Burnley

Burnley FC is a professional football club from the East Lancashire town of the same name who were founder members of the Football League back in 1888 having been formed six years previously.

The origins of the club can be traced back to rugby union club, Burnley Rovers before a meeting at the Bull Hotel on May 18th 1882 voted to change codes to association football. The club moved into Turf Moor in 1883 after an invite by Burnley Cricket Club, with nicknames of 'The Turfites', 'The Royalists' and 'The Moorites'.

Burnley’s early years in the Football League were a struggle with Harry Bradshaw the first manager, as the team being relegated in 1896-97. They recovered to regain their status after the lifting the Division Two title twelve months later before dropping back down to Division Two at the end of the 1899-00 campaign under the stewardship of Ernest Mangnall.

Spen Whittaker had a spell as manager before John Haworth took up the reins in 1910, as the club changed colours from green to claret and blue. The change obviously brought some luck as 'The Clarets' won promotion in 1912-13 as well as reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup, going out to Sunderland.

Burnley weren’t to be denied in 1913-14, winning the last FA Cup Final to be played at Crystal Palace when they defeated Liverpool 1-0 with a Bert Freeman goal with Tommy Boyle lifting the trophy as skipper.

Haworth’s side ended as league runners-up in 1919-20 before becoming champions of England in 1920-21 having embarked on a thirty game unbeaten run. The Clarets went out in the semi-finals of the FA Cup in 1923-24 to Aston Villa.

Fortunes declined when Haworth was replaced by Albert Pickles, leading to relegation in 1929-30. Tom Bromilow took charge of the team until the outbreak of the Second World War with Cliff Britton being appointed when peace was restored.

The 1946-47 season saw Burnley win promotion as well as reaching the final of the FA Cup which ended in a 1-0 defeat to Charlton Athletic. Frank Hill, Alan Brown and then Billy Dougall all had tenures as Clarets manager as Bob Lord took over as chairman prior to the appointment of Harry Potts in February 1958.

The new boss built a team around the midfield skills of Jimmy McIlroy and Jimmy Adamson which went on to lift another league title in 1959-60 with John Connelly finishing as top scorer. In 1961-62 The Clarets reached another FA Cup Final where they went down 3-1 to Tottenham Hotspur as Jimmy Robson netted a consolation.

The side of the era also contained the likes of Adam Blacklaw, Alex Elder, Brian Miller and Roy Pointer. The era petered out with players such as Ralph Coates, Martin Dobson and Frank Casper making their mark as the side went out to Swindon Town at the last four stage of the 1968-69 League Cup.

Former player Jimmy Adamson took over as manager in 1970. It had been speculated that he had earlier turned down the England manager’s job. Sir Alf Ramsey took it instead and the rest is history!

He was hindered as players left or were past their best, which saw another relegation in 1970-71. Adamson led the side back to Division One in 1972-73, with the majestic Dobson in midfield as well as many other youngsters who played football the proper way in the clubs' traditions.

Adamson departed in 1976 following another relegation as well as the embarrassment of losing a home FA Cup tie against the then non-league Wimbledon. Joe Brown and a returning Potts couldn’t turn around the fortunes in their spell as manager.

A second relegation to the third tier followed in 1979-80 after another ex-player, Brian Miller had taken over as team boss. He led the side to the Division Three title in 1981-82 with a team containing Billy Hamilton and Tommy Cassidy. In 1982-83 The team reached the League Cup semi-final where they lost to Liverpool as well as the FA Cup quarter final.

Unfortunately, the cup heroics weren’t replicated in the league as Burnley were relegated. John Bond arrived and spent a fortune on former top level players while future England full back Lee Dixon was released on a free transfer.

John Benson took over as the Clarets were relegated to the bottom tier in 1984-85. Neither Martin Buchan or Tommy Cavanagh could arrest the slide Miller returned for the 1986-87 and oversaw one of the most dramatic days in the clubs history.

The League had introduced automatic demotion for the side finishing bottom for the first time. Burnley went into their last game against Orient needing a win and one of their near rivals to lose. 

Goals from Neil Grewcock and Ian Britton in front of a huge crowd saw Burnley win 2-1, while Lincoln City lost at Swansea City to go be relegated to the Football Conference. Anything but a win would have seen Burnley at the same level as tiny neighbours Colne Dynamoes.

After a few more seasons in the fourth division, former player Frank Casper had a term as manager, with his team losing in the semi-finals of the play-offs in 1990-91 to Torquay United.

Burnley were crowned Division Four champions in 1991-92 with Jimmy Mullen managing the side. In the same season the club suffered a tragedy as apprentice Ben Lee was killed falling from the Longside roof when trying to retrieve stray footballs.

