Leicester City – Words and spaces, sounds and places

Brentford FC in the Premier League 2021/22 – episode 4

October – a month of two halves

West Ham 1 Brentford 2 – Sunday 2 October

The Tube train to the London Stadium for this 2pm Sunday kick-off was largely empty. A few fans of both clubs, a handful of London Marathon early finishers and their supporters. 150 Bees fans travelled by boat. It would’ve been 190 but the tide was out on the Thames.

Brunch with our Hammers-fan in-laws, then a stroll through the impressive approaches to the stadium. Inside the ground the gently curving stand sprawled away from the pitch at a shallow angle and up into the steel rafters in the top tier where we were. You need binoculars.

Another Brentford extended family affair, this time with Said Benrahma in the starting line-up for West Ham. We hoped his performance today would be as disappointing as the ‘We’re Forever Blowing Bubbles’ bubbles machine pre-match display. There was a minute’s applause for Roger Hunt… another childhood hero has passed away.

In the first half we had more possession, but it was still a massive surprise when Bryan Mbeumo scored on 20 minutes. The West Ham fans had been quiet, now they were even quieter. At half time we perused the West Ham match day programme, which like Wolves, is a good one with more facts than ads, and a fold-out junior quiz section with a poster of Aaron Cresswell on the back.

Somewhere down there Wissa’s just scored the winner

In the second half West Ham were much better, and the bubbles machine cranked back into action when Bowen scored on 80 minutes. The West Ham fans burst into a tumult of noise that cascaded on as they searched for the winner. There’s always one… a home fan took it upon himself to try baiting the entire away section. We gently scolded him with ‘School in the morning…’ He didn’t even seem to notice when Yoanne Wissa scored our winner in the 94th minute.

After the game we went for a stroll around, with a spring in the step after the unexpected win. It’s an interesting area, a mix of post-2012 rejuvenation and old school cool bohemian. We headed towards Bethnal Green, stopping off at a quiet old pub on the Old Ford Road. Then along Roman Road, which a couple of thousand years ago actually was a Roman road, connecting Londinium to Venta Icenorum, the capital of the Iceni tribe, up Norwich way.

Brentford 0 Chelsea 1 – Saturday 16 October

Another west London derby was also taking place today, in the Championship, between Fulham and QPR. What some were calling El Crapico…

We received an email from Brentford before the game warning that the friendly old ‘Chelsea R**t Boys!’ bants chant wasn’t terribly woke and that anyone singing it could get thrown out of the ground. In the words of Morrissey before he went awol, ‘F-f-f-fair enough!’

It was Thomas Frank’s birthday a few days ago, and today he’s been Bees manager for three years. Amazing. There was an atmosphere of warmth in the stadium but a chill in the air at this 5.30pm kick-off. At some point in the just-ended international break summer turned belatedly to autumn.

A stirring ‘Hey Jude’, and Ivan Toney at last has his own song, to the tune of ‘Yes Sir, I Can Boogie’

In the first half Brentford were mostly dashing about chasing shadows, though we did get a couple of chances. Chelsea dominated with quick movement and accurate passing but strangely no shots on target. Could we hang on till half time? Nearly, but no. A good goal by Chilwell just before half time didn’t augur well for the second half.

But the second half went well for the Bees. It was exciting stuff. And in the last 20 minutes we threw everything at the Chelsea goal, including a couple of kitchen sinks.

This was the best I’d ever seen Brentford play. There was dignity in this defeat.

Brentford 1 Leicester City 2 – Saturday 23 October

It wasn’t buzzing in the Brentford Community Stadium as 2pm kick-off approached. The mood was apprehensive, as though an impending premiership reality check loomed after the happy haze of previous games. The only smiles were brought by the pre-match individual shots of the Brentford players on the big screen. They looked a touch fey, camp even.

Leicester were good, especially on the break. Fast and strong. Teilemans was the stand-out player throughout, especially his screamer on 14 minutes. The threat of Vardy never really materialised, indeed he was replaced at half time. More worryingly for us, so was Pinnock.

