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I don’t think it will ever be possible for me to think about a match between Brentford and Blackburn Rovers without harping back to the FA Cup Fifth Round clash at Ewood Park when a couple of Gary Blissett beauties sent the Bees fans delirious and set up a Quarter Final showdown with Liverpool.

In more recent memory, we’ve played them several times since, both in the League and in League Cup ties, but it would be easy to forget that history doesn’t start and stop in 1989, and matches against Rovers go back far longer than the Stevie Perryman era. Indeed, Blackburn were the opponents in one of the greatest days in the club’s history.

Saturday September 5th 1935 was the date when Griffin Park staged First Division football for the first time – The Bees securing a 3-1 victory against Blackburn Rovers and the first top flight goal at home came when a George Robson penalty was saved by Blackburn goalkeeper Binns (pictured), only for Charlie Fletcher to follow up and score from the rebound.

blackburn35

The match report and photo – taken from the Brentford 125 Anniversary book that can be bought here – tells of Brentford sending their supporters home in ecstasy… something that the fans of 2016 will be hoping for a repeat dose this weekend.

If that’s the case, and Blackburn’s fans slink off early before the final whistle, I’m not sure Beesotted will be using the same analogy in our match report however!

Dave Lane