# 1898–99 Brentford F.C. season

During the 1898–99 English football season, Brentford competed in the Southern League Second Division London. Though the season was largely viewed as a disappointment, the Bees finished in 4th place.

## Season summary

Brentford enjoyed a meteoric rise in London amateur football during a three-year period, going from playing only friendly and cup matches in 1895–96, to being promoted through the London League and elected into the Southern League for 1898–99 season. The club paid for its success and a number of its better players were lured away during the off-season, with forwards Oakey Field and David Lloyd turning professional and signing for Sheffield United and Thames Ironworks respectively. On the financial front, attendances had consistently improved year-on-year for the previous three seasons, but the leaseholder of the club's Shotter's Lane ground took the opportunity to increase the rent to an unacceptable amount. The club, which had made a loss on the previous season, were forced to move out of Brentford to Cross Roads, an unsatisfactory patch of ground located near South Ealing tube station. To compound the financial problems, while the club remained officially amateur, it was illegally forced to pay some of its new signings more than their travelling expenses to entice them to play.
Despite the goals of Oakey Field's replacement C. Ward, Brentford had a modest start to life in the London section of the Southern League Second Division, but after the departure of Ward in early November 1898, wins over Southall and St Albans put the club top of the division late in the month. The Bees subsequently fell away badly, taking just one point from a possible 10 over the next five matches. After winning two cups during the previous season, the club experienced little joy in 1898–99, suffering early exits in the FA Cup, London Senior Cup, Middlesex Senior Cup and suffering a semi-final defeat to Harrow Athletic in the West Middlesex Cup. The club entered the FA Amateur Cup for the only time, but withdrew after progressing to the second round. Though the season was largely a disappointment, Brentford finished in a credible 4th place in the London section of the Southern League Second Division.

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts |
| 2 | Wolverton L&NWR | 22 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 88 | 43 | 2.047 | 30 |
| 3 | Watford | 22 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 62 | 35 | 1.771 | 30 |
| 4 | Brentford | 22 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 59 | 39 | 1.513 | 25 |
| 5 | Wycombe Wanderers | 22 | 10 | 2 | 10 | 55 | 57 | 0.965 | 22 |
| 6 | Southall | 22 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 44 | 55 | 0.800 | 22 |

## Results

    Brentford's goal tally listed first.

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Southern League Second Division London

| No. | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Scorer(s) |
| 1 | 10 September 1898 | St Albans | H | 6–1 | Ward (3), Booth, Dailley, Richardson |
| 2 | 17 September 1898 | Fulham | A | 4–1 | Edney, Booth (2), Knapman |
| 3 | 24 September 1898 | Thames Ironworks | A | 1–3 | Tranter (og) |
| 4 | 8 October 1898 | Watford | H | 2–4 | Dailley (pen), Booth |
| 5 | 15 October 1898 | Wycombe Wanderers | H | 9–2 | Knapman, Ward (5), Richardson, Dailley (2, 1 pen) |
| 6 | 5 November 1898 | Wolverton London & North Western Railway | A | 2–4 | Dailley, Booth |
| 7 | 12 November 1898 | Southall | A | 3–0 | Booth, Richardson, Ward |
| 8 | 24 November 1898 | St Albans | A | 5–4 | McMillan, Dailley (2, 1 pen), Booth |
| 9 | 3 December 1898 | Uxbridge | A | 0–3 | |
| 10 | 17 December 1898 | Shepherds Bush | H | 1–1 | Johnson |
| 11 | 24 December 1898 | Watford | A | 1–2 | Evans |
| 12 | 31 December 1898 | Chesham | A | 1–2 | Dailley |
| 13 | 11 February 1899 | Thames Ironworks | H | 0–2 | |
| 14 | 18 February 1899 | Maidenhead | A | 3–0 | Walker, Booth, Robey (og) |
| 15 | 25 February 1899 | Fulham | H | 2–1 | Evans, Johnson |
| 16 | 4 March 1899 | Wolverton London & North Western Railway | H | 3–3 | Johnson, Knapman (2) |
| 17 | 11 March 1899 | Uxbridge | H | 0–1 | |
| 18 | 18 March 1899 | Shepherds Bush | A | 2–1 | Walker, Dailley |
| 19 | 1 April 1899 | Chesham | H | 5–2 | Knapman (2), Walker (pen), Westhead, Richardson |
| 20 | 8 April 1899 | Maidenhead | H | 6–0 | Evans, Johnson (2), Walker, Richardson |
| 21 | 15 April 1899 | Southall | H | 2–1 | Johnson (2) |
| 22 | 22 April 1899 | Wycombe Wanderers | A | 1–1 | Turner |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Scorer(s) |
| 3QR | 29 October 1898 | Clapton | A | 1–6 | Dailley |

### London Senior Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Scorer(s) |
| 1R | 14 January 1899 | London Caledonians | H | 1–6 | Evans |

