, a £25,000 buy from
non-League football, finished the season as top scorer with 25 goals. After relegation to the
Third Division at the end of the previous season, the ownership of
Brentford changed hands for the second year in succession, when
Ron Noades took over the club as owner and chairman during the 1998 off-season. Noades installed himself as manager and appointed a three-man coaching team of
Ray Lewington,
Terry Bullivant and
Brian Sparrow. Nearly £1.5 million was spent on assembling almost an entirely new starting lineup, with
goalkeeper Jason Pearcey,
defenders Danny Boxall,
Darren Powell,
Rob Quinn and
Hermann Hreiðarsson (the club's then-record £750,000 signing),
midfielders
Martin Rowlands and
Tony Folan and
forwards Lloyd Owusu and
Darren Freeman added to the ranks. There was some early-season excitement in the
League Cup, with a 4–2 aggregate victory over
First Division club
West Bromwich Albion in the first round setting up a two-legged tie with
Premier League club
Tottenham Hotspur. Three league defeats in a four-match spell in November and injuries and suspensions to Andy Scott, Darren Powell, Danny Boxall,
Jamie Bates and Martin Rowlands led Noades to further strengthen the squad with forward
Leo Fortune-West and midfielder
Gavin Mahon. Five wins in the following six league matches saw the club begin 1999 firmly placed in the automatic promotion places. A 4–1 win over
Swansea City in the following match returned Brentford to the top of the table for the first time since 20 October 1998. The victory set up a "winner takes all" match for the title on the final day at the
Abbey Stadium versus nearest challengers
Cambridge United. Lloyd Owusu's 25th goal of the season was enough for victory and for Brentford to win the Third Division championship. ==League table==