1991–92 Brentford F.C. season

Brentford

1991–92 season
Chairman	Martin Lange
Manager	Phil Holder
Stadium	Griffin Park
Third Division	1st (promoted)
FA Cup	Second round
League Cup	Third round
Football League Trophy	First round
Top goalscorer	League: Holdsworth (24) All: Holdsworth (38)
Highest home attendance	12,071
Lowest home attendance	4,586
Average home league attendance	7,156
← 1990–91 1992–93 →

During the 1991–92 English football season, Brentford competed in the Football League Third Division. The club finished the season as champions to seal second-tier football for the first time since 1953–54.

Season summary

After defeat to Tranmere Rovers in the 1991 Third Division play-offs, Brentford manager Phil Holder made just one addition to his squad prior to the beginning of the 1991–92 season - £60,000 defender Billy Manuel from Gillingham.^[1] Two wins from the opening two league matches of the season put Brentford in the automatic promotion places, but three successive defeats dropped the club back to 16th by early September 1991.^[2] Aided by on-fire forward Dean Holdsworth, the Bees won 13, drew three and lost three of the following 19 matches, losing just once in the league.^[1] Having reached the top spot in the Third Division after a 4–0 victory over Wigan Athletic on 9 November, the club stayed at the summit until 8 February 1992, when a fifth defeat in 9 matches dropped the club back to third.^[2]

Brentford vied with Birmingham City and Stoke City in the automatic promotion places between mid-February and mid-March, but four successive defeats and two draws dropped the Bees back to 4th.^[2] Six wins in the final six matches of the season (which included a 4–0 victory over West London rivals Fulham at Griffin Park) saw Brentford claim the Third Division championship on the final day, after a Gary Blissett goal was enough to beat Peterborough United at London Road.^[1] Dean Holdsworth's 24 league goals tied him with Huddersfield Town's Iwan Roberts as the top scorer in the Third Division and Holdsworth's total of 38 in all competitions saw him equal Jack Holliday's club record,^[3] set during the 1932–33 season when Brentford were previously promoted out of the Third Division.^[4][5]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	Home					Away					F	A	GD	Pts	Notes
			W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A
1	Brentford	46	17	2	4	55	29	8	5	10	26	26	81	55	+26	82
2	Birmingham City	46	15	6	2	42	22	8	6	9	27	30	69	52	+17	81
3	Huddersfield Town	46	15	4	4	36	15	7	8	8	23	23	59	38	+21	78
4	Stoke City	46	14	5	4	45	24	7	9	7	24	25	69	59	+10	77
5	Stockport County	46	15	5	3	47	19	7	5	11	28	32	75	49	+26	76
6	Peterborough United	46	13	7	3	38	20	7	7	9	27	38	65	58	+13	74	[notes3 1]
7	West Bromwich Albion	46	12	6	5	45	25	7	8	8	19	24	64	49	+15	71
8	Bournemouth	46	13	4	6	33	18	7	7	9	19	30	52	48	+4	71
9	Fulham	46	11	7	5	29	16	8	6	9	28	37	57	53	+4	70
10	Leyton Orient	46	12	7	4	36	18	6	4	13	26	34	62	52	+10	65
11	Hartlepool United	46	12	5	6	30	21	6	6	11	27	36	57	57	0	65
12	Reading	46	9	8	6	33	27	7	5	11	26	35	59	62	−3	61
13	Bolton Wanderers	46	10	9	4	26	19	4	8	11	31	37	57	56	+1	59
14	Hull City	46	9	4	10	28	23	7	7	9	26	31	54	54	0	59
15	Wigan Athletic	46	11	6	6	33	21	4	8	11	25	43	58	64	−6	59
16	Bradford City	46	8	10	5	36	30	5	9	9	26	31	62	61	+1	58
17	Preston North End	46	12	7	4	42	32	3	5	15	19	40	61	72	−11	57
18	Chester City	46	10	6	7	34	29	4	8	11	22	30	56	59	−3	56
19	Swansea City	46	10	9	4	35	24	4	5	14	20	41	55	65	−10	56
20	Exeter City	46	11	7	5	34	25	3	4	16	23	55	57	80	−23	53
21	Bury	46	8	7	8	31	31	5	5	13	24	43	55	74	−19	51
22	Shrewsbury Town	46	7	7	9	30	31	5	4	14	23	37	53	68	−15	47
23	Torquay United	46	13	3	7	29	19	0	5	18	13	49	42	68	−26	47
24	Darlington	46	5	5	13	31	39	5	2	16	25	51	56	90	−34	37

• Pld = Matches ; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

1. Peterborough United won the play-offs and were promoted.

Key
	Division Champions, promoted
	Promoted
	Participated in play-offs
	Promoted through play-offs
	Relegated

Results

Brentford's goal tally listed first.

