Prior to Brentford’s promotion to the Premier League for the 2021/22 season, the last time the Bees and West Ham United met was in the Football League Division One: in April 1993.
That bright afternoon in east London saw the Hammers storm to a 4-0 win, putting the Irons on course to claim promotion back to the top-flight at the first time of asking – and to the Premier League for the very first time.
U21s lead coach Mark Robson and U18s head coach Kevin Keen, who were on the flanks for West Ham that day, recall their memories of a big win on the road to promotion…
KK: We had a reunion not too long ago, and all the lads there remember that season as one that we all wanted to go out and play in each week. We all remember it very fondly. In my eyes, I remember it being my favourite season.
I can remember both games against Brentford that year quite well. We had that 4-0 win and then we had a 0-0 away to them in December.
In that era, Brentford were known for being in the third or fourth tier, so them being in the then First Division – what we know now as the Championship – it was quite a big deal for them. What they’ve done in the 30 years since is fantastic and actually my son, Eddie, is now their U18s head coach.
I don’t overly remember the particulars about the Brentford game itself. It might sound selfish, but I remember my goal, because it was actually my last goal for West Ham as well. I cut inside and hit it on my left foot, which was really unusual for me! That’s my big memory from the game.
MR: Brentford was a physically strong team. We were playing in what would be the Championship now and they were a really strong side physically.
It was a tough game. We had to find our way against them, but we had some really good players in our team. I mean some real quality players for that division. And we managed to find a way to beat them.
We had some clever players, some quality around the final third. We had lots of goalscorers in the team and that day we scored four – and probably could have scored a couple more too on the day.
KK: Goals ended up being so important. We ended up going up on goals scored and Portsmouth went into the Play-Offs. I always thought whoever out of us two went into the Play-Offs would find it very difficult, because we’d both been up there all year, but only one of us could finish behind Newcastle in second place.
When you’re in the Play-Offs, it’s usually the team that comes into it at the very end and has a bit of momentum that does well. We did well to get it over the line, while Portsmouth lost to Leicester in the Play-Off semi-finals and Swindon eventually came up.
MR: With hindsight, that Brentford match was probably one of the big games that helped us to get that promotion.
We had goals all over the pitch. Not just Trevor Morley and Clive Allen. We had the full-backs, Julian Dicks was scoring a few. Myself and Kev were weighing in with a number of goals. We had goals right through the side. Everyone was helping out.
KK: Looking back, it was a very steady team. David Speedie got a couple of important goals. Matty Holmes was a constant sub and played a few games.
We had Robbo one side and me the other side, which is strange when you look now given he’s the U21s coach and I’m the U18s coach. We also had Pottsy as an ever-present that season.
We had a really good team, full of really good footballers.
MR: Normally, the best games were the night ones – under the lights. But I’m sure this was a Saturday afternoon game. I remember it being light, and the atmosphere was absolutely fantastic. We were winning most games at the time and, on the day, we delivered and played very well.
Without being disrespectful to Brentford, we could have won by more. It was one of those games that put us on the road to being at the top and kicking on to get where we needed to get to, which was the Premier League.
KK: It’s amazing how many supporters come up to me and remember that season. A lot of them will say it was their first real season following the team both home and away.
And when you’re in that league, going for promotion, games like the one at home to Brentford were really exciting. I remember it for a lot of assists and a lot of goals, and a lot of good memories.
I got promoted twice with the Club and the two promotion seasons really stand out. The first promotion season I played every game but didn’t score a goal. Whereas the second \one, I was mature and a bigger part of the team, so I really enjoyed it.
