Brentford F.C.

Full name	Brentford Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Bees
Founded	10 October 1889 (1889-10-10)
Ground	Griffin Park
Ground Capacity	12,573[1]
Owner	Matthew Benham
Chairman	Cliff Crown
Head Coach	Dean Smith
League	Championship
2016–17	Championship, 10th
Website	Club website
Third colours

Brentford Football Club is a professional association football club based in Brentford, Greater London, England. The team play in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Brentford FC was founded on the 10 October 1889. The Football Club plays its home games at Griffin Park, its home stadium since 1904, after a nomadic existence playing at five previous grounds. Brentford's most successful spell came during the 1930s, when it achieved consecutive top six finishes in the First Division. Brentford have been FA Cup quarter-finalists on four occasions, and have been runners-up of the Football League Trophy on three occasions.

History

Foundation to 1920

Founded on 10 October 1889, at the Oxford and Cambridge Hotel public house in Brentford – next to Kew Bridge – a meeting was held, between the members of the Brentford Rowing Club, to decide between association football or rugby union, to serve as a winter pursuit for the rowing club and its members. As a result of a vote, by eight votes to five, taken six days later, association football was successful as the sport to partake in.

The football club started out playing its home matches at the Clifden House Ground – this was recreational land between what is now Clifden Road and Lateward Road – in Brentford, from November 1889 to March 1892. The very first fixture, between Brentford FC and Kew FC, was on 23 November 1889. Due to ownership of the land changing hands, Brentford FC was on the lookout for a new ground after only 30 months. In October 1892, Benn's Field – land behind The Plough PH Little Ealing Lane – in Little Ealing, was the club's new home. The football club decided to move nearer to Brentford and in December 1894 it moved to Shotter's Field – what is now Gunnersbury School, The Ride – and stayed there until April 1898. Due to high rent increases, the club was once again forced to move on, so in September 1898 the club moved to the Cross Roads Ground, in Little Ealing – land on the north west side of the junction of Little Ealing Lane and Ealing Road – this was used until April 1900. As the club grew, therefore entertaining larger crowds, a move to a ground with the chance of improving better spectator facilities, with under cover enclosures and changing rooms, was looked for. Boston Park Cricket Ground, in York Road, Brentford – what is now land along the east side of Ealing Road and south of the Great West Road – was then used from September 1900 to April 1904. Finally, in January 1904, the club agreed a 21-year lease on an orchard, once owned by Chiswick brewers Fuller, Smith and Turner. The clearance of the orchard, over 200 trees, and the levelling of the land took several months. Griffin Park, as it became known – supposedly named after the local The Griffin pub once used as a changing rooms in the early years – was now ready for use as a football ground after banking was raised along three sides of the ground and an enclosure, moved from their previous ground, was erected. In August 1904 trial matches were played on the pitch. Then the first competitive match was played, a reserve team game in the Western League v Plymouth Argyle. On 7 September 1904, Brentford and West Ham United played out a 0–0 draw, in the Southern League First Division, which was the first first team match.

In 1920 it was a founder member of the Football League Third Division. In 1921–22, the Football League Third Division was regionalised and Brentford FC was placed in the Southern section.

1930s 'golden' era

During the late 1920s and 1930s, the club began to make real progress. In the 1929–30 season, the side won all 21 of its home matches in the Third Division South, but still missed out on promotion. It is the last of six teams in English football to amass a perfect home record, and the only one to do so over a season of 42 matches or more. After several more near-misses, promotion to the Second Division was finally achieved in 1932–33. Two years later, Brentford reached the First Division and finished 5th in its debut season – which is still the club's highest ever league position – to complete a remarkable rise for the club. Under manager Harry Curtis and captain Arthur Bateman, Brentford achieved more impressive placings in the league for the rest of the decade (6th in the following two seasons) before the Second World War interrupted.

