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Brentford

1976–77 season
Chairman	Dan Tana
Manager	John Docherty (until 7 September 1976) Eddie Lyons (7–16 September 1976) Bill Dodgin Jr. (from 16 September 1976)
Stadium	Griffin Park
Fourth Division	15th
FA Cup	Second round
League Cup	First round
Top goalscorer	League: Sweetzer (23) All: Sweetzer (23)
Highest home attendance	8,951
Lowest home attendance	3,158
Average home league attendance	5,121
Home colours Away colours
← 1975–761977–78 →

During the 1976–77 English football season, Brentford competed in the Football League Fourth Division. After a poor start to the season, Bill Dodgin Jr. appointed to replace inexperienced manager John Docherty. With re-election looking likely, Dodgin overhauled the playing squad and the Bees won 14 of the final 18 matches of the season to complete a remarkable turnaround and finish in mid-table.

Season summary

After Brentford's lowest-ever finish in the Fourth Division at the end of the previous season, manager John Docherty released defenders Alan Nelmes and Keith Lawrence and replaced them with John Fraser and Bobby Goldthorpe respectively. Also arriving at Griffin Park were defender Keith Pritchett and midfielder Steve Aylott, while teenagers Danis Salman, Gary Rolph, Graham Cox and Paul Walker all signed apprentice professional contracts. A catalogue of injuries to Fraser, Aylott, Riddick, Sweetzer, McCulloch, Allen and Johnson and a failure to win any of the first six games of the season led to manager Docherty quitting the club, after failing to win a vote of confidence from chairman Dan Tana. Physiotherapist Eddie Lyons was put in caretaker charge of the team for one match before Bill Dodgin Jr. was appointed manager on 16 September 1976, who followed in his father's footsteps by taking over the role.

While Brentford were entrenched in the re-election places the first five months of Bill Dodgin Jr.'s reign, behind the scenes he overhauled the squad and sought players who would meld with his attacking philosophy. Between September 1976 and February 1977, Dodgin brought in midfielder Dave Carlton from his previous club Northampton Town and a number of players on loan – goalkeeper Tony Burns and midfielders Allan Glover, Steve Scrivens, Neil Smillie and John Bain. The sales of defender Keith Pritchett and forwards Roger Cross and Micky French generated over £20,000 in transfer fees, a small portion of which was spent on midfielders Paul Shrubb and Steve Phillips. Most significantly, teenage forward Gordon Sweetzer was promoted through the ranks and began to establish himself in the starting lineup in the New Year.

By January 1977, manager Dodgin's new-look squad was starting to produce results on the field, with Gordon Sweetzer scoring a hat-trick in a 4–0 victory over Stockport County in the middle of the month. In late February, Brentford set off on a run which would see the club become one of the Fourth Division's form teams, winning 14 and drawing two of the final 18 matches of the season. Gordon Sweetzer established a strike partnership with fit-again Andrew McCulloch and showed prolific form, finishing the season with 23 goals from 28 appearances. In March, despite a shaky start, the £20,000 purchase of central defender Pat Kruse would prove to be an important signing for the future. Brentford finished the season in 15th place.

Two club records were set during the season:

• Youngest debutant: Paul Walker, 15 years, 7 months, 28 days (versus Watford, League Cup first round, 14 August 1976)
• Youngest FA Cup goalscorer: Gary Rolph – 16 years, 9 months, 26 days (versus Colchester United, FA Cup second round, 20 December 1976)

League table

Results

Brentford's goal tally listed first.

Legend

Pre-season

Football League Fourth Division

FA Cup

Football League Cup

• Sources: 100 Years of Brentford, The Big Brentford Book of the Seventies, Statto

Playing squad

Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1976–77 season.

