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BEES UNITED NEWSLETTER
APRIL 2021
 

PREPARE FOR THE PLAY-OFFS

 
It was back in December when fans, 2,000 at a time, were last in the Brentford Community Stadium celebrating a Bees goal. Now the chances are good that at least that number and maybe a few more will be there to watch the home leg of the Play-Off semi-final. In this newsletter, which goes to 2,575 members,150 of you overseas, we look ahead to that game, get the latest inside track from Assistant Head Coach Brian Riemer and we hear from the Bees fan about the days when he was asked to put his hand in his pocket to keep the club afloat.
 

THE ROADMAP TO A PLAY-OFF
The brilliant ten-man win at Bournemouth clinched a play-off place for the Bees and a chance for at least some fans to be in the stadium for the home leg of the semi-final. The semis are scheduled to be played on and after May 17th when, if the Government road-map out of COVID keeps to schedule, limited crowds will be allowed back into outdoor stadia.

At the BU AGM on March 31st , when we were all hoping for an automatic promotion slot, Brentford CEO Jon Varney was asked when fans might be allowed back into the stadium and specifically if the Bees got into the play-offs would fans be able to see semi-finals and a final? Here’s how he replied;

WATCH HERE

‘JUST MAYBE THE GODS WILL SMILE DOWN UPON US’
Ivan Toney, nominated for EFL Championship Player of the Year, leads the Bees into the Play-Offs and BU Contributing Editor Greville Waterman says fans should be in a 'positive, confident and phlegmatic frame of mind'.

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BU AGM GOES ZOOM
  • At the BU AGM, the first to be held ‘virtually’, Jon Varney paid tribute to the support of Bees fans during a ‘deeply frustrating’ year for the club. Watch here.
  • Other highlights of the AGM: Jamie Powell thanked those who had donated to the fund for his medical treatment. Watch here.
  • BU Treasurer Jim Walsh said Bees supporters could now donate online to B.U. Donate here. 
  • Membership Secretary John Scott said we’d passed our 2,500 member target, Don Tanswell became Secretary and Chris Tate will liaise with the club and supporter groups on fan issues. Fran Carroll from Ireland and Jeffrey Roy from Canada became the first international members on the BU Board. Members approved the new set of BU rules.
  • All the documents from the AGM area now stored online here.

WHY BU’S FAN DIRECTOR AND GOLDEN SHARE COULD BE COPIED
The Super League shambles has speeded up the Government’s ‘fan-led’ review of English football. Brentford are one of the few clubs in the Premier League or EFL Championship with a fan director and a golden share for fans. The current fan director, Stewart Purvis, believes the model could work at other clubs.

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BFC’S ACCOUNTS IN FIVE SLIDES
The club has published accounts for the year ended 30th June 2020 , which was before the transfers of Ollie Watkins and Said Benrahma happened. You can see the figures here. For an an independent view of the accounts we found five slides from @Swiss Ramble, a British expert on football finance who lives in Switzerland.

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MEET THE MEXICAN IN THE BEES DUGOUT
There's a newish face in the Brentford dugout that Bees fans will only have glimpsed on TV. But Bernardo Cueva is worth looking out for.

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PETER GELSON 1941-2021
One of Brentford’s all time fan favourites Peter Gelson has died aged 79. The centre back was with the Bees from 1960 until 1975, playing more than 500 games. Greville Waterman has written this very personal tribute.

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 FEATURE 


'THEY HATE THAT LITTLE BRENTFORD HAS OVERTAKEN THEM AND KEEP WINNING'


Brentford Assistant Head Coach, Brian Riemer, has told a Danish podcast how the Bees get the better of those ‘big’ clubs. In the second episode of his series he explains the links between the coaches, the owner, his Directors of Football and the stats experts at Smartodds. Here’s our exclusive translation of another long but fascinating read.

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 FEATURE 
 

'I HAD TO STUMP UP 25 GRAND RIGHT AWAY'


It is nearly 30 years since John Herting first became a director of Brentford and he saw more than 20 managers come and go in his time. He has no regrets about the passing of old style Brentford when he often had to put his hand in his pockets to keep the club afloat.

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 FEATURE 


'OUR CENTURY AS A BEES FAMILY'


In the latest article prompted by a Bees family heirloom, season-ticket holder Sharon Adlem tells the extraordinary story of how her family have supported Brentford for a century.

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BEST OF BEES ONLINE

To help promote his appeal for the St Vincent Volcano Relief Fund Ivan Toney has been giving interviews. The most revealing in every way was the one on Mail Online.

Brentford FC has become a player on the social network TikTok. The Bees now have more than 163,000 followers on the platform which is almost as many as the club has on twitter.

The club’s social media will fall silent from 3pm on Friday, 30 April until the end of Monday 3 May as part of a football-wide social media boycott. Brentford had made representations for a coordinated boycott for a defined period as a protest against the continued abuse of players, particularly racist abuse, on social media platforms. Bees United fully supports the boycott and will not take part in social media during the period.
BRENTFORD COMMUNITY SPORTS TRUST

Back in November we reported on what we called ‘The New Bees Super-Hub’ at Gunnersbury Park which couldn’t open because of COVID. Well at last it is open and the Trust are one of the key partners. There are a wide range of multi-sports programmes for everybody from boys and girls aged 18 months up to adults , all ability levels are welcome. Emiliano Marcondes, Sergi Canos and Ivan Toney filmed a video there to promote the EFL Day of Action.
 

IMAGE OF THE MONTH

It is just another small step out of lockdown but a very welcome one. Yes that’s an open door at the club shop, The Bees Store, which is back in business in Braemar Road. Here’s to the day when the doors are open again at the Brentford Community Stadium.
 

This monthly newsletter is published by Bees United, the Brentford Supporters Trust. Please send any comments or suggestions to admin@beesunited.org.uk. If you know Brentford fans who are not yet members please encourage them to join here.
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