IN FOCUS: BRENTFORD (H)

Boreham Wood v Brentford
Wednesday 12 July 2023, 19:30
Mangata Pay UK Stadium Meadow Park, Pre-Season Friendly

The Wood welcome Brentford FC for the third pre-season match of the summer as well as the third summer in a row the two sides have met. The Bees are preparing for another season in the top flight after a strong performance that saw Thomas Frank’s side finish 9th in the league.

IN FOCUS: BRENTFORD FC

Nicknamed “The Bees”, the club was founded in 1889 and played home matches at Griffin Park from 1904 until 2020, where they moved to the Gtech Community Stadium. They initially played amateur football before they entered the London League in 1896 and finished runners-up in the Second Division and then the First Division to win election into the Southern League in 1898. They won the Southern League Second Division in 1900-01 and were elected into the Football League in 1920. The club enjoyed a successful spell in the top flight of English football, reaching fifth place in 1935-36, their highest ever league finish, before three relegations left them in the Fourth Division by 1962. They were crowned Fourth Division champions in 1962-63 but were relegated again 1966. They gained promotion in 1977-78 and stayed in the Third Division for 14 years as well as winning the league in 91-92.

The club were relegated from League 1 (Third Division) but won promotion as champions of League Two in 2008-09 and then were promoted out of League One in 2013-14. The Bees eventually won the Championship play-off final in 2021 to be promoted to the Premier League (First Division) for the first time since 1946-47.

2022-23 SEASON REVIEW

Last season was the Bees’ seconded consecutive season in the Premier League and was one of their best seasons to date. They finished ninth in the League, with the help of a 12-match run without losing between October to March, as well as the only side to beat champions Manchester City both home (1-0) and away (1-2).

In the summer of 2022, the Bees spent over £40 million on signings to bolster their chances of beating the biggest clubs in the league. After a 13^th place finish in the league in 2021-22 as well as 11 points clear of relegation, Thomas Frank made signings for the present and future, Lewis-Potter from Hull City, Hickey from Bologna, and Damsgaard from Sampdoria the big names of the window, but with no experience in the top flight of England, only time would tell. The big standout for the Bees was striker Ivan Toney, who has been at the club since 2020, has scored 32 goals in 68 top flight outings for the side. He scored 20 goals in the league alone, making him the third top scorer in the entire league, behind Haaland and Kane.

Amassing 59 points with a record of 15-14-9 (W-D-L) is some achievement for Thomas Frank and his side and would be wanting something similar for next season.

Top scorers: Ivan Toney (20 goals), Bryan Mbuemo (9 goals) and Yoane Wissa (7 goals)

SUMMER TRANSFER WINDOW

The Bees have had busy summer recruiting both youth and experience in what is another crucial season ahead. After his loan spell finished last season, the permanent signing of Kevin Schade from Freiburg is a standout signature for Brentford. Nathan Collins of Wolves is their most expensive signing of the summer so far, the Irishman has a bright future ahead of him at the age of 22 and already has Premier League experience under his belt. Thomas Frank even described him as “a perfect Brentford player”. Mark Flekken also joins from Freiburg as competition for shot-stopper David Raya and Thomas Strakosha.

IN THE DUGOUT: THOMAS FRANK

Thomas Frank had a short amateur playing career as a midfielder. On 1 July 2008 Frank was appointed manager of the Denmark U16 and U17 teams. In 2011, he led the U17 team to the Euro’s finals for the first time in eight-years. Frank was then promoted to the U19 set up in 2012.He then went on to manage in the Danish Superliga with Brendby IF for his first position in senior football. In 2016, he moved to England to work as an Assistant Head Coach at Brentford, however following the departure of Dean Smith in 2018, Frank was promoted to the Head Coach position and took the reins. In just his second season as Head Coach, he guided the Bees to promotion as 2020-21 Championship play-off final winners, defeating Swansea City 2-0 at Wembley Stadium, making him only the second ever Brentford manager to do so. Since winning promotion to the coveted Premier League, Frank has guided his Bee’s side to a 13th placed finish during the 2021-22 season before an impressive 9th placed finish last season.

ONE TO WATCH: BRYAN MBEUMO

Bryan Mbeumo is a winger/forward for the Bees as well as an international for Cameroon. Starting his career at Troyes AC in France at the age of 14, he graduated to the club’s reserve team in 2016 and was part of the U19 side that won the 2018 Coupe Gambardella. He made his senior debut in February 2018, but he truly broke into the first team the following season after the team were relegated to Ligue 2, he scored 11 goals in 40 appearances in the season, helping the side reach the promotion play-off semi final.

He moved to Brentford in 2019 for a club record fee of £5.8 million while the Bees were in the Championship. Since then, he has worn the shirt 159 times, scoring 36 goals, with 13 of them in the Premier League.

The forward plays alongside Toney and their linkup have been exceptional for the last two seasons providing a real source of energy, incision, and pace in the Bee’s front-line. A silky forward, with skills and unerring strength, he is certainly a danger man against any side.

HAVEN’T WE MET BEFORE?

Saturday 9 July 2022, Meadow Park
Boreham Wood 0-2 Brentford

A strong Bees squad returned to Meadow Park in July 2022, a friendly fixture that has now become somewhat customary in both club’s pre-season calendar. It was a blistering hot day across the UK, as well as the opening pre-season fixture for both sides, so first half and second half elevens were fielded by both Luke Garrard and Thomas Frank. Bryan Mbuemo opened the scoring inside ten minutes after Dennon Lewis conceded an early spot kick. The Cameroon international coolly stroked the ball past Nathan Ashmore from 12-yards, sending the Wood stopper the wrong way. Chances were few and far between for the Wood, with the Bees limiting Luke Garrard’s men to some ambitious efforts from distance. However, despite the Bees’ dominance, it wasn’t until the 86th minute when they would breach Wood’s defence or en they ond time when Josh Dasilva doubled Brentford’s advantage.