1926–27 Brentford F.C. season

Brentford

1926–27 season
Chairman	W. Flewitt
Manager	Harry Curtis
Stadium	Griffin Park
Third Division South	11th
FA Cup	Fifth round
Top goalscorer	League: Watkins (20) All: Watkins (24)
Average home league attendance	9,713
← 1925–26 1927–28 →

During the 1926–27 English football season, Brentford competed in the Football League Third Division South. In Harry Curtis' first season as manager, the club finished 11th and advanced to the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time.

Season summary

Harry Curtis would go on to be Brentford's longest-serving and most successful manager.

After just one top-half finish in the Third Division South since entering the Football League in 1920, Brentford appointed former Gillingham manager Harry Curtis to the position on a one-year deal in May 1926,^[1] still seeking to find a winning formula after generally poor league placings from previous managers Fred Halliday and Archie Mitchell.^[2] The directors of the club cleared the decks, retaining just 9 of the previous season's squad.^[3] Curtis brought with him assistant trainer Jack Cartmell (an ex-Brentford player) and five Gillingham players - full backs Wally Barnard and Charlie Butler, half back Charlie Reddock and forwards Bill Berry and Joe Craddock.^[4] Former Gillingham half back Frank Marshall would also sign in January 1927.^[5] Jim Ferguson replaced the departed John Thomson in goal, with defenders John Hodgson, Ted Winship, half backs Bert Bellamy, Joe Hodnett and forwards George Anderson and Stephen Dearn also coming in.

A 4–0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion on the opening day put Brentford at the top of the Third Division South table, the first time since joining the Football League that the club had occupied the top spot.^[6] Defeat in the following match to Luton Town dropped the Bees back to 6th, but three successive wins in the following matches saw the club rise back to the top and stay there until 15 September.^[6] The goalscoring of Ernie Watkins was a factor in the bright start, with the forward scoring 10 goals in the first 9 matches.^[7] Brentford dropped down to 11th by 4 December and the side's league form was affected by a run to the fifth round of the FA Cup, which caused a fixture pile-up after replays were needed to defeat Clapton, Gillingham and West Ham United in the first, second and fourth rounds.^[6] The 9 FA Cup matches played in a single season is the most ever by the club.^[8] The run was a financial success for Brentford, generating enough money for the club to build a new grandstand on the Braemar Road side of Griffin Park.^[2]

A goal drought suffered by forwards Ernie Watkins,^[7] Jack Lane,^[9] Stephen Dearn and the departure of Jack Allen to The Wednesday in March 1927 saw Brentford limp through the final three months of the season,^[10][11] winning just five of the remaining 18 matches and drawing six of the last 10.^[6] The Bees finished the campaign in 11th place, having been rooted in mid-table since 5 February 1927.^[6] Ernie Watkins top-scored with 24 goals, then the highest tally for a Brentford player since the club joined the Football League.^[7] Four consecutive home league draws between 2 April and 30 April 1927 equalled the club record.^[12]

