1938–39 Brentford F.C. season

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Brentford
1938–39 season
Chairman Louis P. Simon
Manager Harry Curtis
Stadium Griffin Park
First Division 18th
FA Cup Third round
Top goalscorer League: Cheetham (8)
All: Cheetham (8)
Highest home attendance 38,535
Lowest home attendance 12,761
Average home league attendance 23,117
← 1937–38 1939–40 →

During the 1938–39 English football season, Brentford competed in the Football League First Division. A six-match unbeaten run in February and March 1939 pulled the club clear of a near-certain relegation.

Season summary

After successive top-six finishes in Brentford's first three seasons in the First Division, manager Harry Curtis again elected to not make any significant off-season signings, bringing in only amateur forward Jackie Gibbons.[1] After youngsters Les Smith and Gerry McAloon were promoted into the first team during the previous two seasons,[2][3] Curtis would again dip into the reserve and junior ranks and give debuts to left back Doug Anderson and forwards Len Townsend and George Wilkins during 1938–39.[4][5][6]

Brentford started the season with two wins and a draw - the second victory being played in front of a club record 38,535 home crowd versus London rivals Arsenal.[7][8] Just one point from the following seven matches dropped the Bees to the bottom of the First Division.[7] Scottish international forward David McCulloch's previous prolific goalscoring form had deserted him and reliable forwards Bobby Reid and Billy Scott also found goalscoring chances hard to come by.[9][10][11] Having scored just twice in 9 appearances, McCulloch departed Griffin Park to join Derby County for a £9,500 fee on 22 October 1938.[12] Brentford's form picked up slightly after McCulloch's departure, losing just three of the following 12 matches,[7] but two other regular starters departed in the midst of the run - forward George Eastham to Blackpool for £5,000 and long-serving captain Arthur Bateman was forced to retire.[13] Manager Curtis signed Irish international full back Bill Gorman to partner George Poyser in defence and promoted young forwards Len Townsend and George Wilkins to the first team.[14]

Brentford's bad form continued through to February 1939 and again the team was hit by the loss of a key player, with Scottish international forward Bobby Reid moving to Sheffield United.[15] Manager Curtis brought in two new forwards, Tommy Cheetham from local rivals Queens Park Rangers and Les Boulter from Charlton Athletic for £5,000 each.[16] Cheetham scored on his second appearance to begin a run of five wins and a draw,[17] which took the Bees up to 13th position and effectively saved the club's top-flight status.[7] Brentford lost seven of the remaining 10 matches and finished in 18th place.[7]

Despite the poor finish, the season ended on a high note, when on 24 May 1939, 21-year-old forward Les Smith became the second Brentford player to win a full England cap,[18] which came in a 2–0 friendly win over Romania in Bucharest.[19]

League table

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Main article: 1938–39 Football League First Division
Pos Team Pld Home Away F A GA GD Pts
W D L F A W D L F A
1 Everton 42 17 3 1 60 18 10 2 9 28 34 88 52 1.692 +36 59
2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 42 14 6 1 55 12 8 5 8 33 27 88 39 2.256 +49 55
3 Charlton Athletic 42 16 3 2 49 24 6 3 12 26 35 75 59 1.271 +16 50
4 Middlesbrough 42 13 6 2 64 27 7 3 11 29 47 93 74 1.257 +19 49
5 Arsenal 42 14 3 4 34 14 5 6 10 21 27 55 41 1.341 +14 47
6 Derby County 42 12 3 6 39 22 7 5 9 27 33 66 55 1.200 +11 46
7 Stoke City 42 13 6 2 50 25 4 6 11 21 43 71 68 1.044 +3 46
8 Bolton Wanderers 42 10 6 5 39 25 5 9 7 28 33 67 58 1.155 +9 45
9 Preston North End 42 13 7 1 44 19 3 5 13 19 40 63 59 1.068 +4 44
10 Grimsby Town 42 11 6 4 38 26 5 5 11 23 43 61 69 0.884 –8 43
11 Liverpool 42 12 6 3 40 24 2 8 11 22 39 62 63 0.984 –1 42
12 Aston Villa 42 11 3 7 44 25 5 6 10 27 35 71 60 1.183 +9 41
13 Leeds United 42 11 5 5 40 27 5 4 12 19 40 59 67 0.881 –8 41
14 Manchester United 42 7 9 5 30 20 4 7 10 27 45 57 65 0.877 –8 38
15 Blackpool 42 9 8 4 37 26 3 6 12 19 42 56 68 0.824 –12 38
16 Sunderland 42 7 7 7 30 29 6 5 10 24 38 54 67 0.806 –13 38
17 Portsmouth 42 10 7 4 25 15 2 6 13 22 55 47 70 0.671 –23 37
18 Brentford 42 11 2 8 30 27 3 6 12 23 47 53 74 0.716 –21 36
19 Huddersfield Town 42 11 4 6 38 18 1 7 13 20 46 58 64 0.906 –6 35
20 Chelsea 42 10 5 6 43 29 2 4 15 21 51 64 80 0.800 –16 33
21 Birmingham 42 10 5 6 40 27 2 3 16 22 57 62 84 0.738 –22 32
22 Leicester City 42 7 6 8 35 35 2 5 14 13 47 48 82 0.585 –34 29
Key
League Champions
FA Cup Winners
Relegated

