1913–14 Brentford F.C. season

Brentford
1913–14 season
Chairman	H. Jason-Saunders
Manager	Dusty Rhodes
Stadium	Griffin Park
Southern League Second Division	3rd
FA Cup	Fifth qualifying round
Top goalscorer	League: Simons (19); All: Simons (19)
Highest home attendance	13,000
Lowest home attendance	2,000
	Home colours
	Home colours
	← 1912–13 1914–15 →

During the 1913–14 English football season, Brentford competed in the Southern League Second Division. Despite winning 13 of 15 matches in the first half of the season, a loss of form in a five-week spell from February through to April 1914 ended the club's chances of an immediate return to First Division.

Season summary

Future England international forward Jack Cock briefly played for Brentford towards the end of the season.

Brentford player-manager Dusty Rhodes faced a tough task ahead in the Bees' first season back in the Southern League Second Division since 1900–01, with the club's debt having risen to £5,000 (equivalent to £621,500 in 2024) and the prospect of high expenses and reduced gate receipts from away matches due to 11 of the league's 16 clubs being located in Wales.^[1] As a result, the Southern League Management Committee paid a £100 subsidy to each of the five English clubs in the league.^[1] Of the previous season's professional players, only goalkeeper Ted Price, full backs Tommy Fells and Walter Spratt, centre half Frank Bentley and outside left Patsy Hendren were retained.^[1] Bill Smith, Frederick Chapple and Bob McTavish were sold for small fees, while left half Phil Richards elected to retire.^[1] In came half backs Tom McGovern, Bobby Jackson and forwards Charlie Elliott, Henry Simons, Joe Johnson and Tommy Clark.^[1] England international amateur right half Alec Barclay remained with the club and amateur forwards Henry White and Jack Chapman were added to the ranks.^[1]

As the season got underway, Brentford feasted on poor Welsh opposition, winning 13 of the first 15 matches of the season, scoring 49 goals and conceding just three.^[2] Treharris and Ton Pentre were each beaten 7–0 at Griffin Park and the Bees also posted 5–0, 4–0 and 3–0 scorelines, each on two occasions.^[2] The rot slowly set in after a 1–0 home defeat to 2nd-place Croydon Common on Christmas Day 1913 and injuries and the absence of some of the club's amateurs lead to defeats to fellow challengers Luton Town in February 1914,^[1] Stoke later that month and a galling 1–0 reverse to Ton Pentre on 21 March.^[2] Defeat to Newport County at home on 4 April ended Brentford's mathematical chances of a runners-up finish and later that month, with the club unable to pay its players in full, leading scorer Henry Simons and future England international Jack Cock were sold to raise funds.^[1] Brentford finished the campaign in 4th-place and lost £127 for the season (equivalent to £15,400 in 2024).^[2]

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Promotion
1	Croydon Common	30	23	5	2	76	14	5.429	51	Promoted to Division One
2	Luton Town	30	24	3	3	92	22	4.182	51	Promoted to Division One
3	Brentford	30	20	4	6	80	18	4.444	44
4	Swansea Town	30	20	4	6	66	25	2.640	44
5	Stoke	30	19	2	9	71	34	2.088	40

