1937–38 season of Brentford F.C.
Brentford 1937–38 football season
Brentford 1937–38 season Chairman Louis P. Simon Manager Harry Curtis Stadium Griffin Park First Division 6th FA Cup Sixth round Empire Exhibition Trophy Quarter-final Top goalscorer League: McCulloch (26) All: McCulloch (29) Highest home attendance 37,586 Lowest home attendance 14,609 Average home league attendance 23,335
During the 1937–38 English football season, Brentford competed in the Football League First Division . In the league, the Bees matched the previous season's finish of 6th and advanced to the 6th round of the FA Cup for the first time in club history. In 2013, the Brentford supporters voted 1937–38 as the club's second-best season.[1]
Season summary Left half Tally Sneddon joined Brentford prior to the beginning of the season. As in the past two off-seasons, Brentford manager Harry Curtis elected to bring in youngsters to supplement his squad, with left half Tally Sneddon and forwards George Eastham and Maurice Edelston being the only new outfield summer signings who would appear during the season. Two goalkeepers were signed to back up Jim Mathieson – Joe Crozier and Ted Gaskell .
Despite an opening-day defeat to Bolton Wanderers which left Brentford bottom of the First Division, the team rallied in mid-September 1937 and with forward David McCulloch in outstanding goalscoring form,[2] the Bees went on a six-match undefeated run which took them from 13th to the top of the table on 16 October.[3] With Bobby Reid and Billy Scott also supplementing McCulloch's goals up front,[2] Brentford remained unmoved from the top of the table between 30 September 1937 and 19 February 1938, only dropping back to 3rd position after a second defeat in three matches.[3] In the midst of the run, Brentford had advanced to the sixth round of the FA Cup for the first time in club history, exiting after a 3–0 defeat to Preston North End ,[3] which was played in front of a then-club record crowd of 37,586 at Griffin Park .[5]
Brentford won just four of the final 16 matches of the season and finished in 6th place,[3] matching the previous season's position.[6] The Bees took part in the one-off Empire Exhibition Trophy after the season, replacing Arsenal (who had dropped out of the competition), but fell at the first hurdle after being defeated 1–0 by Heart of Midlothian at Ibrox . In 2013, the Brentford supporters voted 1937–38 as the club's second-best season.[1]
League table
Source: World Football Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
Results Brentford's goal tally listed first. Legend No. Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorer(s) 1 28 August 1937 Bolton Wanderers A 0–2 31,572 2 1 September 1937 Preston North End H 2–1 21,228 W. Scott, Reid 3 4 September 1937 Huddersfield Town H 2–0 26,762 McCulloch , McKenzie 4 6 September 1937 Preston North End A 1–1 21,746 McCulloch 5 11 September 1937 Everton A 0–3 36,038 6 16 September 1937 Blackpool H 2–4 14,816 W. Scott, McCulloch 7 18 September 1937 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 2–1 28,945 McCulloch (2) 8 20 September 1937 Blackpool A 1–1 20,732 McCulloch 9 25 September 1937 Leicester City A 1–0 23,416 McCulloch 10 2 October 1937 Sunderland H 4–0 35,584 W. Scott, McCulloch (2), Reid 11 9 October 1937 Derby County A 3–1 19,621 McCulloch , Reid (2) 12 16 October 1937 Charlton Athletic H 5–2 34,861 McCulloch (4), Reid 13 23 October 1937 Chelsea A 1–2 56,810 Smith 14 30 October 1937 Portsmouth H 2–0 24,138 Holliday , W. Scott 15 6 November 1937 Liverpool A 4–3 30,492 Reid (3), McCulloch 16 13 November 1937 Middlesbrough H 3–3 25,682 W. Scott (2), Reid 17 20 November 1937 Grimsby Town A 1–0 13,206 McCulloch 18 27 November 1937 West Bromwich Albion H 0–2 16,702 19 4 December 1937 Stoke City A 0–3 11,970 20 11 December 1937 Leeds United H 1–1 18,184 McCulloch 21 18 December 1937 Birmingham A 0–0 22,531 22 25 December 1937 Manchester City A 2–0 37,478 McKenzie (pen), Reid 23 27 December 1937 Manchester City H 2–1 33,887 W. Scott, Reid 24 1 January 1938 Bolton Wanderers H 1–1 23,210 Reid 25 15 January 1938 Huddersfield Town A 3–0 11,969 Reid, Holliday , McCulloch 26 26 January 1938 Everton H 3–0 16,917 McCulloch , W. Scott, Hopkins 27 29 January 1938 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 1–2 35,989 McCulloch 28 5 February 1938 Leicester City H 1–1 21,309 McCulloch 29 16 February 1938 Sunderland A 0–1 18,970 30 19 February 1938 Derby County H 2–3 20,561 McKenzie (2 pens) 31 26 February 1938 Charlton Athletic A 0–1 35,572 32 9 March 1938 Chelsea H 1–1 20,401 Hopkins 33 12 March 1938 Portsmouth A 1–4 23,366 Reid 34 19 March 1938 Liverpool H 1–3 17,754 Hopkins 35 26 March 1938 Middlesbrough A 1–0 29,339 Hopkins 36 2 April 1938 Grimsby Town H 6–1 17,994 Edelston , McCulloch (2), Reid (2), McAloon 37 9 April 1938 West Bromwich Albion A 3–4 23,602 McCulloch (2), McAloon 38 15 April 1938 Arsenal A 2–0 51,299 McAloon , Hopkins 39 16 April 1938 Stoke City H 0–0 21,885 40 18 April 1938 Arsenal H 3–0 34,601 McCulloch , McAloon , Reid 41 23 April 1938 Leeds United A 0–4 17,840 42 30 April 1938 Birmingham H 1–2 14,609 McAloon
FA Cup Empire Exhibition Trophy Sources: Statto, 11v11, 100 Years of Brentford,[2] A-Z Of Bees,[5] London Hearts Playing squad Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1937–38 season. Sources: 100 Years of Brentford,[2] Timeless Bees,[8] Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939[9] Coaching staff Name Role Harry Curtis Manager Jimmy Bain Assistant Manager Bob Kane Trainer Jack Cartmell Assistant Trainer Fred Keatch Secretary
Statistics Appearances and goals Brentford's highest appearance-makers in each position during the Football League season.
