II was another extraordinary occasion on this unprecedented Albion adventure.

And it seemed many did not want it to end.

The Seagulls staged an open training session on the evening before their friendly versus Tokyo Verdy.

As of yesterday, the expectation had been for about 3,000 fans to attend.

Or that was how many tickets had been sold. You never know whether they all turn up.

It turned out to be closer to 5,000.

Mainly Japanese, of course, but there were a few travelling Brits there too who got a chorus of the Mitoma song going at the end.

 

The gathered audience lapped up the skills on view before them.

And, by accident or design, it was quite a spectator-friendly session, with lots of crosses, shots, goals and saves to enjoy.

Then, as the players left the pitch after more than 90 minutes of work, it became clear very few fans were ready to home.

They were not going to budge all the time Kaoru Mitoma was standing on the pitch.

In the end, it took a speech from the Japan star to convince them the session was over.

But many of them did not go far – and were waiting in the car park, behind crowd control barriers and security staff, hoping to get the chance to see the squad again before they got on the coach taking them back to the hotel.

It was a late Tokyo afternoon when the fans were out in force in more ways than one.

Those precious bits of plastic – fans bearing the Albion badge - were being waved urgently in front of faces throughout the session to try and keep spectators relatively cool.

Training took place at the Prince Chichibu Stadium under high cloud and a fading sun and amid heavy humidity.

That all pointed to a storm on the way and every time you looked at the busy main stand you saw a flurry of blue and white Albion branded fans moving at high speed in front of perspiring faces.

But a bit of discomfort was not going to put the spectators off.

The focus for much of the session for Fabian Huerzeler and his staff seemed to be balls played out wide, crosses delivered early and good finishes.

That led to plenty of highlight moments and the fans lapped it up.

They cheered and gasped for many of the goals, some getting a particularly enthusiastic reaction.

And they showed their appreciation for a stunning save by Kilian Cahill when the young goalkeeper turned a close-range shot on to the bar.

They really loved a clever curling chip by Amario Cozier-Dubbery, who seems to have a bag of tracks at his disposal.

And of course they loved everything Mitoma did.

A few players left this eve-of-match session before the end, including Mitoma, purely to control their workload.

But it turned out his part in proceedings was far from over.