1947–48 Brentford F.C. season

1947–48 season of Brentford F.C.

Brentford 1947–48 football season

Brentford

1947–48 season

Chairman

Frank Davis

Manager

Harry Curtis

Stadium

Griffin Park

Second Division

15th

FA Cup

Fourth round

Top goalscorer

League: Gibbons (13)
All: Gibbons (14)

Highest home attendance

34,500

Lowest home attendance

13,723

Average home league attendance

23,341

Home colours

← 1946–47

1948–49 →

During the 1947–48 English football season, Brentford competed in the Football League Second Division. In the Bees' first second-tier season since 1934–35, the club slumped to a 15th-place finish.

Season summary

After relegation to the Second Division at the end of the 1946–47 season, Brentford were forced to cash in on their assets and received £16,000 from the sales of George Smith and Scotland international Archie Macaulay.^[1] No less than 14 players departed Griffin Park during the off-season, with five players coming in at a cost of nearly £20,000 – half back David Nelson and forwards Peter Buchanan, Tommy Dawson, Tommy Dougall and Jackie Gibbons, with Gibbons rejoining the club after making 11 appearances while an amateur during the 1938–39 season.^[1] After a poor start to the season, Jimmy Hogan was brought in as a coach.^[1] It was long-serving trainer Bob Kane's final season with the club.^[2]

Brentford had an awful start to the season, winning one and losing eight of the opening 9 matches to leave the club rooted to the bottom of the table.^[3] Bit-part half back Cyril Toulouse was transferred to Tottenham Hotspur in exchange for Jack Chisholm, who lead the team's recovery from the centre of the field.^[4] Just three defeats in 13 matches between late-September and mid-December 1946 finally lifted the club out of the relegation places.^[3] More players came and went in the second half of the season – Tony Harper and Fred Monk came in from non-League football,^[4] with Percy Gleeson, George Stewart and Arthur Shaw transferring out.^[5]^[6]^[7]

Brentford finished a tumultuous season in 15th place, 11 points above the relegation zone and lost just four of the final 20 matches of the league campaign.^[3] The season ended with an irksome 1–0 defeat to local rivals (and Second Division champions) Queens Park Rangers in the Ealing Hospital Cup final.^[1] The club record for fewest goalscorers in a season was equalled, with just eight players registering a goal.^[8]

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
13	Luton Town	42	14	12	16	56	59	0.949	40
14	Bradford Park Avenue	42	16	8	18	68	72	0.944	40
15	Brentford	42	13	14	15	44	61	0.721	40
16	Chesterfield	42	16	7	19	54	55	0.982	39
17	Plymouth Argyle	42	9	20	13	40	58	0.690	38

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored

Results

Brentford's goal tally listed first.

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League Second Division

No.	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorer(s)
1	23 August 1947	Fulham	A	0–5	32,823
2	27 August 1947	Luton Town	H	0–3	17,022
3	30 August 1947	Coventry City	H	1–4	19,107	Gibbons
4	3 September 1947	Luton Town	A	0–3	20,921
5	6 September 1947	Newcastle United	A	0–1	56,692
6	10 September 1947	Nottingham Forest	H	3–1	15,005	Buchanan, Nelson, Blakeman
7	13 September 1947	Birmingham City	H	1–2	25,523	Dawson
8	17 September 1947	Nottingham Forest	A	0–2	18,617
9	20 September 1947	West Bromwich Albion	A	2–3	29,445	Buchanan, Gibbons
10	27 September 1947	Barnsley	H	3–3	22,137	Gleeson, Gibbons, Buchanan
11	4 October 1947	Plymouth Argyle	A	0–0	23,959
12	11 October 1947	Bradford Park Avenue	H	2–1	24,682	Dawson, Girling
13	18 October 1947	Cardiff City	H	0–0	34,483
14	25 October 1947	Sheffield Wednesday	H	1–0	29,112	Gibbons
15	1 November 1947	Tottenham Hotspur	A	0–4	42,362
16	8 November 1947	Millwall	H	2–1	26,251	Buchanan, Girling
17	15 November 1947	Chesterfield	A	0–4	11,320
18	22 November 1947	West Ham United	H	1–1	24,105	Dawson
19	29 November 1947	Bury	A	2–2	12,856	Dawson, Gibbons
20	6 December 1947	Southampton	H	2–2	18,735	Dawson, Nelson
21	13 December 1947	Doncaster Rovers	A	0–0	16,916
22	20 December 1947	Fulham	H	0–2	20,717
23	25 December 1947	Leicester City	H	2–2	21,291	Dawson (2)
24	27 December 1947	Leicester City	A	2–1	32,440	Dawson, Girling
25	3 January 1948	Coventry City	A	0–3	20,180
26	17 January 1948	Newcastle United	H	1–0	29,684	Gibbons
27	31 January 1948	Birmingham City	A	0–0	37,542
28	7 February 1948	West Bromwich Albion	H	1–0	25,234	Nelson
29	14 February 1948	Barnsley	A	1–1	21,399	Gibbons
30	21 February 1948	Plymouth Argyle	H	0–0	13,723
31	28 February 1948	Bradford Park Avenue	A	1–1	11,666	Buchanan
32	6 March 1948	Cardiff City	A	0–1	41,032
33	20 March 1948	Tottenham Hotspur	H	2–0	31,297	Buchanan, Monk
34	26 March 1948	Leeds United	H	3–0	30,538	Girling, Gibbons (2)
35	27 March 1948	Millwall	A	1–0	27,519	Monk
36	29 March 1948	Leeds United	A	1–1	26,775	Dawson
37	3 April 1948	Chesterfield	H	0–3	24,164
38	10 April 1948	West Ham United	A	1–0	21,471	Gibbons
39	12 April 1948	Sheffield Wednesday	A	1–1	36,130	Gibbons
40	17 April 1948	Bury	H	4–1	20,419	Blakeman, Gibbons, Buchanan, Dawson
41	24 April 1948	Southampton	A	1–2	18,511	Gibbons
42	1 May 1948	Doncaster Rovers	H	2–1	16,939	Buchanan, Girling

