1996–97 Brentford F.C. season

During the 1996–97 English football season, Brentford competed in the Football League Second Division. Despite having led the division for most of the season, a collapse in the final 13 matches dropped the Bees into the playoffs, where they were defeated by Crewe Alexandra in the 1997 Second Division playoff Final.

Brentford

1996–97 season
Chairman	Martin Lange
Manager	David Webb
Stadium	Griffin Park
Second Division	4th
Play-offs	Runners-up
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Second round
Football League Trophy	Quarter-final
Top goalscorer	League: Asaba (23) All: Asaba (24)
Highest home attendance	12,019
Lowest home attendance	1,455
Average home league attendance	5,920
Home colours Away colours

Season summary

Despite a hangover in the 1995–96 season, Brentford entered 1996–97 with largely the same core of players which reached the 1995 Second Division playoff semi-finals.[1] That said, centre back Barry Ashby and midfielders Paul Smith and Carl Hutchings rejected new contracts in favour of monthly agreements, though all three would sign new deals during the opening two months of the season.[1] Manager David Webb's only significant signing of the 1996 off-season was that of Scott Canham, paying West Ham United a £25,000 fee to turn his loan from the previous season into a permanent deal.[1]

Brentford began the Second Division season with an 11-match unbeaten run and firmly held on to top spot in the table.[2] The four-pronged attack of Carl Asaba, Nicky Forster, Robert Taylor and Marcus Bent proved fruitful and Asaba's 7-minute hat-trick versus Shrewsbury Town on 31 August 1996 was the quickest ever in a league match by a Brentford player.[3][4] One win in eight matches from mid-October through to mid-November dropped the Bees back into the playoffs, but the club returned to the summit early in the following 13-match unbeaten run.[2] Forward Nicky Forster, who was in the final year of his contract, was sold to Birmingham City for a £700,000 fee on 31 January 1997, but would not be replaced.[1]

Despite the loss of Forster, the unbeaten run continued until defeat away to Preston North End on 8 March.[1] In the aftermath of the match, manager David Webb tendered his resignation,[5] citing verbal abuse of himself, the coaching staff and the players and "undisclosed sensitive issues" as the reason.[1] Chairman Martin Lange refused to accept Webb's resignation.[1] The Preston defeat gave way to a run of eight defeats in the final 13 matches of the season, in which just six goals were scored and the team failed to find the net at all during the final four matches.[2] Things went from bad to worse when centre back Barry Ashby suffered a potentially season-ending injury on 19 April and Carl Asaba was sent off in the penultimate match of the season.[1] The run dropped Brentford from 1st to 4th place and into a two-legged tie with Bristol City in the playoff semi-finals,[1] who had entered the playoffs on the back of five consecutive wins.[2]

Brentford rallied in the playoff semi-finals, seeing off Bristol City 4–2 on aggregate, winning 2–1 home and away.[6] The Bees were "exposed and outclassed" in the final at Wembley Stadium versus Crewe Alexandra, losing just 1–0 in a match which saw the Railwaymen hit the woodwork on three occasions and have two goalbound efforts cleared off the line by Carl Hutchings.[3] In addition, Bees defender Brian Statham was sent off for committing a second bookable offence 15 minutes from time.[3]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
2	Stockport County	46	23	13	10	59	41	+18	82	Promoted
3	Luton Town	46	21	15	10	71	45	+26	78	Participated in play-offs
4	Brentford	46	20	14	12	56	43	+13	74
5	Bristol City	46	21	10	15	69	51	+18	73
6	Crewe Alexandra	46	22	7	17	56	47	+9	73	Promoted through play-offs

Source:
Rules for classification: In the Football League goals scored (GF) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).

Results

Brentford's goal tally listed first.

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Pre-season

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorer(s)
22 July 1996	Hampton	A	3–0	n/a	Asaba (pen), Taylor (pen), Forster
25 July 1996	Carshalton Athletic	A	1–0	n/a	Omigie
27 July 1996	Chertsey Town	A	1–0	n/a	Taylor
29 July 1996	Southend United	H	3–0	n/a	Bent, Forster, Asaba
31 July 1996	Tottenham Hotspur	H	0–3	3,175
2 August 1996	Queens Park Rangers	H	2–1	3,793	Taylor (pen), Abrahams
5 August 1996	Stevenage Borough	A	2–2	n/a	Dennis, Asaba
7 August 1996	Derby County	H	0–2	1,936
12 August 1996	Hayes	A	7–0	n/a	Dennis (2), Taylor, Forster, Bent, Myall, untraced (og)

