In 2013/14, Brentford finished runners-up in League One. It was the Bees’ first promotion to the second tier in more than 20 years and marked the beginning of the club’s eventual rise to the Premier League.

To celebrate the 10-year anniversary of Brentford’s 2013/14 promotion-winning campaign, we’re speaking with the key members of the squad and staff to discover the secrets of a successful season.

Next up is former Bees captain Tony Craig, who featured in 44 of the 46 League One games.

Tony Craig wanders down a narrow set of stairs at Dorking Wanderers’ Meadowbank stadium, dusts himself down and offers a warm introductory handshake. The defender is 38 now, but seems to have barely aged a day since he left Brentford six and a half years ago.

“It’s different to what I’m used to, but I come in and leave with a smile every day,” he says as he leads the way to the National League outfit’s home dressing room. The floor is littered with remnants of the 3G pitch just a few yards away, but it’s good to get out of the swirling wind and mid-November rain.

Brentford rapidly becomes the topic of conversation and, as it does, memories from years gone by start to flood Craig’s brain.

“I used to get the train in every day because, as anyone will tell you, driving from south London to west London is not a nice journey.

“I remember getting off at Osterley station; if I had six minutes, I knew I was on time, but if I had five minutes, I’d call it the £10-a-minute run because the fine for being late was £50 - I used to run there quickly, I can assure you!”

Craig offers wise words of advice throughout, picked up from extensive experience at various levels of the game. He is frank, honest and open, grounded by his upbringing, and with family very much at the top of his priority list. Salt of the earth, you might say.

So you are inclined to believe the man when he suggests he might have long been retired by now, had he not joined Brentford from Millwall in the summer of 2012.

“I wanted to change to being a centre-half from a left-back,” he explains. “I watched games and saw how the full-back game was progressing; how there was a lot more forward play and they were better on the ball. That wasn’t my strength.

“My strength was being a good one-on-one defender and putting my body on the line, so it was a risk from me and Uwe Rösler because he hadn’t seen much of me as a centre-half, but he had the belief in me that I could make the transformation. He wanted a leader on the pitch and he saw me as that.

“I started off slow and I knew that, but I remember looking at my stats after a game against Tranmere and that gave me the confidence to not look back.

“If I didn’t make that move to centre-half, I’d probably be retired now, but for the talent I’ve got, I think I’ve exceeded it tenfold and that is by working hard and making sacrifices.”

To be able to succeed in his new position, Craig also had to adapt to a different style of play than the one he was used to - one that had possession and passing out from the back as its core elements.

“I knew I had to work on that and I worked day in, day out so I could do what was expected of me," he continues.

"I knew I was capable of doing it and I was pleased and grateful I could show that. The club was only going in one direction and I didn’t want to be left behind.

“When we signed James Tarkowski, I think that was the only time I went home to speak to my family and said, ‘I’m in a bit of trouble here!’ and I was probably right to say it when you consider the career he’s gone on to have!”

Craig credits Mark Warburton with aiding the advancement of his game, too.

“Warbs is one of the best managers I’ve had the pleasure of working under. It was a big call from the club [for him to replace Rösler]. There were some big names being linked because the club was only going in one direction and was being very well backed by Matthew Benham.

“I won’t lie, I was pretty surprised when he got it because I knew he worked behind the scenes but didn’t know his capabilities as a manager. Within the first two or three weeks, I knew it was the right appointment.

“He was a man who was driven to succeed, organised and he thought outside the box as well. He and David Weir were like good cop, bad cop and complemented each other well. I think he took me up to another level as well.”

What about his partnership with Harlee Dean?

“Harlee was a great player and a great pro," he says. "At the start, he wanted to win everything. He’d challenge when he had no need to go for it or no chance of winning the header, but he still went for it.

“He loved asking questions and would pull me to one side, and you could just tell, game-by-game, he improved massively. He got stronger, fitter, quicker and was a good character around the group. He was a great partner to have next to me.”

Craig featured in 44 of the 46 League One games during the promotion year, playing every minute in all bar two of them.

