It was back to the early sixties. The shadow of the bomb had returned. Despite the SALT treaties, US-Soviet relationships were once again hawkish and edgy. Twice during June 1980, the USA thought they were under attack from Soviet missiles, that is, until computer malfunctions were detected. Reagan had replaced Carter as US President partly because he was not trusted with the defence of his country. The failed attempt to rescue the US hostages in Iran finally marked Carter's card. So when the USSR moved its SS-20 rockets into Eastern Europe, Reagan was quick to ship his Cruise missiles across the Atlantic. Mrs Thatcher made Britain the first NATO country to accept them, prompting a series of strong protests, initially from CND and then subsequently from the women’s peace camp, which established itself outside Greenham Common air base.
The eighties are characterised by the growth of popular movements. Various groups who felt marginalised at that time – women, black and disabled people, gays and lesbians, environmentalists, animal rights campaigners – began to turn to direct and sometimes extreme action. Frustrated with the electoral system and the pace of change, even persistent lobbying and abrasive publicity appeared insufficient. Activists as varied as the Greenham Common women, Band Aid and ‘Swampy’ have underlined how effective direct action can be. They have shown that political democracy can be disregarded or circumvented if you want to get things done. Perhaps they have something in common with Mrs Thatcher after all.
But this is all far too serious. The devotees of pop culture seemed to take a similar view. While there were bands like UB40 (‘Food For Thought’, ‘ One In Ten’ ) and the Specials (‘Ghost Town’) peddling more sombre messages about famine relief, urban decay and racism, the eye catching acts were the New Romantics like Spandau Ballet. Bryan Ferry and ABC, with their overblown suavity, became hot property, although not as hot as the revitalised Human League. The synthesiser now dominated pop music, and the pretty boy bands like Duran Duran were fawned over, aided and abetted by the new teen pop magazines like Smash Hits. It was a time when gender bending became fashionable.
The gay scene had been enormously influential in club culture. From 1981 it began to make its mark on the charts. The name of ‘Boy George’ O’Dowd’s band seemed to reflect this influence. Marc Almond, as part of Soft Cell, even sang openly of gay love (‘Tainted Love’). Bronski Beat and Frankie Goes To Hollywood would continue this trend. Rod Stewart had previously sung of a gay friend on the 1976 hit The Killing of Georgie but what was happening here was much more outside the closet.
While some punks kept the faith, many had thrown aside their Mohicans, their rubber wear, zips and safety pins. Undeterred by make up and lace, Adam Ant proceeded to re-invent himself, forsaking his punk roots and embracing the foppish persona of ‘Prince Charming’. As Dave Rimmer wrote, (‘Like Punk Never Happened’), Adam had no qualms about selling out providing someone was buying.
This was the year that Bob Lord finally sold out. Illness had forced his retirement and now he sold his shares, valued at £50,000, to a consortium led jointly by barrister John Jackson and fellow director Dr David Iven. Jackson became the new Chairman. Bob Lord retained 100 shares so that he could maintain a nominal place on the board.
The new board were quick to attract the anger of the Burnley supporters. Before the season had started they decided to raise the entrance fee from £1.35 to £1.90, a rise of 41%! Poor gates were blamed. However the new board did sanction a Supporters’ Association, and over 300 people attended its first meeting, held in the Centre Spot. Bob Lord had previously refused this, one of his sillier decisions.
We were encouraged by the emergence of youthful talent, but there were doubts as to whether they would be sufficient without further acquisitions. However, due to the deteriorating financial situation, there were no incoming moves. John Aldridge, then out-of-contract with Newport, wrote for a trial, but Burnley turned him down. Needless to say, Burnley would repent at leisure.
As if to emphasise the inadequacy of the squad, Burnley got off to a bad start.
Simon Pettit recalls that, "The opening game at Gillingham was memorable not for the match (1-3) but for the superb feat (or feet?) of Shaggy, Uri and several other fellow London Clarets of walking from Burnley to Gillingham." Burnley’s defence was generally sound throughout the previous season. At Gillingham it was a shambles. It was scarcely better in the League Cup game at Tranmere (2-4). Less than 2,400 bothered to watch the second leg (3-3), thereby establishing a new all time low attendance for any competitive first team game at Turf Moor.
