1968–69 Brentford F.C. season

During the 1968–69 English football season, Brentford competed in the Football League Fourth Division. Off the back of 18 months of extreme financial problems, the club finished in mid-table.

Brentford

1968–69 season
Chairman	Ron Blindell
Manager	Jimmy Sirrel
Stadium	Griffin Park
Fourth Division	11th
FA Cup	Second round
League Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	League: Mansley (14) All: Mansley (17)
Highest home attendance	17,425
Lowest home attendance	3,361
Average home league attendance	6,419
Home colours
← 1967–68 1969–70 →

Season summary

After two tumultuous seasons off the pitch, a continued cash crisis meant that during the 1968 off-season, Brentford manager Jimmy Sirrel would not be provided with the funds to buy players who could guarantee a lasting run at promotion from the Fourth Division.^[1] He was able to plug the gaps in his threadbare squad, bringing in full back Denis Hunt and journeyman forwards Pat Terry and Peter Deakin.^[1] A need to balance the books led to Ian Lawther (one of the club's most consistent goalscorers since the 1964–65 season) being sold for a £3,000 fee a matter of days before the beginning of the season.^[1]

Manager Sirrel's young team began the season in promising form, losing just two of the first 15 league matches to consolidate a position in the top six.^[2] Brentford's position belied the club's personnel problems, with a growing catalogue of injuries, illness and suspensions.^[1] £10,000 was spent on Arsenal winger Gordon Neilson in October 1968, an extravagant amount given Brentford's financial problems.^[1] An inconsistent spell between November 1968 and April 1969 dropped the Bees as low as 19th, two places above the re-election zone, but six wins in the final seven matches of the season lifted the club to an 11th-place finish.^[2]

League table

Main article: 1968–69 Football League § Fourth Division

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
9	Wrexham	46	18	14	14	61	52	1.173	50
10	Swansea Town	46	19	11	16	58	54	1.074	49
11	Brentford	46	18	12	16	64	65	0.985	48
12	Workington	46	15	17	14	40	43	0.930	47
13	Port Vale	46	16	14	16	46	46	1.000	46

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal average; 3) number of goals scored.

Results

Brentford's goal tally listed first.

