Albion’s growing global popularity has been underlined by another study of fans and the Premier League’s appeal.

The Seagulls are rated as the joint 19th most popular foreign club among markets in eight different nations across Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia.

That puts them level with Santos, the club made famous by Pele, and just ahead of Benfica and Bayer Leverkusen.

The stats are also a further proof of the profile the club has been given to a Far East market by Kaoru Mitoma.

They are the eighth most popular foreign team in Japan, ranking higher than Premier League champions Manchester City.

The study, conducted by Chiliz, claims to “explore the current state of football fandom”.

Sports blockchain Chiliz report that they surveyed more than 8,000 football fans across the UK, USA, Brazil, South Korea, Nigeria, Japan, Italy, and Turkey.

According to the report, 86.6% of football fans globally have some level of interest in a club overseas, with 33% claiming to have a foreign club as their main team.

Real Madrid and Barcelona are the most popular clubs, immediately followed by a Prem sextet of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester City and Liverpool.

England’s top flight is the most popular league for fans from the USA, Nigeria, Japan, South Korea and (in terms of foreign leagues) Italy.

The stats show that, in the Far East particularly, a high percentage of fans have a favourite foreign club based on a player.

The most obvious cases of that are Son Heung-min of Tottenham and Mitoma at Albion.

In Japan, more respondents had Albion as their favourite team than they did Chelsea and Manchester City.

Which raises a key question.

If this support for Albion is potentially transient, how can they make the most of it and try and retain the interest.

Especially as much of it comes from nations where companies such as American Express and Nike also have a strong presence, adding value to what the club can offer sponsors.

Meticulously planned trips such as that to Tokyo in July can obviously help.

Other than that, the report finds that, while watching matches (48%) remains the primary way that fans connect, 79% of respondents say digital platforms “significantly enhance their fan experience”.

Social media is used by 43% to follow their favourite clubs across borders.

That is a substantial figure although, if anything, one would probably have expected it to be higher.

Video games are also emerging as a key engagement tool, with 23% of fans connecting with their teams through gaming.

The report finds that 83% of global fans feel their overseas club should be doing more to engage with them.

Suggestions include virtual meet-and-greet sessions with players, fan voting on certain club decisions such as kit design and virtual training ground access.

Of course it is not just about Japan. Albion have attracted a lot of interest in African and South American nations from where they have signed players.

But Japan is the most obvious example.

There is still a group of Japanese reporters, mostly based in London, who follow Albion home and away to report on Mitoma.

They were there again at Newcastle, working on a freelance basis or as staff members for a particular media organisation.

On the train to the North East, I found myself sitting next to a couple from Thailand who were staying in London on honeymoon.

They had interrupted that trip by heading to the Newcastle game, the groom being a Toon supporter having studied in Durham for a year.

But he knew a lot about Albion and spoke about the fanaticism for the league in his country.

“What we really need is a Thai player to make the big breakthrough in a major league,” he told me after speaking about the popularity of Son and Mitoma in their respective nations.

And there is another point which can be taken from the study.

That is that clubs are putting on a show for the world – and the word “clubs” includes the local match-going fans, who remain as important as ever.

“Passion and emotion” are cited as the most important things which attract foreign fans to football in leagues such as the Prem. Whether they come for that in the first place or enjoy it when they are lured in by their favourite player, the Prem is very TV friendly and you only have to visit the Amex to see how it can also pull in overseas fans for matches.

Albion have been making changes designed to improve the atmosphere at home games while the efforts of their fans on the road is beyond debate.

Equally, as is agreed by club and council, Albion’s growing profile is also great publicity for Brighton and Hove as a city.

Whether that is through doing well in the Premier League, pre-season overseas or, as is the aim, returning to UEFA competition.