Ian Westbrook’s TW8 diary
The new generation
Brentford’s 2-1 win at Blackpool was their first-ever victory in the Championship, their first in the second tier since a 3-1 home defeat of Barnsley on May 1, 1993 and first away from home since a 2-0 win at Oxford nearly a month earlier.
While a sizeable number of Bees fans remember these matches, it is a sobering thought for those of us who do that several members of the current squad were not even alive then.
Tuesday’s first goalscorer Alex Pritchard for example was not born until two days after the success over Barnsley and Moses Odubajo, who created Tuesday’s opener, was born nearly three months later, while Jake Bidwell arrived only 12 days before that victory at the Manor Ground.
Fans flock to watch Bees
Nearly 1,400 supporters travelled to the south coast to watch Brentford’s first away game of the season, at AFC Bournemouth on Saturday.
The Bees had been given an initial allocation of 1,326 tickets for the match but in the end a few more were squeezed in as 1,392 Brentford followers packed into a crowd of 10,114 at Goldsands Stadium, (known to everyone else as Dean Court).
On Tuesday, a very impressive midweek total of 472 fans made a round trip of almost 500 miles to see the win at Blackpool. And with 5,500 season tickets sold and a very enticing list of fixtures coming up, crowds at Griffin Park and numbers watching the Bees on the road are only going to go one way.
Deadline day looms
Another transfer deadline day is nearly upon us – with clubs this year having an extra day to do business as August 31 falls on a Sunday.
The proverbial window “slams shut” at 11pm on Monday, September 1 and it will be interesting to see what business, if any, Brentford do.
In past years there has always been the threat of a major player leaving Griffin Park in the windows – more in January than August admittedly.
While there is speculation that last season’s League One player of the year Adam Forshaw may depart, it could be that some fringe players, especially in midfield, move on either temporarily or on a more permanent basis.
Brentford now have 15 midfielders in their 31-man squad – and that is without thinking about Alan McCormack and Kevin O’Connor, who can also play there. The rest of the squad consists of three goalkeepers, nine defenders and four strikers.
Trophy draw
In case you missed it, the first-round draw for this season’s Johnstone’s Paint Trophy took place live on Sky last Saturday morning. Brentford have been paired with….oh hang on, wait a minute, we’re not in the JPT this season!
In fact it’s odd to think that apart from the Capital One Cup, the Bees won’t be playing any more cup football until the third round of the FA Cup comes around at the start of January.
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