Saturday April 5th 1947 was a very special day. Not of course for me, as despite the plethora of mean and slanderous insinuations made by many so-called friends, this was in fact many, many years before I was born, but instead for Brentford FC as it marked the last time that the Bees won an away game in the top flight of English football.
On that day in 1947 Elland Road hosted a real relegation four-pointer between two teams desperately threshing around at the bottom of the table.
Leeds United were even worse than a struggling Brentford team as after the New Year they won only one of their last 21 matches and their final tally of 18 points was the lowest ever recorded in the First Division and remained so for another 38 years.
Brentford’s team had grown old together as Harry Curtis was forced through circumstances to call on many of the stalwarts from the 1938/39 season, most of whom were now over the hill and indeed, coming down the other side. Goals were at a premium with only 45 scored all season. Bill Naylor and Dickie Girling were brought in from Crystal Palace to solve this shortcoming and proved a signal failure, scoring only three times between them, but they both combined to earn the Bees a crucial 2-1 win at Elland Road on April 5th , raising hopes of a great escape, which were soon to be shattered as the Bees then went on an appalling run losing six and drawing three of their last nine games and deservedly accompanied Leeds into the depths of the Second Division, from whence they finally emerged, after a 74-year hiatus, at the end of last season.
History was made – and was long overdue – when, a mere 74 years, five months and 10 days later, Brentford convincingly won 2-0 at Molineux against Wolverhampton Wanderers for their first away win in the EPL and indeed their first win in the top flight since that momentous afternoon at Elland Road so very long ago.
Wolves had won only one of their opening matches but Thomas Frank was under no illusions about the task that awaited his team as he felt that Wolves had been “closer to winning the rest than losing them.”
Frank was unconcerned about the narrow, late and extremely unfortunate defeat to Brighton, feeling that “we have been very consistent” and he was also sure that the forward pairing of Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbeumo was ready to ignite as they “look brilliant together and are learning every day.”
Prescient words indeed.
Both teams were unchanged in front of a loud and expectant crowd of 29,000 on a beautiful late Summer’s day including a large following from West London.
It is fair to say that Brentford had failed to create too many chances in their previous two away games but this time they were far sharper and more clinical in their approach work and carved out several excellent first half opportunities.
An obviously offside Mbeumo was allowed to continue without the flag being raised and his low cross was expertly guided in by Toney but premature celebrations were cut short when the assistant referee belatedly raised his flag. What a daft rule this is, as the game should be stopped immediately when there are no quibbles over the offside verdict.
Wolves huffed and puffed but were easily kept at bay by a supremely well organised rear-guard aided and abetted by the peerless Norgaard and Janelt snuffing out any danger in front of the back five.
A probing Norgaard diagonal ball earned the Bees a corner which led to another. Toney’s challenge for the ball from the first had been impeded by Marçal clinging onto him like a limpet, a transgression that had been noticed by referee England who warned the hapless defender who, remarkably, did exactly the same when the second corner was swung in, and he and Toney ended up in an unedifying heap on the ground as the referee, surely wondering how the defender could have been so stupid and gormless as to repeat his aberration, pointed to the spot. We fans averted our eyes but Ivan Toney was the calmest person in the stadium as he picked the ball up, watched with disinterest and disdain as the goalkeeper José Sá finished his pointless histrionics and received a booking for scuffing up the penalty spot, waited for the keeper to dive right and then coolly placed the ball into the other corner with as much effort as if he was posting a letter.
Toney had scored all 11 out of 11 spot kicks last season yet somehow we worried that a Premier League keeper might be a different kind of proposition and be fully aware of Ivan’s remarkable technique.Being aware does not necessarily mean being able to do anything about it and Sá was left as helpless as the likes of Woodman and Begovic before him.
VAR then forensically denied Toney an instant second goal when his clever backheel from close to the goal line after Janelt’s half-saved shot and Canós’s headed pass was disallowed, not for offside as seemed possible but for the merest suspicion of handball – an offence not seen by anybody except the eagle-eyed VAR official Stuart Attwell. Such are the ways of VAR which has done Brentford no favours yet this season and squeezes the life and soul out of football.
2-0 almost became 1-1 seconds later when Wolves’ sole dangerman the ridiculously talented Adama Traoré whose speed of foot is thankfully more acute than his speed of thought hit a fulminating volley which cannoned onto the crossbar after taking a massive deflection off Jansson.
The bar was still twanging as Raya’s carefully placed kick was well controlled by Toney who led Max Kilman a merry dance along the left touchline before squaring for Mbeumo whose clever movement had left him unmarked for a tap in. Bryan’s first shot on target had finally brought him his first goal in the Premier League – a fitting reward for all his unselfish running and pressing off the ball.
