Plucky Brentford continue to prove doubters wrong under Thomas Frank

As a Carlisle United supporter, I look on April 3, 2011, as one of the most successful dates in my club's recent history. We beat our fellow mid-ranking League One rivals Brentford 1-0 in the final of that season's Football League Trophy at Wembley.

It was a momentous day for fans of the Cumbrians, but fast forward less than 12 years and while my side - although enjoying improved fortunes this season - are languishing in the fourth tier of English football, Brentford are mixing it as one of the form teams in the Premier League.

It has been a meteoric rise for the Bees, who spent three more seasons in League One before securing promotion to the Championship in 2014 and, after seven further years and two failed playoff attempts, they finally ended a 74-year absence from the top flight when they went up in 2021.

That was already a momentous achievement for a side who had spent the majority of the preceding 70 years languishing in the bottom two divisions of the EFL, although not unheard of. Bournemouth, Swansea and Hull had all risen through the pyramid to reach the top flight since the turn of the millennium.

What makes this rise so special is that Brentford have not relied on mega-rich investment from abroad to finance their success, instead successful betting entrepreneur and supporter Matthew Benham has gradually remodelled the club and turned it into the blueprint for other teams from further down the pyramid to follow.

One of the most radical changes implemented under Benham was the scrapping of the club's academy and development squads before the start of the 2016-17 season and introducing a B team instead.

It certainly raised eyebrows at the time, but it has allowed Brentford not only to nurture young talent, but also bring in players who may have been released from other academies, while their links to another of Benham's clubs, FC Midtjylland in Denmark, have also proved crucial.

Recruitment has certainly been key to Brentford's success and the scouting team at the club deserve plenty of credit.

Just look at the forwards they have signed and nurtured over recent years, including Neal Maupay, Ollie Watkins and of course Ivan Toney, who was signed from Peterborough to replace Watkins in 2020 and has gone on to become one of the most feared strikers in the Premier League.

Appointing the right head coach at the right time has also proved key. Mark Warburton helped lay the foundations before Dean Smith established the team as a top-ten Championship club.

Brentford felt continuity was key when Smith left for Aston Villa in October 2018, and assistant coach Thomas Frank, a man Benham knew well due to his links to Danish football, was promoted to the role of head coach.

Frank and Brentford have proved a perfect fit. The Dane has not only guided the club to promotion to the Premier League, but he has now set about establishing them as a top-flight club to be feared and respected.

It is in the Premier League where Brentford have really come to the attention of the football world. After being written off as relegation favourites during their first season in the top flight, the Bees proceeded to comfortably survive, finishing 13th.

There were some notable wins along the way - who can forget their 2-0 triumph over Arsenal in their first-ever Premier League fixture? - while the club's success in the transfer market again came to the fore when they pulled off a major coup by signing Christian Eriksen in January 2022.

Talk of second-season syndrome, where a club fails to replicate the results they produced during their first year in a division, then surrounded Brentford heading into the current campaign, but the Bees are once again proving their doubters wrong as they sit in the top half of the standings.

This season Brentford have beaten Manchester United, Manchester City and most recently Liverpool, while also drawing with Tottenham and Chelsea, further underlining their credentials to mix it with the very best.

There is an old-school, almost nostalgic, feel to the direct style of play Brentford adopt, with comparisons rightly being drawn to the Crazy Gang Wimbledon team of the 1980s and 90s, although this current Bees side arguably boast more quality.

The Gtech Community Stadium has also fast become one of the toughest grounds, with one of the best atmospheres in the Premier League, which was epitomised during their 3-1 victory over Liverpool on January 2, as the song 'Hey Jude', a Beatles classic that Brentford have adopted as their own, was bellowed out at the final whistle.

For a modern ground like the Gtech to be able to generate such an atmosphere is a testament to the feel-good factor surrounding Brentford and further underlines that the sky could be the limit for this club that was once derogatorily known as "just a bus stop in Hounslow'.

So who knows, we could be seeing Brentford embarking on a European adventure as early as next season, which really would be an amazing achievement that all supporters - barring perhaps some of their rivals in west London - can get behind.

This lower-league supporter is certainly proud to see Brentford thriving in the top flight, although that is of course tinged with some jealousy. I would definitely rather have lost that Football League Trophy final a little over a decade ago if it meant we could swap places with the Bees now.

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