1901–02 Brentford F.C. season

Brentford
1901–02 season
Chairman	Charlie Dorey
Stadium	York Road
Southern League First Division	15th
FA Cup	Fourth qualifying round
Top goalscorer	League: Shanks (9); All: Shanks (11)
	Home colours
	Home colours
	← 1900–01 1902–03 →

During the 1901–02 English football season, Brentford competed in the Southern League First Division. After a torrid season, the Bees were spared relegation after Second Division club Grays United forfeited promotion at the end of the campaign.

Season summary

Despite having won election to the Southern League First Division in July 1901, the Brentford committee did not rest on its laurels and quickly realised that the team which finished top of the Second Division during the previous season needed drastic improvement if the club was to retain its First Division status.^[1] Almost a whole new XI was signed, which included goalkeeper Tommy Spicer, full back David Robson, half backs Bill Regan, Robert Stormont, Charlie McEleny and three new forwards.^[1] Half back Ralph McElhaney and forwards E. Andrews, Roddy McLeod and Peter Turnbull, all lynchpins of the promotion team, would play a part in the upcoming season.^[2] In late August, the club was registered as a limited liability company.^[1]

Brentford began the season in poor form and it took the signings of forwards Tommy Shanks, Paddy Logan and Tom Grieve to inspire the team to its first league victory of the campaign on 9 November 1901.^[1] The result inspired three wins and three draws from a seven-match spell through to January 1902, but the team soon regained the habit of losing.^[2] Despite the loss of captain Robert Stormont due to an FA suspension and injury problems in February, Brentford struggled on until mid-April and with two matches to go, were level on points with fellow promotion-relegation test match contenders Watford, New Brompton and Wellingborough near the bottom of the First Division.^[1] The Bees closed out the season with 7–1 and 3–0 defeats to Portsmouth and Tottenham Hotspur respectively, the top two sides in the First Division.^[2] Brentford's 15th-place finish led to a promotion-relegation test match with Grays United, in which the Second Division side forfeited promotion by refusing to play extra time while the score was at 1–1, which preserved the Bees' First Division status.^[1]

One club record was set during the season:

Least Southern League away wins in a season: 0^[3]

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Qualification
12	Queens Park Rangers	30	9	6	15	34	55	0.618	24
13	Watford	30	9	4	17	36	58	0.621	22
14	Wellingborough	30	9	3	18	34	72	0.472	21
15	Brentford	30	7	6	17	34	61	0.557	20	Relegation test matches
16	Swindon Town	30	2	3	25	17	92	0.185	7	Relegation test matches

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 First Division

No.	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorer(s)
1	7 September 1901	Swindon Town	A	0–0
2	14 September 1901	West Ham United	A	0–2
3	21 September 1901	Kettering	A	1–3	McLeod
4	28 September 1901	Luton Town	H	0–1
5	5 October 1901	Millwall Athletic	A	1–4	McSwan
6	12 October 1901	Queens Park Rangers	H	1–1	Turnbull
7	19 October 1901	Reading	A	0–2
8	26 October 1901	Southampton	A	0–1
9	9 November 1901	New Brompton	H	3–2	McElhaney, Shanks, Logan
10	30 November 1901	Wellingborough	A	1–3	Crump
11	7 December 1901	Wellingborough	H	3–0	Shanks, Andrews, McEleny
12	14 December 1901	Southampton	H	1–1	Regan
13	21 December 1901	Swindon Town	H	2–0	Stormont, Andrews
14	4 January 1902	Kettering	H	1–1	Shanks
15	11 January 1902	Luton Town	A	1–1	Regan
16	18 January 1902	Millwall Athletic	H	0–2
17	25 January 1902	Queens Park Rangers	A	2–3	Parkinson, Shanks
18	1 February 1902	Reading	H	0–1
19	15 February 1902	Bristol Rovers	H	2–0	Shanks, Jury
20	22 February 1902	New Brompton	A	0–2
21	1 March 1902	Northampton Town	H	4–2	Jury, Shanks, Grieve, Regan
22	3 March 1902	West Ham United	H	0–2
23	8 March 1902	Watford	A	1–2	Regan (pen)
24	15 March 1902	Tottenham Hotspur	H	2–1	Logan, Shanks
25	28 March 1902	Bristol Rovers	A	0–5
26	29 March 1902	Portsmouth	H	1–4	Andrews
27	1 April 1902	Northampton Town	A	2–2	Logan, Shanks
28	12 April 1902	Watford	H	4–3	Shanks, Logan, Andrews, Regan (pen)
29	19 April 1902	Portsmouth	A	1–7	Jury
30	26 April 1902	Tottenham Hotspur	A	0–3

Southern League Test Match

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorer	Notes
28 April 1902	Grays United	N	1–1	Andrews	^{[nb 1]}

