BIAS has been approached by a very generous Brentford supporter who would like us to arrange for the auction of a copy of ‘100 Years of Brentford’.

The receipts of the auction will go to the Supporters’ Trust, Bees United.

The book was inherited from a relative who had been a Bees fan virtually all his long life and, we are assured, would have fully approved of proceeds going towards Bees United and the Supporters’ Trust taking over the club.

‘100 Years of Brentford’ is now out of print and is something of a collectors’ item; it chronicles every season of the club from 1889 through to the book’s publication a century later. It has a number of rare pictures, and, at the back, has a season-by-season analysis with a full list of appearances and final league tables.

This book is the original hardback version, it is in excellent condition, the only blemish being a very small tear on reverse of the original dust cover. On publication the book cost £21.95; but to give an idea as to value, a book dealer quoted a copy as exchanging hands recently for over £100.

To add to the value of the book, the title page has been signed ‘Best Wishes, Ken Coote’.

Ken Coote is a Brentford legend; a one-club servant he made 514 league appearances for the Bees in a career which stretched from 1949 to 1964. In one spell of 382 matches between 1955 and 1963, Ken missed only 16 games. It is extremely unlikely that his record will ever be beaten. Ken’s testimonial match in 1965 featured a full strength West Ham side that had recently won the FA Cup and featured stars such as Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters who some ten months later played a major part in England winning the World Cup.

Ken Coote still lives locally and was very happy to co-operate in any scheme to assist the supporters. He sends his best wishes to his many friends at Griffin Park and spoke fondly of his long playing career at the club.