# 1896–97 Brentford F.C. season

During the 1896–97 English football season, Brentford competed in the London League Second Division. The club finished as runners-up to gain promotion to the First Division.

## Season summary

During the 1896 off-season, Brentford was elected into the Second Division of the newly-formed London League. 1896–97 marked the club's first full season of competitive league play since 1892–93, when it finished as champions of the West London Alliance. Long-serving half back Jimmy Ray and outside left Tommy Stevenson were released and transferred in were forwards Oakey Field, Harold Hudson, J. Wade and left half Billy Smith.
Despite a failure to win either the London Senior Cup, Middlesex Senior Cup or the West Middlesex Cup, Brentford took the London League Second Division by storm, losing just one match all season to finish as runners-up to champions Bromley and gain promotion to the First Division. Attendances at Shotter's Field were rarely below 1,500 and forward Oakey Field and captain Arthur Charlton scored many of the team's goals.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Promotion |
| 1 | Bromley | 16 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 42 | 16 | 2.625 | 25 | Promoted to the 1897–98 London League First Division |
| 2 | Brentford | 16 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 42 | 19 | 2.211 | 24 | Promoted to the 1897–98 London League First Division |
| 3 | Queens Park Rangers | 16 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 31 | 14 | 2.214 | 21 | Promoted to the 1897–98 London League First Division |
| 4 | Stanley | 16 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 22 | 10 | 2.200 | 20 | Promoted to the 1897–98 London League First Division |
| 5 | Hammersmith Athletic | 16 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 18 | 25 | 0.720 | 13 | |
| 6 | Harrow Athletic | 16 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 19 | 34 | 0.559 | 11 | |
| 7 | Forest Swifts | 16 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 25 | 37 | 0.676 | 10 | |
| 8 | Fulham | 16 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 17 | 40 | 0.425 | 10 | |
| 9 | West Croydon | 16 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 12 | 33 | 0.364 | 10 | |

## Results

    Brentford's goal tally listed first.

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### London League Second Division

| No. | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Scorer(s) |
| 1 | 3 October 1896 | Fulham | H | 6–1 | Wade, Field (3), H. Williams, Hester |
| 2 | 21 November 1896 | Fulham | A | 2–0 | Steers, Ingram |
| 3 | 5 December 1896 | Bromley | A | 2–2 | A. Williams, Swann (pen) |
| 4 | 12 December 1896 | West Croydon | A | 2–2 | Hudson, Bailey |
| 5 | 20 February 1897 | Bromley | H | 3–2 | Untraced, Hudson, Swann (pen) |
| 6 | 6 March 1897 | Harrow Athletic | A | 2–2 | Field, Ingram |
| 7 | 18 March 1897 | West Croydon | H | 4–0 | Untraced |
| 8 | 24 March 1897 | Stanley | A | 2–1 | Field (2) |
| 9 | 27 March 1897 | Forest Swifts | A | 1–1 | Field |
| 10 | 31 March 1897 | Hammersmith Athletic | A | 3–0 | Untraced |
| 11 | 1 April 1897 | Forest Swifts | H | 3–2 | Untraced |
| 12 | 3 April 1897 | Harrow Athletic | H | 5–0 | Hudson, Wade (2), Charlton (2) |
| 13 | 10 April 1897 | Queens Park Rangers | H | 2–2 | Field, Hudson |
| 14 | 16 April 1897 | Hammersmith Athletic | H | 4–1 | Untraced |
| 15 | 17 April 1897 | Stanley | H | 0–0 | |
| 16 | 22 April 1897 | Queens Park Rangers | A | 1–3 | Untraced |

### London Senior Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Scorer(s) |
| 1QR | 17 October 1896 | Novocastrians | H | 3–1 | Hudson, Charlton, Field |
| 2QR | 7 November 1896 | Harrow Athletic | A | 3–0 | Hudson, Charlton, Field |
| 3QR | 28 November 1896 | Crescent | H | 5–1 | Charlton (2), Hester (2), Bailey |
| 4QR | 19 December 1896 | Old St. Mark's | H | 2–1 | Charlton, Swann (pen) |
| 1R | 6 February 1897 | Old Foresters | H | 4–2 | Bailey (2), Hudson, H. Williams |
| 2R | 27 February 1897 | Bromley | H | 3–1 | Butcher, Batchelor, Swann (pen) |
| SF | 8 April 1897 | Old Carthusians | N | 1–5 | Field |

