What Would Promotion to the Premier League Mean for Brentford FC?
- essentialbrentford
- Nov 6, 2015
- 4 min read
Matthew Benham and his team have stated that their aim for Brentford FC is to achieve promotion to the Premier League within the next three years. "There is no Plan B", Benham has stated. "It's either Premier League or bust".
His models have estimated that Brentford have over a 50% chance of achieving promotion to the top flight before 2018, making what was once merely an implausible dream for Bees fans a possible reality.
Brentford's fifth palced finish last season, our first season in the second tier of English football since 1992, was a remarkable accomplishment. It meant that we were effectively three matches away from securing top flight football for the first time since World War II.
With promotion in the near future a definite possiblity, what would competing in the top flight mean for Brentford FC?
1. Ridiculous Away Days
It is not too long ago that Brentford were travelling to Grimsby, Accrington Stanley and Macclesfield Town in the fourth division of English football. Indeed, many will remember the dodgy pitches, small attendances and hard-to-find stadia that Brentford encountered in League 2 back in 2008-09.
Promotion to the Premier League would mean less Chester City, and more Manchester City.
Imagining Brentford play at grounds such as the Emirates, the Etihad, Stamford Bridge, Anfield and Old Trafford is enough to bring a smile to the face of any Bees fan. Watching Brentford compete with some of the biggest cubs in the world would be a dream-come-true.
Similarly, seeing the likes of Toumani Diagouraga, Jake Bidwell and Harlee Dean take on the likes of Aguero, Hazard and Rooney would be fantastic. One can just imagine Alan McCormack flooring Raheem Sterling, or going head-to-head with Diego Costa.
Of course, it is unlikely we would take much away from games such as these, but the experiences alone would more than make up for the scorelines. Many would happily lose 8-1 to Manchester City just to see Jota curl one past Joe Hart.
2. Mass Media Coverage
When Bournemouth were promoted to the top flight last season the media went absolutely nuts. The Cherries are a team who have had a simirlar rise as Brentford. They also competed in the 2008-09 League 2 season, and secured promotion to the Championship in 2013 ahead of the Bees - after some incident on the final day involving a penalty.
If Brentford were to secure promotion a similar media bonanza would occur, only to a greater extent. We would be on the front page of every newspaper, the topic of a multitude of tweets, and even appear weekly on Match of the Day!
Brentford currently have the second lowest playing budget in the Championship, and promotion would be a truly incredible story. Our "Moneyball" approach to football would have been proven to work, and Matthew Benham would be hailed as the pioneer to a whole new way of thinking about football.
After the "sacking" of Mark Warburton, promotion would well and truly bring statistical methods to the forefront of football. And Brentford would be the one's to have changed the game forever.
3. Vast Wealth
The main long-term benefit of promotion to the Premier League would be the surplus amounts of money that would be brought into the club. If we had defeated Middlesbrough in the Play-off Semis last year, and then dispatched of Norwich at Wembley, Brentford would have earnt at least £140million through gaining promotion, even if we had finished botton in our first Premier League season.
The increasing money being brought into football through Television deals means that the Premier League is an absolute gold mine. Promotion would see Brentford cash in on around £55 million from TV income and the right to be featured on Match Of The Day. You also get the privilege of having Mark Lawrenson projectile vomit some tired footballing cliches over the BBC’s couch and ruin your Saturday evening.
Another £5 million comes from a few glory-hunters jumping on the Premier League band wagon and the club benefits from selling tickets, replica shirts and practically anything big enough to feature the crest.
Half of the £140 million cheque is actually in parachute payments, just in case the club spectacularly fail in the Premier League and come crashing back into the Championship after nine months of getting thrashed. A bit of an unfair judgement by the Premier League considering 17 of the last 30 promoted teams have survived their first season in the top flight.
4. Exciting New Players
With the increased status that Brentford will be afforded, there will be more potential for signing better players.
Brentford failed in bids for serveral European player this Summer. The reasons that the players didn't want to come was because they did not want to move their whole lives from thei various European countries to England just to play for a side in the second division.
However, if we had the added selling point of providing them with the chance to play in the Premier League then it is likely that almost every signing would have been made. Additionally, our increased budget would mean that we woud have the potential to sign better players. Our innovative style of resourcing player coupled with a higher transfer budget could transform Brentford into a secure Premier League side.
Indeed, the future looks bright fr Brentford FC under the guidance of Matthew Benham, Rasmus Ankersen and the rest of the backroom staff. However, we cannot expect success to come immediately. The foundations have been put in place, but if one thing is certain in football it is that nothing is certain.
Whereas Brentford overachieved in the opening months of last season, we underachieved in the opening months of this campaign. The fans must be patient and trust that success will come.
Premier League football could be lurking just over the horizon...
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