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
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
With Brentford getting themselves ready for a return to action at Wolves this weekend, all the talk has been about Scott Hogan. His goals speak for themselves but, once more, those Republic of Ireland stories are doing the rounds.
BrentfordFC 