1939–1989

During the war, Brentford competed in the London War Cup, losing in the 1941 final at Stamford Bridge to Reading ^[2] and winning in the final against Portsmouth a year later at Wembley Stadium.^[3] The club was relegated in the first season after the war, and a downward spiral set in, which culminated in relegation to the Third Division in 1953–54 and the Fourth Division in 1961–62. In the process Brentford became the first club to play all of the other current 91 clubs in the football league at the time.^[4]

The survival of Brentford FC was threatened by a projected takeover by Queens Park Rangers in 1967 ^[5] – a bid that was only narrowly averted with an emergency loan of £104,000 – while the club continued to yo-yo between the third and fourth divisions during the next three decades. The club won promotion in 1962–63, 1971–72 and 1977–78 but only on the final occasion was it able to consolidate its place in English football's third tier. Other bright spots in this period included reaching the final of the Freight Rover Trophy at Wembley in 1985, where the team lost to Wigan, and a run to the FA Cup quarter-finals in 1989 which included wins over three higher-division sides and was only ended by the reigning league champions Liverpool.

1990 to present

After a 45-year absence, Brentford was promoted back to the Second Division (renamed the First Division with the advent of the Premier League in 1992) in the 1991–92 season as Third Division champions, though it was relegated again the following year.

There followed several seasons of the club narrowly missing out on promotion. Former Chelsea FA Cup hero David Webb was appointed manager in 1993 and twice led the side into the play-offs. In 1996–97 he led them to the play-off final at Wembley, but the side was beaten by Crewe Alexandra. The club was then relegated to the Third Division (by then the bottom division of the Football League) the following year. Brentford won promotion as champions again in 1998–99 under manager and chairman Ron Noades.

The club suffered more promotion agony in 2002 under manager Steve Coppell as they lost out to Stoke City in the play-off final having been just minutes away from automatic promotion on the final day of the season, and again under manager Martin Allen in 2004–05, on that occasion losing 3–1 on aggregate to Sheffield Wednesday in the semi-finals after finishing 4th in League One.

Former BBC Director-General and Bees fan Greg Dyke was announced as chairman of Brentford on 20 January 2006 as part of the takeover by Bees United, the Brentford Supporters Trust. On 28 January 2006, Brentford beat Premier League strugglers Sunderland 2–1 in the 4th Round of the FA Cup, but lost 3–1 to another Premier League club Charlton Athletic in the 5th Round. Brentford finished 3rd in the league and lost to Swansea City in the play-off semi-final.

On 30 May 2006 Allen announced his resignation as manager of Brentford and the club named Leroy Rosenior as his successor on 14 June 2006.^[6] On 18 November 2006, following a run of 16 matches without a win – leaving the side in the relegation zone – Rosenior was sacked as manager, after the team lost 4–0 at home to Crewe. Following Rosenior's departure, youth team coach Scott Fitzgerald was appointed manager on a full-time basis on 21 December 2006 with Alan Reeves acting as his assistant.^[7] Fitzgerald was unable to turn around the club's fortunes, and Brentford was relegated to Football League Two – English Football's 4th tier – in April 2007. Fitzgerald left the day following confirmation of Brentford's relegation, with youth team manager Barry Quin due to act as caretaker in the managerial role until the end of the season.^[8]

Ex-England captain Terry Butcher was appointed as manager on 24 April 2007. Butcher's assistant was former Brentford winger Andy Scott, who was appointed on 9 May 2007. Butcher's reign at Griffin Park was, however, not a successful one, and his contract was terminated by mutual consent on 11 December 2007,^[9] after winning just five matches in 23. Butcher's assistant Andy Scott was appointed as manager on 4 January 2008 following a successful caretaker spell. (Scott's assistant is the experienced coach Terry Bullivant).

On 25 April 2009 Brentford sealed the League Two championship (English football's fourth tier) with a 3–1 win at Darlington. The 2009–10 season saw the club stabilise in League One – with Brentford finishing 9th.^[10] A shaky start led to changes in personnel, notably loanees from Arsenal (goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny) and Tottenham Hotspur (winger John Bostock). While the other promoted teams struggled, Brentford thrived, thanks to good home form, (Brentford only lost four home league games in two years) and some impressive displays against the richer clubs in the division (e.g. Leeds United, Norwich City, Southampton & Huddersfield Town).^{[11][12][13][14][15]} A new CEO was appointed in March 2010, Andrew Mills.^[16]

The 2010–11 season saw a League Cup run, with Premier League opposition – Everton – beaten at Griffin Park, and Birmingham City taken to a penalty shoot-out. The Bees' league form took a dive in January 2011 however; and manager Scott and assistant Bullivant parted company from the club on 3 February; with senior pro Nicky Forster taking over as manager (with Mark Warburton, a former Watford Academy Coach as his assistant). Brentford reached the final of the Football League Trophy in which it lost 1–0 to Carlisle United.

