1946–47 Brentford F.C. season

After three successive top-six finishes in the First Division beginning in 1935–36, Brentford's decline began with the departure of key players during the 1938–39 season,[1] which culminated with a near-relegation.[2] For 1946–47, the first Football League season since the end of the Second World War, manager Harry Curtis was able to call on many of his regular players from the final pre-war seasons, though the elder players, such as Irish international full back Bill Gorman, utility man Buster Brown and former Wales forward Idris Hopkins, were all at age 35.[3] Long-serving forward and once-capped England international Billy Scott had remained with the club and was then aged 38.[3] The team fielded versus Aston Villa on 1 February 1947 was the oldest in club history, with an average age of over 31.5 years.[4] Curtis supplemented the squad by bringing in wing half Cyril Toulouse and forwards John Gillies, Maurice Roberts and George Stewart. As in the final pre-war seasons, Curtis would also promote players from the Bees' reserve ranks, signing amateur Roddy Munro to a professional contract and handing debuts to Frank Latimer, John Moore and Wally Bragg, with Bragg going on to become the youngest-ever Brentford debutant at that time.[5]

Brentford had a good start to the season, winning four of the first five matches and going top on the opening day.[6] The majority of the team's goals were scored by forwards Gerry McAloon, Fred Durrant and George Wilkins,[7] but when the goals dried up in September 1946, Brentford's form took a turn for the worse.[6] Matters were made worse when McAloon and Durrant were quickly sold to Celtic and Queens Park Rangers respectively.[8] A supporter, writing to The Brentford & Chiswick Times, commented "it would seem that Brentford were unaware when they allowed them to go that Thomas, Durrant and McAloon had scored very nearly all the side’s goals in the previous season".[9] Manager Curtis received half back George Paterson from Celtic in part exchange for McAloon and also strengthened the team with full back Malky Macdonald and forward Archie Macaulay.[10] By December, Brentford had dropped into the relegation places and a run of 11 losses in 15 matches culminated in the heaviest defeat of the season – 6–1 away to Sheffield United on Christmas Day.[6]

Brentford's form improved after the Christmas Day thrashing, going undefeated in four of the following five matches to climb out of the relegation places, but from February 1947 onwards, the team's form evaporated.[6] Despite Len Townsend coming into form and going on to become the Bees' top scorer for the season,[7] the goalscoring problem was compounded by the transfer request and subsequent sale of George Wilkins in February.[11] Bill Naylor and Dickie Girling were signed in February to bolster the forward line,[12] but scored just three goals between them before the end of the season.[7] On 24 May, defeat to Sunderland and a draw for 20th-place Charlton Athletic away to Everton consigned the Bees to relegation to the Second Division.[13][14] By the time of the final day of the season on 14 June, Brentford had lost 14 of the final 19 matches.[6]

The relegation was the first suffered by the club since it joined the Football League in 1920 and it was the club's final top-flight season until 2021–22, 74 years later.[2] A number of club Football League records were equalled or broken during the season, including fewest victories (9), fewest home victories (5), most defeats (26), most home defeats (11), fewest home goals scored (19) and highest average attendance (25,768).[15][16]

Brentford's goal tally listed first.

Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1946–47 season.

Pos.	Name	Nat.	Date of birth (age)	Signed from	Signed in	Notes
Goalkeepers
GK	Joe Crozier		(1914-12-02)2 December 1914 (aged 31)	East Fife	1937
Defenders
DF	Bill Gorman		(1911-01-13)13 January 1911 (aged 35)	Bury	1938
DF	Frank Latimer		(1923-10-03)3 October 1923 (aged 22)	Snowdown Colliery Welfare	1945
DF	Malky MacDonald		(1913-10-26)26 October 1913 (aged 32)	Kilmarnock	1946	Coach
DF	Roddy Munro		(1920-07-27)27 July 1920 (aged 26)	Rangers	1946
DF	Harry Oliver		(1921-02-16)16 February 1921 (aged 25)	Hartlepools United	1938
Midfielders
HB	Wally Bragg		(1929-07-08)8 July 1929 (aged 17)	Twickenham Celtic	1946	Loaned to Hounslow Town
HB	Buster Brown		(1910-09-06)6 September 1910 (aged 35)	Huddersfield Town	1937
HB	Tom Manley		(1912-10-07)7 October 1912 (aged 33)	Manchester United	1939
HB	John Moore		(1923-09-25)25 September 1923 (aged 22)	Unattached	1938
HB	George Paterson (c)		(1914-09-26)26 September 1914 (aged 31)	Celtic	1946
HB	Arthur Shaw		(1924-04-09)9 April 1924 (aged 22)	Hayes	1946
HB	George Smith		(1915-04-23)23 April 1915 (aged 31)	Charlton Athletic	1945
HB	Cyril Toulouse		(1923-12-24)24 December 1923 (aged 22)	St Cuthberts	1946
Forwards
FW	Alec Blakeman		(1918-06-11)11 June 1918 (aged 28)	Oxford City	1946
FW	José Gallego		(1923-04-08)8 April 1923 (aged 23)	Cambridge City	1947
FW	John Gillies		(1918-10-22)22 October 1918 (aged 27)	St Mirren	1946
FW	Dickie Girling		(1922-05-24)24 May 1922 (aged 24)	Crystal Palace	1947
FW	Idris Hopkins		(1910-10-11)11 October 1910 (aged 35)	Crystal Palace	1932
FW	Archie Macaulay		(1915-07-30)30 July 1915 (aged 31)	West Ham United	1946
FW	Bill Naylor		(1919-11-23)23 November 1919 (aged 26)	Crystal Palace	1947
FW	Maurice Roberts		(1922-07-05)5 July 1922 (aged 24)	Unattached	1946	Loaned to Guildford City
FW	Billy Scott		(1907-12-06)6 December 1907 (aged 38)	Middlesbrough	1932
FW	Alan Smith		(1921-10-15)15 October 1921 (aged 24)	Arsenal	1946
FW	George Stewart		(1920-10-18)18 October 1920 (aged 25)	Hamilton Academical	1946
FW	Len Townsend		(1917-08-31)31 August 1917 (aged 29)	Hayes	1937
Players who left the club mid-season
FW	Fred Durrant		(1921-06-19)19 June 1921 (aged 25)	Folkestone	1938	Transferred to Queens Park Rangers
FW	Gerry McAloon		(1916-09-13)13 September 1916 (aged 29)	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1945	Transferred to Celtic
FW	George Wilkins		(1919-10-27)27 October 1919 (aged 26)	Hayes	1938	Transferred to Bradford Park Avenue

