FA Cup Second round | Manager Andy Scott League Two 1st (promoted) League Cup First round | |
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During the 2008–09 English football season, Brentford competed in Football League Two. The club finished the season as champions to win promotion to Football League One.
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Season summary
The 2008–09 season would be Brentford's second consecutive campaign in League Two, after relegation to the fourth tier for the first time in 9 years at the end of the 2006–07 season. Manager Andy Scott (beginning his first full season in the job) brought in eight new players on permanent deals and four loanees. The pick of the signings were new forward Charlie MacDonald for an undisclosed fee from Southend United, central midfielder Marcus Bean from Blackpool on a free transfer and the re-signing on loan of goalkeeper Ben Hamer and central defender Alan Bennett from Reading until the end of the season.
The season began with consecutive defeats in the league and League Cup to Bury and Swansea City respectively, before an unbeaten run of 12 league matches put Brentford in the automatic promotion places, with midfielder Glenn Poole continuing his good form from the previous season by scoring seven goals during the run. Two defeats in a row dropped the Bees to 9th in early November, before another unbeaten run put the club back in the automatic promotion places by 20 December. Brentford moved into second position after a 2–0 victory over Bournemouth on Boxing Day and consistently good results kept the club on the tail of leaders Wycombe Wanderers through January and early February 2009. A 1–1 draw with Accrington Stanley on 10 February moved the Bees moved into top spot and consistently good results, aided by the goalscoring of January loan acquisition Jordan Rhodes, kept the club at the summit into mid-March. Brentford and Wycombe Wanderers faced off at Griffin Park on 14 March in front of a season-high crowd of 10,642 and the match yielded a 3–3 draw, with Aston Villa loanee Sam Williams drilling home late in proceedings to salvage a point for the Bees. Three days later, Brentford suffered a first defeat for six weeks after a home defeat to Chesterfield, but remained top of the table.
Despite season-ending injuries to Jordan Rhodes, Nathan Elder, top scorer Charlie MacDonald and captain Kevin O'Connor, manager Andy Scott strengthened the squad with a new frontline of loanees Billy Clarke and Damian Spencer, plus the return of central defender Darren Powell, who played alongside Scott in Brentford's previous fourth-tier championship triumph a decade earlier. Three draws in a row in late March and early April kept Brentford top, before a first win for over a month was achieved versus Bournemouth on 13 April, despite Darren Powell being sent off for fighting with teammate Karleigh Osborne. Despite missing the chance to seal promotion after a comprehensive defeat to play-off challengers Dagenham & Redbridge on 21 April, promotion and the League Two title were sealed with a 3–1 away win over Darlington in the penultimate match of the season. Captain Kevin O'Connor and stand-in skipper Alan Bennett held the League Two championship trophy aloft after a 2–0 win over Luton Town at Griffin Park on the final day.
League table
Source: Statto
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
* Darlington deducted 10 points; Bournemouth deducted 17 points; Rotherham United deducted 17 points; Luton Town deducted 30 points
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.