Pos.	Name	Nat.	Date of birth (age)	Signed from	Signed in	Notes
Goalkeepers
GK	Graham Cox		(1959-04-30)30 April 1959 (aged 17)	Youth	1975
GK	Paul Priddy		(1953-01-11)11 January 1953 (aged 23)	Walton & Hersham	1975
Defenders
DF	Michael Allen		(1949-03-30)30 March 1949 (aged 27)	Middlesbrough	1971
DF	Steve Aylott		(1951-09-03)3 September 1951 (aged 24)	Oxford United	1976
DF	John Fraser		(1953-07-12)12 July 1953 (aged 23)	Fulham	1976
DF	Bobby Goldthorpe		(1950-12-06)6 December 1950 (aged 25)	Charlton Athletic	1976
DF	Pat Kruse		(1953-11-30)30 November 1953 (aged 22)	Torquay United	1977
DF	Danis Salman		(1960-03-12)12 March 1960 (aged 16)	Youth	1975
DF	Tom Sharp		(1957-07-30)30 July 1957 (aged 19)	Everton	1976
DF	Nigel Smith		(1958-07-03)3 July 1958 (aged 18)	Queens Park Rangers	1975
Midfielders
MF	John Bain		(1957-06-03)3 June 1957 (aged 19)	Bristol City	1977	On loan from Bristol City
MF	Dave Carlton		(1952-11-24)24 November 1952 (aged 23)	Northampton Town	1976
MF	Jackie Graham (c)		(1946-07-16)16 July 1946 (aged 30)	Guildford City	1970
MF	Terry Johnson		(1949-08-30)30 August 1949 (aged 26)	Southend United	1974
MF	Steve Phillips		(1954-08-04)4 August 1954 (aged 22)	Northampton Town	1977
MF	Paul Shrubb		(1955-08-01)1 August 1955 (aged 21)	Hellenic	1977
MF	Paul Walker		(1960-12-17)17 December 1960 (aged 15)	Youth	1976	Loaned to Slough Town
Forwards
FW	Andrew McCulloch		(1950-01-03)3 January 1950 (aged 26)	Oxford United	1976
FW	Gary Rolph		(1960-02-24)24 February 1960 (aged 16)	Youth	1976
FW	Gordon Sweetzer		(1957-01-27)27 January 1957 (aged 19)	Queens Park Rangers	1975
Players who left the club mid-season
GK	Tony Burns		(1944-03-27)27 March 1944 (aged 32)	Crystal Palace	1977	Returned to Crystal Palace after loan
DF	Paul Bence		(1948-12-21)21 December 1948 (aged 27)	Reading	1970	Loaned to Torquay United, released
DF	Keith Pritchett		(1953-11-08)8 November 1953 (aged 22)	Queens Park Rangers	1976	Transferred to Watford
DF	Gordon Riddick		(1943-11-06)6 November 1943 (aged 32)	Northampton Town	1973	Released
MF	Allan Glover		(1950-10-21)21 October 1950 (aged 25)	West Bromwich Albion	1976	Returned to West Bromwich Albion after loan
MF	Harry Redknapp		(1947-03-02)2 March 1947 (aged 29)	Bournemouth	1976	Released
MF	Terry Scales		(1951-01-18)18 January 1951 (aged 25)	West Ham United	1971	Released
MF	Steve Scrivens		(1957-03-11)11 March 1957 (aged 19)	Fulham	1976	Returned to Crystal Palace after loan
MF	Neil Smillie		(1958-07-19)19 July 1958 (aged 18)	Crystal Palace	1977	Returned to Crystal Palace after loan
FW	Roger Cross		(1948-10-20)20 October 1948 (aged 27)	Fulham	1973	Transferred to Millwall
FW	Micky French		(1955-05-07)7 May 1955 (aged 21)	Queens Park Rangers	1975	Transferred to Swindon Town

• Sources: The Big Brentford Book of the Seventies, Timeless Bees

Coaching staff

John Docherty (14 August – 7 September 1976)

Name	Role
John Docherty	Manager
Eddie Lyons	Physiotherapist
Bob Pearson	Chief Scout

Eddie Lyons (7 – 16 September 1976)

Name	Role
Eddie Lyons	Caretaker Manager
Bob Pearson	Chief Scout

Bill Dodgin Jr. (16 September 1976 – 14 May 1977)

Name	Role
Bill Dodgin Jr.	Manager
Fred Callaghan	Assistant manager
Eddie Lyons	Physiotherapist
Gordon Quinn	Chief Scout

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Substitute appearances in brackets.