Brentford went into the break fully deserving their two-goal lead which should have been increased to three immediately after the break when concerted pressing won the ball high up the field but this time Mbeumo fired wastefully wide and an opportunity to kill the game was carelessly thrown away.
Brentford were in total control but pushed the self-destruct button when Shandon Baptiste, so effective and efficient in midfield, picked up two bookings in five minutes, the first for a late tackle by the touchline and then a totally unnecessary and senseless pull back on Francisco Trincao after he mis-controlled the ball near the halfway line with no threat of danger. Baptiste must have reacted instinctively, totally forgetting that he had been booked just a few moments before and he took the walk of shame with head downcast knowing full well that he was leaving his team mates up against it for the final half hour. He really should not have worried!
The tide turned with Wolves now dominating possession but doing very little with it bar a late headed chance for Jimenez after a, for once, perfect cross from Traoré who thankfully, otherwise persisted in massively overhitting his efforts. Ajer too celebrated as if he had scored the winning goal after his clean as a whistle tackle protected his team’s clean sheet. This team really loves to defend!
Bravely keeping two men up field, Brentford continued to create chances with Mbeumo hitting the junction of post and crossbar and an exhausted Janelt barely summoning up the energy to dribble a late effort wide of the post.
Thomas Frank was a proud and happy man after the final whistle: “I think this was our best performance so far in the Premier League. I’m crazy proud. The players aren’t surprising me, but they keep impressing me. This team has massive potential.”
He had been interviewed before the match on BT Sport and provided a brief but pertinent masterclass into his own blue print for managerial success. He talked lucidly about what he thought were the key attributes required for the role:
- A grasp for detail
- Tactical Awareness
- Leadership
- Man management
He also lives by the 24-hour rule whereby you celebrate victory or ponder over a defeat for that period of time before you move onto the next challenge. Something that helps keep him sane and focused. In the studio, Glenn Hoddle purred at Frank’s measured and self-possessed approach and how calm he was, something that must be picked up by his players.
I make this point as late in the game as a 10-man Brentford team were desperately hanging onto their fully merited 2-0 lead Frank for once lost his cool and was shown a yellow card for venturing into the home team’s dugout area and making his displeasure clear about one in a series of dubious decisions that went against his team.
He was his usual cool, calm and collected self at the end of the game in contrast to his counterpart, new Wolves boss Bruno Lage who spluttered and gurned his way through a largely incomprehensible and illogical post-match rant in which he blamed everybody and everything else apart from himself for his team’s blunt, toothless and extremely ill-disciplined and disorganised performance in which they were comprehensively outplayed by a Bees outfit in which every player knew and carried out his role perfectly – in total contrast to his own team. Frank gave short shrift to Lage’s whining about Brentford’s game management – or time wasting – as he called it, which included David Raya exchanging his old torn gloves for a new unblemished pair.
The statisticians proclaimed that whilst the match lasted 99 minutes and 28 seconds, the ball was only in play for 50 minutes and 43 seconds in totality, something that Lage complained vehemently about. Frank stood up for his exhausted heroes and asked what Lage would have done in similar circumstances “If he was leading, as a newly promoted team – we are just a ‘bus stop in Hounslow’ playing against Wolves – an established Premier League side with 10 times the budget.” He pointed out that his was by far the better team on the day and had totally dominated the match even when down to 10 men and the home team also failed to manage a shot on target in the entire match.
Ivan Toney was immense, scoring a goal, assisting on the other and having two efforts ruled out as well as lobbing another ambitious effort narrowly over the bar. He has now scored 33 times and assisted on 11 goals since he joined the club (not including play-offs), at least seven more than any other player in England’s top four divisions since the start of last season. His influence has been immense and people are beginning to take note, with Frank comparing his partnership with Mbeumo to that of Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole. Early days maybe but they are beginning to develop an excellent understanding.
Match commentator Jonathan Pearce was full of praise on Match of the Day: “They don’t look like newcomers to the Premier League, they look like a mature top flight side. This is history. Brentford’s first ever away win in the Premier League. Brentford look as if they’ve been a Premier League team for ever.”
Denmark manager Kasper Hjulmand was present to watch Christian Norgaard (also picked out for praise by the Match of the Day studio team) totally dominate the midfield and he also commented on how well managed and organised the Brentford team was, contrasting that to the opposition and that that was the key factor that contributed to their victory.
So, history was made on this day after 74 long and often painful years and Brentford are now the 14th promoted side in Premier League history to accrue at least eight points after five games, and the first since Wolves in 2018-19.
Just to cap a perfect day, for those of a malicious bent and imbued with sense of schadenfreude both Fulham and Queens Park Rangers also lost