1898–99 Brentford F.C. season

Brentford
1898–99 season
Chairman	Bill Stephenson
Stadium	Cross Roads
Southern League Second Division London	4th
FA Cup	Third qualifying round
London Senior Cup	First round
Middlesex Senior Cup	Second round
West Middlesex Cup	Semi-final
Top goalscorer	League: Booth,; Dailley, Ward (9); All: Booth,; Dailley (12)
	← 1897–98 1899–1900 →

During the 1898–99 English football season, Brentford competed in the Southern League Second Division London. Though the season was largely viewed as a disappointment, the Bees finished in 4th place.

Season summary

Brentford enjoyed a meteoric rise in London amateur football during a three-year period, going from playing only friendly and cup matches in 1895–96, to being promoted through the London League and elected into the Southern League for 1898–99 season.^[1] The club paid for its success and a number of its better players were lured away during the off-season, with forwards Oakey Field and David Lloyd turning professional and signing for Sheffield United and Thames Ironworks respectively.^[1] On the financial front, attendances had consistently improved year-on-year for the previous three seasons, but the leaseholder of the club's Shotter's Lane ground took the opportunity to increase the rent to an unacceptable amount.^[1] The club, which had made a loss on the previous season, were forced to move out of Brentford to Cross Roads, an unsatisfactory patch of ground located near South Ealing tube station.^[1] To compound the financial problems, while the club remained officially amateur, it was illegally forced to pay some of its new signings more than their travelling expenses to entice them to play.^[1]

Despite the goals of Oakey Field's replacement C. Ward, Brentford had a modest start to life in the London section of the Southern League Second Division, but after the departure of Ward in early November 1898, wins over Southall and St Albans put the club top of the division late in the month.^[1] The Bees subsequently fell away badly, taking just one point from a possible 10 over the next five matches.^[2] After winning two cups during the previous season, the club experienced little joy in 1898–99, suffering early exits in the FA Cup, London Senior Cup, Middlesex Senior Cup and suffering a semi-final defeat to Harrow Athletic in the West Middlesex Cup.^[2] The club entered the FA Amateur Cup for the only time, but withdrew after progressing to the second round.^[3] Though the season was largely a disappointment, Brentford finished in a credible 4th place in the London section of the Southern League Second Division.^[1]

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts
2	Wolverton L&NWR	22	13	4	5	88	43	2.047	30
3	Watford	22	14	2	6	62	35	1.771	30
4	Brentford	22	11	3	8	59	39	1.513	25
5	Wycombe Wanderers	22	10	2	10	55	57	0.965	22
6	Southall	22	11	0	11	44	55	0.800	22

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: The system of using goal average to separate two teams tied on points was used until the 1976-77 season. The points system: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.

Results

Brentford's goal tally listed first.

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

Southern League Second Division London

No.	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorer(s)
1	10 September 1898	St Albans	H	6–1	Ward (3), Booth, Dailley, Richardson
2	17 September 1898	Fulham	A	4–1	Edney, Booth (2), Knapman
3	24 September 1898	Thames Ironworks	A	1–3	Tranter (og)
4	8 October 1898	Watford	H	2–4	Dailley (pen), Booth
5	15 October 1898	Wycombe Wanderers	H	9–2	Knapman, Ward (5), Richardson, Dailley (2, 1 pen)
6	5 November 1898	Wolverton London & North Western Railway	A	2–4	Dailley, Booth
7	12 November 1898	Southall	A	3–0	Booth, Richardson, Ward
8	24 November 1898	St Albans	A	5–4	McMillan, Dailley (2, 1 pen), Booth
9	3 December 1898	Uxbridge	A	0–3
10	17 December 1898	Shepherds Bush	H	1–1	Johnson
11	24 December 1898	Watford	A	1–2	Evans
12	31 December 1898	Chesham	A	1–2	Dailley
13	11 February 1899	Thames Ironworks	H	0–2
14	18 February 1899	Maidenhead	A	3–0	Walker, Booth, Robey (og)
15	25 February 1899	Fulham	H	2–1	Evans, Johnson
16	4 March 1899	Wolverton London & North Western Railway	H	3–3	Johnson, Knapman (2)
17	11 March 1899	Uxbridge	H	0–1
18	18 March 1899	Shepherds Bush	A	2–1	Walker, Dailley
19	1 April 1899	Chesham	H	5–2	Knapman (2), Walker (pen), Westhead, Richardson
20	8 April 1899	Maidenhead	H	6–0	Evans, Johnson (2), Walker, Richardson
21	15 April 1899	Southall	H	2–1	Johnson (2)
22	22 April 1899	Wycombe Wanderers	A	1–1	Turner

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorer(s)
3QR	29 October 1898	Clapton	A	1–6	Dailley

London Senior Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorer(s)
1R	14 January 1899	London Caledonians	H	1–6	Evans

Middlesex Senior Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorer(s)
1R	7 January 1899	Uxbridge	H	7–0	Evans, Dailley (2, 1 pen), Booth, Knapman (2), Johnson
2R	4 February 1899	Barnet	H	1–2	Johnson

West Middlesex Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorer(s)	Notes
1R	21 January 1899	Civil Service	H	4–3	Evans, Booth (2), Johnson
SF	18 March 1899	Harrow Athletic	N	1–2 (a.e.t.)	Johnson	^{[nb 1]}

