Brentford eye Cup bonanza

Brentford's players are believed to be in line for a £40,000 windfall if they beat Hartlepool in the FA Cup tomorrow.

As a reward for reaching the fifth round, each member of the 16-man squad for the Griffin Park clash is expected to scoop £2,500.

With two of their previous matches screened on live television, Brentford have generated income of more than £300,000 from their Cup run.

That figure is likely to break the half-a-million-pound mark if they beat Neale Cooper's side and the club believe it is important to share a significant sum with their players. Once the bonuses are paid and other costs covered, any leftover money will go into next year's budget.

Brentford are £7million in debt and face annual interest payments on their overdraft of £300,000.

Director John McGlashan said: "Although the total figure is income rather than earnings, it's still money that we did not budget for at the start of the season and is far above what we expected to get from the FA Cup."

Brentford were on the verge of going out of business two years ago. Before fans' group Bees United took over day-to-day control, there was talk of the club being forced to sell Griffin Park and groundshare with non-League Kingstonian or Woking.