Pinnock's in the air: Brentford's man mountain
Ethan Pinnock celebrates scoring against Manchester City, May 2023 (Photo by Alex Pantling / Getty Images)
Seven seasons on from his £3 million move from Barnsley, Ethan Pinnock’s time at Brentford has finally come to an end, as the Jamaican centre-back leaves the Bees with his club legend status firmly in the bag.
It was officially announced on Wednesday that the 33-year-old had left the West Londoners for newly promoted Coventry City, with the deal believed to be in the region of £5 million with a further £1 million in potential add ons.
A promotion winner and scorer of the first ever competitive goal at the Gtech Community Stadium, Pinnock made 216 appearances for Brentford, scoring 12 goals, as he became a core member of a side that he has helped progress from a mid-table Championship team to genuine European contenders, and in the process ensured his name will be one forever remembered with great fondness amongst Brentford fans.
Journey to Brentford
This time ten years ago, a then 23-year-old Ethan Pinnock was playing in the National League for Forest Green Rovers, having joined the club from South London side Dulwich Hamlet earlier that summer.
Ethan Pinnock celebrates Forest Green Rovers winning the 2016/17 National League playoffs (Photo by Ben Hoskins / Getty Images)
Ethan Pinnock celebrates Forest Green Rovers winning the 2016/17 National League playoffs (Photo by Ben Hoskins / Getty Images)
It seems almost inconceivable that as we fast forward to the present, this is a man that would go on to play 117 times in the Premier League for Brentford, during which time he would find his name on the scoresheet against clubs such as Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United.
After making 45 appearances in all competitions for a then non-league Forest Green Rovers in the 2016/17 season, helping them win promotion to League Two, Pinnock joined Barnsley in the summer of 2017 for a fee of just under £500,000.
He would make 12 Championship appearances for the South Yorkshire side in his first season, as they were relegated to League One.
It was in League One the following season where Pinnock would begin to make a name for himself, playing all 46 league games for Barnsley as they won promotion back to the Championship at the first time of trying, with his performances at that level catching the eye of Brentford.
Despite Barnsley’s promotion back to the second tier, a battle to keep their star centre back was one which they did not win, and a then 26-year-old Pinnock joined Brentford for a fee in the region of £3 million.
The rest, as they say, is history…
Reaching the big time
The summer of 2019 was one of significant change for Brentford, and in time would be remembered as one of the best Championship windows of all time.
Alongside Pinnock, Brentford brought in the likes of David Raya, Bryan Mbeumo, Christian Norgaard, and Pontus Jansson as Thomas Frank’s side went from 11th place in the 2018/19 season to third in 2019/20.
Pinnock arrived at Brentford as part of a significant rebuild at centre back.
The Bees had ended the 2018/19 season playing a back three. Chris Mepham had departed for AFC Bournemouth the past January, before Ezri Konsa, now of Arsenal, left for Aston Villa and Yoann Barbet joined local rivals Queens Park Rangers.
Alongside Pontus Jansson, Ethan Pinnock initially formed part of a back three with Julian Jeanvier. However, Pinnock initially struggled for immediate form, and right back Henrik Dalsgaard was dropped into the back three in his place after an opening five games in which Brentford had won just once.
It wasn’t until late November when Pinnock would get another chance to stake his claim. Brentford had found form after reverting to a back four in defence, however a 97th minute red card to Jeanvier in a 3-0 win at Wigan Athletic ensured Pinnock would be needed for the next three games. In those three games Brentford conceded just once, and from that point on, Pinnock played in every single league game for the remainder of the season.
Pinnock was primarily paired with club captain Pontus Jansson, and on occasions, due to injury to Jansson, with Julian Jeanvier too, as Brentford came agonisingly close to promotion to the Premier League.
