During the 1952–53 English football season, Brentford competed in the Football League Second Division. A forgettable season, during which Tommy Lawton was appointed as the club's player-manager, ended with a 17th-place finish.
ForwardTommy Lawton (right) was appointed as player-manager in January 1953
Brentford's 1952–53 pre-season preparations were thrown into disarray by the departure of secretary-manager Jackie Gibbons in August 1952.[1] In his letter of resignation, Gibbons wrote of having failed to see "eye to eye" with the Brentford board.[1] Long-serving assistant manager Jimmy Bain took over as caretaker until a permanent appointment could be made.[1] 34-year-old forwardLes Smith was the club's only signing and returned to Griffin Park after six years with Aston Villa.[1]Half backsBill Slater and forwards Johnny Paton and Jimmy Bowie were the only departures of note.[1]
Brentford had a poor start to the Second Division season and won just five of the opening 20 matches.[2] Four defeats and no wins in a five-match spell in September 1952 led caretaker Bain to break up his settled XI and experiment with moving players into different positions.[1] Want-away captainRon Greenwood left for First Division club Chelsea in October 1952 and forward Jimmy D'Arcy arrived in part-exchange.[1] The tide began to turn after back to back victories over Barnsley on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.[2] Forward Tommy Lawton was announced as Brentford's player-manager on 2 January 1953 and Jimmy Bain reverted to his role as assistant.[1] Lawton was unbeaten in 9 of his first 12 matches, but the team lost confidence after a pair of heavy defeats in March and slumped to a 17th-place finish.[1][2]