NYC Bees Newsletter: Final stretch, Fan Fest recap, Forever Bees

Hi again NYC Bees, we're down to the final month of the season! Let's finish off our fifth Premier League campaign in strong form on the pitch and off. Here are some items to get you up to speed:

Four-match May schedule at Red Lion
We'll be at The Red Lion, 151 Bleecker St., for Brentford's final four matches of the season in May! Fortunately everything is on the weekend, too, starting with our May 2 fixture against a tough West Ham side that's fighting off relegation. Our season finale is on Sunday, May 24, at Liverpool. See the graphic for our full meet-up schedule.

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Recapping PL Fan Fest in Tampa
A big thank you to Bruce and Sarah Muni for repping New Jersey and our NYC Bees to provide some color from the Premier League Fan Fest on April 18-19 in Tampa, Florida! They connected with local supporters and Brentford's impressive group: club ambassador Marcus Gayle, plus Fabio Carvalho and Antoni Milambo who juggled appearance duties and their ongoing rehab. Our result that weekend wasn't quite what we had hoped (scoreless draw against Fulham), but Brentford made the most of the stateside connection, whether it was the fan-favorite Michael Kayode/long throw-in station or the Q&A held at Shuffle. Tallahassee-based Bees supporter Reggie Grant wrote up a nice recap for Beesotted, and Atlanta's Michel Cowdery spoke with Across the Seas But Forever Bees to share his highlights.

Abhi Goyal returns to Forever Bees pod
Following our match against Manchester United at Old Trafford, NYC Bee Abhi Goyal hopped on the Across the Seas But Forever Bees podcast! He joined co-hosts Tim Searls and Greville Waterman after the Bees' hard-fought 2-1 loss to Man U. The group had an in-depth conversation about several of our players such as Kevin Schade, Reiss Nelson, and Josh Dasilva in his return to the bench, our European chances and more!

Brentford News & Notes
Valdimarsson signs extension: Backup goalkeeper Hakon Valdimarsson signed a new long-term contract on April 24 that keeps him with the Bees through the 2029-30 season. The 24-year-old Icelandic international has made 12 appearances for us in all competitions, and securing his services certainly is a promising move as he continues to serve a crucial -- not-so-glamorous -- role behind Caoimhin Kelleher.

Thiago sets single-season record: With his brace against Everton on April 11, Brentford forward Thiago established a single-season club record for goals in a Premier League season! That match brought him up to 21 PL goals in 2025-26, surpassing the previous mark of 20 shared by Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbeumo.

Academy earns top status: The Brentford Academy has been awarded Category One status by the Premier League -- the highest level under the Elite Player Performance Plan -- just four years after reopening. Starting in 2026-27, the club will compete in Premier League 2 and the U18 Premier League. The club intends to continue to operate the Brentford B team.

Quick hits: In the London and South East Premier League, Brentford Women captain Maddie Phillips was named LSE Player of the Month for March, tallying three goals and an assist across all competitions for that stretch. ... In the latest episode of the Ultra World Podcast, co-host Sean Cassels took a moment to look back on the show's visit with the NYC Bees at The Red Lion, expressing his appreciation of the club and our fandom. Hopefully we'll see a return visit soon! ... The Premier League Fanzone program booked us for a sixth time this season to preview the Brentford road match against Manchester United. The show is broadcast live on Mondays and Fridays, on Peacock stateside. If you're interested in participating in their program next season, please let us know and we'd be happy to connect you to their production team!

Suggestions, Comments, Feedback
If you ever have any thoughts, feel free to email (brentfordnyc@gmail.com) or chat with me anytime! #COYB!

Charlie

NYC Bees' Abhi Goyal returns to Forever Bees podcast

Following Brentford FC's match against Manchester United at Old Trafford, NYC Bee Abhi Goyal hopped on the Across the Seas But Forever Bees podcast!

He joined co-hosts Tim Searls and Greville Waterman after the Bees' hard-fought 2-1 loss to Man U. The group had an in-depth conversation about several of our players such as Kevin Schade, Reiss Nelson, and Josh Dasilva in his return to the bench, our European chances and more.

If you're interested in joining the show, you can reach out directly to Tim at timsearls@hotmail.com, or connect with us NYC Bees and we can provide some guidance as well.

Previewing Brentford at Man U for Premier League Fanzone Live

Premier League Fanzone Live booked us for their Monday, April 27 show to preview Brentford FC's road match against Manchester United. NYC Bees Co-Founder Charlie Corr was part of a lengthy segment in the latter third of the show, hosted by Anita Jones and Leroy Rosenior.