Source: 100 Years of Brentford^[2]

Playing squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	ENG	Ben Brown
—	GK	SCO	Frank Burton
—	GK	SCO	Henry Gill
—	GK	ENG	Charles Gillett
—	GK	ENG	Harry Pennington
—	DF	ENG	"Gosling"
—	DF	WAL	Frank Lewis
—	DF	ENG	Alfred Lugg
—	DF	ENG	George Pollitt
—	DF	ENG	Percy Swann
—	DF	SCO	George Turner
—	DF	ENG	Archie Williams
—	MF	SCO	Arthur Charlton
—	MF	ENG	George Haslen
—	MF	ENG	Alfred Mattocks
—	MF	ENG	William Mehew


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	ENG	Billy Smith
—	MF	ENG	W. Walker
—	MF	ENG	William Westhead
—	FW	ENG	Ernest Booth
—	FW	ENG	J. Chambers
—	FW	ENG	John Cotton
—	FW	ENG	Richard Dailley
—	FW		Charlie Evans
—	FW	ENG	W. Hancock
—	FW	ENG	Frederick Johnson
—	FW	ENG	Thomas Knapman
—	FW		J. McMillan
—	FW	WAL	Trevor Owen
—	FW	ENG	John Richardson
—	FW	SCO	James Rough

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	ENG	Herbert Edney (Retired)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	FW		C. Ward

"Gosling" is an alias
Source: 100 Years of Brentford^[2]

Statistics

Gilett

Lugg (c)

Turner

Walker

Westhead

Mattocks

Johnson

Knapman

Dailley

Evans

Booth

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

Goalscorers

Pos.	Nat	Player	SL2	FAC	LSC	MSC	WMC	Total
FW		Ernest Booth	9	0	0	1	2	12
FW		Richard Dailley	9	1	0	2	0	12
FW		Frederick Johnson	7	0	0	2	2	11
FW	n/a	C. Ward	9	—	—	—	—	9
FW		Thomas Knapman	6	0	0	2	0	8
FW		John Richardson	6	0	0	0	0	6
FW	n/a	Charlie Evans	3	0	1	1	1	6
HB		W. Walker	4	0	0	0	0	4
HB		Herbert Edney	1	0	—	—	—	1
DF		George Turner	1	0	—	0	0	1
FW	n/a	J. McMillan	1	0	0	0	0	1
HB		William Westhead	1	0	0	0	0	1
Opponents			2	0	0	0	0	2
Total			59	1	1	8	5	74

Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
Source: 100 Years Of Brentford^[2]

Management

Name	From	To	Record All Comps					Record League
Name	From	To	P	W	D	L	W %	P	W	D	L	W %
Committee	10 September 1898	22 April 1899	28	13	3	12	046.43	22	11	3	8	050.00

Summary

Games played	28 (22 Southern League Second Division London, 1 FA Cup, 1 London Senior Cup, 2 Middlesex Senior Cup, 2 West Middlesex Cup)
Games won	13 (11 Southern League Second Division London, 0 FA Cup, 0 London Senior Cup, 1 Middlesex Senior Cup, 1 West Middlesex Cup)
Games drawn	3 (3 Southern League Second Division London, 0 FA Cup, 0 London Senior Cup, 0 Middlesex Senior Cup, 0 West Middlesex Cup)
Games lost	12 (8 Southern League Second Division London, 1 FA Cup, 1 London Senior Cup, 1 Middlesex Senior Cup, 1 West Middlesex Cup)
Goals scored	74 (59 Southern League Second Division London, 1 FA Cup, 1 London Senior Cup, 8 Middlesex Senior Cup, 5 West Middlesex Cup)
Goals conceded	58 (39 Southern League Second Division London, 6 FA Cup, 6 London Senior Cup, 2 Middlesex Senior Cup, 5 West Middlesex Cup)
Clean sheets	4 (3 Southern League Second Division London, 0 FA Cup, 0 London Senior Cup, 1 Middlesex Senior Cup, 0 West Middlesex Cup)
Biggest league win	9–2 versus Wycombe Wanderers, 15 October 1898
Worst league defeat	3–0 versus Uxbridge, 3 December 1898
Most appearances	27, Richard Dailley (22 Southern League Second Division London, 1 FA Cup, 1 London Senior Cup, 2 Middlesex Senior Cup, 1 West Middlesex Cup)
Top scorer (league)	9, Ernest Booth, Richard Dailley, C. Ward
Top scorer (all competitions)	12, Ernest Booth, Richard Dailley

Notes

^ Match played at Hanwell, London.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g White, p. 71-72.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. p. 355. ISBN 0951526200.
^ Haynes, Graham (1998). A-Z Of Bees: Brentford Encyclopaedia. Yore Publications. p. 47. ISBN 1 874427 57 7.

[4] Match played at Hanwell, London.

[White71-72-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g White, p. 71-72.

[White-2] White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. p. 355. ISBN 0951526200.

[Haynes-3] Haynes, Graham (1998). A-Z Of Bees: Brentford Encyclopaedia. Yore Publications. p. 47. ISBN 1 874427 57 7.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[nb 1]

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