Results went from bad to worse. On October 3rd Swindon came to the Turf and snatched all three points (0-2), for this season saw the introduction of three points for a win (previously only two points were awarded). This result meant that Burnley had lost four games on the bounce and had slumped into twenty-second position. It was small wonder that even a Saturday League game could attract a paltry crowd of 3,377, yet another post war record low. Something had to be done and quickly.
To add to the club’s troubles, manager Brian Miller had to be admitted to hospital with appendicitis. However, he and assistant Frank Casper devised a new playing system. It revolved around playing Martin Dobson as sweeper, enabling full backs Laws and Wharton to indulge their attacking instincts. Both were much more effective going forward. Also, Kevin Young was selected to play on the left-hand side of midfield instead of Eric Potts. Frank was left to put this plan into action.
At Fratton Park on October 10th, the new system was unveiled. It worked like a dream. Burnley were unrecognisable. They defended resolutely and broke quickly. Wharton and Young both scored in the 2-1 victory. Although this game was certainly a turning point, the signs weren’t then immediately obvious. Six of the next seven games were drawn, and still the Turf Moor crowd remained sceptical. Only just over 4,200 attended for the home draw with Wimbledon (2-2) on November 7th.
The show really started to run at Ashton Gate on November 28th. Egyptian Vice-President Mubarak had just replaced the assassinated Anwar Sadat, Shirley Williams had won the Crosby by-election for the SDP, the DeLorean car, with its gull-like wings, was launched and England qualified for the World Cup finals in Spain, after beating Hungary 1-0. Under Pressure was then the chart-topping single. It seemed a fitting title, for Bristol City were then in a bad way. After their relegation from the First Division in 1980, they had gone into free fall. Many of their players were still on lucrative contracts and now there were neither the gates nor the TV revenue to support these. The club were losing money hand over fist. Swindon would experience a similar fate after Hoddle had taken them into the Premiership in 1993. Shortly after this match with Burnley, City were threatened with extinction. The senior players were given the choice of forgoing their contracts or allowing the club to fold. They walked the plank.
For all the club's troubles, City began this game as a capable side, even though Kevin Young stabbed us into an early lead. Gradually, City began to gain better possession. Their strikers, Tom Ritchie and Chris Garland, started to trouble Overson and Phelan with their strong running. Twice Garland managed to shrug off the challenges of his markers to turn the game around in City’s favour. By the break City were leading 2-1.
The second half was a remarkable transformation. Almost from kick off, Burnley stamped their authority on the game. The main instigator of this change was an eighteen-year-old midfielder who, oblivious to the frenetic tackling, played continuously with his socks rolled down. He was in the centre of everything. He played quick one-twos with his fellow midfielders, Young and Cassidy. He changed the direction of play. He rolled out inch-perfect passes to Burnley’s widemen. McGee, in particular, benefited from his service as the Irishman proceeded to make one surging run after another along the left flank. Nothing seemed to trouble this lad. He appeared to have so much time. Always composed, he was unruffled by the rough and tumble stuff. A feint here, a drop of the shoulder there, and he was suddenly free of any trouble. This was a very heavy surface, and yet he played as if he was on a bowling green. He was simply the best Burnley player I had seen since Leighton James. Even on the basis of this solitary game, I knew then that he would eventually play for England. His name, of course, is Trevor Steven.
