1951–52 Brentford F.C. season

During the 1951–52 English football season, Brentford competed in the Football League Second Division. The Bees secured a third-consecutive top 10 finish and reached the fourth round of the FA Cup, taking Luton Town to two replays before being knocked out.

Brentford
1951–52 season
ChairmanFrank Davis
Secretary-ManagerJackie Gibbons
StadiumGriffin Park
Second Division10th
FA CupFourth round
Top goalscorerLeague: Dare (14)
All: Dare (16)
Highest home attendance35,827
Lowest home attendance10,243
Average home league attendance23,022

Season summary

After two consecutive 9th-place finishes in the Second Division, Brentford manager Jackie Gibbons elected to keep his squad together for the 1951–52 season, with former Brighton & Hove Albion utility player Frank Morrad being his only first team signing.[1]

Aided by the goalscoring of full back-cum-centre forward Fred Monk, Brentford showed excellent form in the first half of the season and just five losses in the opening 21 matches put the club into the promotion places.[2] The push for promotion was derailed during the Christmas period, after consecutive defeats to Southampton on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.[3] A dressing room ruckus ensued between manager Gibbons on one side and half backs Ron Greenwood and Jimmy Hill on the other.[4] The bust-up resulted in Greenwood and Hill requesting transfers, with Hill eventually moving to local rivals Fulham in March 1952 in exchange for inside forward Jimmy Bowie.[4]

Centre forward Billy Dare came into goalscoring in the second half of the season,[5] but the disruption to the Harper-Hill-Greenwood half back line (Greenwood later rescinded his transfer request) led to an increase in the number of goals conceded and Brentford drifted out of contention for promotion to finish in 10th place.[2] Amid much fanfare, former England international Tommy Lawton was signed for a club record £16,000 fee in March 1952,[6] but he managed to contribute only two goals in his 10 appearances.[5] In 2010, full back Ken Horne commented that "I'm sure we could have gone up that year but the spirit completely went out the team. We'd got by on spirit. The team had been kept together for so long that they had been fighting for each other".[3]

The end of the season saw the retirement of Brentford's final two players signed prior to the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 – goalkeeper Ted Gaskell and utility man Tom Manley.[7] Both received a joint-testimonial in April 1954.[7]

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts
8 Luton Town 42 16 12 14 77 78 0.987 44
9 Rotherham United 42 17 8 17 73 71 1.028 42
10 Brentford 42 15 12 15 54 55 0.982 42
11 Sheffield United 42 18 5 19 90 76 1.184 41
12 West Ham United 42 15 11 16 67 77 0.870 41
Source:

Results
Brentford's goal tally listed first.

Legend
Win Draw Loss

Football League Second Division
No. DateOpponentVenueResult AttendanceScorer(s) Notes
1 18 August 1951Leeds UnitedA1–1 20,268Paton
2 22 August 1951Everton A0–1 32,722
3 25 August 1951Rotherham UnitedH2–0 24,904Sperrin, Monk
4 27 August 1951EvertonH1–0 19,525Sperrin
5 1 September 1951Cardiff CityA0–2 27,772
6 5 September 1951Doncaster RoversA2–1 21,154Goodwin, Monk (pen)
7 8 September 1951Birmingham City H1–0 25,029Monk
8 15 September 1951Leicester CityA1–1 23,757Monk
9 22 September 1951Nottingham ForestH1–1 26,350Hill
10 29 September 1951Queens Park RangersA1–3 25,339Monk
11 6 October 1951Notts County H1–0 28,214Coote
12 13 October 1951Luton TownA2–0 18,521Sperrin, Monk
13 20 October 1951BuryH4–0 20,726Sperrin (2), Coote, Paton
14 27 October 1951Swansea TownA1–1 19,235Sperrin
15 3 November 1951Coventry City H4–0 22,899Monk
16 10 November 1951West Ham United A0–1 26,288
17 17 November 1951Sheffield UnitedH4–1 26,288Paton, Monk (2), Sperrin
18 24 November 1951BarnsleyA0–0 10,149
19 1 December 1951Hull CityH2–1 26,072Monk (2)
20 8 December 1951Blackburn RoversA0–3 13,617
21 15 December 1951Leeds UnitedH2–1 17,957Dare (2)
22 22 December 1951Rotherham UnitedA1–1 14,809Monk
23 25 December 1951SouthamptonH1–2 25,841Dare
24 26 December 1951Southampton A1–2 21,625Sperrin
25 29 December 1951Cardiff CityH1–1 27,547Paton
26 5 January 1952Birmingham City A2–1 28,368Dare, Badham (og)
27 19 January 1952Leicester CityH1–3 19,923Dare
28 26 January 1952Nottingham ForestA0–2 21,649
29 9 February 1952Queens Park RangersH0–0 25,645
30 16 February 1952Notts CountyA2–5 22,503Dare, Sperrin
31 1 March 1952Luton TownH3–3 21,218Dare (2), Horne
32 8 March 1952BuryA0–1 12,140
33 15 March 1952Swansea TownH3–1 29,753Coote, Dare (2)
34 22 March 1952Coventry CityA1–2 27,577Dare
35 5 April 1952Sheffield United A4–1 23,435Lawton, Paton, Dare, Harper
36 11 April 1952Sheffield Wednesday H2–3 35,827Bragg, Dare
37 12 April 1952BarnsleyH1–1 19,912Goodwin
38 14 April 1952Sheffield WednesdayA0–2 43,935
39 19 April 1952Hull CityA1–4 30,891Dare
40 21 April 1952West Ham UnitedH1–1 12,563Lawton [nb 1]
41 26 April 1952Blackburn RoversH1–1 16,195Slater
42 30 April 1952Doncaster RoversH1–0 10,243Morrad

