After a promising, but ultimately disappointing
2000β01 season,
Steve Coppell replaced
Ray Lewington as manager of
Second DivisionBrentford on 8 May 2001.[1] In the knowledge he would be provided with little money to buy players, Coppell was also tasked with raising Β£500,000 in transfer fees.[2] The previous season's squad was kept together, with two fringe players released and two arrivals β youngster
Stephen Hunt and
defenderJason Price on a short-term contract.[3] After a 1β1 opening day draw with
Wigan Athletic, teenage
Blackburn RoversforwardBen Burgess was brought in on a one-month
loan,[4] which was subsequently extended until the end of the season.[5]
Brentford had its best start to a season since
1934β35 and topped the table for the first time after a 4β0 win over
Tranmere Rovers on 8 September 2001.[6][7] After a first league defeat of the season at the hands of
Swindon Town on 25 September, the Bees went on a seven-match club record-equalling winning run and seized top spot in the Second Division.[7][8]CaptainPaul Evans led by example,[9] scoring 9 goals in 13 matches in all competitions before suffering a hamstring injury in mid-October.[10] His temporary replacement was
Arsenal's teenage
midfielderSteve Sidwell, another loan signing which would prove to be a master-stroke and which would later be extended until the end of the season.[11] Between 10 November 2001 and 24 January 2002, Brentford won just twice in a spell of 13 league matches, suffering eight defeats, while briefly returning to the top of the table in late December.[7] By 21 December,
Lloyd Owusu, Paul Evans and Ben Burgess had each reached 10 or more goals for the season, which was the fourth instance of three Brentford players reaching double-figures before Christmas Day.[12]
A 4β0 victory over
Brighton & Hove Albion in front of the
Sky cameras at
Griffin Park on 24 January 2002 turned Brentford's flagging season around,[13] with twin forwards Owusu and Burgess finding the net with regularity.[14][15] The Bees lost just two of the next 16 matches, but a 0β0 draw away to
West London rivalsQueens Park Rangers in the penultimate match of the season dropped the club out of the final automatic promotion place.[7] Cause for concern was a goal drought suffered by Ben Burgess,[15] who had failed to score since 26 February and the midfield was weakened by the Β£150,000 sale of
Gavin Mahon to
Watford,[16] in a bid to reduce the wage bill.[2] Brentford would play 2nd-place
Reading at Griffin Park on the final day of the season, needing a win to secure automatic promotion, while the Royals only needed a draw.[17] Brentford took the lead through
Martin Rowlands, but were pegged back 13 minutes from time by
Jamie Cureton and the match finished as a 1β1 draw, which consigned the Bees to the
playoffs.[18]
Source: [22] Rules for classification: In the Football League goals scored (GF) takes precedence over goal difference (GD). (C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (P) Promoted