1989–90 Brentford F.C. season

Brentford

1989–90 season
Chairman	Martin Lange
Player-manager	Steve Perryman
Stadium	Griffin Park
Third Division	13th
FA Cup	First round
League Cup	Second round
Football League Trophy	Quarter-final
Top goalscorer	League: Holdsworth (24) All: Holdsworth (28)
Highest home attendance	7,962
Lowest home attendance	2,544
Average home league attendance	5,662
Home colours Away colours
← 1988–89 1990–91 →

During the 1989–90 English football season, Brentford competed in the Football League Third Division. After showing relegation form during the first three months of the season, a revival between November 1989 and February 1990 ensured a mid-table finish.

Season summary[]

After a long season in which the sheer amount of cup fixtures ultimately affected Brentford's hopes of a finish in the Third Division play-offs, manager Steve Perryman saw fit to make only minor changes to his squad.^[1] Released were bit-part players and late-season signings Andy Feeley, Graham Pearce, Jon Purdie, Jeremy Roberts and Tony Sealy and in came just two players – club record £167,000 midfielder Eddie May from Hibernian (as a direct replacement for March 1989 departee Andy Sinton) and left back Mark Fleming on a free transfer from Queens Park Rangers.^[1]

Aside from progressing to the second round of the League Cup, Brentford had a torrid start to the Third Division season and dropped into the relegation places on 9 September 1989.^[2] Manager Perryman entered the transfer market to bring Watford forward Dean Holdsworth back to Griffin Park, after a one-month loan spell during the previous season.^[3] The £125,000 paid for Holdsworth made him the club's most expensive forward at the time.^[4] The signing of Holdsworth had little immediate impact and the Bees' slump continued from September into mid-November, when the club occupied bottom place in the division for three weeks in a row.^[2] A 2–0 win over Northampton Town at the County Ground on 25 November provided the spark that changed the team's fortunes, with Holdsworth coming into form and inspiring a run of 10 wins and 1 draw from a 13-match spell, which lifted Brentford from 24th to 9th place.^[2] The Bees stumbled through to the end of the season and the products of Colin Lee's youth team were given game time.^[1] Brentford ended the campaign in 13th place.^[2]

League table[]

Pos	Team v t	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
11	Shrewsbury Town	46	16	15	15	59	54	+5	63
12	Crewe Alexandra	46	15	17	14	56	53	+3	62
13	Brentford	46	18	7	21	66	66	0	61
14	Leyton Orient	46	16	10	20	52	56	−4	58
15	Mansfield Town	46	16	7	23	50	65	−15	55

Results[]

Brentford's goal tally listed first.

Legend[]

Win

Draw

Loss

Pre-season[]

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorer(s)
19 July 1989	Ashford Town (Middlesex)	A	3–0	n/a	Haag, Gayle, Cronk
22 July 1989	Farnborough Town	A	2–3	n/a	Blissett, Cockram
24 July 1989	Crewe United	A	1–0	n/a	Gayle
29 July 1989	St Albans City	A	6–0	n/a	Haag (2), Godfrey (2), May, Buttigieg
1 August 1989		A	3–1	n/a	Jones (2, 1 pen), Smillie
7 August 1989	Yeading	H	2–2	n/a	Jenkins, Funnell
9 August 1989	Queens Park Rangers	H	1–0	4,667	Gayle
12 August 1989	Wimbledon	H	0–1	2,200
14 August 1989	Dartford	A	1–2	n/a	Moabi

Football League Third Division[]

