Community Stadium: Brentford
The Bees called Griffin Park their home since 1904, sharing it with the London Broncos and Chelsea Football Club at various times. Given the age of the stadium, it was inevitable that Brentford would need to either upgrade the facilities of Griffin Park or else move elsewhere, with the club eventually opting to do the latter. The club originally submitted a plan to move to a new ground in 1973, though that never transpired.
It was in 2002 that confirmation was given that Brentford would eventually be moving, though it took another eighteen years for that to actually happen. The idea was to move to a community stadium that could be used by more than just the football club. One such group that are using it alongside the Bees is London Irish rugby union side, who confirmed that they’d be using it in August of 2016.
The stadium is currently being sponsored by Gtech on a ten year deal, so is officially known as the Gtech Community Stadium.
Stats
| Community Stadium Stats | |
|---|---|
| Year Opened | 2020 |
| Capacity | 17250 |
| Average Attendance | 17082 |
| Record Attendance | 17163 (Brentford vs Liverpool (02/01/2023)) |
| Pitch Size | 105 x 68 (7140) |
| Owner | Brentford Football Club |
| Sponsor | Gtech |
| Clubs Hosted | Brentford F.C. & London Irish |
| First Fixture | 06/09/2020 (Brentford 1-0 Wycombe Wanderers) |
| Brentford Stats | |
|---|---|
| Year Founded | 1889 |
| Nickname | The Bees, The Reds |
| Club Mascot | Buzz Bee |
| Rivals | Fulham and Queens Park Rangers |
| Previous Stadiums | Clifden House Ground, Benn's Field, Shotter's Field, Cross Roads Ground, Boston Park Cricket Ground, Griffin Park |
| Kit | Red & White Stripes (Home) / Dark and Light Blue (Away) / Black with Pink Spots (Third) |
| Training Ground | Brentford F.C. Training Ground |
| Shirt Sponsor | Hollywood Bets |
| Team Owner | Matthew Benham |
| Record Goalscorer | Jim Towers (163) |
| Record Appearances | Ken Coote (559) |
Community Stadium Photos
Community Stadium Seating Plan and Where to Sit
The stadium has a capacity of 17,250. Those seats are laid out in a bowl style, though in a smaller manner to some of the more impressive metropolitan stadiums on the continent. The South stand is the most impressive, holding the lounges etc.
Brentford Ticket Prices
Ticket prices for Brentford games are easy enough to understand. They put their matches into two main categories (A and B) and within each grade they charge more or less depending on where in the ground you want to sit. You’ll also pay a different amount if you’re an adult, a junior or a senior citizen.
The prices are a little less for those buying tickets in the family stand, and you can also splash out and sit in the dugout.
Brentford Members get priority access to home games as well as a £5 discount on ticket prices. Here are the cheapest and most expensive tickets for adults and concessions in each of the categories:
- Category A: £45 – £65 / £35 – £55
- Category B: £40 – £65 / £30 – £50
How To Get Brentford Tickets
You can buy tickets online, in person from the box office or over the phone.
Where to Buy
Getting To Community Stadium
Train – The stadiums is to be found about 100 metres from Kew Bridge Station, which is on the Hounslow Loop Line. It’s also about a mile away from Brentford Station, Gunnersbury Stadium and Kew Gardens Station. On top of that, it’s situated not far from Acton Town, Gunnersbury and Chiswick Park stations on the London Underground system.
Bus – Given the proximity to some major London sights, not least of which is Heathrow Airport, it’s fair to say that Brentford Community Stadium is served by a number of different bus routes.
Car – If you’re looking to drive to Brentford Community Stadium then either the M1 or the M40 will get you pretty close if you’re heading from the north. If you’re coming from further south then look out for the A4.
By Air – Heathrow Airport is located just eight miles away from Brentford Community Stadium, so it’s unquestionably the best airport to head to if you’re flying in from out of the country to watch a match there. That being said, London is served by a number of airports and all of them will be find if you don’t mind travelling across the city.
Taxi – Taxis aren’t cheap in London, not least of all because of the heavy traffic that sees the meter keep ticking around whilst you’re going nowhere. As an example, it will cost you in the region of £50 to do the short eight mile trip from London Heathrow.
Parking Near Community Stadium
As with the rest of London, parking is limited. Your best bet will be to use an official car park rather than trying to park up on the street. Goat Wharf is probably the best option in terms of location, but honestly, you’re better off getting the train.
