It was a day like no other in Albion’s history – and an extraordinary occasion.
Albion and J-League side Kashima Antlers were watched by 25,000 at the Olympic Stadum in Tokyo.
And a huge proportion of them were in the blue and white of the Seagulls.
You could have been walking down Old Shoreham Road or approaching from Falmer station as the stripes and scarves kept coming.
Or not quite. Those weren’t umbrellas like you used to get at Withdean. They were parasols.
Those weren’t fans wrapping their hands around burgers and pies.
They were enjoying some noodles with chopsticks.
But you knew it was going to be quite a day when you stepped on to the Tokyo metro and there was a mother with her young son – who was wearing his full Albion replica kit.
You saw quite a few of what looked like mother and young son combinations, or mum and kids.
But there were also full families.
Small groups of teenagers, all with the Albion gear and their Mitoma 22 shirts.
Albion did this really well with fans getting there early – up to three hours before the game - and milling around in the attractive, open pedestrian spaces which encircle this venue.
Of course the weather helped. Glorious again – but seemingly not quite as hot as it has been, probably just under 30degC.
It was almost all Mitoma shirts, although fan one I spoke to had a replica of a top worn at Withdean.
There was a Joao Pedro shirt, a Lewis Dunk T-shirt and Facundo Buonanotte.
And then there was Hansol Pi from Seoul, South Korea, who became a social media hit when, via our channels, he showed off his 21 Schelotto top.
Hansol, who is over for both games, told us: “I’ve supported Brighton since 2017.
“They weren’t great in 2017 but I was watching random Premier League games in 2017 and I think it was a losing game against Chelsea but I really enjoyed the players’ passion to run around the pitch despite they were losing.
“I just got interested and started to watch a few games and became a fan.”
So why Ezequiel Schelloto on the shirt.
“That was a player with passion, with long hair, running down the right wing. I really like him.”
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