But for all their domination, Burnley could not score. Attack after attack rained down on City’s over-stretched defenders, and yet the Clarets wasted chance upon chance. They were guilty of over-elaboration. They tried to walk the ball in. Our frustration mounted as successive attacks broke down or shots were hit high, wide and ugly. Hamilton was the main culprit. Dobson now pushed forward, and Phelan and Overson confidently posted themselves on the half way line, such was Burnley’s superiority. The dusk descended, ushering in a chilling river mist. The lights of Clifton appeared dulled by this seeping shroud. We knew that there was not much time left. Finally, justice was done. McGee decided to leather a loose ball rather than run with it. His shot flashed past Moller and Burnley were level. With less than fifteen minutes remaining, we knew they could and should win this. We urged them forward. Finally, it became all too much for City’s desperate defenders. A penalty was conceded. Paul McGee hammered it into the net (3-2) and the points went to Burnley. In truth, they should have thrashed City. The scoreline gives no indication of the colossal gulf between the sides in that rampaging second half. But we were satisfied. Although Burnley were still in relegation trouble, we knew even then that this side was good enough to go up.
On the following Saturday, the upward momentum continued with a 2-1 victory over Oxford. Three days later, Bob Lord died. It seemed as if he never recovered from the 1980 relegation. When interviewed on Granada TV by Gerald Sinstadt, shortly after that fateful day, he appeared broken. During his time in charge, he might have given his ego too much licence, but there was no doubt that he truly cared about his club. He was as gutted as any of us at Burnley’s fall from grace. It was sad, therefore, that his final years were blighted by an unseemly dispute over the sale of some land.
Bob Lord had sold the plot to the club for £11,000, and maintained that he was entitled to re-purchase it for the original sum. The board took a different view and Lord threatened legal action. Eventually, an agreement was reached, which enabled the Lord family to benefit from part of the proceeds once the sale went through.
On a brighter note, Burnley then hit a hot streak. This was after the appalling December weather just about wiped out the month’s programme. They proceeded to win six League games in succession after Plymouth had snatched a draw (1-1) at Turf Moor on January 9th. Progress was being made in the FA Cup, until Shrewsbury ended that interest in the 4th Round (0-1). In fact, by the time that Burnley were due to face Swindon again, they had been unbeaten over sixteen games. Burnley travelled to the County Ground on February 13th. It was a bright, mild winter’s afternoon. The ground was soft after earlier rain.
Sir Freddie Laker’s cut-price airline had just gone into a tailspin. The DeLorean sports car had stalled, leaving hundreds of Ulstermen without work. Robert Mugabe was about to fire Joshua Nkomo. The Animal Liberation Front was preparing a raid to free beagles, and the tabloids were engaged in a furious bingo war. Kraftwerk’s The Model was the number one single and the Human League’s Dare was the chart-topping album.
At this point, Burnley had lifted themselves into seventh position with 38 points. Fulham and Carlisle were leading the race with 45 points each and Chesterfield (44), Southend (40), Reading (39) and Walsall (38) were, like Burnley, in pursuit. Swindon had fared less well since their victory at Turf Moor in October. Despite having starlet Paul Rideout leading their line, they were in twentieth position and falling. The League’s leading scorers were Keith Cassells of Oxford (20), Gordon Davies (17) and Dean Coney (13) of Fulham and Tony Kellow (17) of Exeter.
This was a typical promotion-winning result. All lower division clubs engaged in a promotion campaign will grind out a series of unappealing yet effective performances away from home. And that’s exactly what Burnley did here. Having said that, Tommy Cassidy’s superbly chipped goal was worth the entrance fee alone. Swindon grabbed an untidy equaliser before Steve Taylor stabbed in Hamilton’s sharp, low cross. It was 2-1 at the interval, and that’s how it ended. No one shined. Steven was ruled out through injury, so perhaps that’s why. Overson and Young were also missing. Nevertheless, their replacements, Holt, Scott and Potts, all played their parts. All in all, it was a compact and determined team performance. The result lifted Burnley into fifth place with a game in hand on Southend (41) and Chesterfield (44), who were immediately above them. Promotion was no longer an idle hope.
The 20 match unbeaten League run finally came to an end at Exeter on March 6th (1-2). Goalkeeper Alan Stevenson thought that, in retrospect, this defeat might have helped Burnley. He explained, "The press had begun to take notice of our run and that was putting pressure on us. As soon as we’d been beaten, the pressure went off again." There seemed no danger that the bubble would burst. Burnley seemed too resilient for that to happen, as they had showed in beating Huddersfield 2-1 at Leeds Road after Kevin Young had been dismissed. However, injuries were beginning to mount. Phelan broke his cheekbone at Wimbledon (0-0), ruling him out for the remainder of the season. So when Steve Taylor was sidelined with a serious ankle problem, Miller went back to Preston to sign former loanee Paul McGee for £25,000.