At the end of the 2010–11 season, Nicky Forster was informed that he would not be getting the manager's job on a full-time basis, and on 10 June 2011 Uwe Rosler was confirmed as the new manager, on a two-year contract. The management structure runs along the 'European model': i.e. a 'sporting director' (Mark Warburton) works with the manager on sourcing players.

At the end of the 2011–12 season, in which the club finished ninth in League One missing out on the play-offs by six points, the club's supporters voted to sell the entire club's shareholding to supporter-investor Matthew Benham. Supporters trust Bees United, the club's previous majority shareholders, elected at a special general meeting to bring its five-year deal with Benham to a conclusion two years early. Benham had initially come on board back in 2009, striking a deal which would see him take over the club in July 2014 if the trust was not able to buy him out by then.^[17]

The 2012–13 season saw Brentford go on an FA Cup run, taking holders Chelsea to a fourth round replay, and mount a promotion challenge, missing out on automatic promotion on the final day of the season before losing the play-off final to Yeovil Town.

On 18 April 2014 Brentford was promoted to the Championship after they beat Preston 1–0 at Griffin Park in front of 10,774 people sparking a pitch invasion. However, Brentford also needed other results to go their way, and they did as Crawley beat Leyton Orient 2–1 and Wolves beat Rotherham 6–4 at Molineux, although there was an anxious wait as the Wolves match was delayed by several pitch invasions. This meant The Bees' return to second tier after 21 years. In the 2014/15 season, the Bees finished fifth and made the Play-Offs, losing 5–1 on aggregate to Middlesbrough in the semi-finals.

Grounds

Griffin Park

Brentford FC have played at Griffin Park since September 1904.^[3] The ground, for years, was famously unique in British football in having had a pub on each corner: The Royal Oak (Now closed); The New Inn; The Griffin (which was used in the football-themed film Green Street; and The Princess Royal (which was once run by Brentford FC). In April 2015, The Royal Oak public house closed its doors for the last time, and since then Griffin Park has had three pubs on three of its four corners.^[18]

In 2007, the east stand, at the Ealing Road end of the ground, had a roof installed after a grant given by the Football Trust, therefore making all four stands of Griffin Park covered. The Ealing Road stand still remains a terrace and is now where the home supporters stand. It was re-opened for the first game of the 2007/08 season, on Saturday 11 August 2007, against Mansfield Town, and 4,909 watched the game.^[19]

The Braemar Road stand, known as the south stand, was renamed the "Bees United" stand for the 2010/11 season. Opposite to it, the New Road stand, at the north side, was renamed the Bill Axbey stand. The Brook Road, on the west side, is used specifically as the away supporters' stand, and is sometimes called the Wendy House.^[19]

For the 2010/11 season, the dug-outs were moved from the Braemar Road (south) side of the ground to the Bill Axbey (north) side.^[20]

Brentford Community Stadium

Brentford, with the aim of securing a more financially sustainable future, have been considering relocation since 2002. Plans were announced in October 2002 for a new 20,000 capacity all seater stadium at a state-of-the-art arena complex in Lionel Road South, Brentford. It was announced on 7 December 2007 that the club had secured an option to purchase the site – a major breakthrough in the club's plans to relocate.^[21]

The new stadium moved another step closer on 22 February 2008 when it was announced that Brentford's development partner, Barratt Homes, had acquired a 7.6-acre (31,000 m²) regeneration site in Lionel Road South, Brentford.^[22] Following this news, it was anticipated that the stadium would be completed in time for the 2012/13 season, and be used as a training venue for teams participating in the 2012 Olympic Games in London. However, due to the ongoing economic downturn and fall in property prices, the club and Barratt Homes admitted in early 2009 that this date would no longer be feasible.^[23]

