Brentford on verge of sealing return to top flight after 73-year absence
Thomas Frank, Brentford’s head coach, paused for a moment to ponder the question. Would the riches of the Premier League change Brentford?
“You know when I am silent I need to think,” he said. “I really want, from the bottom of my heart, to say that we will never change. But because money has that strong power, you never know what will happen.”
It is a truly remarkable state of affairs that Brentford – little old Brentford – are even contemplating these questions at all. To be where they are, 90 minutes away from the Premier League at the end of their final season at Griffin Park, is almost a fairy tale in itself.
If they are able to take that final step by defeating Fulham in Tuesday night’s play-off final, it would complete one of the great stories in the modern history of English football.
Not since 1947 have Brentford been able to call themselves a top-flight team. After 73 years they have fought back to the brink of the top division – not through spending money, as so many other Championship sides have tried, but through innovation and intelligence. Theirs is a triumph of creativity and bravery, driven by a small group of people who are not afraid to do things differently.
It will remain a triumph even if they do not clear the last hurdle.
Under the ownership of Matthew Benham, Brentford’s data-driven approach to recruitment has ensured they are stable. And under the management of Frank, flanked by the club’s two directors of football, a shared focus on the “human touch” has made them a side capable of competing with the best.
As a club they hate the “Moneyball” tag, rejecting the suggestion that they are all about the numbers. Really, this is a story about the people – those who are there now and those, like Robert Rowan, the former technical director who tragically died in 2018, who helped to build this project.
“That is the big secret,” said Frank. “The human touch. Yes, we are very good on the data side. Yes, we are extremely good on recruitment. But the reason we recruit very well is because we want good characters. It is so big for me.”
In Frank, the former assistant who was promoted following the departure of Dean Smith to Aston Villa in October 2018, Brentford have an engaging, inspiring leader. He never played professionally, instead studying sports psychology and starting his coaching career by working with youth teams in Denmark. Much like the club as a whole, he is a little different. And much like the club as a whole, it is working. “We think it is all about the destination but it is all about the journey,” he said. “And the journey has been fantastic. It is an ongoing journey, like in life, and there are a few stops along the way.”
Who might be the hero for Brentford? There are plenty of candidates, not least in their fearsome “BMW” front line of Saïd Benrahma, Bryan Mbeumo and Ollie Watkins. Speak to those at the club, though, and it is the emphasis on the collective that stands out.
“I said to all of them, staff and players, that it is very rare in top elite environments that you literally have a whole squad that really wants to run through a brick wall for each other,” said Frank. “Every one of them. It is not often that happens. That is a top group of players to work with.
“We have everything to win and nothing to lose. We are in the Championship now and we will still be in the Championship next season if we lose. We can only win. It is important to know that. When we are done with the game, there will be no regrets whatsoever. No regrets.”
As ever, Brentford have all bases covered. They have already decided the order of penalty takers if it reaches a shoot-out, for example, and they have specific defensive set-ups for each scenario in the match.
“We work so hard in training that it is fun to go out there and play,” said defender Henrik Dalsgaard.
Fun for the players, but perhaps not for the coaching staff. Frank is proud of their work this season, and the progress they have made on and off the pitch since he arrived in west London in December 2016, yet the life of a manager makes it difficult to savour these occasions.
“Definitely not enough,” he said when asked if he has enjoyed the last few weeks, which included failing to seal promotion automatically and then responding superbly against Swansea City in the semi-final.
“Hopefully when we have won the final I might enjoy it for one day, maybe two days, and move on the next task. That is the crazy thing. Imagine we do it, and that’s when you should celebrate it and enjoy it for a very long time. But you won’t. You can’t because you know your mind is f---ing crazy. That’s not only me, it is all managers.”
At Frank’s home there is a picture of Rowan, who died suddenly at the age of only 28. Rowan was instrumental in Brentford’s unique B team strategy, and in signing some of the current key men in the first team.
“Robert had a big, big part in this,” said Frank. “He was a big part of the strategy. I still have a picture of him in my house. Just a reminder that he was a good friend and that things can go quickly in life. There are a lot of reasons why I really want to go to the Premier League, and he is one of them.”