Trevor Steven returned for the crucial game away at Fulham, and thanks to a Kevin Young goal the Clarets secured a point (1-1). Steven found the net himself in another important promotion clash at Sincil Bank. It came in the 88th minute, but it made sure that Burnley didn’t return from Lincoln empty-handed (1-1). For all that, March was a comparatively barren month, in which Burnley registered just one win out of seven games. Only five goals were scored, emphasising how much Steve Taylor was missed. Also, it took a Laws’ penalty to achieve that solitary victory, against Chester (1-0). In fairness, six of these games were played away from home, but Burnley needed to regain the winning streak if their promotion challenge wasn’t to falter.
Fellow challengers Reading came to Turf Moor on Saturday April 3rd just one day after Argentina had invaded the Falkland Islands. Nicanor Costa Mendez told the UN Security Council, that his country had merely "recovered" its own territory, thus ending, "one of the last vestiges of imperialism." His British opposite number, Lord Carrington resigned stating, "I accept responsibility for a very great national humiliation." On Monday the Royal Navy Task Force would set sail for the South Atlantic. The Sun celebrated with the headline, ‘STICK IT UP YOUR JUNTA!’ We were at war.
Reading then featured a powerful young centre forward called Kerry Dixon and a slender 18-year-old midfielder named Neil Webb, who was their leading goal scorer with 14 goals. Both were overshadowed by their opposite numbers, Billy Hamilton and Trevor Steven. Hamilton had a storming game. He could have scored five goals in the first half alone. As it was, he had to be content with just two.
The first was set up for him after only three minutes play. McGee showed characteristic determination in chasing a lost ball near the right corner flag. Reading's centre back appeared to be shepherding the ball safely out of play for a goal kick. McGee had other ideas. The swiftness and ruggedness of his challenge completely surprised Hicks. It completely flummoxed the other Reading defenders, too. For having snatched the ball under Hicks’ nose, McGee then pulled it back for Caverner to thump in a low curling cross. Hamilton was first to react, volleying the ball past Fearon’s left hand with the outside of his right boot. It was expertly done, for the ball reached him at an awkward height.
Brian Laws created the second goal eight minutes later. After a surging run down the right flank, Laws cleverly used Caverner as a decoy. This threw the Reading defenders, giving him additional space to whip over a high cross from the by-line. Hamilton met the cross at the top of his leap, and with a cushioned header looped the ball into the right hand corner. Burnley were now all over Reading. Shots were being blasted in from all angles. Hamilton swivelled quickly on Dobson’s past to send a fierce drive across goal and just past the far right hand post. Hicks had to head out from underneath the bar again under strong challenge from Hamilton. This followed Fearon’s failure to punch clear Laws’ free kick, allowing McGee to lob towards goal. Young then put Hamilton in on goal, but Fearon blocked the Irishman’s snap shot with his legs.
Steven was dominating in midfield, twisting and turning with menace and running confidently at the Reading defenders. He set up Hamilton for a further shot on goal, but this just found the Reading keeper’s midriff. With Laws and Wharton rampant on the flanks, this was like a turkey shoot. Reading were very fortunate to be only two goals behind at the interval.
In the second half, Reading made a better show of things, and were unlucky not to score at least once. Dixon began to make his presence felt and the Royals’ pressure forced several errors in the Burnley defence. Also, Kearney just failed to make good contact with a fast low cross from his striking partner Dixon. But Laws and Wharton continued to push forward, and the only goal of the half went to Burnley. It came in the last minute of the game. Having dispossessed Reading full back Lewis, as he attempted to play the ball out of defence, Kevin Young cut back inside. From the right hand edge of a crowded penalty area, he put in a low, left-footed drive, which just managed to evade Fearon’s left hand and squeeze inside the right post (3-0).
