With the international break in full swing, Brentford players are in action all over the globe. A total of 16 players, including those on standby and involved in training camps, were called-up with four – Saïd Benrahma, Henrik Dalsgaard, Kamohelo Mokotjo and Romain Sawyers – selected for full international squads. It also prompted a check of the record books.

It has been recorded for more than 25 years that John Buttigieg is Brentford’s most capped player. It is listed in some archives that he played 22 games for Malta while on the books of The Bees as part of his 97 caps overall. But after prompting from historian Mark Chapman, the Club can confirm that while John is our most capped player, he only won 20 caps while a Bee.

According to contemporaneous records, John signed for Brentford on 2 November 1988 after protracted negotiations. He spent just under three years with The Bees, leaving at the end of the 1990/91 season. In that period, John made 20 international appearances. The confusion appears to have arisen because he played twice for Malta in late October 1988, just before formally completing his move to The Bees.

John’s record is under threat from current Brentford defender Henrik Dalsgaard. Henrik won his 19th cap for Denmark when they drew with Kosovo on Thursday. Henrik became a Brentford player on 1 July 2017 and has played 15 times for his country since then. Henrik is second on the list of most capped Brentford players with Kamohelo and Romaine also approaching double figures in terms of international appearances while with The Bees.