Burnley's 1960 FA Cup campaign
Burnley might have achieved the first
‘Double’ of the twentieth century. Had they not thrown away a three-goal lead
against Blackburn in a home Sixth Round tie, they could have gone all the way. So, with
Wolves just failing to achieve a hat trick of League Championships in May 1960, both clubs
left Spurs to achieve this historic feat a year later.
Burnley’s 1960 FA Cup campaign began with a
1-1 draw at Second Division Lincoln. Pointer scored for Burnley and over 21,000 people
were there to see it. How Lincoln would love a gate like that now! The replay was won 2-0
in front of over 35,000, a terrific gate for a midweek match.
In the Fourth Round, Burnley were matched with
Swansea. Again, they were drawn away and a tough game ensued. An unattributed press
cutting remains of the first game. It states:
‘Clinging, heavy mud plus the iron will of
eleven Welsh heroes almost brought the downfall of much fancied Burnley. Indeed all Wales
was arguing last night about a goal, which everyone claims Swansea scored. It happened in
the 65th minute, when the strength sapping mud was taking its toll.’
‘Swansea golden boy, seventeen-year-old
Barry Jones put over a picture centre for former Newcastle inside forward Reg Davies to
slam home. "Goal," yelled the (30,000) crowd but the linesman was waving
frantically and caught the eye of referee Powell. The offside decision was something of a
mystery. Let me clear it up.’
‘Reg Davies protested, "I was behind
the ball when it was passed. I couldn’t have been offside." Referee Powell
explained to me, "Davies was not offside. It was centre forward Reynolds who was
standing in front of the ball." Said Swansea manager Trevor Morris, "We’ll
win the replay." ' They didn’t.
Burnley manager Harry Potts commented on the
replay in his programme notes for the Newcastle game. 'We read a lot today about what are
termed soccer’s missing millions. I don’t believe it. My reason for stating this
is the attendance we had here on Tuesday evening for our replay with Swansea Town (2-1).
We could not expect a big crowd from Swansea for a midweek game in the evening. Our gate
depended on people from a fairly close radius and when one takes into account that there
was another replay tapping the area of support, no more than 20 miles away [Harry
couldn’t bring himself to utter the ‘B’ word. Rovers beat Blackpool 3-0],
an attendance of just over 37,000 was indeed gratifying.'
'But one can go further… Throughout Monday
night and all day Tuesday, rain had been falling. Appreciating as I do, this show of
interest, I am happy to find that those who braved the conditions to see the match found
it worth their time. As at Swansea, it was another game of thrills and spills in plenty
– a rollicking Cup-tie… In spite of the nail-biting moments we went through in
the closing phase, I consider we deserved our victory. Moreover, our football was good
enough to be remembered with satisfaction. Similarly, I am equally sure that all will
remember with admiration the fine spirit and endeavour produced by our opponents. They put
up a brilliant fight, no doubt about that, when all seemed lost, throwing everything to
the winds in that last rescue bid. I think it provided very encouraging evidence that we
have quite something to go to market with when it comes to Cup fighting.’ Jimmy
Robson scored both of Burnley’s goals.
The Fifth Round tie at Bradford was quite a
scrap, too (2-2). Connelly’s late equaliser ensured yet another replay. The return
was a breeze, though, with Pointer and Robson netting a brace apiece. Connelly wrapped it
up (5-0). Nearly 53,000 watched that replay! 79,000 had watched the two ties.
The Sixth Round game with Blackburn came just
one week after the home league game, which thanks to a Jimmy Robson goal had resulted in
victory. Over 51,000 turned up for the Cup game, nearly 20,000 more than were attracted by
the league match. This translated into a £10,148 pay day.
The FA Cup game appeared to be going the same
way, with Burnley three up through Pointer, Pilkington and Connelly and only seventeen
minutes left. Then Blackburn’s Peter Dobing attempted a speculative effort. It hit
Burnley left back Alex Elder on his foot and ricocheted up against his arm. A penalty was
awarded. England winger Bryan Douglas scored nonchalantly. A minute later, Dobing burst
through again. This time he put away the opportunity himself. Now it was all Rovers.