The club's plan to move to a new community stadium took a massive step forward on Thursday 28 June 2012, when the club, via Matthew Benham, purchased the 7.6 acre site in Lionel Road South, Brentford, from Barratt Homes which had originally acquired the site in January 2008. The club is planning to build a 20,000-spectator capacity stadium on the land. Along with outline planning permission for a hotel and apartment buildings, on unused land surrounding the site, to help fund the project, as well as applying for outline planning permission for Griffin Park which will also be sold to developers as to fund the Lionel Road South project.^[24]

The London Borough of Hounslow gave outline planning approval on 5 December 2013, by eight votes to five, and so the application went to the Mayor of London and the Secretary of State for final approval. On 18 February 2014, the Mayor of London's office officially gave its approval for the stadium to be built. The planning application then went to Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for final approval, which was given on Friday, 14 March 2014. Building work was to commence in the summer of 2014.

Attention then shifted to acquiring the remaining land, required for the enabling development of flats, and completing the development agreement. A CPO was approved for the remaining land in the summer of 2014^[25] and although negotiations continued, a number of objections to the CPO resulted in a further hearing in September 2015.^[26] The development agreement was signed with Wilmott Dixon in Dec 2014.^[27] Depending on the result of the CPO appeal, work on site is hoped to start before the end of 2016, with a likely completion mid-2018. The CPO was approved in April 2016 and the process completed on 1 September 2016.^[28]

Work on the new stadium officially started on 24 March 2017 with projected opening in time for the 2019–20 season.^[29]

Current squad

First-team squad

As of 8 August 2017

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Daniel Bentley 2 DF Maxime Colin 3 DF Rico Henry 4 MF Lewis Macleod 5 DF Andreas Bjelland 6 DF Harlee Dean (captain) 7 MF Florian Jozefzoon 8 MF Nico Yennaris 9 FW Neal Maupay 10 MF Josh McEachran 11 FW Ollie Watkins 12 MF Kamohelo Mokotjo

No. Position Player 14 DF John Egan 15 MF Ryan Woods 18 MF Alan Judge 19 MF Romaine Sawyers 20 MF Josh Clarke 21 FW Lasse Vibe 22 DF Henrik Dalsgaard 23 MF Jota 27 FW Justin Shaibu 28 GK Luke Daniels 29 DF Yoann Barbet 47 FW Sergi Canós

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 16 GK Jack Bonham (on loan at Carlisle United until 1 January 2018) 17 MF Konstantin Kerschbaumer (on loan at Arminia Bielefeld until June 2018) 30 DF Tom Field (on loan at Bradford City until 1 January 2018) 32 MF Reece Cole (on loan at Newport County until January 2018)

B Team

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 31 DF Ilias Chatzitheodoridis 33 DF Chris Mepham — GK Ellery Balcombe — DF Mads Bech Sørensen — DF Jarvis Edobor — DF Manny Onariase — DF Lukas Talbro — DF David Titov — MF Herson Alves — MF Theo Archibald

No. Position Player — MF Raphael Assibey-Mensah — MF Ali Coote — MF Jan Holldack — MF Henrik Johansson — MF Nikolaj Kirk (on loan from FC Midtjylland) — MF Zain Westbrooke — FW Bradley Clayton — FW Marcus Forss — FW Joe Hardy — FW Jan Novak

Academy squad

Coaching staff

As of 6 July 2017^[30]

	Role
Phil Giles	Co-Director of Football
Rasmus Ankersen	Co-Director of Football
Robert Rowan	Head of Football Operations
Dean Smith	Head Coach
Richard O'Kelly	Assistant Head Coach
Thomas Frank	Assistant Head Coach
Bartek Sylwestrzak	Technical Coach
Vacant[31]	Performance Psychologist
Simon Royce	Goalkeeping Coach
Kevin O'Connor	B Team Head Coach
Allan Steele[32]	B Team Assistant Coach
Andy Scott	Chief Scout
Luke Stopforth	Head of Analysis
Daryl Martin	Physiotherapist
Richard Clarke	Physiotherapist
Chris Haslam	Head of Athletic Performance
Tom Perryman	Conditioning Coach
James Purdue	Conditioning Coach
Neil Greig	Head of Medical
Bob Oteng	Kit Logistics Manager

Managers

As of 1 April 2017. Only competitive matches are counted.