No.	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorer(s)
1	19 August 1989	Bristol Rovers	A	0–1	5,851
2	26 August 1989	Chester City	H	1–1	5,153	Evans
3	2 September 1989	Cardiff City	A	2–2	3,499	May (2)
4	9 September 1989	Bury	H	0–1	5,010
5	16 September 1989	Huddersfield Town	A	0–1	5,578
6	23 September 1989	Birmingham City	H	0–1	5,386
7	26 September 1989	Crewe Alexandra	A	3–2	3,496	Smillie, Jones, Godfrey
8	30 September 1989	Wigan Athletic	H	3–1	4,647	Blissett, Holdsworth, May
9	7 October 1989	Bristol City	H	0–2	7,421
10	14 October 1989	Preston North End	A	2–4	5,956	May, Holdsworth
11	17 October 1989	Bolton Wanderers	H	1–2	4,537	Holdsworth
12	21 October 1989	Shrewsbury Town	A	0–1	3,073
13	28 October 1989	Fulham	H	2–0	7,962	Evans, Smillie
14	31 October 1989	Notts County	A	1–3	4,586	Moncur
15	4 November 1989	Tranmere Rovers	H	2–4	5,720	May, Ratcliffe
16	11 November 1989	Blackpool	A	0–4	2,512
17	25 November 1989	Northampton Town	A	2–0	3,165	May, Holdsworth
18	3 December 1989	Leyton Orient	H	4–3	6,434	Smillie, May, Holdsworth (pen), Blissett
19	17 December 1989	Mansfield Town	H	2–1	5,022	Holdsworth (2)
20	26 December 1989	Reading	A	0–1	5,590
21	30 December 1989	Swansea City	A	1–2	4,537	Blissett
22	1 January 1990	Walsall	H	4–0	5,259	Blissett, Smillie, Holdsworth, Jones
23	6 January 1990	Rotherham United	H	4–2	5,624	Holdsworth (3), Stanislaus
24	12 January 1990	Chester City	A	1–1	2,302	Cockram
25	20 January 1990	Bristol Rovers	H	2–1	7,414	Ratcliffe, Cadette
26	27 January 1990	Bury	A	2–0	2,963	May, Holdsworth
27	10 February 1990	Huddersfield Town	H	2–1	6,774	Holdsworth (2)
28	18 February 1990	Leyton Orient	A	1–0	6,572	Holdsworth
29	21 February 1990	Cardiff City	H	0–1	5,174
30	25 February 1990	Northampton Town	H	3–2	6,391	Blissett (2), Holdsworth
31	3 March 1990	Rotherham United	A	1–2	5,603	Blissett
32	6 March 1990	Wigan Athletic	A	1–2	1,938	Blissett
33	10 March 1990	Crewe Alexandra	H	0–2	5,815
34	13 March 1990	Birmingham City	A	1–0	8,169	Holdsworth
35	17 March 1990	Bristol City	A	0–2	10,813
36	20 March 1990	Preston North End	H	2–2	4,673	Holdsworth, Blissett
37	24 March 1990	Bolton Wanderers	A	1–0	6,156	Holdsworth
38	31 March 1990	Shrewsbury Town	H	1–1	5,387	Smillie
39	7 April 1990	Notts County	H	0–1	5,105
40	10 April 1990	Fulham	A	0–1	6,729
41	14 April 1990	Walsall	A	1–2	2,903	Sparham
42	16 April 1990	Reading	H	1–1	5,594	Driscoll
43	21 April 1990	Mansfield Town	A	3–2	2,347	Holdsworth (2, 1 pen), Blissett
44	28 April 1990	Blackpool	H	5–0	4,784	Evans, Cockram, Holdsworth, Driscoll, Blissett
45	2 May 1990	Swansea City	H	2–1	4,950	Holdsworth (2)
46	5 May 1990	Tranmere Rovers	A	2–2	5,379	Godfrey, Evans

FA Cup[]

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance
1R	18 November 1989	Colchester United	H	0–1	4,171

Football League Cup[]

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorer(s)
R1 (1st leg)	23 August 1989	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	3–0	6,405	Millen, Godfrey, May
R1 (2nd leg)	29 August 1989	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	1–1 (won 4–1 on aggregate)	4,306	Blissett
R2 (2nd leg)	19 September 1989	Manchester City	H	2–1	6,065	Evans, Blissett
R2 (1st leg)	4 October 1989	Manchester City	A	1–4 (lost 5–3 on aggregate)	17,864	May

