January 2011

The Johnstone’s Paint Trophy was at Griffin Park to speak to the Bees supporters before, during and after their area final first leg with Exeter City, who underlined why we all love the Beautiful Game so much.

Rob Dorrington, Brian Sanson, John McEnery and Andy Snaddon said that their side’s frequent penalty shoot-out triumphs (three in this season’s trophy and five in total) were sometimes too much to take.

John said: “I’ve had two heart attacks already and I don’t want a third, so I won’t watch them!”

The supporters, who have been watching the Bees since the days of Tommy Lawton and company, said that their season had been ‘moderate’ to date.

“We’ve had a moderate season. There have been some great games, which have usually come in the cups.

“The biggest problem is that we can’t score the goals. Like many teams, we need a striker to knows where the back of the net is.”

Meanwhile, Jeff and Dean Withers said that they’d die to get to Wembley with Brentford.

Dean said: “It is our dream to get there. I’d die to see us at Wembley. We’ve been to the old stadium, but to get to the new Wembley would be so special.”

Rob Smith, with son Ben and brother Dale, said the trophy had played a huge part in Brentford’s season and had captured fellow fans’ imagination.

“Every fan wants to see his or her team play at the best stadiums in the world and we are the same,” said Rob.

“Wembley is certainly one of them and for the fans and the players, it would be a magical day were we to get there.”

Brendan Hynes, speaking at half time of the area final first leg, was right to remain upbeat as his side battled back from a goal down.

He said: “We are not even halfway through the overall tie, so there’s a long way to go. We started off poorly but there is more football to come.

“We don’t have the finances to compete with some clubs and are living day to day, so a trip to Wembley would be great.

“However, the main reason to get there is for the fans and for the day itself for everyone involved at the club.”

The final word goes to Sue Saville and her husband Graham, who have been sat in their same Braemar Road seats for 30 years.

“We can’t understand how we can play so well away from home but be so inconsistent at home. But we still think we can get to Wembley and think the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy is extremely important to us. We wouldn’t be here otherwise!”

Johnstone's. Bringing colour to the beautiful game.