Stand out players during the success were Roger Eli, John Francis, Andy Farrell, John Deary, Steve Davis and John Pender. Marlon Beresford, Adrian Heath and David Eyres were added to the squad who defeated Plymouth Argyle and then Stockport County in the play-offs in 1993-94 as Burnley returned to the second tier.

The jump proved too steep as the Clarets were relegated in 1994-95. Heath and then Chris Waddle both had a year as manager prior to the arrival of Stan Ternant. The 1999-00 campaign ended in promotion to the second level with a fine team including Andy Payton, Mitchell Thomas, Paul Crichton, Glen Little, Paul Cook and Graham Branch.

Ternant lasted six years before Steve Cotterill replaced him in June 2004, with Burnley in the Championship. He improved performances initially, but they dipped with the style of football being criticised by supporters.

Owen Coyle arrived as new boss in October 2007 immediately remedying the complains while getting results. Burnley won the play-off final at Wembley against Sheffield United in 2008-09 after an earlier win against Reading.

The team also reached the League Cup semi-final, losing to Tottenham Hotspur. The goal that secured promotion was scored by Wade Elliott in a side also containing Brian Jenson, Clarke Carlisle, Graham Alexander, Chris McCann and Martin Paterson who all played vital roles. 

Burnley became the smallest town to have a Premier League club as they were supported as ever by their wonderfully loyal fans. Coyle departed halfway through the season and Brian Law couldn't manage the side to safety as the Clarets were relegated.

Law was replaced in January 2011 by young starlet Eddie Howe who arrived from AFC Bournemouth who gradually built a side to his liking. Howe surprisingly returned to Bournemouth in October 2012 citing personal reasons for his departure.

Former Watford boss Sean Dyche came in to replace him. Dyche worked on a tight budget but performed a near miracle as he took the Clarets to promotion back to the Premier League in 2013-14 with the goals of Danny Ings propelling the side forward.

Unfortunately, the Clarets lasted just one season in the top-flight, despite some fine battling performances which earned Dyche's side plenty of plaudits. Ings was sold to Liverpool in the summer of 2015.

The club stayed loyal to Dyche and were rewarded as Burnley won the Championship in 2015-16 to return to the top-flight at the first time of asking with Andre Gray smashing in the goals. Other players among the success were Tom Heaton, Joey Barton, Dave Jones, George Boyd, Ben Mee, Sam Vokes and Michael Keane.

The team consolidated in 2016-17 before finishing in seventh place in 2017-18, which was the clubs best finish since the 1973-74 campaign. James Tarkowski, Nick Pope, Mee, Jack Cork and Vokes were among the players to impress.

Burnley qualified for the Europa League; their first foray into European competition in fifty one years, where a couple of wins were ended at the play-off stage by Olympiacos of Greece. The Clarets ended their 2017-18 Premier League season in fifteenth spot.

 

Dyche continued to work wonders with his budget squad, as the Clarets finished tenth in 2019-20 with striker Chris Wood and midfielder Dwight McNeil standing out. The club was purchased by American investment company ALK Capital in December 2020, as the team once again secured Premier League stability.

Eventually, the inevitable occurred as the team lost their fight against the odds. Dyche was dismissed in April 2022. Interim boss Mike Jackson couldn't help stave off relegation, prior to the appointment of Vincent Kompany. He took the side to the Championship title in 2022-23 to herald a return to the Premier League.

Burnley FC will play in the Premier League in the 2023-24 season.

My visits

Burnley 1 Scarborough 0 (Saturday 22nd November 1980) FA Cup Round One (att: 7,789)

Scarborough away games in the FA Cup always attracted a decent turn out and this was one of the better ones. We were on the supporters coach of "regulars" which was nice and a bit of a bragging point for me with my student peers. It was a nice bunch who travelled but it was a bit too cosy. 

There was an old woman who travelled who lived opposite York City's ground and we went to her door for her. This was a pain at the best of times but getting through the gridlocked streets of York on the way to an exciting FA Cup clash was especially so. My Uncle Fred who travelled with us as very much a non regular was most unimpressed.

We eventually got there at about five to three but the police escorted the coach past the ground and to a lay by opposite the fire station, necessitating a five minute run to the ground. 

We missed probably the first ten minutes. We climbed up the huge banking behind or stand and went in at the back to be hit by a wall of noise. I'd never been anywhere like it before and it still stands as one of the best places for atmosphere I've ever watched a match from.

We were on The Longside. It was a massive terracing with a cavernous roof. We had just over a third of it before high fences divided us from the home fans with a gap of about ten yards in between. To the right was The Cricket Field Stand. This was a big all seated stand with the players tunnel nearest to us with the home of Burnley Cricket Club behind it. 

