1961–62 Brentford F.C. season

During the 1961–62 English football season, Brentford competed in the Football League Third Division. Financial cutbacks and a reduction in size of the playing squad led to Brentford's relegation to the Fourth Division for the first time in the club's history.

Brentford

1961–62 season
Chairman	Frank Davis (until October 1961) Jack Dunnett (from October 1961)
Manager	Malky MacDonald
Stadium	Griffin Park
Third Division	23rd (relegated)
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	First round
Top goalscorer	League: Francis (14) All: Francis (15)
Highest home attendance	19,700
Lowest home attendance	3,600
Average home league attendance	8,483
Home colours

Season summary

Off-season

After a number of seasons in which Brentford challenged and failed to win promotion from the Third Division with a wafer-thin squad, low attendances and a debt of over £50,000 meant that the 1961 off-season would be a period of turmoil.[1] A threat of a players' strike in support of the removal of the maximum wage during the second half of the previous season was averted and it was revealed that the club had turned down £12,000 and £9,000 bids respectively for prolific strike partners Jim Towers and George Francis during the 1959–60 season – a period when the club was still confident of promotion from the Third Division.[1] With those expectations dampened by mediocre performances in the 1960–61 season, up-and-coming outside left John Docherty was sold for £17,000 during the final months of the campaign.[1] Towers and particularly Francis performed poorly by their standards during the 1960–61 season and consequently bids of a similar amount to that of the previous year failed to materialise.[1]

Future Nottingham Central MP Jack Dunnett joined the board in July 1961 and took over as chairman from Frank Davis three months later.[2] For the first time since relegation to the Third Division South in 1953, Brentford conducted an end-of-season clearout in a bid to reduce the squad size and wage bill.[3] Ken Horne, Billy Goundry, George Bristow, Dennis Heath and Eric Parsons, who had each made over 100 appearances for the club, were released, as were five other bit-part players.[3] Most galling for the Brentford supporters was the sale of forwards Jim Towers and George Francis (who had accounted for 299 goals between them since 1954) to divisional and local rivals Queens Park Rangers for a combined £8,000 fee.[4] £6,000 Cardiff City forward Brian Edgley was signed as a replacement and Ray Reeves and Jimmy Belcher were brought in to strengthen the back lines.[3] The signings took the squad size to just 16 players, six of whom held a part-time status (Cakebread, Dargie, Gelson, Gitsham, Reeves and Ryecraft) and of those, two (Gelson and Ryecraft) were juniors who had yet to make their senior debuts.[3] In addition, assistant trainer Jack Holliday (the club's record goalscorer) was sacked and trainer Fred Monk resigned in April 1962.[3][5]

Season

Brentford had a dreadful start to the 1961–62 season, losing 8 of the first 9 matches in all competitions.[6] The signing of £6,000 former England international forward Johnny Brooks in early September 1961 helped boost the team's morale enough for them to register their first point of the season on 9 September 1961,[3] courtesy of a goalless draw with Southend United at Griffin Park.[6] After another loss and the Bees' first two victories of the season, three successive defeats led manager Malky MacDonald to re-sign forward George Francis from Queens Park Rangers on 6 October.[3] Francis' return helped inspire a victory over Swindon Town 24 hours later, courtesy of a Johnny Rainford goal.[3] The FA Cup provided a welcome distraction from the league, in which Brentford were firmly rooted in the relegation zone.[6] The Bees advanced to the third round of the FA Cup, taking high-flying Second Division club Leyton Orient to a replay before being knocked out.[6] After the defeat, the board again reached for the chequebook and signed outside forward Micky Block from Chelsea for a £5,000 fee.[3]

Poor form in the opening months of 1962 failed to avert the relegation threat and a bid to buy back Jim Towers from Queens Park Rangers failed,[3] but a run of three wins and one draw in late March and early April lifted Brentford to 21st, the club's highest position of the season so far.[6] Of the following four matches, a victory, a draw and two defeats left the Bees' in 23rd place, with their destiny out of their own hands.[6] Victory for 21st-place Barnsley over 20th-place Torquay United on 2 May ended the Bees' hopes of survival.[7] Brentford's 9-year stay in the Third Division officially ended the following day after a 2–0 defeat to Hull City at Boothferry Park.[6] The relegation completed a drop from the First Division in 1947 to the Fourth Division in 1962, a 15-year fall from grace.[3]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Promotion or relegation
20	Barnsley	46	13	12	21	71	95	0.747	38
21	Torquay United	46	15	6	25	76	100	0.760	36	Relegated
22	Lincoln City	46	9	17	20	57	87	0.655	35
23	Brentford	46	13	8	25	53	93	0.570	34
24	Newport County	46	7	8	31	46	102	0.451	22

Source:

Results

Brentford's goal tally listed first.

