During the 1912–13 English football season,

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

competed in the Southern League First Division. Two long losing runs led to the Bees' relegation to the Second Division on the final day of the season.

Season summary

After three consecutive mid-table seasons, Southern League First Division club

's directors gambled on generating extra income by also entering the Southern Alliance. Consequently, a larger squad was assembled, with many of the previous season's professionals retained. Willis Rippon was the only significant departure – sold for £250 to

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, who currently compete in . They were established in 1874 from the school football team at Hamilto ...

. Secretary-manager

Fred Halliday Simon Frederick Peter Halliday (22 February 1946 – 26 April 2010) was an Irish writer and academic specialising in international relations and the Middle East, with particular reference to the Cold War, Iran, and the Arabian Peninsula. Biogr ...

brought in

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), 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 i ...

Ted Price Edward Price may refer to: * Ed Price (Louisiana politician) (Edward J. Price), member of the Louisiana State Legislature * Eddie Price (Edward Joseph Price Jr., 1925–1979), American football player and inductee to the College Football Hall of ...

, full back Tommy Fells,

centre half In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

Frank Bentley and forwards Frederick Chapple and James Morrison. Brentford had a torrid beginning to the season, losing 12 of the first 15 matches. Of the starting forward line of Billy Brawn,

Jack Sibbald John Patrick Sibbald (12 September 1890 – 20 August 1956) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward in the Football League for Blackpool, Southport and Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and adminis ...

, Frederick Chapple,

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and

Patsy Hendren Elias Henry "Patsy" Hendren (5 February 1889 – 4 October 1962) was an English first-class cricketer, active 1907 to 1937, who played for Middlesex and England. He also had a concurrent career as a footballer and had a long tenure with Brentfo ...

, Chapple and Hendren were the only players to score during the period, which lead manager Halliday to sign Chelsea's Hugh Dolby and Bill Smith from

non-league football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

. Dolby failed to score in four matches and was dropped, while Smith helped contribute to a revival in mid-November, after full back

Dusty Rhodes Virgil Riley Runnels Jr. (October 11, 1945 – June 11, 2015), better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, booker, and trainer who worked for the National Wrestling Alliance ...

replaced Fred Halliday as manager on 13 November 1912. Between 9 November and 5 March 1913, Brentford lost just three matches, but another loss of form and injuries to the forward line led to seven consecutive defeats in March. A crucial 4–1 victory over

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

on 5 April boosted the Bees' survival chances, but a defeat and a win in the following two matches respectively put Brentford one place above the relegation zone going into the final day, level on points with

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

, but ahead by virtue of a 0.774

goal average A goal or objective 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 ...

. Brentford would play away to Merthyr Town and Norwich City away to

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

on Saturday 26 April, but torrential rain and

gale force The Beaufort scale ( ) is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. Its full name is the Beaufort wind force scale. It was devised in 1805 by Francis Beaufort a hydrographer in the Royal Navy. It ...

winds forced the Bees' match to be postponed twice, to the following Tuesday. Norwich City won their match 5–2, but the scoreline would not guarantee the Canaries' safety on goal average if Brentford won their match by any score. On Tuesday 29 April, Brentford conceded the opening goal to Merthyr Town, before Bill Smith equalised two minutes after

half time In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in or ...

. In the final 10 minutes, Brentford pushed forward and were hit on the break with just two minutes remaining, losing the match 2–1 and with it the club's First Division status.

League table

Results

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

Legend

Southern League First Division

FA Cup

* Source: 100 Years Of Brentford

Playing squad

:''Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1912–13 season.'' * Source: 100 Years Of Brentford, Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939

Coaching staff

Fred Halliday (4 September–13 November 1912)

Dusty Rhodes (13 November 1912 – 29 April 1913)

Statistics

Appearances and goals

*Players listed in ''italics'' left the club mid-season. *Source: 100 Years Of Brentford

Goalscorers