Brentford F.C.

Infobox Football club
clubname = Brentford


fullname = Brentford Football Club
nickname = The Bees
shortname =
founded = 1889
ground = Griffin Park
Brentford, London
capacity = 13,202
chairman = flagicon|England Greg Dyke
mgrtitle = Manager
manager = flagicon|England Andy Scott
league = League Two
season = 2007 – 08
position = League Two, 14th
pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=_red_stripes|pattern_ra1=|leftarm1=FF0000|body1=FFFFFF|rightarm1=FF0000|shorts1=000000|socks1=000000
pattern_la2=_navylower|pattern_b2=_navyshoulders|pattern_ra2=_navylower|leftarm2=A4D3EE|body2=A4D3EE|rightarm2=A4D3EE|shorts2=22316C|socks2=22316C

Brentford Football Club are an English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League Two.They were founded in 1889 and play their home games at Griffin Park, their home stadium since 1904. Brentford's most successful spell came during the 1930s, when they achieved consecutive top six finishes in the First Division. Since the War, they have spent most of their time in the third and fourth tiers of English football. Brentford have been FA Cup quarter-finalists on four occasions, and have twice been Football League Trophy runners-up.

History

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.

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 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. 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.

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 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 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.

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 [cite news | date=2006-06-30 | url=http://home.skysports.com/list.asp?hlid=391110&CPID=11&clid=94&lid=5&title=Allen+resigns+from+Bees | title=Allen resigns from Bees | publisher=skysports.com | accessdate=2006-11-18] and the club named Leroy Rosenior as his successor on 14 June 2006. 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. [cite news | date=2006-11-18 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/brentford/6162076.stm | title=Rosenior sacked as Brentford boss | publisher=BBC Sport | accessdate=2006-11-19] Fitzgerald was unable to turn around the club's fortunes, and Brentford were relegated to Football League Two 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. [cite news |date= 2007-04-10 |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/brentford/6542349.stm |title= Boss Fitzgerald leaves Brentford |publisher= BBC Sport |accessdate= 2007-04-10 ]

On 18 April 2007, The Sun newspaper reported that Micky Adams was in line to return as manager, nine years after being sacked following relegation. Instead, former England captain Terry Butcher was appointed as manager on April 24. Butcher's assistant was former Brentford winger Andy Scott, who was appointed on May 9, 2007. Butcher's reign at Griffin Park was, however, not a successful one, and his contract was terminated by mutual consent on December 11 2007 [cite news |date= 2007-12-11 |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/brentford/7138164.stm |title= Boss Butcher leaves Brentford job |publisher= BBC Sport |accessdate= 2007-12-11 ] , after winning just 5 matches in 23. Butcher's assistant Andy Scott was appointed as manager on January 4 2008 following a successful caretaker spell.

tadium

Griffin Park

Brentford have played at Griffin Park since 1904. The ground is unique in British football in that there is a pub in each corner of Griffin Park, one of which is owned by the club.

In 2007 The Ealing Road end of the ground has had a roof installed after a grant by the Football Trust and makes all 4 stands of the ground covered. The Ealing Road remains a terrace but has been "given back" to home supporters and was re-opened for the first game of the season of the 2007/2008 season on Saturday 11th August 2007 against Mansfield Town (4,909 watched the game).

New 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 stadium at a state-of-the-art arena complex in Lionel Road, Brentford. It was announced on December 7 2007 that the club had secured an option to purchase the site - a major breakthrough in the club's plans to relocate. [cite news |date= 2007-12-07 |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/brentford/7132539.stm |title= Brentford given new stadium boost |publisher= BBC Sport |accessdate= 2007-12-13 ]

The new stadium moved another step closer on February 22 2008 when it was announced that Brentford's development partner, Barratt Homes, had acquired a 7.6 acre regeneration site in Lionel Road, Brentford. [cite news |date= 2008-02-22 |url= http://www.brentfordfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/LatestNews/0,,10421~1246803,00.html |title= Brentford Football Club and Barratt Homes team up to acquire land for new Community Stadium |publisher= Brentford F.C. |accessdate= 2008-02-25 ]

Current first-team squad

"As of October 10, 2008:"

Players out on loan

Coaching staff

:"As of August 25 2008."

