Bees United would like to take this opportunity to celebrate the life and achievements of long-term supporter and Bees United member, Ron Fishlock, who passed away recently, after over 80 years of loyal support of his local club and falling just short of a century himself.
We are indebted to his loving daughter, Chris, Ron’s baby brother Dave, still going strong at the age of 92, and his good and dear family friend Bruce Shepherd, for their vivid, warm and loving memories of Ron.
Born locally in Brentford he saw his first game at Griffin Park at the age of 7 watching from New Road and Ron was still a season ticket holder and attending matches nearly 90 years later on! Ron was a choir boy at St Lawrence Brentford boys’ school before leaving at the age of 14, no doubt using his choral gifts to better effect behind the goal at Griffin Park!
As a child he used to walk to the ground collecting friends and neighbours and relatives (as well, of course, sandwiches from his aunt) on the way there. Lots of the family including his grandparents lived within 100 metres of Griffin Park, happily close to the Princess Royal. He would also pass by the ground twice each day walking to and from school – no wonder he became a committed Bees fan!
He did his bit in the Second World War as a member of the Brentford Home Guard, B troop 73rd Middlesex based in Gunnersbury Park before serving in the army in Folkestone.
In October 1945 he married Meg Joyce and tragically their daughter Freida died only 2 months old before Christine arrived later in 1952.
Ron became an apprentice at RN Pullins, specialist optical engineers, on the Golden Mile on the Great West Road. Ron lived for many years in Park Road Hanworth and remained with the same company after the war, an acknowledged expert in the design and manufacture of lights and lenses for lighthouses and he travelled widely to Persia, Iran and Syria where he made many friends.
As a keen footballer his brother Dave remembers that Ron played football at lunchtime with several Brentford footballers who were also working at the factory. That must have been an incredible experience kicking a ball around with established First Division stars given how successful Harry Curtis’s pre-war team was.
Ron was fortunate enough to watch Harry Curtis’s great team of the mid to late 30s which took the First Division by storm and became one of London’s leading teams.
Ron’s brother Dave remember the two of them watching the Bees take on, and as we did in those days, beat the mighty Arsenal and this match, in particulr, on 19th April 1938, was where Ted Drake was injured. Ted collided with Crozier the Bees goalie and he needed 5 stitches!
Amazingly Ted played on bandaged in the 2nd half and the Daily Mail of 19th April 1938, “DRAKE, CARRIED OFF, PLAYS IN BANDAGES” had a real go at the Bees supporters, saying, “Poor sportsmanship of the Brentford crowd spoiled my enjoyment of a terrifically fast game …. the crowd wouldn’t give him a chance, and his every move was greeted with a chorus of booing from all parts of the ground…” More graciously, the Mail reporter went on to say, “… Brentford played like a winning team from the start. Halves, and even backs, moved up to support a clever, goal-hungry forward line in which Eastham was at his dazzling best…”
Dave remembers even in those days he was still small enough to be passed over the heads of older fans to the front of the terraces as was the custom in those days. Fans could change ends at halftime and they often managed to move to the Brook Road kop for the second half to help suck in the Brentford goals.
Dave remembers that Ron’s last ever Brentford match was a few years ago near the end of the season, when they parked the other side of the railway line and walked over the footbridge to the ground. The Bees missed a crucial penalty towards the end of the match before the other side broke away and won the game – it sounds ominously like the infamous Doncaster Rovers match to me – what a way to sign off if it was!
Over the course of his support of the Bees he experienced both the good and the bad times and it is fitting that his dedication was bookended with the club being established and successful in the top echelon of the game both in the mid to late 30s and of course now.
Ron Fishlock exemplified everything that is good about a person. He was a charming, intelligent, quiet, softly spoken and thoroughly decent man. A real gentleman in every meaning of the word. He was totally loyal, kind and unassuming and without ego along with a well-developed sense of family and community.
He was a true supporter and I only wish I could have met him.
He will be sadly missed.
RIP Ron