And they’re off!
Brentford 2 Arsenal 0– Friday 13 August 2021
The first Premiership game of the season. Our first top-flight game since handlebar moustaches went out of fashion. An emotional time for fans of all clubs as stadiums welcomed everyone back after more than a year of nearly every match played behind closed doors.
For Brentford, the feeling was even more intense, with the additional heady cocktail of promotion to the biggest league in the world, and departure from one of the loveliest grounds in the world.
Sergei Canos scored for Brentford on 22 minutes. We erupted. ‘Hey-ay Sergi! Ooh ah! I wanna know-oh-oh, how d’you score that goal?’
There was a minute’s applause for Robert Rowan at 28 minutes. He was technical director at Brentford and died three years ago, when he was only 28.
Norgaard got the second goal on 73 minutes, after clever positioning by Pontus and abysmal defending by Arsenal. It was good to see fans of both clubs applaud Saka when Arsenal brought him on, after all the bad stuff that he went through after the Euros final.
It seems Brentford is doing all it can to involve the fans and make it loud. So they must think it makes a difference. Not that they needed to do much on this joyous and emotional evening.
But where were Arsenal? Dunno, but we knew where Brentford were… ‘We are top of the league, I said we are top of the league’, we sang. Because, for 15 hours or so, we really were top of the league.
Crystal Palace 0 Brentford 0 – Saturday 21 August 2021
All I knew about Palace fans before this game was that Mark Steele is one, and so is a bloke I used to work with. They say the away fans love a sing-song. So much so that they are always offering to sing one for you. Oh, and the unlikely rivalry with Brighton.
The journey there was much quicker and easier than we expected. Train from Brentford, quick change at Clapham Junction, then non-stop to Selhurst Park and a 10-minute walk to the ground. There was an old piano in one of the station passages. Inspired fly tipping or street art? We walked past Selhurst Railway Club, a yesteryear drinking establishment.
It’s an old fashioned stadium too, with no clock or scoreboard visible to away fans, never mind a screen showing replays and all that. In the away fans section there was very little leg room, just like in the old days. But it didn’t matter, we were all stood up throughout the game anyway, singing our little hearts out.
The home fans at each end were each given a blue or red flag to wave, coordinated to give alternate vertical red and blue stripes. These were waved before the start of the game. Hmm. Maybe it’s a first home game of the season thing? It was also the first home game for Palace’s new manager, the Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira. Good luck to him, he might need it.
But… Wot! No eagle? Kayla the American Bald Eagle would fly across the stadium before each home game but sadly passed away last year.
Palace have a drummer, behind the goal at the singing end. He is surrounded by a phalanx of mates who sometimes bounce up and down in time to his drumming. It’s a bit weird, not quite a pogo. But it did amuse the Brentford fans.
Wonder how many Eagle-eyed fans noticed the three factual errors in the match day programme snippet about Brentford’s previous game. The result was wrong, the venue was wrong and the date was wrong. Apart from that…
Brentford more than held their own in a game that only came to life near the end, when Palace missed a few good chances. Palace seemed subdued, and so did their fans. None of them Glad All Over.
Once out of the ground we rambled northwards through the streets of south London and had a posh pub pint in Streatham.
Brentford 3 Forest Green Rovers 1 – Tuesday 24 August 2021 [EFL Cup aka Carabao Cup]
Big queues trying to get in because of problems with the new turnstiles. So we missed the first four minutes. One of many glitches at the moment along with problems with ticketing and ticket delivery. At least the club communicates well.
We might have been better off missing the entire first half… Brentford’s play was stuttered, disjointed. We gave the ball away a lot. Even our singing wasn’t together. FGR deserved to be 1–0 up at half time. Only a few of our first team regulars were playing, but most of the rest of the side that started tonight usually come on at some point so it wasn’t that weakened a side that FGR were matching man for man.
Overheard in the row behind at half time. ‘So where is Forest Green?’ asked one. Good question. ‘Somewhere around London, I think’ said another. ‘Isn’t it in Birmingham?’ said yet another. There was also mention of their number 3, who has very thick thighs, which is maybe why he’d rolled his shorts up on the inside so they looked like short-shorts. Like Aussie rules players wear.
In the second half Brentford were better. We gradually brought on the big guns. Normal chanting resumed. Final score 3–1 to the Bees.
FGR are eco-friendly and sustainable, rumoured to mark pitches with hummus not paint. Match day grub is all vegan. The kit they wore tonight was a cool green with a few black camouflage markings. They’re near the top of League 2 and play very good football. Reckon they’ll get promoted before long.
Oh, and Forest Green is in Nailsworth. To my shame I don’t know where that is either. But I will look it up.
Aston Villa 1 Brentford 1 – Saturday 28 August 2021
A weekend break in Birmingham and our first visit to Villa Park since 2016 when we drew 1–1 with them in the Championship, during Roberto di Matteo’s brief spell as their manager.
As for the Brentford extended family – Villa manager Dean Smith and players Ollie Watkins and Ezri Konsa are all recent ex-Bees. Ollie even got applause from us when he came on. And when Ezri was down for a few minutes, singing bants with nearby Villa fans replaced the usual booing.
The stadium seems much nicer than last time. Maybe because it’s a sunny day in summer rather than a rainy night in autumn. Maybe it’s because our seats aren’t poked away in a corner. Maybe it’s because they gave the place a bit of a clean during lockdown.
The goals: Ivan Toney got his first Prem goal early on and the impressive Buendia equalised not long after. I thought we were lucky to hang on for the draw. We thank our lucky stars for super sweeper keeper David Raya. So, three games in and we’re tenth. Not bad at all.
The long walk back to the city centre started in the park right next to the stadium where we came across an architectural beauty.
Birmingham’s rich industrial history is visible all around. I never realised just how canal central it is. And as for the city’s heavy metal heritage, look no further than the bench on Black Sabbath Bridge…
Next up: Brighton, Wolves, Oldham and… Liverpool!
Around Hanwell and up the allotment 
You must be logged in to post a comment.