Roberto de Zerbi prepared for a new frontier, with Brighton about to take their first steps into Europe by promising to cherish past ordeals, depths plumbed and scars acquired on the journey so far.
'We can't forget where we started and who we were,' vowed De Zerbi, who is only a year in the role but it didn't take him long to grasp the ethos of the club. 'We can't lose our DNA. If we think we are better, we make a big, big mistake.'
Where Brighton came from is no secret, although worth recalling as they break more fresh ground, because it is only 25 years since their very existence was in serious peril and only half as long since they were still homeless, rattling around in an athletics stadium before crowds of a few thousand.