Opposite stood the Bob Lord Stand, named after a former chairman. It was a single tier of seats with a large wall at the front similar to the Cricket Field Stand, containing the directors box and dug outs. The forth side was completed by The Bee Hole End which was a large open terracing which continued round the corner to join up with The Longside.

The old Bee Hole End

It wasn't all brand new but I loved the place. It was a proper football ground. Both sets of fans were making a racket and the roof gave great acoustics. Burnley fielded three full internationals despite playing in the old Division Three at the time. 

Tommy Cassidy and Billy Hamilton were both Northern Ireland regulars while Martin Dobson had a glittering top flight career as well as starring for England. Indeed the Bob Lord Stand was jokingly called The Martin Dobson Stand by fans as they reckoned it was his transfer to Everton that paid for its construction. 

Part time Boro went for it hell for leather and matched their illustrious opponents. Burnley had a terrific winger called Phil Cavener who turned Boro full back Kenny Dennis inside out. The home keeper Alan Stevenson pulled off a miraculous save from Martin Harris and despite Boro carving out chances they couldn't score. Eventually The Clarets scored the only goal with a Hamilton header.

They journey home was quiet fractious as our driver refused to stop at the service station because he wanted to get home to watch TV and see who had shot JR in Dallas!

Burnley 0 Hull City 2 (Thursday 15th May 1984) Division Three (att: 8,051)

I was working part time for a coach company in Scarborough and I was desperate to get to this game. City had beaten promotion favourites Burnley 4-1 on the opening day of the season but this game was far more vital. 

In January, the City team coach set off to Turf Moor but got as far as Hartshead Moor Services on the M62 when they were advised not to go any further because of heavy snow, despite many fans making it meaning the game was postponed. There were accusations of foul play from promotion rivals.

City and Sheffield United were locked in a stern battle to try and secure the third promotion place behind Wimbledon and Oxford United. City went into the re-arranged game against the clarets needing to win by three clear goals to overtake Sheffield United. It was the last game of the season and everyone else had finished their fixtures which added to the drama.

I was given the phone number of a City fan from Driffield called Steve Dixon who had hired a coach for the evening from my employers which would also pick fans up in Bridlington. I managed to get a seat to my immense joy. 

This joy was not shared by the driver Terry. He could look after himself and had a good sense of humour but he didn't show heaps of it when the fans started boarding. They had obviously been thirsty before the trip so they drank lots of beer to hold off their dehydration. It was a rowdy journey to say the least.

We eventually reached our destination and were issued with our complimentary tickets. City Chairman, Don Robinson had paid for all the fans travelling after the cock up back in January which was a smart gesture. He became a hero with the fans whilst making sure City had a big following at the match.

The Tigers were magnificent and piled into The Clarets going one nil up through Brian Marwood and laying siege to the home goal. He added a second and hit the post, while Garreth Roberts saw his shot deflect off defender Vince Overson’s knee and over the bar at 2-0 well before half time.

The third and vital goal just wouldn't come. Billy Whitehurst had about the best chance, as the Tigers players ran out of steam. In the end City missed out on promotion by one goal to the joy of around a 1,000 Blades in the home end.

It had been a memorable and emotional night in front of a superb atmosphere. The City fans stayed behind for ten minutes cheering for the team to come back out which they eventually did.

The journey home was lively for a while before the beer sent half the coach to sleep. The following morning it was revealed that manager Colin Appleton had resigned after the game to take the Swansea City job. Anger wasn’t in it, but as I’d find out in later years, money talks. I don’t suppose he was being paid a king’s ransom by Don Robinson. We all have a price.

Images from the excellent FB group, Hull City AFC Boothferry Park Photos/Memories

Burnley 1 Hull City 1 (Saturday 22nd September 1984) Division Three (att: 5,526)

I was back to Turf Moor not long after but sadly for a game in the same division. I went in a car with Gary Griffiths, a mate who followed Scarborough and Cardiff City, Adrian Waddington a Boro and Villa fan as well as fellow much missed City fan Nick Groombridge. 

Two of us went in the away end and met up later. It wasn't a particularly memorable game and the atmosphere was pretty ordinary which was disappointing as Stan McEwan scored for the Tigers,

Burnley 0 Scarborough 1 (Saturday 27th February 1988) Division Four (att: 7,845)

Boro were in the Football League and both teams had an eye on the play offs. There wasn't loads of away fans but enough to make ourselves heard. I went by car but parked near to the coaches. 

The game was nip and tuck before Boro full back Neil Thompson blasted in a great goal midway through the second half. Boro fans taunted the home fans next to us with the song of "If it wasn't for Lincoln you'd be out" in reference to The Clarets close escape from relegation to the Conference the previous season. 

On the way back to the transport a home fan continually goaded the Boro fans with abuse. Eventually one traveller saw enough, went over the road and put him on his back to widespread applause.