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League Second Division

No.	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorer(s)
1	17 August 1991	Leyton Orient	H	4–3	6,156	Holdsworth (3), Evans
2	24 August 1991	Exeter City	A	2–1	3,518	Gayle, Blissett
3	31 August 1991	Huddersfield Town	H	2–3	5,459	Jones, Godfrey
4	3 September 1991	Hartlepool United	A	0–1	3,660
5	7 September 1991	Shrewsbury Town	A	0–1	3,139
6	14 September 1991	Reading	H	1–0	5,775	Cadette
7	17 September 1991	Hull City	H	4–1	4,586	Evans, Smilie, og, Holdsworth
8	21 September 1991	Darlington	A	2–1	3,900	Smilie, Holdsworth
9	28 September 1991	Bolton Wanderers	H	3–2	5,658	Holdsworth (2), Gayle
10	5 October 1991	Fulham	A	1–0	7,710	Evans
11	12 October 1991	Peterborough United	H	2–1	7,705	Evans, Smilie
12	19 October 1991	West Bromwich Albion	H	1–2	8,575	Gayle
13	26 October 1991	Bury	A	3–0	2,280	Holdsworth (2), Gayle
14	2 November 1991	Bradford City	A	1–0	5,359	Smilie
15	6 November 1991	Birmingham City	H	2–2	8,798	Smilie, Blissett
16	9 November 1991	Wigan Athletic	H	4–0	6,675	Blissett (2), Holdsworth (2)
17	22 November 1991	Bournemouth	A	0–0	4,764
18	30 November 1991	Swansea City	H	3–2	6,669	Holdsworth, Ratcliffe, Blissett
19	14 December 1991	Torquay United	A	1–1	2,475	Godfrey
20	22 December 1991	Exeter City	H	3–0	7,226	Blissett (2), Gayle
21	26 December 1991	Huddersfield Town	A	1–2	10,605	Blissett (pen)
22	28 December 1991	Leyton Orient	A	2–4	7,333	Luscombe (2)
23	1 January 1992	Hartlepool United	H	1–0	7,102	Holdsworth
24	4 January 1992	Stockport County	A	1–2	4,421	og
25	11 January 1992	Stoke City	H	2–0	9,004	Luscombe, Holdsworth
26	18 January 1992	Chester City	A	1–1	1,447	Booker
27	25 January 1992	Preston North End	H	1–0	7,559	Evans
28	1 February 1992	West Bromwich Albion	A	0–2	15,984
29	8 February 1992	Bury	H	0–3	6,789
30	11 February 1992	Swansea City	A	1–1	3,582	Millen
31	15 February 1992	Torquay United	H	3–2	6,079	Booker, Blissett, Bates
32	22 February 1992	Stoke City	A	1–2	16,417	Blissett
33	29 February 1992	Stockport County	H	2–1	7,484	Smilie, Holdsworth
34	3 March 1992	Chester City	H	2–0	6,869	Blissett, Holdsworth (pen)
35	7 March 1992	Preston North End	A	2–3	3,548	Smilie, Buckle
36	10 March 1992	Birmingham City	A	0–1	13,290
37	14 March 1992	Bradford City	H	3–4	6,791	Evans, Blissett, Holdsworth
38	20 March 1992	Wigan Athletic	A	1–2	2,371	Holdsworth
39	29 March 1992	Bournemouth	H	2–2	7,605	Godfrey, Blissett
40	1 April 1992	Reading	A	0–0	5,660
41	4 April 1992	Shrewsbury Town	H	2–0	5,561	Holdsworth, Evans
42	11 April 1992	Hull City	A	3–0	3,770	Holdsworth (2), Blissett
43	17 April 1992	Darlington	H	4–1	8,383	Holdsworth (2), Blissett, og
44	20 April 1992	Bolton Wanderers	A	2–1	4,382	Evans, og
45	26 April 1992	Fulham	H	4–0	12,071	Holdsworth, Gayle, Blissett, Ratcliffe
46	2 May 1992	Peterborough United	A	1–0	14,539	Blissett

