During the 1990–91 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 ...

. Five wins in the final six matches of the season propelled the Bees from mid-table into the

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 ...

, where the club was defeated by Tranmere Rovers in the semi-finals.

Season summary

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 ...

conducted little transfer business during the 1990 off-season, buying only Sheffield United

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 ...

Graham Benstead Graham Mark Benstead (born 20 August 1963) is an English retired professional footballer who made over 110 appearances as a goalkeeper in the Football League for Brentford. He also played League football for Sheffield United, Colchester United, ...

and selling full back

Roger Stanislaus Roger Edmund Philbert Stanislaus (born 2 November 1968) is an English former professional footballer who made over 300 appearances in the Football League for Bury, Brentford and Leyton Orient as a left back. Career Arsenal A left back, S ...

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

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 ...

was transfer-listed at his own request, while midfielders Keith Jones, Kevin Godfrey and

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 ...

Richard Cadette Richard Raymond Cadette (born 21 March 1965) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward, most notably for Falkirk, Brentford and Southend United. After his retirement he moved into management with Tooting & Mitcham ...

rejected new contracts and instead signed weekly deals. 10 days before the first match of the season, the club was rocked by the resignation of 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 ...

, who had been in charge since February 1987. Perryman's assistant

Phil Holder Philip Holder (born 19 January 1952) is an English former association football player and manager. As player, he made more than 150 appearances in the Football League representing Tottenham Hotspur, Crystal Palace and AFC Bournemouth, and playe ...

took over and began his first job in football

management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

. Just two defeats from the opening 12 league matches of the season had Brentford flirting with automatic promotion, before successive defeats in late October and early November dropped the club into the play-off places. Aided by the goalscoring of fit-again

Gary Blissett Gary Blissett (born 29 June 1964) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. He notably played in the Premier League for Wimbledon, and in the Football League for Crewe Alexandra, Brentford and Wycombe Wanderers. He ...

, the Bees showed good league form through November and December and ended 1990 in the automatic promotion places. After loss to Oldham Athletic in the third round of 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 ...

, attention turned to the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

, in which the Bees went all the way to the Southern Area finals before being defeated over two legs by league rivals

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

. The run in the Trophy affected Brentford's promotion-chasing form, with the team having won just seven of 17 matches since the turn of the year. A draw and a defeat in the wake of the Trophy exit gave way to improved form for the remainder of the season, with five wins from six matches sealing a 6th-place finish and a two-legged tie with Tranmere Rovers in the play-off semi-finals. A 3–2 defeat on aggregate ended Brentford's season.

League table

Results

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

Legend

Pre-season and friendlies

Football League Third Division

Football League Third Division play-offs

FA Cup

Football League Cup

Football League Trophy

* Source
Statto11v11
The Big Brentford Book Of The Nineties

Playing squad

:''Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1990–91 season.'' * Source: The Big Brentford Book Of The Nineties

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 Nineties

Goalscorers

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

Management

Summary

Transfers & loans

Kit

, ,

Awards

* Supporters' Player of the Year:

* Players' Player of the Year: Graham Benstead * Football League Third Division PFA Team of the Year: Keith Jones *

Football League Third Division Manager of the Month The Football League Third Division Manager of the Month award was a monthly prize of recognition given to association football managers in the Football League Third Division, the fourth tier of English football from 1992 to 2004. The award was anno ...

(December 1990)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1990-91 Brentford F.C. season Brentford F.C. seasons