After 116 years at Griffin Park, Brentford will begin the 2020-21 season at their new 17,250 capacity Brentford Community Stadium home.

It wasn’t quite the fairytale ending Brentford had hoped for at Griffin Park, with the club narrowly missing out on promotion that would have seen them plying their trade in the top-flight of English football for the first time since 1947.

Brentford Betting Odds

The Bees are expected to challenge strongly again over the coming season and are available at odds of 6/1 with Coral to win the Championship, which makes them the bookies co-favourites with newly relegated Norwich City and Watford.

For those slightly more cautious, Brentford are 15/8 to win promotion with Coral, although it’s worth noting that last season’s defeat in the Championship play-off final to Fulham was their fourth such loss in a play-off final, with five additional semi-final defeats.

For those of us that like a pre-season bet, this is a good time to take advantage of the welcome bonuses available with most online bookies. The Coral sign up offer allows new players to use their bonus on a wide variety of markets, including ante-post bets on the new football season ahead.

Brentford Transfer Gossip

Brentford are competing with clubs with far bigger budgets in the Championship, so they are heavily reliant on their analytical approach to player recruitment and their ongoing ability to ”buy low, sell high”.

With the transfer window this summer still having well over a month to run, it’s uncertain as to which players will depart over the coming weeks.

However, the big-money signing of Ivan Toney from Peterborough United would suggest that speculation linking Ollie Watkins with a move to the Premier League probably isn’t too far wide of the mark, with Aston Villa being the most likely destination according to the bookies.

The other player heavily linked with a top-flight move this summer is the Algerian forward Said Benrahma who, like Watkins, could demand a transfer fee in the region of £20 million.

Whoever leaves the club, it’s unlikely to derail a club that has now established itself in the upper echelons of the Championship. Potential replacements will already have been identified, as has happened previously following the departures of the likes of Neal Maupay, Chris Mepham, Ezri Konsa, Andre Gray and Scott Hogan.

Bank On Benham

The man responsible for most of Brentford’s success in recent years is their Oxford-educated owner, Matthew Benham.

Benham is a professional gambler who set up his own betting company. He’s also a lifelong Bees fan who has pumped millions into the building of the club’s infrastructure. In addition, he’s the majority shareholder at FC Midtjylland in Denmark. It’s no coincidence that head coach Thomas Frank is Danish or that there are six Danes in the Brentford squad.

After last season’s near miss, the coming campaign could be the one when Benham’s hard work and investment finally pays off.