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorer(s)
R1	18 November 1991	Gillingham	H	3–3	5,830	Holdsworth (2), Blissett
R1 (replay)	26 November 1991	Gillingham	A	3–1	7,328	Holdsworth (2), Sealy
R2	7 December 1991	Bournemouth	A	1–2	6,538	Bates

League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorer(s)
R1 (1st leg)	20 August 1991	Barnet	A	5–5	2,416	Cadette (2), Godfrey, Holdsworth (2)
R1 (2nd leg)	27 August 1991	Barnet	H	3–1 (won 8–6 on aggregate)	5,583	Holdsworth, Godfrey, Evans
R2 (1st leg)	24 September 1991	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	4–1	4,927	Godfrey, Cadette, Holdsworth (2)
R2 (2nd leg)	9 October 1991	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	2–4 (a.e.t, won 6–5 on aggregate)	4,502	Cadette, Holdsworth
R3	30 October 1991	Norwich City	A	1–4	7,394	Manuel

Football League Trophy

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorer(s)
PR	22 October 1991	Aldershot	A	2–0	1,348	Sealy (2)
PR	17 December 1991	Barnet	H	3–6	1,871	Luscombe, Holdsworth (2)
SR1	21 January 1992	Leyton Orient	A	2–3	1,861	Holdsworth (2)

• Source: Statto, 11v11, The Big Brentford Book Of The Nineties^[6]

Playing squad

Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1991–92 season.

Pos.	Name	Nat.	Date of birth (age)	Signed from	Signed in	Notes
Goalkeepers
GK	Ashley Bayes		19 April 1972 (aged 19)	Trainee	1990
GK	Graham Benstead		20 August 1963 (aged 27)	Sheffield United	1990
Defenders
DF	Jamie Bates		24 February 1968 (aged 23)	Trainee	1986
DF	Terry Evans (c)		12 April 1965 (aged 26)	Hillingdon	1985
DF	Chris Hughton		11 December 1958 (aged 32)	West Ham United	1992	Coach
DF	Billy Manuel		28 June 1969 (aged 22)	Gillingham	1991
DF	Keith Millen		26 September 1966 (aged 24)	Crystal Palace	1983
DF	Tim O'Shea		12 November 1966 (aged 24)	Gillingham	1992
DF	Brian Statham		21 May 1969 (aged 22)	Tottenham Hotspur	1992	Loaned from Tottenham Hotspur before transferring permanently
Midfielders
MF	Bob Booker		25 January 1958 (aged 33)	Sheffield United	1991
MF	Paul Buckle		16 December 1970 (aged 20)	Trainee	1989
MF	Andy Driscoll		21 October 1971 (aged 19)	West Ham United	1988	Loaned to Staines Town
MF	Tony Finnigan		17 October 1962 (aged 28)	Swindon Town	1991
MF	Kevin Godfrey		24 February 1960 (aged 31)	Leyton Orient	1988
MF	Detzi Kruszyński		14 October 1960 (aged 30)	Wimbledon	1992	On loan from Wimbledon
MF	Robbie Peters		18 May 1971 (aged 20)	Trainee	1989
MF	Simon Ratcliffe		8 February 1967 (aged 24)	Norwich City	1989
MF	Wilf Rostron		29 September 1956 (aged 34)	Sheffield United	1991	Assistant manager
MF	Neil Smilie		19 July 1958 (aged 33)	Reading	1988
Forwards
FW	Gary Blissett		29 June 1964 (aged 27)	Crewe Alexandra	1987
FW	Marcus Gayle		27 September 1970 (aged 20)	Trainee	1988
FW	Dean Holdsworth		8 November 1968 (aged 22)	Watford	1989
FW	Lee Luscombe		16 July 1971 (aged 20)	Southampton	1991
FW	Simon Line		1 November 1971 (aged 19)	Crystal Palace	1991
FW	Tony Sealy		7 May 1959 (aged 32)	MYPA	1991
Players who left the club mid-season
GK	Perry Suckling		12 October 1965 (aged 25)	Crystal Palace	1991	Returned to Crystal Palace after loan
MF	Keith Jones		14 October 1965 (aged 25)	Chelsea	1987	Transferred to Southend United
FW	Richard Cadette		21 March 1965 (aged 26)	Sheffield United	1988	Transferred to Falkirk

• Source: The Big Brentford Book Of The Nineties^[7]

Coaching staff

Name	Role
Phil Holder	Manager
Wilf Rostron	Assistant Manager
Graham Pearce	Coach
Chris Hughton	Coach
Roy Clare	Physiotherapist

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Substitute appearances in brackets.

