The New Inn, Brentford

This is one of the four pubs sited at each corner of Brentford's Griffin Park ground and being perhaps the most away-fan friendly of the four, I decided to pop in for a quick pint prior to a recent midweek cup fixture against the Bees. The pub is divided into two rooms and has a nice traditional feel to it, despite the inevitable TV screens showing Sky Sports. There is plenty of dark wood and ancient looking carpet within, which gives it a bit of charm. The main bar is very narrow with limited seating and not much space when it gets busy at the bar. However, as you move into the second room the place opens out a lot more and there is ample seating in here and also in what looks like an extension at the rear. The walls are decorated with various bits of Brentford and Celtic FC memorabilia, but otherwise there's not too much else to distract the eye. The front entrance is reached by passing through a small paved bit of garden with provides some outdoor seating options. I only spotted two hand pumps, one of which was dispensing Courage Best at £3.00 a pint, whilst the other had a turned clip for something called New Inn Ale, whatever that might be. My pint of Best was okay and I was served by a nice enough barman who was working as part of a well drilled team, with queues at the bar kept to a minimum. I quite liked the feel of this place and thought it worked well in its role as a pre-match pub, but I'm not sure there was enough going on to make me deviate from my usual Brentford pre-match ritual at the Magpie and Crown.

I always go into the New Inn when I'm at Griffin Park as you are given fast friendly service and the away fans are allowed in, which I find makes the place more interesting. There is a pool table and a couple of dart boards at the back of the pub and a nice beer garden for the summer. The lager is pretty good and it is also home to the West London Celtic Supporters Club, so if there are 2 matches on TV at the same time and Celtic is one of them that will be the game that is shown. All in all pretty good for a Brentford pub.