I saw my first Brentford game in 1964 – we beat QPR 5-2, with Brian Bedford (a prolific scorer in the lower leagues for many years) scoring his first goal for us following a corner. Unfortunately for him he was a QPR player that day, and didn’t join Brentford until a couple of years later.
We were in the thick of the race for promotion at the time, but it’s fair to say that life has been a continual struggle almost ever since. We finished fifth, and the following season were relegated, spending most of the next 12 years in the Fourth Division. Relegation back to the basement in 1998 re-acquainted me with a few clubs I’d not seen much in recent times, such as Rochdale and Hartlepool. Unfortunately, some of those we used to play regularly have gone, but I still have pleasant memories of trips to places like Southport, Newport and my all time favourite, Workington!
It was a real outpost of League Football but I’ve also seen Brentford play at Manchester United and Liverpool as well as the English and Welsh national stadiums. There can't be many people in football who can claim to have seen their team play at Workington and Wembley! Amazingly though, in all those years of watching the Bees, we’ve never played at home against a First Division/Premier League side in the FA Cup.
As a teenager I was a "Golden Goal" ticket seller and programme seller, using the money I earned to pay for away games. I used to be a regular on the supporters club coaches and trains, including the specials, but at one time used to travel with a small group to away games in a minibus. I’ve played football for a number of "Brentford Supporters" teams in local Sunday leagues and served as the Chairman of BIAS from its reformation in 1998 until 2001. I stood down because of my commitment to the Supporters’ Trust.
Outside of football I’ve spent almost all my life in telecommunications spending over 20 years with the Post Office/BT. For two years during that period I served as full time Recreation Manager for West London, overseeing the provision of sports and social facilities for the 10,000 employees in the local area. This included organizing representative teams, etc. for a wide variety of local, national and international sporting events as well as arranging a huge number of social functions, particularly around Christmas. The post was made redundant because of reorganization in 1991 and I returned to my normal duties before leaving BT in 1992. I now work for a mobile communications company in West Drayton who own their own wireless data network.
I’ve always lived in West Middlesex, being born in Chiswick Hospital, and as a child living in Feltham, Bedfont and then Hanworth, before marrying and moving to Ashford, where I’ve lived ever since.