1897–98 Brentford F.C. season

Brentford
1897–98 season
Chairman	Bill Stephenson
Stadium	Shotter's Field
London League First Division	2nd
FA Cup	Second qualifying round
London Senior Cup	Winners
Middlesex Senior Cup	Winners
Top goalscorer	League: Field (11); All: Field (26)
	← 1896–97 1898–99 →

During the 1897–98 English football season, Brentford competed in the London League First Division. A hugely successful season saw the Bees win the London Senior Cup, the Middlesex Senior Cup and finish as runners-up in the league.

Season summary

After winning promotion from the London League Second Division at the first attempt, the Brentford committee bolstered the team's firepower for its first season in the First Division by signing forwards Thomas Knapman, John Richardson and Ernest Booth.^[1] Goalkeeper Jack Foster, then one of the club's highest appearance-makers, elected to retire from football and Arthur Charlton, one of the club's first great players,^[2] moved to Nottingham and was succeeded as captain by Herbert Edney – though Charlton would return to play for Brentford sporadically through the season.^[1]

Brentford obliterated all opposition throughout the season, with the goals of forward Oakey Field providing the firepower to help the club win the London Senior Cup and the Middlesex Senior Cup.^[1] The pileup of London League fixtures meant that the Bees had to close the season with seven matches in just over three weeks, which included two matches in one day on 16 April.^[3] Brentford went into the final day of the season knowing that a victory over strugglers Barking Woodville would seal the league title, but the best the jaded team could manage was a 0–0 draw, which allowed Thames Ironworks, who won their final match, to finish the season as champions.^[1]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Promotion
1	Thames Ironworks	16	12	3	1	47	15	3.133	27	Elected to the 1898–99 Southern League Second Division
2	Brentford	16	12	2	2	43	17	2.529	26	Elected to the 1898–99 Southern League Second Division
3	Leyton	16	8	4	4	41	33	1.242	20	Left league at end of season
4	3rd Grenadier Guards	16	7	3	6	34	33	1.030	17
5	Ilford	16	5	7	4	33	25	1.320	17
6	Stanley	16	5	4	7	22	22	1.000	14
7	Barking Woodville	16	2	6	8	16	37	0.432	10
8	Bromley	16	4	2	10	20	49	0.408	10	Transferred to Kent League at end of season
9	2nd Grenadier Guards	16	0	3	13	17	42	0.405	3	Left league at end of season

Source: 100 Years of Brentford^[3]

Results

Brentford's goal tally listed first.

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

London League First Division

No.	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorer(s)	Notes
1	11 September 1897	Thames Ironworks	A	0–1
2	18 September 1897	2nd Grenadier Guards	H	4–2	Untraced, Dailley, Wade, Field
3	9 October 1897	Ilford	A	2–2	Dailley, Field
4	6 November 1897	Stanley	A	1–0	Booth
5	4 December 1897	Barking Woodville	A	2–1	Untraced
6	11 December 1897	Bromley	A	1–0	Booth
7	8 January 1898	Leyton	H	8–4	Dailley, Field (6), Booth
8	15 January 1898	3rd Grenadier Guards	A	5–1	Dailley, Field (3), Knapman
9	10 March 1898	2nd Grenadier Guards	A	2–1	Wade (2)	^{[nb 1]}
10	7 April 1898	Bromley	H	9–1	Untraced
11	9 April 1898	Stanley	H	1–0	Knapman
12	16 April 1898	Leyton	A	1–2	Knapman
13	16 April 1898	Ilford	H	2–1	Fox, Butcher
14	23 April 1898	Thames Ironworks	H	1–0	Lloyd
15	27 April 1898	3rd Grenadier Guards	H	4–1	Booth (2), Richardson, Butcher
16	30 April 1898	Barking Woodville	H	0–0

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorer(s)
1QR	25 September 1897	1st Coldstream Guards	H	6–1	Wade (3), Knapman, Field, untraced
2QR	16 October 1897	3rd Grenadier Guards	H	1–1	Swann (pen)
2QR (replay)	20 October 1897	3rd Grenadier Guards	A	1–4	Richardson

London Senior Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorer(s)	Notes
1R	22 January 1898	Stanley	H	4–2	Field (3), Dailley
2R	19 February 1898	Clapton	H	4–1	Dailley, Earle (og), Field, Swann (pen)
SF	12 March 1898	Casuals	N	4–3	Field (3), Knapman	^{[nb 2]}
F	2 April 1898	Ilford	N	5–1	Lloyd (2), Field (2), Booth	^{[nb 2]}