This result lifted Burnley into fifth place, one point behind Reading but with three games in hand. Lincoln were top with 61 points from 37 games, followed by Carlisle with 59 points from 34 games and Fulham with 57 points from 34 games. Burnley had played 35 games but only 16 of these had been played at home. Home form like this could see them up.
On a sunny Easter Saturday, Lincoln came to Turf Moor. The Goombay Dance Band’s Seven Tears was number one, while Haircut 100 topped the album charts, claiming that they possess greater musical credibility than their teen idol status suggests. Hmm.
10,911 are enticed to Turf Moor for what Simon Pettit reported to be a "titanic clash with the League leaders." This is easily the biggest crowd of the season, exceeding the gate for the Reading game by over 4,000. Simon’s brief summary was, "The Imps showed their class and looked very dangerous, but a Billy Hamilton effort gave us the points."
This terrific result was topped on a grey Easter Monday at Chesterfield. A spectacular goal from Laws and a further strike from Dobson gave Burnley three more points at the expense of yet another promotion challenger (2-1). Difficult games were now coming thick and fast. The next outing was at the Manor Ground against sixth placed Oxford. But Burnley managed to tough out a 0-0 draw at Oxford in front of over 10,000, many of whom travelled down from the North. Burnley remained in fifth place, but had the better run-in, since six of their last eight games were home fixtures.
However, what happened next set all of us fluttering with alarm. Southend came to Turf Moor on the following Tuesday evening and, pepped by a brilliant Derek Spence, slammed in five goals (3-5). What’s more, they only needed ten men. We wondered whether home advantage would prove to be as telling as we first thought. But our fears were quickly allayed. Four successive home wins followed, including a vital 1-0 win over Carlisle, thanks to a Paul McGee goal. Simon Pettit described McGee as "so sharp in these crucial games."
The only intervening away game was at Newport on May 1st. It was the day on which the RAF first bombed the runway at Stanley. Brian Hanharan "counted them all out and counted them all back." It came one day before the controversial sinking of the General Belgrano with the loss of 368 Argentinean lives. The Sun crowed, ‘GOTCHA!’ prompting Private Eye to run the spoof competition, ‘Kill an Argie and win a Metro’. It seemed to be satirising the ‘Ere We Go’ pub jingoism as much as the tabloid. Were our lives so empty that we needed some restoration of military glory to stir us? Weren’t European Cup triumphs and Botham’s heroics enough? Mrs Thatcher would answer these questions at the next General Election. Meanwhile at the top of the charts, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder made a plea for greater tolerance in their joint paean to racial harmony, Ebony And Ivory.
Burnley struggled in the game at Newport, played in glorious spring sunshine. Tommy Tynan was a real handful, and had Stevenson not been in such superb form, this game would have been lost. Still, this was a very valuable point.
On Tuesday May 11th, Hamilton helped see off Preston in front of 13,911 supporters with a brace, made even more memorable by his magnificent 60-yard solo run (2-0).
Three days later, Burnley set off for Southend. The game was to be played on a Friday evening. Friday was hot, sunny and very humid. Even in the relative coolness of evening, we knew that this game would be very taxing. On top of the draining conditions, there was the small matter of dealing with a side that had whacked five goals past us at Turf Moor. On the plus side, Burnley were settled in a winning run, while Southend had gone backwards after that amazing victory.
In the South Atlantic things were not going so well. A week ago, an Exocet missile had sunk HMS Sheffield with the loss of 21 lives. Soon other vessels would be hit, including the container ship Atlantic Conveyor. Concerns were growing about whether the Task Force would have sufficient equipment to mount an effective invasion. From the top of the charts, PhD insisted ‘I Won’t Let You Down’ and Nicole promised ‘A Little Peace’. We hoped that they were both right.
Roots Hall is a thoroughly depressing place, but on this Friday night we were oblivious to that. Just one thought preoccupied us. Could we secure promotion?
