If you were around in the season of 1970/71, what
can you recall? Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ or 'Led
Zeppelin III'? T Rex’s ‘Hot Love’ or Freda Payne’s ‘Band of
Gold’? Perhaps the untimely deaths of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin made most impact?
You may remember the line which was attributed to Jimi, "Once you’re dead,
you’re made for life." If you were into the ‘underground’ stuff, you
must have listened to John Peel’s ‘Sound of the Seventies’ on Radio 1? The
show always started with the ‘Heartbreaker’ riff from 'Led Zeppelin II'. Peel
then rated The Faces as his favourite group. However, rock’s Plonker of the Year
should have gone to Rod Stewart. As if Stewart’s racism wasn’t bad enough, he
slapped a good measure of hypocrisy on top. Just before moving to California in 1970,
Stewart said, "I think Enoch (Powell) is the man. I’m all for him. This country
is overcrowded. The immigrants should be sent home." I doubt if Burnley’s Dave
Thomas would’ve been impressed. At least, if his 1970 player profile was to be
believed. He told us that the one thing he would like change was ‘racialism’.
Perhaps you thought women were getting a raw deal. Germaine Greer thought so. In her
book ‘The Female Eunuch’, she wrote, "Women have very little idea how much
men hate them... (they are) the only true proletariat left." The misogynist 1971 film
‘Straw Dogs’ seemed to support her view. If you don’t remember the first
stirrings of Women’s Lib, you must remember the slogan, ‘Burn your bra!’ My
mother-in-law thought this to be just wanton vandalism. For some, though, the big issue
was whether Hot Pants should be allowed in Ascot’s enclosure. A radically minded
nation as always.
Alternatively, trudging through the depths of political and moral incorrectness,
OZ’s obscene ‘School Kids’ edition’ may have amused you? It incensed
Mary Whitehouse but I confess that it amused me. However 'M*A*S*H' amused me more.
Especially, the ‘Last Supper’ scene. Bad taste is often funnier when it rattles
someone else’s cage.
If you were agin the Vietnam War, you may have been cheered by Nixon’s pledge to
bring the US troops home. Do you recall that this was the guy who reckoned that the
protesting students at Kent State University were ‘just scum’? This was said
days before the National Guard killed four of them. You may have cheered more loudly when
Calley got his comeuppance for the Mylai massacre? But the first Army casualty in Northern
Ireland may have caused you to wonder. Was this a policing duty or was this war? We knew
that the ‘troubles’ started off as a civil rights protest but was it becoming a
nationalist conflict a bit like Vietnam? We soon found out.
You may also recall the horror of the Bangladeshi civil war? As always in a civil war,
the civilians suffer most of all. The ensuing refugee crisis prompted the first ‘Band
Aid’ concert starring Bob Dylan and George Harrison. Did you do the decent thing and
buy the album? I didn’t. I bought the Who ‘Live at Leeds’ instead. No marks
for me, then. There again, I still listen to it. Perhaps, a triumph of taste over
scruples, then.
What about the start of decimalisation? Surely, you remember that? No? How about the
first broadcasts of the Open University? know it was early in the morning and pretty
boring. Thank God we had Tony Blackburn, eh?
Probably, none of these things come to mind. But if you were then a Burnley supporter,
I bet you can still remember Jimmy Adamson’s pre-season boast.
Adamson said, "Burnley will be the team of the seventies. We are building one of
the finest stadiums in the country and we have a great young team to go with it. In the
next few years we will win the Championship not once but several times. Ability of this
calibre has just got to break through."
His boast was grounded in the success of Burnley’s youth team, which won the FA
Youth Cup in 1968. Drawing heavily upon this talented squad, on Good Friday 1970, Adamson
fielded the youngest team in Burnley’s history to take on Stoke City at Turf Moor.
