Liverpool away followed by Manchester United at home – quite possibly two of Brentford’s biggest fixtures in living memory, and all in the space of four days. Sandwiched in between, but possibly only on the radar of the most ardent of Bees fans, in an altogether less illustrious fixture… Tim Street looks ahead to Brentford B taking on Isthmian League South side Central Hanwell Town in the Middlesex FA Senior Charity Cup quarter-final tonight.
But it’s a fixture with a Brentford connection extending beyond just the young side the Bees will put out for the game. For the man in the opposite dugout to Brentford B boss Neil McFarlane is former Bees striker Chris Moore, who has been in the Hanwell hot seat for almost four years now.
Moore, now 42, who scored two goals in 20 games in a short but memorable spell with the Bees in 2006, said: “I didn’t really have ambitions to be a manager, I hadn’t thought about it at all. I thought I’d play for a lot longer, but it was taking me longer and longer to get over games.
“I had a year in charge at Egham and then came to Hanwell, and we’ve had our highest ever finish and best ever runs in the FA Cup and FA Trophy, so it’s not going too badly! The season which was abandoned due to covid we were second in the league too with games in hand, and we would have caught them and gone up.
“It was frustrating, but when you look at how many people suffered and how many people died during the pandemic, it puts things into perspective. But we’re not little old Hanwell any more. We’ve noticed a change in mentality when teams come to play us now, and we have had to learn to adapt.”
One of Moore’s signings at Hanwell this season has been Brentford legend Sam Saunders, who by chance is also O’Connor’s assistant coach at Brentford B, and so won’t be pulling on the black and white stripes of Hanwell (the club was formed by exiled railway workers from Newcastle and are still to this day nicknamed The Geordies) tonight.
“Sam’s really enjoying it,” said Moore. “Our Brentford playing days didn’t cross over, but we won the Conference title together at Dagenham & Redbridge and have stayed in touch. He phoned me before Christmas and said he was enjoying training with Brentford B and was looking to play at a competitive level again.
“Everybody here loves Sam, but he won’t be playing tonight. It would have been a bit of a conflict, so we told him to go and do his job in the dugout for Brentford. It’ll be a strange night for Sam, and the banter will be flying around. He’ll definitely be getting the dressing room sweets in for the boys on Saturday.”
Moore was dubbed the Coca Cola Kid when Brentford signed him from Dagenham in the summer of 2006, using the proceeds from a competition run by the drinks giant which was won by a Bees fan. He got off to a flier, scoring the winner at Northampton on his debut before netting a last-gasp equaliser at Brighton four days later.
Unfortunately, that was as good as it good and the fizz soon went flat for Moore, as the good start the Bees made under Leroy Rosenior quickly turned sour. Moore fell out of favour with new boss Scott Fitzgerald and made a swift return to Dagenham, while Brentford plummeted into League Two following what is, statistically, still their worst ever Football League season.
“I realised the club was going through a period of transition when I walked in on my first day and immediately shook hands with Michael Turner and Sam Sodje as they left for their new clubs,” said Moore. “It was a terrible season, but I started out on fire with those goals against Northampton and Brighton.
“Leroy and his assistant, Paul Mortimer, worked tirelessly on the training ground to get us playing proper football – which is ironic considering the great football Brentford have become known for in recent years. But there was just zero confidence in the squad, and it quickly become a cancer. We went on a bad run of losing games and just couldn’t get out of it.
“My last game under Leroy was against Crewe, and I was man of the match. Fitz phoned me up the next day and said if you play like that every week you’ll always be in the side, but the next game I was in the stands! A couple of clubs showed an interest, and Brentford were trying to get in Neil Shipperley, so I thought it best to go at that point.
“I still loved my time at Brentford though and appreciate the chance they gave me, and I still look out for their results – despite being a QPR fan, and despite getting some stick when I came back with Dagenham the following year and scored the winner!”
Tim Street
