Chairman Martin Lange Stadium Griffin Park FA Cup Fourth round | Manager David Webb Second Division 15th League Cup Second round | |
During the 1995–96 English football season, Brentford competed in the Football League Second Division. Despite spending over two months in the relegation places, the club achieved a mid-table finish in the league. A bright spot was a run to the fourth round of the FA Cup, falling to First Division high-flyers Charlton Athletic.
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Season summary
Brentford began the 1995–96 season the majority of the squad that finished runners-up the previous season still intact, with Shane Westley, Simon Ratcliffe and Paul Stephenson the only players to depart. Manager David Webb's only addition to the squad during the off-season was Southend United youngster Ijah Anderson. Top scorer Nicky Forster looked set to depart for First Division Crystal Palace for a £2,000,000 fee, but the Eagles' interest cooled.
A win and a draw from the opening two games of the league season saw Brentford reach their highest league position of the season (6th), but a run of only four wins from the following 21 games left the club second-from-bottom after the first league match of 1996. A memorable 2–1 victory over First Division club Norwich City at Carrow Road on in the FA Cup third round on 6 January provided the spark needed for a revival of the team's league form, with 19 of a possible 30 points being won between mid-January and mid-March to climb to 13th in the table. With Nicky Forster damaging knee ligaments in October 1995 and his subsequent goalscoring form faltering, Robert Taylor was burdened with leading the team's strikeforce, scoring 16 goals to finish top scorer. Four wins from the final seven matches of the season led Brentford to a 15th-place finish in the Second Division.