Its average age was a mere 20.1 years. That team comprised Peter Mellor (22), Mick
Docherty (19), Ray Ternent (21), Wilf Wrigley (20), Martin Dobson
(22), Alan West (18), David Thomas (19), Ralph Coates (23), Geoff Nulty (21) Eric Probert
(18) and Steve Kindon (19).
But things went badly even before the 1970/71 season had started. Peter Mellor
dislocated his shoulder in pre-season training, requiring Burnley to entice Tony Waiters
out of retirement. Full back Peter Jones broke his leg in training, too. Worse still,
Martin Dobson broke his leg in a pre-season game. Subsequent injuries to Kindon, Coates
and Collins also upset team continuity. But the team still under-performed alarmingly.
Only three goals were scored in the first eight games and one of these was an own goal.
The first win wasn’t achieved until October 31st, when Crystal Palace were
beaten 2-1 at Turf Moor.
Can you remember what you were doing then? The first major oil field had just been
discovered under the North Sea. Deep Purple (‘Black Night’) and Black Sabbath
(‘Paranoid’) were ripping it up in the charts. Anyway, up until this game,
Burnley had mustered just four points from fourteen fixtures, amassing six goals in the
process. In his programme notes for the previous home game against Coventry (0-0) on
October 10th, Jimmy Adamson urged supporters to keep the faith.
"The odds are stacked against us for a variety of reasons which include misfortune
with injuries and the failure of willing players to do themselves justice. But everyone at
Turf Moor – and this includes, of course, the players themselves – are still
convinced that our policy is on the right lines and that we will move away from the brink
of disaster, to stage a cheering recovery. I am afraid that we are still making too many
elementary individual mistakes and this cost us another match at West Ham (1-3), as it did
at Turf Moor against Wolverhampton (2-3). (Club captain, Dave Merrington, agreed) One
thing I would like to ask is this. What other club could stand having £400,000 worth of
playing talent injured over a long period? That is our problem and I am absolutely certain
that once we overcome these injury headaches the players on our staff will start getting
the results their ability suggests they are capable of."
One supporter thought the team was unduly weighed down by Adamson’s excessive
claims. In a letter published in The Claret and Blue, Kenneth Harrison wrote, "I
think the reason behind Burnley’s defeats – injuries apart – is that they
are trying TOO HARD to justify Mr. Adamson’s statement that they are going to be the
team of the seventies. In their eagerness they are making silly mistakes." I’m
sure that Mr Harrison wasn’t the first and is surely not the last to voice concern
about a Burnley team being over-burdened by public expectation.
I am still unclear why so many managers are unable to provide a better analysis of
their teams’ strengths and failings. A tennis or cricket coach will provide a
detailed account of why a player’s technique is working or letting him down. Even TV
pundits will profess a technical knowledge of a sports team’s tactical strengths and
deficiencies. Surely football managers have this understanding? And yet nearly thirty
years on from this black year and we still have most football managers trading in the same
facile generalisations, when asked to account for their team’s progress. Is this
because they are reluctant to give away trade secrets? Is it because the pundits
overcomplicate and that the answers football managers provide, (usually related to their
club’s spending power, players’ effort, commitment, confidence and injuries etc)
are often as simple as they claim? Are they so arrogant that they don’t think
we’ll understand? Cloughie was certainly like this. Is it because managers operate
largely at an intuitive level? If this is the case, perhaps they sense but can’t
interpret what is working and what’s not? Surely, they should try harder to explain?
In fairness, Alex Ferguson should be exempted here. But I would find a manager much more
credible if, like Ferguson, he provided some analysis of team tactics or players’
technique. He might be wrong but at least I could believe he had some understanding, a
theory, which could be translated into action. The sort of stuff Jimmy churned out in his
notes is just a facile rallying cry. This kind of response just suggests to me that they
haven’t a clue. Am I alone here?
