1994–95 season of Brentford F.C.
Brentford 1994–95 football season
During the 1994–95 English football season, Brentford competed in the Football League Second Division . After a runners-up finish in the league, club's season ended with defeat in the 1995 play-off semi-finals .
Brentford entered the 1994–95 Second Division season with the nucleus of a new squad, built since the breakup of the team which was relegated from the First Division at the end of the 1992–93 season. Forward Nicky Forster was manager David Webb 's only significant summer signing, a £200,000 buy from Third Division Gillingham .[ 2]
Eight wins and four defeats from the opening 12 games saw the Bees placed 4th in the league, before four defeats in the next five matches dropped the club into mid-table.[ 3] By early December 1994, first and second round exits from the three cup competitions lightened the fixture load and Brentford set off on a 14-match unbeaten run, winning 10 matches and racking up notable 7–0 and 6–0 victories over Plymouth Argyle and Cambridge United respectively.[ 3] The victory over Cambridge United in late January 1995 returned the Bees to the top of the table for the first time since the opening day of the season, when five goals were put past Plymouth Argyle at Home Park .[ 3] Twin strikers Nicky Forster and Robert Taylor were in imperious form, scoring over half the team's goals and forming a partnership that came to be known as the 'FT Index '.[ 4] The pair saw to it that Brentford finished the 1994–95 season as the only club in the top four divisions with two players scoring 20 league goals or more.[ 5]
The unbeaten run came to an end with defeat to Shrewsbury Town on 25 February, but another 11-match unbeaten sequence kept Brentford in top spot going into late April.[ 3] Brentford's good form ran in tandem with that of Birmingham City 's and the Blues topped the table for the first time in eight weeks on 19 April,[ 6] with the Bees returning to the summit three days later after a 2–0 victory over Cardiff City .[ 3] Due to a restructuring of the English league system , only top spot in the 1994–95 Second Division offered automatic promotion , which placed heavy emphasis on a "winner takes all" fixture between Birmingham City and Brentford on at St Andrew's on 26 April.[ 2] A 2–0 defeat for Brentford in front of a 25,581 crowd (the Second Division's record attendance for the season), plus a home defeat to Bournemouth and a draw away with Bristol Rovers in the final two matches, led to a runners-up finish and a place in the play-offs .[ 2] The Bees met fifth-placed Huddersfield Town in the play-off semi-finals and were knocked out on penalties at Griffin Park after a 2–2 draw on aggregate , with captain Jamie Bates seeing his decisive spot kick saved.
A number of club records were set or equalled during the season:
Fewest Football League goals conceded in a season: 39 (equalled club record) Most clean sheets kept in a Football League season: 22 (equalled club record)[ 10] Most goalscorers in a Football League match: 6 – Darren Annon , Paul Smith , Robert Taylor, Nicky Forster, Denny Mundee and Lee Harvey (versus Plymouth Argyle, 17 December 1994)
