1993–94 season of Brentford F.C.
Brentford 1993–94 football season
During the 1993–94 English football season, Brentford competed in the Football League Second Division . In a season of transition, a failure to win any of the final 16 league matches ended all hopes of a finish in the play-off places.
The 1993–94 season saw Brentford back in the Second Division after suffering relegation from the First Division at the first attempt.[ 1] Former Chelsea manager David Webb replaced Phil Holder and immediately set about overhauling the squad, releasing 11 players and cancelling the contracts of Murray Jones , Neil Smilie and Detzi Kruszyński . 1992–93 top-scorer Gary Blissett left the club for a £350,000 fee settled by a tribunal , goalkeeper Graham Benstead and defender Terry Evans rejected new contracts and were made available for loan , while forward Joe Allon was transfer-listed. In came midfielder Paul Smith , forward Denny Mundee and youngster Scott Morgan from Bournemouth and non-League players Dean A. Williams and Dean P. Williams . Professional contracts were given to youth products Carl Hutchings , Craig Ravenscroft and Tamer Fernandes . Manager David Webb continued to strengthen the squad during the early months of the season, bringing in goalkeeper Kevin Dearden , defenders Martin Grainger and Gus Hurdle , midfielder Lee Harvey and forwards Ian Benjamin and Matthew Metcalf , with Terry Evans and Grant Chalmers leaving the club.
Brentford began the season with two wins from the first three matches to rise as high as 5th, before losing five of the next six to drop into the relegation places.[ 6] Transfer-listed forward Joe Allon provided the catalyst for a revival, returning from a loan spell with Southend United to score 9 goals in eight games in all competitions and fire the Bees back up to 12th position by early November.[ 6] [ 7] His run was ended by a broken jaw suffered at the hands of teammate Mickey Bennett , who was immediately sacked by the club.[ 8] Forward Denny Mundee stepped into the breach and scored 9 goals in as many games in all competitions to help elevate Brentford back into the play-off positions and the Football League Trophy quarter-finals.[ 6] The run prompted Premier League club Southampton to offer David Webb their vacant manager's job, which Webb turned down. Two club records were set during the run – 11 consecutive away matches unbeaten in all competitions and 10 consecutive away league matches undefeated.
Brentford had risen to 5th in the table after a 4–1 win over Bristol Rovers on 12 February 1994, but a winless run of 16 matches to close out the season dropped the Bees to 16th.[ 6] Webb had continued his rebuilding of the squad through the second half of the season, selling transfer-listed players Marcus Gayle , Joe Allon and Keith Millen , while bringing in defenders David Thompson and Barry Ashby , winger Darren Annon and forward Robert Taylor . Season-ending injuries to Taylor, Shane Westley , Ian Benjamin and suspensions incurred by Martin Grainger, David Thompson, Kevin Dearden and Brian Statham further hindered Webb's ability to pick a settled team.
