1981/82
A season of triumph
The opening game of the 1981/82 season
was away to Gillingham, and was memorable not for the match (lost 1-3) but for the superb
feat (feet?) of Shaggy Dog and Uri walking from Burnley to Gillingham. (The season before
they had promised to walk to the first game of the season if Burnley were not promoted.)
There were several others, so apologies to my poor memory.
On October 3rd we lost 2-0 at home to Swindon in
front of 3,377, our sixth defeat in the first eight games.
However, the sweeper system introduced when Andy
Wharton was drafted into the side after seven games began to pay dividends.
It was nothing spectacular at first, with six
draws and a win in the next seven games. The 1-1 draw at Reading will always be remembered
for a superb strike by Trevor Steven following a corner.
Suddenly the three centre halves of Martin Dobson, Michael Phelan and Vince Overson took total command;
the two young full backs, Brian Laws and Andy Wharton attacked at every opportunity; the
class of the portly Tommy Cassidy and the obvious future England player Trevor Steven made
the chances for Billy Hamilton and Steve Taylor.
Nine wins in the next eleven games took Burnley
striding up the table, but still way behind the leaders at the end of February.
March looked a bad month - only one win in
seven, but amazingly six of these were away from home.
Into April and only wins would do. A 3-0 win
over Reading was followed by a titanic clash with League leaders Lincoln in front of
10,911, the best of the season at that point. The Imps showed their class and looked very
dangerous, but a Billy Hamilton effort gave us the points and promotion was now
‘on’.
Two more wins and a draw brought Southend to
Turf Moor on April A shattering 5-3 defeat was the outcome. Had our sweeper system, so
secure in the previous six months, fallen apart? No way. A 2-0 win over Bristol City
followed, putting Burnley back on course. A nervy goalless draw at Newport followed,
leaving only five games left, with four home games against Carlisle, Walsall, Preston and
Chesterfield and just one away, at Southend. Could we do it?
A Paul McGee goal saw off Carlisle. McGee again
(so sharp in these crucial games) and Young scored to defeat Walsall 2-1. Suddenly the
rest of the Clarets’ support got off their backsides and 13,900, over 5,000 more than
the previous game, saw Billy Hamilton score twice while Alan Stevenson kept another clean
sheet as Preston went away pointless.
With the momentum now clearly in our favour, a
large Clarets following descended on Southend for a Friday night fixture. If we could
avenge that traumatic home defeat Burnley were up. While a lot of the season is something
of a blur now, those fans who made the trip to the coast will not forget the superb
performance. Andy Wharton put the Clarets on the way with an exuberant shot and
celebration. Southend pulled it back, but two superb breakaway goals from McGee and a
clincher from Brian Laws sealed a great win and promotion was ours.
All that was left was for Burnley to clinch the
championship. This was duly accomplished in appalling playing conditions with a 1-1 draw,
Kevin Young scoring against Chesterfield.
Burnley had done the near impossible and climbed
from the bottom of the table to the top in a dramatic run which saw only two defeats in
thirty-eight games. It was very much a team effort as can be seen from the fact that our
top goalscorer was Billy Hamilton with only eleven.
Player of the season? Martin Dobson - quite
superb. Young player of the year? Trevor Steven - class personified.
Simon Pettit
August 1992
Links -
More on the 1981/82 season, plus memories of Martin Dobson and Billy Hamilton
Seasons archive