The opening half-hour was fairly even. Controlling the ball on the bumpy surface was difficult. In the first thirty minutes, there was little goalmouth action. Hamilton had volleyed over and Keith Mercer had replied with two headers, both of which were too high. Nevertheless, Burnley were playing well. Overson was subduing danger man Derek Spence, Tommy Cassidy was rolling out some lovely passes, and Hamilton was foraging with menace up front.
Then in the 32nd minute came the turning point. Tommy Cassidy did well to win the ball in midfield. He had safer options on his right but chose the more difficult one. Wharton had made a darting run along the left flank. Cassidy immediately played him in with a superbly weighted ball. Wharton hardly hesitated. His 16-yard left footed drive flashed past Southend keeper Keeley.
Burnley-born Wharton was a fitting hero. He was a true Claret. Having spent his youth urging his home team on from the Longside, he had his ‘BFC’ tattooed on his left hand. He told the Burnley Express, "When Tommy got the ball I started to run towards the penalty area. Their midfield player did not come with me and I signalled to Tommy, who played the perfect ball into my stride. I was going to take it on but I saw the keeper coming out so I hit the ball first time and it flew in."
Eight minutes later, Burnley were further ahead. Hamilton got up well to flick on with his head. McGee was onto the ball in a flash, and seeing Keeley advancing, placed an exquisite lob over him and into the top right hand corner. But just when we thought we could enjoy the halftime break with a two goal cushion, Southend hit back. Gary Nelson swung over a high corner to the far post, but Stevenson slipped as he attempted to claim it, leaving Keith Mercer with a simple header (2-1).
This setback didn’t deter Burnley, though. At the beginning of the next half, they took the game to Southend, playing some terrific football. Having said that, Southend had a good fifteen-minute spell midway through the second period. The defence needed to be resolute, and was. Stevenson also made good saves from Hadley and Dudley. But back came Burnley, and home keeper Keeley had to make a fine save from a Hamilton header, which seemed destined for the top corner. Minutes later, he had to make an even better save from McGee's piledriver. However, McGee was not to be denied. With only seven minutes remaining, he used his pace to hit Southend on the break.
The home side had pushed up in search of an equaliser, leaving McGee with acres of space on the halfway line. A quick ball out of defence found him and off he hared towards the Southend goal. With two home defenders in vain pursuit, he steadied himself and clipped the ball underneath Keeley and into the net.
Surely, Burnley were up now, but Laws thought he’d make things trebly sure in the 88th minute. His powerful run down the right flank took him within shooting range. From 18 yards, Laws let fly, and although his first effort was blocked, he made no mistake with the second opportunity (4-1). The goal capped a good performance from the right full back. For it was his timely tackle which had denied Steve Phillips a clear run at goal in the first half.
That night I was told that the air was pulsating with spring scents; the sweetness of chestnut and the fustiness of May. All I can remember is the pervasive aroma of ale, copious and all consuming (or do I mean ‘all consumed’?). For it was a wonderful night to be blotto.
The final game was played at Turf Moor on May 18th. Burnley needed to win to be sure of the Championship, and almost 19,000 came to salute their team. It was the same day on which ‘Moonie’ founder Sun Myung Moon was found guilty of income tax fraud. Sophia Loren was also facing a jail sentence for tax evasion. ‘Doddie’ wasn’t the only one to be caught out.
The final game was against Chesterfield. It was a farce. A cloudburst turned Turf Moor into a paddy field, much like the Boxing Day game of 1994. Had this been earlier in the season, the game would have been postponed. To make matters worse, Burnley were 1-0 down at the break. It looked as if the Championship might be denied them in their Centenary season. Kevin Young was not to be denied, though. Picking up Steven’s pass, he cut in from the left and unleashed a 25-yard skidding drive, which found the far corner (1-1).
This left us waiting upon the result of Carlisle’s game on the following evening. The Cumbrians were unable to muster the seven goals required, so after bumping along the bottom in October, Burnley had risen to top.
Burnley MP Peter Pike said, "It is a great morale-booster for the whole town, particularly at a time when things have an air of gloom about them."