Brentford's goal tally listed first. Pre-season and friendlies [ edit ] Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorer(s) 20 July 1993 Fareham Town A 3–0 n/a Allon (2), Gayle 22 July 1993 St Albans City A 4–1 n/a Allon (2), Ravenscroft , Buckle 24 July 1993 Hampton A 2–1 n/a Ratcliffe , Chalmers 26 July 1993 Havant Town A 3–1 n/a M. Bennett , Westley , Millen 28 July 1993 Chesham United A 2–1 n/a Allon (2) 31 July 1993 Crystal Palace H 1–3 n/a Ratcliffe 3 August 1993 Farnborough Town A 3–0 n/a Allon (2), M. Bennett 4 August 1993 Welling United A 0–1 n/a 6 August 1993 Tottenham Hotspur H 0–0 4,535 8 August 1993 Colchester United A 1–2 n/a Ravenscroft 18 August 1993 Tamworth A 2–2 n/a D.A. Williams , Evans 1 September 1993 Walton & Hersham A 4–0 n/a Millen , Ravenscroft , D.A. Williams 21 September 1993 Chesham United A 1–2 n/a Peters 7 December 1993 Hailsham Town A 10–3 n/a Metcalf (4), Stephenson (3), Benjamin , Millen , G. Bennett 22 March 1994 Zambia H 0–2 1,168 26 April 1994 Hayes A 2–2 n/a Grainger , Peters 12 May 1994 Crystal Palace H 5–3 n/a Mundee , Peters , Metcalf
No. Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorer(s) 1 14 August 1993 Exeter City H 2–1 5,537 Allon , Gayle 2 21 August 1993 Blackpool A 1–1 4,024 Allon 3 28 August 1993 Reading H 1–0 6,848 Allon 4 31 August 1993 Hull City A 0–1 4,517 5 4 September 1993 Rotherham United A 0–2 4,333 6 11 September 1993 Swansea City H 1–1 5,042 Ratcliffe 7 14 September 1993 Leyton Orient H 0–1 5,149 8 18 September 1993 Brighton & Hove Albion A 1–2 5,734 D.A. Williams 9 25 September 1993 Port Vale H 1–2 5,106 Gayle 10 2 October 1993 Cambridge United A 1–1 3,612 Benjamin 11 9 October 1993 Hartlepool United A 1–0 1,802 Benjamin 12 16 October 1993 Wrexham H 2–1 5,801 Ratcliffe , Allon 13 23 October 1993 York City A 2–0 3,513 Smith , Allon 14 30 October 1993 Barnet H 1–0 5,873 Allon 15 2 November 1993 Cardiff City H 1–1 4,756 Allon 16 6 November 1993 Plymouth Argyle A 1–1 6,407 Allon 17 20 November 1993 Burnley A 0–0 6,085 18 27 November 1993 Huddersfield Town A 3–1 4,544 Mundee (2 pens ), Ravenscroft 19 11 December 1993 Blackpool H 3–0 4,769 Gayle , Mundee (2) 20 18 December 1993 Exeter City A 2–2 4,250 Gayle , Mundee (pen ) 21 27 December 1993 Bournemouth A 3–0 5,744 Mundee (pen ), Harvey , og 22 29 December 1993 Bradford City H 2–0 6,059 Ratcliffe , Smith 23 1 January 1994 Fulham A 0–0 9,797 24 3 January 1994 Stockport County H 1–1 6,410 og 25 8 January 1994 Bristol Rovers H 3–4 6,841 Mundee (3) 26 15 January 1994 Wrexham A 2–1 3,701 Gayle , Bates 27 22 January 1994 Hartlepool United H 1–0 6,334 Bates 28 29 January 1994 Barnet A 0–0 2,502 29 5 February 1994 York City A 1–1 5,710 Mundee 30 12 February 1994 Bristol Rovers A 4–1 5,685 Gayle , Allon (3) 31 19 February 1994 Reading A 1–2 9,056 Thompson 32 22 February 1994 Hull City H 0–3 4,361 33 26 February 1994 Rotherham United H 2–2 4,980 Mundee , Allon 34 5 March 1994 Swansea City A 1–1 3,187 Harvey 35 12 March 1994 Brighton & Hove Albion H 1–1 6,728 Ratcliffe 36 15 March 1994 Leyton Orient A 1–1 3,185 Allon 37 19 March 1994 Port Vale A 0–1 8,269 38 26 March 1994 Cambridge United H 3–3 5,052 Taylor , Statham , Grainger 39 29 March 1994 Stockport County A 1–3 4,361 Annon 40 2 April 1994 Bournemouth H 1–1 4,305 Grainger 41 4 April 1994 Bradford City A 0–1 6,703 42 9 April 1994 Fulham H 1–2 6,638 Taylor 43 16 April 1994 Cardiff City A 1–1 5,268 Harvey 44 23 April 1994 Plymouth Argyle H 1–1 6,173 Smith 45 30 April 1994 Burnley A 1–4 11,363 Ashby 46 7 May 1994 Huddersfield Town H 1–2 4,483 Harvey
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorer(s) R1 (1st leg) 17 August 1993 Watford H 2–2 4,527 Peters , Westley R1 (2nd leg) 24 August 1993 Watford A 1–3 (lost 5–3 on aggregate) 4,937 Westley
Source: Statto , 11v11 , The Big Brentford Book Of The Nineties Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1993–94 season. Source: The Big Brentford Book Of The Nineties Appearances and goals [ edit ] Substitute appearances in brackets. Players listed in italics left the club mid-season. Source: The Big Brentford Book Of The Nineties Players listed in italics left the club mid-season. Source: The Big Brentford Book Of The Nineties Name Nat From To Record All Comps Record League P W D L W % P W D L W % David Webb 14 August 1993 7 May 1994 54 15 21 18 0 27.78 46 13 19 14 0 28.26