At 60 minutes, Zanka flicked in a headed equaliser from a corner via a Jensen cross. Then to our credit we pressed and pressed for the winner. It didn’t come, at least not for Brentford. Maddening Maddison scored following a brilliant pass from Tielemans to Daka.

It was a frustrating game for Brentford. As one fellow fan put it, sometimes you lose a game trying to win it – at least we tried. And nine games in, it’s won three, drawn three, lost three. Not bad for a bus stop in Hounslow.

Stoke City 1 Brentford 2 – Wednesday 27 October (EFL Cup)

Bad news before we set off – Raya injured his knee in the Leicester game and is likely to be out for five months. Eek!

We took the train to Stoke and before the game mooched around the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Hanley, then said hello to a statue of Stanley Matthews in the pedestrian precinct.

A pre-match pint in Spoonies, then a walk to the ground along a ghostly canal, lit by lights planted on the path. There wasn’t another soul, which was weird. Eventually we were joined by throngs of fans for the final stretch from the canal up to the impressive frontage of the Bet 365 Stadium and another Stanley Matthews statue. This invoked all too vivid memories of a visit here in the Championship in 2018 and the trauma caused by a malfunctioning cubicle door lock…

So where were the Stoke fans? Only 8,140 of them, plus 1,440 Bees fans, in a stadium that holds 30,000. Brentford settled quickly, outplayed Stoke and went 2–0 up with goals by Canos and Toney down the other end of the pitch. Excellent, we’d have a close-up view of all our second half goals. But Stoke got better, their fans got behind them and we got complacent. Silly defensive errors, giving the ball away, and missed chances. Stoke got a goal back courtesy of ex-Bee Romaine Sawyers.

Brentford fans started spending less time singing and more time nail biting. We did not want this to go to penalties. In the end we held on. The players’ tunnel was near the away end, just below us. We applauded our players, then Thomas Frank, then Romaine.

We followed the horde back towards the centre of Stoke. Their fans peeled off to their homes gradually, in ones and twos, and we were once again alone by the time we returned to a now almost-empty Spoonies. Next morning, we popped into the Potbank Heritage Centre. Well worth a visit. It’s on part of the site of the old Spode pottery complex that closed down in 2009. It seems Stoke has yet to fully recover.

On Saturday we’ll find out who we’ve got in the next round. We hope it’s Sunderland at home, and most certainly not Sunderland away.

Burnley 3 Brentford 1 – Saturday 30 October

A long drive to Burnley in the Friday rain, to the Premier Inn that used to be a factory of sorts. A Saturday morning walk along the Leeds–Liverpool canal that goes above the houses, overlooked by the moor that frames the town. A proper brekkie at Olivers. The people here are friendly.

Turf Moor is a lovely ground in the east part of town. James Tarkowski’s the resident ex-Bee who’s grown into a central defender par excellence, though André Gray was here for a while too. Before kick-off there was silence while the Last Post was played at Burnley’s last home game before Remembrance Sunday.

As for the game? We got spanked by one of the bottom teams, who were 3–0 up by half time and certainly deserved their first win of the season. Maxwel Cornet looks a good signing for them.

The match day programme is called ‘Turf’. Fewer pages than most, but it’s pretty good, and includes an interesting away fan’s viewpoint. Throughout the game we were intrigued by circular mirror reflections moving across the pitch. Also noticed that the home and away players had separate tunnels at diagonally opposite corners of the ground. Not seen that before and not a bad idea in these times.

Too much action at the wrong end of the pitch

A sweet goal by Ghoddos on 79 minutes took a little of the edge off the embarrassment.

Only in Burnley… after the game we walked past a pub that’s been renamed the Royal Dyche. Later chatted with fellow Bees fans in the hotel bar, righting the wrongs. Next morning, the long drive back in the Sunday rain.

