1975–76 season of Brentford F.C.
Brentford 1975–76 football season
Brentford 1975–76 season Chairman Dan Tana Manager John Docherty Stadium Griffin Park Fourth Division 18th FA Cup Third round League Cup Second round Top goalscorer League: Cross (14) All: Cross (16) Highest home attendance 12,452 Lowest home attendance 3,453 Average home league attendance 5,096
During the 1975–76 English football season , Brentford competed in the Football League Fourth Division . A poor middle third of the season led to an 18th-place finish, just three points above the re-election zone.
Season summary Forward Andrew McCulloch joined Brentford for a club-record £25,000 fee in March 1976. Despite a strong finish to the previous campaign , only one incoming transfer (veteran goalkeeper Bill Glazier for £4,000) did not raise the belief around Griffin Park that Brentford would challenge for promotion from the Fourth Division during the 1975–76 season.[1] Instead, manager John Docherty made up the numbers with members of the club's youth team ,[1] with teenagers Gordon Sweetzer , Danis Salman , Paul Walker and Graham Cox all joining the club.[2]
Brentford had a strong start to the season, winning three and drawing three of the first six league matches of the season and advancing to the second round of the League Cup , where the run was brought to an end at Old Trafford by Manchester United .[3] With goalkeeper Bill Glazier quitting the club after just 12 appearances,[4] Brentford would tread water in the lower reaches of mid-table throughout the season, in which a run to the third round of the FA Cup became the focus.[1] Having reached that stage of the competition for the first time since the 1970–71 season,[1] the Bees took Second Division club Bolton Wanderers to a replay before losing 2–0 at Burnden Park .[3] A slight upturn in form towards the end of the season was inspired by the signing of Oxford United forward Andrew McCulloch for a club record £25,000 fee.[4]
Two club records were set during the season:
Youngest Football League debutant: Danis Salman, 15 years, 8 months, 3 days (versus Watford , 15 November 1975)[5] Lowest away Football League attendance: 894 versus Rochdale , 27 March 1976[5] League table
Source: [citation needed ]
Results Brentford's goal tally listed first. Legend Pre-season and friendlies Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorer(s) 2 August 1975 Oxford United H 1–5 1,420 Lawrence 4 August 1975 Walton A 0–0 n/a 6 August 1975 Portsmouth H 0–1 955 7 August 1975 Hayes A 2–1 n/a Graham , Bartlett 9 August 1975 Aldershot H 1–1 1,490 Cross 11 August 1975 Bexley A 5–0 n/a Cross (2), Simmons, French , untraced (og ) 29 April 1976 Hillingdon Borough A 4–2 513 Scales, Lawrence, Sweetzer , Poole 3 May 1976 Hounslow A 3–1 n/a Russell, Malcolm, Sweetzer
No. Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorer(s) 1 16 August 1975 Bradford City A 1–1 2,385 Johnson 2 23 August 1975 Hartlepool H 1–1 4,948 Cross 3 30 August 1975 Torquay United A 3–2 3,179 Cross, Allen, Graham 4 6 September 1975 Barnsley H 1–0 5,605 Cross 5 15 September 1975 Doncaster Rovers A 1–1 6,353 Johnson 6 20 September 1975 Stockport County H 2–1 6,282 Simmons, Riddick 7 24 September 1975 Bournemouth A 0–3 4,113 8 27 September 1975 Huddersfield Town A 1–2 4,160 Sweetzer 9 4 October 1975 Newport County H 1–3 5,678 Graham 10 11 October 1975 Lincoln City A 1–3 6,312 Graham 11 18 October 1975 Southport H 1–0 4,515 Johnson 12 21 October 1975 Northampton Town A 1–3 6,225 Scales 13 25 October 1975 Cambridge United A 1–2 2,596 French 14 1 November 1975 Scunthorpe United H 5–2 4,227 French , Johnson, Cross (2), Graham 15 3 November 1975 Workington H 4–0 5,379 French , Sweetzer , Johnson (pen), Cross 16 7 November 1975 Tranmere Rovers A 1–5 4,326 Cross 17 15 November 1975 Watford H 1–0 6,934 Scales 18 29 November 1975 Crewe Alexandra A 0–1 2,248 19 6 December 1975 Rochdale H 3–0 4,853 Johnson (pen), Cross, Riddick 20 20 December 1975 Darlington H 3–0 4,193 Sweetzer (2), Cross 21 26 December 1975 Exeter City A 0–0 4,912 22 27 December 1975 Reading H 2–2 10,612 Johnson, Scales 23 10 January 1976 Torquay United H 1–1 5,687 Johnson 24 16 January 1976 Stockport County A 0–2 2,267 25 24 January 1976 Doncaster Rovers H 0–1 4,885 26 31 January 1976 Northampton Town H 2–1 4,114 Johnson (pen), Cross 27 7 February 1976 Workington A 1–1 1,231 French 28 14 February 1976 Tranmere Rovers H 0–1 4,725 29 21 February 1976 Watford A 2–3 6,223 Bristow (og ), Sweetzer 30 23 February 1976 Bournemouth H 1–2 4,585 Graham 31 28 February 1976 Cambridge United H 0–0 4,095 32 6 March 1976 Scunthorpe