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A brief history of Brentford FC
By Nathan Jackson August 5 2008
Brentford FC are historically a side that don't like staying in a division for very long. They're one of the few sides in League Two to have played in all four of the league divisions and also have the unique distinction of being one of the few sides to ever achieve a 100% record at home in a season and still fail to win promotion.
The club was founded in 1889 as an attempt by the Brentford Rowing Club to have an activity during the winter monsters. The first few years of their history was spent in the lower reaches of the Football League and not a lot really happened in their first few years, with the exception of the move to their Griffin Park ground in 1904. The club's first truly historic event came in 1921, becoming founder members of the Third Division South.

1929/30 saw a remarkable achievement of winning all 21 of their home games but failing to achieve promotion, two more near misses occurred before they finally won promotion to the Second Division in 1932/3. Two seasons later and the Bees recorded their finest ever season, finishing 5th in Division One. Several respectable finishes later were interrupted by World War II.

The return from the War sparked a huge downfall in form and the club were relegated in the first season and they suffered relegations to the bottom division by 1962. QPR tried to overtake the club in the late 60s but an emergency loan prevented that from occurring. Several yo-yoing years following but a trip to Wembley in 1985 sparked a revival for the club and they won promotion back to the second tier after finishing as Division Three Champions.

Brentford's spell back in the top tier of the Football League lasted just a single season. They proved inconsistent in Division Two before eventual relegation in 1998, followed a season later by a promotion as Third Division Champions. They missed out on promotion back to Division One in 2001/2, a draw with promotion rivals Reading on the final day saw the Royals promoted, the Bees losing the Playoff Final to Stoke City.

A few years of struggle were followed by consecutive Playoff Final Semi Final defeats under Martin Allen. Allen left and Brentford capitulated and were relegated back to the fourth tier and an almost disastrous 2007/8 was only saved when Andy Scott took over and launched an unlikely push for the Playoffs, however their fall went fairly inconsistent by the end of the season and they had to settle for a midtable finish.

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