By Bulldog Drummond
Of course you don’t actually need to know anything about Brentford ahead of the Arsenal v Brentford game but since no one is writing much about the match I thought I’d jump in a bit early and add a few comments before the “all you need to know” articles start being plastered over the internet.
So let us be starting with this season’s games…
| Date | Match | Res | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04 Aug 2018 | Brentford v Rotherham United | W | 5-1 | League Championship |
| 11 Aug 2018 | Stoke City v Brentford | D | 1-1 | League Championship |
| 14 Aug 2018 | Southend United v Brentford | W | 2-4 | League Cup |
| 19 Aug 2018 | Brentford v Sheffield Wednesday | W | 2-0 | League Championship |
| 22 Aug 2018 | Aston Villa v Brentford | D | 2-2 | League Championship |
| 25 Aug 2018 | Blackburn Rovers v Brentford | L | 1-0 | League Championship |
| 28 Aug 2018 | Brentford v Cheltenham Town | W | 1-0 | League Cup |
| 01 Sep 2018 | Brentford v Nottingham Forest | W | 2-1 | League Championship |
| 15 Sep 2018 | Brentford v Wigan Athletic | W | 2-0 | League Championship |
| 18 Sep 2018 | Ipswich Town v Brentford | D | 1-1 | League Championship |
| 22 Sep 2018 | Derby County v Brentford | L | 3-1 | League Championship |
Six wins in eleven is good for any club, but we might note that five of those six were at home, and for Brentford the game on Wednesday is of course at the Arsenal Stadium. Brentford’s one win away from their home this season was in the League Cup at Southend United, a team who are currently 16th in League One.
Brentford’s other League Cup match this season was against Cheltenham Town of League Two. So to get to the third round (the round in which Arsenal enters for the first time) they’ve played lower league teams both times. And now it is our turn.
Last season Brentford ended up 9th in the Championship, but what was particularly interesting was that half of their wins were gained away from home scoring fractionally over one goal a game.
Away games only
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 23 | 14 | 4 | 5 | 35 | 21 | 14 | 46 |
| 2 | Fulham | 23 | 12 | 5 | 6 | 39 | 29 | 10 | 41 |
| 3 | Preston North End | 23 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 30 | 24 | 6 | 38 |
| 4 | Cardiff City | 23 | 11 | 5 | 7 | 29 | 23 | 6 | 38 |
| 5 | Aston Villa | 23 | 10 | 4 | 9 | 30 | 23 | 7 | 34 |
| 6 | Derby County | 23 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 29 | 26 | 3 | 34 |
| 7 | Middlesbrough | 23 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 34 | 28 | 6 | 31 |
| 8 | Brentford | 23 | 9 | 4 | 10 | 25 | 28 | -3 | 31 |
So they reached the third round in the League Cup last year, going out in that round to Norwich City. They also ended the season with a good run of just one defeat in the last nine.
This is their fifth year in the Championship having finished 5th, 9th 10th and 9th in the previous rounds.
But of course if you have been reading the Arsenal in the 30s series on the Arsenal History Society site you will know that for one short period they were in the First Division, and giving Arsenal quite a run for their money.
Brentford got promotion from the Third Division South winning that league in 1933, and then winning the second division in 1935. In the first, in which of course they played Arsenal, very much the team of the decade, they came fifth, sixth (twice) and then 18th, before the Leagues were abandoned due to the war. They played one season post war and were relegated and by 1955 they were back in the Third Division (South) eventually sinking even into the Fourth Division in the 1960s. They returned to the second tier in 2014.
So the number of times we have played Brentford is small – and we can list the lot..
| Date | Match | Res | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 Dec 1902 | Brentford v Woolwich Arsenal | D | 1-1 | FA Cup |
| 17 Dec 1902 | Woolwich Arsenal v Brentford | W | 5-0 | FA Cup |
| 02 Nov 1935 | Brentford v Arsenal | L | 2-1 | League Division One |
| 04 Apr 1936 | Arsenal v Brentford | D | 1-1 | League Division One |
| 03 Sep 1936 | Brentford v Arsenal | L | 2-0 | League Division One |
| 09 Sep 1936 | Arsenal v Brentford | D | 1-1 | League Division One |
| 15 Apr 1938 | Arsenal v Brentford | L | 0-2 | League Division One |
| 18 Apr 1938 | Brentford v Arsenal | L | 3-0 | League Division One |
| 08 Sep 1938 | Brentford v Arsenal | L | 1-0 | League Division One |
| 06 May 1939 | Arsenal v Brentford | W | 2-0 | League Division One |
| 12 Oct 1946 | Arsenal v Brentford | D | 2-2 | League Division One |
| 26 May 1947 | Brentford v Arsenal | W | 0-1 | League Division One |
Thus this is the first game in 71 years between the two sides. But you’ll notice that run of results they had against us in the 1930s. In 1938 we were Champions but managed to lose twice to Brentford. In 1936/7 we came third and managed to lose and draw to them.
So there we are – we have only beaten them three times – they have beaten us five times. Hmmm.
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Playing in the higher League, inform, at home and on paper. Arsenal should beat Brentford convincingly to progress to the 5th round. But despite the advantage Arsenal have to beat Brentford on Wednesday night at the Ems in the Carabao Cup, I prefer to see the rotation Gunners who Emery will likely play in the match to be forebear and foremost in their game playing be disciplined by focusing totally on the business of beating Brentford but not take beating them for granted because they are a Championship club side. To think that way will be dangerous if the Gunners alluded to such negative thinking. Rather, they should keep their focus focused on winning the match come whatever the resistant in the game Brentford have on offer on the night to avoid defeat in the match at the hands of the Gunners. The Gunners should remember how Brentford came to London Colney training ground to spank them 1-2 in a training session match before they left for their summer pre-season games Tour this summer. And therefore take the necessary step to guide against any giants killing act Brentford have planned to cause against Arsenal in the match on the night.
Playing in the higher League, inform, at home and on paper. Arsenal should beat Brentford convincingly to progress to the 4th round. But despite the advantage Arsenal have to beat Brentford on Wednesday night at the Ems in the Carabao Cup, I prefer to see the rotation Gunners who Emery will likely play in the match to forebear and foremost in their game playing to be disciplined by focusing totally on the business of beating Brentford but not take beating them for granted because they are a Championship club side. To think that way will be dangerous if the Gunners alluded to such negative thinking. Rather, they should keep their focus focused on winning the match come whatever be the resistant in the game Brentford have on offer on the night to avoid defeat in the match at the hands of the Gunners. The Gunners should remember how Brentford came to London Colney training ground to spank them 1-2 in a closed door training session match before they left for their summer pre-season games tour this summer. And therefore take the necessary step to guide against any giants killing act Brentford have planned to cause against Arsenal in the match on the night.
For what it’s worth, I spent 1942/3 in war-time London, when football was very localised, so as to avoid un-necessary travel. I can’t recall on how many occasions I saw Arsenal meet Brentford during that time, but never once did I see us win! 😉