When former Brentford manager Martin Allen was recently asked by GetWestLondonhis best memory from his time as Bees manager, he had no hesitation in answering.
Allen, who led the Bees to two play-off campaigns between 2004 and 2006, holds dear the semi final second leg from the first of those, which ended in defeat against Sheffield Wednesday.
Jon-Paul McGovern scored the only goal of the game as the Owls won the first leg at Hillsborough, and by the 53rd minute of the second leg, Brentford's dreams of Wembley were over as goals from Lee Peacock and Chris Brunt put Wednesday 3-0 up an aggregate.
The Bees were left shell-shocked, but the disappointment did not last for long on the terraces as with 20 minutes remaining, a section of the crowd started signing the theme from the Great Escape, which soon spread to all corners of the ground.
The celebration in the face of adversity lasted pretty much until the Bees fans finally had something on the pitch to cheer when Andy Frampton pulled back a consolation with three minutes remaining.
Allen said: “I will never forget when we were losing to Sheffield Wednesday in the play-offs, and with 20 minutes to go, with our chance of making the final gone, the whole stadium started singing in full voice. That was a very special moment for me. It was hard for them, but all those fans still sung their hearts out in support of the team.”
It was almost an acknowledgement of the roller-coaster the Bees had been through under Allen over the previous 14 months. He had arrived from Barnet in March 2004 with Brentford hurtling headlong into Division Three, but pulled off a great escape from relegation, before leading them to the play-offs the following season.
That, as we have read, ended in heartache against Wednesday, as did next season's semi final against Swansea City before Allen walked out, soon after taking up the managerial reins at MK Dons.
Nevertheless, 2004-05 was a memorable season for Brentford, not least the four games they played against Wednesday. The first, at Hillsborough, saw them trailing to a first half Steve MacLean penalty and playing with 10 men following Michael Turner's red card, but turning it around to win 2-1 with goals in the final 10 minutes from Alex Rhodes and Deon Burton.
The return game at Griffin Park saw the Bees trail to a Peacock brace, Burton pulling one back before the break, but when Lee Bullen bagged a third for the Owls four minutes after the interval the Bees looked dead and buried. However, once more they hit back in the last 10 minutes, Ryan Peters and Stephen Hunt netting to earn a 3-3 draw.
The teams last met in April 2012, when former Bee Miguel Llera scored the winner after Clayton Donaldson had cancelled out Keith Treacy's winner. Brentford's last win came a year earlier, when goals from Michael Spillane, Jeffrey Schlupp and Sam Saunders earned a 3-1 victory at Hillsborough. Overall, the teams have met 30 times, with nine wins each and 12 draws.
Follow all the build-up, matchday action and post-match reaction to Brentford v Sheffield Wednesday right here on GetWestLondon.