Two other supporters wrote into Claret and Blue Mail to complain that the team’s
cause was not helped by the crowd’s continuous criticisms. One wrote, "Burnley
supporters grumble too much. I think Burnley fans must be the worst in the
divisions." On the other hand, a neutral observer at the Coventry game thought that
the "crowd were magnificent." Certainly, there was no reproach from the players
after their 2-1 win over fourth placed Palace. Eric Probert scored both Burnley’s
goals. David Thomas said, "12,800? To me it seemed more like 40,000 shouting.
I’ve never known such support and all the lads remarked about it." Mick Docherty
added, "There’s only one word for it – tremendous. It was just like the FA
Youth Cup run all over again." Ralph Coates, the temporary skipper, remarked,
"The only people who complained when Dave (Thomas) missed the penalty were our
players! There wasn’t a murmur from the crowd that I heard. I think it was because
they all realised we were doing our best. But they also realise that shouting like that it
does have an affect. It makes you stronger somehow and more confident. When you are aware
the crowd aren’t getting on at you then you tend to attempt things that otherwise
wouldn’t be on." This win prompted Jimmy Adamson to declare that Burnley
wouldn’t go down.
The euphoria was short-lived as Spurs crushed Burnley 4-0 on the following Saturday.
Martin Chivers scored a brace. Jimmy Adamson said, "Ironically on a day when things
were going so well at home (the return of Mellor, Dobson and Jones in a reserve fixture),
we suffered another heavily disappointing result on a ground that has become almost a
graveyard for us. Not only did we lose 4-0, but we returned with Michael Docherty nursing
a painful ankle strain. We were in the game for an hour and could have had a couple of
goals but then Tottenham got well on top and the hopes of our young and enthusiastic
players were sadly crushed. It is always a hard match at Tottenham and currently they are
something special – only Leeds have looked to me a better, more professionally
efficient side."
As might be expected, many supporters were urging the Club to buy their way out of the
current crisis. Chairman Bob Lord was said to have discounted this, having expended
£88,000 on improvements to the Bee Hole terracing during the close season and wanting to
invest more in an entertainment complex. If this was his position, he qualified it in his
Christmas message, in which he stated, "Many people would say that in such
circumstances the Club should have gone into the transfer market to buy players. We are
prepared to do just that, but found that the prices being asked were beyond Burnley
Football Club’s reach. Despite searching the area of British Isles, we have finally
come to the conclusion that we shall rely on the players we have, putting our full trust
in them and their tutors." It seemed that only raw young talent was prepared to come
to Burnley.
Perhaps significantly, in the Huddersfield ‘edition’ of Claret and Blue Mail,
the £1 letter prize was awarded to James Needham who appeared to back Bob Lord’s
view. Mr. Needham wrote, "In recent weeks there has been a lot of talk about
Burnley’s scoring potential – or lack of it. Because of the present financial
position of the club, the fact must be accepted by the fans that Burnley cannot afford to
buy new players. However, I believe that the present playing staff is more than capable of
doing a good job. The forward line has rarely been settled enough to produce the kind of
goals and results that the Burnley fans have become accustomed to, but I’m sure that
if it were possible to field the same forward line, and with Dobson and Mellor back, and
given a good run and time together, then the goals and the results would be back with us
once again, because at Burnley we are used to good football."
Burnley again found their scoring touch against newly promoted Huddersfield. In this
leanest of seasons, two goals was about as good as it got. Alan West and Steve Kindon
scored them. Unfortunately, Huddersfield scored one more. ‘Playboy’ Frank
Worthington was their big shot but it was diminutive Bobby Hoy who played the decisive
part in their victory, scoring two of the three goals. Burnley also managed to score twice
against Nottingham Forest on the 21st November. Helped by the return of Dobson
and Mellor, this time it was enough (2-1). Geoff Nulty and Eric Probert secured the points
but the main talking point was the brilliant debut of wing wonder Leighton James. The bad
news was that Ralph Coates was ruled out for four weeks because of an ankle injury.
