Brentford got their nickname from a college chant and rose three divisions in three seasons
Brentford's nickname came almost by accident: students from Borough Road College, cheering a friend in the team in the 1890s, shouted their college's buzz-word chant, and the press ran with it. The Bees later climbed from the third tier to the top flight in just three seasons under one manager.
The club grew out of a practical question. In October 1889 members of Brentford's rowing and cricket clubs met at the Oxford & Cambridge pub near Kew Bridge to decide how to use a new recreation ground, and chose football. The first competitive game, a 1-1 draw with Kew, came on 23 November. In the 1894-95 season supporters from Borough Road College, backing their friend Joseph Gettins, gave the team the name that stuck. Brentford joined the London League in 1896, turned professional soon after, and moved to Griffin Park, their first permanent home, in 1904.
In May 1920 the club entered the Football League among the founder members of the new Third Division. The turning point was the 1926 appointment of Harry Curtis, formerly Gillingham's manager, who kept just 9 of the old squad and slowly rebuilt. The Bees won the Third Division South in 1932-33 and the Second Division in 1934-35, reaching the First Division for the first time ever. Curtis stayed nearly 23 years before stepping down after the 1948-49 season.
The good times did not last. An ageing squad went down from the top flight after the Second World War, and by 1954-55 Brentford were back in the bottom tier for the first time in 21 years. Debts of 50,000 pounds surfaced in 1960-61, and in 1967, amid fan protests and donations, a syndicate led by former Plymouth Argyle chairman Ron Blindell took control as Queens Park Rangers' chairman eyed Griffin Park. The club yo-yoed between the lower divisions for decades and developed a poor record in finals, losing three Football League Trophy finals.
Promotions from League Two in 2008-09 and League One in 2013-14 set up a gradual rise, although Championship play-off campaigns failed in 2015 and 2020. That same year Brentford left Griffin Park for the Brentford Community Stadium, and the club now competes in the Premier League.
Source: Brentford F.C.