Games played 54 (46 Second Division , 2 FA Cup , 2 League Cup , 4 Football League Trophy ) Games won 15 (13 Second Division, 1 FA Cup, 0 League Cup, 1 Football League Trophy) Games drawn 21 (19 Second Division, 0 FA Cup, 1 League Cup, 1 Football League Trophy) Games lost 18 (14 Second Division, 1 FA Cup, 1 League Cup, 2 Football League Trophy) Goals scored 70 (57 Second Division, 4 FA Cup, 3 League Cup, 6 Football League Trophy) Goals conceded 70 (55 Second Division, 3 FA Cup, 5 League Cup, 7 Football League Trophy) Clean sheets 12 (11 Second Division, 1 FA Cup, 0 League Cup, 0 Football League Trophy) Biggest league win 3–0 on 2 occasions, 4–1 versus Bristol Rovers , 12 February 1994 Worst league defeat 3–0 versus Hull City , 22 February 1994; 4–1 versus Burnley , 30 April 1994 Most appearances 52, Jamie Bates (45 Second Division, 2 FA Cup, 2 League Cup, 3 Football League Trophy) Top scorer (league) 13, Joe Allon Top scorer (all competitions) 17, Joe Allon
Players transferred in Date Pos. Name Previous Club Fee Ref. July 1993 FW Dean A. Williams St Albans City £14,000 6 August 1993 MF Paul Smith Southend United Free [ 13] 8 August 1993 GK Dean P. Williams Tamworth £2,000 [ 13] 12 August 1993 MF Denny Mundee Bournemouth Free August 1993 DF Scott Morgan Bournemouth Free [ 14] 24 September 1993 FW Ian Benjamin Luton Town £35,000 30 September 1993 GK Kevin Dearden Tottenham Hotspur Free [ 13] September 1993 FW Matthew Metcalf Diss Town £10,000 21 October 1993 DF Martin Grainger Colchester United £60,000 [ 13] October 1993 DF Gus Hurdle Dorchester Town Free 18 November 1993 MF Lee Harvey Nottingham Forest Free [ 13] December 1993 MF Tony Sorrell Barnet Free 1 February 1994 DF David Thompson Bristol City Free 8 March 1994 MF Darren Annon Carshalton Athletic £20,000 [ 13] 22 March 1994 DF Barry Ashby Watford £65,000 24 March 1994 FW Robert Taylor Leyton Orient £100,000 [ 13] Players loaned in Date from Pos. Name From Date to Ref. 16 September 1993 MF John Cornwell Southend United 9 November 1993 16 September 1993 MF Steve Tilson Southend United 16 October 1993 [ 13] 24 March 1994 MF Kevin Watson Tottenham Hotspur End of season [ 13] Players transferred out Date Pos. Name Subsequent club Fee Ref. 1993 FW Murray Jones Sittingbourne Free 1993 GK Gerry Peyton West Ham United Free 23 July 1993 FW Gary Blissett Wimbledon £350,000 August 1993 MF Neil Smilie Gillingham Free September 1993 MF Detzi Kruszyński Coventry City Free [ 15] October 1993 DF Terry Evans Wycombe Wanderers £40,000 December 1993 GK Graham Benstead Kettering Town Free 3 February 1994 MF Paul Buckle Torquay United Free [ 16] 22 March 1994 DF Keith Millen Watford £100,000 [ 16] 24 March 1994 FW Joe Allon Port Vale £150,000 24 March 1994 FW Marcus Gayle Wimbledon £250,000 [ 16] Players loaned out Date from Pos. Name To Date to Ref. 26 August 1993 DF Terry Evans Wycombe Wanderers October 1993 16 September 1993 FW Joe Allon Southend United October 1993 October 1993 GK Graham Benstead Kettering Town December 1993 October 1993 GK Tamer Fernandes Wealdstone November 1993 January 1994 MF Robbie Peters Slough Town February 1993 January 1994 MF Tony Sorrell Dagenham & Redbridge Free February 1994 DF Gus Hurdle Dorchester Town April 1994 Players released Date Pos. Name Subsequent club Join date Ref. October 1993 MF Grant Chalmers Doncaster Rovers 1993 17 November 1993 MF Mickey Bennett Charlton Athletic 24 March 1994 [ 8] 30 June 1994 DF Scott Morgan Dorchester Town 1994
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