Brentford Football Club would not be here today were it not for you, the fans, and a vital meeting that happened 25 years ago.
As we prepare to face west London’s second-best team (according to last year’s table) in a Premier League match, let us take you back to 22 September 2001.
Different times and different teams.
On that Saturday, we were due to face Oldham Athletic in a League Two game.
Just like the home game against tonight’s visitors last season, that match finished 2-2, with Lloyd Owusu and Paul Evans scoring.
But what was remarkable about that match happened before kick-off. It was when 40 or so Brentford fans, of the 5,525 attending the match, came together for the first annual general meeting of Brentford Football Community Society Limited, known as Bees United.
They met in the Princess Royal, a now defunct pub that was one of four that sat on each corner of Griffin Park. The formation of Bees United set the stage for eventual negotiations to purchase Brentford FC from then-owner Ron Noades.
At that time, he was increasingly at loggerheads with the fans about his plans to move the club to Woking and, failing sufficient fan support, ready to walk away from the club and let it fold, with the very real prospect of Brentford FC disappearing forever.
That first annual general meeting was a key catalyst for fans to organise themselves and unite to save the club. Elected to the board that day were Alan Bird, Geoff Buckingham, Stephen Callen, Craig Clements, Mike Lane, Nick Marriner, John McGlashan, David Roe, Bruce Powell, Andrew Wainwright and Jim Walsh. Heroic efforts were made by many other fans to mobilise and raise awareness of the dire situation. Luke Kirton famously stood for and won a seat on the local council in 2002 as part of the ABeeC campaign, and many fans shook buckets or pursued epic fundraising efforts to raise money to save the club.
These endeavours culminated in Bees United buying a majority stake in Brentford FC in 2006, 20 years ago, with crucial financial support from Matthew Benham. This was far from a foregone conclusion.
Our current Bees United chair, Stuart Hatcher, was a young corporate lawyer then, and he will recount, with a chill, the anxiety of those days, when a football club founded in 1889 and loved by so many in our community could easily have vanished.
We are only here tonight, in our sixth season in the Premier League, because of the combined effort of fans and volunteers dedicating so much time and energy to the Brentford cause.
Having saved the club, Bees United then made one of the best decisions in the history of English football and sold the club to Matthew for a nominal fee. He took on all debts and liabilities of the club and turbo-charged our rise from the depths of the football pyramid to its dizzy heights.
The struggles and successes of Bees United 25 and 20 years ago respectively mean that today we maintain a key stewardship role, unique for supporter organisations in the Premier League.
Bees United, the official supporters’ trust, has a Protective Rights Deed with the club, giving us the right to veto the sale of Gtech Community Stadium, unless certain key conditions are met, and to appoint a director to the board, to act as the club’s conscience if and when needed.
That is in addition to the work we do to preserve Brentford’s heritage and to advocate for fans’ interests across a wide range of issues, from ticketing to matchday atmosphere, and inclusion to food and beverage.
At this exciting time for the club, we want to mark these anniversaries and remind fans new and old that, when it mattered most, Brentford supporters stood up, made themselves heard and fought to rescue the club.
As our Brentford history expert Jonathan Burchill can explain in detail, that was not the first time that the fans saved the club – in fact as far back as 1908, collection boxes were being passed around Griffin Park to assist the club financially. But we hope it will be the last.
We would like to thank all those who have contributed to Bees United over the years or played their part in other connected initiatives and fan groups, including our friends at the Brentford Independent Association of Supporters (BIAS).
Specifically, we owe a great debt to the aforementioned pioneers, at Bees United, with over 50 member elected board members since September 2001, including the 13 who have also served as directors of the club, with our current Brentford FC board member being Stuart Hatcher.
At Bees United, we work hard to ensure the club’s history is well understood, even as we look forward to a bright future on and off the pitch. We believe that spirit of communal struggle and close cooperation between the club and its fans is what makes Brentford so special. And we hope this approach will keep on driving the Bees onwards and upwards.
Come on you Reds!
Why not join us at Bees United by clicking our JOIN link, here and above!?
Published by Brentford FC in the matchday programme18th September 2026
