Brighton offer 1,000 tickets to NHS staff

Brighton have promised to donate 1,000 tickets to NHS workers for future matches when football resumes after the coronavirus pandemic.

Chief executive and deputy chairman Paul Barber hopes other senior clubs in the UK would adopt similar schemes.

Bournemouth chairman Jeff Mostyn has already pledged to match the offer.

And they have been joined by League Two club Grimsby, who will donate 50 tickets to health care professionals per league game next season.

Both Brighton and Bournemouth are also calling on all football fans to join the nation at 20:00 GMT on Thursday in a show of appreciation for NHS staff around the country.

Barber said: "We are working on a range of things across all areas of the community and I hope this will just be the start.

"We fully appreciate football is the last thing on anyone's minds at this moment, but we feel this is a small way in which we can show our gratitude for those NHS staff on the frontline who are fighting the battle on behalf of all of us and give them something to look forward to."

He has suggested a club-to-club baton approach and has already nominated fellow south-coast club AFC Bournemouth as the next in line.

Cherries chairman Mostyn added: "We are absolutely delighted to match Brighton's gesture and commit to one thousand tickets, and we will pass the baton to another club with the aim of reaching a significant target so football as a whole can show its appreciation for our country's NHS workers."

Earlier this month, Brighton were one of several Premier League clubs who donated hundreds of meals to local homeless charities after fixtures were postponed.

They are also set to launch a telephone campaign to check in on elderly and vulnerable supporters who are self-isolating at home.

Grimsby said that their plan would equate to more than 1,000 tickets over the course of the season.