Greville Waterman - Ahead of the Game: Brentford FCs 2014/15 Season

Ahead of the Game: Brentford FCs 2014/15 Season

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by Greville Waterman

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[Smashwords Edition]

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Published in 2015 by Bennion Kearny Limited.

Copyright Bennion Kearny Ltd 2015

ISBN: 978-1-910515-38-9

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

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Bennion Kearny has endeavoured to provide trademark information about all the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Bennion Kearny cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

Published by Bennion Kearny Limited, 6 Woodside, Churnet View Road, Oakamoor, Staffordshire, ST10 3AE

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Table of Contents

Foreword

Its a great pleasure for me to write a foreword to this history of a season, written, not in retrospect but as it happened. No rose-tinted look back or facts reordered to fit a theme, but rather a week-by-week or even day-by-day record of Brentford FC in action, on and off the field, in real time.

Im sure many of us have considered doing such a diary, or may even have started one, but saw early enthusiasm wane quite quickly. So I am rather in awe of Grevilles ability to keep his blog going over the last eleven months. And of the way he managed to find new perspectives on the regularity of the matches home and away to retain his readers interest.

His recruitment and inveigling of his many contacts to add their own contributions also kept it fresh and thought-provoking. We owe him a real debt of gratitude for sticking to the task.

As I discovered very soon after taking up my role at BFC, one of the defining characteristics of our club is the very real involvement of the supporters, and this well before the arrival of social media made it easier for fans of all clubs to have their views heard. And I feel my enthusiastic endorsement of Grevilles blog and this collection of extracts is entirely consistent with that history and tradition of us all being in it together.

And what a season he chose to record, our first at this level for over twenty years and one that is surely going to remain long in the memory. It would be easy to pretend now that we had no apprehension following promotion to the Championship and that we foresaw our securing early safety and a challenge for playoffs or better. But as the blog testifies, it was never as straightforward as all that - it seldom is for Brentford fans.

I hope Greville keeps it going because I sincerely believe that this season is just the start and the best is yet to come.

Next years edition will no doubt prove me right or wrong. In the meantime, enjoy reflecting on this amazing season in the pages that follow.

Thanks Greville!

Cliff Crown . Chairman of Brentford FC

About Greville Waterman

Greville Waterman is a long-term Brentford supporter who has enjoyed all the good and bad times at Griffin Park and who can finally see light at the end of a very long tunnel.

He was a director of the club for a brief spell in 2005 (dont ask) and is currently on the board of Bees United.

Greville owned a sponsorship consultancy for many years and now teaches Autogenic Therapy, a Mind/Body relaxation technique that helps people who are suffering from anxiety, stress and mild depression (see www.howtobeatstress.co.uk). Greville needed the help of AT after suffering the trauma of watching the Bees over a fifty year period!

He is also Chief Executive of The Institute, a long-established adult education college in North London. Greville is married to his long-suffering and beautiful football widow, Miriam, and has two wonderful children, Nick and Rebecca; this book is dedicated to the three of them.

Greville will be making a contribution to Brentford FC out of his royalties.

[above image]Greville and son Nick, Elland Road, Feb2015

About Mark Fuller

The images in this book are the work of Mark D. Fuller. Mark is Brentford FC's Official Photographer, and the season featured in this book was his eighth season fulfilling the role. He has covered in excess of 500 games during that time. Shooting around a thousand frames each game, each season he racks up 100,000 shots and 18,000 miles of travel. To keep up with these demands he uses an ever-expanding collection of Canon professional photography equipment and a battered Audi A6.

Mark's Brentford FC work can be viewed at: officialbfcpics.co.uk. Official Brentford Pictures updates are on Twitter: @BFCPics.

Mark also undertakes product photography for a number of clients including Premier League and Championship football clubs. Other photography work undertaken includes Corporate & PR work along with the occasional wedding.

If you need a photographer then Mark can be contacted by email: mark@markdfuller.co.uk and followed on Twitter: @TheMarkFuller.

JUNE

Why Am I Doing This? 19/6/14

My name is Greville Waterman and way back in 1965 my Dad, a transplanted Scouser making his way in London, decided it was time for me to be indoctrinated into the mysteries of football. Over the course of a few months he took me to Stamford Bridge, Craven Cottage, Loftus Road and then finally to the ground nearest to our home in Richmond - Griffin Park. A team in red and white stripes pulverised a team in blue and white hoops by five goals to two and when, on the first day of the following season, I was given the option of returning to Griffin Park, the seemingly invincible Bees thrashed their patsies, Queens Park Rangers, by six goals to one.

I was hooked. This football lark was going to be enjoyable and stress free! Soon, surely, I would be following the mighty all-conquering Bees as they took on the might of Mars and Jupiter in some Intergalactic competition of the near future. Well, in the near-fifty years since my indoctrination the success that I expected has somehow eluded me. My loyalty and devotion has been rewarded by one season in the second tier of English football, six promotions, five relegations, seven heartbreaking and draining playoff campaigns, three Associate Member Final losses, a run to the sixth round of the FA Cup, giant killing victories over two top-flight teams, and a moral victory over Champions League winners Chelsea.

Pretty thin beer, you might agree, particularly when compared to the glory hunting supporters of the Premiership teams. So, when promotion to the Promised Land of the Championship was finally achieved in April 2014 I thought that I would commemorate our first season there since 1992/93 by compiling a fans-eye view of what happened and how we coped with this rise in status. Lets begin

The Excitement Mounts 20/6/14

So what has happened over the past week at Griffin Park? Not a lot really if you want to ignore the end of the early-bird season ticket sale (which left us with a club record number of nearly five thousand season ticket holders), the Capital One Cup draw away at our East London neighbours, Dagenham & Redbridge, the publication of the new league fixture list, and far too much unsettling speculation about the future of club legend and hero Clayton Donaldson.