Dunk leads Brighton players in refunding ticket costs for 407 fans travelling to Tromso

Lewis Dunk and a group of Brighton teammates have refunded the match ticket costs for every supporter travelling to Tromso for the club’s UEFA Conference League play-off first leg, with 407 fans making the long-haul trip to northern Norway.

The gesture came after Brighton were only confirmed as Tromso’s opponents a week before the tie, leaving supporters a narrow window to arrange travel. In addition to covering ticket prices, the players also arranged for each travelling fan to receive a T-shirt and scarf for the occasion.

Dunk addressed the decision at the pre-match press conference, framing it as recognition of the effort fans had made at short notice. “Obviously, the fans didn’t know where they were going to go until the last minute,” the Brighton captain said. “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.”

Tromso qualified for this round by defeating Cluj 7-1 on aggregate in the previous stage, and Dunk is under no illusions about the challenge ahead. “They’re obviously in this competition for a reason,” he said. “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 interesting game.”

The tie is played over two legs, with the winner advancing to the Conference League group stage. Dunk framed the play-off as the culmination of Brighton’s entire previous campaign. “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.”