Griffin Park has witnessed many things in its long and eventful history, and although time is running out for the old girl with the new stadium about to be built, we all hope there’s some significant history yet to be made at our proud old home. However, I can’t see three English World Cup winners gracing the pitch at the same time again before we leave.
Today we cast our minds back to the summer of 1968, and a long-forgotten pre-season friendly between Jimmy Sirrel’s Bees team and former Brentford player Ron Greenwood’s West Ham United – with the lowly Bees seeing off Martin Peters, Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst et al thanks to George Dobson’s goal.
Not only were West Ham generous in their team selection, but the Hammers’ board also agreed that gate receipts could be used to help repay Brentford’s loans that had been taken out as part of the battle for survival and the 1967 QPR take-over threat.
The single page match programme also announces that in the 1968/69 season that was to follow, Brentford FC would be experimenting with the introduction of three Saturday fixtures with a 7:30pm kick off – the first of which would be the season’s curtain raiser against Colchester United – which ended in a 4-0 home win.
The Big Book of Griffin Park book is crammed full of hundreds of stories and photographs that really capture the spirit and soul of Griffin Park – the publication is a perfect way to celebrate a ground we all treasure. Order your copy here.
If you haven’t got one already, 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
MORE RECENT CONTENT
MOST READ CONTENT
Worldwide Football Fans Pile Pressure on FIFA Over World Cup Ticket Pricing
Billy ‘The Bee’ Grant explores the anger over FIFA’s World Cup ticket pricing and questions wha does it say about the changing balance between money, culture and the fans at the heart of football There has been growing disgruntlement among football supporters over...
A Night To Remember Or A Quarter Final To Forget?
There’s little Festive excitement around tonight’s pre-Christmas Carabao Cup quarter-final and that, in itself, tells you plenty. I’m sat on a train from London heading north for the match with Brentford fans with expectations set somewhere between “very low”...
Looking Back At Thomas Frank
Tuesday, 9 December 2025 marks nine years since Thomas Frank was appointed assistant coach at Brentford and Leif Pederson takes a peek into our former head coach's new book to reminisce about his time at the club. On 17 November 2025, a book was published about...
The Igor Has Landed
Regular Beesotted contributor, Nemone Sariman, looks back at Saturday's win over Burnley at the Gtech. I am not usually one for lucky amulets or superstitions before a game. I know that footballers have their individual turf-touching, sky-pointing rituals that they...
Bees Breakdown’s Tactical Breakdown – Brighton 2 Brentford 1
Beesotted contributor Jacob ‘The Gowler’ Gowler (@BeesBreakdown) gives us the tactical and statistical lowdown of Brentford’s loss against Brighton. Keith Andrews deployed his familiar 4-2-3-1 with Kayode, van den Berg, Collins, and Ajer on the backline. Henderson and...
Wolves Away: The Medieval Matchday Experience
Tickets for Brentford’s upcoming away match at Wolverhampton Wanderers are about to go on sale – and for many Bees fans, that announcement brings back memories of some of the most frustrating and unwelcoming away days we’ve experienced in both the Premier...
The Brentford High School End Of Year Reports
Beesotted’s supply teacher, Condorman, casts his eye back over the class of 2017/2018. The dust has now settled on another enjoyable year at Brentford High School with the pupils again setting some high standards against other places of learning who often...
Agricultural Derby And Hull City’s Offside Saga
Derby County’s ‘agricultural’ playing style at Griffin Park earlier this season really frustrated Brentford fans who were stunned that one of the division's biggest spenders and most illustrious clubs had resorted to such extreme negativity in the 1-1 draw. Whether it...
Play Or Stay Drama At Griffin Park
With the transfer deadline looming and one or two Brentford players having to make decisions about their futures at Griffin Park, we thought it would be interesting to delve into the brand new Big Book of Griffin Park again and contrast how transfer negotiations have...
The Most Significant Event In Brentford History?
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...
Brentford Legend Bob Taylor Interview At The Fullers’ Brewery
Ex Brentford striker Bob Taylor joined the Beesotted crew, Marcus Gayle, Kev O'Connor and a room full of Brentford fans at the Fullers’ Brewery for the traditional end of year Bees-Up. A hilarious evening in which he told of his partnership with Nicky Forster as one...
The Griffin Park Invincibles
Brentford's impressive home record to date this year, despite several 'wish-we-could-have-avoided' draws against 'teams-like' opposition, is something we all hope continues for the rest of the season, however, the 2017/18 run hasn't got a patch on events from 88 years...