### Middlesex Senior Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Scorer(s) |
| 1R | 7 January 1899 | Uxbridge | H | 7–0 | Evans, Dailley (2, 1 pen), Booth, Knapman (2), Johnson |
| 2R | 4 February 1899 | Barnet | H | 1–2 | Johnson |

### West Middlesex Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Scorer(s) | Notes |
| 1R | 21 January 1899 | Civil Service | H | 4–3 | Evans, Booth (2), Johnson | |
| SF | 18 March 1899 | Harrow Athletic | N | 1–2 (a.e.t.) | Johnson | |
* 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 | Ben Brown |
| — | GK | SCO | Frank Burton |
| — | GK | SCO | Henry Gill |
| — | GK | ENG | Charles Gillett |
| — | GK | ENG | Harry Pennington |
| — | DF | ENG | "Gosling" |
| — | DF | WAL | Frank Lewis |
| — | DF | ENG | Alfred Lugg |
| — | DF | ENG | George Pollitt |
| — | DF | ENG | Percy Swann |
| — | DF | SCO | George Turner |
| — | DF | ENG | Archie Williams |
| — | MF | SCO | Arthur Charlton |
| — | MF | ENG | George Haslen |
| — | MF | ENG | Alfred Mattocks |
| — | MF | ENG | William Mehew |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | ENG | Billy Smith |
| — | MF | ENG | W. Walker |
| — | MF | ENG | William Westhead |
| — | FW | ENG | Ernest Booth |
| — | FW | ENG | J. Chambers |
| — | FW | ENG | John Cotton |
| — | FW | ENG | Richard Dailley |
| — | FW | | Charlie Evans |
| — | FW | ENG | W. Hancock |
| — | FW | ENG | Frederick Johnson |
| — | FW | ENG | Thomas Knapman |
| — | FW | | J. McMillan |
| — | FW | WAL | Trevor Owen |
| — | FW | ENG | John Richardson |
| — | FW | SCO | James Rough |

### 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 |
| — | MF | ENG | Herbert Edney (Retired) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | FW | | C. Ward |
* "Gosling" is an alias
* Source: 100 Years of Brentford

## Statistics
### Goalscorers

| Pos. | Nat | Player | SL2 | FAC | LSC | MSC | WMC | Total |
| FW | | Ernest Booth | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 12 |
| FW | | Richard Dailley | 9 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 |
| FW | | Frederick Johnson | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 11 |
| FW | n/a | C. Ward | 9 | — | — | — | — | 9 |
| FW | | Thomas Knapman | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| FW | | John Richardson | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| FW | n/a | Charlie Evans | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| HB | | W. Walker | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| HB | | Herbert Edney | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 |
| DF | | George Turner | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| FW | n/a | J. McMillan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| HB | | William Westhead | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Opponents | Opponents | Opponents | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Total | Total | Total | 59 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 74 |
* Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
* Source: 100 Years Of Brentford

### 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 | 10 September 1898 | 22 April 1899 | 28 | 13 | 3 | 12 | 046.43 | 22 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 050.00 |

### Summary

| Games played | 28 (22 Southern League Second Division London, 1 FA Cup, 1 London Senior Cup, 2 Middlesex Senior Cup, 2 West Middlesex Cup) |
| Games won | 13 (11 Southern League Second Division London, 0 FA Cup, 0 London Senior Cup, 1 Middlesex Senior Cup, 1 West Middlesex Cup) |
| Games drawn | 3 (3 Southern League Second Division London, 0 FA Cup, 0 London Senior Cup, 0 Middlesex Senior Cup, 0 West Middlesex Cup) |
| Games lost | 12 (8 Southern League Second Division London, 1 FA Cup, 1 London Senior Cup, 1 Middlesex Senior Cup, 1 West Middlesex Cup) |
| Goals scored | 74 (59 Southern League Second Division London, 1 FA Cup, 1 London Senior Cup, 8 Middlesex Senior Cup, 5 West Middlesex Cup) |
| Goals conceded | 58 (39 Southern League Second Division London, 6 FA Cup, 6 London Senior Cup, 2 Middlesex Senior Cup, 5 West Middlesex Cup) |
| Clean sheets | 4 (3 Southern League Second Division London, 0 FA Cup, 0 London Senior Cup, 1 Middlesex Senior Cup, 0 West Middlesex Cup) |
| Biggest league win | 9–2 versus Wycombe Wanderers, 15 October 1898 |
| Worst league defeat | 3–0 versus Uxbridge, 3 December 1898 |
| Most appearances | 27, Richard Dailley (22 Southern League Second Division London, 1 FA Cup, 1 London Senior Cup, 2 Middlesex Senior Cup, 1 West Middlesex Cup) |
| Top scorer (league) | 9, Ernest Booth, Richard Dailley, C. Ward |
| Top scorer (all competitions) | 12, Ernest Booth, Richard Dailley |