BRENTFORD
Emirates FA Cup third round, Gtech Community Stadium, Saturday 7 January 2023, 5.30pm
West Ham United take on Brentford on Saturday evening, when David Moyes and his squad make the relatively short trip to west London in the Emirates FA Cup third round.
Just the second-ever meeting between the two capital rivals in the competition will take place at the Gtech Community Stadium, with a teatime kick-off, despite the tie not being broadcast live on television in the UK.
The only previous FA Cup meeting between the two clubs was back in 1926/27, when they drew 1-1 at the Boleyn Ground in the fourth round, before the Bees, then in Third Division South, shocked their top-flight opponents 2-0 at Griffin Park in the replay.
Opened in September 2020, the 17,250-capacity arena initially hosted EFL Championship fixtures without supporters present due to the COVID pandemic, with Brentford playing a home game in front of fans for the first time when drawing 2-2 with Blackburn Rovers on 5 December 2020.
Since then, Brentford have of course celebrated an historic promotion to the Premier League, finishing third in the Championship before defeating Swansea City 2-0 in the 2021 Play-Off final.
How to get there…
Brentford Community Stadium is usually well served by public transport, with a number of railway and Underground stations within walking distance.
Getting to the game should be fine, but getting back into central London afterwards may prove more problematic.
The nearest station is Kew Bridge, which is in Zone 3 on the South Western Railway line from London Waterloo and Clapham Junction. However, industrial action means there will be a severely restricted service on Saturday, and trains will stop running by 6.30pm, so you can't catch one back unless you leave at half-time...
An alternative route is via Gunnersbury, which is a ten-minute walk east of the stadium and is served by the London Underground District line and London Overground. However, London Overground services and District line trains linking Turnham Green with Gunnersbury and Kew Gardens will also stop running by 6.30pm.
There are other nearby London Underground stations within a 20-minute walk - Chiswick Park (District line), Acton Town (District and Piccadilly lines) and South Ealing (Piccadilly line).
Where to stay…
You are unlikely to be staying overnight for a Saturday evening kick-off in west London, but if you are travelling to London from outside the capital, there are literally thousands of hotels, guest houses, apartments and more to choose from all over the city if you need overnight accommodation.
If you would like to stay near the stadium, Brentford is served by at least three well-known branded hotels, as well as a number of independent accommodation options.
What to do…
London, of course, has attractions for all the family and to suit all budgets and tastes.
While the capital’s top tourist spots are well-known, we will concentrate instead on things to do in and around this particular area of west London.
The most famous attraction, by far, is the Royal Botanic Gardens, just across Kew Bridge on the south bank of the River Thames, which opened in 1759 and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Open from 10am-3pm, you can book tickets in advance from £15 for Adults and £5 for Children aged 4-15. Inside, you can view one of the largest living plant collections in the world and a host of historic buildings, including the Temperate House, Palm House and Great Pagoda.
What’s happened there before…
As mentioned in the introduction, this will be just our third visit to Gtech Community Stadium, and our first in the Emirates FA Cup.
The Hammers have mixed memories of their two previous visits to a venue which is also home to Premiership Rugby club London Irish, having won a pre-season match 1-0 there in July 2021, but then been beaten 2-0 in a Premier League fixture in April 2022.
Former Bees winger Saïd Benrahma netted the only goal of the game to secure that pre-season win, with only 500 West Ham fans present to celebrate it due to ongoing COVID pandemic restrictions.
There were significantly more Hammers in the crowd for the Premier League fixture, but those who were will want to forget a dismal performance and a win for the home side capped by second-half goals scored by Brentford forwards Bryan Mbuemo and Ivan Toney.