November was the month in which French president Charles de Gaulle died. For years
he’d stalled our entry into Europe until our new prime minister, Ted Heath finally
took us in. It was also the month in which Gay Lib held their first public demo. Ian
Matthew’s Southern Comfort was trading on the rock festival’s mystique with his
band’s cover of the Joni Mitchell song, ‘Woodstock’. Meanwhile, Hendrix was
emphasising what we were about to lose, with his pyrotechnics on ‘Voodoo Chile’.
Back at the footie, Burnley put up a good show against Newcastle at St James Park at
the end of November. Jackie Milburn reported, "Until the later stages they thoroughly
deserved a much needed point, for they run rings around their opponents." Len
Shackleton agreed, "I don’t think Burnley will go down. They certainly
won’t if they continue with the brand of cultured football and bite they showed
here." But a relegation campaign is usually cluttered with worthless consolations
like these. The salient fact was that Burnley lost again (1-3). Adamson’s response
was to urge the abolition of the offside law. Jimmy thought that "defenders have too
many advantages. They always outnumber the forwards they are watching and with the offside
law as an extra weapon, life for attacking players is so difficult that it is really
unfair." Not content with that he recommended widening the goals as well!
It was just as well that these changes weren’t put into effect before the home
game with Man City on December 19th. For City had no difficulty locating the
net within the current rules, scoring four without reply. t least parity was achieved at
partners in distress, Blackpool, on Boxing Day. Frank Casper, who had languished in the
reserves since October, secured a point in this hard-fought derby with a second half
equaliser. He repeated the feat against champions Everton on January 9th,
helping Burnley achieve a 2-2 draw. In the programme for that game Jimmy Adamson took
issue with members of the press who thought that some of the players were
"disinterested," "not fully behind (him)" and "unconcerned
whether the Clarets stayed up or went down as long as the money rolled in."
Adamson retorted, "Burnley players DO care. If I thought differently about any of
one of them he wouldn’t be on the books. If we go down it will be heartbreak for
them. Some admittedly, have had a bad time and not played as well as they can – BUT
NOT BECAUSE THEY DON’T CARE." Perhaps it’s because I’ve been around
too long, but this kind of press allegation always seems to be wheeled on whenever a team
is in trouble. It is scarcely better than the perennial rumours of players’ late
night drinking sprees. And like the dance it becomes, so the same sorts of refutation are
churned out to meet them. Please, can we say something different before we are all
suffocated in a surfeit of deja vu!
As for the resident columnist in the Claret and Blue, he had weightier matters on his
mind; that was, the recent Ibrox disaster. Sixty-six people had died in the crush at an
Old Firm match at Ibrox. The crush had occurred when a large number of early leavers had
tried to return, pushing hard against the outward flow, after hearing the roar, which
accompanied Colin Stein’s late equaliser for Rangers.
In the best tradition of slack journalism, this columnist plucked out a 24 carat Aunt
Sally. In his view "early leavers" caused the tragedy. Kennedy wrote, "It
never fails to baffle me why people who in the first place are prepared to pay for a place
on a football ground are then so desperately keen to leave it before they have had the
full due of their money. The game is totally unpredictable, especially when it stands in
the position, which existed at Ibrox." OK early leavers irritate me, too, especially
when the result is still in doubt, but this is not an indictable offence. Why not blame
the Ibrox ‘returners’ or the poor ground facilities of that time, notably
Ibrox’s steep, narrow stairways, or the lack of stewarding? The reality is that
tragedies of this kind usually have a multiplicity of causes. Picking on a personal source
of irritation and pretending it is a definitive cause is just shoddy, irresponsible
journalism. Thank God, prejudiced reporting of this kind was crucified after Hillsborough.
