It’s fair to say England managers and selectors have not beaten a path to Brentford very often during the last 134 years.
Our initial spell in the top tier saw single caps for inside right, Billy Scott in 1936 and left winger, Leslie Smith in 1939.
Billy’s was in our original second season in Division 1, whilst the selection of Les came in our 5th season, as we were getting established in the top flight. For 21-year-old Les his cap came in May 1939 and, as it transpired, the final international before war was declared in September. There were no full international matches for 7 years as a result, and whilst he played in 11 wartime internationals, scoring 3 goals, during his time on Brentford’s books, he never won another cap when normal football resumed.
Probably the closest we came to another appearance was when full-back Arthur Bateman was a travelling reserve during England’s friendly tour of Europe in May 1938. Opportunities were limited to just the starting XI, as this was in an era before substitutes.
The war also affected the career of centre half Joe James, who skippered Brentford at the London War Cup Final victory in 1942 and was often referred to as the best uncapped centre half in the country.
During his playing days at Brentford, centre-half Ron Greenwood was called-up for a B international against the Netherlands in March 1952. He helped keep a clean sheet in a 1-0 win and had the honour of captaining the side. Although it transpired to be his only match wearing an England shirt, he went on to manage the national side from 1977-1982. His record of 33 wins, 12 draws and only 10 defeats stands up well compared to other England managers.
Former manager Ray Lewington also made it into the England dugout, as an assistant to manager Roy Hodgson from 2012 to 2016.
(Of course, this excludes former England Manager Mike Bassett, who was filmed for an ITV series in 2005 “Mike Bassett: Manager” recording his time with his new club, Wirral County FC, at a home ground which looked distinctly like Griffin Park.)
In more recent years we’ve become more accustomed to seeing former England stars playing for, or managing us later in their careers, or gaining caps with their new clubs, such as:
Former internationals as players: Stan Bowles, Kenny Sansom, John Salako, Graham Rix, Johnny Brooks
Former internationals as managers: Tommy Lawton, Frank Blunstone, Steve Perryman, Steve Coppell, Terry Butcher
Future internationals: Ollie Watkins, Andy Sinton, Les Ferdinand (on loan), Paul Merson (on loan), Alan Devonshire (who played for our reserves)
But in keeping with Brentford doing things differently, we actually have to go back to our very first season in the Football League, 1920-21, to find a player born 8 months before the club was founded in 1889, for the Bees player with the most England caps. However, it was not in football that Elias “Patsy” Hendren won 51 caps, but cricket.
In 1907-08, he started playing football for Brentford (then in the Southern League) and cricket for Middlesex. As his dual careers developed, including a short spell of football away from Griffin Park, his form at cricket prompted Brentford to include a clause in his contract that he would be free to go on tour with England, if selected. This duly happened and he made his international debut in December 1920 against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The length of the tour, and travelling time, meant he didn’t make his Football League debut for the Bees until April 1921.
In his England cricket career, he scored over 3,500 runs, with an average of 47.6, and a high score of 205, not out. Amazingly he was also selected for a post-World War 1 Victory International (not a full cap) for football, which ended in a 2-1 defeat against Wales, in Cardiff.
But for Ivan Toney he has the chance to add to club history:
– if he plays in both games this weekend, he’ll be the first to win 2 full England football caps
– if he plays against Germany, he’ll be the first to appear at Wembley (Scott and Smith’s caps were both away)
– and he has the opportunity to be the first current Brentford player to score a goal for England.