Name	Nat	From	To	Record
				P	W	D	L	Win %
William Lewis		August 1900	May 1903
Dick Molyneux		August 1903	May 1906
William Brown		August 1906	January 1908
George Parsonage		February 1908	May 1908
Fred Halliday		June 1908	May 1912
Ephraim Rhodes		August 1912	May 1915
Fred Halliday		August 1915	August 1921	43	9	12	22	21
Archie Mitchell		August 1921	December 1924	60	22	13	25	37
Fred Halliday		December 1924	May 1926	68	22	12	34	32
Harry Curtis		May 1926	February 1949	705	305	157	243	43
Jackie Gibbons		February 1949	August 1952	150	53	40	57	35
Jimmy Bain		August 1952	January 1953	23	7	5	11	30
Tommy Lawton		January 1953	September 1953	33	8	10	15	24
Bill Dodgin, Sr.		October 1953	May 1957	182	65	57	60	36
Malky McDonald		May 1957	January 1965	379	160	94	125	42
Tommy Cavanagh		January 1965	March 1966	46	16	10	20	35
Billy Gray		1 August 1966	30 August 1967	48	19	13	16	40
Jimmy Sirrel		1 September 1967	30 November 1969	111	45	26	40	41
Frank Blunstone		1 December 1969	11 July 1973	164	67	35	62	41
Mike Everitt		1 September 1973	15 January 1975	70	21	22	27	30
John Docherty		20 January 1975	7 September 1976	69	23	20	26	33
Bill Dodgin, Jr.		16 September 1976	1 March 1980	166	71	35	60	43
Fred Callaghan		1 March 1980	2 February 1984	176	59	52	65	32
Frank Blunstone[lower-alpha2 1]		2 February 1984	9 February 1984	1	0	0	1	0
Frank McLintock		9 February 1984	1 January 1987	151	51	43	57	34
Steve Perryman		1 January 1987	15 August 1990	182	71	48	63	39
Phil Holder		24 August 1990	11 May 1993	158	66	33	59	41
David Webb		17 May 1993	4 August 1997	216	85	65	66	39
Eddie May		5 August 1997	5 November 1997	20	5	5	10	25
Micky Adams		5 November 1997	1 July 1998	33	7	15	11	21
Ron Noades		1 July 1998	20 November 2000	130	51	33	46	39
Ray Lewington		20 November 2000	7 May 2001	37	14	11	12	38
Steve Coppell		8 May 2001	5 June 2002	54	27	12	15	50
Wally Downes		28 June 2002	14 March 2004	97	29	22	46	30
Garry Thompson[lower-alpha2 1]		14 March 2004	18 March 2004	1	0	1	0	0
Martin Allen		18 March 2004	31 May 2006	124	54	36	34	44
Leroy Rosenior		14 June 2006	18 November 2006	23	3	10	10	13
Scott Fitzgerald[lower-alpha2 2]		18 November 2006	10 April 2007	24	4	5	15	17
Barry Quin[lower-alpha2 1]		10 April 2007	7 May 2007	4	1	0	3	25
Terry Butcher		7 May 2007	11 December 2007	23	5	5	13	22
Andy Scott[lower-alpha2 2]		11 December 2007	3 February 2011	168	64	55	49	38
Nicky Forster[lower-alpha2 2]		3 February 2011	7 May 2011	21	9	5	7	43
Uwe Rösler		10 June 2011	7 December 2013	137	60	40	37	44
Alan Kernaghan[lower-alpha2 1]		7 December 2013	9 December 2013	1	0	0	1	0
Mark Warburton		10 December 2013	31 May 2015	78	40	16	22	51.28
Marinus Dijkhuizen		1 June 2015	28 September 2015	9	2	2	5	22.22
Lee Carsley		28 September 2015	30 November 2015	10	5	2	3	50
Dean Smith		1 December 2015	Present	71	27	13	31	38.03