Around this time, Ted Heath was getting his fair share of stick, too. He’d won the
General Election in June with a union - curbing manifesto. So, in December he introduced
an Industrial Relations Court with powers to fine unions for ignoring dispute-settling
procedures. This wasn’t at all popular. In 1971 there would be two one-day stoppages
in protest, with the April walkout involving 1.5 million workers. What’s more, he
wasn’t getting to grips with mounting unemployment. By April, the dole queues would
stand at 814,819, the highest figure since May 1940. Even Rolls Royce was threatened with
bankruptcy. The December snowfall gave us our first and last white Christmas for ages. It
didn’t seem at all cosy. But as far as the economy was concerned, the Claret and Blue
seemed to suggest a much more upbeat mood, carrying a variety of employment advertisements
throughout the season. For example, Michelin were prepared to flog us fringe benefits like
‘free life assurance’ and Bellings of Heasandford offered, "All the
advantages of working regular hours; you have more time at home with your family; you
don’t miss those evening entertainments". I’m not sure about the wisdom of
Bellings’ sales pitch but you could be forgiven for believing that this was an
employee’s market.
Michelin prided itself on having "a secure place in the FIRST DIVISION."
Burnley could not be so complacent. For if the Blackpool and Everton results suggested a
better future, these hopes were blown away at the Manor Ground two days later. Second
Division Oxford, still powered by ‘Big Ron’ Atkinson at wing half, proceeded to
bury any FA Cup ambitions that Burnley might have held, winning easily 3-0.
Atkinson’s brother scored one of the goals. Third Division Aston Villa had already
dumped Burnley out of the League Cup at the first time of asking. Even Blackburn en route
to Division Three managed to beat Burnley in a friendly fixture in late January. So may be
the most pressing question that needed to be asked then was not whether Burnley could stay
up but whether they would retain their Second Division status once relegated? All of this
emphasised the morbid association to McGuinness Flint’s hit, ‘When I’m Dead
and Gone’.
Morale was partially restored by a vastly improved performance at Old Trafford, which
resulted in a 1-1 draw. The 'Match of the Day' camera was there to record it. John Aston
had volleyed Man Utd in front after appearing to control Law’s pass with his hand.
But Burnley equalised in front of the Stretford End when Crerand got in the way of
Edward’s clearance allowing Dobson to poke the deflection through a crowded box and
wide of Stepney. However only one point was gained from the next three games. The 1-0
defeat at Nottingham Forest was especially disappointing as Forest were struggling just
outside the relegation frame. Jimmy Adamson concluded, "We did play quite well at
Nottingham but once more were unable to hit back effectively enough after they had taken
the lead about half way through the first half through that very fine striker Ian Moore.
It was the old story of our being unable to cash in on our spells of superiority which in
this game were mainly in the first 45 minutes."
January was the month in which Charles Manson was convicted of murdering Sharon Tate.
Remember, this loony tune thought that the Beatles were communicating to him personally
through songs like ‘Helter Skelter’. Another loony tune, Idi Amin, began the
coup, which enabled him to seize control in Uganda. For all his laughable eccentricities,
250,000 would die under his repressive regime. However, over here slush was the order of
the day as Clive Dunn’s ‘Grandad’ topped the charts, threatening diabetics
everywhere.
On Saturday 27th February, Burnley finally hauled themselves off the bottom
thanks to a 2-0 win at declining Crystal Palace. Again, the 'Match of the Day' camera was
there. Coates set the Clarets on their way mid way through the first half after Bellamy
had fortuitously forced his way past three Palace defenders to reach the left by-line. His
cut back was deflected by Palace keeper John Jackson but luckily it rolled right into
Coates’ path. Ralph simply knocked the ball into the net with Jackson vainly
attempting to recover his ground. Dobson scored the second shortly afterwards. This was a
vindication of Adamson’s decision to allow him a more attacking role in the game. The
goal-scoring move was started when 5’8" Probert out-jumped the Palace central
defenders to head out to Kindon on the left wing. Kindon then powered forward before
punting a knee high cross into the box, which Dobson volleyed in.
Scots’ team manager Bobby Brown said at the interval, "How on earth are you
bottom of the League with a team that can play football like this?" The People
endorsed his view: "Burnley made Palace look the relegation strugglers. England
international Coates and winger Kindon ran riot." The News of the World added,
"And Geoff Nulty, preferred to Michael Docherty so that he and Colin Waldron could
snuff out twin strikers Gerry Queen and Alan Birchenall, did just that. When the Palace
strikers did escape the stranglehold they were foiled by a series of fine saves by Tony
Waiters, which could not have been bettered by Gordon Banks."