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League Third Division

No.	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorer(s)
1	19 August 1961	Queens Park Rangers	A	0–3	16,790
2	22 August 1961	Halifax Town	H	0–2	7,509
3	26 August 1961	Reading	H	1–2	9,630	Spiers (og)
4	28 August 1961	Halifax Town	A	0–1	7,603
5	2 September 1961	Newport County	A	1–6	5,757	Edgley
6	5 September 1961	Grimsby Town	A	0–1	8,800
7	9 September 1961	Southend United	H	0–0	7,100
8	16 September 1961	Notts County	A	1–3	7,977	Edgley
9	19 September 1961	Coventry City	H	2–1	6,100	Higginson, Belcher
10	23 September 1961	Shrewsbury Town	H	4–0	7,000	Edgley (2), Brooks, Rainford
11	25 September 1961	Coventry City	A	0–2	10,243
12	30 September 1961	Peterborough United	A	0–6	12,654
13	3 October 1961	Bristol City	A	0–3	10,700
14	7 October 1961	Swindon Town	H	1–0	7,500	Rainford
15	10 October 1961	Bristol City	H	0–2	8,569
16	14 October 1961	Torquay United	A	0–3	4,836
17	21 October 1961	Portsmouth	H	3–2	9,600	Brooks, Edgley, Francis
18	28 October 1961	Barnsley	A	2–2	6,478	Summers, Edgley
19	11 November 1961	Watford	A	1–2	8,333	Francis
20	18 November 1961	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	H	2–2	9,600	Francis, Edgley
21	2 December 1961	Lincoln City	H	1–0	7,980	Summers
22	9 December 1961	Northampton Town	A	0–5	10,339
23	16 December 1961	Queens Park Rangers	H	1–4	11,800	Francis
24	23 December 1961	Reading	A	0–4	7,211
25	26 December 1961	Bradford Park Avenue	H	2–0	5,100	Edgley (pen), Francis
26	13 January 1962	Newport County	H	3–1	7,750	Francis, Higginson, McLeod
27	20 January 1962	Southend United	A	0–0	6,835
28	27 January 1962	Crystal Palace	A	2–2	19,323	Brooks, Block
39	2 February 1962	Notts County	H	0–1	9,200
30	10 February 1962	Shrewsbury Town	A	3–1	6,037	Brooks, Francis, McLeod
31	17 February 1962	Peterborough United	H	2–0	11,000	Brooks (pen), McLeod
32	23 February 1962	Swindon Town	A	2–5	7,089	Summers, Francis
33	3 March 1962	Torquay United	H	0–2	7,450
34	10 March 1962	Portsmouth	A	0–4	15,256
35	17 March 1962	Barnsley	H	1–1	6,050	Francis
36	24 March 1962	Hull City	A	0–3	3,432
37	30 March 1962	Watford	H	3–0	6,450	Francis (2), Summers
38	4 April 1962	Bradford Park Avenue	A	2–1	4,812	Francis, Summers
39	7 April 1962	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	A	1–1	10,736	Block
40	13 April 1962	Crystal Palace	H	4–2	9,900	Brooks (2, 1 pen), Francis, Wood (og)
41	20 April 1962	Port Vale	H	1–2	11,160	Brooks (pen)
42	21 April 1962	Lincoln City	A	3–3	5,402	Summers (2), Gelson
43	23 April 1962	Port Vale	A	0–3	5,871
44	27 April 1962	Northampton Town	H	3–0	6,750	Francis, Brooks, Summers
45	1 May 1962	Grimsby Town	H	0–2	18,126
46	3 May 1962	Hull City	H	0–2	3,600

FA Cup

Main article: 1961–62 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorer(s)
1R	4 November 1961	Oxford United	H	3–0	13,500	Summers, Edgley (2)
2R	25 November 1961	Aldershot	A	2–2	12,846	Edgley, Francis
2R (replay)	28 November 1961	Aldershot	H	2–0	17,800	Edgley, Brooks
3R	6 January 1962	Leyton Orient	H	1–1	19,700	Summers
3R (replay)	8 January 1962	Leyton Orient	A	1–2	22,690	Higginson

Football League Cup

Main article: 1961–62 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorer
1R	13 September 1961	Leeds United	A	1–4	4,500	McLeod

• Sources: 100 Years Of Brentford,[8] Statto

Playing squad

Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1961–62 season.