Results

Brentford's goal tally listed first.

Legend

Win Draw Loss

Football League First Division

No. Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorer(s)
1 27 August 1938 Huddersfield Town H 2–1 26,638 Brown, McCulloch
2 3 September 1938 Everton A 1–2 35,989 Reid
3 8 September 1938 Arsenal H 1–0 38,535 McAloon
4 10 September 1938 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 0–1 28,027
5 17 September 1938 Aston Villa A 0–5 49,092
6 19 September 1938 Blackpool A 1–4 21,970 Scott
7 24 September 1938 Sunderland H 2–3 26,128 Eastham, McCulloch
8 1 October 1938 Grimsby Town A 0–0 12,106
9 8 October 1938 Derby County H 1–3 23,539 Scott
10 15 October 1938 Stoke City A 2–3 23,588 Holliday (pen), Hopkins
11 22 October 1938 Chelsea H 1–0 31,425 Reid
12 29 October 1938 Charlton Athletic A 1–1 32,191 Scott
13 5 November 1938 Bolton Wanderers H 2–2 24,594 Atkinson (og), Scott
14 12 November 1938 Leeds United A 2–3 22,555 Edelston, Brown
15 19 November 1938 Liverpool H 2–1 20,977 Holliday (2)
16 26 November 1938 Leicester City A 1–1 16,634 Scott
17 3 December 1938 Middlesbrough H 2–1 21,746 Holliday, Sneddon
18 10 December 1938 Birmingham A 1–5 23,333 Holliday
19 17 December 1938 Manchester United H 2–5 14,919 Gibbons, Vose (og)
20 24 December 1938 Huddersfield Town A 2–1 11,483 Smith, Townsend
21 27 December 1938 Portsmouth A 2–2 31,732 Townsend, McAloon
22 31 December 1938 Everton H 2–0 27,861 Townsend (2)
23 14 January 1939 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 2–5 23,944 Edelston (2)
24 28 January 1939 Sunderland A 1–1 19,591 Sneddon (pen)
25 4 February 1939 Grimsby Town H 1–2 17,380 Scott
26 8 February 1939 Aston Villa H 2–4 21,162 Edelston, Reid (pen)
27 11 February 1939 Derby County A 2–1 19,707 Hopkins, Cheetham
28 18 February 1939 Stoke City H 1–0 26,237 Cheetham
29 22 February 1939 Portsmouth H 2–0 14,290 McAloon, Scott
30 25 February 1939 Chelsea A 3–1 33,511 Cheetham (2), Smith
31 4 March 1939 Charlton Athletic H 1–0 24,440 Hopkins
32 11 March 1939 Bolton Wanderers A 1–1 15,161 Boulter
33 18 March 1939 Leeds United H 0–1 21,480
34 25 March 1939 Liverpool A 0–1 18,113
35 1 April 1939 Leicester City H 2–0 17,238 Smith, Hopkins
36 7 April 1939 Preston North End H 3–1 30,780 Cheetham (2), Edelston
37 8 April 1939 Middlesbrough A 1–3 18,191 Cheetham
38 10 April 1939 Preston North End A 0–2 22,350
39 15 April 1939 Birmingham H 0–1 15,298
40 22 April 1939 Manchester United A 0–3 15,353
41 29 April 1939 Blackpool H 1–1 12,761 Cheetham
42 6 May 1939 Arsenal A 0–2 30,928

