Our friends at Brentford site Beesotted have kindly provided us with a pub guide ahead of Saturday’s opening match of the season.
For Ipswich fans coming to the game, you are probably aware there plenty of pub options pre-match and all are most welcoming.
Colours are fine and there is no ‘bouncer culture’ on the doors of our boozers — not yet anyway. All fans are welcome and most fans usually cite Brentford as their favourite away-day which we’re quite proud of.
As is etched in common folklore , there were four pubs around the ground until a few weeks ago — unfortunately one closed down to leave only three now.
The Griffin is closest to the away end (like 30 seconds walk) and is very popular with away fans — but also very very busy.
The New Inn is on the other side is also popular with away fans. The Princess Royal is the other option (The Royal Oak was the one that closed down).
Other pubs slightly further afield for the more creative amongst you include (and this is by no means a definitive list) The Globe (Windmill Road), which is the Beesotted fanzine main pub — a very friendly pub indeed.
@GlobeBrentford we are offering all loyal fans 10% off food' just quote 'I LOVE THE BIRDS AND THE BEES' #itfc #twtduk pic.twitter.com/7UwUadkzlW
— THE GLOBE BRENTFORD (@theglobe09) August 7, 2015
The other boozer is The Lord Nelson (Enfield Road) — both incredibly friendly and cosy away-friendly pubs, 30 seconds walk from each other and frequented by ‘away fans in the know’.
Boro fans and Bees fans had one hell of a party before our league match in January in both these boozers (despite us losing).
The Plough (Northfields Avenue — one minute’s walk from the tube) in Northfields is a decent stop-off if you are coming by tube to Northfields before making your way down to the ground (normally stopping off at The Globe and Lord Nelson en route on the Northfields pub crawl).
Easily the best way to Brentford for Ipswich fans is to get the Central Line from Liverpool Street to Holborn and the Piccadilly Line from Green Park to either Northfields or South Ealing (40 minutes).
Northfields is preferred by fans in the know as it has the decent pub crawl run on the way to the ground (Plough, Lord Nelson, Globe). South Ealing has one posh pub en route that doesn’t really like football fans so we won’t even give it a mention here.
It’s a 20-minute walk from either South Ealing or Northfields to the ground or you can get the E2 bus from Northfields or 65 bus from South Ealing for the short five-minute journey.
Some fans prefer to take the tube to Vauxhall, bear in mind the Victoria Line shenanigans, then get the overground to Brentford mainline station.
Depending on your connection time, this could be a slightly longer route as you could be waiting for up to 15 mins for a train and the train takes 26 minutes to Brentford.
If you do take this route, there is also a pub right by Brentford station always referred to as … er … the pub by Brentford station.
For ale, head to the Magpie and Crown pub on Brentford High Street. The Royal Horseguardsman can probably hold 15 of you at a push.
The Brewery Tap is a cosy boozer by the river. And if you are super-adventurous, get off at Kew Bridge and visit the brand new boozer One Over the Ait right on the river — beside the bridge. Great views over the Thames, it’s around 15 minutes walk to the ground from here.
There are loads more too. A quick Google search and you’ll find them all. Parking is pretty easy away from the ground going up towards and over the A4 Great West Road (ie North) via Ealing Road or Windmill Road.
Plenty of pre-match stuff including a podcast featuring our own HarryFromBath can be found on Beesotted here.