Notable Matches

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Birthdays

Jack Lane (1897); 234 appearances, 86 goals

When Jack arrived at Griffin Park in March 1925 little suggested the former Chesterfield man would go on to have such an impact in West London. He had averaged a goal every four games during his career thus far in the third tier but netted on his debut for The Bees and added three more before the end of the campaign. Lane’s first full season in West London brought nine goals in 40 games before his career really took off under new manager Harry Curtis.

Lane was made captain and hit double figures in each of the next five seasons. The remarkable 1929/30 season, which saw us win all 21 home league games, was his most prolific campaign with 19 goals in 34 outings. When Jack left for Crystal Palace in January 1931, he was our all-time leading goal-scorer, although that record fell to his namesake Billy within 12 months. Jack was inducted into our Hall of Fame in 2015.

James Drinnan (1899); 45 appearances, 12 goals

A teammate of Jack Lane, inside-forward Jimmy Drinnan signed from Newport County in the summer of 1927. He also scored on his debut, like Lane, and ended his maiden season with six goals in 18 matches. Drinnan enjoyed his games against sides from the South West with six goals in as many games against Bristol Rovers and Exeter City. At the end of the 1928/29 season, Drinnan left to join Luton Town.

Fred Gamble (1905); 13 appearances, 5 goals

Another to represent The Bees at the end of the 1920s, centre-forward Gamble found his playing-time limited due to the form of some of today’s other birthday celebrants. Gamble, Lane, and Drinnan never all played in the same game during the 1928/29 campaign as Gamble scored once in seven matches. After missing the whole of the next season, Gamble made six appearances during the 1930/31 campaign. His last action in a Brentford shirt was to score a hat-trick in a 6-1 win over Walsall. He briefly joined Division One side West Ham United, scoring twice in two matches, before seeing out his career with Aldershot and Reading. Between 1933 and 1935 Gamble played first class cricket for Surrey, taking 40 wickets at an average of 38.87.

Robert Wilson (1944); 1 appearance, 1 goal

Robert played one game as an amateur at the end of the 1966/67 season, scoring the second in a 2-0 win over Port Vale. Despite that he was never offered a professional contract but did make a name for himself in the non-league with Hendon, winning the London Senior Cup in 1968/69.

Ethan Pinnock (1993); 28 appearances, 1 goal

Signed from Barnsley in the summer, Ethan didn’t take long to show Bees fans why he had swept the board during awards season at the end of the 2018/19 season. As The Tykes won promotion back to the second tier Ethan was voted Barnsley’s Player of the Year and earned a spot in both the EFL and PFA League One Team of the Season. When this campaign was temporarily stopped in March, the commanding defender had played 28 times with his maiden Brentford goal coming in February’s 1-1 draw at Birmingham City.

League Debuts

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