Brentford's goal tally listed first. Pre-season and friendlies [ edit ] Date Opponent Venue Result Scorer(s) 18 July 1994 Bournemouth A 4–1 Mundee (2), Smith , McGhee 20 July 1994 Dulwich Hamlet A 5–0 Forster (2), Taylor (2), Annon 23 July 1994 Chertsey Town A 3–2 Harvey , Forster , Mundee 25 July 1994 Hampton A 7–1 Benjamin (3), Forster , Ashby , Smith , Ratcliffe 27 July 1994 Welling United A 4–0 Forster , Taylor , Mundee (pen ), Annon 29 July 1994 Portsmouth H 1–2 Taylor 3 August 1994 Queens Park Rangers H 0–0 6 August 1994 Kettering Town A 2–0 Annon , Grainger (pen ) 9 August 1994 Bromley A 2–0 McGhee , Benjamin 29 October 1994 Windsor & Eton A 7–0 Taylor (5), Asaba , Ansah 8 May 1995 Barnet A 5–4 Forster (2), Taylor (2), Hurdle
No. Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorer(s) 1 13 August 1994 Plymouth Argyle A 5–1 7,976 Smith , Forster (2), Stephenson , Taylor 2 20 August 1994 Peterborough United H 0–1 5,561 3 27 August 1994 Stockport County A 1–0 4,399 Taylor 4 30 August 1994 Rotherham United H 2–0 4,031 Taylor , Forster 5 3 September 1994 Wrexham H 0–2 5,820 6 10 September 1994 Wycombe Wanderers A 3–4 6,847 Taylor , Stephenson , Cousins (og ) 7 13 September 1994 York City A 1–2 2,836 Taylor 8 17 September 1994 Blackpool H 3–2 4,157 Forster , Smith , Grainger (pen ) 9 24 September 1994 Crewe Alexandra A 2–0 3,839 Forster , Taylor 10 1 October 1994 Shrewsbury Town H 1–0 4,556 Taylor 11 8 October 1994 Bristol Rovers H 3–0 5,330 Forster (2), Taylor 12 15 October 1994 Bournemouth A 1–0 4,411 Forster 13 22 October 1994 Birmingham City H 1–2 7,779 Ward (og ) 14 29 October 1994 Cambridge United A 0–0 3,102 15 2 November 1994 Bradford City A 0–1 4,105 16 5 November 1994 Hull City H 0–1 5,455 17 19 November 1994 Huddersfield Town A 0–1 10,889 18 26 November 1994 Brighton & Hove Albion H 2–1 4,728 Ashby , Ansah 19 10 December 1994 Peterborough United A 2–2 4,102 Taylor , Forster 20 17 December 1994 Plymouth Argyle H 7–0 4,492 Annon , Smith , Taylor (2), Forster , Mundee , Harvey 21 26 December 1994 Leyton Orient H 3–0 6,125 Mundee , Ratcliffe , Forster 22 27 December 1994 Chester City A 4–1 2,261 Forster (3), Grainger 23 31 December 1994 Oxford United H 2–0 7,125 Forster , Taylor 24 2 January 1995 Cardiff City A 3–2 5,235 Harvey , Forster , Taylor 25 14 January 1995 Swansea City H 0–0 7,211 26 21 January 1995 Hull City A 2–1 3,823 Mundee , Grainger 27 28 January 1995 Cambridge United H 6–0 6,390 Forster , Taylor (2), Grainger , Bailey (2) 28 4 February 1995 Brighton & Hove Albion A 1–1 9,499 Bailey 29 11 February 1995 Bradford City H 4–3 6,019 Mundee , Taylor , Grainger , Forster 30 17 February 1995 Swansea City A 2–0 3,935 Forster (2) 31 21 February 1995 Huddersfield Town H 0–0 9,562 32 25 February 1995 Shrewsbury Town A 1–2 4,570 Forster 33 4 March 1995 Crewe Alexandra H 2–0 7,143 Mundee , Taylor 34 7 March 1995 Wrexham A 0–0 2,834 35 11 March 1995 Stockport County H 1–0 6,513 Taylor 36 18 March 1995 Rotherham United A 2–0 2,968 Forster , Abrahams 37 21 March 1995 Wycombe Wanderers H 0–0 9,530 38 25 March 1995 Blackpool A 2–1 4,663 Bates , Taylor 39 1 April 1995 York City H 3–0 6,474 Grainger , Forster , Taylor 40 8 April 1995 Oxford United A 1–1 7,800 Taylor 41 15 April 1995 Chester City H 1–1 8,020 Abrahams 42 17 April 1995 Leyton Orient A 2–0 4,459 Bates , Forster 43 22 April 1995 Cardiff City H 2–0 8,268 Grainger (pen ), Taylor 44 26 April 1995 Birmingham City A 0–2 25,581 45 29 April 1995 Bournemouth H 1–2 10,079 Abrahams 46 6 May 1995 Bristol Rovers A 2–2 8,501 McGhee , Taylor