Pinnock’s form was imperious next to Jansson, particularly following the summer restart after the 2019/20 season had initially been paused in March due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Brentford won seven in a row after the restart to put themselves into automatic promotion contention in a run which included Pinnock scoring a dramatic 85th minute winner as Brentford came from behind to secure a crucial 2-1 win over Charlton Athletic at Griffin Park.
Pinnock's in the air: Brentford's man mountain
Brentford players celebrate Ethan Pinnock's dramatic late winner against Charlton at Griffin Park, July 2020 (Photo by Warren Little / Getty Images)
Whilst Brentford would miss out on automatic promotion by two points before losing in the playoff final to Fulham, Pinnock would help Brentford right their wrongs the following season.
In a year where he would make his debut for the Jamaican national team, Pinnock started 39 games in the regular Championship season along with all three playoff games, keeping a clean sheet alongside Pontus Jansson and Henrik Dalsgaard in a back three as Brentford beat Swansea City 2-0 at Wembley Stadium to end a 74 year wait for a return to the top flight of English football.
Just four years on from winning the National League Playoffs to gain promotion to League Two with Forest Green, Ethan Pinnock won a Championship Playoff Final with Brentford on the day of his 28th birthday to become a Premier League player.
Big game player
Playing his first ever top flight game at the age of 28, you could’ve been excused for having doubts over whether Pinnock was up for the task of being a Premier League level centre back.
However, like with every step up he’d made in his career, Pinnock did not appear fazed in the slightest, taking to the Premier League like a duck to water.
Pinnock kept a clean sheet in his maiden top flight appearance, and assisted Sergi Canos for Brentford’s first ever Premier League goal in a 2-0 win over Arsenal.
Just six weeks on, Pinnock’s first Premier League goal would come, netting the opener in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Liverpool at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Of the six Premier League goals Pinnock would score in his time in the Premier League, his goal against Liverpool was the first of four he would bag against the league’s ‘Big Six’, illustrating himself as very much a man for the big occasion.
Two of Pinnock’s finest performances in a Brentford shirt would come with goals and clean sheets attached to his name.
Having beaten them 2-1 at the Etihad back in November, Brentford hosted champions Manchester City on the final day of the 2022/23 Premier League season, with slim hopes of European qualification still alive if results went their way.
Pinnock was deployed at the heart of defence, playing in the middle of a back three with Zanka and Ben Mee either side of him. The Jamaican delivered a defensive masterclass which included six blocked shots and a 100% ground duel success rate, before netting the winning goal to send the home fans into raptures.
Whilst results elsewhere ensured Brentford did not sneak into European qualification on the final day, three points ensured a 9th placed finish for the Bees’ 2022/23 campaign and their best ever Premier League points finish of 59.
Five months on, Pinnock would again show up against the big boys for the Bees, opening the scoring with a superb back post header and keeping a clean sheet at Stamford Bridge, winning five of his six aerial duels, as Brentford secured a memorable 2-0 West London Derby win over Chelsea.
Pinnock's in the air: Brentford's man mountain
Ethan Pinnock scores a back post header as Brentford beat Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge, October 2023 (Photo by Alex Broadway / Getty Images)
Pinnock would finish the 2023/24 season as Brentford’s Supporters’ Player of the Year in a squad which included talent such as Bryan Mbeumo, Ivan Toney, Yoane Wissa, Kevin Schade and Christian Norgaard.
In his 117 Premier League appearances across five seasons for Brentford, Pinnock kept 27 clean sheets, and it feels rather perfect that his final competitive appearance for the club in March earlier this year would be in a 0-0 draw at Leeds United, coming into an injury hit side and keeping a clean sheet when called upon in a resolute, ballsy defensive performance.
Whilst it is no doubt the right time for Pinnock to move on from Brentford, having made just four appearances in the Premier League last season, he leaves with a legacy as one of the most important players of Brentford’s early Premier League years, bringing to an end the largest chapter of a special story of how a boy from Lambeth defied the odds and went from Non-League to the Premier League.