BRIGHTON versus Manchester City in the Premier League Saturday August 12...

What a dream.

Well now that dream is a reality and it feels just great.

The season has only just ended with Albion securing a much- deserved promotion, albeit they finished as runners-up to Newcastle.

Then we had the parade through the city with some 100,000 supporters taking to the streets.

And now we have the reality of Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League.

The full list of fixtures for the 2017-18 season was released yesterday at 9am and thousands of Albion fans anxiously waited to see who our first opponents would be.

West Brom, Stoke, Burnley – would we get a quiet start?

Manchester City was the answer and what an amazing day that will be.

The city – indeed the county –will be buzzing and it promises to be a memorable start to the season.

As for the season itself on the pitch, how high will expectations be among the fans?

Well survival must be the first priority. That isn’t being negative, it’s being realistic and has to be the priority.

Everyone hopes – and we think expects – that the Albion will fare better than that.

Naturally we won’t be among the big boys but there are a lot of teams lower down who we must fancy beating.

Time will tell.

It’s going to be a great season.

But it isn’t going to be easy and we may need to be patient.

Come on the Albion! The city is right behind you.