Brentford F.C.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Brentford | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Brentford Football Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | The Bees | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Founded | 1889 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Griffin Park Brentford, London |
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| Capacity | 12,763 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman |  Greg Dyke |
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| Manager |  Scott Fitzgerald |
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| League | League One | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005–06 | League One, 3rd | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Brentford Football Club are an English football club based in the London suburb of Brentford. They are currently playing in Football League One.
They have played at Griffin Park since 1904, but since the late 1990s have been considering relocation. Plans were announced in October 2002 for a new 18,000-20,000-seat stadium at a state-of-the-art arena complex in Lionel Road, Brentford. It was announced at a fans forum that a bid had been made for the site although a reply hasn't been given. The ground is unique in British football in that there is a pub in each corner of Griffin Park (3 owned by Fullers and the other belonging to the club).
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[edit] History
[edit] Foundation to 1939
Founded in 1889 to serve as a winter pursuit for the Brentford Rowing Club, the club spent its early years in the lower divisions of the Football League and achieved little of note, save for a move to its present day home ground, Griffin Park, in 1904. In 1921, it was a founder member of the Third Division South. 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 (a record which still stands in English football), but still missed out on promotion. 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. 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.
[edit] 1945-1989
During the war, Brentford competed in the London War Cup, losing in the 1941 final at Wembley Stadium to Reading and winning in the final against Portsmouth a year later. The club were 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. The survival of Brentford FC was threatened by a projected takeover by Queens Park Rangers in the late 1960s - 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 it 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.
[edit] 1990 to present
After a 45-year absence, Brentford were 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 they were 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 1994 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 were beaten by Crewe Alexandra. The club were 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 and have remained in the division ever since.
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.
[edit] 2006/7 season
On 30 May 2006 Allen announced his resignation as manager of Brentford[1] and the club named Leroy Rosenior as his successor on 14 June 2006. In the summer transfer window, Brentford lost three of their highest profile players in Jay Tabb (to Coventry City), Michael Turner (Hull City), and Sam Sodje (Reading). 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 as caretaker manager and the position was made permanent on 21 December 2006 with Alan Reeves acting as his assistant. [2] Scott Fitzgerald made David Partridge his first signing of 2007, Partridge signing on a month loan from the 3rd January 2007. Joe Keith quickly becomes Fitzgerald second signing on the same day. Michael Leary become the 3rd player to join in less than 24 hours. On January 22. 2007, it was announced that Brentford fan Matthew Benham would be taking over £3 million of the clubs debts and making them interest free, thereby saving the club £150,000 in interest payments each year. It also ends former chairman Ron Noades' connection with the club. On January 23. 2007, Brentford signed striker Neil Shipperley on a 4 month contract till the end of the season, beating off competition from Championship and League One teams alike. This was done through fans raising £40,000 for new players. Fitzgerald has recently completed the signing of former Torquay United goalkeeper Nathan Abbey after a successful trial period at the club. Brentford currently lie bottom of the League One table, seven points adrift of safety.
[edit] Current first-team squad
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[edit] Out on loan
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[edit] 2006-07 Transfers
[edit] In
- Jo Kuffour - Torquay United - Bosman free transfer
- Chris Moore - Dagenham and Redbridge - Bosman free transfer
Thomas Pinault - Unattached (previously Grimsby Town) - Free transfer
Adam Griffiths - Bournemouth - Free transfer- Gavin Tomlin - Windsor & Eton - Free transfer
- Matthew Heywood - Bristol City - Undisclosed
- Simon Cox - Reading - Loan
- Jamie England - Un-attached - Free
Clyde Wijnhard - Un-attached - Free- Fola Onibuje - Swindon - Loan
- Nathan Abbey - Torquay - Free
David Partridge - Bristol City - Loan- Joe Keith - Leyton Orient - Free
- Michael Leary - Luton - Loan
- Che Wilson - Southend - Loan
- Neil Shipperley - Sheffield United - Free
- Garry Richards - Colchester - Loan
- Scott Taylor - MK Dons - Loan
[edit] Out
Not including players on loan
- Junior Lewis - Released
- Michael Dobson - Walsall - Free transfer
- Michael Turner - Hull City - £350,000
- Jay Tabb - Coventry City - Undisclosed
- Eddie Hutchinson - Oxford United - Free transfer
Marcus Gayle - Aldershot Town - Free transfer- Ricky Newman - Aldershot Town - Free transfer
Ademola Bankole - MK Dons - Free transfer- Isaiah Rankin - Grimsby Town - Free transfer
- Sam Sodje - Reading - £350,000
- Jamie England - Crawley Town
- Clyde Wijnhard - Released
- Scott P. Fitzgerald - Basingstoke Town - Free transfer
- Chris Moore - Dagenham & Redbridge - Free transfer
- Gavin Tomlin - Fisher Athletic - Free transfer
Ólafur Ingi Skúlason - Helsingborgs - Free transfer
[edit] Managers
As of March 25, 2007. Only competitive matches are counted.