Pos	Nat	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		FL Trophy		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK		Ashley Bayes	1	0	2	0	3	0	0	0	6	0
GK		Graham Benstead	37	0	1	0	2	0	2	0	42	0
DF		Jamie Bates	41 (1)	1	3	1	5	0	2	0	51 (1)	2
DF		Terry Evans	44	8	3	0	5	1	2	0	54	9
DF		Chris Hughton	12	0	—		—		—		12	0
DF		Billy Manuel	27 (8)	0	3	0	5	1	2	0	37 (8)	1
DF		Keith Millen	34	1	3	0	2	0	2	0	41	1
DF		Brian Statham	18	0	—		—		—		18	0
MF		Bob Booker	14 (2)	2	—		—		—		14 (2)	2
MF		Paul Buckle	8 (7)	1	1 (1)	0	2 (1)	0	2 (1)	0	13 (10)	1
MF		Andy Driscoll	0 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0 (1)	0
MF		Tony Finnigan	3	0	—		—		1	0	4	0
MF		Kevin Godfrey	26 (5)	3	2 (1)	0	5	3	2	0	35 (6)	6
MF		Keith Jones	6	1	—		3	0	—		9	1
MF		Robbie Peters	1 (8)	0	0	0	1 (2)	0	1 (1)	0	3 (11)	0
MF		Simon Ratcliffe	31 (3)	2	3	0	3	0	2 (1)	0	39 (4)	2
MF		Wilf Rostron	15 (3)	0	0	0	2 (1)	0	1	0	18 (4)	0
MF		Neil Smilie	44	7	3	0	5	0	3	0	55	7
FW		Gary Blissett	31 (6)	17	3	1	2 (2)	0	3	0	39 (8)	18
FW		Richard Cadette	10 (1)	1	—		3	4	—		13 (1)	5
FW		Marcus Gayle	28 (10)	6	1 (1)	0	3 (1)	0	2 (1)	0	34 (13)	6
FW		Dean Holdsworth	40 (1)	24	3	4	4 (1)	6	2 (1)	4	49 (3)	38
FW		Simon Line	0	0	0	0	0 (1)	0	0	0	0 (1)	0
FW		Lee Luscombe	10 (3)	3	—		—		2	1	12 (3)	4
FW		Tony Sealy	9 (9)	0	2 (1)	1	—		1	2	12 (10)	0
Players loaned in during the season
GK		Perry Suckling	8	0	—		—		1	0	9	0
MF		Detzi Kruszyński	8	0	—		—		—		8	0

• Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
• Source: The Big Brentford Book Of The Nineties^[8]

Goalscorers

Pos.	Nat	Player	FL3	FAC	FLC	FLT	Total
FW		Dean Holdsworth	24	4	6	4	38
FW		Gary Blissett	17	1	0	0	18
DF		Terry Evans	8	0	1	0	9
MF		Neil Smilie	7	0	0	0	7
FW		Marcus Gayle	6	0	0	0	6
MF		Kevin Godfrey	3	0	3	0	6
FW		Richard Cadette	1	—	4	—	5
FW		Lee Luscombe	3	—	—	1	4
MF		Bob Booker	2	—	—	—	3
MF		Simon Ratcliffe	2	0	0	0	2
DF		Jamie Bates	1	1	0	0	2
MF		Paul Buckle	1	0	0	0	1
MF		Keith Jones	1	—	0	—	1
DF		Keith Millen	1	0	0	0	1
DF		Billy Manuel	0	0	1	0	1
Opponents			4	0	0	0	4
Total			81	7	15	7	110

• Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
• Source: The Big Brentford Book Of The Nineties^[8]

Management

Name	Nat	From	To	Record All Comps					Record League
				P	W	D	L	W %	P	W	D	L	W %
Phil Holder		14 August 1993	7 May 1994	57	29	9	19	50.88|	46	25	7	14	54.35

