BRENTFORD
FA Cup Fourth Round Replay
Tuesday 5th February 2019
Kick Off: 7.45 pm
Stadium: Griffin Park, Braemar Road, Brentford, TW8 0NT
Telephone: 0208 847 2511
Club Colours: Red, White and Black
Nickname: The Bees
Key Personnel:
Danish-born Thomas Frank is the current Manager at Griffin Park. He joined the club in December 2016 as Assistant Team Coach and was given the “gaffer” role in October 2018 after the departure of Dean Smith. Never a player, he has coached the Danish Under 16’s, 17’s, and 19’s before a spell at Brondby as Manager.
Brief Directions by Road:
Courtesy of BFC – From M4 Direction Leave at Junction 2 (or from the North Circular A406 Chiswick Roundabout) and take the A4 West Bound. At the next roundabout look out for the B455 Ealing Road, the ground is approx half a mile on the right.
There is no parking at the ground for supporters so apart from sparse pay and display parks around Layton Road, it is difficult street parking which is restricted and residents in many areas.
Directions by Train:
Brentford Station is around 10 minutes walk from the stadium and served by trains from Waterloo. Turn right into Orchard Road and right again into Windmill Road then into Hamilton Road. The nearest Underground is South Ealing on the Piccadilly (blue) Line which is a 20-minute walk to the ground
Eating and Drinking Locally:
It is famously known throughout the footballing land – is it not? – that Griffin Park has a pub on each of its four corners – The Royal Oak, The Griffin, The Princess Royal and The New Inn. If you can handle four pints before a game then go for it. The New Inn is the more usual “away” pub but my favourite was the Griffin if only for the excellent selection of ales and the bar meals
The Wagon and Horses is a good find if travelling via Kew Gardens station or seek out the Magpie & Crown on Brentford High Street if you are the geography teacher type (complete with corduroy jacket with patches on the elbows) and into real ales on pump.
There is no alcohol served in the Away End.
Ground Description:
The ground currently holds just shy of 13,000.
Let’s start with the Bill Axbey Stand – originally a superb old-style covered terrace dating from the 1930’s, now converted fully to seating. Opposite on Braemar Road is the main stand called surprisingly The Braemar Road Stand. It occupies 2/3rds of the touchline replacing most of the original all wooden stand that suffered fire damage in 1983. A small part of this stand still survives and the join is clearly visible. To it’s right is the fully covered home fan stronghold the Ealing Road Terrace. It was previously allocated to away fans but they are now housed in the Brook Road Stand to the left. This stand resembles a quaint little Wendy House and has covered seating for 600 above a covered terrace with room for just over 1,000. It was assembled, after arriving delivery free complete with instructions, in 1986!
Rivals:
Queens Park Rangers and Fulham
Admission Prices:
Tickets for visiting supporters are now Sold Out
Adults Seating £15.00 Concessions £10.00
Adults and Concessions Terrace £10.00
Meetings & Memories:
Our first visit to Brentford was in November 1925 in the FA Cup 1st round. Longtime supporter Derek Scott remembers that we lost 3-1 and scored with an own goal.
Our last visit was in 2011 and a 0-0 draw in the Paint Trophy, before that for a League game we have to go back to March 2009 and a 1-0 defeat in front of nearly 5,000. The Barnet team featured old-timers Gary Breen and Paul Furlong plus two stars of the “now” in Albert Adomah and Yannick Bolaise.
For some groin tingling excitement, one must go back to August 1991 and a Rumblelows Cup tie at Underhill which finished 5-5. The Barnet goals that night were scored by Gary Bull, Mark Carter and Nicky Evans – now that is a serious trio of goalscoring talent. The game came on the back of the infamous 7-4 home defeat by Crewe Alexandra. Underhill saw 21 goals in the space of four days! Later that season we visited Griffin Park in the Autoglass Trophy and won 6-3. Barnet was indeed the Home of the Goal!
Celebrity Watch:
TV’s Bradley Walsh was a pro at the club in the 1970’s but never made a first-team appearance.
