During the 1978–79 English football season, Brentford competed in the Football League Third Division. After a rude awakening to third-tier football, the Bees ended the season strongly to finish in 10th position.
Fears that Brentford's largely-unchanged squad would be out of its depth in the Third Division were heightened after the season began with a 7–1 aggregate defeat to fellow third-tier side Watford in the first round of the League Cup.[3] A dire start to the league season, which had seen Brentford sink into the relegation places by the end of September 1978,[4] led manager Bill Dodgin Jr. to act in the transfer market.[3] Potentially club-record breaking bids for Watford's Alan Mayes, Queens Park Rangers' Tony Hazell and Bristol City's John Bain were all rejected, but Dodgin did manage to sign defenderJim McNichol and forward Dean Smith, with McNichol's transfer from Luton Town setting a new club-record incoming fee of £30,000.[3] While McNichol would instantly impress and go on to be voted the Supporters' Player of the Year,[5] Smith (who had been signed to support the misfiring Steve Phillips and Andrew McCulloch) would only score sporadically during the rest of the season.[6]
Between late-October 1978 and mid-March 1979, the Bees stabilised with a run of just two defeats in 17 league matches.[4] The run ended with the club's biggest win of the season – a 6–0 thrashing of Chester at Griffin Park, with Steve Phillips scoring a hattrick to boost his tally to six goals in four matches.[6] A failure to win any of the following four matches dropped the Bees back to 18th position, but a strong run of 9 wins in 12 matches to close out the season elevated the club to a 10th-place finish.[4]
^Croxford, Mark; Lane, David; Waterman, Greville (2011). The Big Brentford Book of the Seventies. Sunbury, Middlesex: Legends Publishing. ISBN978-1906796709.
^Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Yore Publications. ISBN978-0955294914.