During the 2009–10 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

Football League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

. In the Bees' first League One season since 2006–07, the club finished in 9th place and reached the third round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

Season summary

After promotion back to

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

as League Two champions at the end of the 2008–09 season,

manager Andy Scott immediately cleared all the bit-part and injury-prone players out of his squad, releasing 13. In came goalkeepers

Lewis Price Lewis Peter Price (born 19 July 1984) is a retired Welsh international professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is currently the First-Team Goalkeeping Coach for EFL Championship club Oxford United. Apart from making 6 Premier Lea ...

on a season-long

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

and

Nikki Bull Nikki Bull (born 2 October 1981) is an English professional Association football, footballer who was most recently the manager of Guildford City F.C., Guildford City. During his playing career, he was a goalkeeper (association football), goalke ...

on a one-year contract, three defenders (

Alan Bennett Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. He has received numerous awards and honours including four BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and two Tony Awards. In 2005 he received the Socie ...

, Danny Foster and

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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Sam Saunders,

left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Myles Weston Myles Arthur Eugene Wesley Weston (born 12 March 1988) is a professional footballer who plays as a left winger for club Bromley. Born in England, he represents Antigua and Barbuda at international level. Club career Charlton Athletic Weston wa ...

and three forwards (

Carl Cort Carl Edward Richard Cort (born 1 November 1977) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. He notably played in the Premier League for Wimbledon, Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers, also playing in the Football Leag ...

Steve Kabba Sorfiyu Tejan "Steve" Kabba (born 7 March 1981) is an English former professional footballer turned football agent. He played as a forward from 1999 to 2013. Kabba began his career with Crystal Palace in 1999 but failed to make an impact at Sel ...

and

Ben Strevens Benjamin John Strevens (born 24 May 1980) is an English former professional footballer and manager who played as a striker or an attacking midfielder. He was most recently the manager of National League club Dagenham & Redbridge. Playing caree ...

). Popular forward Nathan Elder departed

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a association football, 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 was in a predominantly resi ...

in early August 2009 and dropped back down to League Two to sign for

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

for an undisclosed fee. Scott would sign three more players between the beginning of the season and the end of the summer

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

– teenager Simon Moore as third-choice goalkeeper,

centre back 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 ...

James Wilson James Wilson may refer to: Politicians and government officials Canada * James Wilson (Upper Canada politician) (1770–1847), English-born farmer and political figure in Upper Canada * James Crocket Wilson (1841–1899), Canadian MP from Queb ...

on a one-month loan and winger Cleveland Taylor for an undisclosed fee from

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

. Manager Andy Scott revealed that Brentford's target for the season was "to get to 52 points" and "to do the double over as many teams as possible and make sure no-one does the double over us". Despite being knocked out of the League Cup in the first round, Brentford started the league season strongly, going third after an opening-day victory over Carlisle United and then going undefeated in the following four matches to consolidate a position in the playoff zone. A 2–1 victory over promotion hopefuls

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 ...

at Griffin Park on 18 August was a notable early-season highlight. As injuries mounted and some players found it difficult to replicate their League Two form in League One, manager Scott would search for a winning formula by signing 9 players on loan between November 2009 and March 2010, the most notable of whom being Arsenal goalkeeper

Wojciech Szczęsny Wojciech Tomasz Szczęsny (; born 18 April 1990) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Barcelona. After starting his club career at Legia Warsaw, Szczęsny signed for Arsenal in January 2006, where he made his ...

, centre back

Pim Balkestein Pim Balkestein (born 29 April 1987) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He could also play as a left-back and is the son of ex-footballer Luuk Balkestein. Career Heerenveen Balkestein was born in the Dutch c ...

and

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Toumani Diagouraga Toumani Diagouraga (born 10 June 1987) is a French football coach and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. He is currently an academy coach for club Middlesbrough. He played his entire career in the English Footbal ...

, the latter two of whom would sign permanently for the club after the season. Out of form attackers Steve Kabba and Cleveland Taylor were sent out on loan to League Two club

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

, while

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

Alan Bennett, who had been out of favour for most of the season, ended the campaign with two spells on loan with

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...

. Aside from dropping to a season-low placing of 18th in late November and early December, Brentford trod water in mid-table for much of the season and a run of just one defeat in the final 13 matches of the season elevated the club to a credible 9th-place finish. The Bees reached the third round of the

, seeing off

Conference Premier The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National Leagues and step 1 of the National Le ...

strugglers

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

in a replay and League One

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

in the first two rounds, before falling to 1–0 to

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

club

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

in the third round at Griffin Park. There was some cheer late in the season, when supporter

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

agreed to invest £1m a year into the club, until the end of the 2013–14 season, in return for preference shares and without increasing the club's debt.

League table

Results

Pre-season

Football League One

Results by round

League position graph

Matches

FA Cup

Football League Cup

Football League Trophy

* Source
brentfordfc.co.uk
/small>

Playing squad

:''Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 2009–10 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
ESPN FC
/small>

Management

Summary

Transfers & loans

Kit

, , , , , ,

Awards

* Supporters' Player of the Year:

* Community Player of the Year:

Karleigh Osborne Karleigh Anthony Jonathan Osborne (born 19 March 1988) is an English former professional footballer and manager, who an ambassador of club Brentford. As a player, Osborne was a central defender and made over 160 Football League appearances fo ...

Player of the Round: Leon Legge (second round) * Football League Family Excellence Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2009-10 Brentford F.C. season Brentford F.C. seasons