The London Clarets
The 1991/1992 season
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1991/1992 'Dizzy' When I was young I had assumed that the Cold War was here to stay. I had assumed that the Soviet Union would always be a Super Power bristling with hi-tech weaponry and sophisticated space hardware. But was being shown on TV in 1991 seemed to contradict that. Had ‘Perestroika’ really meant poverty, for there were pictures of Soviets queuing for bread and scrabbling for shoes? It was as if the USSR had suddenly become a ‘Third World’ state. The Soviets took this view, too. Trippy dance / indie outfit the Shamen had just about deified the Soviet leader on their 1990 album In Gorbachev We Trust. But in the face of this disastrous economic dislocation, his days were numbered. First challenged by the conservatives and then by the radicals, the architect of ‘Perestroika’ was swept from office in December 1991. It was the season in which Robert Maxwell’s empire collapsed, too. The weak jibe, ‘What goes down in Tenerife?’ mocked both him and those dreadful ‘Essex girl jokes’, which continually did the rounds that year. Benny Hill might have died in April but the double entendre lived on, even in the US Supreme Court, it seemed. For it was alleged that its 1991 nominee, Judge Clarence Thomas had sexually harassed a colleague, Professor Anita Hill, by showing her a video about ‘Long Dong Silver’. It sounded a bit like, Carry On Jim Lad. Mrs Thatcher might have gone, too, but there was no evidence that things were getting better. Inflation had fallen but so had manufacturing output, retail sales and house prices. Over 100,000 homes were re-possessed over the year with 300,000 families forced onto income support. Never mind we had nice, sensitive Sir George Young, as Housing Minister. Remarking on the plight of the homeless, he said these were, "the people you step on when you come out of the opera." With a record number of bankruptcies over the year (48,000), a 17.5% rate slapped on VAT and unemployment up to 2.3 million and rising, it was unsurprising that there should be growing signs of civil unrest. As the new season began, riots flared up in Cardiff, Birmingham, Oxford and on Tyneside. ‘Joy riding’ became a much-hyped demonstration of rebellion, with hooded adolescents ‘burning rubber’ nightly on the ‘no go’ streets of Blackbird Leys and elsewhere. It was ironic really, given that the Blackbird Leys council estate had been built to accommodate the car workers for the once prosperous Cowley plant. Burnley’s season began in another industrial place that had seen better times, Rotherham. Bryan Adams’ interminable (Everything I Do) I Do It For You was still the number one single. It would hold this position throughout the late summer and early autumn. Hostage Jon McCarthy had just been released and a boundary from Ian Botham enabled England to square the Test series against the ‘Windies’. As for the Rotherham game, Ian Wood reported: "Pre-season results hardly inspired confidence. A dour defensive performance was to be expected, with new £60,000 signing from Southampton Steve Davis as sweeper [replacing the former Steve Davis who’d been sold to Barnsley for £180,000]. Most of the team played so deep that goalkeeper Chris Pearce had plenty of company. The negativity became even more marked after one of the other new boys, Mike Conroy, had stabbed in John Francis’ pass late in the first half. Eventually a lack of fitness took its toll as the Millers pounded the Burnley goal, with two goals in the last twenty minutes proving decisive. Davis was the best Claret on display, but all told, another ultra defensive performance, bringing back horror memories of last season. Fortunately the day out redeemed the match to some degree. I was able to visit five pubs in the town, the pick of which was the Kingfisher serving Old Mill Bitter. Splendid!" Although three league games were then won on the bounce, doubts remained about the management. Wigan eliminated Burnley from the Rumbelows League Cup (6-3 on aggregate) and even the 4-1 victory at Doncaster flattered Burnley. Ian Wood recalled: "With twenty minutes to go at Doncaster and the score at 1-1, it seemed another frustrating afternoon was in store. This was despite the dismissal of Doncaster’s Billy Whitehurst on the stroke of half time after he had spent the first half giving as bad a rendition of centre half play as it is possible to see. Then, as if by magic, Casper awoke from the dugout, brought on Steve Harper, clearly needed much earlier, and the new boy from Preston [a free transfer] proceeded to dismantle what was left of the Doncaster defence." Other new signing from Birmingham, midfielder Mark Yates (£40,000) scored a fine individual goal and loanee goalkeeper Andy Marriott made his debut. Nevertheless, Roger Eli and Mike Conroy were looking good up front. Eli had scored a hat trick against Chesterfield (3-0) and Conroy had scored five goals in seven league and cup games. And after Crewe and Burnley had shared the points in a pulsating contest on a warm, sunny Saturday 7th September, Burnley were in third position. However, it seemed as if the doubters were right. The next three games were lost with the