Brighton take on Tromso in their Conference League play-off tonight and will be backed by 407 supporters making their way up to the far north of Scandinavia to see how their team gets on.
The tie will be played over two legs and the winner will progress to the next stage of the European competition.
With Brighton only finding out their opponents a week ago - after Tromso defeated Cluj 7-1 on aggregate in the previous round, supporters had a short window to book tickets and make travel plans.
As such, captain Lewis Dunk along with a group of Brighton players decided to refund the price the fans paid for their match tickets as well as paying for each of the travelling supporters to receive a T-shirt and scarf for the game.
Dunk was asked about the decision to cover the ticket costs for fans in the pre-match press conference and he explained that the gesture was in recognition of their efforts to come and support the team.
“Obviously, the fans didn’t know where they were going to go until the last minute,” Dunk explained.
“It’s a long trip for the fans and last minute to organise so we thought we want to start the season off well with the fans and make a gesture by refunding their tickets as a group and give them a little present tonight.
“Hopefully, they appreciate this gesture from the boys and hopefully it’s the start of a good season with the fans and we can enjoy it along the way.”
Speaking of the match itself, Dunk is expecting and ‘interesting’ match up but wants his team to build on the progress they made last season and reach the Conference League proper.
“I think it’ll be similar [to playing teams in the Premier League], they’re obviously in this competition for a reason,” he added.
“They’re a good side, they like to build-up with ball and play short a lot. It’s going to be a game where we have to be intense and press the ball high. It’ll be an interesing game.
“We’ve got these two games for all of last season’s work and we want to make sure we qualify for this competition. We have to back ourselves and be at our best. Hopefully we can take a win back to Brighton.”
