During the 2009–10 English football season, Brentford competed in Football League One. In the Bees' first League One season since 2006–07, the club finished in 9th place and reached the third round of the FA Cup.
Manager Andy Scott revealed that Brentford's target for the season was "to get to 52 points" and "to do the double over as many teams as possible and make sure no-one does the double over us".[6] Despite being knocked out of the League Cup in the first round, Brentford started the league season strongly, going third after an opening-day victory over Carlisle United and then going undefeated in the following four matches to consolidate a position in the playoff zone.[7] A 2–1 victory over promotion hopefuls Norwich City at Griffin Park on 18 August was a notable early-season highlight.[8] As injuries mounted and some players found it difficult to replicate their League Two form in League One, manager Scott would search for a winning formula by signing 9 players on loan between November 2009 and March 2010,[4] the most notable of whom being Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny, centre back Pim Balkestein and central midfielderToumani Diagouraga,[4] the latter two of whom would sign permanently for the club after the season.[9][10] Out of form attackers Steve Kabba and Cleveland Taylor were sent out on loan to League Two club Burton Albion,[11] while captain Alan Bennett, who had been out of favour for most of the season, ended the campaign with two spells on loan with Wycombe Wanderers.[12]
Aside from dropping to a season-low placing of 18th in late November and early December, Brentford trod water in mid-table for much of the season and a run of just one defeat in the final 13 matches of the season elevated the club to a credible 9th-place finish.[7] The Bees reached the third round of the FA Cup, seeing off Conference Premier strugglers Gateshead in a replay and League One Walsall in the first two rounds, before falling to 1–0 to Championship club Doncaster Rovers in the third round at Griffin Park.[7] There was some cheer late in the season, when supporter Matthew Benham agreed to invest £1m a year into the club, until the end of the 2013–14 season, in return for preference shares and without increasing the club's debt.[13]
Source: The Football League Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored. Notes:
^Southampton were given a ten-point deduction for breaching insolvency regulations, regarding their holding company. As they finished in the bottom three last season, the points deduction were applied in the 2009–10 season.[14]
