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1981–82 Brentford F.C. season

During the 1981–82 English football season, Brentford competed in the Football League Third Division. After losing ground in January and February 1982, just one win from the final five matches of the season ended the Bees' hopes of promotion.

Season summary[edit]

Aside from the club record signing of £65,000 central defender Alan Whitehead, Brentford manager Fred Callaghan presided over a quiet 1981 off-season at Griffin Park.^[2] Goalkeeper Paul Priddy returned to the club for a third spell on a part-time contract as cover for David McKellar, but the club went into the season understaffed in the striking department, having lost Gary Johnson to injury in a car crash and a suitable replacement could not be found in time.^[1] Bids for midfielders John Beck, Jeff Chandler, forward David Kemp and former Brentford player Andrew McCulloch had failed to yield any transfers.^[1]

Despite going unbeaten in the first four Third Division matches of the season, a bad run of results in September and October 1981 dropped the club to just above the relegation places.^[3] Manager Callaghan acted swiftly in the transfer market, signing midfielders Stan Bowles, Chris Kamara and finally bolstering the forward line with the acquisition of Keith Bowen.^[1] The upturn in form was immediate and seven wins and one draw from a 10-match spell lifted the Bees from 18th place on 17 October to 4th on 28 December.^[3] The run included five consecutive away league wins, which equalled the club record.^[4]

Brentford began 1982 with a run in which the team took just two points from a possible 24, which dropped the club back into mid-table.^[3] Former player Gordon Sweetzer briefly returned to Griffin Park in January, but scored just one goal in 9 appearances before returning to his native Canada.^[2] The team recovered in March and things further improved after forward David Kemp was finally signed on loan in March,^[3] but he succumbed to injury after just three appearances.^[2] A 2–1 win over Chester on 24 April put the Bees in 7th position,^[3] four points behind 3rd-place Lincoln City with five matches to play.^[5] Brentford's outside chances of promotion were killed off in the following match versus Wimbledon at Griffin Park, losing 3–2, having been leading 2–0.^[2] The Bees finished the season in 8th position.^[2]

League table[edit]

Results[edit]

Brentford's goal tally listed first.

Legend[edit]

Pre-season and friendlies[edit]

Football League Third Division[edit]

FA Cup[edit]

Football League Cup[edit]

• Sources: 100 Years of Brentford,^[6] The Big Brentford Book of the Eighties,^[7][8] Statto

Playing squad[edit]

Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1981–82 season.

Pos.	Name	Nat.	Date of birth (age)	Signed from	Signed in	Notes
Goalkeepers
GK	David McKellar		(1956-05-22)22 May 1956 (aged 25)	Derby County	1980
GK	Paul Priddy		(1953-07-11)11 July 1953 (aged 28)	Hayes	1981
Defenders
DF	Mark Hill		(1961-01-21)21 January 1961 (aged 20)	Queens Park Rangers	1980
DF	Robbie Johnson		(1962-03-30)30 March 1962 (aged 19)	Arsenal	1981
DF	Jim McNichol		(1958-06-09)9 June 1958 (aged 23)	Luton Town	1978
DF	Terry Rowe		(1964-06-08)8 June 1964 (aged 17)	Youth	1982
DF	Danis Salman		(1960-03-12)12 March 1960 (aged 21)	Youth	1975
DF	Tony Spencer		(1965-04-23)23 April 1965 (aged 16)	Youth	1982
DF	Barry Tucker		(1952-08-28)28 August 1952 (aged 29)	Northampton Town	1978
DF	Alan Whitehead		(1956-11-20)20 November 1956 (aged 24)	Bury	1981
Midfielders
MF	Stan Bowles		(1948-12-24)24 December 1948 (aged 32)	Orient	1981
MF	Ron Harris		(1944-11-13)13 November 1944 (aged 36)	Chelsea	1980	Assistant manager
MF	Terry Hurlock		(1958-11-22)22 November 1958 (aged 22)	Leytonstone/Ilford	1980
MF	Chris Kamara (c)		(1957-12-25)25 December 1957 (aged 23)	Portsmouth	1981
MF	Gary Roberts		(1960-04-05)5 April 1960 (aged 21)	Wembley	1980
MF	Paul Shrubb		(1955-08-01)1 August 1955 (aged 26)	Hellenic	1977
MF	Keith Tonge		(1964-11-06)6 November 1964 (aged 16)	Youth	1982
MF	Paul Walker		(1960-12-17)17 December 1960 (aged 20)	Youth	1976
Forwards
FW	Bob Booker		(1958-01-25)25 January 1958 (aged 23)	Bedmond Sports & Social	1978
FW	Keith Bowen		(1958-02-26)26 February 1958 (aged 23)	Northampton Town	1981
FW	Gary Johnson		(1959-09-14)14 September 1959 (aged 21)	Chelsea	1980
Players who left the club mid-season
DF	Pat Kruse		(1953-11-30)30 November 1953 (aged 27)	Torquay United	1977	Loaned to Northampton Town, released
MF	David Crown		(1958-02-16)16 February 1958 (aged 23)	Walthamstow Avenue	1980	Transferred to Portsmouth
FW	David Kemp		(1953-02-20)20 February 1953 (aged 28)	Plymouth Argyle	1982	Returned to Plymouth Argyle after loan
FW	Gordon Sweetzer		(1957-01-27)27 January 1957 (aged 24)	Toronto Blizzard	1982	Released

• Sources: The Big Brentford Book of the Eighties,^[9] Timeless Bees^[10]

Coaching staff[edit]

Name	Role
Fred Callaghan	Manager
Ron Harris	Assistant manager
Eddie Lyons	Physiotherapist

Statistics[edit]

Appearances and goals[edit]

Substitute appearances in brackets.

