During the 1934–35 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

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

. The Bees led the division for much of the second half of the season and were promoted as champions to the First Division for the first time in the club's history. Brentford also won the

London Challenge Cup The London Challenge Cup was a football tournament formerly organised by the London FA. It was first contested in 1908, and other than during the World Wars, was contested every season until 1974, when the tournament was disbanded. After a 16-ye ...

for the first time.

Season summary

manager Harry Curtis made two big-money signings during the 1934 off-season –

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

George Poyser George Henry Poyser (6 February 1910 – 30 January 1995) was an English football player and manager. A defender, he enjoyed a lengthy playing career, the tail end of which was interrupted by World War II. He played for Wolverhampton Wandere ...

from

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

for a club record £1,550 fee (equivalent to £ in ) and

centre half In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Archie Scott from

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

for £1,000.

Jim Brown James Nathaniel Brown (born February 17, 1936) is a former American football player, sports analyst and actor. He played as a fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1957 through 1965. Considered to be one ...

was signed from

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

outside right Forwards (also known as attackers) are Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring Goal (sport)#Association footbal ...

cover for

Idris Hopkins Idris Morgan Hopkins (11 October 1910 – 9 October 1994) was a Welsh footballer famed for his talented right foot. He played for many clubs throughout his career, but most famously Brentford where he captained them in the English First Divisi ...

and new first-choice

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 ...

James Mathieson James Adamson Mathieson (10 May 1904 – 13 April 1950) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper in the Football League for Middlesbrough and Brentford. He made over 500 professional appearances in the English and Scot ...

was signed on a free transfer from

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

. After two years on the fringes, young

right half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Duncan McKenzie Duncan McKenzie (born 10 June 1950) is an English former footballer who played as a striker in the Football League for Nottingham Forest, Mansfield Town, Leeds United, Everton, Chelsea and Blackburn Rovers in the 1970s, in Belgium for Anderl ...

broke into the first team squad during the season and George Robson returned in

attack Attack may refer to: Warfare and combat * Offensive (military) * Charge (warfare) * Attack (fencing) * Strike (attack) * Attack (computing) * Attack aircraft Books and publishing * ''The Attack'' (novel), a book * '' Attack No. 1'', comic an ...

, after being frozen out during the previous season. Former

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 ...

Jimmy Bain James Stewart Bain (19 December 1947 – 23 January 2016) was a Scottish musician, best known for playing bass guitar in the bands Rainbow and Dio. He also worked with Kate Bush and Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott, co-writing on his solo alb ...

retired and became the club's assistant manager, a position he held until 1952. Despite 1933–34's leading scorers

Jack Holliday John William Holliday (19 December 1908 – 1987) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward in the Football League for Brentford and Middlesbrough. In 2013, Holliday was voted by the Brentford supporters as the club's fourth ...

and Idris Hopkins finding the net with regularity, it was

Ernest Muttitt Ernest Muttitt (24 July 1908 – 8 August 1996) was an English professional footballer who played in the Football League for Brentford and Middlesbrough. He was posthumously inducted into the Brentford Hall of Fame in 2015. A utility player, Mu ...

who inspired the Bees to start the season with a seven-match unbeaten run. The run took the club to the top of the table, with Muttitt scoring seven goals in a five-match spell. Aside from two separate spells of three defeats in five matches, Brentford went on two long unbeaten runs during the season. A 1–0 win over

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

on 2 March 1934 returned the Bees to the top and they won promotion with three matches to spare. Three points from the final three matches confirmed Brentford as champions, five points above nearest challengers

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

and

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

. The promotion meant that Brentford would play in the First Division for the first time in the club's history and the championship shield was held aloft by captain Herbert Watson after the final match of the season at

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground is in a predominantly residential area and was ...

. A unique

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

was achieved with Brentford's first-ever victory in the

, in which

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

were beaten 2–1

after 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 Draw (tie), tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is ...

in the final at

Craven Cottage Craven Cottage is a football ground in Fulham, West London, England, which has been the home of Fulham F.C. since 1896.According to the club'official website The ground's capacity is 22,384; the record attendance is 49,335, for a game against M ...

. A number of

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

club records were set or equalled during the season, including: * Least home defeats (0, equalling the 1929–30 team's unbeaten home record) * Most consecutive home matches undefeated (24, a run which stretched back to April 1934) * The club record for highest winning margin in a Football League match was broken twice during the season, firstly in a 8–1 victory over

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

in December 1934 and then in the 8–0 hammering of Port Vale in April 1935. The eight-goal winning margin stood as the club record until October 1963. Billy Scott became the club's second Football League-era player to score five goals in a match, with five goals in the 8–1 win over Barnsley. He scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in the return match on 27 April 1935. With his hat-trick versus Port Vale on 20 April 1935, Jack Holliday set a club record of 9 hat-tricks.

League table

Results

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

Legend

Football League Second Division

FA Cup

* Sources
Statto11v11
100 Years of Brentford

Playing squad

:''Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1934–35 season.'' * Sources: 100 Years of Brentford, Timeless Bees, Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939

Coaching staff

Statistics

Appearances and goals

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

Goalscorers

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

Season summary

League table

Results

Legend

Football League Second Division

FA Cup

Playing squad

Coaching staff

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Goalscorers

International caps

Full

Amateur

Management

Summary

Transfers & loans

References