1918–19 Brentford F.C. season

11 members of the Brentford squad line up prior to a match at Griffin Park during the season (left to right – Peart, Price, McGovern, Cock, Morley, Hendren, Baker, Hanney, Keenor, Amos, White).

Brentford entered the London Combination for the fourth consecutive season in 1918–19, for what would become the final campaign of wartime football during the First World War.[1] Just 11 contracted players would be available throughout the course of the season, which necessitated the use of a large number of guest players, the most notable of whom being future internationals Jackie Carr, Jack Cock and Fred Bullock (England), Fred Keenor (Wales) and Jack Doran (Ireland).[2] Cock, Henry White and Ted Hanney all played in an England trial match on 14 April 1919.[3]

A chronic lack of players saw Brentford win just one of the opening six matches of the season.[2] The turnaround came when Jack Cock returned team after settling a dispute, which if left unsettled, would have led him to play for Fulham during the season.[3] The Bees' forward line was immediately galvanised and the goals of Cock, Henry White and Fred Morley lead Brentford on a run of 11 wins in 14 matches in all competitions.[2] The Armistice of 11 November 1918 brought the war to a close and attendances began to rise, which coupled with the club only having to pay its players £2 a week plus expenses, meant that Brentford ended the season with a profit of £2,000 (£97,800 in 2023).[3]

Despite four draws in January 1919 and three losses in February (which included a second round defeat to Crystal Palace in the one-off London Victory Cup), a return to form and a 2–0 victory over nearest challengers Arsenal on 15 March put the Bees eight points clear at the top of the table with six matches left to play.[3] Aided by additional goals from Patsy Hendren and Royal Navy serviceman Billy Baker,[4] Brentford finished the season as champions,[2] marking the first time the club had finished top of a division since winning the Southern League Second Division title in 1900–01.[5] On 7 April, with three matches of the regular season to play, Brentford were invited to play a fundraising friendly match versus a 'Rest Of The Southern League XI' at The Den.[6] Brentford lost the match 2–1.[6]

One more former Brentford player died before the end of the war – Sapper Fred Alborough, who made three appearances as a guest in September and October 1918.[2] He died of influenza on 31 October 1918, just five days after his final Brentford appearance.[7] He had served with the Royal Engineers during the war.[8] Former wartime guest players sergeant Dick Wynn and shoeing smith Billy Matthews died in circumstances related to their service in August 1919 and April 1921 respectively.[9][10][11]

Brentford's goal tally listed first.

Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1918–19 season.

Pos.	Name	Nat.	Date of birth (age)	Signed from	Signed in	Notes
Goalkeepers
GK	Ted Price		(1883-06-13)13 June 1883 (aged 35)	Croydon Common	1912
Defenders
DF	Alf Amos		(1893-02-09)9 February 1893 (aged 25)	Old Kingstonians	1913
DF	Jack Peart		(1884-10-13)13 October 1884 (aged 33)	Croydon Common	1916
DF	Dusty Rhodes (c)		(1882-08-16)16 August 1882 (aged 36)	Sunderland	1908
DF	Bertie Rosier		(1893-03-21)21 March 1893 (aged 25)	Southall	1913
Midfielders
HB	Tom McGovern		(1888-11-11)11 November 1888 (aged 29)	Halifax Town	1913
HB	Bill Stanton		(1890-05-09)9 May 1890 (aged 28)	Watford	1917
Forwards
FW	Billy Baker		(1894-01-08)8 January 1894 (aged 24)	Unattached	1918
FW	Albert Chester		(1886-03-17)17 March 1886 (aged 32)	Millwall	1916
FW	Patsy Hendren		(1889-02-05)5 February 1889 (aged 29)	Queens Park Rangers	1911	Played when his cricket commitments allowed
FW	Fred Morley		(1888-03-01)1 March 1888 (aged 30)	Unattached	1918
FW	Henry White		(1895-08-08)8 August 1895 (aged 23)	Whamcliffe Athletic	1913
Guest players
GK	Jimmy Morris		n/a	Clapton Orient	1918	Guest from Clapton Orient
GK	Fred Pickup		n/a	Bury	1918	Guest from Bury
DF	Fred Bullock		(1886-07-01)1 July 1886 (aged 32)	Huddersfield Town	1918	Guest from Huddersfield Town
HB	Jimmy Brandham		1890 (aged 27–28)	Fulham	1918	Guest from Fulham
HB	John Green		September 1894 (aged 23–24)	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1918	Guest from Wolverhampton Wanderers
HB	Ted Hanney		(1889-01-19)19 January 1889 (aged 29)	Manchester City	1918	Guest from Manchester City
HB	J. James	n/a	n/a	n/a	1918	Guest
HB	Fred Keenor		(1894-07-31)31 July 1894 (aged 24)	Cardiff City	1918	Guest from Cardiff City
HB	Horace Parsons		(1890-12-23)23 December 1890 (aged 27)	Stourbridge	1918	Guest from Stourbridge
HB	Maurice Woodward		(1891-10-12)12 October 1891 (aged 26)	Southend United	1918	Guest from Southend United
HB	E. J. Wright		n/a	Hampstead Town	1918	Amateur, guest from Hampstead Town
FW	Fred Alborough		1892 (aged 25–26)	Unattached	1918	Guest
FW	Jackie Carr		(1892-11-26)26 November 1892 (aged 25)	Middlesbrough	1919	Guest from Middlesbrough
FW	David Chalmers		(1891-07-22)22 July 1891 (aged 27)	Grimsby Town	1918	Guest from Grimsby Town
FW	Jack Cock		(1893-11-14)14 November 1893 (aged 24)	Huddersfield Town	1918	Guest from Huddersfield Town
FW	Bertie Denyer		(1893-04-09)9 April 1893 (aged 25)	Swindon Town	1918	Guest from Swindon Town
FW	Jack Doran		(1896-01-03)3 January 1896 (aged 22)	Coventry City	1919	Guest from Coventry City
FW	J. Gillies	n/a	n/a	Unattached	1918	Guest
FW	Charles Hibbert		1894 (aged 23–24)	Uxbridge	1919	Guest from Uxbridge
FW	Harry Lappin		(1879-01-16)16 January 1879 (aged 39)	Unattached	1918	Guest
FW	W. Pick	n/a	n/a	n/a	1919	Guest
FW	Wilcox	n/a	n/a	n/a	1918	Guest
FW	Dick Wynn		1892 (aged 25–26)	Middlesbrough	1918	Guest from Middlesbrough

