Will Lewis celebrate like he’s won The #UltimateQuaranTeamCup ?

Unusual times (must. avoid. use of unprecedented) call for unusual measures. Football is off the agenda for now with no end in sight. The Euros and the Olympics have both been put back by a year and unless people listen to the lockdown messages, one can only see things on the health front getting worse for the foreseeable. Those are the facts of life at the moment. Yet it doesn’t mean we can’t get our Brentford fix. Even if it is against less traditional opponents such as St. Mirren, Finn Harps and QPR. And it’s all thanks to Leyton Orient who are doing their bit to keep football going with their online video game tournament – The #UltimateQuaranTeamCup.

Whilst appreciating we’re a few days late to this party on these pages (well, the weekend trip to the hospital has been a bit of a distraction), it is something that has proven to be compellingly addictive. E-sports are the next best thing at the moment and with supporter Lewis Frampton representing Brentford in the 128 team knockout competition  – played out on FIFA 20 for the PS4 – the Bees are already through to the second round.

An epic opening fixture against St. Mirren went to replay after replay before the Bees finally progressed with a 6-2 victory. I was glued to this one  – amongst two thousand fans watching the opening round unfold – and we’ll now play League of Ireland side Finn Harps in the round of 64 (happy, FIFA? ) tonight. I believe kick off is at 7pm, on ‘Twitch’ (whatever that is) but the streaming does work fine and can be accessed through Twitter. 

I presume the club, who have fully thrown their weight behind this one, will also have a link. They’ve conducted press conferences with Lewis, run a match report whilst even Peter Gilham got involved last night as Lewis prepared to play some ‘friendly’ games against the team from Shepherds Bush . If such a fixture can ever be described as ‘friendly’.

Good to see some things never change for Peter 

Mr Brentford x @MrFrampton147

Pre-match pep talk from Peter Gilham ✅

All Frampy, aren’t we? 👊 #UltimateQuaranTeam | #BrentfordFC 🐝 https://t.co/BNn5oaK8cf pic.twitter.com/lgWj3nRTQi

— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) March 24, 2020

Fair play to Leyton Orient who have organised and co-ordinated the tournament. ASwell as already raising £55,000 on their JustGiving page it is providing some very welcome and much needed relief at the moment. Lewis is doing Brentford proud and I can’t wait for the next game. The EFL may be on indefinite hold (although at least we know it will be played out – at some point) but until then, Lewis is our B,M and W rolled in to one. FIFA 20 our chance to keep football alive – no matter how unorthodox the competition. You can find out more by following the Bees, Leyton Orient or Lewis on Twitter. Likewise, there’s always the hashtag #UltimateQuaranTeamCup.

The reason we’re having to do this is evident to all – the C word. And, for once, not one of the usual suspects. Urghh, Coronavirus. We spoke about the amazing work being undertaken by the NHS last time out following our own (unrelated) trip to the hospital. Harry is in great form now and fully back to his usual self. He even brought back the (unsused) sick bucket he’d been given telling me afterwards that it may come in handy as “It holds a thousand mils of vomit”. Good news indeed.

I really don’t want to see this filled

Looking at Brentford official this morning, I saw their own NHS related story. Namely, an appeal to help West Middlesex hospital as the ongoing challenge takes hold. The hospital are looking for people to donate to CW+ , the official charity of their NHS Foundation Trust . They’ve set up a  dedicated Rapid Response Fund to support staff and patients and are asking for any help whatsoever to back this. Primarily to assist in the provision of new equipment, new technology and most important of all, giving some extra support to those staff on the frontline .

Things are a tough at the moment. No question. Yet having seen first hand the amazing work being done at West id in the most challenging circumstances, I can’t back this enough. Every penny counts. Please do get behind this if you can. The full story is here or you can jump to their page via this link. Thank you.

It’s not just Brentford doing good deeds. My good friends at Beesotted are doing there own bit to help the Hounslow food banks. They are offering a free copy of the Brentford Cult Bees and Legends book to anybody who is able to help out those who probably need support even more than ever at present by making a donation. Again, the link to their story is here.

