Chris Brown says he still looks back on that incredible day at Brentford with fond memories.
Speaking after the Brentford reunion event, he admitted that footballers probably don’t reminisce about the good times in their careers enough and, when he looks back on his career, that day at Brentford is one of the highlights.
“Now I’ve retired I look back more, and I obviously had a lot of low points in my career but I also had a lot of highs. When I want to cheer myself up that team, that season, and that day is one of the first things I think about,” said Brown.
“I got a lovely feeling reminiscing at the reunion event – we don’t do it enough.”
While it might be one of the highlights of his playing career, Brown admitted he actually can’t remember much about the game.
“I know I didn’t have a great game and thankfully it was irrelevant but for me personally, it was a nervous performance,” he added.
“It was a nervous game, even though there was so much on it I can’t really remember if there was any atmosphere – I think it was just nervous tension everywhere.
“I remember the penalty incident. You’ve never seen a swing of emotion like it – from their fans to our fans, from their players to our players … it was just incredible.”
Brown had even more reason to be pleased that day. Having been born in Doncaster, helping the club to promotion was particularly special for him and his family.
“The club’s got a massive place in all of my family’s hearts,” Brown said.
“Obviously, I was born here, my dad lived here for a long time when he was playing. My granddad, when he was alive, he always used to say you should go back to Donny, I liked it when you were there.
“He got on really well with the fans. The fans were always really good to my family and for the most part, I always had a really good relationship with the fans myself.
“It’s an unbelievable family club and when you see the video of the bus tour afterwards … it was just great to see people just ecstatic and it made us feel proud to be doing it for them.”
You can watch extended highlights of the game here. Watch the Brentford Reunion in full here or even watch the bus parade by clicking here.