• Sources: 100 Years of Brentford,[7] Timeless Bees,[17] Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939[18]

Cricketers are not included in this list.

Players transferred in
Date	Pos.	Name	Previous Club	Fee	Ref.
May 1946	FW	Alec Blakeman	Oxford City	Free	[22]
May 1946	FW	John Gillies	St Mirren	Nominal	[23]
May 1946	HB	Arthur Shaw	Hayes	n/a	[24]
May 1946	HB	Cyril Toulouse	St Cuthberts	Free	[25]
30 July 1946	FW	George Stewart	Hamilton Academical	n/a	[26]
30 July 1946	FW	J. A. Fyffe	n/a	n/a	[26]
23 August 1946	FW	Robert Ross	Murton Colliery Welfare	n/a	[27]
August 1946	FW	Maurice Roberts	Unattached	Free	[28]
October 1946	DF	Malky MacDonald	Kilmarnock	£1,500	[10]
October 1946	HB	George Paterson	Celtic	Exchange	[10]
November 1946	FW	Archie Macaulay	West Ham United	n/a	[10]
December 1946	FW	Alan Smith	Arsenal	Free	[29]
1946	HB	Wally Bragg	Twickenham Celtic	Amateur	[5]
January 1947	FW	José Gallego	Cambridge City	Free	[30]
January 1947	DF	William Gibson	Arsenal	n/a	[31]
10 February 1947	FW	Dickie Girling	Crystal Palace	n/a	[23]
10 February 1947	FW	Bill Naylor	Crystal Palace	n/a	[32]
March 1947	FW	Percy Gleeson	Hounslow Town	n/a	[33]
Players transferred out
Date	Pos.	Name	Subsequent club	Fee	Ref.
19 June 1946	DF	Harry Bamford	Brighton & Hove Albion	n/a	[34]
19 June 1946	FW	Jim Gotts	Brighton & Hove Albion	n/a	[34]
19 June 1946	FW	Albert Hammond	Exeter City	n/a	[35]
26 June 1946	HB	Eric Jones	Crewe Alexandra	n/a	[36]
September 1946	FW	Fred Durrant	Queens Park Rangers	£4,500	[8]
4 October 1946	FW	Gerry McAloon	Celtic	Exchange	[37]
October 1946	DF	Jimmy Anderson	Carlisle United	Nominal	[38]
10 February 1947	FW	George Wilkins	Bradford Park Avenue	£7,000	[39]
February 1947	DF	Fred Mansfield	Norwich City	n/a	[40]
Players loaned out
Date	Pos.	Name	Previous Club	Date to	Ref.
1946	HB	Wally Bragg	Hounslow Town	1947	[5]
November 1946	FW	Maurice Roberts	Guildford City	1947	[28]
Players released
Date	Pos.	Name	Subsequent club	Join date	Ref.
April 1947	FW	Les Boulter	Yeovil Town	1947	[41]
April 1947	HB	Buster Brown	Leyton Orient	May 1947	[42]
April 1947	HB	Collier	n/a	n/a	[43]
April 1947	FW	J. A. Fyffe	n/a	n/a	[43]
April 1947	FW	John Gillies	Morton	1947	[23]
April 1947	FW	Idris Hopkins	Bristol City	May 1947	[44]
April 1947	FW	Ernest Muttitt	Dover	1947	[45]
April 1947	FW	Maurice Roberts	Bristol City	May 1947	[28]
April 1947	FW	T. Ryder	n/a	n/a	[43]
April 1947	FW	Billy Scott	Aldershot	July 1947	[46]
April 1947	FW	John Sutton	n/a	n/a	[43]
April 1947	FW	Len Townsend	Bristol City	June 1947	[47]