VENUE #80 BRENTFORD Griffin Park

SKY BET CHAMPIONSHIP

Saturday 22nd October 2016

Griffin Park, Brentford

Ground Capacity:-  12,763

Kick Off:-  15:00

Entry Fee:-  £28

Programme:-  £5  

VENUE #80

     Just a five minute walk from Brentford station to Griffin Park.  As you exit Brentford station turn left onto Boston Manor Road and continue until you reach Windmill Road and turn left again. Follow the road round and take the second turning on the right onto Hamilton Road and at the bottom of the road you'll come to a junction Brook Road South, take a right and the road curves past the football which is on the left hand side.  You can enter the ground on New Road which is opposite Hamilton road across the Brook Road South junction.

     Griffin Park was built in 1904 on the site of an orchard which was owned by Fuller's brewery.  The name Griffin comes from the logo of the said brewery who probably supplied the beer to the four pubs situated on each corner of the ground.  As most London football grounds Griffin Park is situated in a residential area encased in houses, flats and of course the two pubs the Royal Oak and of course the Griffin.
     The first game played at the park was a Western league fixture against Plymouth Argyle which ended in a one all draw and was played to a crowd of between 4 and 5 thousand people.
     During the second world war the ground was hit twice by high explosive bombs in 1940 and 41, six matches had to be postponed or abandoned during the blitz.
     Disaster struck in 1983 also when faulty wiring led to a fire breaking out in the Braemer Road stand which caused £150.000 worth of damage to seats, away dressing room, kit store and laundry all went up in smoke as the fire teared through the timber construction.  The players entrance tunnel was moved from the centre to the far western corner of the Braemer road stand in the redevelopment of the stand. 


                                                Today's visitors BARNSLEY:  The Tykes featured in the very first football game I ever saw, it was at Walsall's old Fellows Park ground in the mid sixties where the Saddlers destroyed the team from South Yorkshire 5-0.  The Tykes turned the five goal deficit around at the end of last season when the two teams met in the play-off semi final and Barnsley emerged triumphant beating Walsall 6-1 over the two home and away legs.  The Tykes went on to beat Millwall 3-1 in the final at Wembley and now play in the Championship as their reward.  Barnsley lie in 15th place before this game seven places below their opponents today Brentford but a win would see them level on 19 points with the Bees.

   Braemer Road Stand

     A two tiered all seated stand with the lower tier known as the paddock.  Housed within this stand are the supporters club, dressing rooms and club offices.  Up until recently the dug outs used to be at the front of this stand  This stand has a very low roof which may restrict viewing from the back with supporting pillars which will hamper your view pending on position of seat.

New Road Stand

     A single tiered all seated stand which is also known as the Bill Axbey stand named as a tribute to a long standing supporter who died in 2007.  Previously a terrace and was converted into a stand in the summer of 1996 but still has supporting pillars running across the front.  This stand now houses the dug outs taking over from the Braemer stand.  TV broadcasts are shot from here with the gantry suspended from the roof of the stand.

Ealing Road Terrace

     A single tiered terrace which was previously uncovered with planning permission for a roof being turned down in 2004 but was reviewed and accepted and the roof was constructed three years later.

Brook Road Stand

     A two tiered stand with seating in the upper tier and terracing in the lower.  Built to replace the Royal Oak stand in the mid 80's and because of it's peculiar look has been dobbed the nickname "the wendy house".  This stand has been allocated to away supporters.

BRENTFORD ... 0   BARNSLEY ... 2

     Brentford's 4,000th league game celebrations were tarnished as Barnsley came to spoil the party. A goal each half made the Tykes worthy winners of this contest and puts them on equal points with the Bees in the league table.

     The Bees started brightly and had large spells of the first half camped inside the Tykes half of the field forcing corner after corner but the quality of the balls pumped into the Barnsley box was poor and bread and butter for the South Yorkshire men to gobble up.  Shots at goal were either skyed over the bar or hit straight at the keeper, it has to be said that Brentford's play in the final third was bordering abysmal.

     In the 29th minute the Bees paid for their inadequacy up front when Barnsley took the lead a headed clearance from Yoann Barbet went straight to Adam Armstrong who put the ball into the net via his shin.

     The goal stowed confidence into the Barnsley side who started to believe they could win this game and finished the half on a high.  It was obvious that the Bees manager Dean Smith had to change things if his side were to get back into this game and at half time he does just that bringing on Josh Clarke for Sam Saunders who was having a poor game.

     When the teams came out for the final 45 Barnsley went straight into their warm up routine while Brentford looked as though they wished they were going into the shower and off home but as the half got on the way the Bees once again started the brighter but seemed to tire as the Tykes pressed high up the pitch and had a couple of chances to extend their lead before they finally did in the 67th minute, a one two between Ryan Kent and Armstrong saw the latter canon the ball off the post and straight into the path of Sam Winnall who riffled home from close range.

