1943–44 Brentford F.C. season

Brentford returned for the 1943–44 Football League South season again with a shortage of first team players, with just 10 available who made a senior appearance for the club prior to the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939.[1] The biggest boost for the squad came with the availability of goalkeeper Joe Crozier,[1] who had not appeared since 21 October 1939.[2] Reserve forwards Fred Durrant and Bob Thomas, signed before the war, would feature during the season, as would six junior and amateur players on the club's books.[1] A whopping 36 guest players would be used during the campaign.[1]

Despite an improved 7th-place finish in the Football League South,[3] 1943–44 proved to be as forgettable as the previous season, though there were a few memorable results – 7–2 versus Southampton on 18 December 1943, 4–1 versus Arsenal in front of 20,270 at Griffin Park on 4 February 1944 and 8–0 versus Brighton & Hove Albion a month later in the group stage of the Football League War Cup, from which Brentford failed to qualify for the knockout stages.[4] Three players won wartime international caps during the season – Les Smith for England,[5] Joe Crozier for Scotland and Idris Hopkins for Wales.[6][7] Though he finished the season as second-leading scorer behind guest Douglas Hunt,[4] Les Smith's 15 goals in 15 appearances led his case for a first international cap in over two years.[5]

The 1943–44 season ended with the retirements of two players who had contributed to Brentford's rise from the Third Division South to the First Division between 1932 and 1935. 34-year-old centre half Joe James elected to retire six months after failing to recover from a wrist injury suffered in the match versus Charlton Athletic on 26 February 1944.[8] He would return to football briefly with Colchester United in November 1945.[9] 35-year-old centre forward Jack Holliday, who moved to the half back line in his later years, retired at the end of the season, having scored 122 goals in 222 matches from his arrival in May 1932 to the outbreak of war in September 1939.[10] He remained on the club's books as assistant trainer of the reserve team.[10]

Brentford's goal tally listed first.

Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1943–44 season.

