Christmas – it’s important, but not decisive ….

Wednesday, 18 December 2024 | News, In Focus

So said Arsene Wenger! Peter Crumpler disagrees. Christmas is good news, it’s all about new life, light in the darkness and it’s about hope  
Share |

 

In praise of football at Christmas

There’s a fascinating video on the club website that’s probably passed many fans by. That’s a shame, because it’s all about football at Christmas. The club’s under-12s squad has just completed a project, looking at the Christmas truce of 1914.

They have been learning about that odd occasion when – in a break from the horrors of the First World War – British and German soldiers met in no man’s land…and played football. The young Bees learned about Brentford players who went off to war, they laid a wreath at the war memorial in Kew and recreated photos of the football matches that took place 110 years ago.

They also helped out at The Open Kitchen, a community kitchen for people impacted by food poverty in west London. It’s all part of a Premier League project on the theme of ‘Power in Pals.’

Academy head of education Ryan Peters said the boys gained a better understanding of the hardships that people could be facing. And I’d say that’s no bad thing.

Sarah Guinness our new Chaplain with some well known faces!

 

The under-12s project came around the same time as Bees United and the Club unveiled a special plaque in remembrance of former players who lost their lives during the First and Second World Wars.

The plaque, created by Bees United and honouring 31 former Brentford players, at a special ceremony, is at the corner of the GTech’s west and north stands. Wreaths were laid and everyone was delighted to see Josh Dasilva laying a wreath on behalf of all the BFC squads

Bees United secretary Don Tanswell was there at the unveiling ceremony and like everyone there fell silent as the bugler sounded the Last Post in the then eerily silent air:

“The plaque provides fans with the opportunity to take a moment of reflection and give thanks for the part our lost players played in the growth of our Club and for their sacrifices.”

 

We all know that football has the power to bring people together. We come together at the GTech to cheer on the team, and to share life with the people around us. Just like Brentford FC supporters have been doing since the Club was founded back in 1889.

But, at Christmas, it always feels even more special. I love that last match before Christmas, with seasonal songs playing on the Tannoy. I used to love the Salvation Army band turning up, playing carols and collecting for their local welfare work, but times change…

I enjoy the Boxing Day matches too. That chance to get out of the house, into the open air, and cheer on the team. And yes, I know it can be cold – really cold – when we play some of those games. I have vivid memories of shivering at Griffin Park during an icy Boxing Day fixture, moved to the evening for TV coverage. Around me, people were eating left-over pigs-in-blankets from their Christmas dinner.

As a priest, Christmas can be busy – but I’m not complaining. In fact, I love it. It’s great to be part of large groups of people celebrating Christ’s birth. It’s good to be singing carols and listening to the familiar Scripture passages about Mary and her baby, angels, shepherds, wise men and an evil ruler who’s frightened of the ‘new-born king.’

That baby will grow up to preach love and perform miracles, to be executed unjustly, to rise from the dead and bring new life to anyone who believes in him.

That’s what, in a nutshell, Christians believe Christmas is about. It sets the scene for a comeback story, if you like. It’s about being 3-0 down at half-time, to come back and win big. It’s a resurrection story, when you triumph against the odds.

Football and Christmas. They’ve got a lot in common. Maybe that’s why those soldiers kicked a ball around in no-man’s-land. In a small way, they were calling time on the killing, and saying there must be a better way of settling disputes. A better way than massacring thousands of people.

Christmas is good news. It’s about new life. It’s about light in the darkness. It’s about hope.

And anyone who’s supported the Bees for a while knows that keeping faith – in the good times, and the not so good – is what has kept us together and contributed to the success that we’re now enjoying.

Long may it continue. Have you all a happy, healthy Christmas and bright new year.

Rev Peter Crumpler grew up within earshot of Griffin Park
He s a Church of England minister in St Albans, Herts and a lifelong Bees fan.

Football and Christmas go together like Mbeumo and Wissa.

 

December 2024

 

Share