So, when Southampton came to Turf Moor on March 6th there was hope. Burnley
were still two wins from safety, but there was a new buzz about the place. Everyone was
stirred by the Palace win; the first away from home. The Youth Team was progressing
nicely, too, having disposed of Hull in the FA Youth Cup quarter finals. There was the
additional bonus of a new signing: twenty-year-old centre forward Paul Fletcher from
Bolton for a club record fee of £60,000. After looking at 34 different players to
strengthen the squad, Adamson was cock-a-hoop at this capture.
"We have finally ended all speculation by signing Paul Fletcher. I am sure he is
going to be a great asset for a long time to come. It has been common knowledge in
football that we have been looking for a player. Paul has been under our microscope for
quite some length of time, in fact we made enquiries for him some weeks ago but Bolton
were however reluctant to let him move (Bolton were fighting a losing relegation battle
themselves and would soon be in Division Three with Blackburn). I am sure that the Burnley
supporters will give Paul plenty of encouragement and will fully realise that he may not
start immediately to ‘set the ground alight’. Even so we hope that he will soon
be on the goal trail."
Prompted by the Palace victory on TV and Paul’s signing, almost 3,500 more turned
up for the Southampton game. Unfortunately, Paul didn’t set the ground alight.
Neither did any of his colleagues and a Mick Channon goal ensured that the Saints went
home with the points.
Adamson now had to pursue wins at home and away. At a grey and misty Huddersfield, he
played with three up (Fletcher, Kindon and Thomas), backed by Dobson in a foraging role.
But it was the solidity of Burnley’s defence, in which Waldron was outstanding, that
made the crucial difference. Waldron even headed the winner. The News of the World
reported, "Despite a rather hectic and at times nervous second half, Burnley were
full value for their two points. They took the game to Town in those vital early stages,
unnerved the home side and took a 28th minute lead which held firm until the
final whistle." The Daily Telegraph added, "The combined talents of Dobson, the
highly promising Fletcher, Thomas and Kindon, backed by the ferocious industry of Coates,
always promised a goal." Adamson thought Burnley hadn’t played quite as well as
they had against Palace but described the performance as "still a memorable team
effort."
With Burnley closing the gap on West Ham to three points (following the Hammers’
defeat at Molineux) there was still a chance of escape. What’s more, Burnley were due
to meet West Ham at Turf Moor in an Easter ‘four pointer’. But yet again,
Burnley could not build on this opportunity. On the following Saturday they could only
muster a scoreless home draw with Spurs. More frustratingly, they then blew the chance to
put pressure on lowly Ipswich in a successive home game on March 27th.
Burnley started well enough when Casper put them in front. They looked as if they would
build on this lead as Kindon’s power running created havoc in the Ipswich defence.
However, after Waldron had missed a penalty, awarded for a foul on Kindon (Burnley’s
seventh failure in ten spot kicks), Ipswich’s substitute Mick Lambert and midfielder
Peter Morris proceeded to turn the game on its head. Only a last minute equaliser by Geoff
Nulty salvaged a point for Burnley. The clock indicated 89 minutes, 59 seconds had gone
when Nulty managed to get his head in the way of a Doug Collins’ piledriver to divert
the ball past goalkeeper Laurie Sivell, who’d played a ‘blinder’. The three
match unbeaten run then came to an end on April 3rd at Elland Road where Leeds
destroyed them 4-0 with Alan Clarke scoring all four goals. Adamson was fairly
philosophical in his analysis of the Leeds game.