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League Fourth Division

No.	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorer(s)
1	10 August 1968	Colchester United	H	4–0	7,586	Deakin, Moughton (og), Terry, Ross
2	17 August 1968	Scunthorpe United	A	1–1	3,685	Terry
3	24 August 1968	Port Vale	H	3–1	7,443	Mansley, Fenton (2)
4	26 August 1968	Rochdale	H	1–1	9,149	Deakin
5	31 August 1968	Exeter City	A	2–2	8,835	Terry, Richardson
6	7 September 1968	Chesterfield	H	1–0	9,703	Fenton
7	14 September 1968	Peterborough United	A	1–2	6,435	Dobson
8	18 September 1968	Chester	A	2–2	8,410	Terry, Ross
9	21 September 1968	York City	H	5–1	8,360	Carr (og), Terry (3), Ross
10	28 September 1968	Bradford City	A	0–3	6,491
11	5 October 1968	Newport County	H	1–1	7,825	Mansley
12	7 October 1968	Rochdale	A	0–0	5,181
13	12 October 1968	Swansea Town	A	3–2	6,912	Neilson, Terry, Fenton
14	19 October 1968	Wrexham	H	1–1	7,791	Mansley
15	26 October 1968	Notts County	A	2–0	4,173	Mansley (2)
16	2 November 1968	Aldershot	H	2–4	9,806	Mansley, Higginson
17	4 November 1968	Darlington	H	0–1	8,550
18	9 November 1968	Lincoln City	A	0–1	6,121
19	23 November 1968	Bradford Park Avenue	A	2–0	2,341	Fenton, Kirby
20	30 November 1968	Halifax Town	H	1–1	6,002	Mansley
21	14 December 1968	Swansea Town	H	2–1	4,321	Terry, Hawley
22	21 December 1968	Wrexham	A	0–2	4,867
23	26 December 1968	Newport County	A	1–1	3,750	Gelson
24	4 January 1969	Workington	H	0–3	6,081
25	11 January 1969	Aldershot	A	2–1	9,280	Mansley (2)
26	18 January 1969	Lincoln City	H	2–2	6,572	Terry, Ross
27	25 January 1969	Darlington	A	1–3	5,184	Dobson
28	31 January 1969	Southend United	A	0–4	10,969
29	22 February 1969	Grimsby Town	H	4–2	5,697	Richardson, Neilson (2), Terry
30	28 February 1969	Colchester United	A	1–2	7,268	Neilson
31	5 March 1969	Workington	A	0–1	2,318
32	8 March 1969	Scunthorpe United	H	2–1	5,456	Neilson, Nelmes
33	10 March 1969	Southend United	H	1–1	6,030	Terry
34	15 March 1969	Port Vale	A	1–4	4,478	Ross (pen)
35	22 March 1969	Exeter City	H	0–1	5,242
36	26 March 1969	Notts County	H	0–0	3,361
37	29 March 1969	Chesterfield	A	2–1	3,261	Mansley, Neilson
38	8 April 1969	Doncaster Rovers	A	0–5	11,561
39	12 April 1969	York City	A	1–2	3,767	Mansley
40	14 April 1969	Doncaster Rovers	H	1–0	4,222	Richardson
41	19 April 1969	Peterborough United	H	2–0	4,492	Fenton, Mansley
42	21 April 1969	Bradford Park Avenue	H	3–0	4,137	Fenton (2), Ross (pen)
43	28 April 1969	Halifax Town	A	0–2	6,948
44	30 April 1969	Chester	H	2–1	4,090	Mansley, Fenton
45	3 May 1969	Grimsby Town	A	2–0	1,672	Gelson, Dobson
46	5 May 1969	Bradford City	H	2–1	5,720	Richardson, Mansley

FA Cup

Main article: 1968–69 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorer(s)	Notes
1R	16 November 1968	Woking	H	2–0	5,990	Fenton, Ross	[nb 1]
2R	7 December 1968	Watford	A	0–1	12,883

Football League Cup

Main article: 1968–69 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorer(s)
1R	14 August 1968	Aldershot	A	4–2	5,977	Rafferty (og), Deakin, Mansley, Terry
2R	4 September 1969	Hull City	H	3–0	11,485	Mansley (2), Fenton
3R	24 September 1969	Norwich City	H	0–2	17,425

• Sources: 100 Years Of Brentford,^[3] Statto

Playing squad

Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1968–69 season.

Pos.	Name	Nat.	Date of birth (age)	Signed from	Signed in	Notes
Goalkeepers
GK	Chic Brodie		(1937-02-22)22 February 1937 (aged 31)	Northampton Town	1963
GK	Gordon Phillips		(1946-11-17)17 November 1946 (aged 21)	Hayes	1963	Loaned to Queens Park Rangers
Defenders
DF	Peter Gelson		(1941-10-18)18 October 1941 (aged 26)	Youth	1961
DF	Alan Hawley		(1946-06-07)7 June 1946 (aged 22)	Youth	1962
DF	Tommy Higginson		(1937-01-06)6 January 1937 (aged 31)	Kilmarnock	1959
DF	Denis Hunt		(1937-09-08)8 September 1937 (aged 30)	Gillingham	1968
DF	Allan Jones		(1940-01-06)6 January 1940 (aged 28)	Liverpool	1963
DF	Alan Nelmes		(1948-10-20)20 October 1948 (aged 19)	Chelsea	1967
DF	Dick Renwick		(1942-11-27)27 November 1942 (aged 25)	Aldershot	1969
Midfielders
MF	George Dobson		(1949-08-24)24 August 1949 (aged 18)	Youth	1966
MF	Allan Mansley		(1946-08-31)31 August 1946 (aged 21)	Blackpool	1968
MF	Gordon Neilson		(1947-05-28)28 May 1947 (aged 21)	Arsenal	1968
MF	John Richardson		(1949-02-05)5 February 1949 (aged 19)	Millwall	1966
MF	Bobby Ross		(1942-05-10)10 May 1942 (aged 26)	Shrewsbury Town	1966
Forwards
FW	Ron Fenton (c)		(1940-09-21)21 September 1940 (aged 27)	Birmingham City	1968	Assistant manager
FW	Ron Foster		(1938-11-22)22 November 1938 (aged 29)	Dallas Tornado	1969
FW	Pat Terry		(1933-10-02)2 October 1933 (aged 34)	Swindon Town	1968
Players who left the club mid-season
GK	Ron Willis		(1947-12-27)27 December 1947 (aged 20)	Charlton Athletic	1968	Returned to Charlton Athletic after loan
MF	Brian Caterer		(1943-01-31)31 January 1943 (aged 25)	Leatherhead	1968	Amateur, released
FW	Peter Deakin		(1938-03-25)25 March 1938 (aged 30)	Peterborough United	1968	Released
FW	Keith Hooker		(1950-01-31)31 January 1950 (aged 18)	Youth	1965	Loaned to Brentwood Town, released
FW	George Kirby		(1933-12-20)20 December 1933 (aged 34)	New York Generals	1968	Transferred to Worcester City

