Hi NYC Bees, wishing you an early Happy New Year! Thanks so much for your continued support! We start up our 2025 schedule on New Year's Day, so here are some links and information to get you set right away for January!
We're not messing around with this January schedule: We host Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool across the first 18 days of 2025! The Jan. 1 fixture against Arsenal kicks off at 12:30 p.m. ET to start things off. We have five league games and a third-round FA Cup match against Plymouth Argyle. All matches will be hosted at The Red Lion, 151 Bleecker St.! I have confirmed with the pub that they will open up early for us on Sunday, Jan. 26, when Brentford faces Crystal Palace (9 a.m. ET kickoff). The FA Cup match is available on ESPN Plus, which The Red Lion has in-house. See the graphic for our full January schedule.
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The Dec. 15 match against Chelsea was a success, off the pitch at least! Thanks for the impressive turnout (30-plus supporters) and participation when COPA90 media dropped into The Red Lion for some upcoming content for the Premier League and Guinness! We had a handful of interviews outside the pub, some game day camera footage throughout our space inside the pub, preceded by a conversation I had off-site with their crew for a feature that will incorporate our NYC Bees! The PL trophy also was on-site. COPA90 has not provided the rollout details/schedule from these interviews and footage, but as soon as I hear anything, I will circle back with you and eventually plug through our social channels. It's potentially a massive opportunity, especially if this is circulated on the PL's main platforms. Thanks again!
Even though Brentford didn't actually play on Boxing Day, we still managed to land a segment on the Premier League FanFest Live show on Dec. 26, to preview our match against Brighton the following day. I chatted about the matchup and the state of our club, starting around the 1-hour, 30-minute mark of the show. I made four appearances for FanFest Live in 2023, once during the preseason tournament and a few times that December. The company recently launched a Premier League hub, if you're interested in checking out and creating an account. It's still very much in its early stages. (Note: The show replay link works better on a mobile device, versus a desktop/laptop.)
Manager Thomas Frank had an appropriate quote to explain Brentford's dire roster situation: "I've got a very strong Starting XI on the sideline." Kris Ajer, who recently came back from injury, will now miss some time with an ankle injury from Brentford's 2-0 loss to Nottingham Forest. Ethan Pinnock injured his hamstring during the Carabao Cup against Newcastle, and Sepp Van den Berg is missing some time with a groin injury during warmups of that Newcastle match. Thiago has a joint infection, which is an unknown recovery timetable. The Brighton game brought some fresh concerns as Mark Flekken (quad/groin) and Ben Mee (groin) couldn't complete the match. Combine that with a longer stretch out for Mathias Jensen (hamstring), the ongoing outside back absences of Rico Henry (knee) and Aaron Hickey (hamstring), and Gustavo Nunes (back), Josh Dasilva (knee) ... fortunately we've created a buffer in the table thanks to our stellar home record. The coming weeks will be a massive test!
Brentford News & Notes
Home unbeaten streak halts at 8: Brentford was the toast of Europe when it came to the team's performance at home. Unfortunately this season's home unbeaten streak stopped at eight games (7 wins, 1 draw) following a 2-0 loss to Nottingham Forest on Dec. 21. The lack of goals was also a massive change for the Bees, who had tallied 26 in those previous eight home matches (3.25 per game). Gtech Community Stadium is still on track to average the most goals per game in a Premier League season with 4.7 per game (42 goals in nine matches). The current Premier League record is held by Chelsea's Stamford Bridge, where teams combined for 4.3 goals per game in 2009-10 (82 goals in 19 games).
Pair of Premier League debuts: There was some optimism to be taken away from Brentford's road point against Brighton: We saw a couple Premier League debuts at a critical juncture. Icelandic goalkeeper Hakon Valdimarsson secured a joint clean sheet after replacing Mark Flekken late in the first half. Then 20-year-old defender Kim Ji-soo saw his first PL action, subbing in for an injured Ben Mee.
Bees United AGM on Jan. 21: The Annual General Meeting (AGM) for Bees United, the official supporters trust for Brentford FC, will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 21. The event begins at 1:30 p.m. ET, starting with the AGM and followed by a conversation and Q&A with Stephen Torpey, Brentford's academy director. If you are interested in participating, register here.
Carabao Cup closes in quarterfinals: Brentford posted one of its most forgettable performances of the campaign with a 3-1 loss to Newcastle in the quarterfinals of the Carabao Cup on Dec. 18. The match included some conservative roster selections, injuries during the match (Ethan Pinnock) and before the match (Sepp Van den Berg), and a nonexistent attack until Yoane Wissa scored a consolation goal in second-half stoppage time.
Quick hits: Our string of December games on USA Network led to a couple days where our NYC Bees made the broadcast on Dec. 7 against Newcastle and on Dec. 21 against Nottingham Forest! Remember to use the #MyPLMorning hashtag (X is the most successful social media outlet) to try and get your Bees photos on TV. ... The Brentford Women saw their historic FA Cup run come to an end when they fell 2-1 to Fulham on Dec. 8 in the tournament's third round (the furthest Brentford has ever gone in the competition). Brentford plays in the sixth tier of English football, so their performance truly defied the odds. Congrats!
Suggestions, Comments, Feedback
If you ever have any thoughts, feel free to email (brentfordnyc@gmail.com) or chat with me anytime! #COYB!
Charlie
