Brentford 1957–58 football season
During the 1957–58 English football season, Brentford competed in the Football League Third Division South . The Bees finished as runners-up to Brighton & Hove Albion and narrowly missed out on promotion to the Second Division .
Season summary
After the departure of Bill Dodgin Sr , Brentford recruited Kilmarnock manager Malky MacDonald for their vacant managerial position in May 1957. MacDonald was no stranger to Griffin Park , having spent just under three years as a player-coach with the Bees between 1946 and 1949. First on MacDonald's list of priorities was to ensure that Brentford finished in the top half of the Third Division South table, to avoid becoming founder members of the new Fourth Division in the following season . Ageing and injury-ravaged players Sid Tickridge , Wally Bragg and Frank Dudley were released, while Jeff Taylor , the club's second-leading scorer in each of the previous two seasons, elected to retire and pursue a career in opera . MacDonald brought in former Brentford player Fred Monk as trainer and made just one signing of note, full back Tom Wilson from Fulham , whom he named captain . Ken Horne , Ian Dargie and Johnny Rainford , three players who had seen their playing time reduced under previous manager Dodgin, would become regulars again under MacDonald during the season.[2]
After a mixed start to the season, an unbeaten run of six wins in eight matches in October and November elevated Brentford to 2nd place on 23 November 1957.[3] The run included a new club record of most consecutive clean sheets (9).[4] Forwards Jim Towers and George Francis were again in prolific form, having scored 24 of the Bees' 37 league goals at that point of the season.[2] Brentford failed to win another match in the league or FA Cup in 1957, but began 1958 strongly, beating Norwich City 7–1 at Griffin Park.[3] For the remainder of the season, Brentford clawed their way back to the higher reaches of the Third Division South table, winning six matches in a row in March and early April to move up to 4th.[3] A 1–0 defeat to Torquay United on 7 April put Brentford four points behind leaders Brighton & Hove Albion , with the Bees having played one game more. The damage of draws in the following two matches (versus Southampton and a showdown with Brighton & Hove Albion) was lessened by fellow challengers Plymouth Argyle , Swindon Town and Reading all dropping points.
The Bees, spurred on by six goals from Jim Towers, won their final three matches of the season versus Reading, Port Vale and leaders Brighton & Hove Albion.[3] The victory over Brighton put Brentford top on 58 points, ahead of Plymouth Argyle and Brighton on goal average, but Brighton could still win the title by virtue of their game in hand, which would come versus Watford two days later, whom they had beaten 1–0 at Vicarage Road two days before their match at Griffin Park.[5] Brighton emphatically beat Watford 6–0 in their final match to win promotion to the Second Division , but the manner of their victories over Watford raised concern and the referee of the first meeting between the sides wrote to the Football League outlining his suspicions. It wasn't until October 1960 that former Brighton & Hove Albion wing half Glen Wilson revealed to the Daily Mail that some of the Watford players had agreed to "lie down" in exchange for money.
League table
Pos
Team
Pld
Home
Away
F
A
GA
GD
Pts
W
D
L
F
A
W
D
L
F
A
1
Brighton & Hove Albion
46
13
6
4
52
30
11
6
6
36
34
88
64
1.375
+24
60
2
Brentford
46
15
5
3
52
24
9
5
9
30
32
82
56
1.464
+26
58
3
Plymouth Argyle
46
17
4
2
43
17
8
4
11
24
31
67
48
1.396
+19
58
4
Swindon Town
46
14
7
2
47
16
7
8
8
32
34
79
50
1.580
+29
57
5
Reading
46
14
5
4
52
23
7
8
8
27
28
79
51
1.549
+28
55
6
Southampton
46
16
3
4
78
31
6
7
10
34
41
112
72
1.556
+40
54
7
Southend United
46
14
5
4
56
26
7
7
9
34
32
90
58
1.552
+32
54
8
Norwich City
46
11
9
3
41
28
8
6
9
34
42
75
70
1.071
+5
53
9
Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic
46
16
5
2
54
24
5
4
14
27
50
81
74
1.095
+7
51
10
Queens Park Rangers
46
15
6
2
40
14
3
8
12
24
51
64
65
0.985
–1
50
11
Newport County
46
12
6
5
40
24
5
8
10
33
43
73
67
1.090
+4
48
12
Colchester United
46
13
5
5
45
27
4
8
11
32
52
77
79
0.975
–2
47
13
Northampton Town
46
13
1
9
60
33
6
5
12
27
46
87
79
1.101
+8
44
14
Crystal Palace
46
12
5
6
46
30
3
8
12
24
42
70
72
0.972
–2
43
15
Port Vale
46
12
6
5
49
24
4
4
15
18
34
67
58
1.155
+9
42
16
Watford
46
9
8
6
34
27
4
8
11
25
50
59
77
0.766
–28
42
17
Shrewsbury Town
46
10
6
7
29
25
5
4
14
20
46
49
71
0.690
–22
40
18
Aldershot
46
7
9
7
31
34
5
7
11
28
55
59
89
0.663
–30
40
19
Coventry City
46
10
9
4
41
24
3
4
16
20
57
61
81
0.753
–20
39
20
Walsall
46
10
7
6
37
24
4
2
17
24
51
61
75
0.813
–14
37
21
Torquay United
46
9
7
7
33
34
2
6
15
16
40
49
74
0.662
–25
35
22
Gillingham
46
12
5
6
33
24
1
4
18
19
57
52
81
0.642
–29
35
23
Millwall
46
6
6
11
37
36
5
3
15
26
55
63
91
0.692
–28
31
24
Exeter City
46
10
4
9
37
35
1
5
17
20
64
57
99
0.576
–42
31
P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GA = Goal average; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
Key
Division Champions, promoted
New club in the league (none)
Moved to 4th Division
Re-elected, moved to 4th Division
Failed re-election (none)
Results
Brentford's goal tally listed first.