Peter wasn’t just referring to the Falklands’ troubles. Burnley was about to lose its assisted area status, meaning that Government aid was to be withdrawn. Despite a small increase in the workforce at the Padiham based Thorn EMI firm, jobs were hard to come by. The jobs vacant list in the Burnley Express was short, made up mainly of employment opportunities in bars, restaurants, estate agents, hairdressers and car sales. Only two jobs were advertised in manufacturing industries. Presumably, this would have suited Mrs Thatcher, given her confidence that the economic crisis would be turned around by a robust service sector. Lancashire County Council’s Careers Service was appealing to local employers to help the young jobless as part of the Youth Opportunities Programme.
This is the great thing about footballing success. It lifts us above some of our everyday worries. In that glorious week, there were local press reports of the anguish of Burnley families personally affected by the Falklands conflict. There were gloomy accounts of local business. But it was right that the local press should headline with the Clarets’ triumph. We all needed to imbibe on the bubbling enthusiasm of the players, management, supporters and townsfolk. For example, Richard Sharp (AKA ‘Shaggy Dog’) made light of the controversial dog ban then operating in all borough parks, to issue a press statement on behalf of the 140 members of Burnley FC London Supporters Club. He said, "Everybody down here is delighted!" Referring to his marathon walk to Gillingham with Burnley Express sports editor Peter Higgs, Shaggy Dog continued, "Now that we have got promotion, it means that Peter and I won’t have to do any silly walks next season." Finally, he complimented the townsfolk of Burnley, "who look after us when we come up on a Saturday. We find the hospitality in Burnley A1."
Having described how "he couldn’t relax until the fourth goal went in" at Southend, Chairman John Jackson then emphasised how he aimed to "keep this team together."
Fellow Director Derek Gill went further. He stated, "I’m quite convinced that we have the club so well organised that we won’t be going down to Division Three again." Oh dear, Derek!
Keith McNee, sports editor of the Evening Star, felt that Burnley could "make a strong impact on the Second Division next season," believing that they could rely on their youthful players for success. He believed that attacking young full backs Laws and Wharton fitted in perfectly with the sweeper system. He thought that Vince Overson was a "powerhouse at the centre of the defence" with Phelan as his natural partner. Keith rated Trevor Steven as the finest prospect since Leighton James. With "his clever play on the ball, strong running and excellent distribution, he looks certain to go a long way in the game." He also had special praise for Kevin Young. "He has been inconsistent at times but I rate him very highly." Hamilton was commended for his wholehearted displays. Like Martin Dobson, he was named in the 1981/82 PFA Third Division select team.
Other Third Division managers were fulsome in their praise of Burnley’s achievements. Bob Stokoe (Carlisle) said, "I’m surprised they were not home and dry some time before their visit to Southend. They have some outstanding players: Martin Dobson, Billy Hamilton, Trevor Steven, Brian Laws, Vince Overson... They could do well in the Second Division."
Malcolm Macdonald (Fulham) agreed. "When the good results continued I began to wonder what was going on up there at Turf Moor. So I had a look before we played them at Craven Cottage and I was most impressed."
Gordon Lee (Preston) reckoned that Burnley were "the most talented team... in the Third Division…I was particularly impressed with Billy Hamilton."
Both Hamilton and McGee spoke of their fondness for the club. Hamilton said, "Burnley is my kind of town and Turf Moor is my kind of club." McGee added, "When I moved here on loan in November and December I soon appreciated that there was something about this club and team that I wanted to be part of."
Brian Miller was not carried away though. He said, "You get more setbacks than successes in football, and when you get moments like these you’ve got to make the most of them. That’s why we shall enjoy our success while we can. But when we’ve done that we must get down to work and prepare for next season."
Jimmy McIlroy paid tribute to Brian’s whole-hearted and level headed manner in his assessment of him as a player and manager. Jimmy said, "One of the game’s quiet managers, who employs common sense instead of gimmicks, in my book deserves the lion’s share of the credit for the way in which he has organised what was a struggling team and turned it into the best in the Third Division… blending [a number of promising youngsters] with his experienced men."
Little did we know that Brian would keep his job for only eight more months.
