1945–46 Brentford F.C. season

Brentford

1945–46 season
Chairman	Frank Davis
Manager	Harry Curtis
Stadium	Griffin Park
Football League South	14th
FA Cup	Sixth round
Top goalscorer	League: McAloon (17) Thomas (17) All: McAloon (23)
Highest home attendance	36,000
Lowest home attendance	7,050
← 1944–45 1946–47 →

During the 1945–46 English football season, Brentford competed in the Football League South, due to the cessation of competitive league football for one further season following the end of the Second World War in Europe in May 1945. A return to competitive cup football came in the form of the first FA Cup staged since before the war, with the Bees advancing to the sixth round, equalling the club record.

Season summary

Future England cricketer Willie Watson made one appearance as a guest during the season.

Though the Second World War ended in Europe in May 1945, the first post-war football season would be played in the regionalised wartime format, due to players continuing to be dispersed on service around the world. Brentford again began the season with a shortage of first team players, though full back Bill Gorman would go on to be an ever-present, while centre half Buster Brown, outside forward Idris Hopkins and goalkeeper Joe Crozier would all miss just a handful of games each.^[1]

Just two defeats in the opening two Football League South games gave way to a downturn in form,^[1] which was not helped by the departure of misfiring former England international forward Les Smith to Aston Villa in October 1945.^[2] Pre-war forward Tommy Cheetham also left Griffin Park,^[3] so manager Harry Curtis strengthened the attack by re-signing Gerry McAloon from Wolverhampton Wanderers.^[4] Further signings came in the form of experienced half backs George Smith and Eric Jones.^[5][6] With excitement hard to come by in league play, Brentford's attention turned to the first FA Cup competition held since the 1938–39 season.^[7] Entering in the third round, the Bees battled through to the sixth round, equalling the club record, with Gerry McAloon scoring six goals in the eight matches played.^[1] With the return of competitive First Division football looming, a number of amateurs were trialled during the season, with future regulars Alf Jefferies, Frank Latimer and Roddy Munro all going on to sign professional contracts.^[8][9][10]

Tables

Football League South

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
13	Coventry City	42	15	10	17	70	69	40
14	Brentford	42	14	10	18	82	72	38
15	Nottingham Forest	42	12	13	17	72	73	37

Source: War Hammers II^[11]

Results

Brentford's goal tally listed first.