Football League Second Division

No.	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorer(s)
1	17 August 1996	Bury	A	1–1	3,373	Taylor
2	24 August 1996	Luton Town	H	3–2	5,404	Asaba, Bates, Taylor
3	27 August 1996	Gillingham	H	2–0	5,384	Abrahams (2)
4	31 August 1996	Shrewsbury Town	A	3–0	3,530	Asaba (3)
5	7 September 1996	Chesterfield	A	2–0	3,643	Bates, Forster
6	10 September 1996	Plymouth Argyle	H	3–2	5,377	Smith, Asaba, Bent
7	14 September 1996	Blackpool	H	1–1	5,908	Asaba
8	21 September 1996	Wycombe Wanderers	A	1–0	5,330	Bent
9	28 September 1996	York City	H	3–3	5,243	Taylor, Asaba (2)
10	1 October 1996	Bristol City	A	2–1	9,520	Asaba, Forster
11	5 October 1996	Rotherham United	H	4–2	6,137	Asaba (2), Taylor, Forster
12	12 October 1996	Crewe Alexandra	A	0–2	4,313
13	15 October 1996	Peterborough United	A	1–0	5,037	Taylor
14	19 October 1996	Walsall	H	1–1	5,419	Hutchings
15	26 October 1996	Millwall	H	0–0	7,691
16	29 October 1996	Bristol Rovers	A	1–2	5,163	Hutchings
17	2 November 1996	Watford	A	0–2	11,448
18	9 November 1996	Stockport County	H	2–2	5,076	Canham, Forster
19	19 November 1996	Bournemouth	A	1–2	3,464	Anderson
20	23 November 1996	Wrexham	H	2–0	4,885	Forster, Asaba
21	29 November 1996	Millwall	A	0–0	7,845
22	3 December 1996	Notts County	H	2–0	3,675	Bent, Asaba
23	14 December 1996	Burnley	A	2–1	10,575	Asaba, Forster
24	21 December 1996	Preston North End	H	0–0	5,365
25	26 December 1996	Plymouth Argyle	A	4–1	9,525	Forster (2), Asaba, Omigie
26	11 January 1997	York City	A	4–2	3,085	Asaba (2), Forster (2)
27	18 January 1997	Bristol City	H	0–0	7,606
28	21 January 1997	Bristol Rovers	H	0–0	4,191
29	1 February 1997	Stockport County	A	2–1	8,650	McGhee, Taylor
30	8 February 1997	Watford	H	1–1	8,679	Asaba
31	22 February 1997	Bournemouth	H	1–0	6,071	Asaba
32	1 March 1997	Notts County	A	1–1	4,323	Ashby
33	4 March 1997	Wycombe Wanderers	H	0–0	5,375
34	8 March 1997	Preston North End	A	0–1	9,489
35	15 March 1997	Burnley	H	0–3	6,624
36	21 March 1997	Luton Town	A	0–1	8,164
37	25 March 1997	Wrexham	A	2–0	4,053	Asaba (2, 1 pen)
38	29 March 1997	Bury	H	0–2	7,823
39	31 March 1997	Gillingham	A	2–1	7,361	Janney, Asaba
40	5 April 1997	Shrewsbury Town	H	0–0	5,355
41	11 April 1997	Rotherham United	A	1–0	1,797	Taylor
42	15 April 1997	Chesterfield	H	1–0	5,216	Asaba
43	19 April 1997	Crewe Alexandra	H	0–2	6,183
44	22 April 1997	Blackpool	A	0–1	4,030
45	26 April 1997	Walsall	A	0–1	5,359
46	3 May 1997	Peterborough United	H	0–1	5,274

Football League Second Division play-offs

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorer(s)	Notes
SF (1st leg)	11 May 1997	Bristol City	A	2–1	15,581	Smith, Taylor
SF (2nd leg)	14 May 1997	Bristol City	H	2–1 (won 4–2 on aggregate)	9,496	Taylor, Bent
F	25 May 1997	Crewe Alexandra	N	0–1	34,149		[nb 1]

FA Cup

Main article: 1996–97 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorer(s)	Notes
R1	16 November 1996	Bournemouth	H	2–0	4,509	Smith, Forster
R2	7 December 1996	Sudbury Town	A	3–1	3,973	McGhee, Taylor (2)	[nb 2]
R3	25 January 1997	Manchester City	H	0–1	12,019

