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The cheeseboat to Charlton went down in history.

Mainly because it was a massive event .. made out of a non-event.

It was January 1996 and Brentford were on an FA cup run from heaven (OK it was only the 4th round .. but that was a big deal them days) …. the fans were thinking back to the days of the Liverpool Quarter-Final.

For some strange reason, they spontaneously adopted cheese in some dingy pub as their ‘lucky mascot’ at the FA Cup 2nd round match at Bournemouth in which the Bees won 1-0 .. something to do with Tom Jones ‘Whats new pussycat’ playing on the juke box at the time …

The following round against Norwich took cheese to another level … it was a pre-planned cheese trip … with all manor of cheese taken on coaches and trains to the East Country …  cheese hats and cheese boards galore running up and down the terraces …

So by the time the FA Cup 4th round match against Charlton came around, it was all over … hundreds of bees flocked to board the first ever (and there were more) Cheeseboat to Charlton ….

The annoying thing was .. the weather was awful … and no sooner had the boat embarked from Kew Pier than the game was called off …

That didn’t stop the fans from giving abuse to Fulham as they sailed past Craven Cottage … and having an impromptu party at The Royal Festival Hall …

But never again will such madness be seen at sea …

And cheese … has never tasted the same since ….

BillytheBee

@billythebee99