Visiting QPR and Brentford's stadiums

Part 2 of "the epic West London journey"

London has way too many football clubs to count, and a large number of them play in the top divisions as well. Probably the best example of this is in west London, where you have four(!) football clubs playing in either the Premier League or the Championship. If you wanted to visit all four by car (which you'd only do if you were insane), it would take you about an hour at worst. 

I've visited all four; in this post, I took a trip to Shepherd's Bush and Kew, making my way through the Chiswick wilderness. The walk took about an hour and twenty minutes.

Loftus Road (QPR)

Shepherd's Bush isn't the prettiest place in London. I should know, I've been here a few times, occasionally for uni matters. Most people will know this as the home of one of London's Westfields, and I must admit I've never been inside a Westfield. 

So my view of Shepherd's Bush might be too naive. 

When it comes to shopping, you could always go to Shepherd's Bush Market...probably not a few days after Christmas, and definitely not in the morning when the sellers haven't started setting up yet. The market spans a road with two Tube stations on either end, so transport wouldn't be an issue. 

   

The market opened in 1914, with entrepeneur John Crowe invited people to sell goods along the road. Back then, this was Railway Approach, and was already home to several businesses, and they weren't happy about Crowe. Luckily for them, Crowe's effort was put to an end by the outbreak of war; luckily for Crowe, he was back in business in 1918 by offering soldiers their own stalls. And the market only blossomed from there, especially after the Windrush generation arrived in the 1940s and began selling. To this day, the market is still around; I'd like to imagine it's thriving outside of early morning hours.

Having made my way through the market, leaving by the Shepherd's Bush Market station side, I wasn't far from my first stadium...but it's not particularly easy to spot, because it's hidden amongst the houses.

But it is there. The floodlights peek out from behind.

 

This is Loftus Road, the home ground of Queens Park Rangers. They've played here since 1917, the odd season at White City Stadium aside, though they weren't the first team here. That accolade belongs to Shepherd's Bush FC, who played at Loftus Road from when it opened to 1904, to when they dissolved in 1915. 

QPR currently play in the Championship, though they used to be somewhat successful in the past. They won the League Cup in 1967, and nearly won the top division in 1976. But they've been in the Championship since 2015, and haven't come close to winning promotion to the Premier League since. 

 

It's funny that there are people who are neighbours to Loftus Road, as in their front door is next to the stadium gates. Of all the stadiums I visited in west London, this is, in my opinion, the most unremarkable and traditional stadium. You can't really see the stadium entrance as you walk along the roads around the stadium. Indeed, the ground is hemmed in by houses on all sides, so it's not expanding any time soon. 

Final opinion: somewhat scruffy, wouldn't recommend visiting unless you're going to a game there. 

Interlude to Stamford Brook

I walked from Loftus Road all the way to the next stadium. It's not the most photogenic walk ever, mostly consisting of rows of houses, and the occasional glimpse of a polluted main road. I effectively managed to avoid Hammersmith, and only got to an interesting place when I ended up by Stamford Brook Common. The walk to this point looked like this:

 

Stamford Brook, Turnham Green, Gunnersbury

This part of London is what I like to call "where I'll end up if I fell asleep on the District line going to uni". There's Ravenscourt Park nearby, but I didn't come close to it; maybe another time.

Stamford Brook Common

Stamford Brook doesn't exist. It used to be a tributary of the Thames, but since 1900, it's been covered up and converted into part of the London sewage system. There were seemingly plans in 2008 to uncover the brook around Furnivall Gardens in Hammersmith, which was where the brook fed into the Thames, but these never went anywhere.

Yet the name still lives on, mainly due to the Tube station that I didn't visit because it was slightly off route. It's been around since 1869, though initially as a railway station. So it's not like the designers had particularly niche river knowledge. That's probably why there's a Stamford Brook Road and a Stamford Brook Common, the latter of which the river used to flow through. It's a normal park with a playground and a grassy plain, nothing more to say about it.

The locals I assume say they live in Stamford Brook, but I didn't ask any. 

I continued walking until I reached Turnham Green station, which is just off Acton Green Common. There's nothing much here apart from more housing and a high street, which in fairness had an Oxfam with a cool music section (got myself a Spiritualized CD!).

 

But Turnham Green is historically known for being a former warzone - let me talk about the Battle of Turnham Green for a bit:

The year is 1642, and the English Civil War has just begun. On one side, you have the Parliamentarians, led by Oliver Cromwell, who want Parliament to have control of the country. On the other, you have the Royalists, led by King Charles I, who really like having a monarchy. 

The Royalists were on a roll, having recently captured Oxford, and many were looking to make peace with the Parliamentarians. But Prince Rupert of the Rhine, who was Charles's nephew, went to nearby Brentford and sacked the town, causing Londoners, worried about their property, to side with the Parliamentarians. There were 24,000 Parliamentarians compared to 13,000 Royalists set up on the fields of Turnham Green on the 13th November, making this one of the largest battles in the war. 

But not much really happened. The Parliamentarians dug in and held out, and the Royalists couldn't find a way through. The Royalists surrendered, and couldn't advance. The Parliamentarians had won, managing to stall the Royalists on their way to London. Around 50 people on both sides died. 

The Royalists never got closer to London than before the battle; by 1649, the Parliamentarians had decisively won, and Charles was beheaded. The very odd Interregnum period began from here, where Cromwell basically became the king (but not officially) of a united England, Scotland and Ireland. For eleven years, England didn't have a monarchy. The actual history is very interesting, but I'm here to yap about Turnham Green.

   

You can still find Turnham Green itself; there's a lovely church in the middle, and Chiswick Town Hall - once the home of the Borough of Brentford and Chiswick, now open for weddings and conferences - is nearby. Technically the closest station is actually Chiswick Park, but in this part of London all the stations are so close together I doubt anyone actually cares.

My walk returned to dullish suburbia, and the weather surely didn't help with that. Indeed, this is probably where the trip becomes unpleasant.

   

I entered Gunnersbury round the brutalist bit. Not near Gunnersbury Park, which isn't too far and looks wonderful in the pictures. Not even near the North Korean embassy, which isn't miles away. Instead, I walked over the station and underneath the M4. It's all quite scruffy here.

But eventually I emerged near Kew Bridge, and got to where I was heading all along.

Brentford Community Stadium (Brentford) 

Brentford have only played here since 2020 - their previous ground, Griffin Park, was known for having a pub on each corner of the stadium, and was far closer to Brentford town. They'd played there for most of their history, having moved there in 1904. 

 

For most of their existence, Brentford languished in the lower leagues, spending most of their history in Leagues One and Two. But since 2014, they slowly established themselves as a decent team; they won promotion to the Championship in 2014 and made their way into the Premier League in 2021, where they finished 10th last season. And this might be a stretch, but I'd argue Brentford are currently the best team in this part of west London.

The stadium itself is unsurprisingly very sleek and modern. It's also extremely grey, and is boxed in by car parks, railway lines, and the M4, so feels very closed off from the rest of the world. Loads of newbuild flats surround it as well, and from the outside I didn't catch a glimpse of the field. But credit where credit's due, the club planted a small garden in the area and even placed a "what nature you can see" plaque. So if you're an aspiring botanist, come down to Brentford FC to check out the different grass species you can find there.

  

Final opinion: quite lovely, but not sure if it's worth going unless you're a matchgoer. I hope I might be in the crowd soon.