1988–89 Brentford F.C. season


During the 1988–89 English football season, Brentford competed in the Football League Third Division. The gruelling 63-match season is best remembered for the Bees' run to the sixth round of the FA Cup. Brentford narrowly failed to qualify for the play-offs, but the club's final placing of 7th was its highest in the league pyramid since the 1964–65 season.

Season summary

After a disappointing end to what was a positive first full season in charge, Brentford manager Steve Perryman identified that his principle starting XI would be complete with a creative winger and a reliable goalscoring forward. Perryman broke the Bees' incoming transfer record in July 1988, after spending £77,500 on Sheffield United forward Richard Cadette. Perryman brought experienced winger Neil Smillie back to Griffin Park, 11 years after Smillie had initially played for the Bees on loan. Also arriving at Griffin Park was goalkeeper Tony Parks from Tottenham Hotspur for a £60,000 fee and replaced Gary Phillips, who joined Reading for £25,000. On the eve of the season, right back Roger Joseph, who had been named in the 1987–88 Third Division PFA Team of the Year, joined Wimbledon for a new club record outgoing transfer fee of £150,000.
Brentford enjoyed one of the most exciting seasons in years, producing some notable results in both the Third Division and the cup competitions. The Bees trod water in mid-table for most of the season, before a run of eight wins and two draws from a 10-match spell in March and April 1989 raised the club to 7th position, one place outside the play-off zone, despite the club record £350,000 sale of influential midfielder Andy Sinton to Queens Park Rangers. Two consecutive defeats in early May left Brentford in 9th place, still with a chance of a play-off finish going into the final two matches of the season, but a 1–1 draw with Swansea City at Griffin Park in the penultimate match of the season ended any mathematical chances. Despite drawing the final match of the season, defeats for former play-off-contending rivals Chester City and Notts County raised Brentford to a credible 7th-place finish.
In the cup competitions, Brentford advanced to the second round of the League Cup and the Southern Area semi-finals of the Football League Trophy. Notably the Bees faced local rivals Fulham in both competitions and in the Third Division, winning two, drawing two and losing one of the five matches between the sides during the season. In the FA Cup, Brentford advanced to the sixth round for the first time since the 1948–49 season. Non-league club Halesowen Town were dispatched in the first round, but it took replays to see off Peterborough United and Walsall in the second and third rounds respectively. The Bees faced high-flying Second Division club Manchester City in the fourth round at a sold-out Griffin Park and emerged 3–1 victors thanks to a Gary Blissett brace and one goal from Keith Jones. Brentford also drew promotion-chasing Second Division opposition in the fifth round – Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park. 3,000 travelling supporters watched Brentford hold Rovers at 0–0 until the 80th minute, when Gary Blissett scored the first of the only two goals of the match to put the Bees into the hat for the sixth round. Brentford were drawn against First Division giants Liverpool at Anfield, for a match which would be one of the club's biggest occasions of the postwar era. Steve McMahon opened the scoring after 15 minutes and the Bees held firm until midway through the second half, when three Liverpool goals in a 16-minute spell saw the match finish with an unflattering 4–0 scoreline.
Centre back Terry Evans missed just one match during the season and finished with 62 appearances, the club record for a player in a single season.

League table

Results

Legend

Pre-season

Football League Third Division

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorer
1R19 November 1988Halesowen TownH2–04,514Evans, Sinton
2R10 December 1988Peterborough UnitedA0–05,609
2R 14 December 1988Peterborough UnitedH3–25,605Cadette, Cockram, Smillie
3R7 January 1989WalsallA1–15,375Jones
3R 10 January 1989WalsallH1–08,163Cockram
4R28 January 1989Manchester CityH3–112,100Blissett, Jones
5R18 February 1989Blackburn RoversA2–015,280Blissett
6R18 March 1989LiverpoolA0–442,376

Football League Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorer
R1 30 August 1988FulhamA2–25,489Sinton, Stanislaus
R1 6 September 1988FulhamH1–0 7,707Blissett
R2 27 September 1988Blackburn RoversA1–34,606Blissett
R2 12 October 1988Blackburn RoversH4–3 3,844Cadette, Sinton, Jones

Football League Trophy

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorer
SPR 22 November 1988FulhamA2–02,376Blissett, Cadette
SPR 29 November 1988GillinghamH2–03,713Blissett, Cockram
SR117 January 1989Notts CountyH2–03,194Godfrey, Cadette
SQF21 February 1989ChesterfieldA1–04,207Cadette
SSF21 March 1989Torquay UnitedH0–15,802

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Summary

Transfers & loans

Kit

Awards