The London Clarets
The 1991/1992 season
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1992 and all that A great season remembered My thoughts on this memorable season, one of my ever-present campaigns. With the disappointment of the play-offs still fresh in on our minds, we look to the 91-92 season to put it all behind us. There are the obligatory changes in playing staff, of course, and the last links with that certain day in May go as Deakin and Grewcock are released, then as one Steve Davis leaves another one signs. (No. 1 departs for Barnsley and No. 2 arrives from Southampton.) At the time I was working as a radiographer at Burnley General and managed to quiz all the new players as they arrived for their pre-signing medicals, as any self respecting Claret would have. The player who I remember the most from that time was a little known striker from Reading called Mike Conroy, who signed in early July. I X-rayed him three times that summer and chatted about his football career to date. He was a very confident man and seemed sure of his own ability. A good signing perhaps? Not half! The season begins with a friendly tour of the Soviet Union, as the Clarets play out two 1-1 draws with Dynamo Stavropol and Asmoral (you know you’ve heard of them). On their return we have the disastrous Lancs Manx Cup campaign, the only highlight of which is a Mike Conroy goal against the old enemy, that equalises John Pender’s second own goal in his second game! We finish bottom of our group after a plastic performance on Deepdale’s carpet pitch, and unlike most I do see Deary's late goal. After attending all our English friendlies, I am not filled with abundant confidence for our forthcoming season, but feel things can only get better. The opening day defeat at Rotherham and the Rumbelow’s cup crash at Wigan do little to boost my flagging spirits. The prospect of a long hard season stretches out ahead of us. In an attempt to bolster the squad Frankie signs the blond bombshell (Mark Yates), Steve Harper and our second keeper already this year, Andy Marriott (on loan from Forest). The inconsistent Clarets then turn in a dazzling performance at sunny Donny, and the large Claret following basks in the sun and the football in a resounding 4-1 thrashing of the perennial strugglers Rovers! Three of our recent signings grab the goals and the capture of Mike Conroy already looks to be the steal of the season. Then along comes something not seen at Turf Moor for six and a half years: a league hat trick. (the last was Kevin Hird - remember that hair!) in another win over Chesterfield. After a scrappy draw with the then leaders Crewe and a short return from Rocket Ron, the brief encounter with the good times ends, and so do the league points, as three successive defeats follow. By the end of the month the Clarets have plummeted down from 2nd to 11th, with two sendings off in two games and our own on loan keeper helping Rochdale to a 1-0 win with a faultless goalkeeping display. Things get a bit too much for the Claret fans during a dismal showing at the seaside and the ever growing chants for the head of the manager come to a climax as we succumbed to ten man Scarborough. The only highlight is a brilliant individual goal from a young striker on his full league debut - Graham Lancashire. Soon after the dreaded vote of confidence from the board, and with the increasing anger of the supporters, Casper does the decent thing and fell on his sword. It was a sad loss really, as this man had given many years of his life to this club as player, coach and manager. His assistant Jimmy Mullen takes temporary charge of the club and begins with the most successful start of any manager in Burnley history – nine straight league wins. It is soon after a 6-2 slaughter at Wrexham that Mullen is confirmed as the new manager. He seems to have instilled in the players a fighting spirit they didn’t have before. There then follow convincing away wins at Lincoln and Halifax; at the Shay Deary and Farrell become the 9th and 10th Burnley players to score league goals, as the goals are coming from every angle. The leaders Mansfield are the next to be toppled, as they lose out in a five goal thriller, with JP getting a goal at the right end this time. A first half penalty sees off Maidstone and increases Conroy's goal tally further. The last game of the winning run is also the finale for the on-loan keeper Andy Marriott; an emotion-charged game at the County Ground finishes with the Clarets grabbing a late win and a mini pitch invasion including myself, as Marriott is carried on the shoulders of his adoring fans. Sadly Marriott is not signed, even though he claims that "Burnley is my first club and Forest just somewhere I train." Burnley’s attempts to sign him fail as Forest won’t let their player go at any price. At the end of November Jimmy Mullen is awarded the Manager of the Month after five league wins and progress in both the FA cup and the Autoglass Trophy. There really was no competition. The winning run comes to an end against plucky Scunthorpe, who earn a well-deserved point thanks to JP’s 3rd own goal of the season! What’s up John? Their success doesn’t stop the Clarets dipping into the transfer market, and the acquisition of Adrian Randall for £40,000 from Aldershot will hopefully add more attacking qualities to the side's strike force. Soon after signing Randall, he returns to Aldershot with the Clarets and watches from the bench as his new teammates scrape home with a 2-1 win that later counts for nothing, but on the day takes the Clarets to the top of the table for the first time in over four years. The unbeaten run ends in a local derby game with Rotherham, who gain revenge for their FA Cup exit. Normal service is resumed two days later with another win over Doncaster - that’s four wins already over Donny, and its only December. The New Year starts with another record; the win at Chesterfield is the seventh successive league win, which surpasses the total set back in 1919 (with cup wins included, it's nine wins away form home in a row). The feeling of going to an away match and being confident you can win is the best, and one I could get used to. The Clarets then come up against Derby in a non-stop cup thriller watched by almost 19,000; Roger Eli secures the replay with a late header. Mark Kendall, the latest custodian, has a personal disaster during a blustery day out in Blackpool. The icing on the worst ever goalkeeping display I’ve ever seen was when he dropped the ball into his own net from a harmless cross. He is amazingly allowed to play in replay at Derby, but with 14 minutes to go and 2-0 down the game is abandoned due to heavy fog. I remember the Derby fans' chants getting as high as '7-0' and all we could see was Peter