Six rare first team appearances against Brentford

Our last six competitive meetings with Brentford have all come in the League Cup, in the form of a trio of two-legged ties in 1992/93, 1998/99 and 2000/01.

From those six games and ahead of Tuesday night’s semi-final at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, we take a look at six lesser-remembered first team outings for individuals against the Bees...

Kevin Watson

Ball-playing central midfielder Kevin Watson came up through the ranks at the Club and was handed his senior debut from the start in our League Cup second round, first leg clash with Brentford at White Hart Lane in September, 1992.

He marked the occasion with a goal in what turned out to be a 3-1 win before being substituted for the late, great Justin Edinburgh: “It was a Gordon Durie cross that came over and I headed it in. Funnily enough it was the only header I have ever scored!” he once recalled.

Nicknamed ‘Chipper’ – a moniker given to him by our former goalkeeper Kevin Dearden, with the midfielder constantly trying to chip him in training – Watson made eight first team appearances for us between 1992 and 1993, and also played in all four of our ill-fated Intertoto Cup fixtures in the summer of 1995.

He spent a brief spell on loan at Brentford in 1994 towards the beginning of Dearden’s lengthy stint at Griffin Park and later represented the likes of Rotherham United, Reading and Colchester United with distinction. Most recently manager of non-league Ebbsfleet United, he’s been virtually ever-present in our Legends team over the last decade along with the likes of David Howells, Stuart Nethercott and Mark Falco.

Jeff Minton

Attacking midfielder Jeff Minton is another home-grown player to have made a first team cameo appearance in that September, 1992, clash with the Bees.

Regularly among the goals and assists for our youth team and reserves, he was thrust into the starting line-up for our last two top-flight matches of the 1991/92 season against Everton and Manchester United – the final two games of the old Division One before the inception of the Premier League – and scored on his debut against the Toffees as we drew 3-3 at White Hart Lane.

His third and final showing in our colours came at the start of the following campaign, in the first leg of the Brentford League Cup tie as he came off the bench to replace Darren Anderton in our 3-1 win.

Minton left us in 1994 and enjoyed five successful years at Brighton & Hove Albion, before later playing for Port Vale, Rotherham and Leyton Orient, subsequently featuring as a regular on the Essex non-league scene with the likes of Canvey Island and Chelmsford City.

Rory Allen

Striker Rory Allen was bedeviled by injuries over the course of his career, an accumulation of which led him to quit the game in 2002.

Having initially broken his leg as a teenager, the youth team graduate recovered to make his first team debut as a half-time substitute for Allan Nielsen in a 1-0 Premier League defeat at Wimbledon in September, 1996.

He started up front with Chris Armstrong in our 3-2 victory at Brentford in the League Cup second round, first leg in September, 1998, towards the end of his time in the first team set-up and after netting four times in 28 senior appearances in our colours and a successful loan at Luton Town, where his goals helped the Hatters to stave off relegation, he became Portsmouth’s record signing at the time in July, 1999.

Sadly, injuries took their toll and after several operations, he decided enough was enough and left Pompey in November, 2002, eight months before the end of his contract.

Mark Gower

Dynamic midfielder Mark Gower’s only two first team appearances for us came in each leg of our League Cup second round tie with Brentford in 1998/99 as we started out on a journey that would end with us lifting the trophy.

Born locally in Edmonton, he progressed through our youth set-up during the mid-1990s before making his senior debut as an 82nd-minute substitute for Rory Allen in the first leg of the aforementioned cup tie at Griffin Park on 15 September, 1998, which we won 3-2.

Eight days later, history repeated itself as we claimed victory in the return match by the same scoreline at White Hart Lane, with Gower this time replacing Stephen Clemence in the 81st minute.

Sadly, an injury incurred shortly after the second leg, coupled with the arrival of new manager George Graham, stunted his progress and he never added to his two appearances for us as we went on to beat Leicester City in the Wembley final later that season.

After a loan spell at Motherwell in 1999, he left us for Barnet in 2001 and later enjoyed long stints with Southend United and Swansea City, where he was a team-mate of Ben Davies towards the end of his stay in 2012. He’s since appeared for our Legends team.

Hans Segers

We had a goalkeeping crisis on our hands for the second leg of our League Cup tie with Brentford in 1998.

With first-choice stopper Ian Walker injured and back-up Espen Baardsen unwell, our 38-year-old Dutch goalkeeper coach Hans Segers had to don the gloves as we survived an early scare to beat the visitors 3-2 at the Lane, completing a 6-4 aggregate scoreline.

Because of the prevailing goalkeeper situation, Segers had also been forced to play four days earlier in a Premier League trip to Southampton, earning praise for his performance as we drew 1-1.

“By signing my contract I already knew that on a long-term basis I was going to be the coach and I accepted that my playing days were over. So to get two extra games was a bonus for me,” he once told us.

Segers remained as our goalkeeper coach until 2007 and later worked for Fulham and the Australian national team in a similar role.

Ian Walker

‘Walks’ is without doubt the anomaly on this list, as he was far from a bit-part player for us, making 313 appearances and winning the League Cup in 1999, having been our regular number one for much of the 1990s.

However, by the time we came to face Brentford over two legs in the second round of said competition in September, 2000, he wasn’t seen much between the posts and his time at the Club was coming to an end.

Having lost his place in the team to Neil Sullivan, the goalkeeper handed in a transfer request, but merely a few days later was called into action when Sullivan was sent off for bringing down Paul Evans in the first-leg clash at Griffin Park.

Walker came on for the last half-an-hour – Matthew Etherington sacrificed – and preserved our clean sheet in an eventual 0-0 draw. However, he only played four more times for us thereafter, going on to join Leicester City the following summer.