Across the Seas but Forever Bees - An American Brentford Podcast

It's what my Italian barber used to say to me when I was a kid.  Still true, and never so much as when we, at almost whiplash speed, replace one quite good keeper with another who could be even better.  Tom Colwell is up from Philadelphia and Greville Waterman calls in from North London to think about what it all means - in this first close-season podcast.Text the pod!

We're blessed to support this club.  For going on a decade now, each season has been a wonderful adventure - each one different, each with it's ups and downs.  But how many clubs have our ups/downs ratio???  To look back and to peak forward we have Iowa's own Glenn Houlihan back, along with Greville Waterman from North London.  It's the final podcast of the season, a podcast that was started by our OG host Ryan Dull (Comic Book Guy to many of you).  It's once again been a pleasure to talk football and to meet so many wonderful people this season.  Good people seem to find Brentford Football Club naturally.We look forward to a restful summer...but not too much fun!  Pre-season starts in July.  And we will talk to you again then.Text the pod!

We didn't want to qualify for any stinking European tournaments anyway.  Oscar Thompson, all the way from Hollywood California, and Greville Waterman, all the way from North London, are the fantastic guests this week.  On a glorious day in West London on the penultimate weekend of this remarkable season, Brentford comes unstuck in three fateful minutes and the points go to Fulham.  It never feels good to lose, and it always feels worse when you know you shouldn't have lost.  Add to that it's a local rival and long-time nemesis, and it really does hurt.  We'll always have the Anglo-Italian Cup!Text the pod!

Every time you think this adventure couldn't get any more surreal, you come to something even better.  Eighth place at stake with two to play, the possibility of Brentford Football Club playing in Europe (and let that sink in for a minute), a squad of players that just goes from strength to strength...and Fulham at home.  We look back at some memorable Fulham moments and ahead to an exciting 4 team mini-league sprint to the end of the season.Text the pod!

Go back 15 years and tell me that we'd be brushing aside Manchester United like that.  Tell me we'd be 9th in the Premier League and realistically thinking of a place in Europe next season.  I'd think you mad, especially as we had a final home match with Hartlepool up ahead.  We drew 0-0 btw.  Fantasy land every week.Charlie Corr is here from NYC along with Greville Waterman to talk about a magical week in which Nottingham Forest and Manchester United were put to the sword.  I really can't believe this is us, even as I type it.A fun listen I hope you enjoy as much as we did.Text the pod!

Every once in a while all your worries are swept away as your football club just puts on a show for the ages.  Brighton had it all:  goals galore, pantomime villians getting their due (long overdue), penalty shouts and some silky football to make it all riveting.  It was quite good, is what I'm saying.Greville wanders into the studio to discuss it all, before we all go on a week's vacation.Text the pod!

Alex Drake join Greville and Tim in the studios this week to discuss a strange tilt at the Emirates.  Brentford more than holds their own, and show real determination to get back into the match from down a goal.  There might be a problem on Thomas Frank's plate, one he hasn't had for about two years:  A genuine competition for places, as players return from long term injury.  We chew over the options and the opportunities.A really fun podcast, that I hope you enjoy as much as we did.Text the pod!

I hope I never get so lazy that I don't remember that this is all fantasyland.  Newcastle United and Chelsea, in the Premier League, and we gave as good as we got.  That still should boggle your minds.To remind me of how good the good times are, we have in the studio Paul Thomas and Greville Waterman.  We think back to Chelsea at Griffin Park in the FA Cup, we talk about the matches of the last 5 days, and we look ahead to Arsenal away.  Arsenal.  In the league.  Ok, that still boggles my mind.Text the pod!

Glenn Houlihan is back in the studio with Greville and Tim to talk about a wonderfully entertaining battle on the south coast last weekend.  Winning at Bournemouth, our fifth away win in a row, was a great way to start an international break.  Superb set-piece goals, a complete team effort sees us take all three points.And with Rico, Aaron, Josh, Igor, Gustavo, Mattias, and Michael Kayote all getting closer, we are looking up rather than over our shoulders.  Which is how you want it in April.It's a great time to be a Bee.Text the pod!

Management finds Abhi Goyal lurking around the studios and invite him back in for another week.  And Greville Waterman is back as well!This game can be cruel.  One year you're top of the Championship with 97 points, the next Brentford is beating on you 4-0 and you're all but down.  One year you're the first name on the teamsheet, the next you're being doubted by all around you.  There's little room for sentimentality.We get 3 points from Leicester City, 1 from Everton.  The range of places where we might finish starts to narrow, possibly disappointing from the perspective of 'what might have been'...but you would have taken it back in August. Text the pod!