Middlesex Senior Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorer(s)	Notes
1R	29 January 1898	1st Scots Guards	H	4–2	Field (2), Booth, Knapman
2R	26 February 1898	2nd Grenadier Guards	H	0–0
2R (replay)	5 March 1898	2nd Grenadier Guards	H	3–1	Newman (2), Booth
SF	19 March 1898	3rd Grenadier Guards	N	4–1	Field (2), Booth, Richardson	^{[nb 3]}
F	28 April 1898	2nd Scots Guards	N	3–2 (a.e.t.)	Field, Charlton, Knapman	^{[nb 4]}

Source: 100 Years of Brentford^[3]

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	Charles Gillett
—	GK	ENG	Harry Pennington
—	DF		G. Collings
—	DF	ENG	Alfred Lugg
—	DF	ENG	J. Reed
—	DF	ENG	Percy Swann
—	DF	ENG	Archie Williams
—	DF	ENG	Harry Williams
—	MF	ENG	"A. Bee"
—	MF		Blunt
—	MF	SCO	Arthur Charlton
—	MF	ENG	Herbert Edney (c)
—	MF	ENG	W. Harrison
—	MF	ENG	George Haslen
—	MF	ENG	Alfred Mattocks
—	MF	ENG	"A. Newman"


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	ENG	G. Pearce
—	MF	ENG	Billy Smith
—	MF	ENG	W. Walker
—	MF	ENG	Arthur Yeoman
—	FW	ENG	Ernest Booth
—	FW	ENG	Fred Butcher
—	FW	ENG	C. Fox
—	FW	ENG	Richard Dailley
—	FW	ENG	Oakey Field
—	FW	ENG	Harold Hudson
—	FW	ENG	Thomas Knapman
—	FW	ENG	David Lloyd
—	FW	ENG	John Richardson
—	FW	SCO	James Rough
—	FW	ENG	Billy Steers
—	FW		J. Wade

"A. Bee" and "A. Newman" are aliases
Source: 100 Years of Brentford^[3]

Statistics

Management

Name	From	To	Record All Comps					Record League
Name	From	To	P	W	D	L	W %	P	W	D	L	W %
Committee	11 September 1897	30 April 1898	28	21	4	3	075.00	16	12	2	2	075.00

Summary

Games played	28 (16 London League First Division, 3 FA Cup, 4 London Senior Cup, 5 Middlesex Senior Cup)
Games won	21 (12 London League First Division, 1 FA Cup, 4 London Senior Cup, 4 Middlesex Senior Cup)
Games drawn	4 (2 London League First Division, 1 FA Cup, 0 London Senior Cup, 1 Middlesex Senior Cup)
Games lost	3 (2 London League First Division, 1 FA Cup, 0 London Senior Cup, 0 Middlesex Senior Cup)
Goals scored	82 (43 London League First Division, 8 FA Cup, 17 London Senior Cup, 14 Middlesex Senior Cup)
Goals conceded	36 (17 London League First Division, 6 FA Cup, 7 London Senior Cup, 6 Middlesex Senior Cup)
Clean sheets	6 (5 London League First Division, 0 FA Cup, 0 London Senior Cup, 1 Middlesex Senior Cup)
Biggest league win	9–1 versus Bromley, 7 April 1898
Worst league defeat	1–0 versus Thames Ironworks, 11 September 1897; 2–1 versus Leyton, 16 April 1898
Most appearances (where traced)	25, Richard Dailley (13 London League First Division, 3 FA Cup, 4 London Senior Cup, 5 Middlesex Senior Cup)
Top scorer (league, where traced)	11, Oakey Field
Top scorer (all competitions, where traced)	26, Oakey Field

Notes

^ Match played at Shotter's Field, Brentford.
^ ^a ^b Match played at Essex County Ground, Leyton.
^ Match played at Gunnersbury Lane, Acton.
^ Match played at National Athletic Grounds, Kensal Rise.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d White, p. 68-70.
^ Wickham, Chris. "Brentford FC treasure trove". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. p. 354. ISBN 0951526200.

[4] Match played at Shotter's Field, Brentford.

[:0-5] Match played at Essex County Ground, Leyton.

[6] Match played at Gunnersbury Lane, Acton.

[7] Match played at National Athletic Grounds, Kensal Rise.

[White68-70-1] White, p. 68-70.

[2] Wickham, Chris. "Brentford FC treasure trove". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 26 February 2017.

[White-3] White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. p. 354. ISBN 0951526200.

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