League Cup

Main article: 1996–97 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorer
R1 (1st leg)	20 August 1996	Plymouth Argyle	H	1–0	3,034	Taylor
R1 (2nd leg)	3 September 1996	Plymouth Argyle	A	0–0 (won 1–0 on aggregate)	5,180
R2 (1st leg)	17 September 1996	Blackburn Rovers	H	1–2	8,938	Forster
R2 (2nd leg)	24 September 1996	Blackburn Rovers	A	0–2 (lost 4–1 on aggregate)	9,599

Football League Trophy

Main article: 1996–97 Football League Trophy

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorer(s)
SR1	10 December 1996	Bristol Rovers	A	2–1	2,752	Omigie, Asaba
SR2	7 January 1997	Barnet	H	2–1 (a.e.t.)	1,455	Taylor, Forster
SQF	28 January 1997	Colchester United	H	0–1	2,253

• Source: Statto, The Big Brentford Book of the Nineties[3]

Playing squad

Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1996–97 season.

Position	Name	Nationality	Date of birth (age)	Signed from	Signed in	Notes
Goalkeepers
GK	Kevin Dearden		(1970-03-08)8 March 1970 (aged 26)	Tottenham Hotspur	1993
GK	Tamer Fernandes		(1974-12-07)7 December 1974 (aged 21)	Youth	1993
Defenders
DF	Ijah Anderson		(1975-12-30)30 December 1975 (aged 20)	Southend United	1995
DF	Barry Ashby		(1970-11-21)21 November 1970 (aged 25)	Watford	1994
DF	Jamie Bates (c)		(1968-02-24)24 February 1968 (aged 28)	Youth	1986
DF	Carl Hutchings		(1974-09-24)24 September 1974 (aged 21)	Youth	1993
DF	Brian Statham		(1969-05-21)21 May 1969 (aged 27)	Tottenham Hotspur	1992
Midfielders
MF	Scott Canham		(1974-11-11)11 November 1974 (aged 21)	West Ham United	1996
MF	Kevin Dennis		(1976-12-14)14 December 1976 (aged 19)	Arsenal	1996
MF	Richard Goddard		(1978-03-31)31 March 1978 (aged 18)	Arsenal	1996
MF	Lee Harvey		(1966-12-21)21 December 1966 (aged 29)	Nottingham Forest	1993
MF	Gus Hurdle		(1973-10-14)14 October 1973 (aged 22)	Carshalton Athletic	1993
MF	David McGhee		(1976-06-19)19 June 1976 (aged 20)	Youth	1994
MF	Paul Smith		(1971-09-18)18 September 1971 (aged 24)	Southend United	1993
Forwards
FW	Carl Asaba		(1973-01-28)28 January 1973 (aged 23)	Dulwich Hamlet	1994
FW	Marcus Bent		(1978-05-19)19 May 1978 (aged 18)	Youth	1995
FW	Malcolm McPherson		(1974-12-09)9 December 1974 (aged 21)	West Ham United	1996
FW	Joe Omigie		(1972-06-13)13 June 1972 (aged 24)	Donna	1994
FW	Kevin Rapley		(1977-09-21)21 September 1977 (aged 18)	Youth	1997
FW	Robert Taylor		(1971-04-30)30 April 1971 (aged 25)	Leyton Orient	1994
Players who left the club mid-season
MF	Paul Abrahams		(1973-10-31)31 October 1973 (aged 22)	Colchester United	1995	Transferred to Colchester United
MF	Mark Janney		(1977-12-02)2 December 1977 (aged 18)	Tottenham Hotspur	1997	Returned to Tottenham Hotspur after loan
FW	Nicky Forster		(1973-09-08)8 September 1973 (aged 22)	Gillingham	1994	Transferred to Birmingham City
FW	Steve Slade		(1975-10-06)6 October 1975 (aged 20)	Queens Park Rangers	1997	Returned to Queens Park Rangers after loan

• Source: Soccerbase

Coaching staff

Name	Role
David Webb	Manager
Kevin Lock	First Team Coach
Roy Johnson	Physiotherapist
Fergus Dignan	Medical Officer

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Substitute appearances in brackets.

