kruse joined fourth division strugglers brentford in march 1977, for what was then a club-record fee for a defender, £20,000. opinions about the transfer were mixed, as he had been brentford forward gordon sweetzer's marker in his final game for torquay united, in which sweetzer had scored a hat-trick. kruse quickly established himself in the team and made 15 appearances and scoring two goals in what remained of the 1976–77 season he flourished under bill dodgin's management and became a stalwart in the brentford defence for the next four seasons, assuming the captaincy and forming partnerships with other centre backs paul shrubb, nigel smith and danis salman. kruse averaged 42 appearances a season and helped the club to promotion to the third division in the 1977–78 season. his performances during the 1979–80 season won him the club's player of the year award. kruse was out of favour under new manager fred callaghan during the 1981–82 season and made just one appearance. he left brentford at the end of the season, after making 201 appearances and scored 12 goals in just over five years at griffin park.