Brentford Football Club

Brentford Football Club hail from West London in the United Kingdom. They currently play in the Premier League after promotion from the Sky Bet Championship in 2021. Their home games are staged at the new Brentford Community Stadium, having relocated from their former home Griffin Park at the end of the 2019/20 campaign.

History

Brentford FC were founded on the 10th October 1889. By 1896, Brentford had joined the London League, progressed to the Southern League in 1888 and eventually entered into the English Football League in 1920. The bees' most successful period came after the appointment of Harry Curtis as manager in 1926, with promotions in 33' and 35' taking the club into English football's top-flight for the only time in its history. Their decline began in 1938, eventually leading to their relegation back to the third division south by 1954.

Now in the third division, the club consistently made attempts for promotion in the mid-late 1950s, but a further decline set in. The club were relegated to the new Fourth Division in 1962 and due to financial troubles almost went out of existence five years later and were close to moving to a new stadium in Hillingdon with the possibility of QPR moving to Griffin Park, but were luckily saved at the eleventh hour by former director Walter Wheatley granting the club an interest-free loan. Throughout the vast majority of the 1960s and 1970s, the East-Londoners to-yoed between the third and fourth tiers, before eventually re-establising itself as a side in the Third Division after a successful promotion in 1978.

In 1987, the bees appointed Steve Perryman as manager of the club - a decision which paid dividends. Under his successor, Phil Holder, the club finally returned to the second-tier in 1992 after a 38-year absence. In their first season, they were relegated. Aside from four seasons that were spent in EFL League Two (where Brentford twice won the title), the club remained mainly in League one in 2015, where after five failed campaigns in the playoffs across the preceding 19 years, Brentford finished second and received automatic promotion - speared on my the increased funding given by new owner Matthew Benham who also is majority shareholder in FC Midtjylland in Denmark. Benham's 'moneyball' like transfer dealings have resulted in strong financial performances from the club, with players such as Neal Maupay going on for large sums.

In 2017, and having established themselves as a Championship side, Brentford changed their club crest to the one that is used today. The more modern, simplistic roundel design that works much better in two-tone kits that are often used by the club.

After competing for promotion for a number of seasons, Brentford finally made it to the top flight in 2021 when they defeated Swansea City in the Championship play-off final. They will thus compete in the Premier League in 2021/22.

Stadium

Brentford FC currently play their home matches at the Brentford Community Stadium in Hounslow, West London, having relocated from their former home of Griffin Park in 2020. The new stadium holds a capacity of 17,250 and is shared in part with Rugby Union club London Irish RFC.

Current squad

Goalkeepers	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
1. David Raya	2. Dominic Thompson	6. Christian Norgaard	15. Marcus Forss
13. Patrick Gunnarsson	3. Rico Henry	7. Sergi Canos	16. Joel Valencia
25. Ellery Balcombe	4. Charlie Goode	8. Mathias Jensen	17. Ivan Toney
	5. Ethan Pinnock	14. Josh Dasilva	19. Bryan Mbeumo
	18. Pontus Jansson (c)	20. Saman Ghoddos	21. Halil Dervisoglu
	23. Julian Jeanvier	24. Tarique Fosu
	29. Mads Sorensen	26. Shandon Baptiste
	32. Luka Racic	27. Vitaly Janelt
	Kristoffer Ajer	31. Jan Zamburek
		41. Mads Bidstrup
		Frank Onyeka
		Myles Peart-Harris

Brentford also have a 'B' team who have been the main focus for youth football since the closing of the academy in 2016. They often compete on the continent against larger clubs, and have held their own against sides such as Manchester United and Liverpool in youth competitions.

Matthew Benham is the club's owner, with Cliff Crown and Donald Kerr both chairmen. The club operates a relatively European model for their transfer dealings, with two Directors of Football in Rasmus Ankersen and Phil Giles working alongside Head of Recruitment Lee Dykes to find talent from all across the globe - but often Scandinavia.