Brentford’s engine will be motored by an Irish heart

IRISH PRESENCE: Pic: Paul Thomas/Getty Images

Never in the history of the Premier League has a club had an Irish manager, captain and goalkeeper simultaneously.

Brentford are the team Irish neutrals will be observing this season, or the second team for devotees of another.

A different slant for the Irish for a club that has done things differently.

How they ended a 74-year absence from the Premier League when gaining promotion in 2021 – and since staying there – was cultivated by an approach others ignored.

“If David wants to beat Goliath, you can’t do that by using the same weapons,” Brentford's then co-director of football Rasmus Ankersen said as the uprising gained attention.

Matthew Benham, as an Oxford physics graduate, was an unlikely football benefactor but succeeded within a decade of flying the Bees from the third tier to the Premier League.

Crowds gradually rose from four-figure averages, helped by the move from Griffin Park into the Brentford Community Stadium in August 2020.

All of this was done while selling their most valuable players. Over €160m was scooped over a five-year period before they reached the top-flight, with Ollie Watkins, Saïd Benrahma, Neal Maupay, Andre Gray and Ireland international Scott Hogan all fetching eight-figure fees.

Seeking to attain value drove the controversial decision by Benham in 2014 to scrap their Academy.

A system costing €1.8m was delivering talent, yet mostly to other clubs willing to offer lucrative personal contracts without paying transfer fees reflecting value.

Their transition to a B team model, with Lee Carsley initially managing, is considered optimal for a club with Brentford’s outlook. Tighter squads fuel focus.

Brentford do have a history of Irish players, with the likes of Stephen Hunt, Jay Tabb and former Cork City attacker Chiedozie Ogbene all at one time on their books.

There was an odd crossover with the club during Martin O’Neill’s tenure when he became a frequent visitor to unfashionable Griffin Park.

Although cynics contended it only due to proximity to O’Neill’s house in west London, the player he was scouting, Alan Judge, eventually made the squad and secured the last win of his tenure against USA in 2018.

Of all the Irishman associated with Brentford, Kevin O’Connor is the standout.

He was one-club man, captaining the Bees more than 200 times. Upon his retirement in May 2015, he was the club’s longest serving player, having signed his first professional contract in 1999.

Born in Blackburn to Irish parents, Dad Pat is from Co Kerry and mother Sheila from Co Mayo, the attacker was proud to represent Ireland at U21 level.

He was making his way through the lower tiers around the same time as Keith Andrews, 17 months his senior, and the pair have found themselves working together at Brentford.

O’Connor was retained by the club post-playing in development roles before acting as assistant to Thomas Frank from 2018.

That is maintained with Andrews, whom he worked alongside when his compatriot was headhunted by Frank from Sheffield United as set-piece coach.

A year later and Andrews is calling the shots. Benham and director of football Phil Giles again acted outside the box when filling the hole left by Frank joining Tottenham in the summer.

Established names were linked with the vacancy but they had to conviction to promote from within, even to someone who’d never managed a senior team in his career.

Systems and procedures in the background will continue unaffected as, much like Tony Bloom at Brighton and Hove Albion, Benham had contingencies in mind given the likelihood of his manager being enticed elsewhere.

Brentford will also operate in the shadows of Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea and Fulham within London but they’re confident a change of manager won’t undo the base they’ll constructed to thrive.

Caoimhín Kelleher could transpire to their latest bargain buy at €15m. Nathan Collins forming the backbone in front of him is another reason to be optimistic that the loss of Bryan Mbeumo and, likely, Yoane Wissa, doesn’t lead to a first real relegation scrap.

Regardless of how they fare, a pocket of their 17,250-capacity stadium will be occupied by Irish.

What started as a Facebook page and then on Twitter led to meet-ups at Griffin Park and the birth of the Irish Bees fanclub.

The crew, comprised of Irish based in London and those travelling across the Irish sea, have been recognised by the club to the point there’s an 'Irish Bees' Player of the Year award since 2015.

Outliers in every sense, Brentford’s engine will be motored by an Irish heart.