Brentford Walk to Hartlepool!

Destination Vic
By Albatross
February 9 2005

Tickets are selling well for our Cup Replay with Brentford, and five Bees fans are getting ready to set off for Victoria Park. Not for the Cup Game though, but for the League Match on February 22nd. The five are walking to Hartlepool to raise money for the club and a Cancer charity - but why?

Picture the scene: you're a fan of a club that's struggling at the wrong end of Division 2, looking like they're dead and buried. The despair of almost certain relegation is getting to you, and in a moment of alcohol-fuelled misery you post a comment on an unofficial website about something you'll do in the unlikely event of your team staying up.

That's precisely what Brentford fan Pete Haywood did towards the end of last season. Unlike Bernie Slaven's famous backside-bearing in Middlesbrough following their win at Old Trafford though, what he said he'd do was something that would take much more of a commitment. "I'll walk to Hartlepool if we stay up!" Martin Allen took over, Brentford went on a tremendous run, and it was time for Pete to get his walking boots out....

Brentford are a club that have had their problems in recent years, and one of the side effects of this is that they have a very strong community feeling; Bees United, the Supporter's Trust, has built on that to raise funds to keep the club going, and has even managed to get someone onto the Board of Directors to represent the interests of the fans. Fund-raising efforts continue constantly, and have included a "Walk to Wycombe" - a distance of 27 miles - on a couple of occasions.

Brentford to Hartlepool is more than ten times that distance, in fact it's not much less than 300 miles from Griffin Park to Victoria Park - the equivalent of something like eleven Marathons back to back. Fortunately for Pete, he won't be lacking company as fellow Bees fans Rod Gowers, Dave Lane, John Dempsey and Pete Atkinson will all be joining him. Offers of help and sponsorship have come in from many sources, meaning they will have free accomodation and meals along the way, waterproof clothing, and they have even been able to get into shape at a local Gym over the last three months. Setting off on Friday 11th February, they will finally arrive in Hartlepool in time to enjoy Lunch with the Brentford team and possibly a drink or two in the Corner Flag before kickoff.

This isn't all being done for the good of their health of course. The walkers are aiming to raise £10,000 that will be split equally between Bees United and the Helen Rollason Cancer Care Centre Appeal - and are well on course with over £7,500 pledged at the time of writing. It's taken a lot of organisation - Rod Gowers told me by email that the preparation has probably been tougher than the walk itself will be!

Not only is money being raised, but awareness as well. Like Pools, Brentford are surrounded by bigger clubs - Chelsea, Fulham and QPR are virtually on their doorstep while the likes of Arsenal attract a fair number of local fans - and, almost inevitably, Man Utd have followers there as well. Their efforts are attracting plenty of attention locally, and even a bit of national coverage - and with the current obsessions about the Premiership across so much of the media, it's a refreshing change to find a small club being able to command some attention for reasons other than imminent financial meltdown.

In fact, when I contacted him, Rod Gowers was keen to stress that he hopes that this will continue the good relationships between two clubs that he feels have many similarities. "I think most Bees fans have always liked Hartlepool, being a bit like us, a small club with a strong manager doing well," he says. "For us, much better to see Hartlepool do well than Luton, Hull or Sheff Wed."

February isn't the best of times to be doing this sort of trip, but it seems to be a case of "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night can stay these messengers about their duty" - they will be making their journey regardless! The main concern seems to be that the game might be postponed - fortunately of course the award-winning playing surface at the Vic has meant that we rarely have to call off matches due to the weather. While they're hopeful of a good result, there will probably also be a lot of relief at a job well done - and the knowledge that they will have raised a significant amount of money for both the Bees and Cancer Care.

So when you go to the game on the 22nd, whatever way you're getting there think of five blokes from Brentford that will be just finishing their mammoth trek - and give them a cheer if you see them. It's the least they deserve.

For more information about the walk from Brentford to Hartlepool, and for details on how to make a donation, visit Beeswalk.com. Many thanks to Rod Gowers for his help in preparing this article.