A notable departure after the season was that of 38-year old cricketer Patsy Hendren,^[13] who had played intermittently as an outside forward for Brentford since 1907.^[14] During the season he had become the first Bees player since the club joined the Football League to score four goals in a match (during a 7–3 rout of Coventry City on 23 October 1926) and an 11,000 crowd turned up to see his final match against Newport County on Easter Saturday 1927.^[13][15] Upon his departure, Hendren's 400-plus Brentford appearances was then the club record and he was posthumously inducted into the club's Hall of Fame in May 2015.^[16][17]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	Home					Away					F	A	GA	GD	Pts
			W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A
1	Bristol City	42	19	1	1	71	24	8	7	6	33	30	104	54	1.926	+50	62
2	Plymouth Argyle	42	17	4	0	52	14	8	6	7	43	47	95	61	1.557	+34	60
3	Millwall	42	16	2	3	55	19	7	8	6	34	32	89	51	1.745	+38	56
4	Brighton & Hove Albion	42	15	4	2	61	24	6	7	8	18	26	79	50	1.580	+29	53
5	Swindon Town	42	16	3	2	64	31	5	6	10	36	54	100	85	1.176	+15	51
6	Crystal Palace	42	12	6	3	57	33	6	3	12	27	48	84	81	1.037	+3	45
7	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	42	13	2	6	49	24	5	6	10	29	42	78	66	1.182	+12	44
8	Luton Town	42	12	9	0	48	19	3	5	13	20	47	68	66	1.030	+2	44
9	Newport County	42	15	4	2	40	20	4	2	15	17	51	57	71	0.803	–14	44
10	Bristol Rovers	42	12	4	5	46	28	4	5	12	32	52	78	80	0.975	–2	41
11	Brentford	42	10	9	2	46	20	3	5	13	24	41	70	61	1.148	+9	40
12	Exeter City	42	14	4	3	46	18	1	6	14	30	55	76	73	1.041	+3	40
13	Charlton Athletic	42	13	5	3	44	22	3	3	15	16	39	60	61	0.984	–1	40
14	Queens Park Rangers	42	9	8	4	41	27	6	1	14	24	44	65	71	0.915	–6	39
15	Coventry City [notes3 1]	42	11	4	6	44	33	4	3	14	27	53	71	86	0.826	–15	37
16	Norwich City	42	10	5	6	41	25	2	6	13	18	46	59	71	0.831	–12	35
17	Merthyr Town	42	11	5	5	42	25	2	4	15	21	55	63	80	0.787	–17	35
18	Northampton Town	42	13	4	4	36	23	2	1	18	23	64	59	87	0.678	–28	35
19	Southend United	42	12	3	6	44	25	2	3	16	20	52	64	77	0.831	–13	34
20	Gillingham	42	10	5	6	36	26	1	5	15	18	46	54	72	0.750	–18	32
21	Watford	42	9	6	6	36	27	3	2	16	21	60	57	87	0.655	–30	32
22	Aberdare Athletic	42	8	2	11	38	48	1	5	15	24	53	62	101	0.614	–39	25

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

1. Coventry City was transferred to Third Division South for this season.

Key
	Division Champions, promoted
	New club in the league (none)
	Re-elected
	Failed re-election

Results

Brentford's goal tally listed first.

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League Third Division South

No.	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorer(s)
1	28 August 1926	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	4–0	Rae (pen), Berry, Watkins (2)
2	30 August 1926	Luton Town	A	1–2	Dearn
3	4 September 1926	Northampton Town	A	3–2	Berry (2), Douglas
4	6 September 1926	Southend United	H	3–1	Watkins (2), Dearn
5	11 September 1926	Queens Park Rangers	H	4–2	Lane, Watkins (2), Douglas
6	15 September 1926	Southend United	A	1–3	Dearn
7	18 September 1926	Millwall	H	0–0
8	25 September 1926	Bristol Rovers	A	3–1	Lane, Watkins (2)
9	2 October 1926	Swindon Town	H	2–2	Watkins (2)
10	9 October 1926	Exeter City	A	1–3	Lane
11	16 October 1926	Crystal Palace	A	3–4	Berry (2), Lane
12	23 October 1926	Coventry City	H	7–3	Hendren (4, 2 pens), Watkins, Dearn (2)
13	30 October 1926	Charlton Athletic	A	1–1	Rae
14	6 November 1926	Bristol City	H	3–0	Anderson (2), Dearn
15	20 November 1926	Plymouth Argyle	H	0–0
16	4 December 1926	Aberdare Athletic	H	1–4	Baynham (og)
17	18 December 1926	Watford	H	3–0	Watkins, Dearn, Douglas
18	25 December 1926	Norwich City	A	1–2	Hendren
19	27 December 1926	Norwich City	H	3–0	Allen, Watkins, Douglas
20	1 January 1927	Luton Town	H	2–2	Lane, Dearn
21	15 January 1927	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	1–1	Hendren
22	22 January 1927	Northampton Town	H	1–1	Allen
23	5 February 1927	Millwall	A	0–3
24	12 February 1927	Bristol Rovers	H	0–2
25	26 February 1927	Exeter City	H	6–1	Watkins (2), Lane (2), Craddock, Douglas
26	5 March 1927	Crystal Palace	H	3–0	Watkins, Allen, Lane
27	9 March 1927	Swindon Town	A	2–4	Craddock, Hendren
28	12 March 1927	Coventry City	A	1–3	Watkins
29	16 March 1927	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	A	1–3	Watkins
30	19 March 1927	Charlton Athletic	H	2–0	Donnelly (pen), Craddock
31	26 March 1927	Bristol City	A	0–1
32	30 March 1927	Gillingham	A	2–1	Watkins, Lawson
33	2 April 1927	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	H	0–0
34	9 April 1927	Plymouth Argyle	A	1–2	Craddock
35	15 April 1927	Merthyr Town	H	1–1	Lane
36	16 April 1927	Newport County	H	1–1	Watkins
37	19 April 1927	Merthyr Town	A	0–1
38	23 April 1927	Aberdare Athletic	A	1–3	Craddock
39	25 April 1927	Newport County	A	0–0
40	30 April 1927	Gillingham	A	0–0
41	5 May 1927	Queens Park Rangers	A	1–1
42	7 May 1927	Watford	A	0–0	Lawson

