Just to let you know Beesotted are very proud and honoured to have been shortlisted for a prestigious Football Supporters Federation (FSF) award for which you can vote by clicking here
Beesotted editor Dave Lane has been shortlisted in the ‘Blogger of the year’ category for his Beesotted blog-site alongside; Football Cliches, TwoHundredPercent, The Two Unfortunates, Swiss Ramble and Dispatches from a football sofa – all highly respected blogs. Ours is the only nomination in the category from a club-specific blog. Other nominations on the night include Robin Van Persie & Luis Suarez (player of the year), Talksport’s Stan Collymore, Henry Winter from The Telegraph and our mates from the excellent Anfield Wrap podcast
Re-launched less than a year ago, Beesotted’s revamped website recaptures the original fanzine spirit that was started back in 1990, by spreading the good Bees word, then mixing it with the fanzine’s unique style. The Beesotted crew – Dave Lane, Jon ‘Condorman’ Restall and Billy ‘theBee’ Grant – have enjoyed being able to bring everything that is good, bad and mad about the club they love – Brentford (often seen as a rather unglamorous and obscure lower league club) – to a much much broader audience. The viewing figures have exploded to a phenomenal level, but most importantly, what a laugh we’ve had in the process.
Joined by an ever-increasing posse of excellent and passionate contributors over the past few months, (Jim Levack, Mark Croxford, Hong Kong Bee, Lou Boyd, Jimmy Mac, Sav take a bow) Beesotted has covered topics as diverse as local residents kicking off about the new stadium proposal, the history of chomp chocolate bar terrace worship to ex-player and cult hero Marcus Gayle’s massive chicken. We think of it as less of a fans’ news site, more of the go-to daily Bees fix and hang-out spot for like-minded Brentford fans young and old.
Writing stories has been fun. But what has really kicked off in a major way are the Beesotted fan videos. Initiated at Yeovil at the beginning of 2013, where the team suffered an unexpected humiliating 3-0 defeat, thrusting an iPhone under the noses of ranting fans for them to vent their frustrations alongside the post match write-up, took the concept of grass roots match-reporting to another level and have been viewed by hundreds of thousands of people so far.
We have to say we have been gobsmacked by the popularity of these videos – not only from Brentford supporters, but very importantly, from opposition fans too. As horrible as it may have been at the time for us, our last day of the season ‘Doncaster Day’ video really does tell a brilliant, timeless story. As mad as it may seem, having bowler-hatted Preston fans celebrating their annual Gentry Day down at Griffin Park really demonstrated what a great game we follow, and what a great day out coming to Brentford can be. Then, there was the ultimate joy of beating Swindon in the Playoff Semi-final…. And the camaraderie at Bradford, despite letting in four goals and coming home with ‘nil point’. The Beesotted videos capture real fans’ experiences and opinions and long may they continue.
We also work hard to provide the latest news, gossip and match action through twitter (@beesotted) and have enjoyed the debate between fans on facebook and the Beesotted message board. To an extent we ’ve been able to watch the season through other people’s eyes – through our interactions with Brentford fans we see their raw passion. Their animated opinions. Their love and pride for this club. Their ability to make weak puns about footballers’ names. Their dislike of Franchise FC (aka MK Dons’ manager) Karl Robinson. Questioning the club new policy of the accumulation of match-attendance loyalty points by buying pies (dubbed piegate). White (and the red)-backed football shirts which were traditionally red and white striped and the Ticketzone Wembley ticket fraud farce.
The very swish FSF awards ceremony will be held at The Emirates Stadium in December, which means we will have to dust off the olde whistle and flute, and be on our best behaviour. OK, maybe not then, but we will wear suits!
Our ambition is to get the whole room doing the Uwe Rosler Dance Now before the end of the evening. Especially Stan Collymore. Natalie Sawyer. Gary Neville and Robin Van Persie.
We really would appreciate your vote so if you fancy supporting us, check out the FSF awards website and vote for Dave Lane – Beesotted – in the ‘best blogger’ award
A massive thanks goes out to everyone out there who has contributed and helped make Beesotted a success – bloggers, fans, players, management. Here’s to another exciting season with hopefully a positive final day video this time.
You can like the Beesotted facebook page by clicking this link. and follow @beesotted on twitter for the latest news, views and blow by blow match reports.
Here are some stories from 2013 that saw us shortlisted:
The famous Doncaster video and report
What a season, what a bloody season…
Uwe Rosler Dance now – the video
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
CastBox
Acast
TuneIn
Google Podcasts
Good luck Dave, John and Billy. I’ll keep everything crossed for you.
Have a good night, chaps. You thoroughly deserve it.