The Brentford FC Gtech Stadium Tour Review
The way Brentford FC works as not only a football club, but a business, is almost personified by how the stadium, and its tour is laid out.
Meticulously well-structured.
Let me go from the start.
We started in the lobby, where I noticed I was in the minority, being quite young compared to most of the group. This made me a little nervous, having only been a ‘real’ Brentford fan for around a year, I felt as though someone would tell me I wasn’t meant to be here, despite the ticket in my jacket pocket.
To my relief, it appeared actually even being a Bees fan wasn’t a necessity, with a Chelsea and West ham fan among the group.
After a quick chat in the lobby we were elevatored up to ‘The Boardroom’, a wide dining room/bar that functioned as a pre-match hospitality space for the various staff members of both teams. According to our guide, aside from the Brentford decorated walls, the entire space could altered to the green and white colours of the London Irish Rugby Club.
We were given some historical background, about Harry Curtis, considered to be Brentford’s best manager by some. Others claim Frank holds the bee-shaped trophy. Our tour guide said they were both best in their own eras. I had a feeling he’d been asked about it before.
We were told that the Chairmen of both clubs, along with every mirroring staff member, were sat together to encourage a friendly environment, so the finance people could talk numbers and the public relations could talk people et cetera. This was the first thing we saw, and shows the nature of Bees fans, respectfulness and tact, something we would see more of later.
After that we headed back down to the ground floor to check out the press area, at which point we could take some photos, which were free especially for our group we were told, as we had ‘been so lovely’ thus far.
We were here told of the expansions from Griffin Park, Brentford’s old stadium.
Brentford used to have only a few sponsors, each paying around £40,000 per year. Now the Bees have much more, with around 20 sponsors paying 150k per annum. This kind of expansion shows the growth that the Brentford establishment has gone under over recent years.
Along the way our guide was stuffed full of interesting facts and topics about Brentford that he graced us with, all the way from the special methods used to cut the grass on the pitch (twice a week, twice a day, with a mower from their sponsor ‘Gtech.co.uk’, alternating either way so the grass doesn’t know to grow away from one side) and a story about a team who could not be named that had ignored the seating arrangements in the boardroom.
As soon as we reached the players’ dressing room we were given time to take photos with the replica shirts, which had a variety of font styles on certain shirts (Look at the difference between Mee and other’s shirts) which we were told was for Premier League and Championship respectively. This attention to detail, answering questions we hadn’t even thought to ask, like what the away room was like (Exactly the same size minus a warm up room) and what the old one was like in Griffin Park (The same size again).
After this tour, I now know much more about Brentford as a company and a club. In the same way that the passing triangle is essential through the entire team on the pitch, Brentford operates under a management triangle that our guide credits with their strong problem solving ability.
Certain problems would normally be blamed on individual members. Like Potter’s disastrous run at Chelsea, resulting in his letting go (Not that it wasn’t somewhat his fault).
However, the Brentford trio of Thomas Frank, the Head Coach, Matthew Benham, Brentford’s Owner and Phil Giles, the Director of Football, who each take equal responsibility for the solving of club problems and do so efficiently.
The tour also felt extremely personal, visitors with less mobility were offered seats earlier than others, we were helped to take photographs and were encouraged to line up in the tunnel as though we were Brentford and Nottingham Forest, about to emerge for a game (With a rendition of Hey Jude to boot) which made for a good, wholesome experience.
We were allowed to share stories about our experiences within the stadium (This being my first time there I kept mostly quiet) and within Griffin Park, with our guide saying how at the old stadium, staff would have to book for use of the singular toilet.
One visitor told us about his trial at Griffin Park as a centre-half back in the 80s, and how he now works as a lorry driver, emblazoned with the red and white colours, complete with a neon Bees sign.
After this, we lined up in the tunnel, and emerged onto the pitch, and were able to take photos in the dugout and with the replica EFL Championship trophy.
At this point, I felt a kind of pride. At older stadiums like Stamford bridge or Griffin Park the pitch is lower to the ground, at the Gtech however, you come up into the stands from below, and you are greeted with a pitch and seating in the sky. You can only make out the tops of skyscrapers and birds flying overhead.
It felt quite cool.
Our attention was drawn to the upper parts of the stadium, to the boxes above the director’s seating, where we saw Matthew Benham’s director’s box, which he used with his family (our guide commented he was a private man who preferred to watch the games with his family) and a couple guests, the likes of which once included Gary Neville and David Beckham.
To the right of this was the sensory room. Now, many football clubs likely have a sensory room, Chelsea, Arsenal and West Ham to name a few, but I had never even considered that was a thing until now. It was interesting to hear about it, how the room is soundproofed and uses certain colours to make it easier for fans with SEN to watch the game.
After our tour was concluded our guide told us how much he appreciated the generations of fans that have been, fans that are and future fans that make Brentford’s continuation and expansion possible.
Then we took a group photo in the dugout.
At the end of the tour after I stopped at the Bees superstore to make use of my discount. I took a little knowing pride in the idea that the pitch that Brentford now plays on is both literally and figuratively held up by the entire club. When I standing up there it felt strangely good to know that whatever happened on the pitch, below it was a strong foundation, good management, and above all, good people.
So all in all. A good, interesting trip from some very witty and personable guides, that I would recommend to any Bees fan like myself, who wants to know more about the club.