He would never admit it but, somewhere in his mind, he is probably content with the way things panned out, given he was suspended for the showdown with Doncaster Rovers on the final day of 2012/13.

“Could it have been a year too early for us to go up the year before?” he questions. “Was the team ready to get promoted that season and be successful in the Championship? Probably not, if everyone was perfectly honest.

“With some things in life, the script is written. We woke up the morning of promotion and knew we had an opportunity; if we got the win, it could be done. They are moments you dream of - everyone wants to have a promotion under their belt. The most pleasing thing was the style we did it in. It was a pleasure to play in that team.

“Did I ever think I’d play in a possession-based team? No, not in a million years did I think I’d be a part of one, but also be capable of playing that way. It just shows what, with hard work, dedication and belief, you can achieve.

“I was wearing the armband at that time and Kev O’Connor came on as a sub for the last three games because we all knew he was close to 500 and that’s a big number for one club. He’s been a fantastic servant to the club. He was a quiet man who didn’t really say much but, when he did, people would listen.

“With the stature of the man, he deserved to have the armband whenever he came on - 500 appearances for one club says everything.

“Some of the lads were on people’s backs after the promotion was done, but I’m a bit more reserved. I did have a tear in the toilet because we knew the heartache we had the year before, so to go and do it, it was that little bit more special. Those highs stay with you forever.”

It was no surprise Craig remained one of the first names on the teamsheet in Brentford’s first season back in the Championship, but did not play for a month after a red card against Birmingham on 23 August 2014 and, after Christmas, found it hard to break into the team at all.

Despite signing a new contract in the November, he left by mutual consent in July 2015.

“The timing was right because the dynamic had changed. Sometimes, you know it’s the end,” he says.

“But, 100 per cent, it was still sad. I had three fantastic years there and I honestly believe the best football I played was at that club. The fans always say this was the start of the journey and I can’t thank them enough for thinking that because it’s just a small part of the journey to where they are now.

“Matthew Benham gave me a lovely courtesy call when I left, thanking me for what I’d done. Whenever I talk about that time, it just brings a smile to my face.

“But there was an opportunity for me to go back to Millwall and, quite frankly, I can’t say no to that football club - it’s very well documented the team I support! This one was a bit more special because I knew I was going to be captain, which was the draw for me. It was the dream, an honour, and it still gives me goosebumps now.

“I knew when I went back I had to get the club promoted, so I was so pleased I got the job done and got to walk up those steps at Wembley. I dreamed of that and then fulfilled it.”

After leaving Millwall again in 2018, Craig did three seasons at Bristol Rovers, before another three at Crawley and was playing regularly in League Two as recently as last year.

He signed a two-year deal at Dorking in the summer following a successful loan spell during the final three months of last term.

So, what convinced him the next chapter in a career that now spans over 20 years should be spent in non-league?

“I thoroughly enjoy it here,” he says. “The gaffer here [Marc White] is a right character. He’s different to every manager I’ve worked under, but he makes this an environment you want to work in day in, day out - he makes you want to play for him.

“I want to play as long as I possibly can. I’m 38-years-young, but I still feel 28. I’ll be the first to hold up my hands when my legs go because I don’t want to hold people back or tarnish myself, and I don’t want someone to tell me my legs have gone. I want to be the man who decides.

“I’m running around that pitch now the same as I was 10 years ago and I’m reading the game a lot more now. I’ve probably lost a yard of pace, but I never had a yard of pace!”

He nods in agreement as the idea of a comparison to Brentford is floated.

“This club won 12 promotions in its first 23 seasons and I do see it in the Football League in the future, with the infrastructure and the things that are happening behind the scenes," he says.

"I was at Brentford at the start of the wave and it would be nice if I was at the start of the wave here, too.

“I still think I’ve got another couple of years in me, but the pleasing thing would be to finish up by putting this club in the league. I’m going to work my backside off to succeed.”

Leaving a legacy is what Tony Craig does. He did it at Brentford a decade ago, he did it multiple times at Millwall, and he just might have the chance to do it one more time at Dorking.