Having spent much of the previous season rebuilding the unbalanced squad left by his predecessor John Docherty, Brentford manager Bill Dodgin Jr. shrugged off the disappointment of failing to agree a fee with Bristol City for John Bain and Terry Johnson's refusal to sign a new contract by bringing in goalkeeperLen Bond for £8,000 and midfielders Barry Lloyd and Willie Graham. Expectations were high going into the 1977–78 Fourth Division season, with Dodgin's attractive brand of attacking football having led to 14 wins from the final 18 matches of the previous season. After a what was then becoming traditional first round exit of the League Cup, Brentford had a strong start to the league season, going top on 22 August 1977 after a 4–1 victory over Fourth Division newcomers Wimbledon. The three-pronged attack of forwards Gordon Sweetzer, Andrew McCulloch and midfielder Steve Phillips proved fruitful after 10 league matches and Phillips and Sweetzer topped the Fourth Division goalscoring chart with eight apiece. Injuries to Gordon Sweetzer, Dave Carlton, John Fraser, captainJackie Graham and a suspension suffered by Andrew McCulloch nullified Brentford's threat through the Christmas period and the club dropped back into the upper reaches of mid-table. By mid-January 1978, Brentford began to recover and the £10,000 signing of full backBarry Tucker would prove to be the final piece of the jigsaw in manager Bill Dodgin Jr.'s starting XI. A 4–0 win over Rochdale at Griffin Park on 6 March put the Bees back on the cusp of the promotion places for the first time since mid-December, but the shock transfer of forward Gordon Sweetzer to Cambridge United two days later for a £30,000 fee was seen as a massive risk. Sweetzer had scored 40 goals from his 72 appearances for the club over 18 months, but manager Dodgin felt that with Steve Phillips having scored 16 goals from midfield so far in the season, Phillips could move up to the forward line to partner Andrew McCulloch. The decision proved to be a masterstroke, with Phillips scoring 16 goals in the final 15 matches of the season and promotion to the Third Division was secured with two matches still to play, after a 2–0 victory over Darlington at Griffin Park on 22 April. Phillips' 36 goals meant that he finished the season as the top scorer in English league football, while Andrew McCulloch and the departed Gordon Sweetzer supported ably with 22 and 14 goals respectively. One club record was equalled during the season:
