By Geoff Buckingham
It was 58 years ago this month that I nearly choked on my cornflakes ! I woke up to the news that could have meant the death of my beloved Brentford Football Club!
Not only that, but myself and other Bees diehards were discovering that the plug was to be pulled in the worst possible way – in the form of a takeover by our fierce local rivals, Queens Park Rangers!
We were to read morning newspaper reports that Brentford chairman Jack Dunnett had allegedly been in secret talks with his R’s counterpart, Jim Gregory, for some time, and had struck a deal which would see the Shepherd’s Bush side move into Griffin Park and the Bees wiped from existence.
I was then an 18 year old who had been supporting The Bees for the previous decade. I could not believe what I was reading. The headline in the Daily Mail on January 20th 1967 exclaimed ‘Brentford May Die in Take Over’ – and a number of other papers had similar headlines, with The Daily Sketch announcing ‘Soccer Takeover. Rangers Move May Finish Brentford!’ People were in shock. Although, after selling off many of our best players the season before had resulted in the club’s relegation, we didn’t have any inkling the club’s finances were so parlous.
“ I felt that my right arm had been taken away“ said ‘Supporters Club’ Chairman Peter Pond-Jones .” I was astounded. Another player told me and I thought it was a leg pull!” said team captain Bobby Ross. Supporters Club Secretary Arthur Morris said “We have given thousands of pounds to keep the club going. Now it feels that we have been let down” And goalkeeper Chic Brodie added “It looks as if I will be out of a job. Will players in club houses be thrown out?”
It seemed one hell of an over-reaction by the person in charge though. Had he just fallen out of love with the club? Or were there other reasons? We were not an Accrington Stanley, who had folded through lack of support a few seasons earlier. We were still getting decent attendances and had started the previous season with a very strong squad, who had, incidentally , kicked off with a 6-1 victory-over QPR!
Brentford fans’ response was immediate. Led by the charismatic Supporters Club chairman Peter Pond-Jones, the fightback began on a triple front – raising funds, raising awareness and confronting Dunnett on his intentions.
It wasn’t easy to mobilise as in those days we didn’t have mobile phones or computers – in fact, not too many supporters had a phone in their house! Peter , though, was a real man for the moment and mobilised as quickly. He was a great orator and galvanised the troops.
It must also be noted that the then Brentford FC Secretary Denis Piggot was also crucial. He told me some years later that he had refused to sign the paperwork transferring the club. And credit is due to the remaining directors, most of whom were local and loyal business people. And a big shout out to the remaining staff and volunteer fund-raisers as they tried to find solutions, including a turnstile where you could voluntarily pay extra money to enter the ground! But, frankly, none of them seemed to have sufficient funds to buy out Jack Dunnett, who seemed hell bent on finalising the deal anyway. A figure of £267,000 had been mooted. A huge sum back in 1967.
There were reports of alternative options subsequently being suggested, such as QPR becoming landlords and Brentford being guaranteed existence for one more season as their tenants! For Bees supporters though, all this was totally unthinkable.
One eminent football writer, however, felt that Brentford were fighting a lost cause, and that they would certainly not survive to take part in the 1967/68 football season.
I hope that prophet of doom is still eating his words!
For the fans, it would have been like losing a much loved family member, and for the players, a lot of whom were born and lived locally, it was more than just losing a job.
Everyone rallied round. The home game against Southend United a few days later attracted a five figure attendance , which was well above average for a Fourth Division club. I confess to having had a lump in my throat when, prior to kick off , the fans started singing “ There will always be a Brentford”!
The team drew that match 1-1, and went on an impressive unbeaten run , which augered well for the future, despite our players not knowing what that future actually held for them.
Players, fans listen to Peter Pond-Jones, Chair, Supporters’ Club (with your author, front Row)
At a rally in the Braemar Road grandstand the following week, in front of 3500 concerned supporters, Peter Pond-Jones said “ Brentford Football Club endured many shocks over the years. But last week it suffered a heart attack!”. And that’s how we all felt.
One memorable moment the following week saw Pond-Jones take apart the arguments of Dunnett, (who would go onto become chairman of both Notts County and the Football League) , on live television in front of the Grandstand cameras.
Our club had a good friend in Jimmy Hill, who was a former Brentford player and was heavily involved with ‘Grandstand’, the top sports tv programme of the day. He arranged for Peter to confront Dunnett, live, on the programme, which helped us enormously.
On that programme Peter challenged Jack Dunnett to sell his shares to other supporters. Dunnett tried to hedge his bets but ended up looking foolish and somewhat sheepish. That brought our plight to national attention, and the subsequent reaction in football showed him that he was battling against the tide of popular opinion.
A saviour eventually arrived in the shape of former shoe magnate and Plymouth Argyle chairman Ron Blindell, but not before many weeks of anxiety, worry , hard work and fundraising by the supporters.
One scheme they came up with was a walk from Brighton to Brentford, in which players like Tommy Higginson, Peter Gelson, Alan Hawley and Gordon Phillips walked alongside the fans. I remember that walk vividly. It was fun at times, but no joke walking up Reigate Hill in the early hours of the morning!
I think, however, that the Brighton to Brentford walk impressed Ron Blindell ,as it showed how passionate and determined we were to save our club. He was not a Brentford supporter as such, but took a lot of interest in our situation and I reckon it showed him we were worth saving.
He wasn’t a philanthropist but he was struck by our plight, and that was the break we needed to save our club. It took six or seven long and anxious weeks, but it didn’t end when Ron signed his cheque. The threat didn’t evaporate straight away. We were living on a very thin shoestring for a good few seasons, and it is fair to say that there were tensions, controversies and challenges for many more years. At one time, the first team squad was down to just 14 players, and we had no reserve team nor youth team!
It took a long time for the spectre of January 1967 to fade away.
It wasn’t to be the last time Brentford fans would do battle with an owner they felt was threatening the future of the club, with both David Webb and Ron Noades feeling their wrath in the later years of the last century, and the early years of this one.
The traumatic events of 1967 set a special spirit at Brentford which has never gone away. Some of those who fought David Webb and Ron Noades, and helped set up Bees United, were the same people, or the offsprings of, those who took the fight to Dunnett.
There were many ‘heroes’ who played their part , in different ways, back in 1967, and I take my red and white hat off to them all!
All this also shows how lucky we have been to find an owner like Matthew Benham…
Up The Bees!
Geoff Buckingham
Some of those walkers back in May 1967
