All at Brentford FC are saddened to hear of the death of former forward Francis Joseph at the age of 62.

Joseph scored 55 goals in 137 games for the Bees between 1982 and 1987.

The striker came through non-league, before beginning his professional career with Wimbledon in 1980, where he scored on his Football League debut.

Following loan spells with Honka and JYP 77 in Finland, Joseph moved to Brentford in 1982, which saw him become one of our first black players.

He made a great start to his time in West London, scoring twice on his debut and then in all of his first four Brentford league matches.

The forward formed a strike partnership with Tony Mahoney during his time at the Club, and his “Joe, Joe, have a go!” chant rang around Griffin Park on an almost weekly basis.

Joseph finished his first campaign with the Bees with an impressive 24 league goals in 26 games in all competitions, followed by 18 in 24 matches the season after.

He suffered a broken leg in September 1984 and was loaned back to Wimbledon in 1987, before leaving permanently to join Reading later that year.

Francis is the older brother of another of our former players, Roger Joseph, who played 105 times for the Club.