Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.–Crystal Palace F.C. rivalry

The Brighton & Hove Albion–Crystal Palace rivalry, sometimes nicknamed the A23 derby or the M23 derby by the media, is between English football teams Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace.

Although the two clubs have played each other since 1905, the rivalry did not become serious until the mid-1970s. Roy Hodgson, former manager of Crystal Palace, has stated that he does not recall any rivalry with Brighton as a Palace fan in the 1950s–60s. The two clubs did not face each other from 1963 until 1974, when Palace's first game in the Third Division for ten years was at Brighton. Palace lost and the following season their first league defeat was also against Brighton. After failing to gain promotion in either season, in May 1976, Terry Venables (aged 33) was appointed manager of Crystal Palace and two months later, his former England and Tottenham Hotspur teammate Alan Mullery (aged 34) was appointed manager at Brighton. Under the guidance of their ambitious young managers, both clubs, the two best supported in the division, climbed from the Third Division to the First Division within three years.

The two teams are unusually distant for an English football rivalry (although for much of the rivalry – up until the promotion to the Football League of Crawley Town in 2011 – Crystal Palace were the closest team to Brighton), about 40 miles apart. The A23 and M23 derby names sometimes used by the media come from the A23 road and the M23 motorway between Sussex and south London.

As of 2025, the clubs are roughly equal in their head-to-head results.