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorer(s)
3R	10 January 1948	Rotherham United	A	3–0	22,000	Dawson, Gibbons, Buchanan
4R	24 January 1948	Middlesbrough	H	1–2	34,500	Girling

Sources: Statto, 11v11, 100 Years Of Brentford^[9]

Playing squad

Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1947–48 season.

Pos.	Name	Date of birth (age)	Signed from	Signed in	Notes
Goalkeepers
GK	Joe Crozier	(1914-12-02)2 December 1914 (aged 32)	East Fife	1937
GK	Ted Gaskell	(1916-12-19)19 December 1916 (aged 30)	Buxton	1937
Defenders
DF	Bill Gorman	(1911-01-13)13 January 1911 (aged 36)	Bury	1938
DF	Malky MacDonald	(1913-10-26)26 October 1913 (aged 33)	Kilmarnock	1946
DF	Roddy Munro	(1920-07-27)27 July 1920 (aged 27)	Rangers	1946
DF	Harry Oliver	(1921-02-16)16 February 1921 (aged 26)	Hartlepools United	1938
DF	Eric Ventom	(1920-02-15)15 February 1920 (aged 27)	Unattached	1946
Midfielders
HB	Jack Chisholm	(1924-10-09)9 October 1924 (aged 22)	Tottenham Hotspur	1947
HB	Frank Latimer	(1923-10-03)3 October 1923 (aged 23)	Snowdown Colliery Welfare	1945
HB	Tom Manley	(1912-10-07)7 October 1912 (aged 34)	Manchester United	1939
HB	John Moore	(1923-09-25)25 September 1923 (aged 23)	Unattached	1938
HB	David Nelson	(1918-02-03)3 February 1918 (aged 28)	Fulham	1947
HB	George Paterson (c)	(1914-09-26)26 September 1914 (aged 32)	Celtic	1946
Forwards
FW	Alec Blakeman	(1918-06-11)11 June 1918 (aged 29)	Oxford City	1946
FW	Peter Buchanan	(1915-10-13)13 October 1915 (aged 31)	Fulham	1947
FW	Tommy Dawson	(1915-02-06)6 February 1915 (aged 32)	Charlton Athletic	1947
FW	Tommy Dougall	(1921-05-17)17 May 1921 (aged 26)	Coventry City	1947
FW	José Gallego	(1923-04-08)8 April 1923 (aged 24)	Cambridge City	1947
FW	Jackie Gibbons	(1914-04-10)10 April 1914 (aged 33)	Bradford Park Avenue	1947
FW	Dickie Girling	(1922-05-24)24 May 1922 (aged 25)	Crystal Palace	1947
FW	Fred Monk	(1920-10-09)9 October 1920 (aged 26)	Guildford City	1948
Players who left the club mid-season
HB	Cyril Toulouse	(1923-12-24)24 December 1923 (aged 23)	St Cuthberts	1946	Transferred to Tottenham Hotspur
FW	Percy Gleeson	(1921-07-18)18 July 1921 (aged 26)	Hounslow Town	1947	Transferred to Guildford City
FW	George Stewart	(1920-10-18)18 October 1920 (aged 26)	Hamilton Academical	1946	Transferred to Queens Park Rangers

Sources: 100 Years of Brentford,^[9] Timeless Bees^[10]

Coaching staff

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

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Crozier

MacDonald

Munro

Chisholm

Nelson

Paterson (c)