Players with most appearances

As of 19 November 2015

Name	Appearances in League and Cup	Career at Brentford
Ken Coote	559 (514 lge 35 FAC 10 LC)	1949–1964
Jamie Bates	524 (419 lge 21 FAC 40 LC 44 Other)	1986–1999
Peter Gelson	516 (471 lge 28 FAC 17 LC)	1960–1975
Kevin O'Connor	501 (420 lge 31 FAC 20 LC 30 other)	2000–2015
Tommy Higginson	435 (388 lge 27 FAC 20 LC)	1959–1970
Jackie Graham	409 (374 lge 21 FAC 14 LC)	1970–1980
Keith Millen	379 (305 lge 18 FAC 26 LC 30 other)	1984–1994
Gerry Cakebread	374 (348 lge 20 FAC 6 LC)	1955–1964
Danis Salman	371 (325 lge 17 FAC 19 LC 10 other)	1975–1986
Alan Nelmes	350 (316 lge 19 FAC 15 LC)	1967–1976

Highest goalscorers

As of 19 November 2015

Name	Goal Scorers in League and Cup	Career at Brentford
Jim Towers	163 (153 lge 9 FAC 1 LC)	1951–1961
George Francis	136 (124 lge 12 FAC)	1953–1962
Jack Holliday	122 (119 lge 3 FAC)	1932–1939
Gary Blissett	105 (79 lge 7 FAC 9 LC 10 other)	1987–1993
Dave McCulloch	90 (85 lge 5 FAC)	1935–1938
Bill Lane	89 (79 lge 10 FAC)	1929–1932
Lloyd Owusu	87 (76 lge 4 FAC 3 LC 4 other)	1998–2002; 2005–2007
Billy Scott	86 (83 lge 3 FAC)	1932–1947
Jack Lane	86 (74 lge 12 FAC)	1925–1931
Idris Hopkins	80 (77 lge 3 FAC)	1932–1947

Hall of Fame

The football club maintains a Hall of Fame and has inducted the following players

Capped international players

The following players earned international caps whilst contracted to Brentford FC. (number of caps awarded whilst at Brentford in brackets, if known and confirmed):

Full International

U21 International

U20 International

Youth International

Schoolboy International

England

• Paul Walker^[52]

B International

England

• Ron Greenwood (1)^[53]

Amateur Internationals

England

• Alec Barclay (3)^[54]
• Jackie Burns (12)^[54][55]
• Maurice Edelston (4)^[54]
• Vivian Gibbins (2)^[54]
• Jackie Gibbons (3)^[54]
• Terry Robinson (6)^[54]
• Bill Slater (5)^[54]

Ireland

• Kevin O'Flanagan^[56]

Wales

• Martin Woosnam^[57]

Victory International (Matches played in 1919, 1945–1946)

England

• Patsy Hendren (1)^[58]

Wartime International (Matches played from 1939–1945)

Representative International

Great Britain

• Archie Macaulay (1)^[59]

Honours

Champions

• Football League Second Division: 1
  • Champions: 1934–35
• Football League Third Division: 2
  • Champions: 1932–33 (South), 1991–92
  • Runners-up: 2013–14^{[lower-alpha 1]}
• Football League Fourth Division: 3
  • Champions: 1962–63, 1998–99, 2008–09
• West London Alliance: 1
  • Champions: 1892–93
• Southern League Second Division: 1
  • Champions: 1900–01
• London Combination: 1
  • Champions: 1918–19^[60]

Cup winners

• West Middlesex Cup: 1
  • Winners: 1894–95^[61][62]
• London Senior Cup: 1
  • Winners: 1897–98
• Middlesex Senior Cup: 1
  • Winners: 1897–98
• Southern Professional Charity Cup: 1
  • Winners: 1908–09^[63]
• Ealing Hospital Cup: 1
  • Winners: 1910–11^[64]
• London Challenge Cup: 3
  • Winners: 1934–35, 1964–65, 1966–67
• London War Cup: 1
  • Winners: 1941–42
• Supporters Direct Cup: 2
  • Winners: 2004, 2008

