Brentford bid farewell to Griffin Park by booking date at Wembley

Football from the future, to see Griffin Park into history.

The old ground’s last night might well have been its greatest, and could yet mean Brentford’s first match at their new stadium is in the Premier League.

Their very next match is the Championship play-off final at Wembley, thanks to a sweeping 3-1 win over Swansea City, and the kind of performance that has everyone purring about why they would be such an exhilarating and distinctive addition to the elite end of English football.

The Welsh side, who had been controversially 1-0 ahead from the first leg, couldn’t live with the sheer force of Brentford’s play.

The only element missing from an otherwise perfect night was the fans, but the club hierarchy that were present made enough noise. The players similarly rose to the occasion, doing what charismatic manager Thomas Franks insisted they would on the eve of the game and offering “a last magical moment at Griffin Park that can stay with the fans forever”.

Except it wasn’t just one moment, but many, to add up to one special game. It wasn’t the only Frank comment that struck a chord during that game either.

Brentford were certainly “ready to go out and play” and really did “come flying”. They were true to his word and offered one of those “defining games”.

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