Notable players

:"See also: - a list of all Brentford F.C. players with a Wikipedia article."Famous former players include: ;Australia
* Adam Griffiths;Canada
* Gordon Sweetzer;England
* Doug Allder
* Marcus Bent
* Gary Blissett
* Stan Bowles
* Dudley Campbell
* Richard Cadette
* Ken Coote
* Roger Cross
* Maurice Edelston
* Terry Evans
* Les Ferdinand
* Nicky Forster
* Ron Greenwood
* Ron Harris
* Patsy Hendren
* Jimmy Hill
* Dean Holdsworth
* Terry Hurlock
* Keith Jones
* Francis Joseph
* Tommy Lawton
* Chris Kamara
* Andy McCulloch
* Gavin Mahon
* Paul Merson
* Tony Parks
* Steve Perryman
* Steve Phillips
* Michael Pollitt
* Isaiah Rankin
* John Salako
* Kenny Sansom
* Steve Sidwell
* Andy Sinton
* Neil Smillie
* Paul Smith
* Robert Taylor;Ghana
*flagicon|Ghana Patrick Agyemang
*flagicon|Ghana Jo Kuffour
*flagicon|Ghana Lloyd Owusu;Iceland
* Ólafur Gottskálksson
* Hermann Hreiðarsson
* Ívar Ingimarsson;Jamaica
*flagicon|Jamaica Deon Burton
*flagicon|Jamaica Marcus Gayle
*flagicon|Jamaica Jamie Lawrence;Malta
*flagicon|Malta John Buttigieg;Nigeria
*flagicon|Nigeria Sam Sodje;Republic of Ireland
* Bill Gorman
* Chris Hughton
* Stephen Hunt
* Paddy Roche
* Jay Tabb;Scotland
* Chic Brodie
* Stewart Houston
* Graeme Hogg
* David McCulloch;Senegal
*flagicon|Senegal Ibrahima Sonko;Wales
*flagicon|Wales Paul Evans
*flagicon|Wales Idris Hopkins

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
* Empire Exhibition Trophy
** Quarter-final: 1938

Rivalries

Brentford are situated in West London alongside several other local clubs. Of these teams, Brentford share long standing rivalries with both Fulham and Queens Park Rangers. However due to the lack of competitive meetings with Chelsea, no such rivalry has ever developed.In 2003, a poll between supporters of all Football League clubs into the teams they see as their main rivals was conducted by the Football Fans Census. Brentford fans considered their major rivals to be QPR, Fulham and Brighton & Hove Albion. Of these teams, QPR and Fulham reciprocated the rivalry.;Local rivals
*Queens Park Rangers - Brentford have competed with QPR since both clubs' inceptions in the late 19th Century. The two teams then competed every season between 1920 and 1933 in the old Third Division South in the Football League. Brentford then enjoyed success in the higher divisions until the two teams paths crossed again and the rivalry was resumed between 1945 and 1966 on a regular basis. Following on from the 1966/67 season, QPR competed at a higher level for several decades until the rivalry was again briefly reignited in 2001 for three seasons. However, the bad feeling between both clubs runs deeper than simply locality. In 1967, QPR attempted a takeover of Brentford which would have resulted in the death of Brentford and QPR moving into Griffin Park. The story infamously broke in the press and Brentford supporters rallied to save their club and the crisis was averted.
*Fulham - Again, Fulham are another team that Brentford competed with regularly pre-war in the Football League. The rivalry died away after the Second World War as Brentford dropped out of the upper divisions. Supporters had to wait until 1980 until the two clubs were to meet again, this time in the Third Division. The rivalry continued on a fairly regular basis during the 80s and 90s until the last competitive match between the two in 1998. Fulham are seen as the younger generation of Bees' supporters main rivals and the two clubs are traditional rivals. Perhaps the most remembered local derby between the teams took place in 1992 when Brentford beat Fulham 4-0 to gain promotion to the second tier of English football for the first time in nearly 40 years. Fulham have since had millions pumped into the club and have enjoyed several seasons in the upper divisions.

