Brentford (a)  Saturday 8th April 3.00pm

A non-televised game! Here are some train times, with fares as at 09/03:
 Leeds 0816 0846 0915 0945          

 Kew Bridge

1654

1711

1725

 

 

 Wakefield W 0830 0859 0928 0957            Vauxhall 1719

  1729*

1749

 

 

 Kings Cross 1031 1101 1131 1204            Kings Cross   1803 1818

1833

1903

 Vauxhall 1056 1126 1156 1226  1346* 1356  1416* 1426    Wakefield W   2006 2024 2037 2059
 Kew Bridge 1120 1150 1220 1250 1408 1420 1438 1450    Leeds   2021 2041

2052

2116

 Single fare (to Kings Cross) £45.50 £41.70 £45.50 £34            Single fare (from Kings Cross)   £45.50 £34 £45.50 £34
 * change at Clapham Junction

Fares from Leeds (italics means can be bought on the day):

From £56.80

 Advance Singles to/from Kings Cross (down on 0700, back on 2030)

£134

 Super Off-Peak Singles

£137.50

 Super Off Peak Return to Kew Bridge

Notes:
1. Use trainsplit.com to find the cheapest deals available by splitting your journey; don't buy tickets from them though, use www.tpexpress.co.uk or www.lner.co.uk.
2. Railcard holders get one third off the above prices.
3. Groups of three or more can get approx 20% off East Coast Advance Singles fares if booked at www.lner.co.uk.
 
From Sheffield it's £48.60 with Advance Singles. You can get this down by a couple of quid by splitting it.
 
If you don't mind spending most of the day on a coach, you can do it for around 30 quid return from Leeds or Sheffield with National Express.

Getting to the ground

The ground is about a mile east of Brentford's previous ground, Griffin Park. They've somehow managed to shoehorn it into a space that's not big enough for a football ground! Kew Bridge station is basically next to it. It's fairly easy to get there from Kings Cross. The best way is to take the Victoria line to Vauxhall and then an overground train. These run every 30 minutes, and the total journey time is 50 minutes if you hit it right at Vauxhall. However, there are additional, faster, services from/to Vauxhall immediately before and after the game, changing at Clapham Junction. Alternatively you can head for Gunnersbury (from 45 minutes journey time, 10 minutes from the ground), Acton Town (35 minutes on the Piccadilly line, a good 20-25 minutes to the ground), or Chiswick Park (Piccadilly line to Acton Town, then 2 minutes on the District line, again a good 20 minutes to the ground). The advantage Chiswick Park has over Acton Town is that there are pubs between there and the ground. After the game away fans are "discouraged" from using Kew Bridge station. Access post-game is via an underpass from Lionel Road South. Away fans aren't allowed to walk around the ground to get to the queue, but have to go "the long way round", by which time the queue will be massive. I therefore suggest heading straight to Acton Town, from where there are tubes every two minutes. Gunnersbury is closed for an hour after the match.
 
Driving there isn't much of an option. There is very limited official parking, which must be pre-booked here. The two car parks, one next to the ground and the other a 20 minute walk away, are both expensive and situated within London's Ultra Low Emission Zone, so that's big chunk of money unless your car is exempt. Street parking is basically not an option anywhere near the ground because it's all restricted to permit holders.

Pubs
The new ground is nothing like as good for pubs as Griffin Park was. There are options though. The most obvious is the Express Tavern, which is more or less outside Kew Bridge station. It looks decent enough, and is marginally less expensive than most of the others. A bit further south, there's the One Over the Ait, the Steam Packet and the Bell and Crown on the north riverbank, and the Cricketers and the Greyhound. These are all upmarket establishments with eye watering prices, and all but the Bell and Crown don't open until 12. If you arrive at Chiswick Park or Gunnersbury you might want to check out the Gunnersbury or the Pilot. The former would be my recommendation.
 
I haven't read anything to say that any of these pubs don't allow away fans in or are to be avoided. Apparently many of the hard core Brentford fans still drink in the pubs around Griffin Park
 
Pub map
Kings Cross pub map
Brentford FC stadium guide
tfl travel latest
Beesotted (good unofficial site)
Football Ground Guide
London Transport