Best performances

Leagues

• Football League First Division
  • Best finish: 5th – 1935–36
• Western League
  • Best finish: 2nd – 1904–05
• Southern League First Division
  • Best finish: 9th – 1905–06

Cups

• FA Cup
  • Best performance: Sixth Round/Quarter-Final – 1937–38, 1945–46, 1948–49, 1988–89
• Football League Cup
  • Best performance: Fourth Round – 1982–83, 2010–11
• Football League Trophy
  • Best performance: Finalists – 1984–85, 2000–01, 2010–11
• Empire Exhibition Trophy
  • Best performance: First Round – 1938^[65]
• Southern Professional Floodlit Cup
  • Best performance: Semi-Final – 1955–56, 1956–57^[63]
• First Alliance Cup
  • Best performance: First Round – 1988^[66]

Awards

• Football League Awards
  • Community Club of the Year (2): 2005–06, 2013–14
  • League Two Community Club of the Year (1): 2008–09
  • Best Club Sponsorship (1): 2006–07
  • Family Excellence Award (7): 2007–08, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15^[67]
• Stadium Business Awards
  • Sponsorship, Sales and Marketing (1): 2013^[68]
• League Managers Association Performance of the Week
  • 4–0 vs Wolverhampton Wanderers, 29 November 2014^[69]

Rivalry

Brentford's main rivals are Fulham and Queens Park Rangers.^[70]

Brentford have a long-standing rivalry with Fulham.^[71] In the past this fixture has been marred by crowd violence.^[72]

QPR are also considered to be rivals. The rivalry intensified in 1967 when QPR failed in an attempted takeover of Brentford which would have spelled the end for Brentford and seen QPR move into Griffin Park. As with the Fulham rivalry, this fixture sees passions run high amongst both sets of supporters with local pride at stake.^[73]

Nickname

Brentford's nickname is The Bees.^[3] The nickname was unintentionally created by students of Borough Road College, who attended a match and shouted the college's chant "buck up Bs", in support of their friend and then-Brentford player Joe Gettins.^[74]

Celebrity connections

Actor and comedian, Bradley Walsh was a professional at the club in the late 1970s but never made the first team squad.^[75]

Records

National

• Home league wins in a season: 21 (1929–30)^[76]
• Joint-highest score in a single League Cup match: 12 (6–6 after extra time vs Dagenham & Redbridge, first round, 13 August 2014)^[77]

Club

• League win: 9–0 vs Wrexham, Third Division, 15 October 1963^[78]
• League defeat: 0–7 on three occasions (most recently v Peterborough United, League Two, 24 November 2007)^[78][79][80]
• Cup win: 8–0 vs Uxbridge, FA Cup third qualifying round, 31 October 1903^[78][81]
• Cup defeat: 1–7 vs Manchester United, FA Cup third round, 14 January 1928^[78][82]
• League attendance: 38535 vs Arsenal, First Division, 8 September 1938^[83]
• Cup attendance: 38678 vs Leicester City, FA Cup sixth round, 26 February 1949^[83]
• Most league points in a season (2 for a win): 62, Third Division South, 1932–33
• Most league points in a season (3 for a win): 94 (League One, 2013–14)^[76]
• Consecutive league wins: 8 (League One, 2013–14)^[76]
• Number of different goalscorers in a season: 20 (League One, 2013–14)^[76]
• Most league goals scored in a season: 98, Fourth Division, 1962–63
• Most league goals conceded in a season: 94, Third Division South, 1925–26
• Most league games without a defeat: 26, 20 February 1999 – 16 October 1999 (Third Division and Second Division)
• Most league games without a win: 18, 9 September 2006 – 26 December 2006 (League One)
• Record transfer fee received: Undisclosed (believed to be in the region of £9,000,000 rising to £12,000,000 with add ons) from Aston Villa for Scott Hogan 31st of January 2017^[84]
• Record transfer fee paid: £2,500,000 to Norwich City for Sergi Canos, 31st of January 2017^[85]
• Highest home attendance: 38,678 v Leicester City, 26 February 1949
• Most league home wins in a calendar year: 17, 2014 (League One and Championship)^[86]

