​Brighton’s players paid for tickets, a T-shirt and scarf for the fans who went to their Uefa Conference League play-off with Tromso in August [Getty Images]Brighton’s 125th anniversary celebrations could not have gone much better.Decked out in specially-made commemorative kit, Fabian Hurzeler’s side produced a performance befitting the occasion.A home game against Arsenal had the potential to put a dampener on the festivities but instead Brighton marmalised the defending Premier League champions.A record crowd of 31,944 were at the Amex Stadium to witness it, roaring their side on to the most comprehensive of 3-0 wins.Pascal Gross fired them in front, Charalampos Kostoulas drilled in the second on the stroke of half-time and Chema Andres’ header made it three after the break.They had the chances to add to that lead but three was more than enough and the celebrations in the stands had started long before the final whistle.”It was a special one, not only because we played against maybe the best team in England but because of the performance,” Hurzeler told BBC Match of the Day.”The boys started really intense, they won their personal duels, played good in possession and created chances.”I’m really proud of my team, hopefully they enjoy it today because these kind of moments are important to enjoy.”From near oblivion to Europe and beating the champions of England on the club’s milestone day, this is the Seagulls’ remarkable story…It is Thursday, 9 November, 2023. Brighton manager Roberto de Zerbi is addressing his players in the Amsterdam Arena before their Europa League tie with Ajax.”There’s 3,000 Brighton fans in this stadium tonight,” said the Italian. “But there’s more than twice that number in the city who have travelled over. Remember that when you go on to that pitch.”A long-standing senior Brighton official was in the dressing room that day. A fan first and foremost, but someone who has spent almost three decades working for the club.”It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up,” he said.For some clubs, an encounter with Ajax is commonplace. Not Brighton.”The royalty of European football,” says the official. “From where we’ve come from, to be in that environment. It was a pinch-me moment.”Brighton won 2-0. It was the high point of the first European campaign in the club’s history.Ask Paul Samrah for his single most memorable moment as a Brighton fan and a very different answer comes back, which goes to the heart of why, as they celebrate their 125th birthday around the visit of Arsenal, the Seagulls are almost unique among English clubs.August 2007. “After the years of campaigning, the days and nights I spent fighting for regime change and then for the stadium, the moment I heard we’d actually got planning permission, that our objectors had decided not to continue their fruitless efforts to stop the stadium,” he explained.”We’d won our battle.”The two stories highlight the before and after reality of Brighton & Hove Albion.Brigh