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League South

No.	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorer(s)
1	25 August 1945	Newport County	H	2–1	13,980	Sloan, Townsend
2	1 September 1945	Newport County	A	5–0	8,862	Thomas (2), Sloan, Townsend (2)
3	6 September 1945	Leicester City	H	1–2	11,620	Sloan
4	8 September 1945	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	0–1	20,000
5	13 September 1945	Derby County	H	0–0	11,050
6	15 September 1945	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	0–0	20,080
7	22 September 1945	West Ham United	H	1–1	18,800	Thomas
8	29 September 1945	West Ham United	A	2–0	23,000	Sloan, Durrant
9	6 October 1945	West Bromwich Albion	A	4–3	28,000	Thomas (2), Tranter (og), Hunt
10	13 October 1945	West Bromwich Albion	H	2–0	20,160	Durrant (2)
11	20 October 1945	Birmingham City	H	2–1	20,690	Wilkins (2)
12	27 October 1945	Birmingham City	A	0–1	35,000
13	3 November 1945	Tottenham Hotspur	A	0–1	28,000
14	10 November 1945	Tottenham Hotspur	H	1–3	19,269	Thomas
15	17 November 1945	Swansea Town	A	1–4	21,000	Roberts
16	24 November 1945	Swansea Town	H	2–2	12,090	Durrant, Hunt
17	1 December 1945	Chelsea	H	4–4	28,170	Townsend (2), Durrant (2)
18	8 December 1945	Chelsea	A	2–4	40,000	Durrant, Thomas
19	15 December 1945	Millwall	H	7–0	16,190	Thomas, Townsend (4), Watson, Durrant
20	22 December 1945	Millwall	A	1–3	22,000	Townsend
21	25 December 1945	Southampton	H	1–4	14,350	McAloon
22	26 December 1945	Southampton	A	4–3	20,000	Townsend (2), McAloon, Thomas
23	29 December 1945	Derby County	A	2–3	22,751	McAloon, Durrant
24	12 January 1946	Coventry City	A	0–1	13,450
25	19 January 1946	Coventry City	H	1–2	10,300	Metcalf (og)
26	2 February 1946	Luton Town	A	4–1	8,348	Durrant, Gotts, Scott, Townsend
27	16 February 1946	Aston Villa	H	0–1	27,100
28	23 February 1946	Arsenal	H	6–3	22,250	Thomas (3, 1 pen), Durrant, McAloon, Bamford
29	16 March 1946	Charlton Athletic	H	1–1	14,900	McAloon
30	23 March 1946	Fulham	H	1–2	23,400	McAloon
31	30 March 1946	Fulham	A	2–2	27,475	Thomas, Townsend
32	6 April 1946	Plymouth Argyle	A	1–1	20,000	McAloon
33	10 April 1946	Charlton Athletic	A	3–4	20,000	Thomas (3)
34	13 April 1946	Plymouth Argyle	H	3–2	13,200	G. Smith, Thomas, McAloon
35	17 April 1946	Aston Villa	A	1–1	n/a	McAloon
36	19 April 1946	Portsmouth	H	0–2	16,184
37	20 April 1946	Nottingham Forest	A	0–2	19,704
38	22 April 1946	Portsmouth	A	0–2	20,000
39	24 April 1946	Luton Town	H	6–1	7,050	McAloon (3), Durrant, Edelston, Jones
40	27 April 1946	Nottingham Forest	H	5–1	8,140	Scott (2), McAloon (3, 1 pen)
41	29 April 1946	Arsenal	A	1–1	5,250	Scott
42	4 May 1946	Leicester City	A	3–1	10,000	Durrant, McAloon (2)

