Brentford Owner Matthew Benham paid tribute to Club Captain Kevin O’Connor when he presented him with an award last week.

Matthew presented Kevin with a Special Achievement Award at the Player of the Year Ball last Sunday, May 4.

It was in recognition of the skipper playing his 500th game for The Bees against Stevenage the day before.

Kevin became only the fourth player to reach that landmark, after Ken Coote, Peter Gelson and Jamie Bates.

The Stevenage appearance was also his 420th Football League game for Brentford, putting him third on the Club’s all-time league appearance list.

Matthew made a special speech at The Player of the Year Ball.

“The great thing about Kevin is that it is genuinely all about the team, it is all about the Club,” said the Owner.

“I have seen him at times when he is not in the 18 but is genuinely happy when the team have won.

“He is a fantastic mentor to the young players.

“When he stepped in this season we have seen that he has still got it as a player.

“He did fantastically and made a vital contribution.

“[Assistant Manager] David Weir described him as a ‘class act’.

“He really is Mr Brentford.”

After receiving the award, and the acclaim of more than 400 people in attendance, Kevin responded.

He said the Stevenage match, when he reached the landmark and collected a trophy to mark Brentford winning promotion from Sky Bet League One, was the best day of his footballing life.

“When I started out I couldn’t have thought about 500 games,” said the skipper.

“I have had to remind a few of the younger lads that I started as a striker.

“I didn’t last too long.

“I wanted to give it a good go, work as hard as I could and see where I went.

“Yesterday against Stevenage was the best day of my career.

“This season has been amazing.

“The lads fully deserve promotion and the way we did it was tremendous.

“We were too good for this league and we’ll give it a good go when we go up.

“I need to thank a lot of people – the fans, my family and the players.”

Video highlights from the Player of the Year Ball will follow soon.