Source: Statto , The Big Brentford Book Of The Nineties Players' ages are as of the opening day of the 1994–95 season. Source:The Big Brentford Book Of The Nineties Name Role David Webb Manager Kevin Lock First Team Coach Roy Johnson Physiotherapist Neil Mason Assistant Physiotherapist Fergus Dignan Medical Officer
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 13 August 1994 17 May 1995 57 29 14 14 0 50.88 46 25 10 11 0 54.35
Games played 57 (46 Second Division , 2 FA Cup , 4 League Cup , 3 Football League Trophy , 2 Football League play-offs ) Games won 29 (25 Second Division, 0 FA Cup, 2 League Cup, 2 Football League Trophy, 0 Football League play-offs) Games drawn 14 (10 Second Division, 1 FA Cup, 1 League Cup, 0 Football League Trophy, 2 Football League play-offs) Games lost 14 (11 Second Division, 1 FA Cup, 1 League Cup, 1 Football League Trophy, 0 Football League play-offs) Goals scored 95 (81 Second Division, 3 FA Cup, 4 League Cup, 5 Football League Trophy, 2 Football League play-offs) Goals conceded 49 (39 Second Division, 4 FA Cup, 1 League Cup, 3 Football League Trophy, 2 Football League play-offs) Clean sheets 21 (22 Second Division, 0 FA Cup, 3 League Cup, 1 Football League Trophy, 0 Football League play-offs) Biggest league win 7–0 versus Plymouth Argyle , 17 December 1994 Worst league defeat 2–0 on 3 occasions Most appearances 57, Nicky Forster (46 Second Division, 2 FA Cup, 4 League Cup, 3 Football League Trophy, 2 Football League play-offs) Top scorer (league) 24, Nicky Forster Top scorer (all competitions) 26, Nicky Forster
In February 1995, it was announced that Brentford had cancelled its sponsorship deal with KLM .[ 24] As a result, the Hummel International home shirt was replaced by an unbranded replica, which was devoid of sponsorship.[ 24]
Supplier: Hummel International (home shirt) / Core (home shorts & socks / away & goalkeeper kit) Sponsor(s): KLM
Home kit 1 only until March 1995
Source: [ 24]
^ a b c d Croxford, Mark; Lane, David; Waterman, Greville (2013). The Big Brentford Book Of The Nineties . Sunbury, Middlesex: Legends Publishing. p. 150. ISBN 9781906796723 . ^ a b c d e "Brentford results for the 1994–1995 season" . Statto.com . Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2016 . ^ Street, Tim. "Scott sends warning over Nicky Forster signing" . getwestlondon . Retrieved 15 April 2016 . ^ Haynes, Graham (1998). A-Z Of Bees: Brentford Encyclopedia . Harefield, Middlesex: Yore Publications. p. 44. ISBN 1 874427 57 7 . ^ "Birmingham City results for the 1994–1995 season" . Statto.com . Archived from the original on 6 April 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2016 . ^ White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford . Brentford FC. pp. 355–400. ISBN 0951526200 . ^ "England 1994–95" . RSSSF . Retrieved 24 February 2010 . ^ Jon Hooker at Soccerbase ^ Paul Abrahams at Soccerbase ^ George Parris at Soccerbase ^ "Andy Ansah" . Barry Hugman's Footballers . Retrieved 14 April 2016 . ^ "Dennis Bailey" . 11v11.com . Retrieved 14 April 2016 . ^ Dean Williams at Soccerbase ^ Carl Asaba at Soccerbase ^ Billy Manuel at Soccerbase ^ a b c Griffin Gazette versus Bradford City . Quay Design of Poole. 11 February 1995. p. 2. ^ Sewell, Albert, ed. (1995). News Of The World Football Annual 1995–96 . Hammersmith, London: Invincible Press. p. 338. ISBN 0855432330 . ^ Lynch, Tony (1995). The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes . Random House. p. 150. ISBN 0-09-179135-9 .
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