### Middlesex Senior Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Scorer(s) |
| 1QR | 10 October 1896 | Bow | H | 8–0 | A. Williams, untraced, Field (2), untraced (2 og), Charlton, Hester |
| 2QR | 14 November 1896 | Royal Scots Greys | A | 0–1 | |

### West Middlesex Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Scorer(s) |
| 1R | 13 February 1897 | Southall | A | 3–1 | Charlton, Wade (2) |
| SF | 13 March 1897 | Harrow Athletic | N | 5–2 | Hudson, Field (2), Salt (og), untraced |
| F | 24 April 1897 | Hanwell | N | 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 | Jack Foster |
| — | DF | ENG | A. Collins |
| — | DF | ENG | Alfred Lugg |
| — | DF | | Shields |
| — | DF | ENG | Percy Swann |
| — | DF | ENG | Archie Williams |
| — | MF | SCO | Arthur Charlton (c) |
| — | MF | ENG | Richard Dailley |
| — | MF | ENG | Herbert Edney |
| — | MF | ENG | E. Osbourne |
| — | MF | ENG | Arthur Pring |
| — | MF | ENG | Billy Smith |
| — | FW | | A. Adams |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | FW | ENG | G. Bailey |
| — | FW | | Batchelor |
| — | FW | ENG | Fred Butcher |
| — | FW | ENG | Oakey Field |
| — | FW | ENG | George Hester |
| — | FW | ENG | Harold Hudson |
| — | FW | ENG | L. Ingram |
| — | FW | ENG | Hilton Saunders |
| — | FW | ENG | Billy Steers |
| — | FW | | J. Wade |
| — | FW | MLT | George Whitmarsh |
| — | FW | ENG | Harry Williams |
* Player of unknown position: Batchelor
* Source: 100 Years of Brentford

## Statistics
### Management

| Name | 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 | From | To | P | W | D | L | W % | P | W | D | L | W % |
| Committee | 3 October 1896 | 24 April 1897 | 28 | 18 | 6 | 4 | 064.29 | 16 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 056.25 |

### Summary

| Games played | 28 (16 London League Second Division, 7 London Senior Cup, 2 Middlesex Senior Cup, 3 West Middlesex Cup) |
| Games won | 18 (9 London League Second Division, 6 London Senior Cup, 1 Middlesex Senior Cup, 2 West Middlesex Cup) |
| Games drawn | 6 (6 London League Second Division, 0 London Senior Cup, 0 Middlesex Senior Cup, 0 West Middlesex Cup) |
| Games lost | 4 (1 London League Second Division, 1 London Senior Cup, 1 Middlesex Senior Cup, 1 West Middlesex Cup) |
| Goals scored | 74 (42 London League Second Division, 21 London Senior Cup, 8 Middlesex Senior Cup, 3 West Middlesex Cup) |
| Goals conceded | 39 (19 London League Second Division, 11 London Senior Cup, 1 Middlesex Senior Cup, 8 West Middlesex Cup) |
| Clean sheets | 7 (5 London League Second Division, 1 London Senior Cup, 1 Middlesex Senior Cup, 0 West Middlesex Cup) |
| Biggest league win | 5–0 versus Harrow Athletic, 3 April 1897; 6–1 versus Fulham, 3 October 1896 |
| Worst league defeat | 3–1 versus Queens Park Rangers, 22 April 1897 |
| Most appearances (where traced) | 17, Arthur Charlton, Richard Dailley, Jack Foster (7 London League Second Division, 6 London Senior Cup, 2 Middlesex Senior Cup, 2 West Middlesex Cup) |
| Top scorer (league, where traced) | 8, Oakey Field |
| Top scorer (all competitions, where traced) | 15, Oakey Field |