This marked the sixth occasion the NYC Bees have either had an appearance or feature segment with Fanzone during the 2025-26 season. Thanks as always for the invite!

Recapping Premier League Fan Fest in Tampa, Florida

Thank you to New Jersey-based Bruce and Sarah Muni for representing the NYC Bees and providing some color during the Premier League Fan Fest on April 18-19 in Tampa, Florida!

They connected with local Brentford supporters and the club's impressive group that featured ambassador Marcus Gayle, plus Fabio Carvalho and Antoni Milambo who juggled appearance duties and their ongoing rehab.

Our result that weekend wasn't quite what we had hoped (scoreless draw against Fulham), but Brentford made the most of the stateside connection, whether it was the fan-favorite Michael Kayode/long throw-in station or the Q&A held at Shuffle.

Tallahassee-based Bees supporter Reggie Grant wrote up a nice recap for Beesotted, and Atlanta's Michel Cowdery spoke with Across the Seas But Forever Bees to share his highlights.

Brentford FC Itinerary: Premier League Fan Fest in Tampa, Florida

Brentford FC has provided some details for the Premier League Fan Fest, which takes place April 18-19 in Tampa, Florida. The biggest update is special fan event at Shuffle on Saturday, a few hours after the Brentford v Fulham match.

Here is a breakdown of what will be taking place:

Friday, April 17:
8 p.m. ET: Men in Blazers Live from Tampa Bay at 1920, 1920 E. 7th Ave. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. ET. (Tickets)

Saturday, April 18:
7:30 a.m. ET: Brentford v Fulham at Day 1 of Premier League Fan Fest, at Armature Works, 1910 N. Ola Ave. Event opens at 6:30 a.m. ET.

12:30 p.m. ET: Brentford Fan Event / Q&A at Shuffle, 2612 N. Tampa St.

Sunday, April 19:
9 a.m. ET: Day 2 of Premier League Fan Fest, at Armature Works. Four PL games, including three at the 9 a.m. slot.

The Brentford FC staff will be in Tampa from Thursday through Sunday at Fan Fest. Across the weekend, they'll be taking over Tampa with a Brentford FC Treasure Hunt, where you can scan QR codes around the city to collect points and earn prizes. Complete the full set and you receive a Brentford home shirt. Download the Brentford app and log in before you start this.

The staff specifics (we can probably guess on the ambassador front who will be in town) and other details have not been posted yet on Brentford's official channels, but we'll stay on top of any other information.

Enjoy the Sunshine State and some Brentford football if you're headed there!

Newsletter: Owner Matthew Benham at Red Lion, April schedule, Fan Fest

Hello NYC Bees, it's been another stretch of huge moments for our group, highlighted of course by the appearance of Brentford owner Matthew Benham at our Greenwich Village-based pub, The Red Lion! The annual Premier League Fan Fest is also on the horizon in the states, so there's plenty to look forward to as the season winds down in a couple months. Some news and notes for you as we head into April:

April schedule at Red Lion
Now that we're out of the FA Cup, our April schedule is much thinner, and unfortunately a kickoff/broadcast change will limit our watch events. We are getting together for two of the three Brentford games this month at The Red Lion, 151 Bleecker St. Because the kickoff time of our April 18 game against Fulham was moved up to 7:30 a.m. ET, we will NOT be getting together at The Red Lion for that one. If a heavy amount of supporter interest is there for a 7:30 a.m. ET watch event, we are always open to having the conversations with the pub, so please voice your thoughts! See the graphic for our full meet-up schedule.

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Owner Matthew Benham joins NYC Bees at Red Lion
March 9, 2026: We'll certainly remember that date moving forward. Less than five years after forming the NYC Bees, we hosted Brentford owner Matthew Benham at The Red Lion! The moment started with some good fortune: Big shout-out to Ben Reynolds who was taking part in the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in Boston. After Benham's discussion with Men In Blazers' Roger Bennett on March 7, Ben rushed ahead of the pack toward the majority owner, introduced himself and invited him to the NYC Bees' FA Cup watch event; it just so happened Benham would be in NYC. Lo and behold, he appeared during the opening minutes of West Ham-Brentford, and stayed with us through the final whistle!

The result didn't pan out the way we wanted, but it didn't sour the moment. With a dozen of us Bees supporters on hand for the weekday afternoon fixture (not too bad a turnout for workday hours!), we savored the incredibly rare opportunity to enjoy our favorite club alongside the man responsible for Brentford's tremendous rise in the Premier League. What a treat!

