After an awful first half of the season, Brentford dropped into the relegation places in January 1966 and failed to recover, ending the club's three-season spell in the Third Division.

The lack of incoming transfer activity during the 1965 off-season served to highlight the view at Griffin Park that Brentford's squad was strong enough to secure promotion to the Second Division during the 1965–66 season.

[2] Brentford would win just one more league match before the end of 1965 and the team's plight was worsened by the departures of influential attackers Jimmy Bloomfield, Mark Lazarus and John Fielding after disputes with manager Tommy Cavanagh.

[1] Outside forward John Docherty was bought back from Sheffield United for his second spell at Griffin Park in December 1965,[1] but Brentford began 1966 entrenched in the relegation places.

[3] A 3–0 home defeat to Mansfield Town in his first match in charge effectively ended all survival hopes after the gap to safety opened up to five points.