Dawson

Blakeman

Buchanan

Girling

Gibbons

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

Pos	Nat	Name	League		FA Cup		Total
Pos	Nat	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK		Joe Crozier	40	0	2	0	42	0
GK		Ted Gaskell	2	0	0	0	2	0
DF		Bill Gorman	17	0	2	0	19	0
DF		Malky MacDonald	41	0	2	0	43	0
DF		Roddy Munro	21	0	0	0	21	0
DF		Harry Oliver	4	0	0	0	4	0
DF		Eric Ventom	1	0	0	0	1	0
HB		Jack Chisholm	19	0	2	0	21	0
HB		Frank Latimer	16	0	0	0	16	0
HB		Tom Manley	27	0	2	0	29	0
HB		John Moore	2	0	0	0	2	0
HB		David Nelson	40	3	2	0	42	3
HB		George Paterson	26	0	0	0	26	0
HB		Cyril Toulouse	3	0	—		3	0
FW		Alec Blakeman	25	2	2	0	27	2
FW		Peter Buchanan	40	8	2	1	42	9
FW		Tommy Dawson	36	10	2	1	38	11
FW		Tommy Dougall	2	0	0	0	2	0
FW		José Gallego	5	0	0	0	5	0
FW		Jackie Gibbons	41	13	2	1	43	14
FW		Dickie Girling	33	5	2	1	35	6
FW		Percy Gleeson	9	1	0	0	9	1
FW		Fred Monk	4	2	—		4	2
FW		George Stewart	8	0	0	0	8	0

Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
Source: 100 Years Of Brentford^[9]

Goalscorers

Pos.	Player	FL2	FAC	Total
FW	Jackie Gibbons	13	1	14
FW	Tommy Dawson	10	1	11
FW	Peter Buchanan	8	1	9
FW	Dickie Girling	5	1	6
HB	David Nelson	3	0	3
FW	Alec Blakeman	2	0	2
FW	Fred Monk	2	0	2
FW	Percy Gleeson	1	0	1
Total		44	4	48

Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
Source: 100 Years Of Brentford^[9]

Management

Name	Nat	From	To	Record All Comps					Record League
Name	Nat	From	To	P	W	D	L	W %	P	W	D	L	W %
Harry Curtis		23 August 1947	1 May 1948	44	14	14	16	031.82	42	13	14	15	030.95

Summary

Games played	44 (42 Second Division, 2 FA Cup)
Games won	14 (13 Second Division, 1 FA Cup)
Games drawn	14 (14 Second Division, 0 FA Cup)
Games lost	16 (15 Second Division, 1 FA Cup)
Goals scored	48 (44 Second Division, 4 FA Cup)
Goals conceded	63 (61 Second Division, 2 FA Cup)
Clean sheets	13 (12 Second Division, 1 FA Cup)
Biggest league win	3–0 versus Leeds United, 26 March 1948; 4–1 versus Bury, 17 April 1948
Worst league defeat	5–0 versus Fulham, 23 August 1947
Most appearances	46, Jackie Gibbons, Malky MacDonald (41 Second Division, 2 FA Cup)
Top scorer (league)	13, Jackie Gibbons
Top scorer (all competitions)	14, Jackie Gibbons

Transfers & loans

Cricketers are not included in this list.