Pos	Nat	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		FL Trophy		Playoffs		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK		Kevin Dearden	44	0	3	0	4	0	2	0	3	0	56	0
GK		Tamer Fernandes	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	0
DF		Ijah Anderson	46	1	2	0	4	0	1	0	3	0	56	1
DF		Barry Ashby	40	1	3	0	4	0	3	0	0 (1)	0	50 (1)	1
DF		Jamie Bates	37	2	3	0	4	0	3	0	3	0	50	2
DF		Gus Hurdle	28 (3)	0	2	0	4	0	1	0	3	0	38 (3)	0
DF		Brian Statham	11 (8)	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	3	0	17 (8)	0
MF		Paul Abrahams	5 (3)	2	—		1 (2)	0	—		—		6 (5)	2
MF		Marcus Bent	29 (5)	3	2	0	4	0	1 (1)	0	3	1	39 (6)	4
MF		Scott Canham	13	1	1	0	2	0	0	0	0 (2)	0	16 (2)	1
MF		Kevin Dennis	9 (3)	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	12 (3)	0
MF		Richard Goddard	0 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0 (1)	0
MF		Lee Harvey	2 (12)	0	0 (2)	0	0 (2)	0	1	0	0	0	3 (16)	0
MF		Carl Hutchings	23 (5)	2	1	0	0 (1)	0	1	0	3	0	28 (6)	2
MF		David McGhee	44 (1)	1	3	1	2 (1)	0	3	0	3	0	55 (2)	2
MF		Paul Smith	46	1	3	1	4	0	2	0	3	1	58	3
FW		Carl Asaba	44	23	3	0	4	0	3	1	2	0	56	24
FW		Nicky Forster	25	10	3	1	3	1	1	1	—		32	13
FW		Malcolm McPherson	2 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	1 (1)	0	0	0	3 (2)	0
FW		Joe Omigie	7 (6)	1	0 (3)	0	0	0	2 (1)	1	0	0	9 (10)	2
FW		Kevin Rapley	1 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1 (1)	0
FW		Robert Taylor	43	7	3	2	4	1	3	1	3	2	56	13
Players loaned in during the season
MF		Mark Janney	1 (1)	1	—		—		—		—		1 (1)	1
MF		Steve Slade	4	0	—		—		—		—		4	0

• Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
• Source: The Big Brentford Book of the Nineties[7]

Goalscorers

Pos.	Nat	Player	FL2	FAC	FLC	FLT	FLP	Total
FW		Carl Asaba	23	0	0	1	0	24
FW		Nicky Forster	10	1	1	1	—	13
FW		Robert Taylor	7	2	1	1	2	13
MF		Marcus Bent	3	0	0	0	1	4
MF		Paul Smith	1	1	0	0	1	3
MF		Paul Abrahams	2	—	0	—	—	2
DF		Jamie Bates	2	0	0	0	0	2
MF		Carl Hutchings	2	0	0	0	0	2
MF		David McGhee	1	1	0	0	0	2
FW		Joe Omigie	1	0	0	1	0	2
MF		Mark Janney	1	—	—	—	—	1
DF		Ijah Anderson	1	0	0	0	0	1
DF		Barry Ashby	1	0	0	0	0	1
MF		Scott Canham	1	0	0	0	0	1
Total			56	5	2	4	4	71

• Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
• Source: The Big Brentford Book of the Nineties[7]

Discipline

Pos	Nat	Player	FL2		FAC		FLC		FLT		FLP		Total		Pts
FW		Carl Asaba	6	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	1	9	1	12
DF		Barry Ashby	4	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	6	2	12
DF		Ijah Anderson	7	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	8	0	8
DF		Gus Hurdle	6	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	7	0	7
DF		Brian Statham	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	3	1	6
FW		Nicky Forster	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	—		5	0	5
DF		Jamie Bates	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	4
MF		Marcus Bent	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	3
MF		Paul Smith	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	3
MF		Steve Slade	2	0	—		—		—		—		2	0	2
MF		Kevin Dennis	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2
MF		Carl Hutchings	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2
MF		Scott Canham	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2
GK		Kevin Dearden	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
FW		Robert Taylor	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
Total			47	0	2	0	7	0	0	0	2	2	58	2	64

• Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
• Source: Soccerbase

Management

Name	Nat	From	To	Record All Comps					Record League
				P	W	D	L	W %	P	W	D	L	W %
David Webb		17 August 1996	25 May 1997	59	27	15	17	045.76	46	20	14	12	043.48

