649: PUSH UP BRENTFORD PART FIVE – SIDELINES & BYLINES

This episode is called ‘Sidelines and Bylines’ and talks to some of the people that have worked in and aroun the club.   Huw Powell served his apprenticeship as a photo journalist with the Surrey Comet before going on to work for several local newspapers from the mid 1980s until 2015. He covered Brentford Football Club over those years, sitting on the touchline come rain or shine, developing friendships with players, and a love for the club.   Jim Levack has worked as a journalist covering Brentford Football Club since the 1980s with the Middlesex Chronicle. He has had to report at times when some of the owners in the past did not necessarily have the club’s best interests at heart.    We also talked to two former Brentford players about their time at the club. Alan Hawley played his first game as a professional in 1962 aged just 16. He left 12 years later after playing over 300 games.     Marcus Gayle joined the youth squad aged 14 and played his first game as an 18 year-old in 1988. He moved to play for Wimbledon in the Premiership in 1994 but returned to end his playing career with the Bees under Martin Allen. Marcus has returned to Brentford for a third time and is currently a Club Ambassador.   The music was written and performed by Robb Johnson. Push Up Brentford is an oral history project set up to commemorate the last year the club will play at Griffin Park, their home for 116 years.    We have interviewed fans, young and old, as well as players and managers to uncover their personal stories.   We have created a fascinating living history of Brentford Football Club, starring the people who have made it such a special place over the years.   The project is run by volunteers, many of them Brentford fans, and supported by Arts and Education charity, digital:works.     The project was funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund and supported by Brentford Football Club.   Produced by digital:works.   Listen to the full interviews and find out more about the project at http://www.pushupbrentford.org.uk/