During the 1901–02 English football season,

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

competed in the Southern League First Division. After a torrid season, the Bees were spared relegation after

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club Grays United forfeited promotion at the end of the campaign.

Season summary

Despite having won election to the Southern League First Division in July 1901, the

committee did not rest on its laurels and quickly realised that the team which finished top of the Second Division during the previous season needed drastic improvement if the club was to retain its First Division status.White, p. 76-78. Almost a whole new XI was signed, which included

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Tommy Spicer, full back David Robson, half backs Bill Regan, Robert Stormont, Charlie McEleny and three new forwards. Half back

Ralph McElhaney Ralph McElhaney (17 March 1874 – 5 December 1930) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a forward and half back in the Scottish League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professio ...

and forwards E. Andrews,

Roddy McLeod Roderick McLeod (12 February 1872 – 20 December 1931) was a Scottish professional footballer who was part of the West Bromwich Albion team which won the FA Cup in 1892 and was a losing finalist in 1895. Playing career West Bromwich Albion McL ...

and Peter Turnbull, all lynchpins of the promotion team, would play a part in the upcoming season. In late August, the club was registered as a

limited liability company A limited liability company (LLC for short) is the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of a ...

. Brentford began the season in poor form and it took the signings of forwards

Tommy Shanks Thomas Shanks (30 March 1880 – 1 March 1919) was an Irish footballer. Career Shanks was born in Wexford and started his playing career with local club Wexford before moving to England to play for Derby West End and then Derby County in 1898. ...

, Paddy Logan and

Tom Grieve Thomas Alan Grieve (born March 4, 1948) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball from 1970 to 1979 for the Washington Senators / Texas Rangers, New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals. He was nicknam ...

to inspire the team to its first league victory of the campaign on 9 November 1901. The result inspired three wins and three draws from a seven-match spell through to January 1902, but the team soon regained the habit of losing. Despite the loss of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Robert Stormont due to an FA

suspension Suspension or suspended may refer to: Science and engineering * Suspension (topology), in mathematics * Suspension (dynamical systems), in mathematics * Suspension of a ring, in mathematics * Suspension (chemistry), small solid particles suspend ...

and injury problems in February, Brentford struggled on until mid-April and with two matches to go, were level on points with fellow promotion-relegation test match contenders

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

, New Brompton and

Wellingborough Wellingborough ( ) is a large market and commuter town in the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, 65 miles from London and from Northampton on the north side of the River Nen ...

near the bottom of the First Division. The Bees closed out the season with 7–1 and 3–0 defeats to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

and

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

respectively, the top two sides in the First Division. Brentford's 15th-place finish led to a promotion-relegation test match with Grays United, in which the Second Division side forfeited promotion by refusing to play

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

while the score was at 1–1, which preserved the Bees' First Division status. One club record was set during the season: * Least Southern League away wins in a season: 0

League table

Results

:''Brentford's goal tally listed first.''

Legend

Southern League First Division

Southern League Test Match

FA Cup

* Source: 100 Years of Brentford

Playing squad

Left club during season

* Source: 100 Years of Brentford, The Football Association

Coaching staff

Statistics

Appearances

Goalscorers

*Players listed in ''italics'' left the club mid-season. *Source: 100 Years Of Brentford