Brentford travel to Sheffield United today for a League One fixture that has the name Keith Stroud indelibly burned onto my brain. You’d have to have been living in North Korea not to know the facts of this one from last season but the pertinent details bear repeating.
Nine yellow cards, three reds (two for the Bees including a season spannering ban for Tony Craig), four penalties (two missed, ours scored by Marcello Trotta) and an equaliser at the death for Brentford. Shaun Wright-Phillips being the man to rescue a point from a game we could have gone on to win – the Bees were 1-0 up and dominating at HT – before Stroud lost the plot.
It was a match famously described after the event as “The maddest game of football that ever existed”by the Beesplayer commentating legend Mark Burridge but, in a way, Stroud might have done us a favour, long term.
To read the rest of this article, season 2013/14 is now available to download onto Kindle, in full. Containing previously unseen content, you can do so here for less than the cost of one matchday programme.
Thanks for reading over the course of the campaign. For now I need to make space on this page for any follow up. The ‘close season’ / World Cup columns continue in full, further on in this site.
BrentfordFC 
Interesting to know if you went to Cranleigh School,which is very much into Rugby,and what made you change your interest to Football
Hi Tony. No, I didn’t although always been a lover of both balls (oval and round).
Went to a West London comprehensive. I fear you may have me mistaken for somebody see
Sorry to have troubled you.I think that I have made a mistake.I am trying to contact Mark Burridge. Could you help me please
Tony