Brentford fans will descend upon Brisbane Road en masse tomorrow morning, braced for arguably the biggest game of the League One season. The Bees have sold out of their allocation of 2,600 tickets and will, hopefully, pump up the volume ahead of kick-off and during the match in support of Mark Warburton and the players’ efforts to repay the O’s for their win at Griffin Park earlier in the season.
But the exodus from West to East London is certainly nothing new. History, as anyone who knows anything about football will tell you, is cyclical. And, despite many aspects of the game itself having changing beyond all recognition over the past 125 years, the spirit of the Brentford hardcore clearly hasn’t… as the extracts below, taken from the forthcoming Brentford 125 Year Anniversary book, underline.
In April 1898 over 1,000 fans travelled by special train to the Essex County Ground (pictured above) in Leyton for the London Senior Cup Final against Ilford – the B’s, as they were before the Bee’s – ran out 5-1 winners. If you fancy paying a visit to the site of the historic win before or after the Orient match, you should punch ‘London E10 6RJ’ into your SatNavs.
“Brentonians turned up in large numbers – in round figures, 1000, and had a special train to convey them to their destination… It seemed as if the whole of Brentford was there.”
“The B’s supporters were highly elated at the success of their ‘Bonnie Boys’ and gave vent to their feelings by singing; “Who killed Cock Robin?” in which they substituted “poor old Ilford” for “Cock Robin”.”
Then, after the game:
“Preparations were made to give the team a deserving reception on their arrival, and when the ‘special’ containing the team steamed into Brentford Station, a large crowd had assembled, who gave the players a hearty greeting. A procession was next formed, consisting of the B’s and their enthusiastic supporters, several hundred strong, the local fire brigade; and a couple of bands; and these marched to headquarters. Here the crowd gave further vent to their feelings by singing “See the conquering hero come”, “Buck up, B’s”, “Three cheers for the claret and blue” and other songs. An irregular display of fireworks was also given.”
Maybe we’ll write the Beesotted match report Victorian style as a mark of respect this weekend… but are you wondering what the odds of a 5-1 Bees win over Orient this Saturday are?
Dave Lane
Graphic courtesy of http://www.skybet.com/
