But there is a small issue; there is no Underground train service to and from Gunnersbury. Brentford have communicated to their fans that there will be significant travel disruption affecting the local transport ahead of the club’s first domestic game of the season.
There are network rail engineering works so there are no trains to Kew Bridge, another close station to the club’s GTech Community Stadium. Engineering works are also taking place on the Hounslow loop line between the stations of Barnes and Feltham.
This means buses will replace trains for that service. A day of industrial action has also been scheduled on that very Saturday, so fans of both clubs have been advised to plan their arrivals early to avoid inconveniences.
But this, after all, is London. There will always be a way, I tell myself. I jump on the train from Marble Arch station to Shepherd’s Bush, from where I board a bus to Brentford Fountain Leisure Centre. From here it is a four-minute walk to the GTech Community Stadium, the home of Brentford FC.
I arrive more than two hours to kick-off. Yet, there is hardly any sign that there is transport commotion and confusion owing to the disrupted works. It is business as usual. It is the first reminder that this is what the phrase ‘first world’ means. I shudder to imagine the logistical nightmare of closing access roads to Namboole or St Mary’s Stadium Kitende on full-to-capacity match day!
The GTech Community Stadium, formerly Brentford Community Stadium, is a cosy and beautiful 17,250-seater that is also home to London Irish Rugby club. It was opened in 2020 and was also used during the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 Championships.
Its construction cost £71m (Shs 324b). The GTech Stadium replaced Brentford Football Club’s 116-year-old association with Griffin Park, the club’s previous home ground. The concourse is of newest architectural design, the concrete is evidently new, the entire inside of the ground glows while the turnstiles are a thing of modernity.
When the match kicks off, it is very apparent that this is going to be a testing evening for Erik Ten Haag’s side. A record crowd of 17,094 have made their way to the ground to see Bees, as Brentford are known, challenge the most vulnerable Man United side in living memory.
It is not lost on the locals that United suffered a home defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion the week before. This is the 11th Man United match I have watched in a stadium – I have met Christiano Ronaldo twice. I have also watched the last three World Cups in the flesh, so I am not exactly starstruck by the superstar millionaires emerging from the tunnel.
Both sides use red, white and black (United as the away team is wearing green, the club’s official away kit this season). The match is over in 35 minutes. Goals by Josh Dasilva, Mathias Jensen, Ben Mee and Bryan Mbeumo punish my team Man United severely and heavily.
The match is being played under scorching conditions, but when a team – everyone who has played soccer will attest – is playing well, it does not feel the heat. It does not even run out of gas. The reverse is true.
On this Saturday afternoon, United players have the look of wishing they were somewhere else; they could do with 10 water-breaks – the referee gives both teams two. The media tribune at the GTech Stadium is located a few rows to the touchline and everyone is in disbelief. The ease with which Brentford have torn the record English champions to shreds is incredibly unbelievable.
Journalists are meant to be neutral, or at the very least act that way. But the two blokes to my left and right are cursing at every missed opportunity and misplaced pass by Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Luke Shaw. It is apparent they are Man United fans too; the three of us must conceal our emotions because we are journalists and not fans from where we are seated.
What I find uniquely interesting is the number of pints English football fans drink before, during and after games. The queues for beers are long but orderly. In the Brentford Press Area, the fridge is stocked with plenty of water, soft drinks and food.
Meanwhile the Bees party continues unabated. The game is done by half time – no one really thinks the Red Devils can stage a recovery – and the club’s DJ plays Celebrate (Kool & The Gang), Freed from Desire (Gala), The White Strips (Seven Nations Army) and Hey Jude (The Beatles) as fans dance away.
It is only half time but the scoreboard reads BRENTFORD 4-0 MAN UNITED. For many it is living a dream. One of the memories I will live with forever is being in the Estadio Mineirao in Belo Horizonte to watch Germany put seven goals past hosts Brazil in
the 2014 Fifa World Cup semi-final.
At the GTech Stadium, I envision a similar script. The score line of 4-0 is not quite 7-1, but considering how far apart Brentford and Man United are in resources, history, player quality and global standing, the annihilation subjected to Cristiano Ronaldo and company is quite historic.
I ask an elderly Brentford fan why the song Hey Jude is a favourite among the Bees. Apparently, Peter Gilham, the club’s stadium announcer when the song was released in 1968, played it in the stadium for a girl he knew called Judy Kaufman – who was known as Jude – and the song quickly became Brentford’s adopted anthem.
At the beginning of last season Brentford played – and won – their first top-flight match in 74 years when they defeated Arsenal 2-0 and footage of the 17,000 strong crowd singing Hey Jude in celebration quickly went viral.
English football clubs are part and parcel of their fans. In the excitement of mauling United, the club’s giant screen celebrated birthdays of their supporters before playing still footage of their fans who had passed on.
The most followed English clubs in Uganda are Arsenal, Man United, Liverpool and Chelsea. But clubs like Brentford, Fulham, Southampton and Bournemouth do have passionate and die-hard fans who will travel with their clubs everywhere and live and die with the team’s struggles.
As I exited the Gtech Stadium, I found myself developing a soft spot for the Bees. The club media office had been very warm and hospitable.
“You came with some very good luck,” they joked as I handed back my accreditation tag.
“Invite me for a couple more games and you will enjoy more results of the kind,” I responded.
The journey from the stadium was an experience too. Momentarily I imagined that Kew Bridge train station was operational. I trudged in that direction, snaking through pubs of Bees fans who were downing pint after pint. That result had given them every reason to drink silly.
I also ran into Man United fans who were singing and drinking to shake off a result that will not be forgotten very fast. Maybe it was a coping mechanism. Maybe not.
But this was Brentford’s day. Even as I bounced at Kew Bridge – the station was out of service – the experience of watching a low table team crush a fallen giant was a worthwhile one in every sense of the word.
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