Ben Burgess: Championing equality | Brentford FC

Ben Burgess became a fan favourite at Griffin Park during the 2001/02 campaign, netting 18 goals in 51 appearances while on loan from Blackburn Rovers. In total, Ben led the line for 10 clubs during a 14-year career.

Now a teacher in Lancashire, Ben still keeps a close eye on the Bees and will be providing his thoughts ahead of each game this season.

Keeping your nerve

Where do you start with this week’s opponent? Spurs have had a very strange season: three managers, an all-time goalscoring record broken, and the ultimate rollercoaster of results.

Up until mid-February, Tottenham were on course for a standout season, especially when they beat Manchester City 1-0 at home to cement their position in the top four.

They had already progressed to the last 16 of the Champions League and they had a good draw against Sheffield United in the fifth round of the FA Cup. There was even talk that this could be their year to win a trophy.

In the space of just a few weeks, however, they were knocked out of the Champions League by AC Milan, eliminated from the FA Cup, and further defeats in the league saw them drop down the Premier League table.

But how does this sort of thing happen?

I think leadership plays a huge part in this. Whatever level you play at, you need players who have been there before. Players that can potentially advise the less experienced guys. Players that can remain cool under pressure and, most of all, a manager who believes in himself and his team.

I’m sure Spurs will rise again, but they need to find that magic combination of leadership on the pitch and on the sidelines.

The best managers I had were Steve Coppell, Peter Taylor and Ian Holloway. Every one of them made players feel loved and confident when they went onto the pitch.

Coppell did it quietly with few words, Peter Taylor would talk to you in a one-to-one situation and fill you with belief, and Holloway would talk so much and so positively about the team and us as individuals that we had little choice but to believe what he said.

Striving for equality

The Bees continue to champion equality in football with their work in the community, and I’ve enjoyed seeing the progress and the elevated status of the Brentford women’s team this season.

It is so important that children have role models that they can relate to and aspire to – they need to know that there’s a pathway for their passion, whoever they might be.

Just last week I had the opportunity to watch my daughter represent her county in a cup final at Stoke City’s Bet365 stadium, and the next day I was at Wembley as part of the biggest crowd for a women’s domestic game ever.

Those two events would not have happened a few years ago and, just watching grassroots football now, you see all sorts of children represented from every different background.

That’s what makes football the best sport in the world.