# 1909–10 Brentford F.C. season

During the 1909–10 English football season, Brentford competed in the Southern League First Division. A mid-table season ended on a positive note, with a run of just three defeats from the final 17 matches.

## Season summary

Brentford manager Fred Halliday assembled a small squad for the 1909–10 season, with the club having withdrawn from the Western League and United League in favour of concentrating solely on the Southern League. A handful of the previous season's squad was retained and in came a number of new players, including goalkeeper Archie Ling and former Brentford pair Jock Hamilton and Adam Bowman. The club adopted new colours prior to the season, with the gold and blue-striped shirts being replaced by a gold shirt with a blue 'V' on the front and back.
Injury to captain Dusty Rhodes, illness suffered by Jock Hamilton and poor form from forward George Rushton contributed to Brentford's bad start to the First Division season. Manager Halliday was forced to play natural centre forward Adam Bowman at inside forward, which conflicted with centre forward Geordie Reid's role and necessitated the transfer swap of Bowman for Portsmouth inside forward Bill McCafferty in October 1909. After exiting the FA Cup in the second round at the hands of Accrington Stanley, Brentford emerged from a poor Christmas and January to win 10 and draw four of the final 17 matches of the season. The Bees finished comfortably in 14th position.

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts |
| 12 | New Brompton | 42 | 19 | 5 | 18 | 76 | 74 | 1.027 | 43 |
| 13 | Bristol Rovers | 42 | 16 | 10 | 16 | 37 | 48 | 0.771 | 42 |
| 14 | Brentford | 42 | 16 | 9 | 17 | 50 | 58 | 0.862 | 41 |
| 15 | Luton Town | 42 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 72 | 92 | 0.783 | 41 |
| 16 | Millwall | 42 | 15 | 7 | 20 | 45 | 59 | 0.763 | 37 |

## Results

    Brentford's goal tally listed first.

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Southern League First Division

| No. | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Scorer(s) |
| 1 | 1 September 1909 | Crystal Palace | A | 0–1 | |
| 2 | 4 September 1909 | Brighton & Hove Albion | H | 0–0 | |
| 3 | 8 September 1909 | Swindon Town | A | 0–4 | |
| 4 | 11 September 1909 | West Ham United | A | 2–3 | Rushton, Reid |
| 5 | 13 September 1909 | Crystal Palace | H | 1–0 | Richards |
| 6 | 18 September 1909 | Portsmouth | H | 2–0 | Bowman (2) |
| 7 | 25 September 1909 | Bristol Rovers | A | 0–3 | |
| 8 | 27 September 1909 | Swindon Town | H | 1–1 | Bowman (2) |
| 9 | 2 October 1909 | Norwich City | H | 0–1 | |
| 10 | 9 October 1909 | Exeter City | A | 1–4 | Reid |
| 11 | 11 October 1909 | Plymouth Argyle | H | 2–2 | Riley, Bowman |
| 12 | 16 October 1909 | Coventry City | A | 0–3 | |
| 13 | 23 October 1909 | Watford | H | 2–0 | Reid (2, 1 pen) |
| 14 | 30 October 1909 | Reading | A | 0–2 | |
| 15 | 6 November 1909 | Southend United | H | 4–1 | Bartlett, Hollinrake, Reid (2) |
| 16 | 13 November 1909 | Leyton | A | 0–0 | |
| 17 | 27 November 1909 | Southampton | A | 0–1 | |
| 18 | 11 December 1909 | Millwall | A | 1–1 | Reid |
| 19 | 18 December 1909 | New Brompton | H | 4–1 | Reid (3), Rhodes (pen) |
| 20 | 25 December 1909 | Northampton Town | H | 2–1 | Walker, Bartlett |
| 21 | 27 December 1909 | Northampton Town | A | 1–4 | Rushton (pen) |
| 22 | 28 December 1909 | Luton Town | A | 2–4 | Rhodes (pen), Bartlett |
| 23 | 1 January 1910 | Queens Park Rangers | H | 0–1 | |
| 24 | 8 January 1910 | Brighton & Hove Albion | A | 0–3 | |
| 25 | 15 January 1910 | Croydon Common | H | 1–2 | McCafferty |
| 26 | 22 January 1910 | West Ham United | H | 0–0 | |
| 27 | 29 January 1910 | Portsmouth | A | 2–0 | McCafferty, Reid |
| 28 | 5 February 1910 | Croydon Common | A | 2–1 | Hollinrake, Bartlett |
| 29 | 12 February 1910 | Norwich City | A | 1–5 | Hollinrake |
| 30 | 14 February 1910 | Bristol Rovers | H | 1–0 | Walker |
| 31 | 19 February 1910 | Exeter City | H | 3–0 | Anderson, Hollinrake, Reid |
| 32 | 26 February 1910 | Coventry City | H | 3–1 | Hollinrake (2), Bartlett |
| 33 | 5 March 1910 | Watford | A | 0–0 | |
| 34 | 12 March 1910 | Reading | H | 1–0 | Reid |
| 35 | 19 March 1910 | Southend United | A | 3–0 | Walker, Hollinrake, Anderson |
| 36 | 25 March 1910 | Queens Park Rangers | A | 0–0 | |
| 37 | 26 March 1910 | Leyton | H | 1–0 | Hollinrake |
| 38 | 28 March 1910 | Luton Town | H | 2–2 | Sibbald, Anderson |
| 39 | 2 April 1910 | Plymouth Argyle | A | 0–3 | |
| 40 | 9 April 1910 | Southampton | H | 1–0 | Reid |
| 41 | 23 April 1910 | Millwall | H | 2–0 | Reid, McCafferty |
| 42 | 30 April 1910 | New Brompton | A | 2–3 | Reid (2) |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Scorer |
| 1R | 20 November 1909 | Luton Town | H | 2–1 | Reid (2) |
| 2R | 4 December 1909 | Accrington Stanley | A | 0–1 | |
* Source: 100 Years of Brentford