FA Cup

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Main article: 1938–39 FA Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance
3R 7 January 1939 Newcastle United H 0–2 27,551

Playing squad

Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1938–39 season.
Pos. Name Nat. Date of birth (age) Signed from Signed in Notes
Goalkeepers
GK Joe Crozier Scotland (1914-12-02)2 December 1914 (aged 23) East Fife 1937
GK Ted Gaskell England (1916-12-19)19 December 1916 (aged 21) Buxton 1937
Defenders
DF Doug Anderson Scotland (1914-03-25)25 March 1914 (aged 24) Hibernian 1937
DF Harry Bamford England (1914-04-08)8 April 1914 (aged 24) Hayes 1936
DF Bill Gorman Republic of Ireland (1911-01-13)13 January 1911 (aged 27) Bury 1938
DF George Poyser England (1910-02-06)6 February 1910 (aged 28) Port Vale 1934
DF Joe Wilson England (1911-09-29)29 September 1911 (aged 26) Southend United 1935
Midfielders
HB Albert Aiken Ireland n/a Glentoran 1937
HB Sam Briddon England (1915-07-26)26 July 1915 (aged 23) Port Vale 1935
HB Buster Brown England (1910-09-06)6 September 1910 (aged 27) Huddersfield Town 1937
HB Joe James (c) England (1910-01-13)13 January 1910 (aged 28) Battersea Church 1929
HB Tally Sneddon Scotland (1914-04-01)1 April 1914 (aged 24) Falkirk 1937
Forwards
FW Les Boulter Wales (1913-08-31)31 August 1913 (aged 24) Charlton Athletic 1939
FW Tommy Cheetham England (1910-10-11)11 October 1910 (aged 27) Queens Park Rangers 1939
FW Maurice Edelston England (1918-04-27)27 April 1918 (aged 20) Wimbledon 1937 Amateur
FW Jackie Gibbons England (1914-04-10)10 April 1914 (aged 24) Tottenham Hotspur 1938 Amateur
FW Jack Holliday England (1908-12-19)19 December 1908 (aged 29) Middlesbrough 1932
FW Idris Hopkins Wales (1910-10-11)11 October 1910 (aged 27) Crystal Palace 1932
FW Gerry McAloon Scotland (1916-09-13)13 September 1916 (aged 21) St Francis 1934
FW Ernest Muttitt England (1908-07-24)24 July 1908 (aged 30) Middlesbrough 1932
FW Billy Scott England (1907-12-06)6 December 1907 (aged 30) Middlesbrough 1932
FW Les Smith England (1918-03-13)13 March 1918 (aged 20) Petersham 1934
FW Len Townsend England (1917-08-31)31 August 1917 (aged 20) Hayes 1937
FW George Wilkins England (1919-10-27)27 October 1919 (aged 18) Hayes 1938
Players who left the club mid-season
DF Arthur Bateman England (1908-04-01)1 April 1908 (aged 30) Southend United 1934 Retired
FW George Eastham England (1914-08-13)13 August 1914 (aged 24) Bolton Wanderers 1937 Transferred to Blackpool
FW David McCulloch Scotland (1912-10-05)5 October 1912 (aged 25) Heart of Midlothian 1935 Transferred to Derby County
FW Bobby Reid Scotland (1911-02-19)19 February 1911 (aged 27) Hamilton Academical 1936 Transferred to Sheffield United

