Brentford’s first-team group are in the USA this month for the Premier League Summer Series.
Club ambassador Peter Gilham is part of the travelling party and will be sharing his observations over the course of the two-week tour.
Day seven: Stepping up
6am on a Sunday morning and I set off to walk in the steps of the Boss (no, not Thomas on this occasion) along the streets of Philadelphia heading to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
This is not for a bit of culture but to be there when the hardy runners reach the steps of the museum which feature in Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky. It’s an iconic must-visit place in this city.
Upon arrival who should I bump into but our former assistant manager, David Weir. 10 minutes later I bumped (not literally) into Paddy Moore, a former Brentford physical performance coach who now works at Aston Villa.
7.10am, 25 members of our coaching and off-field staff arrived at the steps for a group photo before running up all 72 to the top. Now you make think me lazy but having walked slowly to the summit I wasn’t about to walk down to join the group. However, those with good eyesight will see that I didn’t miss out.
Later that morning, the regular build-up to a match began, before we set off at 2pm for the 4pm match against Fulham at Lincoln Financial Field, the home of the Philadelphia Eagles NFL team.
It was an incredible experience being our first match as a Premier League club the other side of the Pond. You will have read elsewhere a full match report, so I won’t include those details within this diary.
Needless to say, after the game it was back to the hotel to rest those weary limbs and cool off from the intense heat outside.
Day eight: Atlanta arrival
Monday saw an early start as we moved onto Atlanta after an all-too-short stay in Philly.
The flight was scheduled to depart at 10.30am but due to technical problems it eventually left an hour later for the 90-minute journey.
Upon arrival in Georgia’s capital city of Atlanta, and following the comparatively short journey to the hotel, there was time to check in and have lunch, before it was time again to prepare for a training session in the afternoon.
The training facilities were some 20 minutes from the hotel passing through a very affluent area of Atlanta with multimillion properties, with the training centre the hub of this community.
The facilities on offer were top notch, which is obviously the catalyst for the multi sporting achievements recognised and recorded throughout the halls, be they baseball, American football, lacrosse, athletics, wrestling, swimming and football.
The session was again a very testing one in temperatures in the region of 32°C. But as per usual everyone gave their all over the two-hour period.
It was then back to the hotel for a debrief meeting involving the players and coaches, looking back on the previous day’s match. Then it was dinner, and after a long day of travelling and training it was definitely time to rest those weary limbs.
Day nine: The sweet taste of victory
We awoke to another beautiful day on the east coast.
Normal procedures followed breakfast involving medical prep and various staff departing to set up at the training facility, while the four keepers and goalkeeper coach Manu Sotelo departed ahead of the players’ coach as they always start their training earlier.
Once everyone had arrived it was time for individual prep for the players in readiness for training at 10am.
This morning we were also honoured to host at the training centre a visit from a Premier League Make a Wish recipient. Paul who lives with his wife in Atlanta suffered a life-changing condition during the Covid epidemic in 2020 which totally affected his life. But he happened to watch our first-ever Premier League match against Arsenal in August 2021 on a whim, and his condition improved remarkably and he has become a fervent and devoted Bees fan. His niece watches some matches with him and she always brings bagels. So far, she has watched four matches (Manchester United 4-0, Liverpool 3-1 and the double over Manchester City). So I told him that such results will in future be known as ‘Bagel Days’.
Paul was also among the number of Bees fans who attended the excellent fans get-together later that same afternoon/early evening, together with Ben Mee, Nathan Collins, Gary Blissett and Marcus Gayle.
Later that evening everyone took part in a six-part quiz back at the hotel. It was won by the team comprising Mark Flekken, Frank Onyeka, Ji-soo Kim, Justin Cochrane, Stephen Thompson (club doctor), Chris Wickham (football communications director) and Jordan Wake (chef).
The final round which clinched it for them was their technical ability in building the tallest structure made entirely of marshmallows and spaghetti strands. Needless to say, as always with quizzes, it was quite contentious.