"After those away wins at Crystal Palace and Huddersfield it was a case of third
time unlucky at Leeds. We played badly and it wasn’t our day from the moment we
learned that not only John Angus but also Colin Waldron was unfit through illness. Colin
therefore missed a game for the first time this season. I offer this not as an excuse for
the 4-0 defeat but by way of explanation, for I am certain that if Colin and John, who
have had so much experience, had been fit we would not have lost by this margin. Colin has
had a magnificent season, despite our position in the First Division, and with Leeds in
opposition he was bound to be missed. The loss of a further two points puts us on the
relegation brink. But still we fight on."
On Easter Saturday April 10th Blackpool came to Turf Moor. It was bright,
breezy and spring like. ‘Hot Love’ was top of the charts. Among those in hot
pursuit was Olivia Newton John’s debut single ‘If Not For You’ (a cover of
a Bob Dylan song). John Lennon’s ‘Power To The People’ was doing well, too.
Soon it would become staple fare for terrace choirs everywhere.
With Burnley now six points in arrears of West Ham and Ipswich, only a victory would
suffice. That was duly achieved in a dour contest (1-0). Fletcher broke the deadlock in
the second half when he ran onto a long through ball from substitute Mick Docherty and
fired past Neil Ramsbottom. The Blackpool defenders were caught flat-footed and the
goalkeeper had been slow to come off his line, but Fletcher had timed his dash to
perfection. This was Fletcher’s first goal for the club.
Paul was the player profiled in the Blackpool programme. He told us that his favourite
TV show was ‘Man at the Top’, his hobbies were ‘golf and swimming’ and
his favourite food was (you’ll never guess) ‘steak’. He revealed that he
liked ‘winning’ and disliked ‘losing’ and that his ambition was
‘to reach the top’. He also tried to convince us that his greatest thrill was
‘signing for Burnley’.
Well thank you Paul for your candour. Presumably you worked a little harder on your
patter before embarking on the after dinner speaking circuit? But why do they have these
player profiles? To call them bland would be outrageous flattery. There’s probably
more interesting reading material on tubes of haemorrhoid ointment. At least some of the
modern equivalents try to throw their interviewees by introducing daft questions like
‘Have you ever owned a Shell Suit?’ or ‘Name your favourite pie?’
My copy of Claret and Blue contains a large club shop advert. This was a new venture,
instigated by Burnley’s first commercial manager, Jack Butterfield. We were offered
club cuff links at £1, scarves at 55 pence and car stickers at 15 pence. Looking at the
spread of these prices, the scarf looked to be a good deal.
On Easter Tuesday, Burnley also beat West Ham 1-0, with Geoff Nulty’s soaring
second half header sealing the win, after Coates had provided the opening. So, there was
still an outside chance of wriggling clear. But first Coventry (3-0) and then Arsenal
(1-0) put paid to that desperate hope.
At Coventry, Adamson went for a 4-4-2 formation with Casper and Fletcher playing up
front. Regrettably, it did not come off but not for want of trying. After Hunt’s
speculative opener, Coventry made sure of victory with two late goals. Adamson reported,
"I just want to say to all supporters of our club that they would have been proud of
the team and the way they fought against Coventry at Highfield Road. They ran themselves
into the ground, battled magnificently and did not surrender without a terrific effort in
every department. With some luck we might have reversed the score but just when we were
getting on top Ernie Hunt surprised us with a forty-yard lob that caught Tony Waiters off
his line. Additionally I must agree with the national newspaper expert who picked out Bill
Glazier as the outstanding player for the Sky Blues. This was goalkeeping at its best. But
why do they always do it against us?"
Three days later at Highbury, in front of a crowd of almost 50,000, Burnley’s
First Division status was stripped away. The result was a foregone conclusion with Arsenal
about to achieve League and FA Cup honours. But it took a 25th minute penalty
by Charlie George to send them down.
Adamson believed that Burnley were relegated because they exhibited "too much
tension and anxiety after a bad start." He believed Dobson’s broken leg to have
been the biggest setback of the campaign. What was indisputable was Burnley’s poor
goal scoring record. Their final tally of just 29 goals was a record low for the club.