We can't win on the road...until we can't lose on the road.  The narrative is changed a bit since the New Year!  To discuss a 1-0 demolition of West Ham and to look forward to Leicester City is Wichita's own Ryan Jones, and New York's own Abhie Goyal.  We meet a new Yank Bee, learn who the guy with the accordion in the orange jump suit is, and even get a chance to discuss our recent success or otherwise against AFC Richmond.Thanks for giving the pod a try!Text the pod!

Abhi Goyal is in the studio this week to talk about his route to following the Bees, and he's a wonderfully fascinating guest.  Abhi has supported Brentford since he first flew over a small ground with KLM written on the roof of one stand, and his is a great story.With no match to preview and 2/3rds of the season just about done, we turn to Abhi and Greville Waterman for a informative conversation as to where Brentford football club stands and how we got here.  I hope you enjoy as much as we enjoyed the conversation. Text the pod!

The transfer window is not yet shut but there is much to discuss, as we say goodbye to a member of the Class of '21 and in Michael Kayode we welcome a new exciting member of the Brentford first team.The rain does nothing to dampen the spirits of last weekend, with all three points taken back to the Gtech after a fascinating match.  Crystal Palace are well beaten by a thorough team effort.  It's then just the small issue of Spurs up ahead.As always, there's so much to discuss in a Brentford season.Text the pod!

Hope no one ever gets 'used' to the fact that we now have European Cup champions (or Arsenal) on our schedule every other week or so.  I'm never going to take that for granted.We're so lucky to have Michel Cowdrey in the studio here at ASFB to talk about his trip to see Man City and Liverpool, and his trip to see the Brentford woman.  What a story he has to tell, one I hope you enjoy as much as Greville Waterman and I enjoyed in the moment.Text the pod!

After the much talked about Winter Break, Across the Seas but Forever Bees is back!  Charlie Corr is our guest from New York and we're looking over the state of play around West London after we beat Manchester City 2-2.  Well, it felt that way at the end...Text the pod!

Glenn Houlihan and Greville Waterman join me in the studios to discuss the crazy injury-hit week we we've just had.  Wasn't it last week that we had too darned many good centerbacks?  Oh.  Yes.  Yes it was.  It's been that kind of week.But we've been here before and in Thomas Frank we trust.  Going to be one intriguing Christmas season.Text the pod!

Recorded within minutes of the final whistle, while the disappointment was still raw.Text the pod!

Glenn Houlihan and Greville Waterman are on this week to discuss the continuing joy of the Gtech (and frustration on the road).  A historic first win against Newcastle is prologue to an away adventure to a talented and firing on all cylinders Chelsea.Text the pod!

Sunday 3pm at Bedfont...It's Fulham in the FA Cup.  We need to get ourselves there in huge numbers to carry this worthy club we love over the line in this 3rd round match.   In studio to discuss the highs and other highs of the woman's club are Richard Merritt and Gary Instone, who really do know the team and are a delight to talk with.  Be aware that the match is free but all ticket, which does require you to acquire tickets before the event.  Let's all go there.This is a big one folks!  The woman have earned some of your time.  And, after all, it's Fulham.Text the pod!

The Leicester City match on Saturday really had me thinking about not just how far the journey has been for this club, but just how far we might still go, and how sustainable this Premier League experience feels.  For my American listeners:  This is not normal.  It's hard to even find a comparable story in the football league's history, though Greville does a quite smart job of finding an analogy.A look at the LC match and a look ahead to Villa are part of the conversation.Text the pod!

VAR ruins football, and we saw a glaring example of how.  But as Jon Mates tells us, that second half was some of the most inspired Brentford play of the season so far.  Never has a goalless draw filled me with as much pride.  Greville Waterman is in studio as well to discuss the ins-and-outs of a very busy week in West London.Leicester next, managed by....err.  Here's to Jon Mate's prediction and not to Greville narrow victory!Text the pod!

Nations League, huh?  It's been too long since Bournemouth.  Way too long.  It's good to have a Saturday of football up in Liverpool to look forward to, in the form of a once-again struggling Everton.Glenn Houlihan and Greville Waterman discuss the Bees on international duty, with some frankly shocking trivia pressure put on Tim and Glenn.  See if you can name the Brentford all-time Danes and full internationals better than we do!Everton can be beat.  They should be beatable.  But Sean Dyche just does something to us on a regular basis.  ...It's good to be thinking about football again.Text the pod!

...and then we talk about Fulham.  A bit of PTSD, but healthy to get it out and discussed, they say.  We are one crazy team at home, the most entertaining club in the world right now.  Sometimes you watch between your fingers, but it's never dull.  Long may it go on.A happy return to podcasting for the whole crew here at Across the Seas but Forever Bees.  Thanks for being patient with our hiatus.Text the pod!