Legend
No.
Date
Opponent
Venue
Result
Attendance
Scorer(s)
1
24 August 1957
Queens Park Rangers
A
0–1
15,734
2
27 August 1957
Exeter City
H
1–0
12,307
Simpson (og )
3
31 August 1957
Colchester United
H
3–3
12,732
Newcombe , Towers (2)
4
4 September 1957
Exeter City
A
5–3
8,498
Towers (2), Francis , Parsons (2)
5
7 September 1957
Norwich City
A
2–3
19,150
Francis (2)
6
10 September 1957
Northampton Town
H
7–1
10,697
Parsons , Rainford (2), Towers (2), Francis (2)
7
14 September 1957
Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic
H
4–2
13,733
Francis (3), Newcombe
8
16 September 1957
Northampton Town
A
1–3
4,528
Francis
9
21 September 1957
Walsall
A
2–0
10,775
Towers (2)
10
24 September 1957
Watford
A
1–4
7,031
Towers
11
28 September 1957
Coventry City
H
1–3
12,094
Caven
12
1 October 1957
Watford
H
0–0
10,447
13
5 October 1957
Shrewsbury Town
A
2–0
7,057
Francis , Heath
14
12 October 1957
Gillingham
H
1–0
12,488
Towers
15
19 October 1957
Millwall
A
1–0
16,293
Rainford
16
26 October 1957
Swindon Town
H
0–0
13,676
17
2 November 1957
Aldershot
A
2–0
7,133
Francis (2)
18
9 November 1957
Plymouth Argyle
H
2–0
15,594
Newcombe , Francis
19
23 November 1957
Newport County
H
2–1
13,603
Rainford , Towers
20
30 November 1957
Southampton
A
2–4
13,690
Towers , Francis
21
14 December 1957
Southend United
A
0–0
7,952
22
21 December 1957
Queens Park Rangers
H
1–1
12,804
Rutter (og )
23
25 December 1957
Crystal Palace
H
0–3
12,394
24
26 December 1957
Crystal Palace
A
1–2
16,797
Coote
25
28 December 1957
Colchester United
A
1–1
9,548
Francis
26
11 January 1958
Norwich City
H
7–1
11,850
Francis (2), Rainford (2), Parsons , Coote , Newcombe
27
18 January 1958
Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic
A
0–1
11,090
28
1 February 1958
Walsall
H
2–1
9,130
Rainford , Parsons (pen )
29
8 February 1958
Coventry City
A
0–0
9,391
30
15 February 1958
Shrewsbury Town
H
2–0
12,842
Francis , Parsons
31
22 February 1958
Gillingham
A
2–3
6,626
Parsons , Towers
32
1 March 1958
Millwall
H
4–1
12,919
Towers (3), Francis
33
8 March 1958
Swindon Town
A
1–4
12,755
Francis
34
11 March 1958
Reading
H
2–1
13,230
Towers (2)
35
15 March 1958
Aldershot
H
4–2
10,482
Heath (2), Towers (2)
36
22 March 1958
Newport County
A
2–1
5,621
Heath , Rainford
37
24 March 1958
Port Vale
A
1–0
5,149
Towers
38
29 March 1958
Southend United
H
4–2
12,890
Towers (2), Francis (2)
39
4 April 1958
Torquay United
A
1–0
8,216
Towers
40
5 April 1958
Plymouth Argyle
A
0–0
20,021
41
7 April 1958
Torquay United
H
0–1
15,680
42
12 April 1958
Southampton
H
0–0
11,663
43
19 April 1958
Brighton & Hove Albion
A
1–1
25,613
Heath
44
23 April 1958
Reading
A
2–1
12,852
Towers (2)
45
26 April 1958
Port Vale
H
4–1
11,923
Towers (3), Rainford
46
28 April 1958
Brighton & Hove Albion
H
1–0
25,744
Goundry
FA Cup
Round
Date
Opponent
Venue
Result
Attendance
1R
16 November 1957
Millwall
A
0–1
20,097
Playing squad
Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1957–58 season.
Coaching staff
Statistics
Appearances and goals
Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
Source: 100 Years Of Brentford[2]
Goalscorers
Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
Source: 100 Years Of Brentford[2]
Management
Name
Nat
From
To
Record All Comps
Record League
P
W
D
L
W %
P
W
D
L
W %
Malky MacDonald
24 August 1957
28 April 1958
47
24
10
13
0 51.06
46
24
10
12
0 52.17
Summary
Games played
47 (46 Third Division South , 1 FA Cup )
Games won
24 (24 Third Division South, 0 FA Cup)
Games drawn
10 (10 Third Division South, 0 FA Cup)
Games lost
13 (12 Third Division South, 1 FA Cup)
Goals scored
82 (82 Third Division South, 0 FA Cup)
Goals conceded
57 (56 Third Division South, 1 FA Cup)
Clean sheets
18 (18 Third Division South, 0 FA Cup)
Biggest league win
7–1 on two occasions
Worst league defeat
3–0 versus Crystal Palace , 25 December 1957; 4–1 on two occasions
Most appearances
47, Ian Dargie (46 Third Division South, 1 FA Cup)
Top scorer (league)
29, Jim Towers
Top scorer (all competitions)
29, Jim Towers
Transfers & loans
References
General Grounds Affiliated clubs Players Rivalries