Back in the winter of 1946/47 Fulham unwisely sold their popular centre-forward Ronnie Rooke to the Arsenal, and needed a replacement to appease the disgruntled supporters. Their choice, Southampton's Doug McGibbon, made a promising start scoring six times in his first three appearances.
Better still, on the opening day of the following season, he notched a hat-trick against Brentford in a 5-0 victory at the Cottage. After that McGibbon's goals became less frequent but he still scored in the return match just before Christmas when the Bees succumbed 2-0 on their home turf.
If you are wondering why I am dredging up such ancient history (these matches occurred some months before even I started watching Fulham), I must confess that the Whites never again achieved the double against their neighbours – until last Sunday.
Crystal Palace's victory at Wembley (which I applauded) had pretty well obliterated any chance of either Brentford or Fulham qualifying for Europe but no additional motivation was needed for this competitive local derby. Marco Silva, whose team selections have generally proved sound, had opted to start without Andreas Pereira, Ryan Sessegnon or Harry Wilson.
Maybe Emile Smith Rowe or Adama Traore would turn out to be our match winner. Brentford may have been relieved that Harry Wilson was not in the starting line-up. His late brace at the Cottage last November had brought much sorrow to part of West London.
Sunday's early stages presaged a lively and fierce contest. By the 14th minute Kenny Tete had been shown a yellow card.
Two minutes later Fulham took the lead when Raul Jimenez's header slipped past the fingers of goalkeeper Mark Flekken. The goal had been created by Traore; soon afterwards the lost the ball to Brentford's dynamic duo of Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa with the inevitable consequence.
If Mbeumo's equaliser was classy he will have been embarrassed with what happened next. When referee Jarred Gillett awarded a somewhat generous penalty after a meeting of Joachim Andersen and Kevin Schade, the Cameroonian seemed to underestimate Bernd Leno, who calmly saved his languid kick and the follow-up.
After Traore and Jimenez had tried to repeat their successful ploy Fulham were once more undone by a dead ball situation. Michael Kayode's long throw flummoxed the defence and Wissa prodded the ball over the line.
The second half had less quality but Marco Silva's substitutions paid dividends. He introduced Tom Cairney for the whole of the second half and Harry Wilson and Josh King in the 66th minute.
Two minutes later Cairney headed the equaliser from Kenny Tete's deflected centre and after a similar gap Wilson put Fulham ahead curling the ball into the net from an improbable distance. Flekken appeared frozen in shock.
Thomas Frank was understandably dismayed that his team's first half performance had gone unrewarded. Silva (after his usual rant at officialdom) must have felt great satisfaction that Fulham had amassed 54 points, their best ever in the Premier League, with one match to go.
And did I mention that Fulham had finally done the double over Brentford?
The season will close with a visit from Manchester City, who are seeking a point to ensure their European ambitions. For once I will make a prediction and I will employ the Wayne Rooney method: It must be City. But it could be Fulham. It might even be a draw.
Brian Glanville tribute
During the Brentford game commentators Jim and Jamie paid tribute to the late football writer Brian Glanville, who passed away on 16 May, aged 93.
As I wrote in a blog some seasons ago: "Don't ask me to name my favourite singer/writer/musician. I can never select one to the exclusion of all the others but there is no contest for my top football writer. Year after year Brian Glanville has superbly communicated his passion for the game."
His vocabulary was wondrous. If Fulham played well they were 'penetrative, intelligent and unforgiving'. If not they might be 'strangely inept and confused'. Yet his language was universal. As a teacher I found even the most reluctant reader happily absorbed in Glanville's 1972 story 'Goalkeepers Are Different'.
Though a Gunners fan, Brian was a great friend to Fulham. He was one of the first in the media to rally public opinion against David Bulstrode's 1987 ploy to deprive the club of its name, its ground and its very existence.
And he lent his good will to the supporters' ultimately successful campaign to save Fulham FC for the local community and the football world. Rest in peace.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