Next time…

Winning against Stoke means we will have eight games in December, one of which is Chelsea at home in the next round of the EFL Cup. But there are just three games in November, against Norwich, Newcastle and Everton. It’s fantastic following Brentford on this season’s journey, but it ain’t half costly, mum. Not the match tickets so much, but trains and hotels. No wonder so many die-hards get a fans’ coach or drive, and don’t stay the night before/after away games. And the admin’s quite an industry, planning and booking it all. Exciting too, though.

Brentford FC in the Premier League 2021/22 – episode 9

Marching on with Eriksen…

Only three games for the Bees in March because of the international break at the end of the month and our swift exit from The FA Cup at the start of the previous one.

Norwich City 1 Brentford 3 Saturday 5 March

A lovely walk through old Norwich to a lovely old ground for a traditional Saturday 3pm kick-off.

The pointless portal here today was pink, which I don’t think I’ve come across that often. And it was way off position – half way towards the centre spot! No ex-Bees at Norwich, though they do have the wonderfully-named ‘Pukki’. And Brentford’s Sergi Canos is an ex-Canary.

Pink portal approaches centre circle in its excitement…

Each seat had a large blue or yellow card for fans to hold up in solidarity with Ukraine. It was well respected by both sets of fans, all 26,887 of us, and sure puts things in perspective. I’m hoping the familiar Brentford chant of ‘Red army!’ during the display was not intended in the military sense.

In the reverse fixture in November, Norwich beat us in a game we fully expected to win. With Christian Eriksen starting and Ivan Toney back, we were more expectant than complacent about this one. We played in all white, which made a nice change from the standard all-yellow away. We also sang and sang throughout both halves, though I didn’t much care for the dubious chant of ‘We’ve only got five… you’ve got six fingers…’ Ugh.

The green pole is carrying a revolving screen.

Around half-time there were a few announcements concerning Mr Carrow, which seemed to amuse the Norwich fans. Who is this Mr Carrow?

Jonathan Rowe on the cover of the matchday programme.

The matchday programme is called OTBC (On The Ball, City – though they weren’t much today). It had an interesting article ‘Seasons in the sun’ that describes the 1934/35 season at the end of which Brentford finished top of Div 2 and went up to Div 1 for the first time. At the start of that season Norwich had just won Div 3 and joined Brentford in Div 2; their first time at that level. The following season would be Canaries’ last at the Nest before moving to Carrow Road. Fascinating stuff. The junior bit (Captain Canary’s Classroom) is pretty good, with a nice and easy spot the difference.

It was an exciting game. Four goals, including two penalties. Two goals disallowed. Loads of yellow cards. We played well and we won! Christian Eriksen was inspirational, which made the whole team raise their game. And Ivan Toney got a hat-trick, Brentford’s first ever in the Premier League.

A whopping eight minutes were added on at the end, during which we chanted ‘Dean Smith is a Brentford fan’ and ‘Deano, Deano, give us a wave.’ Dean Smith the Norwich manager was of course Thomas Frank’s predecessor at Brentford before going to Aston Villa, the club he’s supported since boyhood.

Chatting to Norwich fans in the pub later on, we learned that ‘Mr Carrow’ is a security code: a flare had been lit in the away fan section concourse.

Anna Sewell, author of Black Beauty, was born here.

The next day we visited Great Yarmouth, or Gee Tee Yarmouth as the satnav lady kept calling it. Interesting place.

Brentford 2 Burnley 0 Saturday 12 March

After two years of Covid and not a sniff of a snuffle or a sneeze and now I have the mother of all colds. A lateral test shows negative but I don’t feel up to going to the game and I don’t think it would be a good look in our section of the stand either. So my wife went by herself and I missed my first league game of the season.

At 3pm I switched on the radio and listened to the game, the experience supplemented by occasional texts from my wife and other fellow Bees fans.

Just as at Norwich the fans found a large blue or yellow card on their seat to hold up in solidarity with Ukraine. And just as at Norwich the display was well respected. Being towards the top of the North Stand our section had blue cards. Yellow cards were at a premium, as I’m told much fun was later had brandishing them at former Brentford centre-back James Tarkowski. Poor old Tarks. An excellent player but he did leave under a bit of a cloud.

