After he stepped up to take his place in Brentford’s Hall of Fame,
Pontus admitted a piece of his heart will always be with the Bees
Pontus Jansson was only at Brentford for four years, yet he speaks about the club with a heartfelt familiarity. In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count, it’s the life in your years. Brentford’s latest Hall of Fame inductee, the Swedish centre-half owes as much to the club as the club owes to him. He provided play-off redemption and Premier League football, but perhaps just as importantly, Brentford offered Jansson a space to be himself.
“No one in this club held me back, they let me be myself,” Jansson exclusively tells the Hounslow Herald as we sit down before the 2024 Hall of Fame inductee event at Gtech.
Jansson made the move from Leeds United to Brentford in 2019 in search of a quieter life. The bullish defender admitted he often acted emotionally to what he called a ‘crazy’ environment at Leeds, and Brentford offered the perfect reprieve on the leafy outskirts of west London.
“Over the four years at Brentford, I grew a lot as a person and as a player. I tried to learn new things all the time.”
Jansson’s development not only as a player but as a person is something he credits to Brentford manager Thomas Frank. A smile breaks across his rugged face when his former boss is mentioned. The Dane softened Jansson’s hard-nosed exterior, and it’s clear the Malmo defender holds nothing but a deep appreciation for Frank.
“I love Thomas the most because he’s so brave and open-minded and always believed in us.
He gave me the confidence to be myself.”
Frank’s bravery, which itself stems from the trust of individuals like Matthew Benham (Owner) and Phil Giles (Director of Football), has been fundamental to Brentford’s success over the past six years.
Jansson says without it, Brentford wouldn’t have been able to play with such assertiveness in their first few seasons in the Premier League. Securing statement victories over Arsenal and Chelsea in their first season in the topflight, the latter a 4-1 demolition at the home of their west London rivals and reigning Champions League winners.
“It comes from Thomas but also from the club. They pushed Thomas to be brave, to be open-minded, and to find solutions to beat the best teams in the world.
“When you go into the Premier League as a player, a club and a team, you doubt yourself. But we showed against Arsenal (in Brentford’s first game in the Premier League) that we were good enough, that I’m good enough for this level.”
Jansson is a towering presence and a fearsome competitor, but when I speak to him, there’s a tinge of vulnerability. He talks candidly about doubting himself and his leadership qualities.
“It’s not only about being a good leader and talking.
You also have to lead with (your) actions.”
People’s perception of him, especially from his time at Leeds, and the insecurity that brought on is also central to understanding an individual who has become increasingly introspective with age. Jansson’s reflective nature ultimately reflects the culture Brentford and Frank have built, which puts people first.
“Thomas was very good with that (helping Jansson adapt), especially in my first season in the Premier League. In the Championship, it felt like you knew the league. You could almost play with closed eyes. But now, you’re going (to the) Premier League. You have to focus on yourself and not on everyone else. It was very important to hear that from Thomas.”
Having led Brentford to the Premier League in 2021, beating Swansea City 2-0 in the play-off final, Jansson was already a crucial component of Frank’s team. His growth, however, across his two seasons in the Premier League moulded him into a leader and a figurehead of the club he now considers his second home. “I follow this club every second since I left, every game I’m still in contact with the players, with Phil (Giles), Thomas (Frank). It comes naturally, I still have Brentford in my heart.”
Jansson now plays back at Malmo and recently lifted his second successive league title with his boyhood club. The serenity of life back in Sweden is something Jansson has come to appreciate now more than ever. After he stepped up to take his place in Brentford’s Hall of Fame, Jansson admitted a piece of his heart will always be with the Bees.
The playoff final
Football during COVID was almost as hollow as broadcasters’ promise at the time that football was nothing without fans. An eerie tick list of games played to a somewhat engaging, somewhat dystopian backing track of visceral touchline instructions and Orwellian ‘crowd noise’ pumped into the stadium intermittently as players raced around searching for purpose and points.The whole thing was artificial, lacking passion, personality and presence. A fever dream that sedated the penned-up populace. Stockholm syndrome for football fans.
Given the lack of intensity and intimacy, it’s no surprise that a player as forthright and passionate as Pontus Jansson struggled under the glare of an empty Wembley. The Swede is someone who thrives under the pressure and jeopardy of a baying crowd. It’s, therefore, little wonder he and his Brentford teammates never got going in the COVID-disrupted 2020 Championship play-off final. Even the fervour of a west London derby against Fulham couldn’t distract Jansson from his own thoughts, which rattled around a destitute Wembley with a ghostly clarity.
“Against Fulham, we were too passive. It felt like we were waiting for extra time and penalties,” Jansson told the Hounslow Herald, relief etched across his face. The former Brentford captain still lives with the events of that final, extra-time heartbreak at the hands of one of their fiercest rivals. The only reason he can speak so candidly about what happened is because Brentford picked themselves up and went again the following year.
“Against Swansea, we were just going for it from the start. It was the perfect final.”
Haunted by the manner of their defeat the previous season, Brentford rallied and made it to Wembley for a second successive year just as fans filtered their way back into stadiums.
Jansson needed no more motivation. The muted roar of the 11,689-strong Wembley crowd was enough to remind him that at 30 years old, his dreams of playing Premier League football rested on beating Swansea. No small feat considering Brentford had, to that point, lost all 10 of their play-off campaigns, including five finals. “It felt like if I didn’t win against Swansea, I would never do it.”
There was a desperation that drove Jansson towards perfection that day, and within 20 minutes, everything was falling into place as first Ivan Toney and then Emiliano Marcondes netted for the Bees to take a firm grip of the final. A second-half red card for Swansea midfielder Jay Fulton handed Brentford the man advantage and Jansson a clean shot at redemption. As the centre-half watched on from the bench, his dream drawing nearer, relief washed over his body.
The full-time whistle signalled confirmation of Brentford’s promotion to the Premier League.
Jansson collapsed in on himself. The albatross around his neck had been lifted.
“I could just breathe out because I was fighting for it (promotion) so hard.” The weight of expectation had been replaced by the weighty grasp of Christian Norgaard, who sat behind him on the bench, and with that, the celebrations could commence. “I remember the final whistle well. I was sitting on the bench, and I remember Christian was jumping on my back, and we had a big hug.
“Everyone was on the pitch celebrating together, and that’s how Brentford is.”
Jansson is quick to recall each and every individual on the pitch that day; even in the midst of the celebrations, he recognised, in typical Brentford fashion, that this was a victory not just for the players or Thomas Frank but for the fans, for the staff, for people like Peter Gilham (Club Ambassador) and Matthew Benham (Owner). It was a collective effort, a collective sigh of relief.
“Everyone was just breathing out. (It was) one of the finest memories in my football life to go to the Premier League, which was mine and the club’s dream.”
Reproduced with kind permission from Sam Tabuteau
Freelance Sports Journalist, PL and EFL Accredited
Sports Editor Hounslow Herald
