Brighton great Kit Napier dies aged 75

Brighton’s third all-time leading goalscorer Kit Napier has died at the age of 75, the Premier League club have announced.

Scottish forward Napier scored 99 times in 291 appearances for Albion and helped the club win promotion to the old Second Division in the 1971/72 season.

The late Tommy Cook (123) and current striker Glenn Murray (107) are the only players to have registered more goals than Napier for the Seagulls.

“Brighton & Hove Albion are sad to report the passing of former fans’ favourite Kit Napier,” read a statement on Brighton’s website.

“The Scottish forward enlivened many a Goldstone afternoon in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his quick burst of pace and sleight of foot.

“A true Albion great, our thoughts are with Kit’s family and friends at this very sad time.”

Napier, who had spells with Blackpool, Preston and Workington early in his career, arrived at the Goldstone Ground from Newcastle at the age of 23, costing £8,000 in the summer of 1966.

He was top scorer for five of his six seasons in Sussex and equalled Albert Mundy’s post-war record of 28 goals during the 1967/68 campaign, before leaving for Blackburn in 1972.

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