Burnley were forced to defend frantically. England wing half Ronnie Clayton slammed in a
shot from outside the area. The mass of Burnley defenders blocked it but the ball ran
loose for Blackburn’s other wing half McGrath. He snatched at the chance, slicing his
shot, but his contact was good enough for the ball to evade Blacklaw’s grasp, hit the
inside of the post and roll gently into the net (3-3).
The replay was a humdinger, too. Almost 54,000
were attracted to this game! Burnley nearly sealed the tie with just one minute left of
normal time. Connelly beat Dave Whelan (Wigan’s current chairman) and having cut
inside, shot low to Leyland’s left but the Blackburn keeper held on. It looked as if
there was to be extra time, but with time added on because of injury, first Dobing
volleyed past Blacklaw and then left winger Ally McLeod (of Ally’s ‘Tartan
Army’ infamy) headed the second (0-2). Burnley were out.
In his notes for the Arsenal game on the
following Saturday (3-2), Harry decided that it was the occasion for some Churchillian
rhetoric. He wrote, ‘Our hopes of reaching Wembley were dashed on Wednesday night.
But we will not let this deter us in the progressive policy that is, and will remain, our
target to maintain the high esteem our football has earned in a nation-wide sense this
season, and which we intend striving to continue now and henceforward. If we can sustain
this purpose, and we have no reason for thinking we cannot, then the remainder of this
season can well be made so good that in its entirety, season 1959-60 will rank as one of
the very best in the long, and by no means undistinguished history of this club. And so
our task now is to press on enthusiastically to bring that greater fame that is our common
objective, to the name of BURNLEY.’
As for Blackburn, they managed to beat Sheffield
Wednesday in the semi-final 2-1. They were fortunate to go through, relying almost
exclusively upon Derek Dougan’s opportunism. He scored both Rovers’ goals and
generally gave England centre half Peter Swan a difficult afternoon (Swan was one of the
Wednesday players who was later banned for match fixing). But at Wembley, Rovers were
never in it. Dougan’s pre-match transfer request hardly helped. And after
McGrath’s own goal and Whelan’s fractured shin (he never played again), Wolves
had things very much their own way. Little right winger Norman Deeley scored a couple
(3-0). It was dubbed the ‘dustbin final’ after the Wolves players and the
referee were pelted with rubbish at the end of the game. Large sections of the crowd took
exception to Wolves’ tough tackling. Yet again a Wembley final had been spoilt by
injury. The Wembley ‘curse’ had fallen on Man U keeper, Ray Wood, in 1957,
helping ensure that the ‘Busby Babes’ did not achieve the ‘Double’. It
had also afflicted Reg Dwight (uncle of Elton John), when he broke his leg in the 1959
final. But at least Dwight had managed to score before being carried off, helping
Nottingham Forest to a 2-1 victory. Len Chalmers, Leicester’s full back, was reduced
to a passenger role in the 1961 final as well. This time it served the Double contenders
well as Spurs made their numerical advantage tell to seize both major domestic prizes.
A Wembley appearance was always regarded as a
big money spinner as well as a prestigious occasion. However, the pay off for the big
clubs was not that large. A Wembley final grossed around £65,000 in 1960, inclusive of TV
receipts. The stadium took the best part of 25% of this and the PFA around £900. Once
other expenses had been met both clubs would receive around £11,000 each. This was not a
lot more than Burnley’s gross receipts for their home FA Cup tie with Blackburn,
although these would have been shared. Obviously, the Wembley purse would have been
increased by commercial activities: the sale of scarves, caps, rosettes etc. But in those
days, clubs had not learned how they could maximise the marketing opportunities of the big
occasion. In fact, most of those sales were organised by independent traders. Not that
Burnley had much cause for complaint with their season’s pickings. That year, they
made a profit of almost £14,000 and with new season ticket sales bringing in £30,000 all
41 players were retained for 1960/61.
Tim Quelch
September 2000
Burnley's 1959-60 League
Championship campaign
