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Brentford 1956–57 football season
During the 1956–57 English football season, Brentford competed in the Football League Third Division South . Despite topping the table early in the season, a poor run of form dropped the club to the lower reaches of mid-table by February 1957. A strong final two months of the season lifted the Bees to an 8th-place finish.
Season summary
With Brentford having failed to challenge for promotion since relegation to the Third Division South in 1954, reduced attendances at Griffin Park meant that manager Bill Dodgin Sr. again had little to spend in the transfer market, with his lone acquisition being full back Sid Russell from local Sunday league football . Frank Latimer and Billy Sperrin were released after many years' service, in addition to more recent signings Leonard Geard , James Robertson and George Stobbart .
Brentford had a dream start to the 1956–57 season, winning the opening four matches and and sitting atop the table.[ 2] [ 2] Forwards Jeff Taylor and George Francis (supported by Jim Towers ) were in imperious form, with Taylor having scored 9 goals and Francis 8 goals after 10 matches.[ 3] Ipswich Town on 22 September ended the run and Brentford won just three of next 20 league matches,[ 2] [ 3] Chelsea forward Eric Parsons had little impact. The Bees reached their nadir on 19 January 1957, losing 7–0 to Walsall , a scoreline which equalled the club's record defeat.[ 4] Northampton Town and completed a slide from 1st position on 18 September 1956 to 17th on 16 February 1957.[ 2] [ 3] [ 2]
League table
Pos
Team
Pld
Home
Away
F
A
GA
GD
Pts
W
D
L
F
A
W
D
L
F
A
1
Ipswich Town 46
18
3
2
72
20
7
6
10
29
34
101
54
1.870
+47
59
2
Torquay United 46
19
4
0
71
18
5
7
11
18
46
89
64
1.391
+25
59
3
Colchester United 46
15
8
0
49
19
7
6
10
35
37
84
56
1.500
+28
58
4
Southampton 46
15
4
4
48
20
7
6
10
28
32
76
52
1.462
+24
54
5
Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic 46
15
7
1
57
20
4
7
12
31
42
88
62
1.419
+26
52
6
Brighton & Hove Albion 46
15
6
2
59
26
4
8
11
27
39
86
65
1.323
+21
52
7
Southend United 46
14
3
6
42
20
4
9
10
31
45
73
65
1.123
+8
48
8 Brentford 46 12 9 2 55 29 4 7 12 23 47 78 76 1.026 +2 48
9
Shrewsbury Town 46
11
9
3
45
24
4
9
10
27
55
72
79
0.911
–7
48
10
Queens Park Rangers 46
12
7
4
42
21
6
4
13
19
39
61
60
1.017
+1
47
11
Watford 46
11
6
6
44
32
7
4
12
28
43
72
75
0.960
–3
46
12
Newport County 46
15
6
2
51
18
1
7
15
14
44
65
62
1.048
+3
45
13
Reading 46
13
4
6
44
30
5
5
13
36
51
80
81
0.988
–1
45
14
Northampton Town 46
15
5
3
49
22
3
4
16
17
51
66
73
0.904
–7
45
15
Walsall 46
11
7
5
49
25
5
5
13
31
49
80
74
1.081
+6
44
16
Coventry City 46
12
5
6
52
36
4
7
12
22
48
74
84
0.881
–10
44
17
Millwall 46
13
7
3
46
29
3
5
15
18
55
64
84
0.762
–20
44
18
Plymouth Argyle 46
10
8
5
38
31
6
3
14
30
42
68
73
0.932
–5
43
19
Aldershot 46
11
5
7
43
35
4
7
12
36
57
79
92
0.859
–13
42
20
Crystal Palace 46
7
10
6
31
28
4
8
11
31
47
62
75
0.827
–13
40
21
Exeter City 46
8
8
7
37
29
4
5
14
24
50
61
79
0.772
–18
37
22
Gillingham 46
7
8
8
29
29
5
5
13
25
56
54
85
0.635
–31
37
23
Swindon Town 46
12
3
8
43
33
3
3
17
23
63
66
96
0.688
–30
36
24
Norwich City 46
7
5
11
33
37
1
10
12
28
57
61
94
0.649
–33
31
P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GA = Goal average; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
Key
Division Champions, promoted
New club in the league (none)
Re-elected
Failed re-election (none)
Results
Brentford's goal tally listed first.
Legend
No.
