Blue smoke has clouded vision and choked throats for two trying seasons - sometimes in hope, sometimes in desperation but rarely in celebration.
On the south coast, against all the odds and with Everton seemingly clinging onto the failure of others as the best route to Premier League survival, that all changed.
After Abdoulaye Doucoure put the Blues ahead after fewer than 40 seconds the raucous celebrations that followed were still tinged with the fear of the pressure and nerves that would likely follow over the next 89 minutes.
AS IT HAPPENED: Brighton 1-5 Everton goals and reaction
RATINGS: Dwight McNeil perfect score and two others outstanding
Twenty five minutes later that dangerous thing - belief - started to seep into the away end, sold out once more despite another year of travelling woe. And then Doucoure scored again. And hope felt justified. And then Jason Steele deflected into his own net and the party in the away end turned into a full-blown rave and the Spirit of the Blues dominated the airwaves as though Everton were the home team. There was more to come before it was over too. Dwight McNeil scored two wonderful goals either side of an Alexis Mac Allister consolation and Jordan Pickford made a string of invaluable saves as Sean Dyche watched in stunned disbelief. The damage, however, was inflicted in that sensational first half.
Remember those incredible scenes at Leicester City at the end of last season - the images of joy in the sunshine that went around the world? This was that party on steroids in the drizzle of a bank holiday evening and with hope and disbelief once again the drug fuelling the beautiful chaos.
Brighton and Hove Albion, the irresistible force and the example of just what is achievable when good decisions are made and a sound strategy is followed, were not just thwarted by Everton, they were out-thought and out-fought.
How did this happen? Dyche will discuss tactics and players will talk about belief. Those lucky enough to have been in the away end will mention passion and they have every right to take a slice of responsibility for this stunning performance. Ultimately this was a result that went against all the odds and perhaps that is the best explanation: Sometimes football defies all logic.
At the Amex that is precisely what happened. Brighton, the inspirational purveyors of the truly beautiful game, ran out of ideas and Everton climbed out of the relegation zone. It was a win that was built on the surges of Alex Iwobi, the sliding challenges of Idrissa Gueye, the spins of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, the lung-busting brilliance of McNeil and the golden gloves of Pickford. There were difficult periods, when Everton almost buckled under the intensity of Brighton’s pressure. Yet while Pickford’s four majestic saves - three from Evan Ferguson and once from Alexis Mac Allister - were as important as Doucoure’s ruthlessness, Everton could also have scored more, James Garner producing a fine stop from Steele on the cusp of half-time.
Just like it did against Brentford, when Everton last won, this was a victory founded on the aggression of the first minute. Nathan Patterson, making his first start under Dyche, stole the ball on the halfway line, Iwobi fed Calvert-Lewin and he turned into space and picked out Doucoure. The away end had its moment, and whatever followed, that could not be taken from them.
As Brighton pressed in search of an equaliser, Kaoru Mitoma posed a constant threat and may have been awarded a penalty had he gone down under a challenge from Patterson. Yet Everton, buoyed by the indomitable presence of Yerry Mina, held firm and 30 minutes in doubled the lead. Gueye won the ball, which McNeil carried for 40 yards until he paused on the edge of the Brighton box, glanced up and picked out Doucoure at the back post. His volley had Everton in dreamland. Minutes later McNeil again had the ball on the Everton left and his cross hit Steele before making the net bulge and sending Everton substitutes running down the touchline.
Everton’s season has been so disappointing it would not do this side justice to describe the opening 45 minutes as the club’s best of the campaign - the threshold is low. But this was stunning and, had Garner found a way beyond Steele, it could have been even better.
At half-time Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi overhauled his side and Everton faced a predictable barrage. Under the pressure that followed it was the brilliance of Pickford that kept the hosts at bay. His third save, a sprawling stop from Mac Allister, started the move for the fourth goal, which saw McNeil round Steele before scoring. Mac Allister hit a late consolation but McNeil, who had charged down a Brighton attack moments earlier, had the final word when his rasping shot burst the top corner to make it five.
In the dark days of early January, Brighton inflicted upon Everton the lowest moment of this season so far. It was a mauling under the Goodison Park lights that showed no mercy and made the danger of relegation feel all too real. At the Amex on Monday, Everton’s revenge could prove to be the result that ensures Goodison will host Premier League football under its famous lights in its final season.
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