Life is strange at the moment. No question. For crying out loud, we’re getting excited by an online game of FIFA. We’ve also missed the chance for Brian Guest to represent Fulham – curses !!

Yet to see how people are looking out for each other, and continue to do so, is immense. With everyone from the NHS to our fans doing their thing to help friends and strangers, it has put a huge smile on my face this morning. As noted the other day, I’ve had some low points over the last couple of weeks. I’m guessing we all have. Keep talking. Keep in contact. Keep looking out for each other. Keep smiling as much as you can.

Until then, it’s simply a case of saying good luck to Lewis. I can’t wait for this one.

See you there, on line…

Nick Bruzon

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Brentford and Birmingham given chance to relive the best and worst of football

Brentford entertain Birmingham City on Saturday with the return of Clayton Donaldson to Griffin Park already overshadowed by the return of referee Robert Madley.

“They celebrated like they’d won the FA Cup”.

Not my words but, as if anybody needed reminding, those of Leyton Orient manager Russell Slade after we’d beaten his O’s back in March.

To read the rest of this article, season 2014/15 is now available to download onto Kindle (and other electronic reading device) in full. Containing additional material and even some (poor) editing, you can get it here for less than the cost of a Griffin Park matchday programme or Balti Pie.

 Thanks for reading and all your comments over the course of the season. For now, I need to make more space on the site for any follow up. However, ‘close season’ will continue in full, further along.

To me. To you. To the Championship

So in the end it was Rotherham United, rather than Leyton Orient, who joined Brentford and Wolves in being promoted to the Championship this season.

Few who watched the League One play off final on Sunday could deny it was exciting. Some of the best goals ever to grace the stadium (in her old or new forms), more swings than a child’s play park and that most tense of conclusions – the, so-called, ‘lottery’ of the penalty shootout.

But then few who watched it could, honestly, have picked a winner. 

Paul, Barry and masked impersonators are chuckling all the way to the Championship

 

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.

I hope nobody does it better than Karleigh, Simon tonight

Tonight sees Leyton Orient take on Bristol City with Brentford hoping for another favour at Brisbane Road. Whilst, of course, destiny is in our own hands nobody in TW8 would be complaining if there were a repeat of Saturday’s result when Peterborough’s late brace left The O’s empty handed.

And Bristol City have two very talented ex-Bees in their squad who might just help swing the balance. The Robin’s recent visit to Griffin Park probably wasn’t, if we are being honest, the highlight of their season.

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.

More loan action for Brentford…and our rivals?

With the  transfer window now officially open, the rumour mill is in full effect.

In the case of Brentford, for once the talk is about players coming in rather than those who could be snapped up by teams in the Premiership or Championship. So far.

Top of the list is Arsenal striker Chuba Akpom. Whilst the club is yet to say anything definitive this is being widely reported in various media sources. Even Matthew Benham, as he has also done with Blackburn winger Alan Judge, has now started to follow the Arsenal youngster on twitter.

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.

Can The Bees make it (lager) top against MK Dons?

Brentford had a brief taste on Boxing Day but with Wolves hosting Leyton Orient at Molineux today, something has to give at the top of League One.

Until Wolves wrapped it up in the 90^th minute against bottom side Crewe and Late-on Orient also won at the death, Brentford had led the table for the first time this season. This is some progress from the twelve-point gap of a few weeks ago and, should the Bees win at home today, at the very least we will end the year in second place.

MK Dons are no mugs, of course. Their mid-table position disguises the fact that they have taken the full nine points on offer from the last three games. This also included doing us the favour of winning 2-0 at Wolves. Chuck into the mix the return of Karl Robinson, after last year’s bizarre incident

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.

Why Curry, Crewe and Brentford beat Monsieur Wenger every time.

League One is an infinitely more exciting place than the Premiership. Fact!

Sure, the (so called) fat cats of the top flight may have the cash, the World Class players and the huge capacity stadia. They may have their games cancelled because of International fixtures and they may feature as much on the front of the newspapers as the back.

But what they don’t have is that ‘real’ human interaction.

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.