Football League Trophy[]

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorer
SPR (match 1)	7 November 1989	Leyton Orient	H	3–0	2,544	Holdsworth (2), May
SPR (match 2)	9 December 1989	Mansfield Town	A	1–2	1,445	Holdsworth
SR1	23 January 1990	Reading	H	2–1	3,928	May, Cadette
SQF	6 February 1990	Bristol Rovers	H	2–2 (a.e.t.), lost 4–3 on pens)	4,409	Smillie, Holdsworth

• Sources: The Big Brentford Book of the Eighties,^[5] Statto

Playing squad[]

Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1989–90 season.

Pos.	Name	Nat.	Date of birth (age)	Signed from	Signed in	Notes
Goalkeepers
GK	Ashley Bayes		(1972-04-19)19 April 1972 (aged 17)	Youth	1990
GK	Tony Parks		(1963-01-26)26 January 1963 (aged 26)	Tottenham Hotspur	1988
Defenders
DF	Jamie Bates		(1968-02-24)24 February 1968 (aged 21)	Youth	1986
DF	John Buttigieg		(1963-10-05)5 October 1963 (aged 25)	Sliema Wanderers	1988
DF	Jason Cousins		(1970-10-04)4 October 1970 (aged 18)	Youth	1989
DF	Terry Evans		(1965-04-12)12 April 1965 (aged 24)	Hillingdon	1985
DF	Mark Fleming		(1969-08-11)11 August 1969 (aged 20)	Queens Park Rangers	1989
DF	Keith Millen		(1966-09-26)26 September 1966 (aged 22)	Youth	1985
DF	Steve Perryman		(1951-12-21)21 December 1951 (aged 37)	Oxford United	1986	Manager
DF	Robbie Peters		(1971-05-18)18 May 1971 (aged 18)	Youth	1989
DF	Sean Sparham		(1968-12-04)4 December 1968 (aged 20)	Millwall	1990	On loan from Millwall
DF	Roger Stanislaus		(1968-11-02)2 November 1968 (aged 20)	Arsenal	1987
Midfielders
MF	Paul Buckle		(1970-12-16)16 December 1970 (aged 18)	Youth	1989
MF	Allan Cockram		(1963-10-08)8 October 1963 (aged 25)	St Albans City	1988
MF	Andy Driscoll		(1971-10-21)21 October 1971 (aged 17)	Youth	1989
MF	Marcus Gayle		(1970-09-27)27 September 1970 (aged 18)	Youth	1988	Loaned to KuPS
MF	Kevin Godfrey		(1960-02-24)24 February 1960 (aged 29)	Leyton Orient	1988
MF	Keith Jones (c)		(1965-10-14)14 October 1965 (aged 23)	Chelsea	1987
MF	Eddie May		(1967-08-30)30 August 1967 (aged 21)	Hibernian	1989
MF	Simon Ratcliffe		(1967-02-08)8 February 1967 (aged 22)	Norwich City	1989
MF	Neil Smillie		(1958-07-19)19 July 1958 (aged 31)	Reading	1988
Forwards
FW	Gary Blissett		(1964-05-29)29 May 1964 (aged 25)	Crewe Alexandra	1987
FW	Richard Cadette		(1965-03-21)21 March 1965 (aged 24)	Sheffield United	1988	Loaned to Bournemouth
FW	Kelly Haag		(1970-10-06)6 October 1970 (aged 18)	Youth	1989
FW	Dean Holdsworth		(1968-11-08)8 November 1968 (aged 20)	Watford	1989
Players who left the club mid-season
GK	Keith Branagan		(1966-07-10)10 July 1966 (aged 23)	Millwall	1989	Returned to Millwall after loan
GK	Colin Scott		(1970-05-19)19 May 1970 (aged 19)	Rangers	1990	Returned to Rangers after loan
DF	Paul Miller		(1959-10-11)11 October 1959 (aged 29)	Bournemouth	1989	Returned to Bournemouth after loan
MF	John Moncur		(1966-09-22)22 September 1966 (aged 22)	Tottenham Hotspur	1989	Returned to Tottenham Hotspur after loan
FW	Andy Ansah		(1969-03-19)19 March 1969 (aged 20)	Dorking	1989	Transferred to Southend United

