During the 1964–65 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 The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the f ...

. Despite topping the table between September and October 1964, the worst away record in the division and a change of managers in January 1965 derailed the club's promotion charge.

Season summary

After a disappointing first season back in 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 ...

chairman

Jack Dunnett John Jacob Dunnett (24 June 1922 – 26 October 2019) was a British Labour Party politician, solicitor, and football club chairman. He died in London in October 2019 at the age of 97. Early life and politics Dunnett was educated at Whitgift ...

allowed 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 ...

significant funds for new signings. £18,000 was spent on

inside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

Jimmy Bloomfield James Henry Bloomfield (15 February 1934 – 3 April 1983) was an English football player and manager. He made nearly 500 appearances in the Football League, including more than 300 in the First Division with Arsenal, Birmingham City and West ...

(who returned to

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 ...

after a decade away) and Newport County's

journeyman A journeyman, journeywoman, or journeyperson is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that fie ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Joe Bonson Joseph Bonson (19 June 1936 – 29 November 1991) was an English professional Association football, footballer who played for several clubs during the 1950s and 1960s. Career Bonson started his career at Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C., Wolverhamp ...

. The team began the season in good form, winning six and drawing one of the first 9 matches to sit atop the Third Division table. The early season goalscoring form of Joe Bonson meant that

Billy McAdams William John McAdams (20 January 1934 – 13 October 2002) was a Northern Irish footballer who played in the inside forward position. Club career On leaving school at 15, he took an apprenticeship as a heating engineer and played as an amateur ...

, previously a regular scorer for the team, became surplus to requirements and was sold to local rivals

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

for £5,000. While the club established itself in the promotion places, £29,000 was spent on forwards Billy Cobb and Ian Lawther in October and November 1964. As a sign of chairman Dunnett's aim to secure promotion at all costs, a massive £40,000 bid for

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

Gerry Hitchens Gerald Archibald Hitchens (8 October 1934 – 13 April 1983) was an English footballer who played as a centre forward. Early career Hitchens was born in the village of Rawnsley, Staffordshire, near Cannock, and began his career as a coal miner. ...

was tabled, but was unsuccessful. Despite a solid home record and regular goals from front players Cobb, Bonson, Lazarus, Lawther and Fielding, a number of away defeats dropped the Bees back into 4th place by January 1965. The

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

was exited after a third round replay defeat at the hands of First Division

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

and a matter of days later, manager Malky MacDonald revealed that he would leave Brentford at the end of the season to return to

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

. MacDonald intended to see out the remainder of his contract, which expired at the end of the season, but he was immediately placed on

gardening leave Garden leave (also known as gardening leave) is the practice whereby an employee leaving a job – having resigned or otherwise had their employment terminated – is instructed to stay away from work during the notice period, while still remainin ...

by chairman Jack Dunnett. Trainer

Tommy Cavanagh Thomas Henry Cavanagh (29 June 1928 – 14 March 2007) was an English football player and coach. As a player, he was an inside-forward at six professional clubs, most notably Huddersfield Town, Doncaster Rovers and was player manager at Chelten ...

took over as interim manager. Cavanagh won four and drew two of his first 10 matches, but a 2–0 away defeat to

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

on 26 March emphasised the team's poor away record and effectively ended any chances of promotion. Despite the blow, the team reacted positively, winning five and drawing two of the remaining eight matches of the season to secure a 5th-place finish. Brentford's home record of 18 wins, 4 draws and 1 defeat was the best in the Third Division and promotion may have been attained had the team not lost five consecutive away matches in mid-season. Just one league win away from home equalled the club record. By 19 December 1964, Joe Bonson, Mark Lazarus and Billy Cobb had each reached 10 or more goals for the season, which was the second instance of three Brentford players reaching double-figures before Christmas Day. The Brentford

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

had a successful season and 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 ...

after a 2–1 victory over

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, courtesy of goals from George Summers and Micky Block. In

goal A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ai ...

was

Gerry Cakebread Gerald Cakebread OBE (1 April 1936 – 16 September 2009) was an English footballer who made over 340 appearances in the Football League for Brentford as a goalkeeper. He remained a part-time player throughout his professional career. Cakebread ...

, who had dropped into the reserves for his final season at Griffin Park. Cakebread finished his Brentford career with 374 first team appearances, the most by any goalkeeper for the club.

League table

Results

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

Legend

Football League Third Division

FA Cup

Football League Cup

* Sources: 100 Years Of Brentford,Statto
/small>

Playing squad

: ''Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1964–65 season.'' * Sources: 100 Years Of Brentford, Timeless Bees

Coaching staff

Malky MacDonald (22 August 1964 – 16 January 1965)

Tommy Cavanagh (17 January – 27 April 1965)

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

Awards

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

Player of the Month:

(October 1964)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1964-65 Brentford F.C. season Brentford F.C. seasons