• Sources: 100 Years Of Brentford,^[3] Timeless Bees^[4]

Coaching staff

Name	Role
Jimmy Sirrel	Manager
Ron Fenton	Assistant Manager
Eddie Lyons	Physiotherapist

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Substitute appearances in brackets.

Pos	Nat	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK		Chic Brodie	22	0	2	0	1	0	25	0
GK		Gordon Phillips	23	0	0	0	2	0	25	0
DF		Peter Gelson	42	2	2	0	3	0	47	2
DF		Alan Hawley	8 (2)	1	2	0	0	0	10 (2)	1
DF		Tommy Higginson	37 (2)	1	1	0	3	0	41 (2)	1
DF		Denis Hunt	12	0	0	0	2	0	14	0
DF		Allan Jones	45	0	2	0	3	0	50	0
DF		Alan Nelmes	44	1	2	0	2 (1)	0	48 (1)	1
DF		Dick Renwick	17	0	—		—		17	0
MF		Brian Caterer	1	0	—		—		1	0
MF		George Dobson	22 (6)	3	0	0	3	0	25 (6)	3
MF		Allan Mansley	41	14	2	0	3	3	46	17
MF		Gordon Neilson	23 (4)	6	2	0	—		25 (4)	6
MF		John Richardson	41 (1)	4	2	0	2	0	45 (1)	4
MF		Bobby Ross	43 (1)	6	2	1	3	0	48 (1)	7
FW		Peter Deakin	7 (1)	2	—		2	1	9 (1)	3
FW		Ron Fenton	39 (2)	9	2	1	2	1	43 (2)	11
FW		Ron Foster	3 (1)	0	—		—		3 (1)	0
FW		Keith Hooker	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
FW		George Kirby	5	1	1 (1)	0	—		6 (1)	1
FW		Pat Terry	29	12	0	0	2	1	31	13
Players loaned in during the season
GK		Ron Willis	1	0	—		—		1	0

• Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
• Source: 100 Years Of Brentford^[3]

Goalscorers

Pos.	Nat	Player	FL4	FAC	FLC	Total
MF		Allan Mansley	14	0	3	17
FW		Pat Terry	12	0	1	13
FW		Ron Fenton	9	1	1	11
MF		Bobby Ross	6	1	0	7
MF		Gordon Neilson	6	0	—	6
MF		John Richardson	4	0	0	4
MF		George Dobson	3	0	0	3
FW		Peter Deakin	2	—	1	3
DF		Peter Gelson	2	0	0	2
FW		George Kirby	1	0	—	1
DF		Alan Hawley	1	0	0	1
DF		Tommy Higginson	1	0	0	1
DF		Alan Nelmes	1	0	0	1
Opponents			2	0	1	3
Total			64	2	7	73

• Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
• Source: 100 Years Of Brentford^[3]

Management

Name	Nat	From	To	Record All Comps					Record League
				P	W	D	L	W %	P	W	D	L	W %
Jimmy Sirrel		10 August 1968	5 May 1969	51	21	12	18	041.18	46	18	12	16	039.13

Summary

Games played	51 (46 Fourth Division, 2 FA Cup, 3 League Cup)
Games won	21 (18 Fourth Division, 1 FA Cup, 2 League Cup)
Games drawn	12 (12 Fourth Division, 0 FA Cup, 0 League Cup)
Games lost	18 (16 Fourth Division, 1 FA Cup, 1 League Cup)
Goals scored	73 (64 Fourth Division, 2 FA Cup, 7 League Cup)
Goals conceded	70 (65 Fourth Division, 1 FA Cup, 4 League Cup)
Clean sheets	12 (10 Fourth Division, 1 FA Cup, 1 League Cup)
Biggest league win	4–0 versus Colchester United, 10 August 1968; 5–1 versus York City, 21 September 1968
Worst league defeat	5–0 versus Doncaster Rovers, 8 April 1969
Most appearances	50, Allan Jones (45 Fourth Division, 2 FA Cup, 3 League Cup)
Top scorer (league)	14, Allan Mansley
Top scorer (all competitions)	17, Allan Mansley

Transfers & loans

Players transferred in
Date	Pos.	Name	Previous Club	Fee	Ref.
June 1968	DF	Denis Hunt	Gillingham	Free	[5]
June 1968	FW	Pat Terry	Swindon Town	n/a	[6]
July 1968	MF	Peter Deakin	Peterborough United	n/a	[7]
October 1968	FW	Brian Caterer	Leatherhead	Amateur	[8]
October 1968	FW	George Kirby	New York Generals	n/a	[9]
October 1968	MF	Gordon Neilson	Arsenal	£10,000	[10]
February 1969	DF	Dick Renwick	Aldershot	£1,500	[11]
March 1969	FW	Ron Foster	Dallas Tornado	Trial	[12]
Players loaned in
Date from	Pos.	Name	From	Date to	Ref.
September 1968	GK	Ron Willis	Charlton Athletic	September 1968	[13]
Players transferred out
Date	Pos.	Name	Subsequent club	Fee	Ref.
August 1968	FW	Ian Lawther	Halifax Town	£3,000	[14]
1968	FW	George Kirby	Worcester City	n/a	[9]
Players loaned out
Date from	Pos.	Name	To	Date to	Ref.
1969	GK	Gordon Phillips	Queens Park Rangers	1969	[1]
n/a	FW	Keith Hooker	Brentwood Town	n/a	[15]
Players released
Date	Pos.	Name	Subsequent club	Join date	Ref.
October 1968	FW	Brian Caterer	Leatherhead	October 1968	[8]
October 1968	FW	Peter Deakin	Nuneaton Borough	October 1968	[7]
May 1969	FW	Ron Foster	Retired		[12]
May 1969	DF	Denis Hunt	Folkestone	1969	[5]
May 1969	FW	Pat Terry	Hillingdon Borough	1969	[6]
1969	FW	Keith Hooker	Durban Spurs	1969	[15]

Notes

1. Both teams played in change colours, with Brentford borrowing Watford's home shirts for the match.

References

1. White 1989, p. 271-273.
2. "Brentford results for the 1968-1969 season". Statto.com. Archived from the original on 12 September 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
3. White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. p. 390. ISBN 0951526200.
4. Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Yore Publications. ISBN 978-0955294914.
5. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 83-84.
6. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 159.
7. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 46.
8. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 35.
9. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 92-93.
10. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 114.
11. Croxford, Mark; Lane, David; Waterman, Greville (2011). The Big Brentford Book of the Seventies. Sunbury, Middlesex: Legends Publishing. pp. 357–358. ISBN 978-1906796709.
12. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 59.
13. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 170.
14. "Ian Lawther". nifootball.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
15. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 80.