Pos Nat Name League FA Cup Empire Exh. Trophy Total Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals GK Joe Crozier 35 0 4 0 1 0 40 0 GK James Mathieson 7 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 DF Arthur Bateman 31 0 4 0 1 0 36 0 DF Buster Brown 41 0 4 0 1 0 46 0 DF George Poyser 16 0 0 0 1 0 17 0 DF Joe Wilson 15 0 2 1 0 0 17 1 HB Joe James 35 0 4 0 1 0 40 0 HB Duncan McKenzie 31 4 2 0 0 0 33 4 HB Archie Scott 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 HB Tally Sneddon 39 0 4 0 1 0 44 0 FW George Eastham 38 0 1 0 1 0 40 0 FW Maurice Edelston 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 FW Jack Holliday 8 2 4 1 0 0 12 3 FW Idris Hopkins 31 5 3 0 1 0 35 5 FW Gerry McAloon 7 5 0 0 1 0 8 5 FW David McCulloch 41 26 3 3 1 0 45 29 FW Bobby Reid 40 17 4 1 1 0 45 18 FW Billy Scott 29 8 4 0 0 0 33 8 FW Les Smith 15 1 1 0 0 0 16 1
Players listed in italics left the club mid-season. Source: 100 Years of Brentford[2] Goalscorers Players listed in italics left the club mid-season. Source: 100 Years of Brentford[2] International caps Full Amateur Management Name Nat From To Record All Comps Record League P W D L W % P W D L W % Harry Curtis 28 August 1937 30 April 1938 47 21 9 17 0 44.68 42 18 9 15 0 42.86
Summary Games played 47 (42 First Division , 4 FA Cup , 1 Empire Exhibition Trophy ) Games won 21 (18 First Division, 3 FA Cup, 0 Empire Exhibition Trophy) Games drawn 9 (9 First Division, 0 FA Cup, 0 Empire Exhibition Trophy) Games lost 17 (15 First Division, 1 FA Cup, 1 Empire Exhibition Trophy) Goals scored 76 (69 First Division, 7 FA Cup, 0 Empire Exhibition Trophy) Goals conceded 65 (59 First Division, 5 FA Cup, 1 Empire Exhibition Trophy) Clean sheets 14 (13 First Division, 1 FA Cup, 0 Empire Exhibition Trophy) Biggest league win 6–1 versus Grimsby Town , 2 April 1938 Worst league defeat 4–0 versus Leeds United , 23 April 1938 Most appearances 46, Buster Brown (41 First Division, 4 FA Cup, 1 Empire Exhibition Trophy) Top scorer (league) 26, David McCulloch Top scorer (all competitions) 29, David McCulloch
Transfers & loans Cricketers are not included in this list. Notes References ^ a b "Brentford". Football League 125 . Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2016 . ^ a b c d e f White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford . Brentford FC. p. 374. ISBN 0951526200 . ^ a b c d "Brentford results for the 1937–1938 season". Statto.com . Archived from the original on 14 August 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2016 . ^ a b Haynes, Graham (1998). A-Z Of Bees: Brentford Encyclopedia . Harefield, Middlesex: Yore Publications. p. 15. ISBN 1 874427 57 7 . ^ "Brentford results for the 1936–1937 season". Statto.com . Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2016 . ^ Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006 . Yore Publications. ISBN 978-0955294914 . ^ Joyce, Michael (2012). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939 . Nottingham: Tony Brown. ISBN 190589161X . ^ "Duncan McKenzie". 11v11.com . Retrieved 23 May 2016 . ^ "Dai Hopkins". 11v11.com . Retrieved 23 May 2016 . ^ "David McCulloch". 11v11.com . Retrieved 23 May 2016 . ^ "Robert Reid". 11v11.com . Retrieved 23 May 2016 . ^ "England Matches – The Amateurs 1906–1939". www.englandfootballonline.com . Retrieved 30 October 2016 . ^ a b c d e f Litster, John. Record of Pre-War Scottish League Players . Norwich: PM Publications. ^ "George Eastham". Barry Hugman's Footballers . Retrieved 9 June 2016 . ^ "Len Townsend". Barry Hugman's Footballers . Retrieved 9 June 2016 . ^ Brentford Football Supporters And Social Club Official Handbook – 1949–50 . 1949. p. 30. ^ "Maurice Edelston". Barry Hugman's Footballers . Retrieved 9 June 2016 . ^ a b Brentford Football Club Handbook – 1937–38 . 1937. p. 35.