During the
1958–59 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 Third Division. Despite 32 goals from
Jim Towers and 22 from
George Francis, a number of defeats to low-placed clubs early in the season prevented the Bees from finishing higher than 3rd, one place away from promotion.
Season summary
After narrowly missing out on promotion in
1957–58,
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 ...
entered the 1958–59
Third Division
In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below.
Association football
*Belgian Thir ...
season full of confidence. Despite making a profit of £6,789 on the previous season (equivalent to £ in ), manager
Malky MacDonald
Malcolm MacDonald (26 October 1913 – 26 September 1999) was a Scottish professional association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager, best remembered for his time as a Utility player#Association football, utility pl ...
decided not to add to his squad and instead planned for the future by bringing in a number of
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
youngsters.
Brentford began the season with a resounding 4–0 victory over
Bradford City
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes.
Th ...
, hitting top spot, but dropped back after three consecutive defeats.
By the time the Bees drew 1–1 with
Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
on 4 October 1958, the team's inconsistency could be clearly pointed to a lack of support for
forwards Jim Towers and
George Francis, who had scored 13 of the team's 17 goals by that point of the season. In response, manager MacDonald paid £6,000 for
Luton Town's
outside left George McLeod. After defeats to
Stockport County and
Reading in late October, the team recovered and began to perform on a consistent basis.
Brentford had a morale-boosting run to the fourth round of the
FA Cup, eliminating
Exeter City,
King's Lynn
King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...
and
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 ...
on the way to a 2–0 defeat to
First Division club
West Bromwich Albion in front of 41,440 at
The Hawthorns.
A 6–0 win over
Southampton at
The Dell on 9 March 1959 (which set a new club record for biggest away
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 ...
win) established the Bees as promotion contenders. Three victories and two draws from the following five matches (which included a win and a draw versus leaders
Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...
) saw Brentford increase their grip on 3rd place in the table,
though at a cost to season-ending injuries to
Ian Dargie
Ian Malcolm Dargie (born 15 November 1963) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for and in the Australian Football League (AFL) and in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) during the 1980s and 1990s.
Biography
Dargie wa ...
and
Len Newcombe
Bernard John Newcombe (28 February 1931 – March 1996) was a Welsh professional footballer who played in the Football League for Brentford and Fulham as an outside forward. He later returned to Fulham as a scout.
Club career
Fulham
Newcomb ...
. Defeats in crucial matches versus fellow promotion challengers
Norwich City and
Hull City in early April effectively ended the Bees' promotion charge and all hope of promotion mathematically ended with two matches left to play.
Brentford finished the season in 3rd place.
Jim Towers' 37 goals scored in all competitions during the season was just two goals shy of
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 ...
's club record of 39, set in the
Third Division South in
1932–33. Towers' strike partner George Francis also finished amongst the top scorers in the Third Division, with 22 goals and 24 in all competitions.
Brentford finished the 1958–59 season with the best defensive record in the Third Division, conceding only 49 goals and also conceding the fewest away goals (27).
A new club record for most league away draws (10) was set during the season and the club record for fewest goalscorers in a season was equalled. The 20 players used in all competitions was the lowest since the end of the
Second World War and three players finishing the season as ever-presents in all 50 matches was another post-war record.
League table
Results
:''Brentford's goal tally listed first.''
Legend
Football League Third Division
FA Cup
*
Sources: 100 Years Of Brentford,Statto
11v11
/small>
Playing squad
:''Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1958–59 season.''
*
Sources: 100 Years Of Brentford, Timeless Bees
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
Management
Summary
Transfers & loans
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1958-59 Brentford F.C. season
Brentford F.C. seasons
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 ...