Pos.	Name	Nat.	Date of birth (age)	Signed from	Signed in	Notes
Goalkeepers
GK	Joe Crozier		(1914-12-02)2 December 1914 (aged 28)	East Fife	1937
GK	Reg Saunders		(1920-07-29)29 July 1920 (aged 23)	Uxbridge Town	1944	Amateur
Defenders
DF	Buster Brown		(1910-09-06)6 September 1910 (aged 32)	Huddersfield Town	1937
DF	Bernard Floodgate		(1922-07-22)22 July 1922 (aged 21)	Youth	1943
DF	George Poyser		(1910-02-06)6 February 1910 (aged 33)	Port Vale	1934
Midfielders
HB	Jack Holliday		(1908-12-19)19 December 1908 (aged 34)	Middlesbrough	1932
HB	Joe James		(1910-01-13)13 January 1910 (aged 33)	Battersea Church	1929
HB	Tom Manley		(1912-10-07)7 October 1912 (aged 30)	Manchester United	1939
HB	Ernest Muttitt		(1908-07-24)24 July 1908 (aged 35)	Middlesbrough	1932	Guest for Chelsea, Watford, West Ham United
Forwards
FW	Johnny Baynham		(1918-04-21)21 April 1918 (aged 25)	Youth	1944
FW	Fred Durrant		(1921-06-19)19 June 1921 (aged 22)	Folkestone	1938
FW	Idris Hopkins		(1910-10-11)11 October 1910 (aged 32)	Crystal Palace	1932
FW	Maurice Richfield		October 1921 (aged 21)	Youth	1944
FW	Les Smith		(1918-03-13)13 March 1918 (aged 25)	Petersham	1934
FW	Bob Thomas		(1919-08-02)2 August 1919 (aged 24)	Golders Green	1939
FW	Len Townsend		(1917-08-31)31 August 1917 (aged 25)	Hayes	1937
Guest players
GK	Gordon Bentley		October 1920 (aged 22)	Burnley	1944	Guest from Burnley
GK	Charlie Briggs		(1911-04-04)4 April 1911 (aged 32)	Halifax Town	1943	Guest from Halifax Town
GK	Harry Dukes		(1912-03-31)31 March 1912 (aged 31)	Norwich City	1943	Guest from Norwich City
GK	Freddie Houldsworth		(1911-05-29)29 May 1911 (aged 32)	Reading	1944	Guest from Reading
GK	John Jones		(1916-11-25)25 November 1916 (aged 26)	Northampton Town	1943	Guest from Northampton Town
GK	Bill Mason		(1908-10-31)31 October 1908 (aged 34)	Queens Park Rangers	1944	Guest from Queens Park Rangers
GK	Alec Roxburgh		(1910-09-19)19 September 1910 (aged 32)	Blackpool	1944	Guest from Blackpool
DF	Ralph Cowan		n/a	Rangers	1944	Guest from Rangers
DF	Frank Jenner		n/a	St Mirren	1944	Guest from St Mirren
DF	Fred Lester		(1911-02-20)20 February 1911 (aged 32)	Sheffield Wednesday	1943	Guest from Sheffield Wednesday
DF	George Taylor		(1909-04-23)23 April 1909 (aged 34)	Bolton Wanderers	1943	Guest from Bolton Wanderers
HB	Len Jones		(1913-06-09)9 June 1913 (aged 30)	Plymouth Argyle	1943	Guest from Plymouth Argyle
HB	Duncan McKenzie		(1912-08-10)10 August 1912 (aged 31)	Middlesbrough	1943	Guest from Middlesbrough
HB	David Nelson		(1918-02-03)3 February 1918 (aged 25)	Arsenal	1943	Guest from Arsenal
HB	Frank Soo		(1914-03-12)12 March 1914 (aged 29)	Stoke City	1943	Guest from Stoke City
HB	Jack Watson		(1917-12-31)31 December 1917 (aged 25)	Bury	1944	Guest from Bury
HB	Jimmy Watson		(1914-01-01)1 January 1914 (aged 29)	Bristol Rovers	1943	Guest from Bristol Rovers
HB	Bill Whittaker		(1922-12-20)20 December 1922 (aged 20)	Charlton Athletic	1943	Guest from Charlton Athletic
FW	Dickie Davis		(1922-01-22)22 January 1922 (aged 21)	Sunderland	1943	Guest from Sunderland
FW	Johnny Deakin		n/a	St Mirren	1944	Guest from St Mirren
FW	Allenby Driver		(1919-09-29)29 September 1919 (aged 23)	Sheffield Wednesday	1943	Guest from Sheffield Wednesday
FW	Bobby Flavell		(1921-09-01)1 September 1921 (aged 21)	Airdrieonians	1943	Guest from Airdrieonians
FW	Dickie Girling		(1922-05-24)24 May 1922 (aged 21)	Crystal Palace	1944	Guest from Crystal Palace
FW	Douglas Hunt		(1914-05-19)19 May 1914 (aged 29)	Sheffield Wednesday	1943	Guest from Sheffield Wednesday
FW	Tommy Kiernan		(1918-10-20)20 October 1918 (aged 24)	Albion Rovers	1943	Guest from Albion Rovers
FW	Charlie Leyfield		(1911-10-30)30 October 1911 (aged 31)	Doncaster Rovers	1943	Guest from Doncaster Rovers
FW	George Little		(1915-12-01)1 December 1915 (aged 27)	Doncaster Rovers	1943	Guest from Doncaster Rovers
FW	Peter McKennan		(1918-07-16)16 July 1918 (aged 25)	Partick Thistle	1943	Guest from Partick Thistle
FW	Ernie Shepherd		(1919-08-14)14 August 1919 (aged 24)	Fulham	1944	Guest from Fulham
FW	Arthur Stevens		(1921-01-13)13 January 1921 (aged 22)	Fulham	1944	Guest from Fulham
FW	George Stewart		(1920-10-18)18 October 1920 (aged 22)	Hamilton Academical	1943	Guest from Hamilton Academical
FW	Harry Thompson		(1915-04-29)29 April 1915 (aged 28)	Sunderland	1943	Guest from Sunderland
FW	Dennis Westcott		(1917-07-02)2 July 1917 (aged 26)	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1944	Guest from Wolverhampton Wanderers

• Sources: Timeless Bees,[11] Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939,[12] 100 Years Of Brentford[4]

Guest players' arrival and departure dates correspond to their first and last appearances of the season.

