During the 1989–90 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 ...

. After showing relegation form during the first three months of the season, a revival between November 1989 and February 1990 ensured a mid-table finish.

Season summary

After a long season in which the sheer amount of cup fixtures ultimately affected

's hopes of a finish 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 ...

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, manager

Steve Perryman Stephen John Perryman MBE (born 21 December 1951) is an English former professional footballer who is best-known for his successes with Tottenham Hotspur during the 1970s and early 1980s. He has won the FA Cup, League Cup, and UEFA Cup all twi ...

saw fit to make only minor changes to his squad.Croxford, Lane & Waterman, p. 260. Released were bit-part players and late-season signings

Andy Feeley Andrew James Feeley (born 30 September 1961) is an English retired professional footballer who played in the Football League for Leicester City, Brentford, Bury and Hereford United as a right back. He later became manager of North West Count ...

, Graham Pearce, Jon Purdie, Jeremy Roberts and

Tony Sealy Anthony John Sealy (born 7 May 1959) is an English former footballer who played as a forward. He graduated from Wallsend Boys Club to Southampton, and appeared for the "Saints" in the 1979 Football League Cup Final after helping the club win p ...

and in came just two players – club record £167,000

midfielder 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 ...

Eddie May Edwin Charles May (19 May 1943 – 14 April 2012) was an English football player and manager. May was born in Epping, and played for Dagenham, Southend United, Wrexham and Swansea City. The burly, affable May loomed large in the modern hist ...

from Hibernian (as a direct replacement for March 1989 departee Andy Sinton) and

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 ...

Mark Fleming on a free transfer from Queens Park Rangers. Aside from progressing to the second round of the League Cup, Brentford had a torrid start to the Third Division season and dropped into the relegation places on 9 September 1989. Manager Perryman entered the transfer market to bring

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 ...

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 ...

Dean Holdsworth Dean Christopher Holdsworth (born 8 November 1968) is an English former professional football player and manager. As a striker he scored 193 goals in 610 league games over a 22-year career. Despite playing for 16 clubs in 19 spells the majority ...

back 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 one-month loan spell during the previous season. The £125,000 paid for Holdsworth made him the club's most expensive forward at the time. The signing of Holdsworth had little immediate impact and the Bees' slump continued from September into mid-November, when the club occupied bottom place in the division for three weeks in a row. A 2–0 win over Northampton Town at the County Ground on 25 November provided the spark that changed the team's fortunes, with Holdsworth coming into form and inspiring a run of 10 wins and 1 draw from a 13-match spell, which lifted Brentford from 24th to 9th place. The Bees stumbled through to the end of the season and the products of

Colin Lee Colin Lee (born 12 June 1956) is an English football manager and former footballer. He is currently head of football at South Dartmoor Community College in Ashburton, Devon along with Chris Beard. Playing career Lee began his football career ...

's youth team were given game time. Brentford ended the campaign in 13th place.

League table

Results

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

Legend

Pre-season and friendlies

Football League Third Division

FA Cup

Football League Cup

Football League Trophy

* Sources: The Big Brentford Book of the Eighties,Croxford, Lane & Waterman, p. 262-275.Statto
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Playing squad

:''Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1989–90 season.'' * Sources: The Big Brentford Book of the Eighties, Timeless Bees

Coaching staff

Statistics

Appearances and goals

:''Substitute appearances in brackets.'' *Players listed in ''italics'' left the club mid-season. *Source: The Big Brentford Book of the EightiesCroxford, Lane & Waterman, p. 431.

Goalscorers

*Players listed in ''italics'' left the club mid-season. *Source: The Big Brentford Book of the Eighties

Management

Summary

Transfers & loans

Kit

, ,

Awards

* Supporters' Player of the Year: Terry EvansCroxford, Lane & Waterman, p. 383. * Players' Player of the Year: Terry Evans

References

{{1989–90 in English football 1989-90