After a promising, but ultimately disappointing 2000–01 season, Steve Coppell replaced Ray Lewington as manager of Second Division Brentford on 8 May 2001. In the knowledge he would be provided with little money to buy players, Coppell was also tasked with raising £500,000 in transfer fees. The previous season's squad was kept together, with three fringe players released and just two arrivals – youngster Stephen Hunt and defender Jason Price on a short-term contract. After a 1–1 opening day draw with Wigan Athletic, teenage Blackburn Rovers forward Ben Burgess was brought in on a one-month loan, which was subsequently extended until the end of the season.

Brentford went undefeated in the first eight league matches of the season, hitting the top of the table for the first time after a 4–0 win over Tranmere Rovers on 8 September 2001. After a first league defeat of the season at the hands of Swindon Town on 25 September, the Bees went on a seven-match winning run, seizing and holding onto top spot of the Second Division.Captain Paul Evans led by example, scoring 9 goals in 13 matches in all competitions before suffering a hamstring injury in mid-October. His temporary replacement was Arsenal's teenage midfielder Steve Sidwell, another loan signing which would prove to be a masterstroke. Between 10 November 2001 and 24 January 2002, Brentford won just twice in a spell of 13 league matches, suffering eight defeats, while briefly returning to the top of the table in late December.

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