Shilton. Thankfully Kendall returns to South Wales and the Clarets recover to convincingly beat Gillingham 4-1, boosting their confidence for the replayed replay. Burnley go down to the Rams through a deflected free kick and a Chris Pearce blunder. This mistake starts off something that I was honoured to be part of and an occasion I have recounted many times. The chant started and just wouldn’t stop It was driven by passion, by loyalty, by defiance and by supporters showing that Burnley was more than just a football team, it was a way of life. We looked around at one another as the chant rang out around the Baseball Ground. Nobody wanted to stop; it was as if we were driven by our feelings and love of this team. The tannoy sounded out, "Thank you for your support, will you please go home," but nobody moved. Minutes later the team emerged to a rapturous welcome and took those plaudits like a championship side, not a fourth division team who had just been knocked out of the Cup. The Clarets' following grows as the season progresses, and we often outnumber the home support. This side has fighting qualities not seen for some time, as demonstrated in the comebacks at Walsall, 2-2 with a glorious Conroy strike, and at Scunny, with a towering Davis header. We are running out at home games now to "simply the best" and against the sorry Cobblers they are; a five-goal blast with five different scorers confirms Burnley's status at the top of the table. For the visit of the tangerine team there is yet another replacement in the Burnley goal; 29 year old Nicky Walker, on loan from Hearts, takes over and impresses as the two sides fight out a 1-1 draw, with all the action coming in a sixty second spell in the first half. It's only the brave or foolhardy who make the next trip to welcoming Cardiff (2-0), who aren’t happy as the Clarets put on another last minute show. They proceed to pelt fans stood on the terrace with an assortment of rocks and coins. We push our way on to the pitch only to see Jimmy Mullen giving an interview and we give him the vocal backing he deserves until most of our tormenters are cleared away. The trip to Kent proves fruitless as Burnley crash 3-0 and lose top billing. Parity is restored, however, in the next two home games, as six points are claimed from Barnet and Halifax Town. The latter game is surrounded with sadness as both teams impeccably observe a minute's silence in remembrance of the tragic death of trainee Ben Lee. The top of the table clash at Field Mill is settled by another Conroy goal as the Clarets reclaim second spot, in a game where the gale force elements nearly take charge. The next trip is a first for a lot of us, and a surprise for the police who only expect 300 fans to travel. Barnet High Street publicans have never done as well; Underhill, Barnet’s famous slopping home ground, is packed with over 3,000 Clarets who make the journey down. The stewards have to move some Barnet fans out of their home end to accommodate the hoards of Burnley fans. A scrappy game ensues as the Clarets claim another hard earned point. A return to the top of the league is granted to Burnley, as Aldershot loses its league status and all its records are expunged. All of the top clubs lose points, but the adjustment in goal difference takes the Clarets back to the summit. The sign of a good team is one that wins even when they play badly some say, and this is the case for the next two home games as six points are just squeezed out of Maidstone (2-1) and Hereford (2-0) and number one spot is maintained. A little stumble in the next two games, as the boys lose out to a play-off chasing Crewe, who win with a stunning free kick five minutes from the end, and a strong Stockport side take a one-goal advantage from the Autoglass Northern area final first leg, thanks to Freaky! Even a JP goal in the second leg isn’t enough though, as we lose out 3-1 on aggregate and the Wembley dream finally fades. The Clarets fail to punish a battling Scarborough side, even after taking an early lead on Easter Monday, as the game peters out to a draw, but leaves us needing only seven points from five games to claim the Championship. Two days later comes the visit of the Bluebirds. Even after a Robbie Painter goal in 16 seconds they fight back and look capable of getting something out of the game when Nathan Blake scores an equaliser (where is he now, anyone know?) but two goals from the ever reliable Andy Farrell and the goal machine called Mike Conroy are enough to see the Clarets home, leaving the enviable target of four points in four games to gain the title and of course the ultimate prize, promotion. At least 9,000 fans make the trip north to Carlisle on the Saturday, many in fancy dress, including the Easter gorilla, and who could forget the guy with the lilo? The kick-off is held up as it takes over three sides of the ground to fit us all in, and Brunton Park erupts on 43 minutes as Super Johnny Francis spins and lashes home a spectacular effort to start the party. However the Cumbrian side force their way back into the game to draw level with only eleven minutes left and the celebrations are cut short. Who will ever forget 28th April 1992, a date that will forever remain in the hearts of all Burnley supporters, the day we escaped from the basement division. The scenes of celebration after that final whistle blew are a blur, but the feeling of elation will never fade. John Deary equalises a first half York city strike and then gets a little annoyed as Kiely kicks out in frustration at Painter; he gets a yellow card for his troubles. As time is ruining out Joe Jakub plays a superb 40 yard pass down our left wing and Conroy chases the ball to whip in a cross to the near post, where Johnny Francis stabs home the goal we’ve waited seven long years for and sends the 7,500 (York City figure - I thought here was more myself) Clarets into rapture. The final whistle sounds soon after and a river of fans pour onto the pitch to celebrate and sing their hearts out to salute their heroes. I didn’t want to leave that pitch and those jubilant scenes, but there was a pub awaiting and a few championship pints to down. The rest of the season passes us by, with a celebration dampened slightly by a 2-1 Wrexham win as we all suffered a bit of a hangover from the Tuesday night, but it all finishes with the two time postponed game at Rochdale and a 3-1 play-off denying win, which includes Conroy’s 30th goal of the season, a rare Ian Measham goal and another strike from new signing Robbie Painter, Dave Williams this time plays for us and pulls off a penalty save near the end. This season was one of my favourites. I hope you have enjoyed reliving it with me, and maybe it helped you enjoy those moments again. Julian BoothJanuary 2001 |