Date
Opponent
Venue
Result
Attendance
Scorer(s)
1
18 August 1956
Plymouth Argyle H
4–1
13,710
Newcombe , Goundry , Taylor , Towers
2
21 August 1956
Swindon Town H
4–1
13,510
Towers , Taylor (2), Bragg (pen )
3
25 August 1956
Aldershot
A
2–0
7,043
Towers , Francis
4
29 August 1956
Swindon Town A
3–1
11,995
Taylor (2), Francis
5
1 September 1956
Watford
H
1–5
18,760
Towers
6
4 September 1956
Brighton & Hove Albion H
2–5
12,191
Goundry , Towers
7
8 September 1956
Shrewsbury Town A
2–3
8,953
Francis , Taylor
8
12 September 1956
Brighton & Hove Albion A
2–1
14,317
Goundry , Francis
9
15 September 1956
Walsall H
6–2
11,492
Taylor (3), Bristow , Goundry , Francis
10
18 September 1956
Gillingham H
3–2
15,603
Francis (3)
11
22 September 1956
Ipswich Town A
0–4
12,888
12
26 September 1956
Gillingham
A
1–2
7,903
Morgan
13
29 September 1956
Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic H
2–2
12,604
Francis , Newcombe
14
6 October 1956
Northampton Town H
2–1
10,733
Coleman (og ), Francis
15
13 October 1956
Southend United
A
0–1
11,463
16
20 October 1956
Crystal Palace H
1–1
11,345
Taylor
17
27 October 1956
Exeter City A
1–1
8,482
Francis
18
3 November 1956
Southampton H
4–0
14,198
Francis (4)
19
10 November 1956
Coventry City A
1–1
9,884
Pelow (pen )
20
24 November 1956
Colchester United
A
0–1
7,290
21
1 December 1956
Newport County H
0–0
11,130
22
15 December 1956
Plymouth Argyle
A
0–2
6,823
23
22 December 1956
Aldershot H
2–2
7,284
Parsons , Towers
24
25 December 1956
Torquay United H
0–0
9,024
25
26 December 1956
Torquay United A
0–2
9,540
26
29 December 1956
Watford A
1–1
8,416
Dudley
27
12 January 1957
Shrewsbury Town H
3–1
8,952
Rainford , Dudley , Goundry
28
19 January 1957
Walsall A
0–7
13,892
29
2 February 1957
Ipswich Town H
1–1
10,538
Rees (og )
30
9 February 1957
Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic A
0–3
10,898
31
16 February 1957
Northampton Town A
0–5
9,306
32
2 March 1957
Crystal Palace
A
2–0
11,679
Parsons (2)
33
4 March 1957
Millwall H
5–0
6,088
Taylor , Towers , Francis , Coote , Goundry
34
9 March 1957
Reading H
4–0
10,223
Francis (2), Taylor , McLaren (og )
35
12 March 1957
Southend United H
3–2
11,941
Francis (2), Towers
36
16 March 1957
Southampton A
3–3
12,166
Parsons , Newcombe , Towers
37
18 March 1957
Millwall
A
1–1
8,726
Towers
38
23 March 1957
Coventry City
H
1–1
10,058
Taylor
39
30 March 1957
Norwich City
A
1–1
11,685
McNeil (og )
40
6 April 1957
Colchester United H
1–1
12,846
Taylor
41
13 April 1957
Newport County
A
0–3
5,415
42
19 April 1957
Queens Park Rangers H
2–0
13,841
Towers (2)
43
20 April 1957
Exeter City H
3–0
9,262
Taylor , Harvey (og ), Francis
44
22 April 1957
Queens Park Rangers A
2–2
9,661
Dargie , Francis
45
27 April 1957
Norwich City
H
1–1
8,764
Bragg (pen )
46
1 May 1957
Reading
A
0–2
4,203
FA Cup
Playing squad
Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1956–57 season.
Coaching staff
Statistics
Appearances and goals
Players listed in italics left the club mid-season. Source: 100 Years Of Brentford[ 3]
Goalscorers
Players listed in italics left the club mid-season. Source: 100 Years Of Brentford[ 3]
Representative caps
Management
Name
Nat
From
To
Record All Comps
Record League
P
W
D
L
W %
P
W
D
L
W %
Bill Dodgin Sr.
18 August 1956
1 May 1957
49
17
17
15
0 34.69
46
16
16
14
0 34.78
Summary
Games played
49 (46 Second Division , 3 FA Cup )
Games won
17 (16 Second Division, 1 FA Cup)
Games drawn
17 (16 Second Division, 1 FA Cup)
Games lost
15 (14 Second Division, 1 FA Cup)
Goals scored
84 (78 Second Division, 6 FA Cup)
Goals conceded
80 (76 Second Division, 4 FA Cup)
Clean sheets
10 (9 Second Division, 1 FA Cup)
Biggest league win
5–0 versus Millwall , 4 March 1957
Worst league defeat
7–0 versus Walsall , 19 January 1957
Most appearances
47, Ken Coote (44 Second Division, 3 FA Cup)
Top scorer (league)
23, George Francis
Top scorer (all competitions)
24, George Francis
References
General Grounds Affiliated clubs Players Rivalries
Great Britain