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorer(s)
3R (1st leg)	5 January 1946	Tottenham Hotspur	A	2–2	30,202	Durrant, Thomas
3R (2nd leg)	10 January 1946	Tottenham Hotspur	H	2–0 (won 4–2 on aggregate)	21,050	Hopkins (2)
4R (1st leg)	26 January 1946	Bristol City	A	1–2	35,684	Townsend
4R (2nd leg)	31 January 1946	Bristol City	H	5–0 (won 6–2 on aggregate)	18,000	McAloon (3), Guy (og), Durrant
5R (1st leg)	9 February 1946	Queens Park Rangers	A	3–1	19,855	McAloon, Durrant, Hopkins
5R (2nd leg)	14 February 1946	Queens Park Rangers	H	0–0 (won 3–1 on aggregate)	20,000
6R (1st leg)	2 March 1946	Charlton Athletic	A	3–6	40,060	McAloon (2), Durrant
6R (2nd leg)	6 March 1946	Charlton Athletic	H	1–3 (lost 4–9 on aggregate)	36,000	Scott

• Sources: 100 Years Of Brentford,^[1] Statto, 11v11

Playing squad

Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1945–46 season.

Pos.	Name	Nat.	Date of birth (age)	Signed from	Signed in	Notes
Goalkeepers
GK	Joe Crozier		2 December 1914 (aged 30)	East Fife	1937
GK	Ted Gaskell		19 December 1916 (aged 28)	Buxton	1937
Defenders
DF	Bill Gorman		13 January 1911 (aged 34)	Bury	1938
DF	Roddy Munro		27 July 1920 (aged 25)	Rangers	1946	Amateur, guest for Colchester United
DF	Harry Oliver		16 February 1921 (aged 24)	Hartlepools United	1938	Guest for Leeds United and York City
Midfielders
HB	Buster Brown		6 September 1910 (aged 34)	Huddersfield Town	1937
HB	Bob Coulson	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
HB	Albert Hammond		5 February 1924 (aged 21)	n/a	n/a
HB	Tom Manley		7 October 1912 (aged 32)	Manchester United	1939
HB	Billy Scott		6 December 1907 (aged 37)	Middlesbrough	1932
HB	George Smith		23 April 1915 (aged 30)	Charlton Athletic	1945
Forwards
FW	Harry Bamford		8 April 1914 (aged 31)	Hayes	1936	Guest for Colchester United
FW	Johnny Baynham		21 April 1918 (aged 27)	n/a	n/a	Guest for Clapton Orient
FW	Les Boulter		31 August 1913 (aged 31)	Charlton Athletic	1939
FW	Fred Durrant		19 June 1921 (aged 24)	Folkestone	1938
FW	Jim Gotts		17 January 1917 (aged 28)	Ashington	1945	Guest for Colchester United
FW	Eric Jones		15 February 1915 (aged 30)	West Bromwich Albion	1945
FW	Idris Hopkins		11 October 1910 (aged 34)	Crystal Palace	1932	Guest for West Ham United
FW	Doug Keene		30 August 1928 (aged 16)	Kingsbury Town	1946	Amateur
FW	Gerry McAloon		13 September 1916 (aged 28)	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1945
FW	Ernest Muttitt		24 July 1908 (aged 37)	Middlesbrough	1932	Guest for Colchester United
FW	Maurice Roberts		5 July 1922 (aged 23)	Unattached	1946
FW	Roy Stroud		16 March 1925 (aged 20)	n/a	n/a	Amateur
FW	John Sutton	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	Guest for Bristol City and Colchester United
FW	Len Townsend		31 August 1917 (aged 27)	Hayes	1937	Guest for Colchester United
FW	George Wilkins		27 October 1919 (aged 25)	Hayes	1939
Players who left the club mid-season
DF	George Poyser		6 February 1910 (aged 35)	Port Vale	1934	Transferred to Plymouth Argyle
FW	Les Smith		13 March 1918 (aged 27)	Petersham	1934	Transferred to Aston Villa
FW	Bob Thomas		2 August 1919 (aged 26)	Golders Green	1944	Transferred to Plymouth Argyle
Guest players
GK	Johnny Mapson		2 May 1917 (aged 28)	Sunderland	1945	Guest from Sunderland
DF	Harry Ferrier		20 May 1920 (aged 25)	Barnsley	1945	Guest from Barnsley
HB	Ted Fenton		7 November 1914 (aged 30)	West Ham United	1945	Guest from West Ham United
HB	Willie Phillips		n/a	Heart of Midlothian	1945	Guest from Heart of Midlothian
HB	Bill Whittaker		20 December 1922 (aged 22)	Charlton Athletic	1945	Guest from Charlton Athletic
HB	Ron Wilson		10 September 1924 (aged 20)	West Ham United	1946	Guest from West Ham United
FW	Maurice Edelston		27 April 1918 (aged 27)	Reading	1946	Amateur, guest from Reading
FW	Douglas Hunt		19 May 1914 (aged 31)	Sheffield Wednesday	1945	Guest from Sheffield Wednesday
FW	Paddy Sloan		30 April 1920 (aged 25)	Tranmere Rovers	1945	Guest from Tranmere Rovers
FW	Willie Watson		7 March 1920 (aged 25)	Huddersfield Town	1945	Guest from Huddersfield Town

• Sources: 100 Years Of Brentford,^[1] Timeless Bees,^[12] Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939^[13]

Coaching staff

Name	Role
Harry Curtis	Manager
Jimmy Bain	Assistant Manager
Bob Kane	Trainer
Jack Cartmell	Assistant Trainer