Players transferred in
Date	Pos.	Name	Previous Club	Fee	Ref.
June 1947	HB	R. Goddard	n/a	n/a	^[11]
11 August 1947	FW	Jackie Gibbons	Bradford Park Avenue	£8,000	^[12]
13 August 1947	FW	Tommy Dougall	Coventry City	n/a	^[13]
August 1947	FW	Peter Buchanan	Fulham	£3,000	^[14]
August 1947	n/a	Tommy Connors	n/a	n/a	^[15]
August 1947	FW	Tommy Dawson	Charlton Athletic	£5,000	^[16]
August 1947	HB	David Nelson	Fulham	£3,000	^[17]
August 1947	n/a	Les Smith	n/a	n/a	^[18]
October 1947	HB	Jack Chisholm	Tottenham Hotspur	Exchange	^[4]
March 1948	FW	Fred Monk	Guildford City	Exchange	^[19]
April 1948	WH	Bernard Gardner	n/a	n/a	^[20]
April 1948	HB	Tony Harper	Headington United	n/a	^[20]
1948	FW	Connors	Wembley	n/a	^[21]
Players transferred out
Date	Pos.	Name	Subsequent club	Fee	Ref.
15 May 1947	GK	Frank Clack	Bristol City	£1,500	^[22]
4 June 1947	FW	Bill Naylor	Leyton Orient	£2,000	^[23]
June 1947	HB	George Smith	Queens Park Rangers	£6,000	^[24]
July 1947	FW	Archie Macaulay	Arsenal	£10,000	^[25]
October 1947	HB	Cyril Toulouse	Tottenham Hotspur	Exchange	^[26]
March 1948	FW	George Stewart	Queens Park Rangers	£4,000	^[27]
14 April 1948	HB	Arthur Shaw	Arsenal	n/a	^[7]
April 1948	FW	Percy Gleeson	Guildford City	Exchange	^[20]
Players released
Date	Pos.	Name	Subsequent club	Join date	Ref.
May 1948	FW	Connors	n/a	n/a	^[21]
May 1948	FW	José Gallego	Southampton	May 1948	^[28]
May 1948	HB	R. Goddard	n/a	n/a	^[21]
May 1948	HB	John Moore	Gloucester City	1948	^[19]
May 1948	DF	Eric Ventom	Retired		^[29]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d White 1989, p. 186-189.
^ Lucas, Eric (21 May 1948). "Jimmy Hogan Will Be Leaving Brentford – Famous Coach's Contract Not To Be Renewed – Four Teams Next Season – Junior Side For Up To Eighteen Will Compete In Hounslow League". The Brentford & Chiswick Times.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Brentford results for the 1947–1948 season". Statto.com. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 36.
^ Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 66.
^ "George Stewart". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Arthur Shaw, 1924–2015". www.arsenal.com. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
^ Haynes, Graham (1998). A-Z Of Bees: Brentford Encyclopedia. Yore Publications. p. 63. ISBN 1 874427 57 7.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. p. 379. ISBN 0951526200.
^ Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Yore Publications. ISBN 978-0955294914.
^ "Signatures To-Day". The Brentford & Chiswick Times. 1 August 1947.
^ Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 64.
^ "Critical Days Are Ahead At Griffin Park Preview Of Prospects – Confidence And Team Spirit – Key To Success". The Brentford & Chiswick Times. 15 August 1947.
^ Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 30.
^ "Appearance Records – C". Scottish Football Historical Archive. p. 137. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
^ Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 46.
^ Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 115.
^ Lucas, Eric (22 August 1947). "Famous Irish International Not For Brentford – Dr. O'Flanagan Decides To Again Help Arsenal – Gallego Gets His Place – Surprises In Saturday's Public Trial". The Brentford & Chiswick Times.
^ ^a ^b Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 110.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Sportsman's Roundabout – "Bees" Sign Centre-Forward and Centre-Half". The Brentford & Chiswick Times. 30 April 1948.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Paterson Makes Request To Be Transferred – Brentford Place Oliver, Gleeson and Moore On List". The Brentford & Chiswick Times. 23 April 1948.
^ "Frank Clack". Citystats – Unofficial archive of results, players and managers. Archived from the original on 13 August 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
^ "Two More. Naylor And Brown For Third Division Club. Surprise In Store". The Brentford & Chiswick Times. 6 June 1947.
^ Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 148.
^ Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 98.
^ Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 161-162.
^ "Seasonal Stats – 1947/48". QPRnet. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
^ "José Gallego". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
^ "Eric Ventom". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 13 June 2016.

v t e Brentford F.C. seasons
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1947–48 in English football

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FA competitions

FA Cup (Qualifying rounds
Final)
FA Charity Shield
FA Amateur Cup

Football League

Lower leagues

Related to national team

Club seasons

First Division

Arsenal
Aston Villa
Blackpool
Bolton Wanderers
Burnley
Charlton Athletic
Chelsea
Derby County
Everton
Grimsby Town
Huddersfield Town
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Middlesbrough
Portsmouth
Preston North End
Sheffield United
Stoke City
Sunderland
Wolverhampton Wanderers

Second Division

Barnsley
Birmingham City
Blackburn Rovers
Bradford Park Avenue
Brentford
Bury
Cardiff City
Chesterfield
Coventry City
Doncaster Rovers
Fulham
Leeds United
Leicester City
Luton Town
Millwall
Newcastle United
Nottingham Forest
Plymouth Argyle
Sheffield Wednesday
Southampton
Tottenham Hotspur
West Bromwich Albion
West Ham United

Third Division

North	Accrington Stanley Barrow Bradford City Carlisle United Chester Crewe Alexandra Darlington Gateshead Halifax Town Hartlepools United Hull City Lincoln City Mansfield Town New Brighton Oldham Athletic Rochdale Rotherham United Southport Stockport County Tranmere Rovers Wrexham York City
South	Aldershot Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic Brighton & Hove Albion Bristol City Bristol Rovers Crystal Palace Exeter City Ipswich Town Leyton Orient Newport County Northampton Town Norwich City Notts County Port Vale Queens Park Rangers Reading Southend United Swansea Town Swindon Town Torquay United Walsall Watford