Pos	Nat	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK		Graham Cox	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
GK		Paul Priddy	37	0	2	0	2	0	41	0
DF		Michael Allen	40	1	2	0	0	0	42	1
DF		Steve Aylott	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
DF		Paul Bence	10 (1)	0	—		2	0	11 (1)	0
DF		John Fraser	39	2	2	1	0	0	41	3
DF		Bobby Goldthorpe	19	2	1 (1)	0	2	0	22 (1)	2
DF		Pat Kruse	15	2	—		—		15	2
DF		Keith Pritchett	11	1	—		2	0	13	1
DF		Gordon Riddick	15	0	2	0	0	0	17	0
DF		Danis Salman	16 (2)	1	1 (1)	0	2	0	19 (3)	1
DF		Tom Sharp	2 (2)	0	0	0	0 (1)	0	2 (3)	0
DF		Nigel Smith	32 (2)	0	0	0	2	0	34 (2)	0
MF		Dave Carlton	31 (1)	0	2	0	—		33 (1)	0
MF		Jackie Graham	42	4	2	0	2	0	46	4
MF		Terry Johnson	24 (3)	8	1	0	0	0	25 (3)	8
MF		Steve Phillips	19	7	—		—		19	7
MF		Harry Redknapp	1	0	—		—		1	0
MF		Terry Scales	12	0	1	0	2	0	15	0
MF		Paul Shrubb	10 (3)	2	—		—		10 (3)	2
MF		Paul Walker	1 (1)	0	1	0	2	0	4 (1)	0
FW		Roger Cross	21	9	2	1	2	1	25	11
FW		Micky French	15 (4)	4	2	1	2	0	19 (4)	5
FW		Andrew McCulloch	18 (2)	10	0	0	0	0	18 (2)	10
FW		Gary Rolph	6 (1)	0	1	1	0	0	7 (1)	1
FW		Gordon Sweetzer	25 (2)	23	1	0	0	0	26 (2)	23
Players loaned in during the season
GK		Tony Burns	6	0	—		—		6	0
MF		John Bain	17 (1)	1	—		—		17 (1)	1
MF		Allan Glover	6	0	—		—		6	0
MF		Steve Scrivens	5	0	—		—		5	0
MF		Neil Smillie	3	0	—		—		3	0

• Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
• Source: 100 Years of Brentford

Goalscorers

Pos.	Nat	Player	FL4	FAC	FLC	Total
FW		Gordon Sweetzer	23	0	0	23
FW		Roger Cross	9	1	1	11
FW		Andrew McCulloch	10	0	0	10
MF		Terry Johnson	8	0	0	8
MF		Steve Phillips	7	—	—	7
FW		Micky French	4	1	0	5
MF		Jackie Graham	4	0	0	4
DF		John Fraser	2	1	0	3
DF		Pat Kruse	2	—	—	2
MF		Paul Shrubb	2	—	—	2
DF		Bobby Goldthorpe	2	0	0	2
MF		John Bain	1	—	—	1
DF		Michael Allen	1	0	0	1
DF		Keith Pritchett	1	0	0	1
DF		Danis Salman	1	0	0	1
FW		Gary Rolph	0	1	0	1
Total			77	4	1	82

• Players listed in italics left the club mid-season.
• Source: 100 Years of Brentford

