During the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

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

Football League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

. The mid-table season was memorable for runs to the final of the Football League Trophy and the fourth round of the League Cup.

Season summary

After an impressive 9th-place finish at the end of the

's first season in League One since 2006–07, manager Andy Scott signed almost an entirely new team. Released were centre back Mark Phillips 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 ...

Steve Kabba and six players were transferred out during the off-season, with the most notable departures being

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 ...

Ryan Dickson to Championship club Southampton and

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Alan Bennett to

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

Wycombe Wanderers. 11 players were transferred in before the end of the summer transfer window, including two goalkeepers ( Richard Lee,

Simon Royce Simon Ernest Royce (born 9 September 1971) is an English football coach and former professional Association football, footballer who is goalkeeping coach at Leyton Orient F.C., Leyton Orient, As a player he was a Goalkeeper (association footbal ...

), four defenders (

Pim Balkestein Pim Balkestein (born 29 April 1987) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre back for De Treffers in the Dutch Tweede Divisie. He can also play as a left-back and is the son of ex-footballer Luuk Balkestein. Career Heerenveen B ...

David McCracken David McCracken (born 16 October 1981) is a Scottish football player and coach, whose last role was as co-manager of Falkirk between 2019 and 2021. McCracken, who played as a central defender, was a Scotland under-21 internationalist, having ma ...

, Michael Spillane,

Craig Woodman Craig Alan Woodman (born 22 December 1982) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Tiverton Town Playing career Bristol City Woodman began his career with Bristol City as a trainee, turning professional in June ...

), two

midfielders 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 ...

(

Nicky Adams Nicholas William Adams (born 16 October 1986) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a winger and wing back for Northern Premier League Premier Division club Radcliffe F.C., Radcliffe. Although he was born in England, h ...

, Toumani Diagouraga) and forwards Gary Alexander and

Kirk Hudson Kirk Hudson (born 12 December 1986) is an English former professional footballer who played as a right winger in the Football League, most notably for Aldershot Town. He also played league football for Brentford and AFC Bournemouth. Career You ...

, with

Nicky Forster Nicholas Michael Forster (born 8 September 1973) is a former professional footballer who was most recently the manager of Staines Town. Forster has also been player-manager at Brentford and manager of Dover Athletic. Football career Early y ...

returning 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 ...

for the first time since his departure in 1997. Huddersfield Town forward

Robbie Simpson Robbie Simpson (born 15 March 1985 in Poole, Dorset) is an English semi-professional association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward. Simpson is currently manager at National League South club Chelmsford ...

was signed on a season-long loan. Brentford opened the league season with a run of just two wins from the opening 11 matches, which left the club bottom of the table by late September 2010. However, some cheer was had in the League Cup, with the Bees progressing to the fourth round to equal the club record for its furthest progression in the competition. After seeing off League Two club

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

in the first round, the Bees beat Championship side Hull City 2–1 at Griffin Park in the second round, clinching victory with an 88th-minute diving header from Marcus Bean. The victory set up a third round tie at with Premier League club Everton at Griffin Park. Gary Alexander cancelled out

Séamus Coleman Séamus Coleman (; born 11 October 1988) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a right-back and captains both Premier League club Everton and the Republic of Ireland national team. Originally a Gaelic footballer, Coleman started hi ...

's early goal and the teams were locked together until full-time and through the

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

period. Goalkeeper Richard Lee was Brentford's hero in the penalty shootout, helping the club win the first of the four shootouts it would compete in during the season. The Bees took Premier League club Birmingham City to a shootout at St Andrew's in the fourth round after a 1–1 draw, but were knocked out. Brentford recovered its form in League One between 2 October 2010 and 1 January 2011, winning 8 and losing just two matches of an 11-match spell, but manager Andy Scott was moved to complain to the press of the "negativity" surrounding the club, despite the run being achieved with players missing through injury and including a club-record equalling five consecutive away league wins. By early January the Bees had also progressed to the Southern Area finals of the Football League Trophy, but a draw in the first leg versus Exeter City was one of only two draws secured during an 8-match winless run which kicked off 2011. A 4–1 away defeat to bottom-place club

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Often known simply as Dag ...

on 1 February led to calls from the Brentford supporters for the removal of Andy Scott as manager. Two days after the match, Scott and assistant manager Terry Bullivant were sacked and captain Kevin O'Connor remarking that the blame led with the players, for "making far too many individual mistakes". Forward Nicky Forster was named as

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular Manager (association football), manager is dismissed or leaves for a ...

on 3 February 2011 and Brentford owner

Matthew Benham Matthew Alexander Benham (born May 1968) is a British businessman who is the owner of English Premier League club Brentford FC and FC Midtjylland in Denmark. He is also the founder and owner of Smartodds, a statistical research company for pro ...

brought in

Mark Warburton Mark Warburton (born 6 September 1962) is an English professional football manager and former player who is a first-team coach at West Ham United. As a player, Warburton was a right back at non-League level with Enfield and Boreham Wood. He beg ...

as first team coach. An unbeaten run in his first six matches in all competitions led to Forster being named as manager until the end of the season. The run included a 2–1 away victory over Exeter City in the Football League Trophy Southern Area final second leg, which set up a Wembley final versus

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

on 3 April. The Bees won four and lost three of the seven league matches preceding the final, which included a 2–1 victory over Carlisle United at Griffin Park. Brentford's third Football League Trophy final appearance ended with a 1–0 defeat, in which the Bees' "domination failed to yield a single shot on target" and midfielder Toumani Diagouraga was sent off for two bookable offences. In the aftermath of the defeat, Brentford meandered through the remainder of the league season to finish in 11th place.

League table

Results

Pre-season

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League One

Results by round

Results summary

League position graph

Matches

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FA Cup

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Football League Cup

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Football League Trophy

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Playing squad

:''Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 2010–11 season.'' * Source
Soccerbase
/small>

Coaching staff

Andy Scott (7 August 2010 – 3 February 2011)

Nicky Forster (3 February – 7 May 2011)

Statistics

Appearances and goals

:''Substitute appearances in brackets.'' * Players listed in ''italics'' left the club mid-season. * Source
Soccerbase
/small>

Goalscorers

* Players listed in ''italics'' left the club mid-season. * Source
Soccerbase
/small>

Discipline

* Players listed in ''italics'' left the club mid-season. * Source
ESPN FC
/small>

Management

Summary

Transfers & loans

Kit

The 2010–11 Brentford kit designs were chosen by the club's supporters and launched on 9 July 2010. , , , , ,

Awards

* Supporters' Player of the Year: Richard Lee * Community Player of the Year:

Leon Legge Leon Clinton Elliott Legge (born 1 July 1985) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Harrogate Town. A defender, his strong strength, positioning and tackling skills have helped him compensate for a lack ...

Football League One Manager of the Month The Manager of the Month is an association football award that recognises the manager adjudged best for each month of the season in the Football League One, the third tier of English football. The recipient is chosen by a panel assembled by the Le ...

: Andy Scott (October 2010) * Football League Family Excellence Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2010-11 Brentford F.C. season Brentford F.C. seasons