Eric Probert ‘top scored’ with a mere 5 league goals. Former leading scorers
Casper and Kindon managed just 7 between them. Thomas, Kindon and Casper all played well
at times, but their fitful performances were a grave disappointment.
Keith McNee, sports editor of the Burnley Express, nominated Colin Waldron as his
player of the season. He reasoned, "Despite all the team’s problems, Waldron has
achieved what he set out to do last August – tidy up his ‘image’ while
remaining a force in the centre of defence. He’s a much better player than his
reputation in the south of England suggests and had the Clarets not been in trouble he
might have even won himself an England Under-23 cap. Colin is not the most skilful of
defenders, apart from in the air, but his true grit is a big asset to the club.'’
Just behind Waldron, McNee placed John Angus and Ralph Coates. McNee explained, "I
put Angus fractionally before Ralph, though, for consistency and not least because of his
two magnificent Easter demonstrations of the art of full-back play. This was sheer class,
immaculate, masterly stuff and what a pity that after a 500 game career with the Clarets
this quiet, popular 32-year-old veteran must now be nearing the end of the road."
As for Coates, McNee said, "Coates has remained the player Burnley have looked to
most in the ‘let's go forward’ department whether home or away and has often
been an outstanding raider again with those sword thrusts on right and left, using that
extraordinary ability to burst quickly into top speed and past defenders. The winning goal
against West Ham, scored by Geoff Nulty, was a good example of what such a breakthrough
can lead to. Whenever the subject of Burnley is brought up on my travels the name Coates
is always sure to follow." Alas, not for much longer Keith. For Coates was about to
move to Spurs for an outgoing record fee of £190,000. Relegation made his sale a
certainty. Adamson was loath to lose him but it was made clear he had no option. Spurs had
secretly been given first refusal on Coates and a clandestine deal was arranged at a
motorway service station during the close season.
Not that there was a shortage of new talent. The youth team had progressed to the
semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup before succumbing to Cardiff in a replay. As with the 1968
side, several members of this team would graduate to become regular first team players.
Leighton James, Ian Brennan, Billy Ingham and Billy Rodaway would all achieve this status
while others like Colin Morris, Paul Bradshaw, Harry Wilson and Ronnie Welch made several
first team appearances. Other young stars like Ray Hankin and Brian Flynn were soon to
make their presence felt. However, the best years of Burnley’s youth policy were
past.
Burnley could only compete for established stars in the days before the maximum wage
was abolished. This was when an enforced and artificial level playing field was created.
After the abolition of the maximum wage, Burnley had to invest wholly in its youth policy.
Even then it could only compete for the best youngsters while it was a top First Division
outfit. Whilst Burnley didn’t have the financial clout of big city clubs it was
prepared to ‘blood’ young players early in their career. This was a big selling
point as Tommy Docherty confirmed when he advised his son, Michael, to join the club as an
apprentice. Once Burnley ceased to be a top club its ability to attract the top talent
inevitably declined. Moreover, with the consumer habits of teenagers expanding during the
sixties and early seventies, Burnley became less appealing for prospective apprentices,
who preferred the facilities available in the big cities.
Initially it seemed as if Bob Lord was right. Relegation was not a disaster, just a
temporary setback. Within two years, Burnley would stage a brief recovery, benefiting from
its maturing young talent and some bargain signings (Newton and Noble). But once this crop
had peaked or moved on, the cupboard rapidly emptied. Retaining First Division status was
essential if the club was to compete in this unequal market. Without huge injections of
cash, its ambitions must now be much more modest. The supporters’ expectations are as
great as ever, of course, but the club’s capacity to meet them is not. Put simply,
Burnley is neither big enough nor rich enough to compete in a top division, which will
soon comprise the best teams in Europe. Its rightful place should be somewhere just below
this, like a revamped First Division made up of Premiership also rans and solid
‘old’ second division clubs. It would be so nice to be wrong for the right
reasons.
