During the 1998–99 English football season, Brentford 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 th ...

. The club finished the season as champions after victory over runners-up

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...

on the final day.

Season summary

After relegation to the Third Division at the end of the previous season, the ownership of Brentford changed hands for the second time in two summers, when

Ron Noades Ronald Geoffrey Noades (22 June 1937 – 24 December 2013) was an English businessman, best known for his investments in football clubs. He was the chairman of Southall, Wimbledon, Crystal Palace and finally Brentford. He was also the manager o ...

took over the club as owner and chairman during the 1998 off-season. Noades installed himself as manager and appointed a three-man coaching team of

Ray Lewington Raymond Lewington (born 7 September 1956) is an English retired footballer. He was most recently assistant manager of Watford. Born in London, he started his playing career in the city at Chelsea. He went on to play for Vancouver Whitecaps, W ...

Terry Bullivant Terry Bullivant (born 23 September 1956, Lambeth) is an English Association football, football Coach (sport), manager. During his playing career he was a midfielder, representing Fulham F.C., Fulham and Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa. Following h ...

and Brian Sparrow. Nearly £1.5 million was spent to assemble almost an entirely new starting lineup, with

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 ...

Jason Pearcey,

defenders Defender(s) or The Defender(s) may refer to: *Defense (military) *Defense (sports) **Defender (association football) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Defender'' (1989 film), a Canadian documentary * ''The Defender'' (1994 f ...

Danny Boxall Daniel James Boxall (born 24 August 1977) is an English former professional Association football, footballer who played as a right back for Brentford F.C., Brentford, Bristol Rovers F.C., Bristol Rovers, Oldham Athletic A.F.C., Oldham Athletic ...

Darren Powell Darren David Powell (born 10 March 1976) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. During his playing career, he appeared over 250 times in the Football League and Premier League. Powell was known as "a tough-t ...

Rob Quinn Robert John Quinn (born 8 November 1976) is a former professional footballer, and current youth team coach. He played as midfielder, predominantly in the centre, but also played at centre back. He represented the Republic of Ireland under-21s ...

and

Hermann Hreiðarsson Hermann Hreiðarsson (born 11 July 1974) is an Icelandic former professional football player and coach. He played as a defender and spent 15 seasons in England, gaining a total of 315 appearances in the Premier League. Hermann was relegated fr ...

(the club's then-record £750,000 signing),

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 ...

Martin Rowlands Martin Charles Rowlands (born 8 February 1979) is an English-born Irish former professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career After starring for Heston Gaels Gaelic Athletic Association, GAA club at un ...

and Tony Folan and forwards

Lloyd Owusu Lloyd Magnus Owusu (born 12 December 1976) is a retired professional footballer who last played for Hakoah Sydney City East in the NSW State League Division One, Sydney, Australia. After a move from non-League Slough Town, his career took off a ...

and Darren Freeman added to the ranks. 9 wins in the opening 13 league matches put the Bees firmly in control at the top of the table, though three successive defeats in the midst of the run temporarily dropped the club back to 7th place. There was some early-season excitement in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

, with a 4–2 aggregate victory over First Division club

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

in the first round setting up a two-legged tie with

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

club

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

. 3–2 defeats in each of the two legs (with Brentford taking the lead in both matches) ended the cup run, with memorable goals being scored by Andy Scott, Darren Freeman and Lloyd Owusu. Three league defeats in a four-match spell in November and injuries and suspensions to Andy Scott, Darren Powell, Danny Boxall, Jamie Bates and Martin Rowlands led Noades to further strengthen the squad with forward

Leo Fortune-West Leopold Paul Osborne Fortune-West (born Leopold Paul Osborne West, 9 April 1971) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He played in the Football League for Gillingham, Leyton Orient, Lincoln City, Rotherham Un ...

and midfielder Gavin Mahon. Though Fortune-West would be sold on a matter of months later, Mahon replaced

Warren Aspinall Warren Aspinall (born 13 September 1967) is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder or forward in the Football League, most notably for Portsmouth and Carlisle United. He began his career with hometown club Wigan Athletic, earn ...

in midfield and remained an ever-present until the end of the season. Five wins in the following six league matches saw the club begin 1999 firmly placed in the automatic promotion places. A spell of just one win from a spell of seven league matches in January and February saw Noades reach for the chequebook again and sign forward Scott Partridge from

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

for £100,000. With the purchase of new captain Paul Evans and buoyed by the goalscoring of Partridge and Owusu, the Bees went undefeated from late February through to early May. The club secured automatic promotion back to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

with two matches to spare after a 3–0 victory over

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

on 1 May. A resounding 4–1 win over Swansea City in the following match returned Brentford to the top of the table for the first time since 20 October 1998. The victory set up a "winner takes all" match for the title on the final day at the

Abbey Stadium Abbey Stadium is a football stadium in Cambridge, England. It has been the home ground of Cambridge United F.C. since 1932, and currently has a maximum capacity of 8,127 spectators. Cambridge Regional College F.C., Cambridge United's feeder cl ...

versus nearest challengers

. Lloyd Owusu's 25th goal of the season was enough for victory and for Brentford to win the Third Division championship.

League table

Results

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

Legend

Pre-season

Football League Third Division

FA Cup

Football League Cup

Football League Trophy

* Sources
Soccerbase11v11
Brentford Official Matchday Magazine

Playing squad

:''Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1998–99 season.'' * Source
Soccerbase
/small>

Coaching staff

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
Soccerbase
/small>

International caps

Management

Summary

Transfers & loans

Kit

, ,

Awards

* Supporters' Player of the Year:

* Football League Third Division PFA Team of the Year: Paul Evans,

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 ...

(August 1998) *

League Managers Association The League Managers Association (LMA) is the trade union for Premier League, EFL and national team managers in English association football. The LMA awards the LMA Manager of the Year award annually. History The union was founded in 3045 as ...

Performance of the Week: Ron Noades (Brentford 3–0

first round, second leg, 18 August 1998)

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1998-99 Brentford F.C. season Brentford F.C. seasons Brentford