Brentford Football Club was founded in 1889 by members of the Brentford Rowing Club. The club played at Griffin Park from 1904 until 2020. Brentford's most successful historical period was in the 1930s and 1940s, when the club competed in the First Division (England's top flight). The club was relegated from the top flight in 1947 and spent the following seven decades in the lower divisions.
Matthew Benham first invested in Brentford in 2012, initially providing financial support before acquiring majority ownership. At the time, Brentford was competing in League One (England's third tier). Benham's investment and data-driven approach to recruitment helped the club gain promotion to the Championship in 2014.
Brentford spent seven seasons in the Championship, consistently competing above its financial level through smart recruitment and player development. The club's analytics-based approach identified undervalued players who could be developed and sold at a profit, creating a sustainable financial model.
In 2020, Brentford moved from Griffin Park to the newly built Gtech Community Stadium, a 17,250-seat purpose-built football venue near Kew Bridge in West London. The stadium opened in September 2020 and represented a major investment in the club's infrastructure.
In the 2020-21 season, Brentford won promotion to the Premier League via the Championship play-off final, defeating Swansea City 2-0 at Wembley. It was the club's first appearance in the top flight since 1947. Since promotion, Brentford has established itself as a competitive Premier League club under manager Thomas Frank, who has been in charge since October 2018.
Benham also owns FC Midtjylland in Denmark's Superliga, where he first tested his data-driven approach to football management before applying it at Brentford.