Pos.	Name	Nat.	Date of birth (age)	Signed from	Signed in	Notes
Goalkeepers
GK	Gerry Cakebread		(1936-04-01)1 April 1936 (aged 25)	Youth	1954
Defenders
DF	Ken Coote (c)		(1928-05-19)19 May 1928 (aged 33)	Wembley	1949
DF	Jimmy Gitsham		(1942-05-12)12 May 1942 (aged 19)	Youth	1959
DF	Ray Reeves		(1931-08-12)12 August 1931 (aged 30)	Reading	1961
DF	Tom Wilson		(1930-07-03)3 July 1930 (aged 31)	Fulham	1957
Midfielders
HB	Jimmy Belcher		(1932-10-31)31 October 1932 (aged 28)	Ipswich Town	1961
HB	Ian Dargie		(1931-10-03)3 October 1931 (aged 29)	Tonbridge	1952
HB	Peter Gelson		(1941-10-18)18 October 1941 (aged 19)	Youth	1961
HB	Tommy Higginson		(1937-01-06)6 January 1937 (aged 24)	Kilmarnock	1959
Forwards
FW	Micky Block		(1940-01-28)28 January 1940 (aged 21)	Chelsea	1962
FW	Johnny Brooks		(1931-12-23)23 December 1931 (aged 29)	Chelsea	1961
FW	Brian Edgley		(1937-08-26)26 August 1937 (aged 23)	Cardiff City	1961
FW	George Francis		(1934-02-04)4 February 1934 (aged 27)	Queens Park Rangers	1961
FW	Johnny Hales		(1940-05-15)15 May 1940 (aged 21)	St Roch's	1958
FW	George McLeod		(1932-11-30)30 November 1932 (aged 28)	Luton Town	1958
FW	Danny O'Donnell		(1939-02-27)27 February 1939 (aged 22)	Kirkintilloch Rob Roy	1960
FW	George Summers		(1941-07-30)30 July 1941 (aged 20)	Shawfield	1959
Players who left the club mid-season
FW	Johnny Rainford		(1930-12-11)11 December 1930 (aged 30)	Cardiff City	1953	Transferred to Tonbridge

• Sources: 100 Years Of Brentford,[8] Timeless Bees[9]

Coaching staff

Name	Role
Malky MacDonald	Manager
Fred Monk	Trainer

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Cakebread

Coote (c)

Gitsham

Dargie

Belcher

Higginson

Brooks

Edgley

Francis

Summers

McLeod

Brentford's highest appearance-makers in each position during the Football League season.

Pos	Nat	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK		Gerry Cakebread	46	0	5	0	1	0	52	0
DF		Ken Coote	45	0	5	0	1	0	51	0
DF		Jimmy Gitsham	34	0	5	0	0	0	39	0
DF		Ray Reeves	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
DF		Tom Wilson	16	0	0	0	1	0	17	0
HB		Jimmy Belcher	30	1	5	0	1	0	36	1
HB		Ian Dargie	35	0	1	0	1	0	37	0
HB		Peter Gelson	24	1	4	0	0	0	28	1
HB		Tommy Higginson	46	2	5	1	1	0	52	3
FW		Micky Block	20	2	—		—		20	2
FW		Johnny Brooks	38	10	5	1	0	0	43	11
FW		Brian Edgley	27	8	5	4	1	0	33	12
FW		George Francis	32	14	5	1	—		37	15
FW		Johnny Hales	8	0	0	0	1	0	9	0
FW		George McLeod	46	3	5	0	1	1	52	4
FW		Danny O'Donnell	9	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
FW		Johnny Rainford	15	2	1	0	1	0	17	2
FW		George Summers	30	8	4	2	1	0	35	10

• Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
• Source: 100 Years Of Brentford[8]