Player

• Highest league scorer in a season: Jack Holliday, 38, Third Division South, 1932–33
• Most league goals (aggregate): Jim Towers, 153, 1954–1961
• Most capped player: John Buttigieg, gained 22 caps of his 97 Malta caps whilst with Brentford^[87]
• Most appearances (league): Ken Coote, 514, 1949–1963^[88]
• Most appearances (all competitions): Ken Coote, 559, 1949–1963^[89]
• Youngest (all competitions): Paul Walker, 15 years, 7 months, 28 days (vs Watford, League Cup first round, August 1976)^[90]
• Youngest (league): Danis Salman, 15 years, 8 months, 3 days (vs Watford, Fourth Division, November 1975)^[90]
• Oldest (all competitions): Jimmy Hodson, 40 years, 8 months, 2 days (vs Plymouth Argyle, Third Division, 7 May 1921)^[91]

International links

In February 2013 it was announced that Brentford had entered into partnership with Icelandic 1. deild karla club UMF Selfoss, enabling Brentford to send youth and development squad players to Iceland to gain experience. The partnership also sees the two clubs exchanging coaching philosophies and allows Brentford to utilise UMF Selfoss' scouting network. In May 2013, the Brentford staff forged links with Ugandan lower league club Gulu United as part of the "United for United" project, aimed at forming the region's first youth training camp and identifying talented players. Brentford owner Matthew Benham became majority shareholder in Danish club FC Midtjylland in 2014 and the staff of both clubs share ideas.^[92]

Affiliated clubs

• FC Midtjylland^[93]
• UMF Selfoss^[94]
• Gulu United^[95][96][97]

Team colours and badge

Brentford's predominant home colours are; a red and white striped shirt, black shorts and red or black socks. These have been the clubs predominant home colours since the 1925–26 season, bar one season – 1960–61 – when yellow (gold) and blue were used, unsuccessfully.^[98] The colours on entering the Football League, in 1920–21, were white shirts, navy shorts and navy socks. Away kits have varied over the years, with the current colours being a royal blue shirt, royal blue shorts and royal blue socks.

Brentford have had several badges on their shirts since it was formed in 1889. The first one, in 1893, was a white shield, with 'BFC' in blue and a wavy line in blue, which is thought to represent the river and the rowing club, who founded the football club. The next known badge, the Middlesex County Arms, was on shirts donated by a club supporter in 1909. The Brentford and Chiswick arms, as a badge, was used just for the one season, in 1938–39. The next badge wasn't until 1971–72 when a shield, formed into quadrants, which had a hive and bees in one, 3 seaxes in another and the other two with red and white stripes. In 1972, the club organised a competition to design a new crest, which was won by Mr BG Spencer's design, a circle with a bee and stripes with founded 1888. This was introduced in 1973 and used until May 1975, when it was brought to the clubs attention, via Graham Haynes, that Brentford FC was formed in 1889 and not in 1888. Therefore, a new badge, reputedly designed by Dan Tana – the clubs chairman at the time – was introduced for the 1975–76 season and continued until 1994 when the current badge was introduced.

In 2011 Russell Grant claimed to have designed the badge in a BBC interview,^[99] however it was in fact designed in 1993 for two season tickets by supporter Andrew Henning, following a request from Keith Loring the then chief executive.^[98] Russell's involvement was to suggest to Keith Loring the inclusion and then ensure the accuracy of the Middlesex arms prior to the badge's release.

The design of the new badge is based on a previous Brentford badge of the late 60s/early 70s that featured quadrants and included the hive and Middlesex arms (without the crown). The "Founded 1889" was included as the design exercise coincided with Graham Haynes's research into verifying the actual formation of the club to 1889 rather than 1888 as previous thought.

The badge was introduced initially onto the away kit for the 1993/94 season. It also featured on the programme for that season. For the 1994/95 season it was added to the home kit.

See also

• List of Fan Owned Teams

References

External links

• Brentford FC – the club's website
• Griffin Park Grapevine – Largest and Busiest Unofficial Brentford FC Website
• Bees United – The Brentford Supporters' Trust and owners of the majority of shares in BFC
• BIAS – Brentford Independent Association of Supporters

• Brentford on BBC Sport: Club news – Recent results – Upcoming fixtures