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorer(s)
1R	27 November 1926	Clapton	A	1–1	Anderson
1R (replay)	1 December 1926	Clapton	H	7–3	Lane (2), Watkins (3), Hendren (2)
2R	11 December 1926	Gillingham	A	1–1	Hendren
2R (replay)	15 December 1926	Gillingham	H	1–0	Dearn
3R	10 January 1927	Oldham Athletic	A	4–2	Allen (3), Watkins
4R	29 January 1927	West Ham United	A	1–1	Lane
4R (replay)	2 February 1927	West Ham United	H	2–0	Lane, Allen
5R	19 February 1927	Reading	A	0–1

• Sources: Statto, 100 Years of Brentford^[18]

Playing squad

Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1926–27 season.

Pos.	Name	Nat.	Date of birth (age)	Signed from	Signed in	Notes
Goalkeepers
GK	Arthur Collins		16 September 1902 (aged 23)	Derby County	1926
GK	Jim Ferguson		30 August 1896 (aged 29)	St Roch's	1926
Defenders
DF	Charlie Butler		10 October 1897 (aged 28)	Gillingham	1926
DF	James Donnelly		18 December 1899 (aged 26)	Southend United	1925
DF	John Hodgson		28 September 1900 (aged 25)	Sunderland	1926
DF	Ted Winship		1900 (aged 25–26)	Kidderminster Harriers	1926
Midfielders
HB	Jack Beacham		15 August 1902 (aged 24)	Weymouth	1925
HB	Bert Bellamy		7 April 1896 (aged 30)	Swansea Town	1926
HB	Archie Clark		4 April 1902 (aged 24)	Grays Thurrock United	1927
HB	Joe Hodnett		18 July 1896 (aged 30)	Merthyr Town	1926
HB	Frank Marshall		1904 (aged 21–22)	Gillingham	1927
HB	Alan Noble		19 June 1900 (aged 26)	Leeds United	1925
HB	Harry Rae		1896 (aged 29–30)	Clyde	1925
HB	Charlie Reddock		1902 (aged 23–24)	Gillingham	1926
Forwards
FW	George Anderson		24 October 1904 (aged 21)	Airdrieonians	1926
FW	Bill Berry		18 August 1904 (aged 22)	Gillingham	1926
FW	Joe Craddock		3 August 1902 (aged 24)	Gillingham	1926
FW	Stephen Dearn		March 1901 (aged 24–25)	Portsmouth	1926
FW	Alfred Douglas		26 March 1899 (aged 27)	Washington Colliery	1925
FW	Patsy Hendren		5 February 1889 (aged 37)	Queens Park Rangers	1911	Played when his cricket commitments allowed
FW	Jack Lane (c)		29 May 1898 (aged 28)	Chesterfield	1925
FW	Herbert Lawson		12 April 1905 (aged 21)	Arsenal	1927
FW	Ernie Watkins		3 April 1898 (aged 28)	Southend United	1926
Players who left the club mid-season
FW	Jack Allen		31 January 1903 (aged 23)	Leeds United	1924	Transferred to The Wednesday