## Playing squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | ENG | Archie Ling |
| — | GK | ENG | Albert Wise |
| — | DF | ENG | Steve Buxton |
| — | DF | ENG | Dusty Rhodes (c) |
| — | DF | ENG | Tommy Stewart |
| — | MF | ENG | Charlie Blackall |
| — | MF | SCO | Jock Hamilton |
| — | MF | ENG | Jimmy Jay |
| — | MF | ENG | Phil Richards |
| — | MF | ENG | James Riley |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | FW | ENG | George Anderson |
| — | FW | ENG | Albert Bartlett |
| — | FW | ENG | Arthur Cowley |
| — | FW | SCO | Billy Grassam |
| — | FW | ENG | Bert Hollinrake |
| — | FW | SCO | Bill McCafferty |
| — | FW | ENG | James McDonald |
| — | FW | SCO | Geordie Reid |
| — | FW | ENG | Jack Sibbald |
| — | FW | ENG | Lindsay Syrad |

### Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | FW | SCO | Adam Bowman (to Portsmouth) |
| — | FW | ENG | George Rushton (to Swindon Town) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | FW | ENG | Alf Walker (to Wolverhampton Wanderers) |
* Source: 100 Years of Brentford,

## Coaching staff

| Name | Role |
| Fred Halliday | Secretary Manager |
| Tom Cowper | Trainer |

## Statistics
### Goalscorers

| Pos. | Nat | Player | SL1 | FAC | Total |
| FW | | Geordie Reid | 17 | 2 | 19 |
| FW | | Bert Hollinrake | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| FW | | Albert Bartlett | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| FW | | Adam Bowman | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| FW | | George Anderson | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| FW | | Bill McCafferty | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| FW | | Alf Walker | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| DF | | Dusty Rhodes | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| FW | | George Rushton | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| HB | | Phil Richards | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| HB | | James Riley | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| FW | | Jack Sibbald | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | Total | Total | 50 | 2 | 52 |
* Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
* Source: 100 Years Of Brentford

### Management

| Name | Nat | From | To | Record All Comps | Record All Comps | Record All Comps | Record All Comps | Record All Comps | Record League | Record League | Record League | Record League | Record League |
| Name | Nat | From | To | P | W | D | L | W % | P | W | D | L | W % |
| Fred Halliday | | 1 September 1909 | 30 April 1910 | 44 | 17 | 9 | 18 | 038.64 | 42 | 16 | 9 | 17 | 038.10 |

### Summary

| Games played | 44 (42 Southern League First Division, 2 FA Cup) |
| Games won | 17 (16 Southern League First Division, 1 FA Cup) |
| Games drawn | 9 (9 Southern League First Division, 0 FA Cup) |
| Games lost | 18 (17 Southern League First Division, 1 FA Cup) |
| Goals scored | 52 (50 Southern League First Division, 2 FA Cup) |
| Goals conceded | 60 (58 Southern League First Division, 2 FA Cup) |
| Clean sheets | 16 (16 Southern League First Division, 0 FA Cup) |
| Biggest league win | 3–0 on two occasions; 4–1 on two occasions |
| Worst league defeat | 4–0 versus Swindon Town, 8 September 1909; 5–1 versus Norwich City, 12 February 1910 |
| Most appearances | 44, Albert Bartlett, Archie Ling (42 Southern League First Division, 2 FA Cup) |
| Top scorer (league) | 17, Geordie Reid |
| Top scorer (all competitions) | 19, Geordie Reid |