final in 1983 – and were without their own purpose-built ground between 1997 and 2011, they’ve risen through the divisions to establish themselves in the Premier League.

Tommy Cook was their first star and remains the club’s record goalscorer having scored 123 goals in the 1920s.

His status as a Seagulls hero was enhanced by the medal for bravery he earned in the First World War for saving a comrade’s life whilst serving in the navy.

Though Bert Stephens scored more than Cook for Brighton, many of his goals came in non-official matches in the Second World War.

Kit Napier was also handy in front of goal, becoming Brighton’s top scorer five times between 1966 and 1972, helping the club win promotion to the Second Division.

Arguably the classiest player ever to don a Brighton shirt was Mark Lawrenson though he later became better known after he moved onto Liverpool.

Lawrenson spent four years at the old Goldstone Ground and was key to them winning promotion into the top flight for the first time in their history, in 1979. When Liverpool prised him away, they paid £900,000, a huge sum for a defender at the time.

The highlight for the club in the 1980s was reaching the FA Cup Final in 1983 where they held Manchester United to a 2-2 draw before losing the replay.

It was hugely unfortunate their inspirational captain Steve 'Fozzy' Foster whose white headband was one of the enduring images of the era was suspended for the first game at Wembley.

Until Alexis Mac Allister won the World Cup with Argentina, Foster was the only Brighton player to have ever played in the game’s biggest tournament, representing England in 1982.

Brighton’s years in exile between the Goldstone Ground and The Amex between 1997 and 2011 still produced heroes.

Kerry Mayo gave 14 years of excellent service between 1995 and 2009 keeping a high level of consistency over more than 400 games.

As Brighton began their climb away from the bottom of the league, Bobby Zamora’s goals were absolutely vital. Zamora had two spells at the club, in his first he scored 75 goals earning the club consecutive promotions before securing a move to Tottenham.

Once they reached the promised land of the Premier League, Glenn Murray was the forward who kept them there in the difficult first couple of years.

Like Zamora, he also had two spells at the club and was so good in his second period the fans forgave him having left them for bitter rivals Crystal Palace first time around.

Modern Brighton have won a lot of fans for the way they’ve played under Graham Potter and Roberto De Zerbi.

Pascal Gross, signed for £3million from Ingolstadt, has to be one of the biggest bargains in the modern era, helping Brighton reach two FA Cup semi-finals.

Besides his versatility, set-piece delivery and range of passing, Gross has scored more goals in the Premier League for Brighton than anyone else, and was called into Germany’s squad for Euro 2024.

Also at the Euros for England was Seagulls captain Lewis Dunk who has been the heartbeat of Brighton’s recent success. While Brighton have rightly won plaudits for their global recruitment, nobody has been more important than their centre-half and leader who has made a record 450 appearances for his hometown club.

Of the overseas stars at the Amex, none has reached the heights of Alexis Mac Allister who was in Argentina’s starting XI alongside Lionel Messi when they won the World Cup in 2022.

The top-class midfielder joined Liverpool in the summer of 2023 where he has become a popular figure. 

To select your greatest Brighton player, click on the voting button or email greatest@dailymail.co.uk if you want to choose someone not on the shortlist.

We will reveal the results of the greatest all-time player for all 20 Premier League clubs before the start of the 2024-25 season.