Brentford at home to Liverpool have produced two wins for us over the years.The last time was on the November 19 1938, when The Bees won 2-1. 20,977 spectators attended the game at Griffin Park. ‘Jack’ Holliday scored both of the goals for us.
Prior to this and the only other time we have beaten The Reds at home, was 5-2 on October 24 1936. 25,934 spectators attended the game at Griffin Park with Dave McCulloch bagging a hat-trick and ‘Jack’ Holliday and Bobby Reid, scoring the other two Brentford goals.
The programme for the 1936 game shows the late great Matt Busby playing for Liverpool at that time. He also played in the 1938 game.
In those days supporters used to send letters to the club and the manager Harry Curtis would respond in his ‘Answers to Correspondents’ in every match programme. One fan recommends a player that Brentford might be interested in and Mr Curtis duly says he will have him watched. Another is told bluntly by Curtis they have been ‘wrongly informed’ about something (but we are not told what).
Fans were invited to send Mr Curtis the words for a Brentford Supporters ‘Anthem’ which would be set to music by a West End musical director. Harry Curtis would help choose the winner with a prize of 2 guineas but leaving nothing to chance the copyright on the winning lyrics would ‘become the property of Brentford Football Club’.
Sometimes Harry Curtis would send special messages. When Brentford were first promoted to the Second Division in 1933 he was keen to manage expectations.
A few years later he looked ahead from the end of one season to the start of the next in the Football League Division One . It would turn out to be his most poignant message to fans because after only three games of the 1939-40 season competitive football was suspended following Britain’s declaration of war on Germany on 3 September 1939.
Among the messages to fans: anybody interested in becoming an official seller of chocolate or cigarettes was encouraged to apply but there were strong warnings about ‘pirate’ chocolate sellers and pickpockets. A column called ‘Jottings from the Boardroom’ regularly had firm requests for fans such as ‘The Management kindly request supporters NOT TO SIT on the terracing before the game commences as by doing so they are taking up extra space’.There were regular warnings to ‘young enthusiasts’ of the ‘danger of climbing on to the playing pitch’ and in particular ‘ the young enthusiast who led our team onto to the field on Wednesday last, this was entirely an unofficial action and must not be repeated’.
Fans who were over eager for Cup tickets were told it was ‘useless’ applying too soon`;
And you thought problems with ticketing were only a recent occurrence! Comparing the 1930s with the 2020s it is interesting to see that when your star player is wanted by Man City you simply persuade him to stay:
I also noticed:
- the team for one match cost a total in transfer fees of £8,000
- that fans going to the away game with Villa were offered a ‘Express Restaurant-Car Half-Day excursion’ at a cost of six shillings and nine pence.
- Season tickets cost £3, the Club Handbook and post cards of the team were 2 pence.
- The music before games came from the Hanwell Silver Band.
- ‘Valuable prizes’ were to be won at the Brentford Philanthropic Society’s Whist Drive and Dance.
If you think that modern players seem to get more injuries try this list for one game:
The M.Edelston at the top of that list was Maurice Edelston, an amateur player who went on to become a BBC radio commentator.
There are also occasional innovations that we take for granted nowadays:
And finally I particularly liked the following:
‘One would have thought that all problems in connection with football had been solved, but new ones keep cropping up. Another is now before the Essex authorities and is unusual. During a cup-tie a player got into a spot of bother and the referee sent him off the field. Play proceeded with the particular player’s team a goal behind. At length they equalised and it was discovered that the goal-scorer was the fellow sent off. He received marching orders for the second time, but as that goal created a drawn result, the county has to decide what is to be done. !