Pos	Nat	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK		David McKellar	45	0	3	0	2	0	50	0
GK		Paul Priddy	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
DF		Mark Hill	17 (1)	0	0	0	2	0	19 (1)	0
DF		Robbie Johnson	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
DF		Pat Kruse	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
DF		Jim McNichol	26	3	3	0	0	0	29	3
DF		Terry Rowe	10	0	0	0	0	0	10	0
DF		Danis Salman	40	0	2	0	2	0	44	0
DF		Tony Spencer	3	0	—		—		3	0
DF		Barry Tucker	38	4	3	0	2	0	43	4
DF		Alan Whitehead	42 (1)	3	3	0	2	0	47 (1)	3
MF		Stan Bowles	31	6	2	0	—		33	6
MF		David Crown	7 (1)	2	—		2	0	9 (1)	2
MF		Ron Harris	19 (1)	0	1	0	2	0	22 (1)	0
MF		Terry Hurlock	40	2	3	0	2	0	45	2
MF		Chris Kamara	31	5	3	0	—		34	5
MF		Gary Roberts	39 (1)	8	2	1	2	0	43 (1)	9
MF		Paul Shrubb	4	0	0	0	1	0	5	0
MF		Keith Tonge	0 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	0 (1)	0
MF		Paul Walker	7 (2)	0	0	0	1	0	8 (2)	0
FW		Bob Booker	27 (11)	4	2	0	2	0	31 (11)	4
FW		Keith Bowen	37 (1)	8	3	2	—		40 (1)	10
FW		Gary Johnson	29 (1)	8	3	0	0	0	32 (1)	8
FW		Gordon Sweetzer	8 (1)	1	—		—		8 (1)	1
Players loaned in during the season
FW		David Kemp	3	1	—		—		3	1

• Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
• Source: The Big Brentford Book of the Eighties^[11]

Goalscorers[edit]

Pos.	Nat	Player	FL3	FAC	FLC	Total
FW		Keith Bowen	8	2	—	10
MF		Gary Roberts	8	1	0	9
FW		Gary Johnson	8	0	0	8
MF		Stan Bowles	6	0	—	6
MF		Chris Kamara	5	0	—	5
FW		Bob Booker	4	0	0	4
DF		Barry Tucker	4	0	0	4
DF		Jim McNichol	3	0	0	3
DF		Alan Whitehead	3	0	0	3
MF		David Crown	2	—	0	2
MF		Terry Hurlock	2	0	0	2
FW		David Kemp	1	—	—	1
FW		Gordon Sweetzer	1	—	—	1
Opponents			1	0	0	1
Total			56	3	0	59

• Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
• Source: The Big Brentford Book of the Eighties^[11]

Management[edit]

Name	Nat	From	To	Record All Comps					Record League
				P	W	D	L	W %	P	W	D	L	W %
Fred Callaghan		29 August 1981	15 May 1982	51	20	12	19	039.22	46	19	11	16	041.30

Summary[edit]

Transfers & loans[edit]

Players transferred in
Date	Pos.	Name	Previous Club	Fee	Ref.
August 1981	GK	Paul Priddy	Hayes	n/a	[1]
August 1981	DF	Alan Whitehead	Bury	£65,000	[1]
September 1981	FW	Keith Bowen	Northampton Town	n/a	[1]
October 1981	MF	Stan Bowles	Orient	£25,000	[1]
October 1981	MF	Chris Kamara	Portsmouth	Exchange	[1]
1981	MF	Keith Tonge	n/a	n/a	[1]
January 1982	FW	Gordon Sweetzer	Toronto Blizzard	Trial	[1]
March 1982	DF	Tony Spencer	n/a	n/a	[1]
Players loaned in
Date from	Pos.	Name	From	Date to	Ref.
March 1982	FW	David Kemp	Plymouth Argyle	March 1982	[1]
Players transferred out
Date	Pos.	Name	Subsequent club	Fee	Ref.
September 1981	FW	Tony Funnell	Bournemouth	£5,000	[1]
October 1981	MF	David Crown	Portsmouth	Exchange	[1]
Players loaned out
Date from	Pos.	Name	To	Date to	Ref.
February 1982	DF	Pat Kruse	Northampton Town	April 1982	[1]
Players released
Date	Pos.	Name	Subsequent club	Join date	Ref.
March 1982	FW	Gordon Sweetzer	Edmonton Drillers	1982	[1]
April 1982	DF	Pat Kruse	Barnet	1982	[1]
May 1982	DF	Mark Hill	Wycombe Wanderers	1982	[1]
May 1982	DF	Robbie Johnson	Hayes	1982	[1]
May 1982	GK	Paul Priddy	Retired		[1]
May 1982	MF	Paul Shrubb	Aldershot	August 1982	[1]
May 1982	DF	Kevin Teer	n/a	n/a	[1]

Awards[edit]

• Supporters' Player of the Year: Stan Bowles^[12]
• Players' Player of the Year: Alan Whitehead^[12]

References[edit]