Summary

Games played	59 (46 Second Division, 3 FA Cup, 4 League Cup, 3 Football League Trophy, 3 Football League playoffs)
Games won	27 (20 Second Division, 2 FA Cup, 1 League Cup, 2 Football League Trophy, 2 Football League playoffs)
Games drawn	15 (14 Second Division, 0 FA Cup, 1 League Cup, 0 Football League Trophy, 0 Football League playoffs)
Games lost	17 (12 Second Division, 1 FA Cup, 2 League Cup, 1 Football League Trophy, 1 Football League playoffs)
Goals scored	71 (56 Second Division, 5 FA Cup, 2 League Cup, 4 Football League Trophy, 4 Football League playoffs)
Goals conceded	55 (43 Second Division, 2 FA Cup, 4 League Cup, 3 Football League Trophy, 3 Football League playoffs)
Clean sheets	21 (18 Second Division, 1 FA Cup, 2 League Cup, 0 Football League Trophy, 0 Football League playoffs)
Biggest league win	3–0 versus Shrewsbury Town, 31 August 1996; 4–1 versus Plymouth Argyle, 26 December 1996
Worst league defeat	3–0 versus Burnley, 15 March 1997
Most appearances	58, Paul Smith (46 Second Division, 3 FA Cup, 4 League Cup, 2 Football League Trophy, 3 Football League playoffs)
Top scorer (league)	23, Carl Asaba
Top scorer (all competitions)	24, Carl Asaba

Transfers & loans

Players transferred in
Date	Pos.	Name	Previous Club	Fee	Ref.
July 1996	MF	Kevin Dennis	Arsenal	Free	[8]
July 1996	MF	Richard Goddard	Arsenal	Free	[9]
July 1996	FW	Malcolm McPherson	West Ham United	Free	[10]
July 1996	MF	Stuart Myall	Brighton & Hove Albion	Free	[11]
August 1996	MF	Scott Canham	West Ham United	£25,000	[1]
Players loaned in
Date from	Pos.	Name	From	Date to	Ref.
13 February 1997	FW	Steve Slade	Queens Park Rangers	8 March 1997	[12]
15 March 1997	FW	Paul Mahorn	Tottenham Hotspur	March 1997	[13]
27 March 1997	MF	Mark Janney	Tottenham Hotspur	5 April 1997	[14]
Players transferred out
Date	Pos.	Name	Subsequent club	Fee	Ref.
23 October 1996	MF	Paul Abrahams	Colchester United	£20,000	[15]
31 January 1997	FW	Nicky Forster	Birmingham City	£700,000	[16]
Players loaned out
Date from	Pos.	Name	To	Date to	Ref.
December 1996	MF	Stuart Myall	Hastings Town	January 1997	[1]

Kit

Supplier: Cobra Sports
Sponsor(s): Ericsson

Home

Away

Goalkeeper

Source: Brentford F.C.

Awards

• Supporters' Player of the Year: Barry Ashby[17]
• Star Player of the Year: Barry Ashby[18]
• London Evening Standard Player of the Month: Jamie Bates (December 1996)[1]
• Ericsson Player of the Month: Kevin Dennis (April 1997)[18]
• Football League Second Division Manager of the Month: David Webb (August 1996)[1]

Notes

1. Match played at Wembley Stadium, London.
2. Match played at Layer Road, Colchester.

References

1. Croxford, Mark; Lane, David; Waterman, Greville (2013). The Big Brentford Book Of The Nineties. Sunbury, Middlesex: Legends Publishing. pp. 230–234. ISBN 9781906796723.
2. Ltd, Statto Organisation. "Brentford results for the 1996-1997 season - Statto.com". Statto.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
3. Croxford, Lane & Waterman 2013, p. 208-229.
4. Brentford's Official Matchday Magazine versus AFC Bournemouth. 16 November 1996. p. 2.
5. "Furious Webb set to quit". The Free Library. Sunday Mirror. 9 March 1997. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
6. "Brentford FC Moment in time: Bristol City". Archived from the original on 18 August 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
7. Croxford, Lane & Waterman 2013, p. 482.
8. "Kevin Dennis". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
9. "Richard Goddard-Crawley". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
10. "Malcolm McPherson". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
11. "Stuart Myall". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
12. Steve Slade at Soccerbase
13. "NO-HEADLINE". The Independent. 15 March 1997. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
14. Mark Janney at Soccerbase
15. Paul Abrahams at Soccerbase
16. "Premier and Football League transfers". www.11v11.com. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
17. Croxford, Lane & Waterman 2013, p. 445.
18. Brentford's Official Matchday Magazine versus Peterborough United. 3 May 1997. p. 3.