Summary

Games played	57 (46 Third Division, 3 FA Cup, 5 League Cup, 3 Football League Trophy)
Games won	29 (25 Third Division, 1 FA Cup, 2 League Cup, 1 Football League Trophy)
Games drawn	9 (7 Third Division, 1 FA Cup, 1 League Cup, 0 Football League Trophy)
Games lost	19 (14 Third Division, 1 FA Cup, 2 League Cup, 2 Football League Trophy)
Goals scored	110 (81 Third Division, 7 FA Cup, 15 League Cup, 7 Football League Trophy)
Goals conceded	85 (55 Third Division, 6 FA Cup, 15 League Cup, 9 Football League Trophy)
Clean sheets	12 (15 Third Division, 0 FA Cup, 0 League Cup, 1 Football League Trophy)
Biggest league win	4–0 on 2 occasions
Worst league defeat	3–0 versus Bury, 8 February 1992
Most appearances	54, Terry Evans (44 Third Division, 3 FA Cup, 5 League Cup, 2 Football League Trophy)
Top scorer (league)	24, Dean Holdsworth
Top scorer (all competitions)	38, Dean Holdsworth

Transfers & loans

Players transferred in
Date	Pos.	Name	Previous Club	Fee	Ref.
14 June 1991	DF	Billy Manuel	Gillingham	£60,000	[9]
October 1991	FW	Lee Luscombe	Southampton	£15,000	[10]
October 1991	FW	Tony Sealy	MYPA	Free	[10]
November 1991	MF	Bob Booker	Sheffield United	Free	[10]
January 1992	MF	Tony Finnigan	Swindon Town	Free	[11]
28 February 1992	DF	Brian Statham	Tottenham Hotspur	£70,000	[11]
February 1992	DF	Chris Hughton	West Ham United	Free	[11]
March 1992	DF	Tim O'Shea	Gillingham	Non-contract	[12]
Players loaned in
Date from	Pos.	Name	From	Date to	Ref.
11 October 1991	GK	Perry Suckling	Crystal Palace	November 1991	[10]
16 January 1992	DF	Brian Statham	Tottenham Hotspur	16 February 1992	[11]
March 1992	MF	Detzi Kruszyński	Wimbledon	End of season	[12]
Players transferred out
Date	Pos.	Name	Subsequent club	Fee	Ref.
1 July 1991	DF	Jason Cousins	Wycombe Wanderers	Free	[9]
21 October 1991	MF	Keith Jones	Southend United	£175,000	[13]
9 January 1992	FW	Richard Cadette	Falkirk	£50,000	[11]
Players loaned out
Date from	Pos.	Name	To	Date to	Ref.
November 1991	MF	Andy Driscoll	Staines Town	December 1991	[14]
Players released
Date	Pos.	Name	Subsequent club	Join date	Ref.
30 June 1992	MF	Andy Driscoll	Yeading	1992	[15]
30 June 1992	MF	Tony Finnigan	Ernest Borel	1992	[16]
30 June 1992	FW	Simon Line	Retired		[15]
30 June 1992	DF	Tim O'Shea	Hong Kong Rangers	1992	[15]
30 June 1992	FW	Tony Sealy	Michelotti	1992	[15]

Awards

• Supporters' Player of the Year: Keith Millen^[17]
• Football League Third Division PFA Team of the Year: Terry Evans, Dean Holdsworth^[18]
• Football League Third Division Manager of the Month: Phil Holder (November 1991, April 1992)^[14]

References

1. Croxford, Mark; Lane, David; Waterman, Greville (2013). The Big Brentford Book Of The Nineties. Sunbury, Middlesex: Legends Publishing. p. 50. ISBN 9781906796723.
2. Ltd, Statto Organisation. "Brentford results for the 1991-1992 season - Statto.com". Statto.com. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
3. "English League Leading Goalscorers". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
4. Haynes & Coumbe 2006, p. 79.
5. Ltd, Statto Organisation. "Brentford Complete History - Statto.com". Statto.com. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
6. Croxford, Lane, Waterman 2013, p. 52-72.
7. Croxford, Lane, Waterman 2013, p. 479.
8. Croxford, Lane, Waterman 2013, p. 477.
9. Croxford, Lane, Waterman 2013, p. 82.
10. Croxford, Lane, Waterman 2013, p. 83.
11. Croxford, Lane, Waterman 2013, p. 86.
12. Croxford, Lane, Waterman 2013, p. 87.
13. "Premier and Football League transfers". www.11v11.com. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
14. Croxford, Lane, Waterman 2013, p. 85.
15. Croxford, Lane, Waterman 2013, p. 89.
16. Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920-2006. Harefield: Yore Publications. p. 57. ISBN 0955294916.
17. Croxford, Lane, Waterman 2013, p. 445.
18. Croxford, Lane, Waterman 2013, p. 88.