Useful Resources
- Parking - Just Park
Community Stadium Hotels
You’re not going to struggle for somewhere to stay in West London, but here are a few options to get you started:
Holiday Inn Brentford Lock - £60+
Novotel London Brentford - £80+
Hilton London Syon Park - £185+
Pubs and Bars Near Community Stadium
Similarly, there are plenty of pubs and other places to get a drink close to the Community Stadium, but these would be our first picks:
The Griffin
One Over The Ait
Express Tavern
Facilities
Brentford Community Stadium has excellent facilities and all of the mod-cons that you’d want to find in a brand new football ground. No chance of the plaster falling off the wall and onto your head here.
Prices
- Programme: £5
- Pie: £4
- Beer: £4
Hospitality
As one of the newest stadiums in the United Kingdom, the Community Stadium has the sort of hospitality features that you’d expect. There are lovely new suites and boxes for people to use, all of which have access to the outside for excellent views of the pitch.
Their main hospitality option, however, is the use of Premium Seats, which come with entry to one of 4 exclusive lounges depending on the package level you choose. All offer free drinks on arrival, matchday program, and dining options. These packages are tradeable too so they can be sold on if no longer required.
Private Hire
Again, the community nature of the stadium means that private hire of its various facilities will be easy enough to make use of. There are eight different options from Executive Boxes to huge areas for up to 900 people.
Stadium Tours & Museum
Although tour dates are available at various points throughout the year, they are irregular, and only available to season ticket holders, club members, and those with premium seat tickets.
These people might think twice before they start feeling special though, because they still have to pay an additional fee for the tour, of £20 for adults and £10 for children. This gets them into the first team changing room, experience sitting in the dugout, and walking down the tunnel onto the pitch.
It doesn’t look like there will be a museum at any point, however. It would be empty if they did open one, which is probably why they haven’t.
About Brentford
Founded in 1889 and taking up home at Griffin Park in 1904, Brentford Football Club enjoyed most of its success in the 1930s. During that period it managed consecutive top six finishes in the top-flight, as well as winning the Second Division title in 1935. Despite having spent most of its post-war existence in the third and fourth tiers of English football they have managed to make the FA Cup quarter-final on four separate occasions, most recently in 1989.
The Bees have a long-standing rivalry with two of their London counterparts: Fulham and Queens Park Rangers. The hatred of QPR stems back to 1967 when the club attempted a takeover of Brentford that would have seen Rangers move into Griffin Park and The Bees cease to operate as a football club.
Brenford left their old home, Griffin Park, in 2020 where they had been resident for no less than 116 years. They left in style too beating Swansea in their last home game to reach the 2020 Championship play off final.
One fun piece of trivia, is that TV’s own Bradley Walsh actually had a professional contract with Brentford in the 1970s, but never made the first team squad and retired aged 22 after an ankle injury.
Community Stadium History
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Given that Brentford Community Stadium only opened in 2020, it’s not unreasonable to suggest that the venue’s history is yet to be written. That being said, Brentford had been trying to get a new ground to play their games in since the 1970s, so there’s still a story to tell as far as this one is concerned. With hopes of moving first mooted in 1973, it took until 2007 for the likelihood of it happening to actually come into focus. That’s when the club was handed an option to buy some ground about a mile away from Griffin Park, with hopes boosted further when the economic downturn meant that Barretts Homes had to pull out of a plan to build houses in the area in 2012.
The London Borough of Hounslow gave outline planning permission for the site at Lionel Road in December of 2013, with final approval coming in March 2014 when the then-Secretary Of State For Communities And Local Government, Eric Pickles, signed off on it. Preparation for construction began in March 2017, with the actual building getting underway around a year later. The deal to ground share with London Irish was signed up to in December of 2018 and it was hoped that the building work would be completed in April of 2020, allowing both clubs to use it for their respective 2020-2021 seasons. Work was delayed because of the Coronavirus outbreak, but it was still completed in 2020.
Future Developments
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Given it’s not been open for long, there’s not much to tell you about the future plans around Brentford Community Stadium. Obviously we’ll update this section if it looks like there’s anything to report, though.
Despite being so new, in 2022 the entire West Stand and the north east corner of the stadium were converted to rail seating after a government trial went well and safe standing became allowed.