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1943–44 Brentford F.C. season

Brentford
1943–44 season
Chairman Frank Davis
Manager Harry Curtis
Stadium Griffin Park
Football League South 7th
Football League South War Cup Group stage
Top goalscorer League: Hunt (15)
All: Hunt (18)
Highest home attendance 20,270
Lowest home attendance 2,340

During the 1943–44 English football season, Brentford competed in the Football League South, due to the cessation of competitive football for the duration of the Second World War. The Bees marginally improved on the previous season's 9th-place finish, ending in 7th.

Brentford returned for the 1943–44 Football League South season again with a shortage of first team players, with just 10 available who made a senior appearance for the club prior to the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939. The biggest boost for the squad came with the availability of goalkeeper Joe Crozier, who had not appeared since 21 October 1939.Reserve forwards Fred Durrant and Bob Thomas, signed before the war, would feature during the season, as would six junior and amateur players on the club's books. A whopping 36 guest players would be used during the campaign.

Despite an improved 7th-place finish in the Football League South, 1943–44 proved to be as forgettable as the previous season, though there were a few memorable results – 7–2 versus Southampton on 18 December 1943, 4–1 versus Arsenal in front of 20,270 at Griffin Park on 4 February 1944 and 8–0 versus Brighton & Hove Albion a month later in the group stage of the Football League War Cup, from which Brentford failed to qualify for the knockout stages. Three players won wartime international caps during the season – Les Smith for England, Joe Crozier for Scotland and Idris Hopkins for Wales. Though he finished the season as second-leading scorer behind guest Douglas Hunt, Les Smith's 15 goals in 15 appearances led his case for a first international cap in over two years.


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