As you might recall, I wrote about the Sunderland and Liverpool games whilst I was away visiting Japan. Or as I am now calling it, MitomaLand in honour of what a brilliant ambassador Kaoru Mitoma is for Brighton and Japan.
Boarding our flight from Tokyo Haneda Airport back to Istanbul for the first leg of the journey home were a group of 20 or so young Japanese boys, all dressed in Barcelona Academy football tracksuits.
They might have been heading to Spain. Or they could have been heading to Wembley, seeing as Japan were taking on England in the following days. I don’t know.
What I do know is the prospect of 14 hours in the air with 20 boys potentially larking around was not what I needed having missed the final day of sightseeing in Tokyo because of ill health.
Yet the boys were so well behaved. They did not make a peep. As the sun rose and people began to wake up before our descent into Istanbul, I called out to them.
“Mitoma”. Several responded to my amazement with “Seagulls”. One lad in particular stared at the Albion pin badge on my jacket before giving me a massive smile.
So off came the badge. I handed it to him. He looked so grateful, as if this was the best gift in the world. Now I have some idea of what Brighton players feel like when they make the day of a young person in the stands at the end of a game by handing over their shirt.
It gave me an incredible buzz. How amazing that a man in his 70s from England and a young chap from Japan can share a moment like that, connected by a footballer. The magic of Kaoru Mitoma.
The England squad of course found out how magic Mitoma is not long after. What a truly proud moment for Mitoma to score at Wembley as Japan beat England for the first time ever.
You have probably all seen the photos by now of Japanese fans tidying up Wembley after the game. They do this all the time, reflecting their culture back at home.
The streets are so clean you could eat your lunch off them. There is no litter anywhere and everyone is taught to take their rubbish home with them. Because of this, it is hard to find public waste bins. Nor do you ever see a dirty car, lorry or truck; all are immaculately clean.
I would go as far as to say that it puts the United Kingdom to shame. The values the Japanese people hold are something that has been completely lost in the UK. No graffiti anywhere and a deep sense of pride in their country.
Pride is what I felt when Brighton finally returned to action after three weeks off at Burnley. It was an afternoon of all four seasons; sunshine, rain and “blowing a hooley” as Johnny Cantor called it on BBC Radio Sussex.
You could almost hear Johnny, Warren Aspinall and Robin Grey shivering over the airwaves. I really felt for them… whilst I sipped my warm 3pm afternoon tea.
The away support sounded amazing and credit to all those Albion fans who made the long trip. They almost saw Burnley take an early lead through Jaidon Anthony, only for the goal to be chalked off. A left arm hair had strayed offside. One back for what happened to Danny Welbeck at Fulham, perhaps?
Bart Verbruggen made a great save from a James Ward-Prowse corner and Brighton had some chances but were lacking the killer touch.
That was until the 43rd minute. A great cross from the left by Pascal Gross found Mats Wieffer to put the Albion ahead going into the break.
In his half time analysis, Warren put Brighton leading down to how bad the opposition were. “We are on top but only because Burnley are very poor. The Albion are not playing well,” he said.
Could Brighton improve after the break? It did not sound like it initially as Burnley scored again. Thankfully, it was again ruled out for offside. This time for an elbow being the wrong side of an Albion defender rather than a hair.
Fabian Hurzeler made some changes entering the final 15 minutes and one of his substitutes ended up setting up the killer second goal.
Can you guess who? Mitoma of course. His pass found Wieffer, who got his second of the afternoon having not scored for 16 months. Just like London Buses (I would not dare say Seagull Travel Coaches because they are always on time and that means two never come along at once).
I wondered how happy my new Japanese friend would be at another Mitoma assist? Or how about if Mitoma scores at Spurs this Saturday in the Albion’s reunion with Roberto De Zerbi?
Now that would be nice.
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About The Author
Tony attended his first Brighton game in 1965, aged nine. Now in his 70s, he has watched the club go through ups and downs from afar before becoming a season ticket holder in 2021.
A retired police detective, he is now qualified as a freelance journalist and has published several books about the Albion. Tony is also a semi-regular contributor to the Final Whistle programme on BBC Radio Sussex and has appeared on the Albion Unlimited Podcast.