Ethan Brierley previews Robert Rowan Invitational against Tottenham Hotspur Under-21s | OneFootball

Brentford B captain Ethan Brierley sat down to discuss the third Robert Rowan Invitational fixture on Monday 19 May (7pm kick-off BST).

The young Bees welcome Tottenham Hotspur Under-21s to Gtech Community Stadium for the clash, eyeing a third-straight Robert Rowan Invitational win.

“Neil (MacFarlane) tells us all the time about how much Rob did for Brentford and the B team," explained Brierley.

“I don’t think there would be a B team without him, so we all know what it means. We’ll all go into the game wanting to win for him.

“He’s always with us because people are always talking about him. He’s clearly a big part of Jersey Road and Brentford.

“It’s a big honour to be on the Robert Rowan First Team Debut board - there are some big names on there - to be on it with them is great."

The previous two Invitationals have ended in Brentford victories, first a 3-2 defeat of Manchester City, followed by a 6-2 thrashing of AFC Bournemouth last season.

“I played in the last Invitational. It was a great turnout from the fans, and we beat Bournemouth quite convincingly which made it even better,” said Brierley.

“I remember chatting to a couple of Rob’s family members. Everyone was together and it was a really nice night for such an important person for Brentford.”

Despite losing the Premier League Cup final this week, the young Bees go into the clash with confidence, with the Professional Development League national final still to come.

The B team have also progressed to the final of the London Senior Cup, where they are set to face Hanwell Town.

“We’ll go into it like a normal game; even though it’s a friendly it’s still a massive game for us," said Brierley.

"They are Tottenham but we’ll be positive and think we can beat them for Rob."

“It gives us a hunger because it’s for an important person and we want to keep the 100 per cent winning record in this match intact.

“Every time we play at the Gtech we feel confident and we like to pass the ball around on the Premier League pitch so hopefully we can get the win.”

Tickets are still available for Monday’s match, with all proceeds being donated to the club’s Heart of West London initiative.

The fixture commemorates the life and legacy of Brentford’s late technical director Robert Rowan, who sadly passed away in 2018 due to a fatal cardiomyopathy episode at just 28 years old.

Last time out

The young Bees suffered a 3-1 defeat to QPR in the Premier League Cup final at Loftus Road.

Benjamin Arthur’s header saw the Bees equalise after an early opener, but the Hoops scored twice more to lift the trophy.

Last time out in the Robert Rowan Invitational, Brentford B produced a dominant display to beat Bournemouth 6-2.

Ryan Trevitt scored a brace, with Daniel Oyegoke, Mukhammadali Urinboev, Max Dickov and Ethan Laidlaw each netting once in an impressive performance.

About Tottenham Hotspur U21s

Tottenham U21s compete in Premier League 2 and finished 22nd out of 26 teams in the 2024/25 campaign, missing out on progressing to the play-offs.

Spurs finished the season well, winning two of their final three games against Blackburn Rovers (4-0) and Sunderland (3-2).

The side also competed in the Premier League International Cup, the National League Cup and the Vertu Trophy this season, but they were unable to make it to the knockout stages of any of those competitions.

Match coverage

The club will have updates of the game against Tottenham on social media, as well as a match report and highlights on the club's official website and app.