United A 1–2 3,377 Sharp 33 8 March 1976 Newport County A 0–1 1,150 34 13 March 1976 Lincoln City H 1–0 5,386 Cross 35 16 March 1976 Southport A 0–2 1,506 36 20 March 1976 Crewe Alexandra H 0–0 3,851 37 27 March 1976 Rochdale A 2–1 894 McCulloch, French 38 29 March 1976 Darlington A 0–2 1,758 39 3 April 1976 Bradford City H 2–2 3,453 McCulloch, Cross 40 5 April 1976 Huddersfield Town H 0–0 4,413 41 10 April 1976 Barnsley A 1–1 3,877 Cross 42 16 April 1976 Swansea City H 1–0 4,623 Johnson 43 17 April 1976 Exeter City H 5–1 4,175 Bence , French (2), McCulloch, Cross 44 19 April 1976 Reading A 0–1 12,972 45 24 April 1976 Hartlepool A 0–1 1,276 46 26 April 1976 Swansea City A 2–2 1,480 French , Johnson
FA Cup Sources: 100 Years of Brentford,[6] The Big Brentford Book of the Seventies,[7] [8] Statto Playing squad Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1975–76 season. Sources: The Big Brentford Book of the Seventies,[9] Timeless Bees[10] Coaching staff Name Role John Docherty Manager Eddie Lyons Trainer Bob Pearson Chief Scout
Statistics Appearances and goals Substitute appearances in brackets. Pos Nat Name League FA Cup League Cup Total Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals GK Bill Glazier 19 0 — 3 0 12 0 GK Paul Priddy 34 0 4 0 — 38 0 DF Michael Allen 45 1 4 0 3 0 52 1 DF Paul Bence 46 1 4 0 3 0 53 1 DF Keith Lawrence 35 0 4 0 3 1 42 1 DF Alan Nelmes 28 (1) 0 3 (1) 0 3 0 34 (2) 0 DF Gordon Riddick 23 (3) 2 1 (1) 0 0 (1) 0 24 (5) 2 DF Tom Sharp 2 (10) 1 — — 2 (10) 1 DF Nigel Smith 37 0 4 0 3 0 44 0 MF Jackie Graham 38 5 4 0 3 0 45 5 MF Terry Johnson 46 11 4 2 3 1 53 14 MF Danis Salman 3 (3) 0 0 0 0 0 3 (3) 0 MF Terry Scales 43 3 4 0 3 0 50 3 FW Roger Cross 37 14 3 0 2 (1) 2 42 (1) 16 FW Micky French 27 (4) 8 1 (1) 0 2 0 30 (5) 8 FW Andrew McCulloch 13 3 — — 13 3 FW Richard Poole 2 (5) 0 0 0 0 0 2 (5) 0 FW Dave Simmons 10 1 — 2 (1) 0 12 (1) 1 FW Gordon Sweetzer 25 (2) 5 4 2 0 0 29 (2) 7 Players loaned in during the season GK Graham Horn 3 0 — — 3 0
Players listed in italics left the club mid-season. Source: 100 Years of Brentford[6] Goalscorers Pos. Nat Player FL4 FAC FLC Total FW Roger Cross 14 0 2 16 MF Terry Johnson 11 2 1 14 FW Micky French 8 0 0 8 FW Gordon Sweetzer 5 2 0 7 MF Jackie Graham 5 0 0 5 FW Andrew McCulloch 3 — — 3 MF Terry Scales 3 0 0 3 DF Gordon Riddick 2 0 0 2 DF Tom Sharp 1 — — 1 FW Dave Simmons 1 0 — 1 DF Michael Allen 1 0 0 1 DF Paul Bence 1 0 0 1 DF Keith Lawrence 0 0 1 1 Opponents 1 0 0 1 Total 56 4 4 64
Players listed in italics left the club mid-season. Source: 100 Years of Brentford[6] Management Name Nat From To Record All Comps Record League P W D L W % P W D L W % John Docherty 16 August 1975 26 April 1976 53 17 15 21 0 32.08 46 14 13 19 0 30.43
Summary Games played 53 (46 Fourth Division , 4 FA Cup , 3 League Cup ) Games won 17 (14 Fourth Division, 2 FA Cup, 1 League Cup) Games drawn 15 (13 Fourth Division, 1 FA Cup, 1 League Cup) Games lost 21 (19 Fourth Division, 1 FA Cup, 1 League Cup) Goals scored 64 (56 Fourth Division, 4 FA Cup, 4 League Cup) Goals conceded 67 (60 Fourth Division, 3 FA Cup, 4 League Cup) Clean sheets 14 (12 Fourth Division, 2 FA Cup, 0 League Cup) Biggest league win 4–0 versus Workington , 3 November 1975 Worst league defeat 5–1 versus Tranmere Rovers , 7 November 1975 Most appearances 53, Paul Bence , Terry Johnson (46 Fourth Division, 4 FA Cup, 3 League Cup) Top scorer (league) 14, Roger Cross Top scorer (all competitions) 16, Roger Cross
Transfers & loans Awards References ^ a b c d e f White, p. 298-300. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Croxford, Lane & Waterman, p. 128-130. ^ a b "Brentford results for the 1975–1976 season". Statto.com . Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2017 . ^ a b Croxford, Lane & Waterman, p. 114. ^ a b "Celebrating 4,000 EFL Games: 1920–2016" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 April 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2016 . ^ a b c White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford . Brentford FC. p. 393. ISBN 0951526200 . ^ Croxford, Lane & Waterman, p. 116-126. ^ Croxford, Lane & Waterman, p. 308. ^ Croxford, Mark; Lane, David; Waterman, Greville (2011). The Big Brentford Book of the Seventies . Sunbury, Middlesex: Legends Publishing. ISBN 978-1906796709 . ^ Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006 . Yore Publications. ISBN 978-0955294914 . ^ a b "Player: Lawrence McGettigan". Watford Football Club Archive . Retrieved 16 February 2024 . ^ a b Croxford, Lane & Waterman, p. 295.
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