Burnley 0 Scarborough 1 (Saturday 13th May 1989) Division Four (att: 6,206)

Boro had blown the chance of automatic promotion the previous week following a controversial home defeat against Grimsby Town. Despite this a larger than normal turn out of Seadogs tracked over the Pennines including our mini bus. We stopped at a rather posh pub near Skipton with a big beer garden which was good on such a pleasant day. 

We were all in replica shirts with Scarborough Building Society on the front as sponsors of the time. Some snobs approached us and inquired to whether we worked for the bank, to which Mr X (see Doncaster) replied in his most common accent, "do we look like f***ing bank clerks?". Nobody bothered us much after that!

Boro won the game through a Tommy Graham goal which did not please the home fans. They were a little upset with their board of directors so they climbed over the high fences at full time and ran for the directors box to make their complaints heard. 

The directors disappeared rather quickly and the pitch filled with protesters. Strangely they weren't interested in the away fans. Boro had probably done their cause a favour as then home fans pointed to a small club doing well with very little crowds.

Burnley 3 Scarborough 0 (Tuesday 9th January 1990) Division Four (att: 7,329)

My only real recollections of this game was travelling on the Supporters Club coach and Boro getting totally outplayed. The atmosphere was as good as ever from the home fans. We made a bit of a noise to begin with, but I would guess there was only about 300 Seadogs in attendance.

Burnley 3 Scarborough 1 (Tuesday 4th February 1992) Autoglass Trophy Round One (att: 2,956)

I'd missed a couple of defeats at Turf Moor with Boro before I returned on a freezing cold evening. I went in a car driven by Darren Trapps to which we'd somehow cajoled a work colleague Mick Ainsworth to come along. 

I think it's because I was getting picked up outside the Civil Service Club at closing time and he was drinking with me. We stopped off in Todmorden for beers before getting to the ground. There was a very sporadic away following. 

The game had originally been played the previous week but had been abandoned after ninety minutes because of a frozen pitch with the score at nil nil. This time Boro were outplayed and lost 3-1 despite Mark Jules scoring a beauty which drew applause from the home fans as well. The following Saturday I went to see Boro lose 5-1 at Barnet!

Burnley 1 Scarborough 1 (Monday 20th April 1992) Division Four (att: 12,312)

The Clarets were at last heading out of the bottom division and saw the visit of the Seadogs as three easy points on their march. I went on a mini bus with some regular suspects which stopped off at an excellent real ale pub on route. 

Boro played remarkably well on the day with a Lee Hirst goal securing a 1-1 draw. As it was a Bank Holiday our bus then set off down the M62 where we stopped in Normanton for quite a large drink before going home.

Wednesday 14th September 2011

I was in Burnley after staying at the budget Keirby Park Hotel overnight, following going to the Accrington Stanley v Rotherham United game the previous evening. My trip had been pre arranged so that I could also visit some local non league clubs and hopefully Burnley and Blackburn Rovers before heading to Manchester.

I had telephoned a lady called Veronica Simpson at the ground tour department inquiring as to if a tour was being run on the day I was in town. She apologised that there wasn't, so I explained why I wanted to visit. She called me back within half an hour and told me it was no problem and she would take me inside.

After visiting Nelson and Colne I wandered up to Turf Moor after looking inside next doors home of Burnley Cricket Club. I was approaching the ground after leaving a donation with Coral's just as Veronica arrived. She had travelled down to the ground specially.

I signed a disclaimer to say the pictures I'd use on this blog were not for commercial use, before I was shown around the inner sanctum of the Bob Lord Stand, where I was shown the trophy cabinets and various hospitality suits. 

It was most impressive, certainly more so than a couple of more established clubs on Merseyside had to offer. I was also given an excellent history of the club relating the team and player portraits in the corridors. Veronica was also the secretary of the Burnley Former Players Association so she had a great knowledge of the club and its former heroes.

We went out into the directors box which offered a majestic view with the padded seats with club crest embroidered into them, across the vastly modernised stadium. The Longside had been replaced by a large two tier stand called the James Hargreaves Stand with a similar structure behind the goal replacing the Bee Hole End called the Jimmy McIlroy Stand after the Clarets legend.

I had been worried about mentioning where I was going next, but I needn't have. It turned out that the lady who was to show me around Ewood Park, Elaine Whittington was also a Claret and a friend of Veronica's.

I hold my hands up to having a soft spot for Burnley. They are a traditional club with loyal fans who play in a stadium that I've many happy memories of.

I went back along Harry Potts Way and Yorkshire Street under the culvert and back to the bus station ready for my next ride, this time to Padiham.


The photos of the old Longside and Bee Hole End on this page have been taken from the internet.