The London Clarets
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Going back to... Spring 1977 Harry's Game 1977 was the year of the Queen’s Jubilee. Geoff Boycott drove us towards the Ashes, helped, in part, by Packer’s piracy. Virginia Wade triumphed at Wimbledon. Freddie Laker announced cheap flights for all. Airborne divisions of pickets descended upon Grunwick film studios. Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin discovered an unlikely chumminess. Even beleaguered Jim Callaghan found some new friends, thanks to the Lib-Lab pact. But for Elvis, the way was not so much down as out. The same was true for Marc Bolan, Charlie Chaplin and Bing Crosby. And hopes of a Beatles’ resurrection were firmly scotched by Paul McCartney. "You can’t reheat a soufflé," he told the expectant journalists. It was the season to be iconoclastic, too. In the punky sense, at least. Was it much more than commercial stringpulling? Who cares? At its best, the music buzzed the savage energy. Quite unlike prog rock’s pompous doodlings. And quite unlike Joe Brown’s inept Burnley side. After their 0-2 defeat at Southampton on the 19th February, Burnley flopped into the relegation zone. However, a rescuer was at hand. Enter Harry Potts. There was no doubt that Harry, the manager, suffered. Ralph Coates vouched for this. "(Harry as manager) used to wash his face before a match because the sweat was so bad. He’d shake all over, bury his head in his hands and be purple in the face by the end of the match." Ralph contrasted this with Harry’s time as general manager, when Jimmy Adamson was in charge of team affairs. "He (Harry) was a changed man. It was good morning lads, how’s the wife. None of this slamming the door and not talking when things are going bad." But Harry’s commitment was total. If he had any misgivings about returning to the fray, these were not apparent. His first game in charge was on February 26th, with Burnley placed second from bottom. It was a clear chilly day; a day on which British Leyland bosses laid down the gauntlet to Red Robbo and the striking car workers. ‘End the strike or face plant closures’, they threatened. The Leyland bosses knew that Callaghan was about to pull the plug. Callaghan wouldn’t or couldn’t continue to underwrite BL’s poor productivity. This was no posturing threat. Meanwhile, at the top of the singles charts, Leo Sayer warbled ‘When I Need You’. Harry knew what he needed, ‘more time’. He didn’t have it, with less than a third of the season left. But his resolve was undaunted. He said, "No matter what anybody may say, I am genuinely convinced that better times are ahead… This is a great club. It has not stopped being a great club because of a relatively brief period of bad times… I intend to take a positive approach (i.e. a return to the ‘golden oldie’ 4-2-4 formation)… There is nothing wrong with the training methods or with team spirit. We have got to get things right on the field and we ARE going to get things right, believe me… This afternoon brings Burnley into opposition with Carlisle United, a team we have got to defeat. It is exactly simple as that… We deserve a turning point after 14 games in the League without a win. I honestly believe it is coming up." Carlisle was placed in 19th position, two places above the Clarets. Their points total stood at 20, just one more than Burnley. They had three strong and experienced strikers in Billy Rafferty (ex Coventry), Frank Clarke (brother of Alan and Wayne) and Dixie Deans (ex Celtic) and several veterans of their ’74 / 75 First Division outing. This promised to be a tough game. Surprisingly, it was nothing of the sort. Leading scorer Peter Noble put us ahead and Terry Cochrane sealed the victory. Just as Harry said, it was as simple as that. But if any of us thought the corner had been turned, then Notts County (1-5) and Hull City (1-4) exposed the frailty of hope. Playing a 4-2-4 system against lacklustre Carlisle was OK. Playing the same system at Notts County, the most prolific home scorers in the Division, was courting disaster. Remember our back four included Jim Thomson and Billy Rodaway. With them around an action replay was just a freeze frame. Keith Newton was still an icon at right back, albeit a very slow one. By then, most of us expected that Derek Scott (father of Chris) would have replaced him. Scott had emerged as a major talent in 1975 but hadn’t maintained his precocious progress. In fact, he had gone into reverse. Ian Brennan, at left back, had returned after a horrendous leg fracture at Birmingham in 1975. But he was always better at going forward than defending. As for Harry’s two midfielders, Noble and Flynn, they were easily overrun despite their industry. The wingers, Morley and Cochrane, who couldn’t back up, didn’t help them much. There was pace going forward, but defending… well, that was a different story. However, Harry stuck to his guns. When Sheffield United came to Turf Moor on March 12th, Jim Thomson was the only one to make way, with 20 year old centre back Peter Robinson taking his place. It was a bright, breezy day. And so was the football. Helped by the open formations employed by both teams, the game was played at a hell of a lick. It seemed like a five-a-side bun fight, rather than a desperate relegation tussle. Morley and Cochrane must have thought that this was their birthday, for they had all the space they needed to run at the opposition. Unfortunately, Fletcher and Smith squandered their gold tap service. That is, until Smith headed in Morley’s sharp cross at the near post in front of the Cricket Field Stand. The game could have ended 20 – 20. So many glorious chances went begging at either end. But we settled for a 1-0 win. Better