Welcome to my second Christmas message as Chairman of Brentford…….and what a year it’s been!
The calendar year of 2014 has been one of almost unparalleled success and it has left us hungry for more.
I spoke last year of our inner strength and that shone through in bucket loads as we marched on in the winter and spring to finish second in League One and gain automatic promotion.
Who can ever forget that memorable Good Friday when we beat Preston to ensure promotion and the scenes on the pitch and, as Bees Player still shows, in the dressing room after the game as we waited for the Wolves result.
The appointment of Mark Warburton as manager a little over a year ago was an inspired choice and his decision to appoint David Weir as his number two has been instrumental in helping us achieve third place on Christmas Day, a position I don’t think many of even our most die hard fans thought was possible as we contemplated the challenges of Championship football for the first time in 22 years.
We all have a vision for the Club and a strategy is currently being finalised for how we get there, and from top to bottom this is what drives us on.
Frank McParland has led the football side of the club as Sporting Director with great humour and tenacity and the back room staff supporting the management and the players have truly excelled themselves.
We have already beaten some ‘big’ clubs this season and whilst we have rather relished staying under the radar our success is undoubtedly raising the Brentford name above the parapet.
In my view, our big challenge as we head in to Christmas and indeed through to the end of the season is not to get carried away with our success to date.
As fans, we must enjoy our success so far, but also recognise that the team are focussing on continuing to work hard and to take one game at a time.
We have seen other clubs of similar stature achieve success on the biggest stage in English football, and we see no reason why we cannot emulate them, but there is still a long way to go and as we know things can change quickly in football.
We are building for the future, and those of you who have longer memories than me will have wise words of caution for those of us running away with ourselves!
As I stood in the changing room at Cardiff last Saturday after the game, I wished the players and staff a fantastic Christmas and a Happy New Year.
I also took the opportunity to thank them all on behalf of us fans for giving so much pleasure during the last 12 months.
It has been a wonderful journey and we must continue to enjoy the ride!
I know how much we all appreciate the manner in which we are playing the game and I’m sure you share with me the wonder at how our players fight for each other, how they give 100 per cent for the cause and have been able so far to bounce back from defeat with renewed determination to make sure it’s a blip and nothing more.
They are truly inspirational, and I’m sure I’m not alone in finding memories of Saturday afternoons sustaining me through the working week!
You, Brentford’s fans, continue to play a vital role in our achievements – we see an average gate 10,500 at Griffin Park these days, and the huge number of supporters that follow the team to away matches is heart-warming and greatly appreciated by us all.
We need to ensure that we continue to create the special atmosphere that a big Brentford home crowd gives – and use it to our advantage – we said at the start of the season that we wanted Griffin Park to be a fortress, and I believe we are heading that way.
It’s not just on the field that we’ve had a vintage start to the season.
Once we won provisional planning permission for our new Community Stadium, the club and its advisers have worked tirelessly to get us to the next stage.
We received approval from the London Mayor’s office and that of the Secretary of State, Eric Pickles in early 2014.
We exchanged contracts on one of two outstanding parcels of land alongside the stadium last week and I’m so happy to be able also to announce that a Stadium Development Agreement with our chosen construction partner was signed on Tuesday.
We hope to be on site towards the end of 2015, with a target date of playing our first game in the new stadium as early as possible in the 2017/18 season.
In November, the Club celebrated its 125th anniversary, and held a celebration party at the Hurlingham Club attended by more than 600 people.
It was a great evening and one in which I felt that Brentford finally came of age.
We are no longer ‘little old Brentford’ – that evening, we raised in excess of £10,000 for the Community Sports Trust.
So much of what we have achieved has been made possible by the vision and financial input provided by our owner, Matthew Benham without whom none of this could have been possible.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for everything that he has done and continues to do for this great club.
To wrap up, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you, the fans, for without you we are not Brentford FC, the playing squad, and support teams on both the playing and administrative side of the club for all their efforts over this season.
I am grateful to Board members both past and present and to everyone else at or connected with the club for all of your efforts and dedication to driving us towards achieving our objectives.
Your support has once again been outstanding this year and I believe that together we can look forward to a very bright future for the club.
Everything at the Club is geared to success and we will continue to work tirelessly to make our dreams a reality. M
ay I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, a Happy Holiday, and Healthy and Prosperous New Year.
Merry Christmas everyone.