• Sources: 100 Years of Brentford,^[18] Timeless Bees,^[19] Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939^[20]

Coaching staff

Name	Role
Harry Curtis	Manager
Tom Ratcliff	Trainer
Jack Cartmell	Assistant Trainer

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Pos	Nat	Name	League		FA Cup		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK		Arthur Collins	4	0	0	0	4	0
GK		Jim Ferguson	38	0	8	0	46	0
DF		Charlie Butler	27	0	8	0	35	0
DF		James Donnelly	39	1	5	0	44	1
DF		John Hodgson	4	0	0	0	4	0
DF		Ted Winship	11	0	3	0	14	0
HB		Jack Beacham	14	0	6	0	20	0
HB		Bert Bellamy	33	0	6	0	39	0
HB		Archie Clark	1	0	—		1	0
HB		Joe Hodnett	9	0	0	0	9	0
HB		Frank Marshall	21	0	—		21	0
HB		Alan Noble	10	0	2	0	12	0
HB		Harry Rae	30	2	8	0	38	2
HB		Charlie Reddock	6	0	0	0	6	0
FW		Jack Allen	7	3	4	4	11	7
FW		George Anderson	8	2	1	1	9	3
FW		Bill Berry	22	5	2	0	24	5
FW		Joe Craddock	12	5	0	0	12	5
FW		Stephen Dearn	30	8	6	1	36	9
FW		Alfred Douglas	26	5	6	0	32	5
FW		Patsy Hendren	21	7	8	3	29	10
FW		Jack Lane	41	9	8	4	49	13
FW		Herbert Lawson	13	2	0	0	13	2
FW		Ernie Watkins	35	20	7	4	42	24

• Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
• Source: 100 Years of Brentford^[18]

Goalscorers

Pos.	Nat	Player	FL3	FAC	Total
FW		Ernie Watkins	20	4	24
FW		Jack Lane	9	4	13
FW		Patsy Hendren	7	3	10
FW		Stephen Dearn	8	1	9
FW		Jack Allen	3	4	7
FW		Bill Berry	5	0	5
FW		Joe Craddock	5	0	5
FW		Alfred Douglas	5	0	5
FW		George Anderson	2	1	3
FW		Herbert Lawson	2	0	2
HB		Harry Rae	2	0	2
FW		Bert Young	2	0	2
DF		James Donnelly	1	0	1
Opponent			1	0	1
Total			70	17	87

• Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
• Source: 100 Years of Brentford^[18]

Management

Name	Nat	From	To	Record All Comps					Record League
				P	W	D	L	W %	P	W	D	L	W %
Harry Curtis		28 August 1926	7 May 1927	50	17	17	16	34.00|	42	13	14	15	30.95

Summary

Games played	50 (42 Third Division South, 8 FA Cup)
Games won	17 (13 Third Division South, 4 FA Cup)
Games drawn	17 (14 Third Division South, 3 FA Cup)
Games lost	16 (15 Third Division South, 1 FA Cup)
Goals scored	87 (70 Third Division South, 17 FA Cup)
Goals conceded	70 (61 Third Division South, 9 FA Cup)
Clean sheets	14 (12 Third Division South, 2 FA Cup)
Biggest league win	6–1 versus Exeter City, 26 February 1927
Worst league defeat	3–0 versus Millwall, 5 February 1927; 4–1 versus Aberdare Athletic, 4 December 1926
Most appearances	48, Jim Ferguson (38 Third Division South, 8 FA Cup)
Top scorer (league)	20, Ernie Watkins
Top scorer (all competitions)	24, Ernie Watkins

Transfers & loans

Cricketers are not included in this list.