Benham Stateside:
Men In Blazers | Postgame Photo Op | Celebrating at Red Lion

Premier League Fan Fest in Tampa
As mentioned in our previous newsletter, the annual Premier League Fan Fest is coming up from April 18-19 in Tampa, Florida. At least a couple folks from our supporters' group will be on site, and I recently confirmed with the Brentford front office that they will be in attendance (as usual). Details are still being worked out, but the club will announce their itinerary, representatives and more in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

Brentford faces Fulham at 7:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, April 18. Fan Fest will be held at Armature Works, 1910 N. Ola Ave., and that Saturday's event opens at 6:30 a.m. ET. Hopefully we'll see a few stateside Bees supporters on the broadcast!

Bruce Muni debuts on Forever Bees podcast
It was nice to have yet another supporter from the tri-state area join the U.S.-based Across the Seas but Forever Bees show! Bruce Muni made his podcast debut with hosts Tim Searls and Greville Waterman this week to chat Brentford fandom and football. For those of you who aren't part of our weekly circle, Bruce is among an incredibly dedicated group that commutes in from New Jersey to join us on match days at The Red Lion. Great show, give it a listen!

Brentford News & Notes
Thiago earns first Brazil call-up: In the midst of our current international break, the biggest call-up story without question was forward Thiago earning his first trip with Brazil's senior team squad! Thiago's family celebration of the announcement drew millions of hits on social media, too. The 24-year-old has obviously been deserving of this with a stellar 2025-26 campaign for the Bees. Earlier this season, Thiago broke the record for most goals by a Brazilian in a Premier League season, and he's on track to set a Brentford single-season record for goals in the PL. Thiago made his Brazil debut during Thursday's match against France at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. For this March window, 22 Brentford players are joining their senior or youth national teams. That's the largest grouping in club history.

Bees bow out of FA Cup in PK shootout: Brentford came from behind twice, but after a 2-2 scoreline through 120 minutes, West Ham prevailed 5-3 in the penalty kick shootout on March 9 to advance to the FA Cup's quarterfinals. Thiago scored both goals for the road side, including a game-tying penalty kick. The shootout felt like an afterthought, though, mainly because of the disappointing execution/decision of Dango Ouattara's Panenka attempt, which was easily saved by Alphonso Areola. Live and learn. It's now a thing of the past, and hopefully we'll make a deeper tournament run in 2026-27.

Brentford Women fall in Capital Cup semis: The fifth-tier Brentford Women came up short in the semifinals of the Capital Cup, falling 4-3 to third-tier side AFC Wimbledon on March 15 at Bedfont Sports Club. Renai McCrea and Maddie Phillips each tallied a goal, and the Bees benefited from an own goal in the first half. "We battled to the end and took the fight to Wimbledon, and I'm really proud of the girls," head coach Carly Williams said. "We talked about making sure that we showed our quality, and we did that."

Quick hits: We have now had a combination of five appearances and feature segments this 2025-26 season on Premier League Fanzone, which is shown stateside live on Peacock. I was brought in on the day of Brentford's March 16 match against Wolves. If anyone is interested in making an appearance this season or next, please let me know and I'll connect you with their production team! ... Because Football just collaborated with us for an Instagram post to highlight us again on March 21! The NYC Bees are profiled in Because Football's Road Trip to the World Cup series. ... Brentford ran a fantastic in-stadium video prior to Bees-Wolves, compiling all the negative predictions from the pundits who thought the worst of our fate in 2025-26. Check it out!

Suggestions, Comments, Feedback
If you ever have any thoughts, feel free to email (brentfordnyc@gmail.com) or chat with me anytime! #COYB!

Charlie

Bruce Muni debuts on Across the Seas but Forever Bees podcast

It was nice to have yet another Brentford FC supporter from the tri-state area join the U.S.-based Across the Seas but Forever Bees show!

Bruce Muni made his podcast debut with hosts Tim Searls and Greville Waterman this week to chat Brentford fandom and football. For those of you who aren't part of our weekly circle, Bruce is among an incredibly dedicated group that commutes in from New Jersey to join us on match days at The Red Lion.

Great show, give it a listen!

Because Football promos NYC Bees again with Instagram collaboration

Our NYC Bees were featured earlier this season by Because Football. Prior to our March 21 match, the budding footballing channel collaborated with us for an Instagram post to highlight us again!

Andrew Baggaley is the host of the channel, and the Brentford supporters' group was profiled in his Road Trip to the World Cup series. The New York / New Jersey segment spread across four episodes. You can access our contributions HERE.