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Brentford 1951–52 football season
During the 1951–52 English football season, Brentford competed in the Football League Second Division . The Bees secured a third-consecutive top 10 finish and reached the fourth round of the FA Cup , taking Luton Town to two replays before going out.
Season summary
After two consecutive 9th-place finishes in the Second Division , Brentford manager Jackie Gibbons elected to keep his squad together for the 1951–52 season, with former Brighton & Hove Albion utility player Frank Morrad being his only first team signing.
Aided by the goalscoring of full back -cum-centre forward Fred Monk , Brentford showed great form in the first half of the season, losing just five of the opening 21 matches to sit 2nd in the table.[ 2] Christmas period, after consecutive defeats to Southampton .[ 3] half backs Ron Greenwood and Jimmy Hill on the other. The bust-up resulted in Greenwood and Hill requesting transfers, with Hill eventually moving to local rivals Fulham in March 1952 in exchange for inside forward Jimmy Bowie . Centre forward Billy Dare came into goalscoring in the second half of the season,[ 5] Harper -Hill-Greenwood half back line (though Greenwood would later rescind his transfer request) led to an increase the amount of goals conceded and Brentford were forced to settle for a 10th-place finish, having slowly drifted out of contention from promotion in February 1952.[ 2] England international Tommy Lawton had been signed amid much fanfare for a club record £16,000 fee in March 1952, but managed to contribute only two goals in his 10 appearances.[ 5] Ken Horne commented that "I'm sure we could have gone up that year but the spirit completely went out the team. We'd got by on spirit. The team had been kept together for so long that they had been fighting for each other".[ 3]
The end of the season saw the retirement of Brentford's final two players signed prior to the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 – goalkeeper Ted Gaskell and utility man Tom Manley . Both would later receive a joint-testimonial in April 1954.
League table
Pos
Team
Pld
Home
Away
F
A
GA
GD
Pts
W
D
L
F
A
W
D
L
F
A
1
Sheffield Wednesday 42
14
4
3
54
23
7
7
7
46
43
100
66
1.515
+34
53
2
Cardiff City 42
18
2
1
52
15
2
9
10
20
39
72
54
1.333
+18
51
3
Birmingham City 42
11
6
4
36
21
10
3
8
31
35
67
56
1.196
+11
51
4
Nottingham Forest 42
12
6
3
41
22
6
7
8
36
40
77
62
1.242
+15
49
5
Leicester City 42
12
6
3
48
24
7
3
11
30
40
78
64
1.219
+14
47
6
Leeds United 42
13
7
1
35
15
5
4
12
24
42
59
57
1.035
+2
47
7
Everton 42
12
5
4
42
25
5
5
11
22
33
64
58
1.103
+6
44
8
Luton Town 42
9
7
5
46
35
7
5
9
31
43
77
78
0.987
–1
44
9
Rotherham United 42
11
4
6
40
25
6
4
11
33
46
73
71
1.028
+2
42
10 Brentford 42 11 7 3 34 20 4 5 12 20 35 54 55 0.982 –1 42
11
Sheffield United 42
13
2
6
57
28
5
3
13
33
48
90
76
1.184
+14
41
12
West Ham United 42
13
5
3
48
29
2
6
13
19
48
67
77
0.870
–10
41
13
Southampton 42
11
6
4
40
25
4
5
12
21
48
61
73
0.836
–12
41
14
Blackburn Rovers 42
11
3
7
35
30
6
3
12
19
33
54
63
0.857
–9
40
15
Notts County 42
11
5
5
45
27
5
2
14
26
41
71
68
1.044
+3
39
16
Doncaster Rovers 42
9
4
8
29
28
4
8
9
26
32
55
60
0.917
–5
38
17
Bury 42
13
2
6
43
22
2
5
14
24
47
67
69
0.971
–2
37
18
Hull City 42
11
5
5
44
23
2
6
13
16
47
60
70
0.857
–10
37
19
Swansea Town 42
10
4
7
45
26
2
8
11
27
50
72
76
0.947
–4
36
20
Barnsley 42
8
7
6
39
33
3
7
11
20
39
59
72
0.819
–13
36
21
Coventry City 42
9
5
7
36
33
5
1
15
23
49
59
82
0.720
–23
34
22
Queens Park Rangers 42
8
8
5
35
35
3
4
14
17
46
52
81
0.642
–29
34
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
Promoted
Relegated
Results
Brentford's goal tally listed first.
Legend
No.