Glenn Houlihan visits again from Iowa, and along with Greville Waterman, we discuss the loss to Manchester United.  It says a lot about us that we're this disappointed.  There's a match and a squad to be proud of, and hopefully we'll take it out on Ipswich and Sheffield Wednesday over the next week.Hope you enjoy.  All feedback is very gratefully received!Text the pod!

I'll never get used to the feeling of looking at the fixture list and realizing we have Manchester United next in the league.  Just typing it seems surreal.  This week Greville and I welcome Chris Fries to the studio to have a talk about his Indiana Brentford fandom.  Chris adds some real insight into where we've been this season, and what he sees ahead.  Cannot wait for Saturday!Text the pod!

Jay Altair is the real Boston Bee, and he joins us from his current spot in West London.  Jay has made his first trip to the Gtech a memorable one by getting to both West Ham a week prior and then Wolves this week.  And he got to Belfont to see the Brentford Woman...with less success.  It's all a story enthusiastically told, and well worth your time.Greville and I join Jay for his story and for a celebration of a wonderful demolition of Wolves.  We can be quite good, when the cylinders are all firing.  Text the pod!

Shades of last January come around again as a once-in-a-lifetime injury crisis is back for a second season.  We pick up a point though and look forward to Thomas Frank's 3 dimensional chess to get us past Wolves on Saturday.Eli is here, all the way from Canada (via West London) to discuss with Greville Waterman and me a remarkable draw against West Ham and to strategize how we find 11 fit footballers hat can beat a already a bit desperate Wolverhampton.  You know, someday when everyone's back next Spring...we'll be a really, really impressive football team.ASFB insider tip:  There's a secret extra bit hidden after the closing sting music that I think is worth finding.Text the pod!

We are lucky to coax Michel Cowdrey into the studios to talk about his weekend in Chicago.  You have to listen to it to understand, but once again and for the millionth time it makes me proud to be a Brentford fan.  Class, humility and respect seem to permeate everything the club does.  Greville Waterman is in the help with any worry you might have after a loss at Spurs.  Honestly, there's a lot to like about who we are and who we'll be if some established starters can get out of the treatment room.  The kids once again are learning and proving that they're getting minutes on merit.  There's a lot to like about this season, one I think will have far, far more highs than lows.Text the pod!

New York's own Charlie Corr makes the trek to the ASFB studios to discuss life around the Red Lion and to weigh in on one of the most fun weeks of the Premier era.  Yes, we lost one of the two matches this week...but there's losing and there's losing.  We won against Man City, 1-2.  If you know what I mean.Leyton Orient gives us a chance to play the kids, and to coin a phrase:  The Kids are Alright.A really interesting talk, and if you listen to the end you'll know the story of The Beast.  It's a Brentford story.Text the pod!

I've wanted to talk about the Brentford Woman's team for a great while, so it was a thrill and an honor to have Gary Enstone and Richard Merritt in the studio to share their experiences and their passion.  The woman are an exciting and engaging story that is appallingly underappreciated by the larger Brentford community.  But it is my hope that people will listen to the podcast and head down to Belfont Sport to support the mighty Bees.  This is an important podcast for me, and I can only hope that it starts a conversation about how great we have it with not just one club to be proud of, but also a woman's club that should make us all proud to call ourselves Brentford.This may well be a promotion season for the Woman - don't miss the chance to learn about and see this team on the rise!Text the pod!

Martin O'Brien agrees to return to the studio for a discussion of a very satisfying Saturday down at the Gtech.  Southampton seemed determined to gift us goals and we were kind enough to accept.  An upcoming Cup match against old friends Leyton Orient leads to a trip back to 2014 and 2006, years when we were on the steep rise...and on the steep decline, respectively.  Pivotal matches in their own ways, in Brentford history.  I suspect they still hate us.Text the pod!

Despite some headaches from the production crew, which will be dealt with internally at ASFB, we bring you the big Summer Spending Spree podcast!Martin O'Brien joins Greville Waterman and myself for a discussion of one of the most consequential, good or bad, windows since 2019.  Youth and potential are as ever the motif, while some long-serving members of the Brentford squad have moved on.  Whatever the future holds for this cadre of new additions, it will be exciting/frustrating/inspiring/infuriating all at once.  And isn't that why we love Brentford?Let me know what you think of our analysis.  And a sincere thanks for listening.Tim SearlsText the pod!

