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1953β54 season of Brentford F.C.
Brentford 1953β54 football season
During the
1953β54 English football season,
Brentford competed in the
Football League Second Division . With Brentford in the relegation places,
player-manager
Tommy Lawton transferred out of the club in September 1953 and his replacement
Bill Dodgin Sr. was unable to turn things round, which culminated in relegation to the
Third Division South on the final day of the season. Brentford did not return to the second-tier of English football until the
1992β93 season.
Season summary
Without a transfer budget to speak of,
Brentford
player-manager
Tommy Lawton could not rely entirely on filling his squad with the products of Alf Bew's
youth team , which had reached the semi-finals of the inaugural
FA Youth Cup during the
previous season . Lawton again relied on
Wally Bragg and
Ken Coote to hold two of the
half back berths alongside
Tony Harper .
[2] He signed ageing
forwards
Frank Broome and
Ian McPherson from his previous club
Notts County as replacements for
Les Smith and the injured
Jimmy D'Arcy .
Six defeats and just one win from the opening 9
Second Division matches saw Tommy Lawton quit the club in favour of a Β£10,000 transfer to
Arsenal , a deal which saw
James Robertson arrive at
Griffin Park in part-exchange.
Full back
Fred Monk took over as
caretaker manager until the appointment of
Bill Dodgin Sr. on 1 October 1953. Dodgin's arrival heralded three consecutive wins, which lifted the Bees out of the relegation places.
[3] Ineffective forwards Broome and McPherson were transferred out and replaced by
Cardiff City 's
Johnny Rainford and
Frank Dudley . Despite their arrivals, Brentford showed poor form over the
Christmas and
New Year period and a money-raising
FA Cup run ended in a third round replay defeat to
Hull City .
[3]
Gerry Gazzard arrived on
loan from
West Ham United in January 1954 and despite Gazzard and Dudley forming something of a strike partnership during the final 10 weeks of the season, Brentford were relegated in 21st-place after the club's final match on 24 April.
[4]
The solitary away league win during the season tied the club record for fewest away league wins in a season.
[5] In addition, Brentford were the joint-lowest scorers in the Second Division during the season.
[4] Long-serving trainer
Jack Cartmell retired at the end of the season, after over 30 years on the staff at Griffin Park.
League table
Source:
[
citation needed ] Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(R) Relegated
Results
Brentford's goal tally listed first.
Legend
No.
Date
Opponent
Venue
Result
Attendance
Scorer(s)
1
19 August 1953
Stoke City
A
1β1
22,413
Broome
2
22 August 1953
Derby County
A
1β4
18,927
Lawton
3
27 August 1953
Blackburn Rovers
H
1β4
16,682
Ledgerton
4
29 August 1953
Fulham
H
2β1
21,689
Monk (
pen ),
Goodwin
5
31 August 1953
Blackburn Rovers
A
2β2
11,793
Dare (2)
6
5 September 1953
Bristol Rovers
H
0β3
21,158
7
10 September 1953
Doncaster Rovers
H
1β4
14,047
Lawton
8
12 September 1953
Lincoln City
A
1β2
16,592
Harper
9
16 September 1953
Doncaster Rovers
A
0β3
19,463
10
19 September 1953
Notts County
H
0β0
12,770
11
26 September 1953
Hull City
A
0β2
19,501
12
3 October 1953
Everton
H
1β0
17,367
Dare
13
10 October 1953
West Ham United
A
1β0
24,934
Bloomfield
14
17 October 1953
Leeds United
H
2β1
18,329
Dare ,
Bloomfield
15
24 October 1953
Birmingham City
A
1β5
23,582
Dare
16
31 October 1953
Nottingham Forest
H
1β1
15,384
Rainford
17
7 November 1953
Luton Town
A
1β1
15,167
Robertson
18
14 November 1953
Plymouth Argyle
H
1β0
17,327
Dare
19
21 November 1953
Swansea Town
A
0β1
16,627
20
28 November 1953
Rotherham United
H
0β1
16,740
21
5 December 1953
Leicester City
A
0β6
24,036
22
12 December 1953
Stoke City
H
0β0
11,848
23
19 December 1953
Derby County
H
0β0
10,652
24
25 December 1953
Oldham Athletic
H
3β1
15,309
Rainford ,
Dudley ,
Bloomfield
25
26 December 1953
Oldham Athletic
A
0β2
14,414
26
2 January 1954
Fulham
A
1β4
24,372
Dudley
27
16 January 1954
Bristol Rovers
A
0β0
20,541
28
23 January 1954
Lincoln City
H
0β1
11,431
29
30 January 1954
Bury
A
1β1
9,035
Robertson
30
6 February 1954
Notts County
A
0β2
10,507
31
13 February 1954
Hull City
H
2β2
11,522
Gazzard (2)
32
24 February 1954
Everton
A
1β6
23,145
Gazzard
33
27 February 1954
West Ham United
H
3β1
16,458
Gazzard ,
Dudley ,
Dare
34
6 March 1954
Leeds United
A
0β4
16,501
35
13 March 1954
Birmingham City
H
2β0
12,584
Dudley (2)
36
20 March 1954
Nottingham Forest
A
1β2
15,700
Dudley
37
27 March 1954
Swansea Town
H
3β1
14,023
Gazzard ,
Robertson ,
Dudley
38
3 April 1954
Rotherham United
A
1β1
9,198
Bragg
39
10 April 1954
Luton Town
H
0β1
14,204
40
16 April 1954
Bury
H
2β1
15,768
Gazzard (
pen ),
Dudley
41
17 April 1954
Plymouth Argyle
A
2β3
23,405
Dudley ,
Robertson
42
24 April 1954
Leicester City
H
1β3
22,845
Dudley
FA Cup
Playing squad
Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1953β54 season.
Sources: 100 Years Of Brentford,
[2] Timeless Bees
[7]
Coaching staff
Tommy Lawton (19 August β September 1953)
Fred Monk (September β 1 October 1953)
Bill Dodgin Sr. (1 October 1953 β 24 April 1954)
Statistics
Appearances and goals
Brentford's highest appearance-makers in each position during the Football League season.
Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
Source: 100 Years Of Brentford
[2]
Goalscorers
Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
Source: 100 Years Of Brentford
[2]
Management
Name
Nat
From
To
Record All Comps
Record League
P
W
D
L
W %
P
W
D
L
W %
Tommy Lawton
19 August 1953
16 September 1953
9
1
2
6
0 11.11
9
1
2
6
0 11.11
Fred Monk (caretaker)
19 September 1953
26 September 1953
2
0
1
1
00 0.00
2
0
1
1
00 0.00
Bill Dodgin Sr.
3 October 1953
24 April 1954
34
9
10
15
0 26.47
31
9
8
14
0 29.03
Summary
Games played
45 (42
Second Division , 3
FA Cup )
Games won
10 (10 Second Division, 0 FA Cup)
Games drawn
13 (11 Second Division, 2 FA Cup)
Games lost
22 (21 Second Division, 1 FA Cup)
Goals scored
44 (40 Second Division, 4 FA Cup)
Goals conceded
85 (78 Second Division, 7 FA Cup)
Clean sheets
9 (8 Second Division, 1 FA Cup)
Biggest league win
2β0 versus
Birmingham City , 13 March 1954; 3β1 on three occasions
Worst league defeat
6β0 versus
Leicester City , 5 December 1953
Most appearances
44,
Wally Bragg (41 Second Division, 3 FA Cup)
Top scorer (league)
10,
Frank Dudley
Top scorer (all competitions)
11, Frank Dudley
Transfers & loans
Notes
References