With the game against Brighton just over 24 hours away, the Brentford marketing team got ready by going on a high-profile publicity drive of our own. With mixed results.
But before we get there just a quick word of praise for our own supporters . With tickets for the Brighton game now confirmed as available on the gate, at no extra cost, chief executive Mark Devlin has already taken to Twitter to announce:
Looks likely we will have approx 1200-1300 travelling fans at Brighton. Not bad for a Friday night, live on TV, match
Many people’s plans, my own included, were thrown into chaos when the game was moved forward from a Saturday afternoon to a Friday night to accommodate the Sky cameras. It is frustrating but just part and parcel of being in the Championship.
But to be taking this many, when the option to watch from the comfort of our armchairs on a wet Friday evening presents itself, is truly admirable and shows just what a loyal fanbase this club has. There are others who will have practical reasons for being unable to attend : prior arrangements made to facilitate a trip to Brighton on a Saturday afternoon that have now backfired, childcare, work etc. Yet to still have this healthy a crowd deserves a lot of kudos be shown to those making the journey.
Here’s hoping we can reward them by replicating last season’s win at the Amex. Although perhaps without putting us through the torture of missing an unmissable open goal. Jon Toral, I’ll never forget that one….
The Bees beat Brighton 1-0 last time at the Amex – it could have been 2
Ok – so I mentioned at the top of the article that we’d been on a marketing drive. My email in-box was hit with both issue 1 of ‘The Buzz’ newsletter and a rather odd note about tickets for forthcoming games.
The Buzz newsletter had a mix of brief articles, video footage and social media highlights. All round a nice touch. If nothing else, I’ve learned that when Sam Saunders isn’t showing his romantic side, he is ..”An absolute animal on the dance floor. The Rondejon is my best move, as pro like myself I have it on lockdown” .
I am to dancefloors what Nick Proschwitz was to penalty boxes and really not best placed to comment on what a Rondejon even is. Whilst I’d imagine it’s something being practiced in discotheques and dancehalls up and down the land, could Sam also have a penchant for ballet?
The Rond de jambe, of course, being an exercise from that discipline at the bar or in the centre in which one leg is made to describe a series of circular movements on the ground (thanks, google) . Given the fleet footed skills of the popular wing wizard, nothing would surprise me.
Next up, the ticket email. I’ve often been accused of being ‘puerile’ but was there really any need to send me this?
It’s ‘dear’, not ‘hi’
Was somebody showing some solidarity after the recent twitter spat about my own, perceived, support ? No. Infact, the answer transpired to be a typo on the mail shot as, it turned out, I wasn’t alone in having an email sent to my ‘carer’.
These things happen. And I’m certainly not going to pay out our ticket office. If, indeed, it was them rather than the marketing team that sent this. We all know what a great job Rosina, Vicky, Mads and the rest of the team do (under some very testing circumstances).
However, in a year when fan interaction / comms has been high on the agenda in this blog, let’s hope this was a one off. People can take offence – albeit it most of those I spoke with saw the funny side when we thought we’d been ‘singled out’.
The reason I even mention this was because, it seems, we had several new recruits in the office.
If ever there was a caption competition waiting to happen then here it is as, along with Josh, supporters might have received a call from Lasse Vibe, Jack Bonham or David Button. Another positive from the Bees to have a chat out of the blue with one of your heroes, even if the photo did make it look as though the call centre was based in a storeroom.
Was Josh to blame for the rogue email to our parents and carers? Did Jack drop the handset on the keyboard and accidentally hit ‘send’ ? Honestly, I don’t know what my reaction would have been had somebody called me out of the blue saying: “Hello. It’s David Button here”.
At the end of the day (Clive) you can’t knock the club for trying to reach out to supporters more. Whilst those first few calls must have taken a few people by surprise, this could be a great new initiative for future weeks.
I’m just waiting for my call from Sam. If he isn’t busy dancing.
Nick Bruzon
BrentfordFC 