 Curtis pictured in 1926. | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Henry Charles Curtis[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 22 January 1890 | ||
| Place of birth | Holloway, England | ||
| Date of death | 30 January 1966(1966-01-30) (aged 76)[1] | ||
| Place of death | Southend-on-Sea, England[1] | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Romford | |||
| Walthamstow Grange | |||
| Managerial career | |||
| Gnome Athletic | |||
| 1923–1926 | Gillingham | ||
| 1926–1949 | Brentford | ||
| 1950–1952 | Tonbridge | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Henry Charles Curtis (22 January 1890 – 30 January 1966) was an Englishfootballer,referee andmanager, best-remembered for his 23 years as manager ofBrentford. He is Brentford's longest-serving and most successful manager to date. In a 2013Football League 125th anniversary poll, Curtis was voted Brentford's greatest-ever manager.[2] He was posthumously inducted into the BrentfordHall of Fame in May 2015.
Curtis' first involvement in football was as secretary of Shernall United and he later had brief spells as a player forRomford and Walthamstow Grange.[3][4] After his retirement from playing, Curtis became areferee and was quickly added to theSouthern League list of referees.[4] He was subsequently promoted onto theLondon Combination list.[3] In 1918, he was promoted to theFootball League list and retired from refereeing in 1923.[4]
Curtis began his managerial career as secretary-manager of amateur clubGnome Athletic.[4]
Curtis entered league management when he became secretary-manager ofThird Division South clubGillingham in May 1923.[4][5] He had travelled toPriestfield to watch a match after missing his train toSwansea, where he was to have refereed a match at theVetch Field that day.[1] He enquired about the then-vacant manager's position and was offered the role.[1] After leading Gillingham to three mid-table finishes,[6] Curtis departed the club on 30 March 1926.[5]
After a chance meeting withBrentford director and former referee Frank Barton,[4] Curtis was appointed manager of the Third Division South club in April 1926 and signed a 12-month contract.[1][7][8] He brought Gillingham trainer Bob Kane with him toGriffin Park.[9] Curtis officially took up the role in May 1926 and hisdebut season saw a run to the fifth round of theFA Cup, which yielded enough money to build agrandstand on the Braemar Road side of Griffin Park.[4] In the1929–30 season, Curtis' Bees team won all 21 home league games, an outright English league record.[7] Curtis also named the same team for 21 consecutive games between November 1929 and March 1930.[4]
The most successful era in the club's history began in1932–33 season, largely in part due to the signings ofJack Holliday,Ernest Muttitt,Billy Scott andBert Watson fromFirst Division clubMiddlesbrough.[10] Brentford won the 1932–33 Third Division South title, which was the firstsilverware of Curtis' managerial career.[9] Curtis' Brentford finished fourth in the club'sfirst season in theSecond Division, before winning a second promotion in three seasons with the1934–35 Second Division title, which secured top-flight football for the first time in the club's history.[9] The club won a second piece of silverware during the 1934–35 season – theLondon Challenge Cup.[11]
Curtis and recently appointed assistant managerJimmy Bain guided Brentford to fifth and two successive sixth-place finishes in the club's first three seasons in the First Division.[9] Crowds at Griffin Park averaged 25,000 and in the1937–38 season and Brentford led the First Division table for three months and reached the sixth round of the FA Cup for the first time.[4][7] Brentford's sustained period of success was consolidated by Curtis' man-management abilities and his astuteness in the transfer market,[12] bringing inScottish internationalsDave McCulloch,Bobby Reid andDuncan McKenzie,Welsh internationalsIdris Hopkins andLes Boulter, with Billy Scott andLes Smith going on to representEngland.[4]
The outbreak of theSecond World War and thesuspension of professional football in 1939 brought Brentford's golden era to a halt, but Curtis still won further silverware during the war, winning the1941–42London War Cup.[11] Football League competition resumed in 1946 and with an ageing squad,[13] Curtis' Brentford were relegated to the Second Division at the end of the1946–47 season.[1] Curtis eventually stood down from the manager's role in February 1949.[1] For his long service, Curtis was rewarded with atestimonial in May 1949, played between Brentford and a team of former players.[14] To date, Curtis is Brentford's longest-serving and most successful manager and a lounge at Griffin Park was named in his honour.[15] The boardroom at theBrentford Community Stadium is also named after him.[16] In 2013, Curtis was voted Brentford's greatest-ever manager in a Football League 125th anniversary poll and he was posthumously inducted into the BrentfordHall of Fame in May 2015.[2][17]
In mid-January 1950, Curtis was appointed secretary-manager of Southern League clubTonbridge and commenced work on 1 February 1950.[18] He won the 1951–52 Kent Senior Shield and guided the club to the first round proper of the1950–51,1951–52 and1952–53 FA Cups.[18][19][20][21] Interference from the club's board in team selection led to Curtis resigning his position on 5 November 1952, but he continued in the role until the end of the year.[21]
Curtis was born inHolloway, London and moved toWalthamstow with his mother after his parents separated.[1] He attended Maynard Road School in Walthamstow.[3] In 1911, he was working as an engineer's clerk and after marrying in 1915, he had two sons.[1] Curtis employed his son Gordon as his assistant while secretary-manager of Tonbridge Angels in the early 1950s.[21] After retiring from football management, Curtis moved toSouthend-on-Sea and worked as a personnel manager for a company in the town.[9] He later worked as a journalist.[1]
| Team | From | To | Record | Ref | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Gillingham | 10 May 1923 | 30 March 1926 | 132 | 44 | 38 | 50 | 033.33 | [5] |
| Brentford | April 1926 | February 1949 | 708 | 306 | 157 | 245 | 043.22 | [22] |
| Tonbridge | 1 February 1950 | 31 December 1952 | 168 | 63 | 38 | 67 | 037.50 | [18][19][20][21] |
| Total | 1,008 | 413 | 233 | 362 | 040.97 | — | ||
Brentford
Tonbridge
Individual