Colin Beales barely missed a game for more than 20 years as a travelling Albion fan.

He clapped his team off after a 0-0 draw at Molineux in March last year on just another awayday.

On a packed train back from Wolverhampton, he would have pondered his answers to our Fans’ View section, maybe discussed them with mates.

“Another battling performance, deserving of a point but ultimately the game lacked the quality from either team to get the three points,” he submitted to us via email.

Then Covid came and the stadia – like the nation – closed down.

As for many fans of many clubs, going to the game is about more than just 11 versus 11 for Colin and his mates.

So a summertime trip to Burnley, or Luton for a friendly come to that, has never seemed so appealing.

The fans are back. In proper numbers on proper matchdays.

“You started to disconnect from football,” said Colin, from Brighton, of his season-and-a-bit in exile.

“For me football is about the people. My friends, my family.

“Football is the 90-minute excuse for everything that goes on around it.

“The days out, the socialising.

“The pandemic changed that.

“I watched all the games on TV.

“Probably I watched too many games and started to almost get football overload.

“You felt a bit disconnected from the actual club and what we are about and it becomes another TV event.

“Don’t get me wrong, I was still running around my living room and screaming and shouting if we scored but it’s just not the same.

“It’s hard to articulate.”

In some ways, every game will still be a test event.

Infection rates, protocols and fan behaviour will no doubt be under constant review.

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But there was definitely a feeling of being like the old days when Albion headed to the cramped confines, narrow concourses and almost complete lack of mask-wearing that was Luton recently.

Colin said: “For us it seems normal. We did Luton and it was like the old days.

“We are looking for cheap trains and the normal process we would go through to book as a group for Burnley.

“We are looking ahead to Norwich and stuff like that to get the right prices.

“When I say normal, of course there’s an extra process around it.

“You have got to have your Covid Pass and all that but it’s all understandable.

“It’s like, if that’s all you need from us to be able to go to games again, that’s brilliant.

“You see people on Twitter getting all fussy about mobile tickets and the Covid Passes and saying it’s too much hassle.

“That just doesn’t come into it, I would say, for people like myself and those I go with.

“We will do whatever it takes to get there.”

So we are set for the season – fingers crossed.

Colin said: “We are still in a pandemic. If we have to self-isolate, that will change the parameters again.

“But, if we are allowed to go, we will get to all the games we can.

“Just travelling for the Luton game gave a small reminder of everything that we’ve missed.

“As we travel to Burnley and as we take to the stands at home against Watford, our Brighton family will be back together and we can once again all share the highs and lows of supporting the Albion together. I can’t wait!”