Coaching staff

Name Role
England Harry Curtis Manager
Scotland Jimmy Bain Assistant Manager
England Bob Kane Trainer
England Jack Cartmell Assistant Trainer
England Joe Edelston Assistant Trainer
England Fred Keatch Secretary

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Pos Nat Name League FA Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK Scotland Joe Crozier 42 0 1 0 43 0
DF Scotland Doug Anderson 1 0 0 0 1 0
DF England Arthur Bateman 7 0 0 0 7 0
DF Republic of Ireland Bill Gorman 24 0 1 0 25 0
DF England George Poyser 33 0 1 0 34 0
DF England Joe Wilson 10 0 0 0 10 0
HB Ireland Albert Aiken 3 0 0 0 3 0
HB England Sam Briddon 6 0 1 0 7 0
HB England Buster Brown 33 2 1 0 34 2
HB England Joe James 39 0 1 0 40 0
HB Scotland Tally Sneddon 27 2 0 0 27 2
FW Wales Les Boulter 16 1 — 16 1
FW England Tommy Cheetham 17 8 — 17 8
FW England George Eastham 11 1 — 11 1
FW England Maurice Edelston 19 5 0 0 19 5
FW England Jackie Gibbons 11 1 0 0 11 1
FW England Jack Holliday 10 5 0 0 10 5
FW Wales Idris Hopkins 32 4 1 0 33 4
FW Scotland Gerry McAloon 14 3 1 0 15 3
FW Scotland David McCulloch 9 2 — 9 2
FW England Ernest Muttitt 13 0 0 0 13 0
FW Scotland Bobby Reid 17 3 0 0 17 3
FW England Billy Scott 28 7 1 0 29 7
FW England Les Smith 33 3 1 0 34 3
FW England Len Townsend 4 4 1 0 5 4
FW England George Wilkins 3 0 0 0 3 0

Goalscorers

Pos. Nat Player FL1 FAC Total
FW England Tommy Cheetham 8 0 8
FW England Billy Scott 7 0 7
FW England Maurice Edelston 5 0 5
FW England Jack Holliday 5 0 5
FW Wales Idris Hopkins 4 0 4
FW England Len Townsend 4 0 4
FW Scotland Gerry McAloon 3 0 3
FW Scotland Bobby Reid 3 0 3
FW England Les Smith 3 0 3
HB England Buster Brown 2 0 2
FW Scotland David McCulloch 2 — 2
HB Scotland Tally Sneddon 2 0 2
FW Wales Les Boulter 1 0 1
FW England George Eastham 1 — 1
FW England Jackie Gibbons 1 0 1
Opponents 2 0 2
Total 53 0 53

International caps

Pos. Nat Player Caps Goals Ref
DF Republic of Ireland Bill Gorman 1 0 [22]
FW Wales Les Boulter 1 1 [23]
FW Wales Idris Hopkins 3 1 [24]
FW England Les Smith 1 0 [19]

Management

Name Nat From To Record All Comps Record League
P W D L W % P W D L W %
Harry Curtis England 27 August 1938 6 May 1939 43 14 8 21 32.56 42 14 8 20 33.33

Summary

Games played 43 (42 First Division, 1 FA Cup)
Games won 14 (14 First Division, 0 FA Cup)
Games drawn 8 (8 First Division, 0 FA Cup)
Games lost 21 (20 First Division, 1 FA Cup)
Goals scored 53 (53 First Division, 0 FA Cup)
Goals conceded 76 (74 First Division, 2 FA Cup)
Clean sheets 8 (8 First Division, 0 FA Cup)
Biggest league win 2–0 on three occasions; 3–1 versus Preston North End, 7 April 1939
Worst league defeat 5–0 versus Aston Villa, 17 September 1938
Most appearances 43, Joe Crozier (42 First Division, 1 FA Cup)
Top scorer (league) 8, Tommy Cheetham
Top scorer (all competitions) 8, Tommy Cheetham

References

  1. ↑ Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 64-65.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 http://www.statto.com/football/teams/brentford/1938-1939/results
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 104.
  13. ↑ Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 17, 52.
  14. ↑ Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 67-68.
  15. ↑ Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 133.
  16. ↑ Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 24, 37.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 149.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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