After successive top-six finishes in
Brentford's first three seasons in the
First Division and with the club making a record £7,348 profit on the
previous season (equivalent to £ in ), manager
Harry Curtis again elected to not make any significant off-season signings, stating "negotiations took place in an effort to get certain players of great repute, but the deals did not come off. During this close season the position still seems to be the same, the clubs being unwilling to part with players, irrespective of the price offered". Enquiries for
Manchester City's
Peter Doherty,
Blackpool's
Danny Blair,
Everton's
Joe Mercer,
Hull City's
David Parker and Scots
Jimmy Carabine and
Andy Black were all rebuffed. Brentford started the First Division season with two wins and a draw – the second victory being played in front of a club record 38,535 home crowd versus
London rivals Arsenal. Just one point from the following seven matches dropped the Bees to the bottom of the First Division. Brentford's bad form continued through to February 1939 and again the team was hit by the loss of a key players, with Scottish international forward Bobby Reid moving to
Sheffield United and Gerry McAloon departing for
Wolverhampton Wanderers the following month. Manager Curtis brought in two new forwards,
Tommy Cheetham from local rivals
Queens Park Rangers and
Les Boulter from
Charlton Athletic for £5,000 each. Cheetham scored on his second appearance to begin a run of five wins and a draw, which took the Bees up to 13th position and effectively saved the club's top-flight status. Brentford lost seven of the remaining 10 matches and finished in 18th place. Despite the poor finish, the season ended on a high note, when on 24 May 1939, 21-year-old forward Les Smith became the second Brentford player to win a full
England cap, which came in a 2–0
friendly win over
Romania in
Bucharest. ==League table==