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 Second Division

No.	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorer(s)
1	13 September 1913	Treharris	A	3–1	Chapman, McGovern, Simons
2	20 September 1913	Caerphilly	H	5–0	Simons (2), Johnson, Hendren (2)
3	4 October 1913	Ton Pentre	H	7–0	Chapman (3), Hendren, Clark, Johnson, Jackson
4	11 October 1913	Abertillery	A	1–0	Clark
5	18 October 1913	Swansea Town	H	3–1	Clark, Johnson, Barclay
6	25 October 1913	Barry	H	5–0	Johnson (3), Simons (2)
7	7 November 1913	Mardy	H	4–0	Simons, Johnson (3)
8	6 December 1913	Llanelly	A	3–0	Chapman (2), Jackson
9	20 December 1913	Barry	A	4–0	Kent, Simons, Chapman, Elliott
10	25 December 1913	Croydon Common	H	0–1
11	26 December 1913	Treharris	H	7–0	Simons (4), Chapman (2), Johnson
12	27 December 1913	Newport County	H	3–0	Simons (2), Chapman
13	17 January 1914	Stoke	H	2–0	Chapman (2)
14	29 January 1914	Mid Rhondda	A	0–0
15	31 January 1914	Pontypridd	H	2–0	Simons, Johnson
16	7 February 1914	Luton Town	A	1–3	Hendren (pen)
17	14 February 1914	Llanelly	H	2–0	Chapman (2)
18	21 February 1914	Pontypridd	A	0–0
19	23 February 1914	Mardy	A	2–0	Johnson, Simons
20	28 February 1914	Stoke	A	1–2	Simons
21	14 March 1914	Mid Rhondda	H	3–1	Farnfield, Simons, Barclay
22	21 March 1914	Ton Pentre	A	0–1
23	23 March 1914	Aberdare	A	6–3	Johnson (3), Simons, Hendren, Elliott
24	28 March 1914	Abertillery	H	5–0	McGovern, Chapman (2), Barclay, Cock
25	4 April 1914	Newport County	A	2–3	Jackson, Simons
26	10 April 1914	Aberdare	H	4–0	Sloley (3), Chapman
27	11 April 1914	Luton Town	H	0–0
28	13 April 1914	Croydon Common	A	0–1
29	18 April 1914	Swansea Town	A	0–0
30	20 April 1914	Caerphilly	A	5–1	Meehan, White (2), Johnson, Kent

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorer
QR4	29 November 1913	Luton Clarence	H	1–0	Johnson
QR5	13 December 1913	Southend United	H	1–1	Chapman
QR5 (replay)	17 December 1913	Southend United	A	0–2

Source: 100 Years Of Brentford^[2]

Playing squad

Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1913–14 season.

Pos.	Name	Date of birth (age)	Signed from	Signed in	Notes
Goalkeepers
GK	Ted Price	(1883-06-13)13 June 1883 (aged 30)	Croydon Common	1912
Defenders
DF	Tommy Fells	(1890-01-08)8 January 1890 (aged 22)	South Kirkby	1913
DF	Dusty Rhodes (c)	(1882-08-16)16 August 1882 (aged 31)	Sunderland	1908
DF	Walter Spratt	(1889-04-14)14 April 1889 (aged 24)	Rotherham Town	1911
Midfielders
HB	Alec Barclay	(1885-11-01)1 November 1885 (aged 27)	Ilford	1910	Amateur
HB	Frank Bentley	(1886-10-09)9 October 1886 (aged 26)	Tottenham Hotspur	1912
HB	Bobby Jackson	(1887-02-09)9 February 1887 (aged 26)	Portsmouth	1913
HB	Tom McGovern	(1888-11-11)11 November 1888 (aged 24)	Halifax Town	1913
Forwards
FW	Billy Brawn	(1878-08-01)1 August 1878 (aged 35)	Chelsea	1911
FW	Jack Chapman	(1895-04-29)29 April 1895 (aged 18)	Southall	1913	Amateur
FW	Tommy Clark	n/a	Middlesbrough	1913
FW	Charlie Elliott	(1886-09-28)28 September 1886 (aged 26)	Millwall	1913
FW	Herbert Farnfield	(1883-08-05)5 August 1883 (aged 30)	New Crusaders	1914	Amateur
FW	Patsy Hendren	(1889-02-05)5 February 1889 (aged 24)	Coventry City	1911	Played when his cricket commitments allowed
FW	Joe Johnson	(1882-12-12)12 December 1882 (aged 30)	Clapton Orient	1913
FW	Tommy Kent	(1888-09-10)10 September 1888 (aged 25)	Slough Town	1913	Amateur
FW	John Meehan	1896 (aged 16–17)	Newton	1914
FW	Richard Sloley	(1891-08-20)20 August 1891 (aged 22)	Cambridge University	1914	Amateur
FW	Henry White	(1895-08-08)8 August 1895 (aged 18)	Whamcliffe Athletic	1914	Amateur
Players who left the club mid-season
FW	Jack Cock	(1893-11-14)14 November 1893 (aged 19)	Old Kingstonians	1914	Transferred to Huddersfield Town
FW	Henry Simons	(1887-11-26)26 November 1887 (aged 25)	Merthyr Town	1913	Transferred to Fulham