As the game wore on without a goal scored I became a little apprehensive, given the Turf Moor tonking we witnessed in October, and despite the presence of Eriksen today. But then Ivan Toney scored with five minutes to go. Then Burnley had a player sent off and Ivan Toney got another in the fourth minute of time added on.

Burnley’s manager, Sean ‘Royal’ Dyche can’t have been happy, but I was. I ended up sending two texts, both of them read ‘YESSSSS!’, straight after each goal.

Leicester City 2 Brentford 1 Sunday 20 March

We drove up the day before and stayed in the south part of Leicester, near the lovely Aylestone Meadows and the path alongside the canal and the River Soar that goes all the way up to the Kingpower Stadium. This is Lineker-land – there’s a photo of him behind the bar at the Soar Point pub not too far from the ground). We had breakfast there, then went for a wander round the city centre.

Along with Norgaard and Jensen, Christian Eriksen has been picked to play for Denmark. That’s great news – his reason for joining Brentford has already paid off. David Raya has been selected for the Spain squad for the first time, Saman Ghoddos will be with Iran and Marcus Forss has had a Finland call-up.

But Christian won’t be playing today – he’s got Covid. Uh-oh. Tricky cos we still need a win or two to be sure of staying up. And Leicester have got some decent players: Jamie Vardy and Kasper Schmeichel of course, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, whose surname sounds like a place where university students live, or perhaps a venue for posh wedding receptions. And we hadn’t forgotten how maddened by Madison we were in the home tie last October.

The King Power stadium is a good size and good-looking. It felt like the many pylons around were channelling power to the area around the ground and the 31,830 souls inside. Perhaps the power soothes and moderates the bittersweet of recent Premier League glory and the sorrow of much-loved owner tragedy.

Nampalys Mendy on the cover of the matchday programme.

A flick through a matchday programme that has a very good article on the history of Brentford, spoilt a little by the inclusion of a photo of Kevin O’Connor that is actually Mark Phillips. Newcastle made the same mistake in their programme last November. Is it possible this was provided and mis-labelled by Brentford? The Junior Foxes section is a disappointment, just one page and no spot the difference.

Even before the 2pm kick-off the Brentford fans were happily singing “Leicester’s a s*******e, I wanna go home”. Ha, ha, but Leicester is anything but. Have to confess we were surprised at how lovely it is. Well the city centre anyway. Romans, Richard III, lovely old buildings, history info boards and cycle lanes. All done very well.

What wasn’t done well was the banging of a big bass drum somewhere away to the left. I know, I didn’t think Leicester were that kind of a club either. “We’re Brentford FC, we don’t need a drum”, we sang. But we did need something. There was no bite up front and we kept giving the ball away. Outplayed and outfoxed, we deserved to be 2–0 down at half time.

Thomas Frank normally manages to conjure something up over the tea and orange segments but in the second half we couldn’t even get out of our own penalty area. Ominous. All of us away fans were standing up of course but the guy next to us could take no more. He just had to sit down, even though it meant missing all the action on the pitch. “Don’t worry mate,” we told him, “we’ll let you know if we ever cross the halfway line.”

Eventually we did. Quite a bit. Finished brightly. Wissa scored and a draw was on the cards. After the game we met some old friends round the corner by Filbert Street, at the end of the road where the old ground was and Leicester Tigers rugby now is. Then into town for pints, chat and the game on telly at the Soar Point. We weren’t too sore, I guess.

Next time

Reasons to be cheerful 1, 2, 3…

1 We’re 15th, with 30 points. That’s eight points clear of the drop zone, and the teams below have mostly caught up with their games in hand. Thank goodness for those two recent wins!

2 Rico has signed a new contract… will that be a confidence booster?

3 Christian Eriksen comes on for Denmark. Three touches later scores a ‘worldie’. And gets precious game time. Meanwhile David Raya gets to start for Spain – he’s a worldie!