All at Brentford Football Club were saddened to hear of the death of Michael Block – better known as Micky – before Christmas. Micky died earlier this month at the age of 79. He was best known at Brentford for his role in the 1962/63 team that won promotion from Division Four.

Micky started out at Chelsea and made an impact in the game at a young age. The winger played for Chelsea when just 17, having been part of their team which reached the FA Youth Cup Final in 1958 along with England internationals Barry Bridges and Ken Shellito and the legendary Jimmy Greaves. Micky won England youth international honours while at Chelsea but never quite made a First Team breakthrough at Stamford Bridge and joined Brentford at the start of 1962.

He was in the Brentford team that were relegated from the third tier that year but played an important role as The Bees bounced back the following year. Micky played 42 of Brentford’s 46 games as they won the Division Four championship, he also contributed eight goals and plenty of assists as The Bees found the net 98 times on the way to the title. His role in the promotion also earned him the Supporters’ Player of the Year award.

His appearances became more infrequent as his Brentford career progressed and Micky left the Club in the summer of 1966 when The Bees were relegated back to the fourth tier. He played 164 games in all competitions for The Bees, 146 of them in the league, and scored 30 goals. Three of those goals will be particularly memorable for Bees fans as they can in a 6-1 win over Queens Park Rangers in 1965.

After leaving Brentford, Micky joined Watford but only stayed there for one year before he then moved in to non-league football. Brentford FC sends its condolences to Micky’s friends, family and former team mates at this time.