• Sources: 100 Years of Brentford,[2] Timeless Bees,[12] Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939[13]

Guest players' arrival and departure dates correspond to their first and last appearances of the season.

Players transferred in
Date	Pos.	Name	Previous Club	Fee	Ref.
October 1918	FW	Billy Baker	Unattached	Free	[4]
1918	FW	Fred Morley	Unattached	Free	[2]
Players released
Date	Pos.	Name	Subsequent club	Join date	Ref.
March 1919	FW	Albert Chester	Tottenham Hotspur	1919	[14]
April 1919	FW	Billy Baker	Unattached		[4]
April 1919	DF	Jack Peart	Arsenal	1919	[15]
April 1919	HB	Bill Stanton	Rotherham County	1919	[16]
Guest players in
Date from	Pos.	Name	Previous Club	Date to	Ref.
7 September 1918	HB	Jimmy Brandham	Fulham	30 November 1918	[2]
7 September 1918	FW	David Chalmers	Grimsby Town	9 November 1918	[2]
7 September 1918	FW	Bertie Denyer	Swindon Town	28 September 1918	[2]
7 September 1918	FW	J. Gillies	Unattached	12 October 1918	[2]
7 September 1918	GK	Jimmy Morris	Clapton Orient	26 October 1918	[2]
14 September 1918	HB	J. James	n/a	16 November 1918	[2]
14 September 1918	HB	Fred Keenor	Cardiff City	12 April 1919	[2]
14 September 1918	FW	Dick Wynn	Middlesbrough	21 September 1918	[2]
28 September 1918	FW	Fred Alborough	Unattached	26 October 1918	[2]
28 September 1918	GK	Fred Pickup	Bury	4 January 1919	[2]
28 September 1918	HB	E. J. Wright	Hampstead Town	2 November 1918	[2]
5 October 1918	FW	Harry Lappin	Unattached	5 October 1918	[2]
5 October 1918	HB	Horace Parsons	Stourbridge	5 October 1918	[2]
5 October 1918	FW	Wilcox	n/a	5 October 1918	[2]
5 October 1918	HB	Maurice Woodward	Southend United	End of season	[2]
19 October 1918	FW	Jack Cock	Huddersfield Town	End of season	[2]
26 October 1918	FB	Fred Bullock	Huddersfield Town	15 March 1919	[2]
30 November 1918	HB	John Green	Wolverhampton Wanderers	30 November 1918	[2]
7 December 1918	HB	Ted Hanney	Manchester City	End of season	[2]
25 January 1919	FW	Jack Doran	Coventry City	22 February 1919	[2]
25 January 1919	FW	Charles Hibbert	Uxbridge	22 February 1919	[2]
25 January 1919	FW	W. Pick	n/a	End of season	[2]
18 April 1919	FW	Jackie Carr	Middlesbrough	End of season	[2]
Guest players out
Date from	Pos.	Name	To	Date to	Ref.
1918	HB	Jimmy Kennedy	St Mirren	1918	[17]