defeat at a sodden Scarborough (1-3), against ten men, the pick of a wretched trio. Five days later, Frank Casper resigned leaving his assistant, Jimmy Mullen, in temporary charge. The transformation was both immediate and sensational. The next nine league games were all won with some terrific performances like the 6-2 thrashing of Wrexham at the Racecourse Ground, where teenager Graham Lancashire scored a hat trick. Who needs a CV with a start such as this? Mullen was duly confirmed as manager on October 18th. Probably the best game in this brilliant run was the home win over promotion rivals, Mansfield, (3-2) on November 9th, who previously had a one hundred per cent away record. Vic Reeves with The Wonder Stuff were covering Dizzy at the time. Pondering the league tables at the time, we certainly felt so. The Serb forces had just cut off Dubrovnik. The autumn had cut off British Rail. They announced that they’d been thwarted by the wrong kind of leaves. Embarrassed by the disruption caused to commuter traffic, they still did their best to delay a group of eleven London Clarets bound for Turf Moor on a gloriously sunny Saturday. Ian Wood remembered: "It was not a great journey but the hope of a great game in store drove us on. We were not to be disappointed. The game was thunderous from start to finish. From the kick off the Clarets bombarded the Stags' goal and gained their reward when Mike Conroy scored from the spot after John Francis had been upended by their goalkeeper, Jason Pearcey. As the half progressed, however, Mansfield took control and they deservedly equalised on the half-hour after a superb move involving Steve Wilkinson and Phil Stant led to a great strike by the former. By half time the Clarets were hanging on, but after the restart it was Burnley in charge once more, Davis restoring the lead with a thumping header from Jakub’s corner. On the hour, though, Wilkinson again equalised, scoring clinically after a defensive muddle between Davis and Pender. Both sides then had goalbound shots cleared off the line before Pender met Jakub’s corner to head the winning goal with seven minutes left. Cracking stuff!" With praises being heaped upon him thick and fast, Jimmy Mullen pointed out that he hadn’t changed the line up so much as the tactics slightly. As Dave Parker suggested, we thought Jimmy was being unduly modest. This team was unrecognisable from that run by Frank Casper. It had pace, power and an indomitable desire to attack whether playing at home or away. The new policy was evident from the off at Wrexham. At a grey Northampton, on November 30th, it was the same (2-1). Andrew Bolton was there: "Four Saturdays on the trot for my son, Tom, and I, our own weak little record. It has to be said that Northampton inhabit a crummy little ground. But they did have a stand burn down and they do have to share a long side with county cricket. Well, another great turnout of fans – the best of the day for the Division. Pender was injured with Yates replacing him and Monington and Lancashire were included as subs. Burnley didn’t miss Pender as they played with vigour and discipline and hunger and skill. They were a yard faster than Northampton. They were so quick to the ball, until some gaps appeared late in the second half and looked an altogether professional outfit. We can now watch them with confidence, knowing that they can deliver. Measham looked classy at full back. Andy Marriott, playing his last game, was so fast and agile, diving low to gather on numerous occasions. Francis had several tricky runs from midfield, although Harper was uncharacteristically subdued. Deary, Davis and Farrell are perhaps the cool, thinking backbone of this side. In the first half, John Francis looked up and lobbed a long ball out to the left wing where it was pursued by the thundering hooves of Mr Conroy, who from the apex of the box leathered a magnificent left foot shot into the far right corner of the net. One nil was the correct interval score. The second half saw Northampton, managed by Theo Foley, gain some grip. Lancashire came on for Eli. Several times good defending stopped incisive Northampton moves, and then with the watch showing 4.40, Bell lofted a ball into the Burnley box, Adcock headed it down and Campbell cracked in a magnificent goal off the underside of the Burnley bar. Ah well, two points dropped, but not beaten. But if my head dropped, the players’ didn’t. Within a minute Burnley showed their newly found strength on the break. With Northampton committed to all-out attack, Harper picked up a clearance on the left flank and galloped off on a run. Having crossed the half way line, he looked up and seeing a possee of Burnley players, who had broken quickly out of defence, he lobbed a cross into their path. Conroy met the ball, chested it down and walloped another cracking shot into the left corner with the Northampton defence nowhere. We went daft. So did the Burnley boys, dancing in front of us with animal joy. And then came the final whistle. Marriott ran the length of the pitch to salute the fans, they mobbed him, lifting him shoulder high to resounding chants of ‘Swing low sweet Marriott.’ Bliss." Although he was only a three-month loan signing, Andy Marriott was a true Claret. Who can doubt that after he said, "I think of Burnley as my first club and Nottingham Forest as just somewhere I train." He was missed hugely. However, Jimmy was partly compensated by winning the November Fourth Division Manager of the Month Award. On December 21st Burnley finally took their place at the top of the table when they defeated struggling Aldershot in a howling gale at the Recreation Ground (2-1). Since Jimmy Mullen had taken over, Burnley had won ten and drawn one of their eleven league games. The occasion was obviously all too much for our Jim. He had to delay his interview with the Radio 2 because of a nosebleed. Perhaps Jimmy had that on his mind when he told the reporter, "We have to keep our feet on the ground and make sure we don’t get smacked on the nose." The London Clarets stormed off to Farnham to sample copious quantities of the "splendid" Harveys and "outstanding" Bathams beers in the Bat and Ball and Sandrock pubs. But in our moment of elation we had to spare a thought for the beleaguered ‘Shots’. They were about to fold. The half time collection owed much to Burnley contributions. But the £40,000 sale of their prime asset, Adrian Randall, owed more. It was to no avail. Aldershot were wiped from the record on March 26th. We will miss Aldershot with its quaint park entrances and herbaceous borders. You expected to pick up your crazy golf clobber and your raspberry split as you squeezed through their turnstiles. When you reached the pitch, you were actually quite disappointed not to find a boating lake and a few ducks. When kept behind after an evening game, you half expected them to ask you to turn off the lights and put out the cat as you left. Steve Claridge told us in his book, Tales From The Boot Room that the ‘Shots’ once had a player who qualified for a disabled sticker. You see this was a club with true class. Forget your Nou Camps and San Siros. This is where it really matters. That is why it was so heart-warming to learn of their supporters’ successful attempts at a resuscitating their club. A team bearing the name of Aldershot Town still plays at the Recreation Ground and after a hard slog over several seasons now competes in the upper part of the Ryman Premier League. A Boxing Day defeat by a very physical Rotherham side (1-2) was their first in fifteen league and cup games. It was still disappointing, especially with just fewer than 14,000 attending. It was just a temporary setback, as maximum points were then taken from Doncaster (2-1) and Chesterfield (2-0). Former Spurs and Wolves goalkeeper and qualified coach Mark Kendall was signed on loan from Swansea to play at Saltergate as Jimmy continued to try to find a replacement for Chris Pearce, whose form and confidence had evaporated this year. Kendall also played in the FA Cup game with Second Division Derby on January 4th. But all eyes among the 18,727 crowd were on the superb Peter Shilton. The game was a belter (2-2) and both sets of supporters went at it full pelt. Ian Wood reported: "In the very first minute the Rams took the lead with a far post header. The Clarets then laid siege to the visiting goal and after six minutes equalised when Steve Harper put the finishing touch to an excellent right wing move. Derby had the better of the first half but Burnley controlled much of the second, and it was against the run of play when Rams’ defender Andy Comyn tapped home from short range in the 78th minute after a mistake by Kendall. But it was no surprise that the equaliser came from Roger Eli, who was in outstanding form. It was Conroy’s superb cross which provided the opportunity. Eli’s bullet header did the rest. The day out was also superb. The London Clarets relationship with the London Rams is a long and drunken one. The day lived up to all expectations." Burnley were given two bites at the cherry in the replay, with second game being abandoned after 76 minutes because of fog with Burnley trailing 0-2. Justice was eventually done eleven days later when Derby won despite a spirited first half display by Burnley (0-2). However the most remarkable feature of this second replay was the performance of Burnley’s supporters. It even drew comment from the national press. John Sadler of The Sun reported: "Burnley took 4,000 Lancashire lads and lasses to the Midlands. And they were sensational. Soon after goalkeeper Chris Pearce dropped his dreadful clanger they set up one of the loudest, sustained dins I’ve heard on a football ground anywhere in the world. The Burnley crowd’s chant of ‘Jimmy Mullen’s Claret and Blue Army’ totally drowned the home support. Over and over again they roared out the same message with no break and no reduction in volume, clapping and stamping their feet and drumming on the advertising boards in perfect rhythm. It became the sole focus of attention over those final twenty minutes. Neither did it stop there since this magnificent crowd sustained their defiant vocal loyalty for over fifteen minutes after the match had ended. Jimmy Mullen said, ‘In all my twenty-three years in the game I’ve never witnessed anything like that. It left my players feeling they were prepared to die for those people'." The only other