Newsletter: Our voice with Bees United, preseason, Player of the Year

Hi NYC Bees! First off, thank you for your continued support, especially during a pretty tough Premier League season! The fandom has only continued to grow, and we're eager for even bigger and better things heading into the 2024-25 campaign in the top flight! Here are a few bits of information, links and highlights to keep everyone up to date in the world of Brentford here in New York City!

Bees United: Our International Voice
Brentford FC's supporters' trust, Bees United, distributed their end-of-season newsletter on May 23. BU's brought me in for a variety of articles over the years, and so I contributed a piece: Stateside Perspective: Establishing Our International Bees Voice. The majority of the article is touting our growth, ranging from our media-related content, to our continued rise on Saturdays, to a couple initiatives on the horizon. All of you are well aware of the proactive approach we've taken, but it was a nice opportunity to remind the Bees United readership and supporters of how much has been put into this. Hopefully more pockets of international Bees fans will find their own niche!

More on NYC Bees: Instagram | TikTok | Twitter | Media Hub

July and August Preseason Fixtures
Brentford finalized two firm times/dates for August preseason matches, and another matchup will be taking place sometime in July. The Bees travel to face Championship side Watford at Vicarage Road on Saturday, Aug. 3 (10 a.m. ET kickoff) and host German Bundesliga side Wolfsburg on Friday, Aug. 9 (2:45 p.m. ET) at Gtech Community Stadium. A fixture against Sutton United (National League) will be played behind closed doors sometime in July. I highly doubt there will be any broadcasts beyond in-house commentary, so we'll probably be out of luck with preseason watch events. I'll keep in touch with the club on these details.

Brentford News & Notes
Pinnock Names Brentford Supporters' Trust Player of the Year: Despite missing a handful of matches in the second half of the season, defender Ethan Pinnock was voted the Brentford Supporters' Player of the Year during the club's awards ceremony on May 15. Midfielder Vitaly Janelt was named the players' MVP, and Yoane Wissa earned goal of the season for his bicycle kick against Chelsea. Wissa also liked our Instagram post of us celebrating the moment at The Red Lion! Chloe Logie was the Women Supporters' Player of the Year after eclipsing 50 goals this season.

Euros around the corner: UEFA EURO 2024 kicks off on Friday, June 14, with the final taking place on Sunday, July 14. We'll have a handful of Brentford players involved in the event. Mark Flekken was named in the Netherlands' final squad. Danish trio Mikkel Damsgaard, Christian Norgaard and Mathias Jensen are head to the Euros. Ivan Toney made England's provisional squad, and the actual tournament roster is set to be announced on June 8. Stay tuned for the possibility of a watch event at The Red Lion; follow our social channels when that comes to fruition as we have not yet determined which match(es) we will make a "semi-official" gathering!

PL schedule release on June 18: The 2024-25 Premier League schedule is set to be announced at 4 a.m. ET (9 a.m. BST) on Tuesday, June 18! The season will officially start on Aug. 17. Visit premierleague.com for all the latest information on Brentford's fourth Premier League season!

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

Charlie

Bees United Newsletter: Establishing our international Bees voice

By Charlie Corr
Bees United Contributor

When I was thinking about how to summarize Brentford's challenging season, the obvious focal point was the players and staff in overcoming their slew of injuries and a significant suspension to return for a fourth Premier League season.

My overriding thoughts, though, tended to focus on the supporting side of things. As a stateside group, for a good portion of the new American-based Bees fans who latched onto the club in the Premier League, this might have been one of their first tastes of enduring Brentford's hurdles for a season-long stretch. Of course, we all know that is nothing compared to select Bees teams of yore, and even myself, I only experienced the club's final seven seasons in the Championship before helping kick-start our humble international chapter in Manhattan.

I say all this as a prelude to what I thought stood out the most in 2023-24: A continually growing American group that dedicated most of its Saturdays at our pub without hesitation, appreciating the efforts, passion and nuances of what makes Brentford our grand club.

For more, visit BeesUnited.org.uk.

Bees United Articles:
May 23, 2024: Stateside Perspective: Establishing our international Bees voice
Dec. 28, 2023: International Greetings: From Across the Pond, Charlie Corr
Aug. 12, 2023: Bees in the States: Partying like it's 1889
June 10, 2023: Webb's gargantuan undertaking to prove VAR works in EPL
April 29, 2023: USA Bees: The NYC Experience

NYC Bees' Riley reunites with Forever Bees crew to chat Brentford

NYC Bee Lev Riley, a regular with our group since Brentford's promotion to the Premier League, was recently on the Across the Seas but Forever Bees podcast. The Newark, N.J.-based supporter was our first-ever guest on this show, so the May 2 appearance was a reunion of sorts to chat again with hosts Tim Searls and Greville Waterman.

Lev spoke about his recent overseas trip to Spain and West London, which obviously included a stop for Brentford. He, Adam Harder and Charlie Corr have all represented the NYC Bees on this American-based podcast, and numerous visitors to NYC and The Red Lion have also found their way onto this show.

For those interested in participating in this Brentford show down the road, please reach out to us and we'd be happy to make those connections with Tim and Greville!