Players transferred in
Date	Pos.	Name	Previous Club	Fee	Ref.
May 1926	HB	Bert Bellamy	Swansea Town	Free	[21]
May 1926	GK	Arthur Collins	Derby County	Free	[22]
May 1926	GK	Jim Ferguson	St Roch's	Free	[23]
1926	FW	George Anderson	Airdrieonians	Free	[24]
1926	DF	Wally Barnard	Gillingham	Free	[25]
1926	FW	Bill Berry	Gillingham	Free	[26]
1926	DF	Charlie Butler	Gillingham	Free	[27]
1926	HB	Archie Clark	Grays Thurrock United	Free	[28]
1926	FW	Joe Craddock	Gillingham	Free	[29]
1926	FW	Stephen Dearn	Portsmouth	Free	[30]
1926	DF	John Hodgson	Sunderland	Free	[31]
1926	HB	Joe Hodnett	Merthyr Town	Free	[31]
1926	HB	Charlie Reddock	Gillingham	Free	[32]
1926	DF	Ted Winship	Kidderminster Harriers	Free	[33]
January 1927	HB	Frank Marshall	Gillingham	£500	[5]
March 1927	FW	Herbert Lawson	Arsenal	Free	[34]
Players transferred out
Date	Pos.	Name	Subsequent club	Fee	Ref.
March 1927	FW	Jack Allen	The Wednesday	n/a	[35]
Players released
Date	Pos.	Name	Subsequent club	Join date	Ref.
September 1926	FW	Bill Finlayson	Springfield Babes	1926	[36]
May 1927	DF	Wally Barnard	Retired		[37]
May 1927	HB	Bert Bellamy	Wellingborough Town	May 1927	[21]
May 1927	GK	Arthur Collins	Scarborough	1927	[22]
May 1927	HB	Jimmy Elliott	Retired		[38]
May 1927	DF	John Hodgson	Hartlepools United	1927	[31]
May 1927	HB	Joe Hodnett	Gillingham	1927	[31]
May 1927	HB	Alan Noble	Millwall	1927	[39]
May 1927	DF	Jack Price	Torquay United	1927	[33]
May 1927	DF	Percival Whitton	Retired		[37]

References

1. Chapman, Mark. "Remembering The Guvnor: Harry Curtis". www.brentfordfc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-05-22.
2. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 175-176.
3. White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. pp. 121–123. ISBN 0951526200.
4. Haynes, Graham (1998). A-Z Of Bees: Brentford Encyclopedia. Harefield, Middlesex: Yore Publications. p. 100. ISBN 1 874427 57 7.
5. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 100-101.
6. Ltd, Statto Organisation. "Brentford results for the 1926-1927 season - Statto.com". Statto.com. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
7. "Brentford Football Club History". www.brentfordfchistory.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2016-05-06. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
8. Haynes 1998, p. 49.
9. "Brentford Football Club History". www.brentfordfchistory.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2016-04-15. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
10. "Brentford Football Club History". www.brentfordfchistory.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2016-06-17. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
11. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 9.
12. Ltd, Statto Organisation. "Brentford scoring and sequence records - Statto.com". Statto.com. Retrieved 2016-05-17.
13. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 74-75.
14. Joyce 2012, p. 135.
15. "Brentford Football Club History". www.brentfordfchistory.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2016-06-20. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
16. Haynes 1998, p. 38.
17. Wickham, Chris. "Kevin O'Connor and Marcus Gayle join others in being added to Brentford FC Hall of Fame". www.brentfordfc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
18. White 1989, p. 369.
19. Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920-2006. Yore Publications. ISBN 978-0955294914.
20. Joyce, Michael (2012). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: Tony Brown. ISBN 190589161X.
21. "Watford Football Club archive 1881-2016: Players - Battocchio to Bolton" (PDF).
22. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 39.
23. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 55.
24. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 11.
25. Brown, Tony (2003). The Definitive Gillingham F.C.: A Complete Record. Soccerdata. p. 118. ISBN 1-899468-20-X.
26. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 20.
27. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 32.
28. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 37.
29. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 42.
30. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 47.
31. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 77.
32. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 131.
33. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 127-128.
34. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 95.
35. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 120.
36. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 56.
37. Dorey, F.W. (1926). Brentford Football Club Season 1926–27 Official Handbook. p. 9.
38. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 53.
39. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 116.