Chairman Alderman A.W. Bradford Stadium Griffin Park FA Cup Second round | Manager Fred Halliday Third Division South 18th | |
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Top goalscorer League: Watkins (11)
All: Watkins (11) | ||
During the 1925–26 English football season, Brentford competed in the Football League Third Division South and finished in 18th place, conceding a club record 94 goals.
Contents
Season summary
Brentford manager Fred Halliday overhauled the club's squad during the 1925 off-season, with all but seven players being released. Despite running a deficit of £6,000, the board of directors pledged a "substantial sum of money for the transfer of quality players, in came new goalkeeper John Thomson, four defenders, four half backs and new forwards Bill Finlayson and Bert Young. 9 defeats from the opening 10 matches of the season left Brentford rooted to the bottom of the Football League and forward Reginald Parker (one of the club's highest scorers during the previous two seasons) elected to transfer to South Shields. Griffin Park was closed by the Football League for the first and only time due to crowd disturbance during a 6–1 thrashing at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion on 12 September 1925. The ground was reopened 14 days later. The poor run ended with the first victory of the season on 17 October, 2–1 over Bristol Rovers. Five wins in the following seven matches lifted the Bees out of the re-election places, with forwards Jack Lane, Bill Finlayson and full back Percival Whitton (who had been deployed up front by manager Halliday) all coming into form, with half back Alex Graham converting a number of penalties.
By 20 February 1926, a run of just five defeats in 19 matches lifted Brentford to 13th in the table. The signing of forward Ernie Watkins from Southend United for a then-club record fee of £1,000 in January 1928 proved to be money well-spent, with Watkins scoring 11 goals in his first 12 matches, including a hat-trick in the Bees' biggest victory of the season, 5–1 versus Norwich City on 2 April. The Bees' form petered out in the final two months of the season, winning just 3 of the final 12 matches to finish 18th with the worst defensive record in the division. The 94 goals conceded during the 1925–26 season is a club record.
League table
Pld = 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