diff --git a/sanic/app.py b/sanic/app.py
index a3acbecf..d4ee8275 100644
--- a/sanic/app.py
+++ b/sanic/app.py
@@ -636,14 +636,31 @@ class Sanic:
                 warnings.simplefilter('default')
             warnings.warn("stop_event will be removed from future versions.",
                           DeprecationWarning)
+
         server_settings = self._helper(
             host=host, port=port, debug=debug, ssl=ssl, sock=sock,
             loop=get_event_loop(), protocol=protocol,
             backlog=backlog, run_async=True,
             has_log=log_config is not None)
 
+        # Trigger before_start events
+        await self.trigger_events(
+            server_settings.get('before_start', []),
+            server_settings.get('loop')
+        )
+
         return await serve(**server_settings)
 
+    async def trigger_events(self, events, loop):
+        """Trigger events (functions or async)
+        :param events: one or more sync or async functions to execute
+        :param loop: event loop
+        """
+        for event in events:
+            result = event(loop)
+            if isawaitable(result):
+                await result
+
     async def _run_request_middleware(self, request):
         # The if improves speed.  I don't know why
         if self.request_middleware:
diff --git a/tests/test_server_events.py b/tests/test_server_events.py
index 0dcaba1c..d78f0aed 100644
--- a/tests/test_server_events.py
+++ b/tests/test_server_events.py
@@ -59,3 +59,20 @@ def test_all_listeners():
     start_stop_app(random_name_app)
     for listener_name in AVAILABLE_LISTENERS:
         assert random_name_app.name + listener_name == output.pop()
+
+
+async def test_trigger_before_events_create_server():
+
+    class MySanicDb:
+        pass
+
+    app = Sanic("test_sanic_app")
+
+    @app.listener('before_server_start')
+    async def init_db(app, loop):
+        app.db = MySanicDb()
+
+    await app.create_server()
+
+    assert hasattr(app, "db")
+    assert isinstance(app.db, MySanicDb)
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index de1dc2d5..dcebb050 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ deps =
     coverage
     pytest
     pytest-cov
+    pytest-sanic
     pytest-sugar
     aiohttp==1.3.5
     chardet<=2.3.0