Date
Opponent
Venue
Result
Attendance
Scorer(s)
Notes
1
18 August 1951
Leeds United A
1–1
20,268
Paton
2
22 August 1951
Everton
A
0–1
32,722
3
25 August 1951
Rotherham United H
2–0
24,904
Sperrin , Monk
4
27 August 1951
Everton H
1–0
19,525
Sperrin
5
1 September 1951
Cardiff City A
0–2
27,772
6
5 September 1951
Doncaster Rovers A
2–1
21,154
Goodwin , Monk (pen )
7
8 September 1951
Birmingham City
H
1–0
25,029
Monk
8
15 September 1951
Leicester City A
1–1
23,757
Monk
9
22 September 1951
Nottingham Forest H
1–1
26,350
Hill
10
29 September 1951
Queens Park Rangers A
1–3
25,339
Monk
11
6 October 1951
Notts County
H
1–0
28,214
Coote
12
13 October 1951
Luton Town A
2–0
18,521
Sperrin , Monk
13
20 October 1951
Bury H
4–0
20,726
Sperrin (2), Coote , Paton
14
27 October 1951
Swansea Town A
1–1
19,235
Sperrin
15
3 November 1951
Coventry City
H
4–0
22,899
Monk
16
10 November 1951
West Ham United
A
0–1
26,288
17
17 November 1951
Sheffield United H
4–1
26,288
Paton , Monk (2), Sperrin
18
24 November 1951
Barnsley A
0–0
10,149
19
1 December 1951
Hull City H
2–1
26,072
Monk (2)
20
8 December 1951
Blackburn Rovers A
0–3
13,617
21
15 December 1951
Leeds United H
2–1
17,957
Dare (2)
22
22 December 1951
Rotherham United A
1–1
14,809
Monk
23
25 December 1951
Southampton H
1–2
25,841
Dare
24
26 December 1951
Southampton
A
1–2
21,625
Sperrin
25
29 December 1951
Cardiff City H
1–1
27,547
Paton
26
5 January 1952
Birmingham City
A
2–1
28,368
Dare , Badham (og )
27
19 January 1952
Leicester City H
1–3
19,923
Dare
28
26 January 1952
Nottingham Forest A
0–2
21,649
29
9 February 1952
Queens Park Rangers H
0–0
25,645
30
16 February 1952
Notts County A
2–5
22,503
Dare , Sperrin
31
1 March 1952
Luton Town H
3–3
21,218
Dare (2), Horne
32
8 March 1952
Bury A
0–1
12,140
33
15 March 1952
Swansea Town H
3–1
29,753
Coote , Dare (2)
34
22 March 1952
Coventry City A
1–2
27,577
Dare
35
5 April 1952
Sheffield United
A
4–1
23,435
Lawton , Paton , Dare , Harper
36
11 April 1952
Sheffield Wednesday
H
2–3
35,827
Bragg , Dare
37
12 April 1952
Barnsley H
1–1
19,912
Goodwin
38
14 April 1952
Sheffield Wednesday A
0–2
43,935
39
19 April 1952
Hull City A
1–4
30,891
Dare
40
21 April 1952
West Ham United H
1–1
12,563
Lawton
[ nb 1]
41
26 April 1952
Blackburn Rovers H
1–1
16,195
Slater
42
30 April 1952
Doncaster Rovers H
1–0
10,243
Morrad
FA Cup
Playing squad
Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1951–52 season.
Coaching staff
Statistics
Appearances and goals
Players listed in italics left the club mid-season. Source: 100 Years Of Brentford[ 5]
Goalscorers
Players listed in italics left the club mid-season. Source: 100 Years Of Brentford[ 5]
Amateur international caps
Management
Name
Nat
From
To
Record All Comps
Record League
P
W
D
L
W %
P
W
D
L
W %
Jackie Gibbons
18 August 1951
30 April 1952
46
16
14
16
0 34.78
42
15
12
15
0 35.71
Summary
Games played
46 (42 Second Division , 4 FA Cup )
Games won
16 (15 Second Division, 1 FA Cup)
Games drawn
14 (12 Second Division, 2 FA Cup)
Games lost
16 (15 Second Division, 1 FA Cup)
Goals scored
61 (54 Second Division, 7 FA Cup)
Goals conceded
61 (55 Second Division, 6 FA Cup)
Clean sheets
11 (10 Second Division, 1 FA Cup)
Biggest league win
4–0 on two occasions
Worst league defeat
3–0 versus Blackburn Rovers , 8 December 1951; 4–1 versus Hull City , 19 April 1952; 5–2 versus Notts County , 16 February 1952
Most appearances
46, Billy Dare (42 Second Division, 4 FA Cup)
Top scorer (league)
14, Billy Dare
Top scorer (all competitions)
16, Billy Dare
Notes
^ The original fixture on 29 March 1952 was abandoned at half time due to snow, with the score at 1–1.
^ Match played at Arsenal Stadium , London .
References
General Grounds Affiliated clubs Players Rivalries
