Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Bees have BMW up front and a Rolls Royce ground
NEW STADIUM SIGNALS BRENTFORD’S SKY-HIGH AMBITION
BRENTFORD are a Championship club which is going places.
The west Londoners are pushing for promotion thanks to their unique approach, prolific BMW forward line and a different outlook on transfers and youth development.
They are also on the move to a new 17,250-capacity stadium after 116 years at Griffin Park and it could be as a Premier League club.
Brentford’s three-pronged strike force of Said Benrahma, Bryan Mbeumo and Ollie Watkins are scoring all the goals, but the forwardthinking club is creating a buzz behind the scenes.
While many Championship clubs are riddled with debt or in fear of breaching Financial Fair Play rules, the Bees hope their new stadium move – in the shadow of the M4 flyover and less than a mile from Griffin Park – will leave them in profit.
They have scrapped their academy in favour of a B-team set-up to develop young players recruited after their release from other clubs around Europe.
Brentford manager Thomas Frank embraces the club’s philosophy that they do sell players when the time is right – but will have replacements already lined up.
When Neal Maupay was sold to Brighton for a big profit last summer, Watkins was adapted into an out-andout striker – and he has scored 19 goals this season.
Owner Matthew Benham has one of the sharpest minds in football, making his fortune in the gambling industry and has since adapted data and stats to build a recruitment system which has helped the club’s rise.
But the club is committed to its roots and strong fan base. It is also refreshing that former Arsenal trainee Rhys Weston, who won seven Wales caps and played for Cardiff for six years, is in the commercial department.
Lots of former players move into coaching, management and becoming agents, but few get roles behind the scenes.
Weston, 39, had a muchtravelled career, but knew it was time to stop after wrecking his knee on loan at Sutton and, after originally working for a golf-travel company, has found the perfect vocation.
Griffin Park has just 60 corporate tickets, while the new stadium will have 2,900 with lounges rather than boxes. But the most expensive season ticket is £499, a junior season ticket is £99 and, with 900 homes on the site, the stadium will make a profit.
Weston said: “The new stadium is an unbelievable opportunity for Brentford to go to the next level and it’s an exciting time for everyone involved in the club.
“It’s mixed emotions for fans. A lot of them coming through the reservation centre have been going for 60 or 70 years, there’s an emotional attachment to Griffin Park and we have to make that transition comfortable.
“People are interested in Brentford.
Look at the
B-team model – we don’t have an academy as it’s not as productive as many people think.
“It’s a new stadium, we will sell it out and the team are doing their very best to help us with that.
“The manager, coaches and players have signed new long term deals – we are on the up.”