Brentford v Fulham: Inside a ‘growing’ west London rivalry

Hardly a Premier League week goes by without a London derby – after all, the capital is home to eight top clubs.

Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham may dominate the headlines but this season has unearthed new rivalries in the Premier League.

A few meanders up the Thames from Buckingham Palace is smoldering local bitterness – and when Brentford host Fulham on Monday (20:00 GMT) there will be more than bragging rights at stake.

“They’re very much the same now,” says Jonathan Burchill, author of the Brentford history book A Pub On Each Corner: Stats and Facts from Griffin Park. “And that rivalry is growing.

“They’re the local team we’ve played the most in recent years – and it helps that we’ve generally had the upper hand.”

Prior to 2014, teams had never met above the third tier of English football.

As Jamie Reid, Gentleman Jim’s co-commentator for Fulham Football Club TV, puts it: “Many of our fans have never seen this as the most direct rivalry.”

There were hot spots, however, notably Brentford defender Jamie Bates, who was being questioned by police after Fulham striker Gordon Davies was carried away on a stretcher during a 1988 game.

Fulham’s stint in the Premier League in the 2000s kept the sides apart, but as Brentford rose, Fulham became a yo-yo club and their paths merged.

“They had the glory years,” Burchill said. “Brentford fans would call them the ‘Shrimp Sandwich Brigade’ and they had the plastic clapper, the Michael Jackson statue. All the parts that make you cringe.

“But they were in a different league to us. We didn’t have the whole mentality as a top-tier team back then.”

In 2014-15 both teams were in the league. Recently relegated Fulham finished 17th while Brentford made the play-offs and made the double against their neighbours.

Bees fans rejoiced at the success and created a “Bees Up, Fulham Down” song to the tune of “Knees Up, Mother Brown” which is still gleefully sung at games.

The Cottagers, used to rubbing shoulders with Chelsea in the Premier League, have been forced to take Brentford seriously.

“The rivalry has certainly intensified,” says Reid. “You could pick Chelsea games from previous years but it wasn’t on the same level with Brentford.

“But when you see both teams doing well, you end up wanting to trump them.”

In 2019/20 Fulham’s game against Brentford was scheduled for Friday 13 March but instead became the first casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Postponed to June, the Bees completed the double again over the Cottagers and looked like promotion favourites.

However, when the two sides played the play-off final six weeks later at an empty Wembley Stadium, it was the shrewd Fulham who rose in extra time.

“In hindsight, we weren’t ready,” says Burchill. “Imagine if, after all this time outside the top flight, the fans couldn’t go to places like Liverpool and Manchester United and we were then relegated?

“When we beat Swansea [the following season] in the playoff finals it was a very different feeling.”

Brentford’s rise corresponded with Fulham’s further relegation, but now both are in contention for European qualification at the top of the Premier League.

In the background, the fight between Ivan Toney and Aleksandar Mitrovic offers an intriguing subplot.

During Brentford’s campaign of promotion, Toney beat the long-standing record for most goals scored in a Championship season, only for Mitrovic to smash him with his 43 last year.

At Craven Cottage this season, the two met in a thrilling game, with Mitrovic scoring Fulham’s late winner.

“There’s no special love lost between the two of them,” says Burchill.

For Reid and Fulham there is no doubt: “Mitrovic is the greatest. Toney is a good player with a great penalty record and can score a number of goals. But no matter how good he is, he’s no Mitrovic.”

Toney has led Mitrovic three times this season with 14 goals but the Brentford striker is awaiting an FA ruling after admitting to gambling-related charges.

Local rivalry and continued success on the pitch could see more west Londoners eschewing Chelsea’s bright lights in favor of their smaller neighbours.

Improved facilities also help.

Monday’s game is the first derby in front of fans at the Gtech Community Stadium in Brentford, while Fulham’s imposing new Riverside Stand will bring Craven Cottage’s capacity to the 30,000 mark when it fully opens this summer.

“They really suit a Premier League club,” says Reid. “The floor had to go on and now it looks wonderful.

“Both Brentford and Fulham are trying to be really open, fair and inclusive. They want the vast majority of the next generation in South West London to wear their shirts and not anyone else’s.”

Brentford have come a long way since their early days but as the Derby grows it is worth remembering that in 1904 it was indeed the Fulham owners who helped the Bees get off the ground.

“Fulham chairman Henry Norris helped Brentford buy a leasehold on a five-acre orchard from local brewery Fuller, Smith and Turner,” explains Burchill.

“They shared with the cricket club down the road but that allowed them to get Griffin Park.”

It could be significantly less neighborly on Monday at 8:00 p.m.