Guest players in
Date from	Pos.	Name	Previous Club	Date to	Ref.
28 August 1943	FW	Douglas Hunt	Sheffield Wednesday	End of season	[4]
28 August 1943	HB	Len Jones	Plymouth Argyle	28 August 1943	[4]
28 August 1943	HB	Duncan McKenzie	Middlesbrough	22 January 1944	[4]
28 August 1943	FW	George Stewart	Hamilton Academical	End of season	[4]
28 August 1943	HB	Jimmy Watson	Bristol Rovers	22 April 1944	[4]
4 September 1943	GK	John Jones	Northampton Town	11 September 1943	[4]
4 September 1943	HB	Bill Whittaker	Charlton Athletic	End of season	[4]
11 September 1943	FW	Harry Thompson	Sunderland	11 September 1943	[4]
18 September 1943	FW	Peter McKennan	Partick Thistle	10 April 1944	[4]
18 September 1943	HB	Frank Soo	Stoke City	18 March 1944	[4]
16 October 1943	GK	Charlie Briggs	Halifax Town	19 December 1942	[4]
23 October 1943	DF	Fred Lester	Sheffield Wednesday	23 October 1943	[4]
23 October 1943	FW	Charlie Leyfield	Doncaster Rovers	23 October 1943	[4]
30 October 1943	FW	Allenby Driver	Sheffield Wednesday	30 October 1943	[4]
6 November 1943	FW	Dickie Davis	Sunderland	13 November 1943	[4]
6 November 1943	GK	Harry Dukes	Norwich City	27 December 1943	[4]
6 November 1943	FW	Bobby Flavell	Airdrieonians	6 November 1943	[4]
6 November 1943	FW	George Little	Doncaster Rovers	27 November 1943	[4]
13 November 1943	HB	David Nelson	Arsenal	8 January 1944	[4]
4 December 1943	FW	Tommy Kiernan	Albion Rovers	22 January 1944	[4]
27 December 1943	DF	George Taylor	Bolton Wanderers	27 December 1943	[4]
1 January 1944	GK	Gordon Bentley	Burnley	11 March 1944	[4]
22 January 1944	FW	Ernie Shepherd	Fulham	11 March 1944	[4]
29 January 1944	FW	Johnny Deakin	St Mirren	29 January 1944	[4]
5 February 1944	FW	Dennis Westcott	Wolverhampton Wanderers	18 March 1944	[4]
19 February 1944	GK	Freddie Houldsworth	Reading	19 February 1944	[4]
19 February 1944	FW	Arthur Stevens	Fulham	19 February 1944	[4]
26 February 1944	GK	Alec Roxburgh	Blackpool	27 March 1943	[4]
4 March 1944	DF	Ralph Cowan	Rangers	4 March 1944	[4]
1 April 1944	GK	Bill Mason	Queens Park Rangers	1 April 1944	[4]
1 April 1944	HB	Jack Watson	Bury	1 April 1944	[4]
10 April 1944	HB	Frank Jenner	St Mirren	10 April 1944	[4]
6 May 1944	FW	Dickie Girling	Crystal Palace	End of season	[4]
Guest players out
Date from	Pos.	Name	To	Date to	Ref.
4 December 1943	HB	Ernest Muttitt	Chelsea	4 December 1943	[13]
5 February 1944	HB	Ernest Muttitt	West Ham United	5 February 1944	[14]
n/a	DF	Jimmy Anderson	Hamilton Academical	n/a	[15]
n/a	HB	Ernest Muttitt	Watford	n/a	[16]
Players released
Date	Pos.	Name	Subsequent club	Join date	Ref.
May 1944	FW	Jack Holliday	Retired		[10]
May 1944	HB	Joe James	Retired		[8]