FA Cup
Main article: 1951–52 FA Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResult Attendance Scorer(s) Notes
3R 12 January 1952 Queens Park Rangers H 3–1 35,000 Coote, Paton, Sperrin
4R 2 February 1952 Luton Town A 2–2 25,320 Sperrin (2)
4R (replay) 6 February 1952 Luton Town H 0–0 (a.e.t.) 29,500
4R (2nd replay)18 February 1952Luton Town N2–3 (a.e.t.) 37,269 Dare (2) [nb 2]

Playing squad
Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1951–52 season.
Pos. Name Nat. Date of birth (age) Signed from Signed in Notes
Goalkeepers
GK Ted Gaskell (1916-12-19)19 December 1916 (aged 34) Buxton 1937
GK Alf Jefferies (1922-02-09)9 February 1922 (aged 29) Oxford City 1945
GK Reg Newton (1926-06-30)30 June 1926 (aged 25) Leyton Orient 1949
Defenders
DF Wally Bragg (1929-07-08)8 July 1929 (aged 22) Twickenham Celtic 1946
DF Ian Dargie (1931-10-03)3 October 1931 (aged 19) Tonbridge 1952
DF Ken Horne (1926-06-25)25 June 1926 (aged 25) Blackpool 1950
DF Tecwyn Jones (1930-01-03)3 January 1930 (aged 21) Holywell Town 1950
DF Frank Morrad (1920-02-28)28 February 1920 (aged 31) Brighton & Hove Albion 1951
DF Roddy Munro (1920-07-27)27 July 1920 (aged 31) Rangers 1946
Midfielders
HB George Bristow (1933-06-25)25 June 1933 (aged 18) Youth 1950
HB Ron Greenwood (c) (1921-11-11)11 November 1921 (aged 29) Bradford Park Avenue 1949
HB Tony Harper (1925-05-26)26 May 1925 (aged 26) Headington United 1948
HB Frank Latimer (1923-10-03)3 October 1923 (aged 27) Snowdown Colliery Welfare 1945
HB Bill Slater (1927-04-29)29 April 1927 (aged 24) Blackpool 1951 Amateur
Forwards
FW Jimmy Bowie (1924-08-09)9 August 1924 (aged 27) Fulham 1952
FW Ken Coote (1928-05-19)19 May 1928 (aged 23) Wembley 1949
FW Billy Dare (1927-02-14)14 February 1927 (aged 24) Hendon 1948
FW Verdi Godwin (1926-02-11)11 February 1926 (aged 25) Grimsby Town 1952
FW Jackie Goodwin (1920-09-29)29 September 1920 (aged 30) Birmingham City 1949
FW Tommy Lawton (1919-10-06)6 October 1919 (aged 31) Notts County 1952
FW Terry Ledgerton (1930-10-07)7 October 1930 (aged 20) Huyton 1950
FW Fred Monk (1920-10-09)9 October 1920 (aged 30) Guildford City 1948
FW Johnny Paton (1923-04-02)2 April 1923 (aged 28) Celtic 1949
FW Billy Sperrin (1922-04-09)9 April 1922 (aged 29) Guildford City 1949
Players who left the club mid-season
HB Jimmy Hill (1928-07-22)22 July 1928 (aged 23) Reading 1949 Transferred to Fulham
  • Sources: 100 Years Of Brentford,[5] Timeless Bees[8]

Coaching staff
Name Role
Jackie Gibbons Secretary-Manager
Jimmy Bain Assistant Manager
David Richards Trainer
Jack Cartmell Assistant Trainer
Jimmy Hogan Assistant Trainer

Statistics

Appearances and goals
Brentford's highest appearance-makers in each position during the Football League season.
Pos Nat Name League FA Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK Ted Gaskell 15 0 4 0 19 0
GK Alf Jefferies 17 0 0 0 17 0
GK Reg Newton 10 0 0 0 10 0
DF Wally Bragg 10 1 0 0 10 1
DF Ian Dargie 1 0 — 1 0
DF Ken Horne 34 1 4 0 38 1
DF Tecwyn Jones 1 0 0 0 1 0
DF Frank Morrad 1 1 0 0 1 1
DF Roddy Munro 40 0 4 0 44 0
HB George Bristow 2 0 0 0 2 0
HB Ron Greenwood 37 0 3 0 40 0
HB Tony Harper 37 1 4 0 41 1
HB Jimmy Hill 27 1 3 0 30 1
HB Frank Latimer 4 0 1 0 5 0
HB Bill Slater 711 081
FW Jimmy Bowie 9 0 — 9 0
FW Ken Coote 24 3 4 1 28 4
FW Billy Dare 42 14 4 2 46 16
FW Verdi Godwin 1 0 — 1 0
FW Jackie Goodwin 21 2 2 0 23 2
FW Tommy Lawton 102— 102
FW Terry Ledgerton 5 0 1 0 6 0
FW Fred Monk 40 12 2 0 42 12
FW Johnny Paton 36 5 3 1 39 6
FW Billy Sperrin 31 9 4 2 35 11
  • Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
  • Source: 100 Years Of Brentford[5]

