In 2013/14, Brentford finished runners-up in League One. It was the Bees’ first promotion to the second tier in more than 20 years and marked the beginning of the club’s eventual rise to the Premier League.

To celebrate the 10-year anniversary of Brentford’s 2013/14 promotion-winning campaign, we’re speaking with the key members of the squad and staff to discover the secrets of a successful season.

Next up is Adam Forshaw, who played 39 games and scored eight goals that season. Currently plying his trade in the Championship with Plymouth Argyle, the midfielder says he has “nothing but great memories” from his time in TW8.

A recollection of the 2013/14 promotion-winning campaign would not be complete without the inclusion of Adam Forshaw.

The midfielder turned down a new contract at Everton to sign a two-year deal at Brentford in the summer of 2012, following a short loan spell the season prior, and missed just four of the 57 games the Bees played in all competitions in 2012/13, scoring the winning penalty that took them to the League One play-off final.

With poise and composure beyond his years, he had already become part of the furniture at Griffin Park, so he was eager to be there to finish the job the following term and get a promotion on his CV in just his second full season as a professional. A fresh three-year deal was tabled and duly signed.

“After the disappointment of the year before, when we went away, we knew the manager was staying - he was very highly regarded - and we recruited unbelievably at the beginning of that summer, with people like George Saville and Will Grigg and then James Tarkowski later on,” Forshaw explains.

“The confidence was really high. We knew we were a strong squad as we’d all been through it the year before and we were pretty much there all season. It helped that we had a really young squad and we were all striving for the same thing. You could see exactly where the club was going.

“The competition for places in midfield was good and we had a mix of young and old, like me and George, then there was Dougie [Jonathan Douglas] and Macca [Alan McCormack] and Toumani Diagouraga as well. We knew we had such a good squad at that level and anything other than automatic promotion probably would’ve been a failure for us.”

Forshaw again found himself to be a central figure - quite literally - in Uwe Rösler’s plans.

The trust the German had in him seemed to be unbreakable from the off, likely because he rarely put a foot wrong or gave him any reason to think otherwise.

“Every footballer remembers the person who gave them their chance,” the 32-year-old says.

“I made my debut under David Moyes, but I only played a couple of games and when I went to Brentford, Uwe Rösler was the manager who really put his trust in me. I played a lot in the two years.

“You always look back with fond memories of that person who really helped you forge your career in the game, and he played a massive part. In football terms, I’d say he was a father figure and he still is.

“I’m still in contact with him. A few of us were on a Zoom call with him in lockdown, just catching up. Every once in a while, we’ll exchange texts as well and it’s great to see that he’s doing really well over in Denmark.”

Needless to say, it came as a shock to him when Rosler left for Wigan Athletic in December 2013.

“That was strange for me because it was the first time it had happened in my career,” says Forshaw.

“For someone who was sporting director to go into the manager’s role was probably even a bit stranger for me as it was a relatively new role in football at the time.

“But Warbs [Mark Warburton] was unbelievable. I would argue - with the greatest respect to Uwe - that we went to another level when he came in. I have no doubt we would have got promoted with Uwe as well, but the job Warbs did when he came in was incredible.

“With the greatest respect, Uwe was a lot more tactical and we were probably a lot more organised as a team, but once Warbs came in, we were a lot more free flowing. We were already a good footballing team, but we went to another level in terms of the fluidity and the style.

“There was a philosophy of, ‘Okay, we might concede, but we’ll score more than them,’ which brought success in the end. It was so fun to play in. At the time, I was more of an advanced midfielder, trying to score goals, and it definitely enhanced my game.

“In the first year under Uwe, I’d played right midfield as I was a bit quicker and nimbler back then! Uwe would change shape more than what Warbs would, but once Warbs came in, he’d play different variations of a 4-3-3 and, at the time, I liked to think I could play in all three of the midfield positions.”

Forshaw started every one of the first 24 League One games in 2013/14, until a calf complaint kept him out for the four games after New Year’s Day.

He had scored six goals and provided two assists by that point, with Brentford on a run of 12 wins from 13. Even without him in the team, they picked up another three victories and a draw. That scintillating run was key to putting them on track to put right the wrongs of the year before.

“Momentum is the key word in the Championship, League One and League Two,” Forshaw explains.

“You can play six or seven games in three or four weeks and if you get on a roll, confidence is flying and you’re scoring goals, you can get 20 points in a month, easily.

“Those periods where you hit seven or eight wins or are unbeaten in seven or eight are massive. If you go on a couple of those runs in a season, you give yourself a great chance.

“I lived with Harlee Dean and we used to look at the comparison of the points the season before to the points we had at that time.

“We got to 50 points quicker in the second year and we thought we were well on track. We just handled the last quarter of the games a lot better in the second season given the experience. We’d been there and done it.”

Brentford were so nearly there when they travelled to Swindon on 12 April. They were eight points clear of third-placed Rotherham having played one game fewer and would have reached the 90-point mark with victory at the County Ground.

But Town still had their own play-off hopes and strengthened those with a 1-0 win. The Bees ended the game with 10 players after Forshaw picked up two yellow cards in as many second-half minutes.

It was, effectively, the end of his season - and, ultimately, his time in a Brentford shirt. His very own Zinedine Zidane moment.

“It was a bit of a moment of madness for me,” he says. “I forgot I was on a yellow card and I made the challenge literally a couple of minutes after I’d been booked, which was something I learned from. I’ve never had a red card since.

“I was just gutted I wasn’t involved in the Preston game. It was a brilliant time and I did get to enjoy the celebrations!

“After that, I remember speaking to Warbs and the physios after as I needed an operation at the end of the season. I’d been struggling with an ankle problem throughout the second season and I was just getting injections and managing my load.

“We had MK Dons on the Monday after we beat Preston and I wanted to play one more game to sign off in a better way. I played that, then missed the last couple of games while I got my surgery.

“As soon as we got promoted, I wanted to get it fixed and get the surgery done so I was ready pre-season and ready to go.”

But he never did play for Brentford in the Championship.

Rösler wanted a reunion with the midfielder - who was named League One Player of the Year for 2013/14 - so Wigan made two bids in the summer of 2014 that were dismissed out of hand by Warburton, who described the offers as “totally unacceptable”.

Forshaw’s head had seemingly been turned and he was ordered to stay away from the club’s Jersey Road training ground, before he eventually left, when the Latics returned with a suitable offer, on 1 September.

“I was living away from home and that was quite tough at times as I was young, so to get the chance to move back to Liverpool, and on a long contract, ticked a lot of boxes for me,” he adds.

“Not long before, Wigan had been relegated from the Premier League and won the FA Cup. Uwe was also there, and everyone knew we had a good relationship.

“But I was proved wrong - it wasn’t the right move for me. In my head, there was a good reason for it and I did genuinely think it was going to take me on in my career. I can openly say I got it wrong.

“You live and die by your decisions, and I was fortunate to get a get-out-of-jail-free card when I went to Middlesbrough six months later. You live and learn.”

A decade on, Forshaw is playing in the Championship for Plymouth Argyle, having played in the Premier League for Middlesbrough and Leeds United after winning promotion with both.

Injuries have not been kind over the last few years, though. At the time of writing, he is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury and has made only 59 league appearances since the start of the 2019/20 season.

Players on the sidelines often focus on the positive memories when they are working their way back and maybe, every once in a while, his time in west London pops into his head and forces a smile.

“I absolutely loved my time at Brentford. I’ve got nothing but great memories,” he concludes.

“I met some unbelievable people and some friends for life. I’m proud to have played a small part in the success they had to get to the Premier League.”