2024-25 sees a milestone in the history of Brentford FC as they complete their 100th season playing in red and white stripes. Red and white have been the Home colours for ninety-nine of those one hundred seasons, as for the 1960-61 season amber and navy blue were worn, but as red and white remained the Away colours we can say that the stripes have been the Bees colours for 100 years.
We all have our favourites; whether it’s from our first game, a particular season, a favourite player or a memorable match. This series of articles will look at the history of Brentford in red and white, and how the designs and fashions have changed over the years.
The 1924-25 season had ended badly. Brentford in their fifth season in the Football League had finished second bottom of the Third Division South and had to apply for re-election.
The directors decided a change was needed, so they invested in new players and new shirts of red and white stripes to replace the plain white ones worn since 1920.
The reasoning for choosing of these colours has been lost over time, but as fellow London clubs Tottenham and Fulham wore similar white shirts (and no other London League club wore red and white stripes), it gave the team a unique identity.
The club’s new threads were debuted against Northampton on 29th August 1925 at Griffin Park.
The first shirt appears to have been made from a heavy cotton, with a lace up front and a red ‘grandad’ collar. The white stripe was central and the main body was wide and stretched past the shoulders.
1926-27 Team Photo
The team photo from the next season shows a lighter weight shirt with the collar lace now abandoned.
The division of the stripes moved to the centre of the shirt giving an offset appearance.
This style of shirt was worn in various configurations over the following seasons with changes to the cuff and collar colour configurations visible as new batches of kit were acquired and donated.
Stripe alignment changed to add some variance, and it was not uncommon for different configurations of shirt to be worn by players in the same game
1930s Shirt
After thirteen seasons in the Third Division South, Harry Curtis’ team finally gained promotion to the Second Division in 1933.
They finished first losing only 6 ties, and forward Jack Holliday scored a club record 39 goals during the campaign. As a reflection of their new league status a new style of shirt was introduced; a half button down collared ‘rugby’ style shirt in line with the fashions of the day.
Red was the central stripe of these new modern shirts, but Brentford only stayed in the second tier for two seasons before reaching the nirvana of the First Division.
A new design with a white central stripe was worn as a 5th place finish in their first season became one of the many highlights of this pre-war period.
In honour of Brentford’s rise through the leagues a club badge was specially designed based on the coat of arms of the Borough of Chiswick and Brentford.
There were more than a few club references in the badge; the griffins either side of the shield representing Griffin Park; the water representing the Thames and the rowing club roots; and a Phoenix to signify the club’s meteoric rise.
The badge appeared on the shirts for the 1938-39 league season and was also regularly seen on official suits and team wear for years after.
The outbreak of war in September 1939 curtailed league football until 1945 but that didn’t stop Brentford taking the field, albeit with a revolving cast of players and guests.
The few photos that exist from the time show both the plain and 38/39 badged shirt being worn, and Brentford appear to be wearing a new (or freshly ironed!) set of shirts as they were presented with the London War Cup at Wembley in 1942.
Coming next
The ’50’s into the ’60’s
And a departure from the norm, 1960-1961, finishing 17th, Div three
Brendan’s website has all you need to know about the history of Bees shirts
https://www.brentfordshirts.com/
Brendan Nevin