• Sources: The Big Brentford Book of the Eighties,^[6] Timeless Bees^[7]

Coaching staff[]

Name	Role
Steve Perryman	Manager
Phil Holder	Assistant Manager
Roy Clare	Physiotherapist

Statistics[]

Appearances and goals[]

Substitute appearances in brackets.

Pos	Nat	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		FL Trophy		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK		Ashley Bayes	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
GK		Tony Parks	37	0	1	0	4	0	3	0	45	0
DF		Jamie Bates	10 (5)	0	0	0	1 (2)	0	3	0	14 (7)	0
DF		John Buttigieg	12 (10)	0	0	0	3 (1)	0	0 (2)	0	15 (13)	0
DF		Jason Cousins	12 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	1 (1)	0	13 (2)	0
DF		Terry Evans	44	4	1	0	4	1	3	0	52	5
DF		Mark Fleming	15 (2)	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	16 (2)	0
DF		Keith Millen	32	0	1	0	4	1	0	0	37	1
DF		Steve Perryman	3	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	5	0
DF		Robbie Peters	1 (1)	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2 (1)	0
DF		Roger Stanislaus	31	1	0	0	4	0	3	0	38	1
MF		Paul Buckle	6 (4)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6 (4)	0
MF		Allan Cockram	21 (5)	2	0	0	0 (2)	0	3	0	24 (7)	2
MF		Andy Driscoll	10 (2)	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	10 (2)	2
MF		Marcus Gayle	1 (8)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1 (8)	0
MF		Kevin Godfrey	16 (11)	2	0 (1)	0	2	1	0 (3)	0	18 (15)	3
MF		Keith Jones	42	2	1	0	4	0	3	0	50	2
MF		Eddie May	30	8	1	0	4	2	4	2	39	12
MF		Simon Ratcliffe	35	2	1	0	4	0	4	0	44	2
MF		Neil Smillie	43	5	1	0	4	0	4	1	52	6
FW		Andy Ansah	0 (1)	0	0	0	0 (1)	0	0	0	0 (2)	0
FW		Gary Blissett	36 (1)	11	1	0	4	2	1 (1)	0	45 (2)	13
FW		Richard Cadette	7 (9)	1	0	0	1 (1)	0	3	1	11 (10)	2
FW		Kelly Haag	1 (4)	0	0 (1)	0	0 (1)	0	0	0	1 (6)	0
FW		Dean Holdsworth	39	24	1	0	1	0	4	4	45	28
Players loaned in during the season
GK		Keith Branagan	2	0	—		—		1	0	3	0
GK		Colin Scott	6	0	—		—		—		6	0
DF		Paul Miller	3	0	—		—		1	0	4	0
DF		Sean Sparham	5	1	—		—		—		5	1
MF		John Moncur	5	1	—		—		1	0	6	1

• Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
• Source: The Big Brentford Book of the Eighties^[8]

Goalscorers[]

