Forum Topic

Ron Greenwood...a Brentford FC celebrity in the 50's

The announcement today of the death of Ron Greenwood at the age of 84should perhaps not be passed by without a mention on the Brentford Forum.Memories are triggered. Ron Greenwood, Jimmy Hill, Ken Coote, Ken Horne,Tommy Lawton Ted Gaskell, Billy Dare etc etc Bill Gorman too!!Those were the days when 20,000 people attended Griffin Park  and many more on occasions..when either Derek Dougan appeared or Chelsea in the Cup.I've dug out my old autograph book (a present from my dear neighbour Miss Lily Dossett in 1949) to see what I can find.Do you remember Ron Greenwood with the red and white stripedshirt of Brentford?

Jim Lawes ● 7040d11 Comments

Jim Lawes ● 7038d

Jim Lawes ● 7038d

A 1949 picture of Brentford's Squad..shows Bill Gorman on the right side...and others too.Copy and paste!!http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.11v11.co.uk/images/photos/Brentford48-49.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.11v11.co.uk/page286-58&h=308&w=550&sz=49&tbnid=W2B__vND-FUsiM:&tbnh=72&tbnw=130&hl=en&start=9&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbrentford%2Bfootball%2B%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official_s%26sa%3DGThat long URL might get you to the webpage to see the list of names...but here is the 1949 photo:

Jim Lawes ● 7038d

""If your autograph book ever needs another good home i know just the place.""Hi NeilWell you never know! Its time I cleared out some of my assortment of papers!That Alex James signature seems special...as he was a star in his day..playing for Raith Rovers and Arsenal. Sadly he died in his early 50's..just a year or so after he signed my book. Apparently..it seems.. he may have been in journalist mode when he attended Griffen Park that day.This picture shows him with Arsenal holding the FA Cup. His  long baggy shorts were his signature..due a health problem.

Jim Lawes ● 7038d

JimIf your autograph book ever needs another good home i know just the place.

Neil Chippendale ● 7038d

Aah, Jim!That was a lovely ramble down Memory Lane.  We did love our autograph books back then...mine holds the likes of Ted Heath (band not politician), Arthur Haynes, Claude Hulbert ...  other posters now  are asking, "Who the heck are they????"

Ann S. Allridge ● 7039d

Thank you for all that work Jim, well done a great job! We used to earn a few bob from looking after cars parked in York Road whilst their owners were at the football!! What fun those days were....

Audrey Walton ● 7039d

This the final batch of pages from an old 1949 Autograph book of mine..and it includes RON GREENWOOD's signature too.Apologies for the poor quality of the images.On the right page RON'S signature can be just seen ..together with BILLY DARE, was it FRED LATIMER? , then JEFFRIES the goalie..and BILLY PONTIN.On the left side page..is BILL SPERRIN'S..and finally KEN HORNE'S.  Ken lived in North Isleworth for many years after playing..and I believe he traded in Flowers and fruit and Veg at the International Market.  The sight of his bungalow was a delight..with flowers galore on display. Since then..the bungalow has been demolished and a bulbous inappropriate monster erected in its place. But that's life these days.But nobody can take away the memory of Ron Greenwood and Jimmy Hill doing their thing for Brentford in the early 1950's.

Jim Lawes ● 7039d

Sorry about the size of that last page. Let's reduce it!!..hopefully.  That's the trouble..us silver surfers just don't know how these things work!

Jim Lawes ● 7039d

Correction: that was JACK GOODWIN not Jack Goodman in the previous posting.I've now located JIMMIE HILL'S autograph which he gave me in the some 50 years ago..together with some other surprises!On the right side page at the top you can ..hopefully see..JIMMY HILL's signature..written in pencil..and below that Broadbents....was that PETER BROADBENT?  Further down is JOHNNY PATENS.One the left side page at the top is the signature of Brentford Goalie...TED GASKELL. I can picture his face to this day. I remember seeing him on a trolleybus once too. Today's footballers wouldn't be doing that would they!Then you can see KEN COOTE'S signature....and finally on that page..the very famous..wait for it......ALEX JAMES!!  This next little page finds MANLEYS signature..was that Tom or Jack?  Also below is Plymouth Argyles JACK CHISHOLM.  Anyone remember that name?

Jim Lawes ● 7039d

Let's see what we have on this first page!Ah,Bill Gorman!    He was a 1950's Brentford defender, and was distinctive because he had a bald head...and whilst bald heads might be commonplace amongst youngers these days...they certainly weren't then. I remember him as being a hard grafter.It was so exciting when I popped along to the Stripes Bar some months back to see a Jazz Band..and found the walls lined with photos of Brentford teams of years gone by.The 1950's team photos made the memories flood back and the names of the players just came flooding back. As youngsters in our early teens these were giants of men..our local hero's. Golly how young they now look in those photos!!Then you can see the name of Jack Goodman..he was a popular hero too.No floodlights at the ground in those days.  If the weather was gloomy..so was Griffin Park...warmed by the regular lighting up of say 10,000 fags every 5 minutes!  After the game the mess of say 10,000 discarded cigarette packets was a major clear up operation! Craven A, Woodbines, Sebior Service, Players...and in the posh stands Du Maurier etc.To think that some of us used to collect them and take them home!!

Jim Lawes ● 7040d