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorer(s)
3QR	2 November 1901	Marlow	A	3–0	McLeod (pen), Broughton, McElhaney
4QR	23 November 1901	Shepherd's Bush	H	2–3	Shanks, Turnbull

Source: 100 Years of Brentford^[2]

Playing squad

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	ENG	Billy Green
—	GK	ENG	Tommy Spicer
—	DF	SCO	Harry Gilmour
—	DF	ENG	Alfred Mattocks
—	DF	SCO	Ralph McElhaney
—	DF	SCO	David Robson
—	DF	SCO	A. Wylie
—	MF	ENG	Harry Crump
—	MF	ENG	William Hainsworth
—	MF	EIR	Charlie McEleny
—	MF	ENG	Bill Regan
—	MF	SCO	Robert Stormont (c)
—	FW	ENG	E. Andrews


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	FW	ENG	Frederick Broughton
—	FW	SCO	Tom Grieve
—	FW	ENG	Harry Harris
—	FW	ENG	Horace Jury
—	FW	SCO	Paddy Logan
—	FW	SCO	Roddy McLeod
—	FW	SCO	Ranald McSwan
—	FW	ENG	John Parkinson
—	FW	EIR	Tommy Shanks
—	FW	ENG	Henry Spawton
—	FW	ENG	Henry Squires
—	FW	ENG	Joe Turner

Left club during season

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	ENG	Thomas Briddon (to Ilkeston Town)
—	FW	ENG	Francis Dexter (to Pinxton)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	FW	SCO	Peter Turnbull (to Barrow)

Source: 100 Years of Brentford,^[2] The Football Association^[4]

Coaching staff

Name	Role
Tom King	Trainer

Statistics

Appearances

Spicer

Gilmour

Robson

Regan

McEleny

Stormont (c)

Jury

Shanks

Grieve

Andrews

Logan

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

Goalscorers

Pos.	Player	SL1	FAC	TM	Total
FW	Tommy Shanks	9	2	0	11
HB	Bill Regan	5	0	0	5
FW	E. Andrews	4	0	1	5
FW	Paddy Logan	4	0	0	4
FW	Horace Jury	3	0	0	3
FW	Peter Turnbull	1	2	0	3
DF	Ralph McElhaney	1	1	0	2
FW	Roddy McLeod	1	1	0	2
HB	Harry Crump	1	0	0	1
FW	Tom Grieve	1	0	0	1
HB	Charlie McEleny	1	0	0	1
FW	Ranald McSwan	1	0	0	1
FW	John Parkinson	1	0	0	1
HB	Robert Stormont	1	0	0	1
Total		34	6	1	41

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	7 September 1901	28 April 1902	33	8	7	18	024.24	30	7	6	17	023.33

Summary

Games played	33 (30 Southern League First Division, 1 Southern League Test Match, 2 FA Cup)
Games won	8 (7 Southern League First Division, 0 Southern League Test Match, 1 FA Cup)
Games drawn	7 (6 Southern League First Division, 1 Southern League Test Match, 0 FA Cup)
Games lost	18 (17 Southern League First Division, 0 Southern League Test Match, 1 FA Cup)
Goals scored	40 (34 Southern League First Division, 1 Southern League Test Match, 5 FA Cup)
Goals conceded	65 (61 Southern League First Division, 1 Southern League Test Match, 3 FA Cup)
Clean sheets	5 (4 Southern League First Division, 0 Southern League Test Match, 1 FA Cup)
Biggest league win	3–0 versus Wellingborough, 7 December 1901
Worst league defeat	7–1 versus Portsmouth, 19 April 1902
Most appearances	29, Charlie McEleny (26 Southern League First Division, 1 Southern League Test Match, 2 FA Cup)
Top scorer (league)	9, Tommy Shanks
Top scorer (all competitions)	10, Tommy Shanks

Notes

^ Match played at Memorial Grounds, Canning Town. With the score at 1–1, Grays United forfeited promotion by refusing to play extra time.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f White, p. 76-78.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. p. 356. ISBN 0951526200.
^ Haynes, Graham (1998). A-Z Of Bees: Brentford Encyclopedia. Yore Publications. pp. 117–120. ISBN 1 874427 57 7.
^ "The Football Association – Season 1901–02 – Summary Of Professional Registrations". Sky is Blue – The Chesterfield FC history resource. Retrieved 1 January 2021.

[4] Match played at Memorial Grounds, Canning Town. With the score at 1–1, Grays United forfeited promotion by refusing to play extra time.

[White74-76-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f White, p. 76-78.

[White-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. p. 356. ISBN 0951526200.

[3] Haynes, Graham (1998). A-Z Of Bees: Brentford Encyclopedia. Yore Publications. pp. 117–120. ISBN 1 874427 57 7.

[5] "The Football Association – Season 1901–02 – Summary Of Professional Registrations". Sky is Blue – The Chesterfield FC history resource. Retrieved 1 January 2021.

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[2]

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[nb 1]

[4]

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