Brentford are still hopeful of starting building work on their new ground at Lionel Road by the end of March, with a move in date of December 2019.

The Bees were granted planning permission on their revised stadium plans in December last year.

The saga around the site has been going on over the last 16 years and fans are keen to see actual building work, although the club have been doing preparatory work for the past 12 months.

Chief executive Mark Devlin told GetWestLondon : “The plan is still to break ground some time in the first quarter of this year.

“On the basis that we can do that, then the build schedule would see us having the stadium fully commissioned and ready for first team games by December 2019. We're hopeful we can break ground in the first quarter of this year.”

Artist's impression of Brentford's Lionel Road development

He added: “I know the fans are keen for that concrete date. As soon as we have that the fans will be able to find out.

“We don't want to say anything that would jeopardise that. It's taken us this time, with a few delays, to get to where we are now. We hope that time will be sooner rather than later.”

Mid-season stadium moves are uncommon in football but the EFL would allow Brentford to move before Christmas.

And Devlin knows, that if this were to come to fruition, it would be a difficult task for the club to execute.

He explained: “When we've asked them previously, they've said if we were to move in December, they'd have no issues.

“They wouldn't want it to be near the end of the season so a December would be fine when I've had discussions with the EFL.

Lionel Road from above

“The bigger thing and we've made that clear is that it'd be a huge operational challenge and we'd have to work with all to make that move mid-season.

“I can't overestimate what a challenge will be. We're preparing for it. We're having regular meetings with fan groups to make sure we're carrying them on the journey with us.

“The biggest challenge will be moving mid-season. Hardly any clubs have done it. There are some instances in rugby where we have taken some advice.

“It's one where I think we've got a group of staff and keeping fans involved in the process is key and we've not underestimated it at all.”

Talks are still ongoing with London Irish over the rugby club becoming tenants and returning to west London.

Work has started: Lionel Road

Devlin confirmed: “Conversations are ongoing with London Irish, which is as much as I can say about it at the moment.”

Of course, once building work starts the 'countdown clock' of Griffin Park's life would start ticking down and Devlin is already preparing for the sad day that will see the 'old lady' retire.

He said: “That's another aspect the marketing team are looking at and when we meet with the fans we discuss what we do with the final season or half season of Griffin Park and especially the final game and the departure of the club from Griffin Park.

“What things are really important to the fans, what would they like to see happen on the day of the game and after the game.

“What things can we take from Griffin Park and use at the new stadium. We're all aware of what Griffin Park means to our fanbase and we want to do the right thing by the old lady.

“We want to celebrate Griffin Park's history. We're going to be working very closely with fans to get that as smart as possible.”

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