defeat in January and February came at Blackpool, where Mark Kendall earned himself the nickname of ‘Ratner’ after a series of howlers gifted ‘The Seasiders’ the points (2-5). Kendall was promptly sent packing and Jimmy started looking again. In the meantime, Pearce was reinstated. The Blackpool defeat was only a minor wobble as Gillingham were then over-run (4-1), with Mike Conroy scoring a hat trick. Northampton were also thrashed (5-0), with five different scorers and each goal a delightful cameo. Burnley were proving themselves to be generally resilient on their travels, too, as they twice came back from 0-2 deficits with late goals at both Walsall (2-2) and Scunthorpe (2-2) to share the points. A strong Blackpool side was held 1-1 in front of over 18,000 at Turf Moor to keep the Clarets at the top and then two very late goals from Randall and Conroy broke Welsh hearts at promotion-chasing Cardiff. Perhaps that’s why some of their unruly fans broke our coach windows. The game was yet another big earner, with over 16,000 turning up. New loanee goalkeeper Nicky Walker played a blinder at Ninian Park but was powerless to stop a rampant Gillingham in Burnley’s worst performance under Jimmy Mullen (0-3). David Crown, the Clarets’ long-time nemesis, opened the scoring for the Gills in the very first minute. With Blackpool and Mansfield winning, Burnley dropped to third position, their lowest placing since November. This lapse was soon put right, though, with a string of five victories and a draw. The win at Mansfield gained in yet another buffeting gale (1-0) was particularly impressive. Conroy scored the solitary goal just before half time after a slick exchange with Francis. It bore a remarkable similarity to Steve Wilkinson’s opener for the Stags in the classic Turf Moor game. Davis was again magnificent in the heart of the defence helping to repel Mansfield’s late surge. But this would prove to be Nicky Walker’s last game, so back came Chris Pearce yet again for the return game with Barnet. It wasn’t much of a spectacle but Burnley achieved an effective shut out (0-0), thereby taking four points off one of their principal challengers. Burnley should have murdered an inferior Maidstone side, committed to an infuriating offside trap, but some weak keeping by Pearce gave the visitors an undeserved lead at the start of the second half. Thereafter, only luck and some tremendous goalkeeping by Ian Hesford, brother of the former England rugby player, kept Burnley out. Eventually, the Clarets’ continuous pressure paid off and a brilliant goal by Eli sealed the points just three points from time (2-1). Robbie Painter’s debut for the Clarets was made more notable by the fact that he was facing his former teammates. As if the promotion challenge was not enough, Burnley also threatened to repeat their Wembley appearance in the Autoglass Trophy, as it had become known. Third Division Stockport were their opponents in the northern final. Unfortunately, Burnley had to field a weakened team in the home leg and lost 0-1. Despite a terrific fight back in the away leg, after Kevin Francis had opened the scoring with a header, it was Stockport who went through to the final (1-2). Nevertheless, a draw against Scarborough (1-1) and a win against Cardiff (3-1) in successive games gave Burnley the chance to clinch promotion at Carlisle. As at Chesterfield, fancy dress was the order of the day among the massive Burnley support, comprising around two thirds of the 9,051 crowd. But despite Francis’ blistering opener, a defensive lapse in the second half allowed the Cumbrians to equalise and spoil the party (1-1). This meant that the champagne had to be transported to Bootham Crescent, York three days later, in the hope that both promotion and the championship would be finalised there... 'Ceefax Interruptus' - the York Game on Ceefax Woody's closing assessment of the season So ended a year of triumph. I still cannot listen to Nirvana’s Nevermind, without being reminded of a 1-0 victory at a grey Watling Street or to Primal Scream’s Screamadelica without recalling sunny Scunny. Somehow bits of Massive Attack’s Blue Lines or Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Bloodsugarsexmagic or REM’s Automatic For The People have become studded to games along the way. Whenever I feel low, these are the sounds I grasp for. Peter Pike MP pointed out in the Burnley Express that Burnley were, "Only the second club ever to have won all four championships (in the space of thirty-two years)." He added, "It is good to be able to say we are Burnley fans – and say it with pride." Jimmy Mullen wrote in the final home match programme, "Clinching the Fourth Division title on Tuesday night was the proudest moment of my life. I tried to show my appreciation and the appreciation of the players and everyone else connected with the club in the best way I could by applauding all the fans there. I just want to say another great big thank you to everyone who has supported us so loyally in this great season." What a great pity it is that some of us have so short memories. It is now almost eight years on from that glorious night in York. I think we should still be drinking to Jimmy Mullen. Tim Quelch |