Too late to write much. But a real celebration today of all that is good about Brentford football club. In truth a meaningless game but one which meant everything to Bees fans. Farewell to League 1. Having watched Brentford for 51 years this season has meant a lot to me and surpasses any of the previous achievements. Brentford have gained promotion and equalled a club record since 1930 of 28 wins in a season. This is not the time to reflect on the season, that will come, but today we saw a decent game with a decent result 2-0 to Brentford. We saw good celebrations and we hope that we did not witness any farewells to Marcello Trotta, George Saville nor Alan judge. We long ago forgot they were on loan. Just enjoy a few photos to remind us of a great day. 
Brentford fans have had plenty to grumble about over the last decade but the last few years have seen the club spiralling upwards at a frenetic pace. Crowds this season have almost doubled and the supportive atmosphere is almost palpable. Promotion to the Championship was finalised on a very Good Friday and the away game at Milton Keynes was at best a celebratory exercise. Somewhere in the region of 3,500 Bees fans made the trip and from visual inspection that seemed to make up at least 50% of the crowd. The crowd was given as over 10,000 though.
The game was almost irrelevant as the fans sang and played their way through the game. A conga down the aisle, a happy small pitch invasion at the end and a few amusing songs about the joys awaiting MK Dons next season with visits to Fleetwood!
There are many opinions about MK Dons and few of them favourable. Visiting their stadium today for the first time was a fairly fascinating experience.
All in all, one of the best grounds I have ever been to.
Having followed Brentford for 50 years days like this are rare and rarely are they better. Looking at the maths just before lunchtime it became apparent that Bees had a chance of being promoted yesterday if they won and results went their way. Both happened. A tense game but perhaps more easily won than score suggests 1-0, a penalty at that, and Bees also missed another at the Ealing Road end…..
But the outpouring of happiness could only be seen in a small club over achieving and now wondering how much further we might go? We are no smaller a club than Fulham. Indeed in those days when Fulham flirted with relegation from Division 4, their crowds were in the 3-4000 mark and Bees rarely got anywhere as low as that in comparable times.
What has happened? Well Mark Warburton has happened. A manager in his first job taking over a third of the way through the season. Without doubt he improved the play and the players. He signed only a small number of good players instead of dozens of me-too’s. My own view that may not be shared by all is that he is a far superior manager to Uwe. That is a compliment and not a put down to Uwe.
These photos below show the exact moment we thought we had won promotion ( in fact because of that crazy Wolves v Rotherhams game, ending 6-4 eventually, we were a little premature).
Just enjoy and share these photos!
All the folks I met today were friendly decent folks however that will not stop me from making a few observations
I have nothing against Peterborough and indeed the people I met today at the football ground were pleasant and normal. However it was a little like arriving in a parallel universe. This is more easily explained using photographic evidence to support my case.
As a season ticket holder at Brentford we have a great offer for all season ticket holders to be able to purchase up to 4 tickets each for £5 for the home game versus Port Vale on Jan 11th. They must be bought in advance and not available on the day. Yet another piece of good marketing and good common sense from Mark Devlin and the team at Brentford.
January is a fiscally challenging month for most and initiatives like these do really help.
Hereford are famous for many things including FA cup wins when non-league. They have been a league club for many years and then fell into the conference a few years ago. They now find themselves in desperate straights. A decent club in an area with a small catchment so crowds rarely were over 3-4,000 even when gaining promotion to league one.
Today by voluntarily asking fans to pay extra and season ticket holders to pay 10£, they have raised £6,711 at the home game today and £3000 in the 24 hours before that from fans. They need to find 35K in the next 14 days to pay a PAYE bill. The good news though is that they beat Cambridge United 1-0 today in that game.
Donations can be made here
http://www.idsports.net/shop/Hereford-United-Club-Donation/
Average crowds have been falling also over the last few years:
chris1957
Arcticterntalk.org 