Today’s Friday Feature ahead of Brentford’s visit to Leeds United steps back in time to January 10 1953, when both sides were drawn together in the Third Round of the FA Cup.
It was a matchup of young and new forwards on opposing sides: Tommy Lawton and John Charles.
The match was Tommy Lawton’s first home match as Brentford Player/Manager, having replaced Interim appointment Jimmy Bain on January 2.
It was Tommy’s first managerial role, having signed for Brentford ten months earlier.
The Scot would revert to his prior role of Assistant Manager under Lawton.
Lawton's arrival at Brentford in March 1952 for £16,000 shocked football, and for his Bees debut against Swansea Town, 31,000 crammed inside Griffin Park to see one of the great post-war English centre forwards.
John Charles had by then established himself as one of the best forwards outside the top flight
The Yorkshire Evening Post reported around 1,000 Leeds fans had purchased tickets for the tie, with 600 travelling by train from Leeds Central at 7am.
The Griffin Park crowd that day numbered 26,570, paying £3,223 in receipts.
It would be Brentford that would progress to the next round against Aston Villa, Terry Ledgerton (7 mins) and Lawton (23 mins) scoring for the home side.
Brentford’s centre half Wally Bragg, marking Charles, let him slip for just one moment during the match, when the Welshman scored from a corner kick.
The Bees Jackie Goodwin was injured for most of the match, left out of harm’s way on the wing.
With the score 2-1 at the break, Brentford repelled any further Leeds attacks to win the tie.
Lawton would resign as manager in September that year after a poor start to the season, leaving for Arsenal shortly after.
Charles set Leeds United current goalscoring record in the same season, with 42 goals in 39 league games.