During the 1903–04 English football season, Brentford competed in the Southern League First Division. Despite leading the division in September 1903, disruption behind the scenes and the suspension of manager Dick Molyneux for the final month of the season led to a 13th-place finish.

Season summary

Directly after the end of the dire 1902–03 season, the Brentford committee decided to act and appoint a first team manager.White, p. 81-82. Dick Molyneux became the first official manager in the club's history and arrived at York Road having served as manager at Everton for 12 years, with a CV boasting one Football League First Division championship and two FA Cup runners-up medals. One of the first major changes Molyneux enacted was to request that the board raise funds to pay adequate off-season wages for the playing squad, which would put an end to the failures of previous seasons, when the board waited until almost before the beginning of the season to transfer players in, so as to cut down on off-season wages. Due to the majority of clubs conducting their transfer business shortly after the end of the season, the tactic meant that Brentford were always short on transfer options, when conducting business close to the beginning of the following season.

The board raised £330 in donations (equivalent to £ in ) and Molyneux set about building a 16-man all-professional squad which could compete in the Southern League First Division. Of the previous season's squad, only goalkeeper Tommy Spicer, inside left Percy Turner and outside left Tosher Underwood were retained and by early June 1903, Molyneux had signed an almost entirely new XI. Brentford's colours were changed for the first time since the mid-1890s, with the old claret and blue replaced by a kit consisting of gold shirts with blue stripes, white shorts and black socks.

Dick Molyneux's team started season strongly, reaching top spot in the First Division after five matches. The demands on the small squad led Brentford to fall back into mid-table and a goalkeeping crisis suffered in early 1904 exacerbated the problem. Molyneux brought in former trialist John Bishop and paid him money to play, an illegal move as Bishop was a serving soldier with the Scots Guards and therefore an amateur player. After his third appearance, Bishop returned late to barracks, was reported to his commanding officer and then made a statement in writing about his involvement with Brentford. The statement was passed on to the FA, who fined Brentford £25 and suspended director Bill Dodge for two years and manager Molyneux for the final month of the season. With secretary William Lewis in caretaker charge, the Bees took one point from the remaining five matches of the season to finish in 13th position. The five away draws was the most by the club during its Southern League seasons.

League table

Results Brentford's goal tally listed first.

Legend WinDrawLoss

Southern League First Division No.DateOpponentVenueResultScorer(s)15 September 1903Queens Park RangersA0–127 September 1903Swindon TownH2–1Turner, Swarbrick312 September 1903Plymouth ArgyleH1–0Leigh414 September 1903Tottenham HotspurH0–0519 September 1903ReadingA1–1Underwood626 September 1903WellingboroughH0–173 October 1903Bristol RoversA1–5Parsonage810 October 1903Brighton & Hove AlbionH1–0Leigh917 October 1903PortsmouthA1–3Atherton1024 October 1903Northampton TownH4–1Buchanan, Bell (2), Durber (og)117 November 1903West Ham UnitedA1–0Underwood1221 November 1903Luton TownA0–1135 December 1903KetteringA0–11426 December 1903FulhamH1–1Leigh1528 December 1903MillwallH1–3Bellingham162 January 1904Queens Park RangersH1–4Buchanan174 January 1904KetteringH4–2Buchanan (3), Jay189 January 1904Plymouth ArgyleA2–2Atherton, Davidson1916 January 1904ReadingH0–02023 January 1904WellingboroughA0–22130 January 1904Bristol RoversH1–2Parsonage (pen)221 February 1904New BromptonH1–1Parsonage236 February 1904Brighton & Hove AlbionA1–3Underwood2413 February 1904PortsmouthH4–0Underwood (2), Brett (pen), Jay2520 February 1904Northampton TownA0–32627 February 1904Swindon TownA1–1Barron275 March 1904West Ham UnitedH2–0Underwood, Barron2812 March 1904Tottenham HotspurA1–1Buchanan2919 March 1904Luton TownH2–1Bell (2)3026 March 1904New BromptonA0–3312 April 1904SouthamptonH0–1329 April 1904SouthamptonA0–13316 April 1904FulhamA0–03423 April 1904MillwallA0–2

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultScorer(s)3QR31 October 1903UxbridgeH8–0Bell (2), Leigh, Parsonage, Buchanan (2), Underwood (2)4QR14 November 1903Oxford CityA3–1Underwood, Leigh, Parsonage5QR28 November 1903Wycombe WanderersA4–1Leigh (2), Bell, BuchananIR12 December 1903Plymouth ArgyleH1–1UnderwoodIR (replay)16 December 1903Plymouth ArgyleA1–4Buchanan Source: 100 Years of Brentford

Playing squad

Left club during season

Source: 100 Years of Brentford

Coaching staff

Dick Molyneux (5 September 1903 – March 1904) NameRole Dick MolyneuxSecretary Manager Bob CroneTrainer

William Lewis (March – 23 April 1904) NameRole William LewisCaretaker Manager Bob CroneTrainer

Statistics Appearances

Goalscorers Pos.NatPlayerSL1FACTotalFWDave Buchanan6410FWTosher Underwood6410FWTommy Leigh448FWLawrence Bell437HBGeorge Parsonage325FWJohn Barron2—2FWTommy Atherton202HBJames Bellingham101FWRalph Brett101DFTommy Davidson101HBJimmy Jay101FWPercy Turner101FWJames Swarbrick101Opponents101Total341751 Players listed in italics left the club mid-season. Source: 100 Years Of Brentford

Management NameNatFromToRecord All CompsRecord LeaguePWDLW %PWDLW %Dick Molyneux5 September 190319 March 1904William Lewis (caretaker)26 March 190423 April 1904

Summary Games played 39 (34 Southern League First Division, 5 FA Cup)Games won 12 (9 Southern League First Division, 3 FA Cup)Games drawn 10 (9 Southern League First Division, 1 FA Cup)Games lost 17 (16 Southern League First Division, 1 FA Cup)Goals scored 51 (34 Southern League First Division, 17 FA Cup)Goals conceded 55 (48 Southern League First Division, 7 FA Cup)Clean sheets 9 (8 Southern League First Division, 1 FA Cup)Biggest league win 4–0 versus Portsmouth, 13 February 1904Worst league defeat5–1 versus Bristol Rovers, 3 October 1903Most appearances 39, George Parsonage, Jock Watson (34 Southern League First Division, 5 FA Cup)Top scorer (league) 6, Dave Buchanan, Tosher UnderwoodTop scorer (all competitions) 10, Dave Buchanan, Tosher Underwood

References