Hoorah! Maybe?
I've been a resident for 26 years in Brentford, next to the Albany Arms as then known. Delighted on the football club's success, but even more delighted that they moved up the road. All this nostalgia about it being a family club is dreamland. I'm thrilled to bits that the gentrified area and residents up the road will now have to tolerate the crowds. Oh dear - not sure how that will pan out around Kew Bridge, Chiswick and Strand et al.But back to Old Brentford. I have seen anti-social behaviour, thuggishness and drunkeness, over the years. I have seen the police ineffective. Indeed I've seen the Police Station close down. I have seen vehicles and property damaged. I have seen local cafes and restaurants warned to close for fear of potential damage. I have seen undesirable "fans" from as near as QPR to across to Millwall, and beyond from Nottingham and Middlesbrough and other points of the compass.Well, Do I like it now? The Albany Arms is the Black Dog, and Griffin Park is gone. Presumably the troublesome will have gone also. If Premier League football for Brentford means I will have a quieter and peaceful life then I wish them every success. Unfortunately it's come rather late for me. The kids have grown up, I've entered retirement and I'm moving on now. After all these years I've found myself in a place which has no banks, no post-office, no Police Station, no Postal Sorting Office, limited GP facilities, an abundance of fabricated overpriced lego flats, pretentious facades without substance, and a creeping council determined to make my life even more miserable with further restrictions. I've no idea what Brentford was like pre-1995, but I suspect it really was a community - however grim. The price of progress? I'm a Jarrow Lad - I know what grim is - and I didn't march down here!But...we've got a Premier League football team with a brand new Community Stadium. Community? That won't last long in the name. In the meantime - what's there not to like?
Paul Brownlee ● 1853d5 Comments ● 1850d