;Other rivalries
*Watford - Brentford and Watford played each other regularly from 1920 when the Football League absorbed the Southern League. Already a London derby, this rivalry intensified in 1958 when Watford lost 6-0 to Brighton in a controversial game in which it later came out that the Watford team "rolled over" for Brighton. This result prevented Brentford from gaining promotion that season, the last time only one team would go up automatically. Also, in the 70s, this fixture was known for crowd trouble.
*Birmingham City - Not so much of a historic rivalry as it only really began in the 90s. The matches were often heated and controversial affairs. In 1992, on the final day of the season, Birmingham were already being congratulated as "Champions" of the Third Division in the media despite Brentford still being in with a chance. Ultimately, Brentford won the league title. Then in 1995, for the first season in 37 years only one team would be automatically promoted from the Third Division. Birmingham pipped The Bees to the title and Brentford then lost in the play-offs.

Other teams that Brentford have shared rivalries with in the past, both on and off the pitch, include Reading, Aldershot, Luton and Brighton. Another minor rivalry has recently occurred with Barnet due to the fact that both teams are nicknamed "The Bees". The two clubs currently compete in the same league and are relatively local to each other.

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. In keeping with tradition, various supporters of the Bees have been asked to play the part of Buzz Bee.

Club songs

In 1993 the band One Touch To Go recorded the song Red On White for the team. The track can be found on the album Greatest Hiss 1983/1999. The song has been played at the ground till at least 2002. And more recently the fans have adopted "Hey Jude" by The Beatles as the club tune, also the name of one of the club fanzines.In 2001 Status Quo bassist John 'Rhino' Edwards recorded a track called Brentford's Big Day Out after the Bees reached the final of the LDV Trophy at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff.More recently Lloyd Owusu, on his short comeback to Brentford recorded a track about himself and his connections with the club. Surprisingly, this spent a short while being downloaded rapidly off music websites. The track's main word is Owusu as during his time at the club Lloyd was a fan favourite and whenever his name was read out the fans shouted back his surname as well as raised their hands. This referred to how he liked to 'raise the roof'.

Trivia

*Richard Archer, the lead singer of indie-rock band Hard-Fi supports the team. Other well known fans include Hollywood actress Cameron Diaz, Sky Sports News presenter Natalie Sawyer, Jim Carrey, Dean Gaffney and comedian Dominic Holland.

*Rod Stewart was an apprentice at the club, before he focussed on his music career.

*Comedian and actor, Bradley Walsh was a professional at the club in the late 1970s but never made the first team squad.

*In the early sixties during a league game, both the first team and substitute goalkeepers were injured during the 90 minutes, leaving young keeper John Clack to come on in the dying seconds. This was one of the first times that three goalkeepers had to be used in one game due to injury.

Club records

* Record Victory: 9-0 v Wrexham, Division 3, 15 October, 1963
* Record Defeat: 0-7 on three occasions, most recently v Peterborough United, Coca Cola League Two, 24 November 2007
* 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, 95, 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

ee also

* List of Fan Owned Teams

References

External links

* [http://www.beespedia.org Beespedia]
* [http://www.brentfordfc.co.uk Official web site] (part of the [http://www.premiumtv.co.uk Premium TV] network of official web sites)
* [http://www.beesunited.org.uk Bees United] - The Brentford Supporters Trust
* [http://www.bias.org.uk BIAS] - Brentford Independent Association of Supporters
* [http://www.griffinpark.org Griffin Park Grapevine] - Griffin Park Grapevine - the busiest website on Brentford
* [http://www.swebees.se Swedish Supporters' Club] - The Swedish Supporters Club