The season heats up fast, doesn't it?!?  From the relative calm of a first week win we're suddenly playing three matches in 7 days.  Liverpool and Colchester were lessons for Thomas Frank and warning shots for us all that there's a lot of drama coming in this 'dangerous forth season'.Apparently Ivan Toney is still at the club...well he was when I typed this - he may be gone by the time I hit 'publish'.  Or we've got the lovable enigma for another 4 months.  It's silly season, as guest Nick Green rightly puts it.Nick has some great memories of Griffin Park and growing up a Bee, and with Greville Waterman it's a fascinating conversation.Text the pod!

What a first match.  Palace was a perfect first opponent, and evidence from a small sample size is that...we're okay.Glenn Houlihan visits the ASFB Towers all the way from Ames, Iowa to look back and to look forward to a difficult match at Liverpool.Text the pod!

I know it's the 4th time at this level, but I still get lightheaded looking at the schedule and seeing who we play on a regular basis.  Lincoln City wasn't that long ago that it doesn't still feel like I'm in a dream.It starts again!  The terrifying thrill ride that is being a minnow (but a smart minnow) in this big pond starts Sunday against Crystal Palace.  Surely it's about time we got something from a match against Palace, right?Greville Waterman joins the pod as we talk about the squad for the 2024/25 season.  A lot of departures and a few additions make this a tightrope walk of a start.  Thanks goodness we have the best manager in the league.  Thanks sincerely for listening and for all the feedback.

Football, bloody hell.  Greville Waterman and I look back at a tumultuous season.  It promised so much in the heat and humidity of Washington DC in July, and in the end we hung on.  16th at Christmas and 16th at the end, Brentford Football Club were never boring but you did watch some of the matches through your fingers.  Admit it.We look forward as well.  There are big decisions to make and there will be new faces to bring in.  An important off-season to be sure.  Thank you all for listening and commenting and supporting all the people that have taken part.  If you'd like to be a part of this podcast's glorious forth campaign, please don't hesitate to write to me so I can get you on the schedule.Let's all take a well-earned break now...see you in August!

Glenn Houlihan joins me as we look back at Fulham, and specifically...well, you know who we discussed.  And we look ahead to Bournemouth.  What a season it has been, but I'm proud of who Brentford is and how they've conducted themselves throughout this often insanely challenging year.  Top to bottom, the club has made me proud this season.   Even that one player we discussed so much in the podcast!

Old friend Lev Riley joins Tim and Greville this week in the ASFB studios for a really fascinating conversation.   Lev tells us of his first trip to the Gtech, with side-trips to The Griffin pub and to the spot of old Griffin Park.  It's (rightly) a bit of a sacred pilgrimage now for a visiting American Bees fan.   The Gtech is great n'all...but I miss the old girl.It is the 10th year anniversary of promotion out of League One and fifteenth anniversary of our promotion from League Two, so we celebrate what a long, strange trip it's been with some memories from those campaigns.   We look back a bit to the Everton match and look forward to the visit of our own noisy neighbours from Putney.  

What a season.   The Luton victory says as much about this lost season of such high expectations as any match could.   Now that we are back to a near first team (ok...without Rico, Norgaard, Toney and DaSilva!!) we are rampant against a Luton side that really couldn't afford to be beaten.  What could have been...This week Adam Harder and Greville Waterman join me in the ASFB studios.  Adam is a  fascinating and insightful guest that I've been eager for weeks to have on.   He is here to discuss his experience as a Brentford fan, be it a walk down Braemar Road past Griffin Park to The Griffin pub or a Saturday morning pint of Guinness in the Red Lion with the lively crew that has grown there.   We look back at the Luton match, and on to our effectively guaranteed future in the Premier League.  

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.

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!

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.

...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?  

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.  

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.

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.

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.

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 (timsearls@hotmail.com).

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!

Beating Forest, and drinking from the cup of their salty tears, was amazing.  The rising panic of no wins in what seemed like months has subsided.  To have Ivan Toney back, along with a host of others, has cheered the Gtech right up.Today we talk with Trevor Inns, who runs the Griffin Park Grapevine website and is such a insightful and interesting guest.  To new fans of Brentford FC:  If you've not logged onto the GPG...I'll wait while you create an account...A special shout-out to Greville Waterman.  He's had to take a week off, and we sure missed his knowledge and his general passion.   The staff at ASFB looks forward to getting back to discussing all things Spursy in the next week.

We're back!The staff at Across the Seas but Forever Bees takes their winter holidays and it all goes south on the pitch.  Brentford have lost five straight, and has spent what seems like hours on the pitch not getting out of the 3rd round of the FA Cup.  But a bright Ivan Toney-shaped light is starting to come on with the new year, some new faces are joining the club (one arriving pre-crocked unfortunately but predictably!), and some important pieces of our team are getting fit again.  There are reasons to be cheerful.  AND I can report on my first trip to the Gtech - it's a wonderful, special place.  Excited for the second half of the season!