It is with great sadness that the Club has learned that former Brentford Chairman Martin Lange has died, aged 71. Lange, who owned the majority shareholding in Brentford Football Club from 1981 to 1997, died after a long illness, on Monday, 12 October.

He saw his first Brentford game as a small boy in the 1950s after being taken to Griffin Park by his father.  He became a successful property developer, and was elected to the Club’s Board of Directors in 1981, aged 37. Later that year he became Chairman and purchased the majority shareholding from former Chairman Dan Tana to become owner outright.

Throughout the 1980s, football was going through vast change, and Lange was elected as the Third Division representative on the Football League board. He proposed a number of changes to tackle falling attendances and hooliganism, including introducing the end of season Play-Off system in 1986 that is now a feature of football. He also pushed for individual squad numbers and names on each player’s shirt, having been impressed by the idea when watching American football.

He stepped down as Chairman for business reasons in 1992, but returned a year later to resume full control until 1997 thereafter remaining on the Club’s Board of Directors until 2002.

The Club’s condolences go to his family and friends at this time.