Brighton were 28 minutes from going bust - now they're going on a European adventure

It is all the more awe-inspiring, considering the fact the Seagulls were on the brink of disaster 26 years ago.

Minutes from dropping out of the Football League without a home stadium and a goal down to Hereford, the end was nigh for the Albion.

"We could get to the Champions League and every supporter who was around in those days would still tell you the Hereford game was the single most important game in Brighton's history," Lifelong Brighton fan Alan Wares told FourFourTwo.

"If we'd lost, there would be no Brighton & Hove Albion anymore. We wouldn't have been accepted into the Conference as we had no home."

Well, Brighton might not have reached the Champions League but they will be plying their trade in the Europa League next season.

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It will be their first campaign in Europe, marking an incredible year despite taking hit after hit in the transfer window.

In recent windows, key players Ben White, Marc Cucurella and Leandro Trossard have all departed while manager Graham Potter was also pinched.

But that has not stopped them with boss Roberto De Zerbi arriving and proving a sensation, leading them to sixth in the Premier League.

Along the way, they have scored 70 goals - only three teams have netted more - claiming the scalps of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool.

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It is a testament to the fine work by owner Tony Bloom and the team of analysts who have scouted fine players such as Kaoru Mitoma, Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo.

It was a bit different in 1997 when Brighton were free-falling down the football pyramid.

The Seagulls had been bottom of Division Three for six months and when manager Steve Gritt took over in December 1996, they were 11 points adrift and staring into the abyss.

The Goldstone Ground - now a Lidl - was sold under the feet of the supporters, who protested by breaking onto the pitch earlier in the season.

It saw the club handed a two-point deduction that nearly sent them down, had it not been for a dramatic final day.

The last home game at the Goldstone in April saw Brighton beat Doncaster, lifting them off the bottom off Division Three.

It meant a draw or a win against relegation rivals Hereford would secure their status as a league club.

And it started in disastrous fashion when Brighton went a goal down when academy starlet Kerry Mayo scored an own goal.

But when substitute Robbie Reinelt equalised in the 62nd minute to secure a 1-1 draw he sparked pandemonium among the visiting fans at Edgar Street.

"If I'd had time to think about it, I would have tried to place it and probably missed," Reinelt said.

"Craig Maskell's volley rebounded off the post, and in that split second I just hit it.

"The supporters went absolutely crazy. Kerry jumped onto my back and told me, 'You've just saved my f***ing life.'"

Had Brighton not scored that goal, it would have likely led to fatal circumstances.

Hereford were the unlucky party instead, and ended up winding up with debts totalling more than £1.3million.

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That could have easily ended up being Brighton though their fight back from the gutter was a long road that included ground sharing Gillingham's Priestfield and playing at the Withdean.

Yet they have bounced back, have a new home at Amex Stadium and are ready to start making new memories.