Our ‘Ever Wonder’ series will run throughout the 2022-23 Premier League season and focuses on key stories behind the history, tradition and culture of all 20 Premier League clubs.
[ MORE: Check out our ‘Ever Wonder’ series in full ]
Have you ever sat there and wondered why certain chants became iconic at a club? Why a team has a certain nickname? Why they play in those colors? How they were founded? Yep, us too.
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This season we will be digging deep to tell the stories of the rich history, tradition and culture from around the Premier League and give you the answers to things you want to know more about.
Ever Wonder why Brentford fans sing about being a ‘bus stop in Hounslow?’
They are close to being everyone’s favorite second team in the Premier League and fans of Brentford chant ‘we’re just a bus stop in Hounslow!’ loud and proud.
But what does it mean? Why do they sing it? When did it start?
The main reason behind the chant is to wind up their local rivals in west London. But it has a greater meaning.
Flipping a chant from rivals on its head
How did it start?
Local rivals Queens Park Rangers fans mocked Brentford a few years back after a win and chanted ‘you’re just a bus stop in Hounslow!’
Hounslow is a part of west London which you mostly pass through to get to Heathrow Airport in the western suburbs.
Brentford’s fans then flipped that chant on its head and embraced their status as a small industrial town which 1) has a bus stop and 2) is in the Borough of Hounslow. The song is factually correct but it is about so much more than that.
Punching above their weight
For decades Brentford have been one of London’s smallest professional teams but this season they have overtaken all of their rivals and this self-deprecating chant sums up the spirit of the rise.
Multiple promotions, which culminated in a first-ever promotion to the Premier League in 2021, has been led by incredible recruitment by data-driven owner Matthew Benham (who also owns FC Midtjylland in Denmark).
And if you sprinkle in sublime community spirit and the charisma of manager Thomas Frank, they are now taking on the big boys at the very top of the Premier League.
This bus stop in Hounslow is now being talked about all over the world.
