Across the Seas but Forever Bees - An American Brentford Podcast

Tempting fate, I'm declaring us 'safe' for another glorious season in the rarified air of the Premier League after a professional defeat of Sheffield United.  Greville Waterman is along to tell me that Luton remains a 'must win' and if not it's 'squeeky bum time'.   But, really?

The free-flowing conversation includes a review of the match (it was never a foul by Collins!!!), and then some actual looking ahead to a Summer that will require big decisions for so many of the squad.

I appreciate the comments, and of course the time that you give us.

Text the pod! I'd love to hear from you directly as well - please email me at [email protected].

Could any three matches have such competing stories as the draws against ManU, Brighton and Villa?   Each tell a different version of the season:  So much ability and potential in the first, so much exhaustion in the second, so much chaos in the third.

Michel Cowdry was at the Gtech for the first two, and was at Fan Fest in Nashville for the third.  He's just one of the best guests ever (we've had so many extraordinary people on though!).   He has so many great experiences and stories to tell, all representing different facets of Brentford fandom from an American perspective.  He rightfully steals the show again for us.  :)

Oh...and Greville is here too.  Listen for Greville eventually!

Text the pod! I'd love to hear from you directly as well - please email me at [email protected].

What a joy it was to speak with Marcus Gayle and with Megan Bespolka, who is the International Marketing Manger for Brentford Football Club.  We talk the Nashville Fan Fest as well as about international membership for American fans - and how to plan your journey to the GTech.  

Along with Greville Waterman I get a chance to ask Marcus about some of the memories he has of his two spells at Brentford.  Some simply great stories that are alone really worth a listen.   Marcus is truly the definition of an Ambassador for the club.

This is a great podcast, if I do say so myself, and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did putting it together.

Text the pod! I'd love to hear from you directly as well - please email me at [email protected].

...unless you're a "Big" club obviously.   The rules aren't 'different', just malleable apparently.

Brent James and Bill Ireland drop into the ASFB studios all the way from Boone, North Carolina to talk Arsenal and Burnley.   I really cannot believe how nice all the Brentford people I meet are.  Honestly.  And I'm also amazed at the passion this little West London club inspires.   From meetups each week in the local pubs in so many cities, to backyard parties in towns like Boone, North Carolina.

Along with Greville Waterman we have a really interesting discussion of the opportunities that our season-long injury crisis has provided.  Who has make a case for themselves, who might be moving on?  

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Brentford plays a wonderfully topsy turvy match against Chelsea, a match we could have, and maybe should have, won.  A match that Chelsea could have, and maybe should have, won.  Yah, that sort of match.  

Greville Waterman and I discuss this and look ahead to the daunting task of taking on an in-form Arsenal.  We disagree on the use of the term 'free hit', but agree it'll take a mighty effort to get anything from the match.  Still, we're modern Brentford and 'mighty effort' is what we do.  

Text the pod! I'd love to hear from you directly as well - please email me at [email protected].

Brian O'Connell joins the podcast this week as we look forward to a tough West London derby against Chelsea.  We're trying to stay positive and progressive, but some West Ham discussion was inevitable.  Painful though it was.

This week's memory lane moments feature Telford and the end of the 2002 season.  We specialize in grim memories, here at ASFB Towers.

How do you play Chelsea at home, with all that this plucky club has been through health-wise?  4-3-3?  3-5-2?  Who plays.  I'm sure Thomas Frank will surprise us all and provide another master class in "why we're not football managers".   But we take a crack at it anyway.

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Don't panic.  We're okay.  We've just come through a stretch of Spurs, Man City, Wolves, Liverpool, Man City...and we're fine.  Lots of reason to be happy even!

Glenn Houlihan visits the studios of ASFB from his Iowa location and, along with Greville Waterman, inspires a wonderful conversation about where we've been and where we're going.  Where else to you get to hear the names Sam Tillen and/or Thomas Pinault?  Right here, is where!   

I hope it's as fun to listen to as it was to be part of.

Text the pod! I'd love to hear from you directly as well - please email me at [email protected].

Steve D'Amico was a sensational contributor last season and is back this time, being once again sensational.  Along with Greville Waterman, we look back at a refreshing and encouraging three points away.   So many talking points from a truly entertaining match.

The reason you always wanted to be in the Premier League (but never imagined it actually occurring) is to say things like, "...and now we look forward to Liverpool at home, and then Manchester City three days later."  So you have to be balanced and calm about this daunting week to come.

Text the pod! I'd love to hear from you directly as well - please email me at [email protected].

What a mad season.  We get beat up at home and I'm...pretty pleased.  We discover we might have a first-rate keeper, we have a team of character and grit, we gave an assembled all-world team a real battle.  I do love supporting this club.

Charlie Corr, of the New York Church of the Red Lion, joins Greville Waterman and me for a really fun discussion of the match, of where we are, and of the daunting month before us.

Thanks for listening, and for the comments I get through social media and through email ([email protected]).

Text the pod! I'd love to hear from you directly as well - please email me at [email protected].

We here at Across the Seas but Forever Bees have met so many fascinating people, all drawn to the Brentford story and to the ethos of the club.  It just is a club that good people find naturally.   This episode of the pod features the engaging Mike Sacco who, like so many Bees fans, is finding the club and the culture just for them.  

Along with the returning Greville Waterman we dive into the strange Spurs match from Wednesday, which leads to a wide-ranging conversation on the slightly perilous state of Brentford on this end of January Deadline Day.  All of it is good (it really is) but stay to the end to hear about The Chase!

Text the pod! I'd love to hear from you directly as well - please email me at [email protected].