Management

Name	Nat	From	To	Record All Comps					Record League
				P	W	D	L	W %	P	W	D	L	W %
John Docherty		14 August 1976	7 September 1976	6	0	2	4	000.00	4	0	1	3	000.00
Eddie Lyons (caretaker)		7 September 1976	16 September 1976	1	0	1	0	000.00	1	0	1	0	000.00
Bill Dodgin, Jr.		16 September 1976	14 May 1977	43	19	5	19	044.19	41	18	5	18	043.90

Summary

Transfers & loans

Players transferred in
Date	Pos.	Name	Previous Club	Fee	Ref.
July 1976	DF	Steve Aylott	Oxford United	Free
July 1976	DF	John Fraser	Fulham	Free
July 1976	DF	Bobby Goldthorpe	Fulham	Free
July 1976	DF	Keith Pritchett	Queens Park Rangers	Free
September 1976	MF	Harry Redknapp	Bournemouth	Trial
October 1976	MF	Dave Carlton	Northampton Town	£3,000
October 1976	DF	Gordon Riddick	Unattached	Non-contract
1976	FW	Gary Rolph	n/a	n/a
February 1977	MF	Steve Phillips	Northampton Town	£4,000
February 1977	MF	Paul Shrubb	Hellenic	n/a
March 1977	DF	Pat Kruse	Torquay United	£20,000
Players loaned in
Date from	Pos.	Name	From	Date to	Ref.
October 1976	MF	Allan Glover	West Bromwich Albion	November 1976
December 1976	MF	Steve Scrivens	Fulham	January 1977
January 1977	GK	Tony Burns	Crystal Palace	February 1977
January 1977	MF	Neil Smillie	Crystal Palace	February 1977
February 1977	MF	John Bain	Bristol City	End of season
Players transferred out
Date	Pos.	Name	Subsequent club	Fee	Ref.
November 1976	DF	Keith Pritchett	Watford	£4,000
20 January 1977	FW	Roger Cross	Millwall	£9,500
February 1977	FW	Micky French	Swindon Town	£7,000
Players loaned out
Date from	Pos.	Name	To	Date to	Ref.
November 1976	DF	Paul Bence	Torquay United	January 1977
April 1977	MF	Paul Walker	Slough Town	End of season
Players released
Date	Pos.	Name	Subsequent club	Join date	Ref.
September 1976	DF	Gordon Riddick	Retired
October 1976	MF	Harry Redknapp	Seattle Sounders	1976
February 1977	DF	Gordon Riddick	Wealdstone	1977
March 1977	DF	Paul Bence	Wokingham Town	1977
March 1977	MF	Terry Scales	Dagenham	1977
May 1977	DF	Bobby Goldthorpe	Hayes	1977
May 1977	GK	Paul Priddy	Tooting & Mitcham United	1977
May 1977	DF	Tom Sharp	n/a	n/a

Awards

• Supporters' Player of the Year: Gordon Sweetzer
• Players' Player of the Year: Jackie Graham

References

1. ^ Croxford, Lane & Waterman, p. 146-151.
2. ^ White, p. 301-304.
3. ^ "Brentford results for the 1976–1977 season". Statto.com. Archived from the original on 20 March 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
4. ^ White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. p. 394. ISBN 0951526200.
5. "English Division Four (old) 1976–1977 Form Table : 10 Games". Statto.com. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
6. "Brentford League Table 1976-1977". Statto.com. Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
7. Haynes & Coumbe, p. 137.
8. Croxford, Lane & Waterman, p. 136-145.
9. Croxford, Mark; Lane, David; Waterman, Greville (2011). The Big Brentford Book of the Seventies. Sunbury, Middlesex: Legends Publishing. ISBN 978-1906796709.
10. Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Yore Publications. ISBN 978-0955294914.
11. Haynes & Coumbe, p. 15.
12. "Paul Walker". Slough Town FC. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
13. ^ Croxford, Lane & Waterman, p. 295.

• Brentford F.C. seasons
• English football clubs 1976–77 season