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Pos	Nat	Name	League		FA Cup		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK		Joe Crozier	35	0	8	0	43	0
GK		Ted Gaskell	1	0	—		1	0
DF		Bill Gorman	42	0	8	0	50	0
DF		Roddy Munro	5	0	—		5	0
DF		Harry Oliver	7	0	2	0	9	0
DF		George Poyser	26	0	3	0	29	0
HB		Buster Brown	41	0	8	0	49	0
HB	n/a	Bob Coulson	1	0	—		1	0
HB		Albert Hammond	1	0	—		1	0
HB		Tom Manley	2	0	—		2	0
HB		Billy Scott	31	4	8	1	39	5
HB		George Smith	25	1	7	0	32	1
FW		Harry Bamford	1	1	2	0	3	1
FW		Johnny Baynham	7	0	—		7	0
FW		Les Boulter	1	0	—		1	0
FW		Fred Durrant	27	3	6	4	33	7
FW		Jim Gotts	4	1	2	0	6	1
FW		Eric Jones	20	1	4	0	24	1
FW		Idris Hopkins	36	0	8	3	44	3
FW		Doug Keene	2	0	—		2	0
FW		Gerry McAloon	20	17	7	6	27	23
FW		Ernest Muttitt	1	0	—		1	0
FW		Maurice Roberts	1	1	—		1	1
FW		Les Smith	9	0	—		9	0
FW		Roy Stroud	4	0	—		4	0
FW	n/a	John Sutton	1	0	—		1	0
FW		Bob Thomas	33	17	8	1	41	18
FW		Len Townsend	18	14	3	1	21	15
FW		George Wilkins	3	2	—		3	2
Players guested during the season
GK		Johnny Mapson	6	0	—		6	0
DF		Harry Ferrier	2	0	—		2	0
HB		Ted Fenton	1	0	—		1	0
HB		Willie Phillips	8	0	—		8	0
HB		Bill Whittaker	19	0	4	0	23	0
HB		Ron Wilson	1	0	—		1	0
FW		Maurice Edelston	1	1	—		1	1
FW		Douglas Hunt	12	2	—		12	2
FW		Paddy Sloan	6	4	—		6	4
FW		Willie Watson	1	1	—		1	1

• Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
• Source: 100 Years Of Brentford^[1]

Goalscorers

Pos.	Nat	Player	FLS	FAC	Total
FW		Gerry McAloon	17	6	23
FW		Bob Thomas	17	1	18
FW		Len Townsend	14	1	15
FW		Fred Durrant	3	4	7
HB		Billy Scott	4	1	5
FW		Paddy Sloan	4	—	4
FW		Idris Hopkins	0	3	3
FW		Douglas Hunt	2	—	2
FW		George Wilkins	2	—	2
FW		Harry Bamford	1	0	1
FW		Maurice Edelston	1	—	1
FW		Jim Gotts	1	0	1
FW		Eric Jones	1	0	1
FW		Maurice Roberts	1	0	1
HB		George Smith	1	0	1
FW		Willie Watson	1	—	1
Opponents			2	1	3
Total			82	17	99

• Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
• Source: 100 Years Of Brentford^[1]

Wartime international caps

Pos.	Nat	Player	Caps	Goals	Ref
FW		Les Smith	3	0	[14]

Management

Name	Nat	From	To	Record All Comps					Record
				P	W	D	L	W %	P	W	D	L	W %
Harry Curtis		25 August 1945	4 May 1946	50	17	12	21	34.00|	42	14	10	18	33.33

Summary

Games played	50 (42 Football League South, 8 FA Cup)
Games won	17 (14 Football League South, 3 FA Cup)
Games drawn	12 (10 Football League South, 2 FA Cup)
Games lost	21 (18 Football League South, 3 FA Cup)
Goals scored	99 (82 Football League South, 17 FA Cup)
Goals conceded	86 (72 Football League South, 14 FA Cup)
Clean sheets	9 (6 Football League South, 3 FA Cup)
Biggest league win	7–0 versus Millwall, 15 December 1945
Worst league defeat	4–1 on two occasions
Most appearances	50, Bill Gorman (42 Football League South, 8 FA Cup)
Top scorer (league)	17, Gerry McAloon
Top scorer (all competitions)	23, Gerry McAloon

Transfers & loans

Guest players' arrival and departure dates correspond to their first and last appearances of the season.

