The Blues and the Bees

Tuesday night was a pretty special evening for me as Brentford played Everton in the Carling Cup at Griffin Park. To most people, it sounds pretty unglamorous and it was on the whole, but special nonetheless. It was a slightly surreal evening as the team I have supported since 1985 were up against the Bees, where I was a Director on the Board for three years.

I flew back to the UK for the game, and a reasonably unpleasant dental appointment, and it was a fantastic evening. Sadly, the Toffeemen’s woes continue and they were beaten on penalties. It was another pretty poor performance in truth and while they were the better side, the Bees missed a penalty. David Moyes has a fair task on his hands to get this season turned around pretty swiftly. All pretty disappointing from that perspective, but on the flip-side, it was A the Carling Cup and B. there is no other team I would rather my boys be giant-killed by than the Bees. At this point, I should go on about the Cup being a Mickey Mouse competition and nobody being interested in it…..

The atmosphere was fantastic – understandably as this was a huge game for Brentford and Everton brought 2,000 of the 9,000 fans down for this one. In a stadium of just over 10,000, it was almost a sell out and it made for a close intimate atmosphere. Seeing what it meant to the fans and the directors was great. Having been on the board, I know just how important these kind of games are to a club the size of Brentford – every year we prayed that the team could get to the stages of the cup where the Premier League teams joined the competition and that we would draw them for the financial windfall that comes. Beating one of them is all the sweeter – even a diehard Evertonian can appreciate that.

Returning to Griffin Park certainly brought back plenty of memories. It was the first time in 16 months since I resigned from the board that I was going back – and needless to say, I received some glory hunter comments. How anybody can call an Everton fan a glory supporter is beyond me, but I take the point! It also allowed me to see some familiar faces and catch up with two old friends – and I’ll emphasise the old PW, I now know you read my blog!

People often ask me how it was being on the board of a football club. I often say it is far from being as glamorous as it sounds. I suspect being on the board of a top Premiership team has slightly more glamour about it, though I suspect Bill Kenwright and Sir Philip Carter were not thinking that last night. For me, my three years at the club were generally quite passive and I spent most of my BFC time observing protecting the interests of the person I was representing on the board rather than playing a hugely active role. Given I had little time outside of work and commuting, this was my main priority, but it was an incredible learning experience. One which I certainly would not have gone through had it been a Premier League club and one which I would not take back at all. From onions on the burgers to what happens on the pitch, I was exposed to everything. Of course, everybody is most interested in the football side of things, the team, the transfers – everybody playing the role of manager and offering their views on who we should buy, sell, start and drop.

When I joined the club, they were going through a pretty severe rough patch having sold several key players to balance books and replacing them with cheap alternatives. Surprisingly enough, it didn’t work. Things have improved in the last 18 months however since they have received investment. I also note quite a shift in perspective from the fans too – not just from last night, but on the message boards and forums I read. There is much more positivity around and less focus on wanting to shoot the directors. I was always pretty fireproof given that I was representing the main investor at the club, but I was always a little taken aback at some of the criticism some fellow Directors received. Having gotten to know them on a personal level, it was tough to understand – regardless of mistakes being made, there is not a bad person among the current crew with all of them having BFC at heart. I was delighted for them after the game, they deserve it for the time and money they put into the club – with never a hope of getting any of it back out.

Even after the nine hours sleep in the last two days, the toothache, two delayed flights and a miserable loss, I’ve enjoyed the journey and I am pleased for the Brentford boys. Hopefully the result for both teams will spark them in the league where both are in a similar situation and need to improve. The next game cannot come quick enough for Everton and me.