The most significant event to happen at Griffin Park after joining the Football League in 1920 was, without doubt, the appointment of Harry Curtis as the club’s manager – some may even go as far as to say it was the most significant moment in the club’s entire history.
Over the next decade, Brentford Football Club was transformed from a West London minnow, into one of the most famous clubs in the land, and during our research for the Big Book of Griffin Park, we not only unearthed some lovely early insights from interviews with Mr. Curtis, but also made contact with the great man’s family. Here’s an extract of early memories of his time in charge at Griffin Park.
“On my first visit to Griffin Park, I can readily recall getting close to the Half Acre and looking for somewhere to park the car while we had lunch, and while speaking to Police-constable Godfrey I made my first contact with a Brentford supporter. Learning who I was, he told me ‘You can leave the car as long as you like if you will guarantee getting us into the Second Division.’ I left the car there!”
This extract, along with a colorised version of an amazing photo of Harry Curtis (with Alex Graham taken at the Ealing Road end of Griffin Park, the original Braemar Road stand can be seen on the left hand side of the photo) is just one of hundreds of stories included in the recently published Big Book of Griffin Park – make sure you get your own copy of this limited edition run by visiting the Brentford club shop or buying online via shop.brentfordfc.com.
Dave Lane
@beesotted100
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