     Barnsley fans grew even noisier in the wendy house while the home faithful grew more and more frustrated.  Some fans sitting next to me were shouting "F" off back to Walsall which made me wonder how they knew that I was from Walsall and why were they blaming me for this poor performance and then I realised their comments were aimed at their manager Dean Smith who Brentford acquired off the Saddlers last season and by the sounds of things want to send him back special delivery packaged and stamped.

     Home fans perked up a little when Smith brought on Philipp Hofmann for Romaine Sawyers who I must say resembled a cart horse up front for Brentford but the new man also had poor service from the wide men and was unable to make an impact on the Barnsley goal.

     Appeals for a penalty went on death ears when Nico Yennaris was pulled to the ground in the Barnsley penalty area and the ex Arsenal midfielder had a shot well saved by Adam Davies in the Barnsley goal at the death.  Final score 0-2 a fair result.

                            MATCH DETAILS

   

VENUE #79 LEYTON ORIENT Matchroom Stadium, Brisbane Road

SKY BET LEAGUE TWO

Saturday 15th October 2016

@Matchroom Stadium
Brisbane Road, London

Ground Capacity:-  9,271

Kick Off:- 15:00

Entry Fee:-  £22

Programme:-  3.00

Venue 79

      As usual used the train to get to this venue catching the Birmingham train into London's Euston station and fumbling around the underground system to arrive at Leyton which is only a 5 to 10 minute walk away from the ground.  As you leave Leyton station turn right along high road and cross the road at the pedestrian lights and carry on straight up until you come to Buckingham road then turn left and take the first right into Brisbane road and the ground is on your left hand side.

     The stadium seems typical of the London grounds encased in buildings these ones being flats that run around the two ends of the ground, it may be a way of raising capital to update the place but for me it doesn't look like a football ground more like an housing estate or part of                                                                                     one.

     The ground, which many fans still refer to as its original name of Brisbane Road has seen a lot of re-development in recent years, with the construction of three new stands. Finance for this has chiefly come from the proceeds of selling part of the Brisbane Road site to a property developer. In this ground breaking development, the corners of the ground have been filled with blocks of residential apartments, which certainly gives the stadium a unique look. Some other clubs are looking at the scheme with interest and I wouldn't be surprised to see something similar take place at another league ground at some point in the future.

     At one end is the single tiered, Tommy Johnston (South) Stand (capacity 1,336 seats), that was opened in 1999. This stand replaced a former open terrace and is named after the club's leading all time goal scorer. An interesting feature of this covered area is that it is raised above pitch level, meaning that you have to climb a small set of steps at the front to reach the seating area. The old Main (East) Stand, which was originally opened in 1956, has been reduced in

length, but is still a fair size.  This partly covered stand is now all seated after having seating installed on the former front terrace. Unfortunately, it has several supporting pillars and the roof doesn't quite cover all of the front seating. It does though have an interesting gable on its roof which has 'Leyton Orient' proudly emblazoned across it and gives a nice link to the Club's history. 

     Opposite is the new West Stand which was opened for the 2005/06 season. This all seated stand which has a capacity of 2,872, has an unusual look about it, as above the seating area is a tall vertical structure that houses the Club offices. In fact to be honest it looks more like an office block that has some seats installed on a large viewing gallery, rather than a football stand. It also has some corporate hospitality areas, which look a little precarious, as the outside seating area of these overhang the lower tier. If you carry on with the office theme, then you can almost imagine these being used by the window cleaners to clean the office windows. At the very top of the stand is a fair sized viewing gallery for television cameras and press and the roof of the stand contains a lot of perspex panels to allow more light to reach the pitch.

     At the North End is the ground is the most recent addition to the stadium. The North Stand was opened at the beginning of the 2007/08 season and replaced a former open terrace. This simple looking covered all seated stand, has space for 1,351 spectators and looks similar to the Tommy Johnston Stand. The ground also has a set of four modern looking floodlight pylons.

LEYTON ORIENT ... 1   LUTON TOWN ... 2

     I remember a couple of years ago when I visited Luton's Kenilworth Road ground when they played Braintree and needed a win to secure a place in league football once again but things didn't go to plan as they lost the game by 3 goals to 2 but got they're well deserved promotion within the week anyway.  The crowd that day was electric as they were today, the Luton fans can't half generate some noise.

     Both sides missed easy chances early on Ollie Palmer from six yards when it was easier to score and Cameron McGeehan got on the end of a Jordan Cook free kick only to be foiled by Alex Cisak in the Orient goal.

     But it was McGeehan who opened the scoring on the half hour when Jack Marriott won the ball from Jay Simpson in the Orient half his shot was blocked by Cisak but ran cruelly to McGeehan to slot home from six yards.

     Orient were looking for a way back into the game in the second half but fell further behind in the 74th minute when Jack Marriot and Danny Hylton combined to create a chance for Hylton to smash the ball into the centre of the net from twelve yards.

     Ollie Palmer raised the hopes of the home faithful five minutes later when he hit the ball from the right side of the Luton penalty area across the goal and in of the far post but it was a mere consolation as the Hatters held on for victory quite comfortably in the end.

                             MATCH DETAILS