[edit] Notable players
- See also:Category:Brentford F.C. players - a list of all Brentford F.C. players with a Wikipedia article.
Famous players, past and present, include:
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[edit] Honours
- Football League First Division (top tier)
- Best finish: 5th (1935-6)
- Football League Second Division (second tier)
- Champions: 1934-5
- Football League Third Division (third tier)
- Champions: 1932-3 (then the Third Division South), 1991-2
- Football League Fourth Division (fourth tier)
- Champions: 1962-3, 1998-9 (by then known as the Third Division)
- FA Cup
- Best performance: quarter-finals (1937-8, 1945-6, 1948-9, 1988-9)
- League Cup
- Best performance: fourth round (1982-3)
- Football League Trophy
- Best performance: runners-up (1984-5, 2000-1)
- London War Cup
- Winners: 1941-2
- Runners-up: 1940-1
[edit] Mascot
Brentford FC's mascot is the ever-smiling Buzz Bee. Standing at 6 feet tall, he has black and yellow stripes and wears a Brentford FC club strip. He circles the ground before each game, and is a great hit with the kids who come to watch the matches.
[edit] Club Song
In 1993 the band One Touch To Go recorded the song Red On White for the team. The track can be found on the the album Greatest Hiss 1983/1999.
[edit] Famous fans
- Christopher Dawes
- Cameron Diaz
- Greg Dyke
- John 'Rhino' Edwards
- HARD-Fi lead singer Richard Archer
- Dean Gaffney
- Dominic Holland
- Robert Rankin
- The Bluetones guitarist Adam Devlin*
- Keith guitarist Mark Nicholls
[edit] Club records
- Record Victory: 9-0 v Wrexham, Division 3, 15 October 1963
- Record Defeat: 0-7 v Swansea, Division Three South, 8 November 1924
- Most League Points (2 for a win): 62, Division Three South, 1932-1933
- Most League Points (3 for a win): 85, Division 2, 1994-1995 & Division 3, 1998-9
- Most League Goals Scored in a season: 98, Division 4, 1962-1963
- Most League Goals Conceded in a season: 94, Division Three South, 1925-26
- Highest League Scorer in a season: Jack Holliday, 39, 1932-1933
- Most League Goals in Total Aggregate: Jim Towers, 153, 1954-1961
- Most Capped Player: John Buttigieg, 63, Malta
- Most League Appearances: Ken Coote, 514, 1949-1964
- Record Transfer Fee Received: £2,500,000 from Wimbledon for Hermann Hreiðarsson, October 1999
- Record Transfer Fee Paid: £750,000 to Crystal Palace for Hermann Hreiðarsson, September 1998
- Highest home attendance: 38,678 v Leicester City, 26 February 1949
- Most league games without a win: 18, September-December 2006
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Beespedia
- Official web site (part of the Premium TV network of official web sites)
- Bees United - The Brentford Supporters Trust
- BIAS - Brentford Independent Association of Supporters
- Griffin Park Grapevine - Griffin Park Grapevine
- Brentford on BBC Sport: Club News - Recent results - Upcoming fixtures - Club stats
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