Sources: 100 Years Of Brentford,^[2] Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939^[3]

Coaching staff

Name	Role
Dusty Rhodes	Manager
Fred Halliday	Secretary
Tom Cowper	Trainer

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Price

Rhodes (c)

Spratt

Bentley

Barclay

Jackson

Johnson

Simons

Elliott

Hendren

Chapman

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

Pos	Nat	Name	League		FA Cup		Total
Pos	Nat	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK		Ted Price	30	0	3	0	33	0
DF		Tommy Fells	7	0	0	0	7	0
DF		Dusty Rhodes	23	0	3	0	26	0
DF		Walter Spratt	30	0	3	0	33	0
HB		Alec Barclay	17	3	3	0	20	3
HB		Frank Bentley	28	0	3	0	31	0
HB		Bobby Jackson	24	3	3	0	27	3
HB		Tom McGovern	20	2	0	0	20	2
FW		Billy Brawn	1	0	—		1	0
FW		Jack Chapman	25	16	3	1	28	17
FW		Tommy Clark	4	3	0	0	4	3
FW		Jack Cock	3	1	—		3	1
FW		Charlie Elliott	17	2	3	0	20	2
FW		Herbert Farnfield	1	1	0	0	1	1
FW		Patsy Hendren	28	5	3	0	31	5
FW		Joe Johnson	28	15	3	1	31	16
FW		Tommy Kent	14	2	—		14	2
FW		John Meehan	1	1	—		1	1
FW		Henry Simons	25	19	3	0	28	19
FW		Richard Sloley	2	3	—		2	3
FW		Henry White	2	2	0	0	2	2

Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
Source: 100 Years Of Brentford^[2]

Goalscorers

Pos.	Player	SL2	FAC	Total
FW	Henry Simons	19	0	19
FW	Jack Chapman	16	1	17
FW	Joe Johnson	15	1	16
FW	Patsy Hendren	5	0	5
HB	Alec Barclay	3	0	3
FW	Tommy Clark	3	0	3
HB	Bobby Jackson	3	0	3
FW	Richard Sloley	3	0	3
FW	Tommy Kent	2	—	2
FW	Charlie Elliott	2	0	2
HB	Tom McGovern	2	0	2
FW	Henry White	2	0	2
FW	Jack Cock	1	—	1
FW	John Meehan	1	—	1
FW	Herbert Farnfield	1	0	1
Total		80	2	82

Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
Source: 100 Years Of Brentford^[2]

Amateur international caps

Pos.	Nat	Player	Caps	Goals	Ref
HB		Alec Barclay	2	0	^[4]

Management

Name	Nat	From	To	Record All Comps					Record League
Name	Nat	From	To	P	W	D	L	W %	P	W	D	L	W %
Dusty Rhodes		13 September 1913	20 April 1914	33	21	5	7	063.64	30	20	4	6	066.67

Summary

Games played	33 (30 Southern League Second Division, 3 FA Cup)
Games won	21 (20 Southern League Second Division, 1 FA Cup)
Games drawn	5 (4 Southern League Second Division, 1 FA Cup)
Games lost	7 (6 Southern League Second Division, 1 FA Cup)
Goals scored	82 (80 Southern League Second Division, 2 FA Cup)
Goals conceded	21 (18 Southern League Second Division, 3 FA Cup)
Clean sheets	20 (19 Southern League Second Division, 1 FA Cup)
Biggest league win	7–0 on two occasions
Worst league defeat	3–1 versus Luton Town, 7 February 1914
Most appearances	33, Ted Price, Walter Spratt (30 Southern League Second Division, 3 FA Cup)
Top scorer (league)	19, Henry Simons
Top scorer (all competitions)	19, Henry Simons