Players transferred in
Date	Pos.	Name	Previous Club	Fee	Ref.
1945	GK	Alf Jefferies	Oxford City	Amateur	[8]
November 1945	HB	Frank Latimer	Snowdown Colliery Welfare	Free	[9]
November 1945	HB	George Smith	Charlton Athletic	£4,000	[5]
December 1945	HB	Eric Jones	West Bromwich Albion	Free	[6]
December 1945	FW	Gerry McAloon	Wolverhampton Wanderers	£500	[15]
January 1946	FW	Jim Gotts	Ashington	n/a	[16]
March 1946	DF	Eric Ventom	Ayr Newton Rovers	n/a	[17]
April 1946	FW	Doug Keene	Kingsbury Town	Amateur	[18]
April 1946	DF	Roddy Munro	Rangers	Amateur	[10]
Guest players in
Date	Pos.	Name	From	Date to	Ref.
25 August 1945	FW	Douglas Hunt	Sheffield Wednesday	24 November 1945	[1]
25 August 1945	GK	Johnny Mapson	Sunderland	15 September 1945	[1]
25 August 1945	FW	Paddy Sloan	Tranmere Rovers	29 September 1945	[1]
25 August 1945	HB	Bill Whittaker	Charlton Athletic	29 April 1946	[1]
6 September 1945	DF	Harry Ferrier	Barnsley	13 September 1945	[1]
13 September 1945	HB	Ted Fenton	West Ham United	13 September 1945	[1]
15 September 1945	HB	Willie Phillips	Heart of Midlothian	15 December 1945	[1]
15 December 1945	FW	Willie Watson	Huddersfield Town	15 December 1945	[1]
16 February 1946	HB	Ron Wilson	West Ham United	16 February 1946	[1]
24 April 1946	FW	Maurice Edelston	Reading	24 April 1946	[1]
Players transferred out
Date	Pos.	Name	Subsequent club	Fee	Ref.
October 1945	FW	Les Smith	Aston Villa	£6,000	[2]
October 1945	FW	Tommy Cheetham	Lincoln City	n/a	[3]
April 1946	DF	Ted Ballard	Clapton Orient	n/a	[19]
April 1946	FW	Cyril Brown	Sunderland	n/a	[20]
April 1946	DF	George Poyser	Plymouth Argyle	£3,500	[21]
April 1946	FW	Bob Thomas	Plymouth Argyle	£3,500	[22]
Guest players out
Date from	Pos.	Name	To	Date to	Ref.
1 September 1945	DF	Harry Oliver	Leeds United	1 September 1945	[23]
13 October 1945	FW	Idris Hopkins	West Ham United	13 October 1945	[24]
19 January 1946	FW	Len Townsend	Colchester United	19 January 1946	[25]
9 March 1946	GK	Alf Jefferies	Colchester United	9 March 1946	[26]
March 1946	FW	Johnny Baynham	Clapton Orient	n/a	[27]
13 April 1946	DF	Harry Bamford	Colchester United	13 April 1946	[28]
13 April 1946	FW	Jim Gotts	Colchester United	13 April 1946	[29]
13 April 1946	DF	Roddy Munro	Colchester United	13 April 1946	[30]
13 April 1946	FW	Ernest Muttitt	Colchester United	13 April 1946	[31]
13 April 1946	FW	John Sutton	Colchester United	13 April 1946	[32]
n/a	DF	Harry Oliver	York City	n/a	[23]
n/a	FW	John Sutton	Bristol City	n/a
Players released
Date	Pos.	Name	Subsequent club	Join date	Ref.
May 1946	DF	Harry Bamford	Brighton & Hove Albion	June 1946	[33]
May 1946	FW	Jim Gotts	Brighton & Hove Albion	July 1946	[34]
May 1946	HB	Eric Jones	Crewe Alexandra	July 1946	[35]

References

1. White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. p. 378. ISBN 0951526200.
2. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 149.
3. "Barry Hugman's Footballers - Tommy Cheetham". hugmansfootballers.com. Retrieved 2016-06-25.
4. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 102-103.
5. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 148.
6. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 89.
7. White 1989, p. 178.
8. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 87.
9. "Barry Hugman's Footballers - Frank Latimer". hugmansfootballers.com. Retrieved 2016-06-09.
10. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 112.
11. Belton, Brian (2015). War Hammers II: The Story of West Ham United During the Second World War. The History Press. ISBN 075095602X.
12. Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920-2006. Yore Publications. ISBN 978-0955294914.
13. Joyce, Michael (2012). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: Tony Brown. ISBN 190589161X.
14. "Les Smith". 11v11.com. Retrieved 2016-06-23.
15. White 1989, p. 182.
16. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 68.
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18. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 91.
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33. "Barry Hugman's Footballers - Harry Bamford". hugmansfootballers.com. Retrieved 2016-06-08.
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