Goalscorers
Pos. Nat Player FL2 FAC Total
FW Billy Dare 14 2 16
FW Fred Monk 12 0 12
FW Billy Sperrin 9 2 11
FW Johnny Paton 5 1 6
FW Ken Coote 3 1 4
FW Tommy Lawton 2 — 2
FW Jackie Goodwin 2 0 2
DF Wally Bragg 1 0 1
HB Tony Harper 1 0 1
HB Jimmy Hill 1 0 1
DF Ken Horne 1 0 1
DF Frank Morrad 1 0 1
HB Bill Slater 1 0 1
Opponents 1 0 1
Total54761
  • Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
  • Source: 100 Years Of Brentford[5]

Amateur international caps
Pos. Nat Player Caps Goals Ref
HB Bill Slater 5 0 [9]

Management
Name Nat From To Record All Comps Record League
PWDLW %PWDLW %
Jackie Gibbons 18 August 1951 30 April 1952 46 16 14 16 034.78 42 15 12 15 035.71

Summary
Games played46 (42 Second Division, 4 FA Cup)
Games won16 (15 Second Division, 1 FA Cup)
Games drawn14 (12 Second Division, 2 FA Cup)
Games lost16 (15 Second Division, 1 FA Cup)
Goals scored61 (54 Second Division, 7 FA Cup)
Goals conceded61 (55 Second Division, 6 FA Cup)
Clean sheets11 (10 Second Division, 1 FA Cup)
Biggest league win4–0 on two occasions
Worst league defeat3–0 versus Blackburn Rovers, 8 December 1951; 4–1 versus Hull City, 19 April 1952; 5–2 versus Notts County, 16 February 1952
Most appearances46, Billy Dare (42 Second Division, 4 FA Cup)
Top scorer (league)14, Billy Dare
Top scorer (all competitions)16, Billy Dare

Transfers & loans
Players transferred in
Date Pos. Name Previous Club Fee Ref.
May 1951 DF George Lowden Unattached Amateur [10]
August 1951 DF Frank Morrad Brighton & Hove Albion n/a [1]
September 1951 HB Mike Skivington Gillingham n/a [11]
December 1951 GK Dave Jones Dover n/a [12]
December 1951 HB Bill Slater Blackpool Amateur [13]
February 1952 DF Ian Dargie Tonbridge n/a [14]
March 1952 FW Jimmy Bowie Fulham Exchange [4]
March 1952 FW Verdi Godwin Grimsby Town n/a [15]
March 1952 FW Tommy Lawton Notts County £16,000 [6]
Players transferred out
Date Pos. Name Subsequent club Fee Ref.
December 1951 n/a Jack Nicholson Dundee United n/a [16]
March 1952 HB Jimmy Hill Fulham Exchange [4]
Players released
Date Pos. Name Subsequent club Join date Ref.
May 1952 GK Ted Gaskell Retired [17]
May 1952 FW Bernard Kelly Deal Town 1952 [18]
May 1952 HB Tom Manley Retired [7]
May 1952 FW Tommy Mycock Tranmere Rovers May 1952 [19]
May 1952 HB Mike Skivington Retired [11]

Notes
  1. The original fixture on 29 March 1952 was abandoned at half time due to snow, with the score at 1–1.
  2. Match played at Arsenal Stadium, London.
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References
  1. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 110-111.
  2. Ltd, Statto Organisation. "Brentford results for the 1951-1952 season - Statto.com". Statto.com. Archived from the original on 10 September 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  3. Bruzon, Nick. "Brentford | News | Where Are They Now? | Where Are They Now? | WHERE ARE THEY NOW? KEN HORNE – PART 2". Archived from the original on 15 February 2018. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  4. White 1989, p. 202-207.
  5. White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. p. 381. ISBN 0951526200.
  6. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 95-96.
  7. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 99-100.
  8. Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Yore Publications. ISBN 978-0955294914.
  9. "England Matches – The Amateurs 1947–1962". www.englandfootballonline.com. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  10. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 98.
  11. "Mike Skivington". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  12. "Dave Jones". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  13. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 146.
  14. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 45.
  15. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 67.
  16. "Scottish Football Historical Archive – N". p. 577.
  17. Lane, David (2005). Cult Bees & Legends: Volume Two. Hampton Hill: Legends Publishing. pp. 98–115. ISBN 0954368282.
  18. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 91.
  19. "Tommy Mycock". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
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