Ben Burgess’ 2001/02 campaign at Brentford made him a fan favourite during his time on loan from Blackburn Rovers; the frontman scored 17 goals in 43 games in the Second Division.

The former Hull City, Blackpool and Notts County striker, who is now a teacher in Lancashire, will provide his thoughts ahead of each game this season…

New season preparations

Pre-season has been and gone, so what was the point of it all? I’ve had managers prioritise a variety of aspects. Some just want all the players to be available for selection for the first game of the season and, as a result, it’s quite a relaxed period. Others want to use the time to establish a clear way of playing and more time will be spent working on team shape as opposed to running around a track. Some particularly mean ‘old school managers’ are still under the impression that running their players into the ground will stand them in good stead for the gruelling season ahead - invariably those teams start well and burn out after Christmas.

When reflecting on how things have progressed for the Bees over the last month, it looks positive. New signings have looked impressive and been given time to settle. Every transfer window, the Bees seem to become stronger by adding a few quality players instead of overloading the squad and making things unbalanced.

Initiations

There’s nothing quite like football for making new players feel welcome. At 16, I had to stand in a bin and sing Oasis’ Champagne Supernova into a hair dryer while all the older apprentices laughed.

When I joined Notts County, I sang a classical version of 50 Cent’s Candy Shop in front of my new team-mates (and the waiters and waitresses at the hotel). Neither of my performances were very successful, but thankfully I managed to survive.

Clearly, the mistake I made was not singing something everyone could join in with like Oleksandr Zinchenko did when he joined Arsenal (Friday by Riton). I’m glad it wasn’t just us lower league players who had to endure a torturous welcome. Kalvin Philips revealed that he and fellow new signing Erling Haaland had their own mini concert in front of Pep Guardiola et al.

Brentford kept to tradition during their pre-season trip to Germany, with nine players selected to sing for their supper.

First game

I used to love the first game of the season, in fact, I still do. The sun is always shining, optimism is rife, and everything that has happened before is gone. There’s a freedom and excitement that you don’t necessarily get at other stages of the season. The fans are buzzing and can’t wait to see all their new signings in the flesh. I have been fortunate enough to score on the opening day quite a few times and there is simply no better feeling - all the pressure seems to evaporate.

Sadly, I’ve also been distraught on the opening day when I haven’t made the starting line-up, despite a good pre-season. At a younger age, I would instantly catastrophise and think that if I wasn’t involved in the first game, then I’d be on the periphery for the rest of the campaign. The reality was very different and many a hero emerges from the depths of the substitutes bench to have a huge impact on the season. My most vivid memory of this was Blackpool’s first game back in the Championship against Leicester City at the King Power. Leicester had just appointed Martin ‘Mad Dog’ Allen as manager. I didn’t even come off the bench that day, however, I managed to finish that season as the top scorer. Enjoy the excitement on Sunday and look out for those potential stars on the bench.