1947–48 Brentford F.C. season

After relegation to the Second Division at the end of the 1946–47 season, Brentford were forced to cash in on their assets and received £16,000 from the sales of George Smith and Scotland international Archie Macaulay.[1] No less than 14 players departed Griffin Park during the off-season, with five players coming in at a cost of nearly £20,000 – half back David Nelson and forwards Peter Buchanan, Tommy Dawson, Tommy Dougall and Jackie Gibbons, with Gibbons rejoining the club after making 11 appearances while an amateur during the 1938–39 season.[1] After a poor start to the season, Jimmy Hogan was brought in as a coach.[1] It was long-serving trainer Bob Kane's final season with the club.[2]

Brentford had an awful start to the season, winning one and losing eight of the opening 9 matches to leave the club rooted to the bottom of the table.[3] Bit-part half back Cyril Toulouse was transferred to Tottenham Hotspur in exchange for Jack Chisholm, who lead the team's recovery from the centre of the field.[4] Just three defeats in 13 matches between late-September and mid-December 1946 finally lifted the club out of the relegation places.[3] More players came and went in the second half of the season – Tony Harper and Fred Monk came in from non-League football,[4] with Percy Gleeson, George Stewart and Arthur Shaw transferring out.[5][6][7]

Brentford finished a tumultuous season in 15th place, 11 points above the relegation zone and lost just four of the final 20 matches of the league campaign.[3] The season ended with an irksome 1–0 defeat to local rivals (and Second Division champions) Queens Park Rangers in the Ealing Hospital Cup final.[1] The club record for fewest goalscorers in a season was equalled, with just eight players registering a goal.[8]

Brentford's goal tally listed first.

Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1947–48 season.

Pos.	Name	Nat.	Date of birth (age)	Signed from	Signed in	Notes
Goalkeepers
GK	Joe Crozier		(1914-12-02)2 December 1914 (aged 32)	East Fife	1937
GK	Ted Gaskell		(1916-12-19)19 December 1916 (aged 30)	Buxton	1937
Defenders
DF	Bill Gorman		(1911-01-13)13 January 1911 (aged 36)	Bury	1938
DF	Malky MacDonald		(1913-10-26)26 October 1913 (aged 33)	Kilmarnock	1946
DF	Roddy Munro		(1920-07-27)27 July 1920 (aged 27)	Rangers	1946
DF	Harry Oliver		(1921-02-16)16 February 1921 (aged 26)	Hartlepools United	1938
DF	Eric Ventom		(1920-02-15)15 February 1920 (aged 27)	Unattached	1946
Midfielders
HB	Jack Chisholm		(1924-10-09)9 October 1924 (aged 22)	Tottenham Hotspur	1947
HB	Frank Latimer		(1923-10-03)3 October 1923 (aged 23)	Snowdown Colliery Welfare	1945
HB	Tom Manley		(1912-10-07)7 October 1912 (aged 34)	Manchester United	1939
HB	John Moore		(1923-09-25)25 September 1923 (aged 23)	Unattached	1938
HB	David Nelson		(1918-02-03)3 February 1918 (aged 28)	Fulham	1947
HB	George Paterson (c)		(1914-09-26)26 September 1914 (aged 32)	Celtic	1946
Forwards
FW	Alec Blakeman		(1918-06-11)11 June 1918 (aged 29)	Oxford City	1946
FW	Peter Buchanan		(1915-10-13)13 October 1915 (aged 31)	Fulham	1947
FW	Tommy Dawson		(1915-02-06)6 February 1915 (aged 32)	Charlton Athletic	1947
FW	Tommy Dougall		(1921-05-17)17 May 1921 (aged 26)	Coventry City	1947
FW	José Gallego		(1923-04-08)8 April 1923 (aged 24)	Cambridge City	1947
FW	Jackie Gibbons		(1914-04-10)10 April 1914 (aged 33)	Bradford Park Avenue	1947
FW	Dickie Girling		(1922-05-24)24 May 1922 (aged 25)	Crystal Palace	1947
FW	Fred Monk		(1920-10-09)9 October 1920 (aged 26)	Guildford City	1948
Players who left the club mid-season
HB	Cyril Toulouse		(1923-12-24)24 December 1923 (aged 23)	St Cuthberts	1946	Transferred to Tottenham Hotspur
FW	Percy Gleeson		(1921-07-18)18 July 1921 (aged 26)	Hounslow Town	1947	Transferred to Guildford City
FW	George Stewart		(1920-10-18)18 October 1920 (aged 26)	Hamilton Academical	1946	Transferred to Queens Park Rangers

• Sources: 100 Years of Brentford,[9] Timeless Bees[10]

Cricketers are not included in this list.

Players transferred in
Date	Pos.	Name	Previous Club	Fee	Ref.
June 1947	HB	R. Goddard	n/a	n/a	[11]
11 August 1947	FW	Jackie Gibbons	Bradford Park Avenue	£8,000	[12]
13 August 1947	FW	Tommy Dougall	Coventry City	n/a	[13]
August 1947	FW	Peter Buchanan	Fulham	£3,000	[14]
August 1947	n/a	Tommy Connors	n/a	n/a	[15]
August 1947	FW	Tommy Dawson	Charlton Athletic	£5,000	[16]
August 1947	HB	David Nelson	Fulham	£3,000	[17]
August 1947	n/a	Les Smith	n/a	n/a	[18]
October 1947	HB	Jack Chisholm	Tottenham Hotspur	Exchange	[4]
March 1948	FW	Fred Monk	Guildford City	Exchange	[19]
April 1948	WH	Bernard Gardner	n/a	n/a	[20]
April 1948	HB	Tony Harper	Headington United	n/a	[20]
1948	FW	Connors	Wembley	n/a	[21]
Players transferred out
Date	Pos.	Name	Subsequent club	Fee	Ref.
15 May 1947	GK	Frank Clack	Bristol City	£1,500	[22]
4 June 1947	FW	Bill Naylor	Leyton Orient	£2,000	[23]
June 1947	HB	George Smith	Queens Park Rangers	£6,000	[24]
July 1947	FW	Archie Macaulay	Arsenal	£10,000	[25]
October 1947	HB	Cyril Toulouse	Tottenham Hotspur	Exchange	[26]
March 1948	FW	George Stewart	Queens Park Rangers	£4,000	[27]
14 April 1948	HB	Arthur Shaw	Arsenal	n/a	[7]
April 1948	FW	Percy Gleeson	Guildford City	Exchange	[20]
Players released
Date	Pos.	Name	Subsequent club	Join date	Ref.
May 1948	FW	Connors	n/a	n/a	[21]
May 1948	FW	José Gallego	Southampton	May 1948	[28]
May 1948	HB	R. Goddard	n/a	n/a	[21]
May 1948	HB	John Moore	Gloucester City	1948	[19]
May 1948	DF	Eric Ventom	Retired		[29]