still, the trick was repeated on the following weekend, when Orient was defeated at Brisbane Road. This time Harry employed a more cautious approach, drafting in scrapping midfielder Billy Ingham for Terry Cochrane. Harry said, "We put up a very good display in the first half and the highlight was a well-taken goal by Ian Brennan. We could have had several more goals and were generally on top. In the second half we were hindered by injuries to Brian Flynn, Peter Noble and Paul Fletcher and showed a great deal of determination in coming out of the game with two welcome and most valuable points." That win enabled Burnley to stay in 20th position, two points above Carlisle and seven points above bottom club Hereford. On Saturday, April 2nd, Tory Ulster spokesman, Airey Neave demanded that the Provisional Sinn Fein should be banned, identifying himself as a future terrorist target. Abba’s ‘Knowing Me Knowing You’ had maintained its place as the top selling single for the second week running, while Rumours and Hotel California were still high in album charts. And on that same Saturday, upwardly mobile Nottingham Forest came to Turf Moor. They were on the brink of national and European glory. The hard, uneven playing surface and high wind didn’t help matters much, but Burnley was totally outplayed. The Clarets strung few passes together and constructed even fewer goalscoring chances. Clough’s side was competitive, robust and well organised. They didn’t exactly shine but they didn’t need to. It looked as if one goal would be sufficient and Tony Woodcock secured this shortly after half time. Peter Noble had intended to clear, but the ball bobbled over his foot, leaving Woodcock with only Stevenson to beat. Ironically, Woodcock might have become a Claret a year earlier, but Bob Lord wouldn’t stump up the £15,000 fee. The disappointment at this pallid defeat was quickly erased, though. On Good Friday, April 8th, Blackburn was easily defeated 3-1, with Robinson capping a fine display with a powerfully headed goal. Funnily enough, the game seemed to lack passion. Over 17,000 turned up and, of course, the result mattered. Yet, just like the Carlisle game, it seemed more like a pre-season run-out. Perhaps it was the balmy sunshine and gentle breezes that lent the game a soporific feel. I’m not sure. The Blackpool game, on the following day, was played in similar conditions. Having spent the afternoon walking the sands, where the waves lapped and the haze draped like muslin I was away with the fairies as the evening kick off approached. But this bone-crunching derby quickly removed my stupor. Burnley had to really battle for their point, which Malcolm Smith seized with a scrambled equaliser. Now that the midfield was reinforced, Harry had made the Clarets harder to beat. A tough Bolton side discovered this for themselves on Easter Tuesday. Despite their improved form, Burnley could have done with both points but a 0-0 draw was probably a reasonable result. So was the 1-1 draw at Eastville on the following Saturday, thanks to Peter Noble’s second half volley, smacked in on the run. Billy Ingham’s reintroduction to the Burnley midfield had made a substantial difference, adding bite where, previously, there had been gaping gaps. And on Saturday April 23rd, Billy was rewarded with his finest moment. League leaders Chelsea were being comfortably held at 0-0. But a win seemed beyond our powers. Then, with just under ten minutes left, Billy picked up a square ball on the edge of the Blues’ box at the Beehole end. Without hesitation, he flicked the ball over the lunging Chelsea defender, before brushing past him and striking a fierce half volley. The ball flashed into the top right hand corner. For a nanosecond, we were as stunned as Chelsea’s keeper. Then the place erupted. Anyway, this is how Billy joined the legends of the Turf, thereafter dubbed the ‘Ginger Pele’. The Longside had been baiting the Chelsea thousands all afternoon, with their Cockney parodies. With Billy’s spectacular goal, their piss taking became unstoppable. Burnley was still not yet out of the wood but the Chelsea victory did seem to signal safety. Even the 2-5 midweek defeat at Charlton didn’t dislodge this belief. And when Cardiff were overcome 1-0 at Ninian Park on the following Saturday, Burnley rose to 15th position, their highest placing since the autumn. Harry’s task was almost complete. He said, "The win at Cardiff last Saturday typified their great professionalism. It was a cup-tie type match with a lot at stake for both clubs, but our lads rose to the occasion brilliantly and deserved to win by more than the one goal scored by Peter Noble, a magnificent captain in a team which could have given no more in effort." Security was duly assured on Saturday, 7th May. In London, the ‘free world’s’ major industrial nations pledged joint action to prevent economic breakdown and chaos. Virgin ‘saved’ the Sex Pistols. And Harry promised the Burnley fans a better future. On this day, we were prepared to be persuaded. The Notts County victory had come on the back of a good run and the 3-1 win was gained in such style. In the sharp May showers, Tony Morley simply excelled. Here was a glimpse of that abundant talent which would finally flower in Villa’s triumphs in 1980-2. Morley destroyed County. He ran their right flank ragged, drilling in two unstoppable shots. Fletcher rounded things off with a rare strike. We were awash with bonhomie. Briefly, ludicrously, the future again seemed Claret. But like after Dunkirk, the euphoria of escape was gradually replaced by disillusionment, as we registered our true prospects, the scale of our decline and our descending expectations.
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