Goalscorers

Pos.	Nat	Player	FL3	FAC	FLC	Total
FW		George Francis	14	1	—	15
FW		Brian Edgley	8	4	0	12
FW		Johnny Brooks	10	1	0	11
FW		George Summers	8	2	0	10
FW		George McLeod	3	0	1	4
HB		Tommy Higginson	2	1	0	3
FW		Micky Block	2	—	—	2
FW		Johnny Rainford	2	0	0	2
HB		Jimmy Belcher	1	0	0	1
HB		Peter Gelson	1	0	0	1
Opponents			2	0	0	2
Total			53	9	1	63

• Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
• Source: 100 Years Of Brentford[8]

Management

Name	Nat	From	To	Record All Comps					Record League
				P	W	D	L	W %	P	W	D	L	W %
Malky MacDonald		19 August 1961	3 May 1962	52	15	10	27	028.85	46	13	8	25	028.26

Summary

Games played	52 (46 Third Division, 5 FA Cup, 1 League Cup)
Games won	15 (13 Third Division, 2 FA Cup, 0 League Cup)
Games drawn	10 (8 Third Division, 2 FA Cup, 0 League Cup)
Games lost	27 (25 Third Division, 1 FA Cup, 1 League Cup)
Goals scored	63 (53 Third Division, 9 FA Cup, 1 League Cup)
Goals conceded	102 (93 Third Division, 5 FA Cup, 4 League Cup)
Clean sheets	12 (10 Third Division, 2 FA Cup, 0 League Cup)
Biggest league win	4–0 versus Shrewsbury Town, 23 September 1961
Worst league defeat	6–0 versus Peterborough United, 30 September 1961
Most appearances	52, Gerry Cakebread, Tommy Higginson, George McLeod (46 Third Division, 2 FA Cup, 3 League Cup)
Top scorer (league)	14, George Francis
Top scorer (all competitions)	15, George Francis

Transfers & loans

Players transferred in
Date	Pos.	Name	Previous Club	Fee	Ref.
5 June 1961	FW	Brian Edgley	Cardiff City	£6,000	[10]
July 1961	HB	Jimmy Belcher	Ipswich Town	n/a	[11]
July 1961	DF	Ray Reeves	Reading	n/a	[12]
2 September 1961	FW	Dick Lowrie	St Roch's	n/a	[13]
2 September 1961	FW	Hugh McLaughlin	St Roch's	n/a	[13]
September 1961	FW	Johnny Brooks	Chelsea	£6,000	[14]
6 October 1961	FW	George Francis	Queens Park Rangers	n/a	[4]
December 1961	DF	Tom Anthony	n/a	n/a	[15]
1961	DF	Tim Soutar	n/a	n/a	[16]
January 1962	FW	Micky Block	Chelsea	£5,000	[3]
Players transferred out
Date	Pos.	Name	Subsequent club	Fee	Ref.
31 May 1961	FW	George Francis	Queens Park Rangers	£4,000	[17]
31 May 1961	FW	Jim Towers	Queens Park Rangers	£4,000	[17]
1962	FW	Johnny Rainford	Tonbridge	Free	[3]
Players released
Date	Pos.	Name	Subsequent club	Join date	Ref.
May 1962	HB	Jimmy Belcher	Margate	1962	[11]
May 1962	DF	Ray Reeves	Dover	1962	[12]
May 1962	DF	Tom Wilson	Folkestone Town	1962	[18]

Awards

• Supporters' Player of the Year: Ken Coote[19]

References

1. White 1989, p. 240-241.
2. Haynes, Graham (1998). A-Z Of Bees: Brentford Encyclopaedia. Yore Publications. p. 27. ISBN 1 874427 57 7.
3. White 1989, p. 242-245.
4. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 186-188.
5. White 1989, p. 246.
6. Ltd, Statto Organisation. "Brentford results for the 1961-1962 season - Statto.com". Statto.com. Archived from the original on 1 December 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
7. Ltd, Statto Organisation. "Torquay United results for the 1961-1962 season - Statto.com". Statto.com. Archived from the original on 1 December 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
8. White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. p. 386. ISBN 0951526200.
9. Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Yore Publications. ISBN 978-0955294914.
10. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 52.
11. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 18-19.
12. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 132.
13. "Scottish Football Historical Archive – 1961". Retrieved 13 August 2019.
14. White 1989, p. 28.
15. "Tom Anthony". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
16. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 152.
17. "QPRnet – Seasonal Stats – 1961–62". Retrieved 9 May 2018.
18. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 170-171.
19. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 41.