After two seasons in which, were not for bad mid-season form, strong run-ins may have yielded a promotion challenge, Brentford manager Fred Callaghan kept his squad together. Save for the retirement of key midfielder Stan Bowles, the signing of replacement Terry Bullivant was the only significant piece of transfer activity at Griffin Park during the 1983 off-season.Goalkeeper Trevor Swinburne arrived to provide competition for Paddy Roche and with forward Tony Mahoney still not fully fit after recovering from a broken leg, Bill Garner was brought in from non-league football on non-contract terms.

Brentford showed poor form between the beginning of the season and Christmas Eve 1983, winning just two and losing 10 of the opening 19 Third Division matches to sit second-from-bottom. After seeing off Charlton Athletic in the first round of the League Cup, a two-legged tie with then-First Division champions Liverpool failed to produce much cheer, with the Bees suffering an 8–1 aggregate defeat. A reduction in size of Griffin Park in the intervening years meant that the 17,858 crowd which attended the first leg has not been bettered since. Player/assistant manager Ron Harris was replaced with former Brentford manager Frank Blunstone in October 1983, with Harris later remarking that it had been an acrimonious parting. An ever-increasing list of injuries and suspensions led manager Fred Callaghan to bring in a number of new players during the final two months of 1983, including new captain Ian Bolton for £2,000 and previously on-loan defender Paul Roberts from Millwall for a £10,000 fee. Stan Bowles came out of retirement to assist the team on a non-contract basis. The signings had an effect, with the Bees going four matches undefeated in late December 1983 and early January 1984 to rise out of the relegation places. Defeats in the following two matches led chairman Martin Lange to act and sack manager Fred Callaghan on 2 February, though he paid tribute to Callaghan by stating that Callaghan could "leave the club proud in the knowledge that he leaves the club far better equipped than when he arrived".

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