During the 1959–60 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. A strong run in the final 13 matches of the season lifted the Bees from mid-table to a 6th-place finish.

Season summary

After two strong pushes for promotion from the

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 ...

manager Malky MacDonald conducted little transfer business in the 1959 off-season, with his main signing being that of former Chelsea centre half

Bill Livingstone William Rennison Livingstone (8 February 1929 – March 2011) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a centre half in the Football League for Reading, Chelsea and Brentford. Playing career Reading Livingstone began his ca ...

as cover for the injured

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 ...

. However, two youngsters MacDonald signed from Scotland in June and July 1959 between them would go on to make nearly 700 appearances for the club –

Tommy Higginson Thomas Higginson (6 January 1937 – 22 July 2012) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a left half and inside forward. He is best remembered for his 12-year spell in the Football League with Brentford, for whom he made 433 appea ...

and John Docherty. As a testament how little the squad had changed over the previous three years, by the end of the season MacDonald had 12 players on the books who had all made over 100 appearances for Brentford –

Cakebread Cakebread may refer to: People * Dennis Cakebread (born 1938), former English athlete * Gerry Cakebread (1936-2009), English footballer * Jane Cakebread (1830-1898), domestic worker and inebriate; the Inebriates Act 1898 was directly due to her c ...

Wilson Wilson may refer to: People * Wilson (name) ** List of people with given name Wilson ** List of people with surname Wilson * Wilson (footballer, 1927–1998), Brazilian manager and defender * Wilson (footballer, born 1984), full name Wilson Ro ...

, Horne,

Coote Coote is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Adrian Coote, British footballer *Ali Coote, Scottish footballer *Alice Coote, British mezzo-soprano *Algernon Coote, 6th Earl of Mountrath (1689-1744) *Andrea Coote, Australian politici ...

, Bristow, Goundry, Dargie,

Parsons Parsons may refer to: Places In the United States: * Parsons, Kansas, a city * Parsons, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Parsons, Tennessee, a city * Parsons, West Virginia, a town * Camp Parsons, a Boy Scout camp in the state of Washingto ...

, Heath,

Rainford Rainford is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, Merseyside, England, north of St Helens. At the 2011 Census, the population was 7,779. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, the ear ...

Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places * Rural M ...

and Towers. Despite runs of one defeat in seven matches in August and September 1959 and six wins in seven matches in October, Brentford had uneven first half of the season and were rooted firmly in mid-table at the turn of the year. Jim Towers became the Bees' record

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 ...

goalscorer courtesy of a hattrick in a 3–0 defeat of Accrington Stanley on 24 October 1959 and he had taken 19 fewer matches to pass

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 record. Towers' strike partner George Francis followed up with a hattrick in a 4–2 derby victory over rivals Queens Park Rangers and eclipsed that performance with a four-goal haul in a 5–0 FA Cup first round victory over non-league club

Ashford Town Ashford Town (Middlesex) Football Club are a football club based in Stanwell, Surrey, England. The club are currently members of the and play at the Robert Parker Stadium in Short Lane. They are affiliated to both the Middlesex FA and the Sur ...

on 14 November. With the Brentford's so-so league form, the FA Cup looked to be the focus of the Bees' efforts, but they met their end in the following round versus

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

club Exeter City. Brentford welcomed the 1960s with a 2–0 defeat to the eventual-promoted side Southampton at The Dell on 2 January 1960 and continued to muddle through to March, when a 1–0 victory over

Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as Bo ...

on the 5th of the month kicked off a strong run which would last until the end of the season. In the remaining 13 matches of the campaign, George Francis and Jim Towers each scored eight goals to fire Brentford to a 6th-place finish. Francis ended the season as top scorer with 31 goals, the second time he had managed to better his fellow "Terrible Twin" Towers' total.

League table

Results

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

Legend

Football League Third Division

FA Cup

* Sources: 100 Years Of Brentford,Statto
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Playing squad

: ''Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1959–60 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