Transfers & loans

Players transferred in
Date	Pos.	Name	Previous Club	Fee	Ref.
18 June 1913	FW	Joe Johnson	Clapton Orient	n/a	^[1]
23 June 1913	HB	Bobby Jackson	Portsmouth	n/a	^[1]
23 June 1913	FW	Bob Mitchell	Barnsley	n/a	^[5]
31 June 1913	FW	Henry Simons	Merthyr Town	n/a	^[1]
18 August 1913	FW	Bob Browning	Southampton	n/a	^[1]
21 August 1913	FW	Charlie Elliott	Millwall	n/a	^[1]
28 August 1913	FW	Tommy Clark	Middlesbrough	n/a	^[1]
3 September 1913	HB	James Ramsay	Aberdare	n/a	^[6]
17 September 1913	HB	Tom McGovern	Halifax Town	n/a	^[1]
9 September 1913	GK	Billy Biggar	Rochdale	n/a	^[5]
September 1913	HB	Alf Amos	Old Kingstonians	Amateur	^[7]
September 1913	FW	George Littler	King's Royal Rifle Corps	Amateur	^[7]
27 December 1913	FW	Thomas Graham	Allerton Bywater Colliery	n/a	^[5]
December 1913	FW	Tommy Kent	Slough Town	Amateur	^[1]
1913	FW	Jack Chapman	Southall	Amateur	^[1]
1913	FW	James Holland	Luton Town	n/a	^[8]
1913	FW	Alfred Rosier	Southall	n/a	^[9]
1913	FB	Bertie Rosier	Southall	n/a	^[9]
1913	FW	Henry White	Whamcliffe Athletic	Amateur	^[1]
February 1914	FW	Herbert Farnfield	n/a	Amateur	^[1]
February 1914	FW	John Meehan	Newton	n/a	^[1]
March 1914	FW	Jack Cock	Old Kingstonians	Amateur	^[1]
April 1914	FW	Richard Sloley	Cambridge University	Amateur	^[1]
Players transferred out
Date	Pos.	Name	Subsequent club	Fee	Ref.
23 July 1913	FW	Bob McTavish	Third Lanark	Nominal	^[10]
24 September 1913	FW	Bob Mitchell	Distillery	n/a	^[5]
1913	FW	Frederick Chapple	Bristol City	Nominal	^[1]
1913	FW	Bill Smith	Southampton	Nominal	^[1]
April 1914	FW	Jack Cock	Huddersfield Town	Nominal	^[1]
April 1914	FW	Henry Simons	Fulham	n/a	^[1]
Players released
Date	Pos.	Name	Subsequent club	Join date	Ref.
July 1913	HB	Phil Richards	Retired		^[1]
February 1914	FW	Herbert Farnfield	n/a	n/a	^[1]
April 1914	HB	Frank Bentley	Retired		^[1]
April 1914	GK	Billy Biggar	Rochdale	24 June 1914	^[11]
April 1914	FW	Billy Brawn	Retired		^[12]
April 1914	FW	Jack Chapman	Southall	n/a	^[1]
April 1914	FW	Tommy Clark	n/a	n/a	^[1]
April 1914	FW	Charlie Elliott	Leyton	1 September 1914	^[11]
April 1914	FB	Tommy Fells	South Kirkby	13 May 1914	^[11]
April 1914	FW	John Meehan	n/a	n/a	^[1]
April 1914	FW	Bob Browning	Queens Park Rangers	May 1914	^[13]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af White 1989, p. 101-103.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. p. 362. ISBN 0951526200.
^ Joyce, Michael (2012). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: Tony Brown. ISBN 190589161X.
^ "England Matches – The Amateurs 1906–1939". www.englandfootballonline.com. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "The Football Association – Season 1913–14 – Summary Of Professional Registrations". Sky is Blue – The Chesterfield FC history resource. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
^ "James Ramsay" (PDF). Croydon Common Football Club. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
^ ^a ^b "Southern Snapshots". The Athletic News. 15 September 1913.
^ "James Holland". Hatters Heritage. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
^ ^a ^b Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Yore Publications. p. 137. ISBN 978-0955294914.
^ Litster, John. Record of Pre-War Scottish League Players. Norwich: PM Publications.
^ ^a ^b ^c "The Football Association – Season 1914–15 – Summary Of Professional Registrations". Sky is Blue – The Chesterfield FC history resource. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
^ White 1989, p. 99-101.
^ "Seasonal Stats – 1914–15". QPRnet. Retrieved 8 May 2018.