LONDON -- The start of a new Premier League season brings with it a sense of regeneration and hope, everywhere that is except Arsenal.
Nowhere was that optimism and anticipation greater than Brentford, an enclave of west London deprived of top-flight football for 74 years and desperate to fill their new stadium for the first time en masse. To heighten the excitement still further, crowds were able to return without restrictions on capacity for the first time, meaning 16,479 supporters crammed into this compact but comfortable arena surrounded on three sides by railway lines.