Pos.	Nat	Player	FL3	FAC	FLC	FLT	Total
FW		Dean Holdsworth	24	0	0	4	28
FW		Gary Blissett	11	0	2	0	13
MF		Eddie May	8	0	2	2	12
MF		Neil Smillie	5	0	0	1	6
DF		Terry Evans	4	0	1	0	5
MF		Kevin Godfrey	2	0	1	0	3
MF		Allan Cockram	2	0	0	0	2
MF		Andy Driscoll	2	0	0	0	2
MF		Keith Jones	2	0	0	0	2
MF		Simon Ratcliffe	2	0	0	0	2
FW		Richard Cadette	1	0	0	1	2
DF		Sean Sparham	1	—	—	—	1
MF		John Moncur	1	—	—	0	1
DF		Roger Stanislaus	1	0	0	0	1
DF		Keith Millen	0	0	1	0	1
Total			66	0	7	8	81

• Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
• Source: The Big Brentford Book of the Eighties^[8]

Management[]

Name	Nat	From	To	Record All Comps					Record League
				P	W	D	L	W %	P	W	D	L	W %
Steve Perryman		19 August 1989	5 May 1990	55	22	9	24	040.00	46	18	7	21	039.13

Summary[]

Games played	55 (46 Third Division, 1 FA Cup, 4 League Cup, 4 Football League Trophy)
Games won	22 (18 Third Division, 0 FA Cup, 2 League Cup, 2 Football League Trophy)
Games drawn	9 (7 Third Division, 0 FA Cup, 1 League Cup, 1 Football League Trophy)
Games lost	24 (21 Third Division, 1 FA Cup, 1 League Cup, 1 Football League Trophy)
Goals scored	81 (66 Third Division, 0 FA Cup, 7 League Cup, 8 Football League Trophy)
Goals conceded	78 (66 Third Division, 1 FA Cup, 6 League Cup, 5 Football League Trophy)
Clean sheets	10 (8 Third Division, 0 FA Cup, 1 League Cup, 1 Football League Trophy)
Biggest league win	5–0 versus Blackpool, 28 April 1990
Worst league defeat	4–0 versus Blackpool, 11 November 1989
Most appearances	52, Terry Evans (44 Third Division, 1 FA Cup, 4 League Cup, 3 Football League Trophy), Neil Smillie (43 Third Division, 1 FA Cup, 4 League Cup, 4 Football League Trophy)
Top scorer (league)	24, Dean Holdsworth
Top scorer (all competitions)	28, Dean Holdsworth

Transfers & loans[]

Players transferred in
Date	Pos.	Name	Previous Club	Fee	Ref.
26 July 1989	MF	Eddie May	Hibernian	£167,000	[9]
July 1989	DF	Mark Fleming	Queens Park Rangers	Free	[10]
29 September 1989	FW	Dean Holdsworth	Watford	£125,000	[11]
Players loaned in
Date from	Pos.	Name	From	Date to	Ref.
19 October 1989	MF	John Moncur	Tottenham Hotspur	November 1989	[12]
24 November 1989	GK	Keith Branagan	Millwall	December 1989	[13]
November 1989	DF	Paul Miller	Bournemouth	December 1989	[10]
22 March 1990	GK	Colin Scott	Rangers	April 1990	[14]
March 1990	DF	Sean Sparham	Millwall	End of season	[10]
Players transferred out
Date	Pos.	Name	Subsequent club	Fee	Ref.
29 March 1990	FW	Andy Ansah	Southend United	Free	[15]
Players loaned out
Date from	Pos.	Name	To	Date to	Ref.
October 1989	MF	Matthew Howard	St Albans City	January 1990	[10]
22 March 1990	FW	Richard Cadette	Bournemouth	End of season	[16]
March 1990	MF	Marcus Gayle	KuPS	September 1990	[10]
Players released
Date	Pos.	Name	Subsequent club	Join date	Ref.
January 1990	MF	Matthew Howard	St Albans City	January 1990	[10]
May 1990	FW	Kelly Haag	Fulham	August 1990	[10]

Kit[]

Supplier: Hobot
Sponsor(s): KLM

Home

Away

Source: Brentford F.C.

Awards[]

• Supporters' Player of the Year: Terry Evans^[17]
• Players' Player of the Year: Terry Evans^[17]

References[]