Arriving home after a few beers the other night I switched
the telly on and channel hopped in the vain hope of finding something vaguely interesting
to watch. Having Cable TV is not necessarily an advantage as it's the same old rubbish,
just more of it, so it takes a lot longer to find out there's nothing on.
UK 'Gold' had its usual quota of El Dorado, Dallas and
Neighbours (somebody tell the Trade Descriptions, Gold indeed!) Still it could have been
worse: Billy O'Rourke conceding seven against QPR on Match of the Day Gold, for example.
Good team Burnley had out that day too; O'Rourke, Scott, Brennan, Noble, Thomson, Rodaway
(there are exceptions), Dobson, Young, James, Fletcher, Kindon, if I remember correctly.
But the question is,'Is this the only footage that the BBC have of Burnley from the
1980's?'
Anyway I digress. The idea was to put one of the music
channels on whilst I went to get something to eat from the kitchen. (I obviously hadn't
drunk enough to want to get a kebab or KFC on the way back from the station.) Flicking
through the channels I came across Sky Sports Gold and the picture leapt out and hit me.
'Ouch!' I said, having dropped the remote control on my foot.
But it was him! Definitely; of that there was no doubt. Bow-legged, pigeon-toed, socks
rolled down round his ankles, stooping forwards slightly as he ambled across the pitch in
his peculiarly awkward gait.
'Whoa, Billy-Billy! Billy-Billy-Billy Hamilton!' I sang as I
danced round the back of the settee and fell over the bean bag cunningly placed there
several weeks earlier. Perhaps I had had quite a bit to drink after all. Sheepishly I
returned to my seat, regaining my composure and wondering if the people in the flat above
had heard anything.
'Who cares ?' I thought, suddenly picturing a chance meeting
on the stairs with my Oriental neighbours and being greeted by the question, 'Who is
Bee-Lee Amil-Tun?' They might regret that an hour later when I let them go after a potted
history of Burnley Football Club and a quick geography lesson on East Lancashire. They
wouldn't be the first and they certainly won't be the last.
Meanwhile, back on the settee, I was discovering that it was
a repeat of Northern Ireland's finest hour: their 1-0 win over Spain in Valencia in the
1982 World Cup Finals. Northern Ireland had to win the game to qualify for the second
stage. A 2-2 draw may have been good enough but it depended on the other result in the
group. Spain were certainly through but finishing second meant playing England and West
Germany in the second round group as opposed to France and Austria. So make no bones about
it, they wanted to win.
The Northern Irish team were managed by Billy Bingham and
lined up as follows: Pat Jennings, Jimmy Nicholl, Mal Donaghy, Chris Nicholl, John
Clelland (wow ! All that pace !), Martin O'Neill, Dave McCreery, Sammy McIlroy, Norman
Whiteside, Gerry Armstrong and Billy Hamilton. I think Billy and Gerry were playing up
front first half but it was hard to tell as both were helping out the midfield by tackling
back a lot of the time (i.e. Northern Ireland weren't doing a lot of attacking). The
referee was a Mr (or should that be Senor) Ortiz. No, no, not a Spanish name at all!
Totally impartial. Yeah, about as neutral as hydrochloric acid!
There were about 25 minutes gone by this stage, hence the
reason Billy had his socks down. It looked very hot out there and the pace of the game
seemed to reflect this. Bet Chris Nicholl was upset! However, still concussed by the fall,
I don't seem to remember much of real interest from the remainder of the half. It was
still 0-0 and all to play for in the second half as the cliché goes. The referee had had
a quiet game up to this point and had contented himself with giving Spain lots of free
kicks. Obviously he felt at this stage that that would be enough as Spain were certain to
win anyway.
Second half starts and I'm soon back in my seat with a
hastily constructed doorstop sandwich in hand. Only an advert break for half time you see.
A few minutes in and McIlroy is booked for retaliating to being assaulted from behind. The
offender gets off scot free.
It's at this point that I notice that the commentator seems
to take great delight in pronouncing one of the Spanish names, a certain 'Lopez Ufarte.'
We find out all about his darting, blindside runs, his tracking back, his availability to
receive the ball, his favourite colour and what he likes to eat for breakfast. I leave the
last answer to your imagination. Thankfully the Spanish manager substitutes him and we can
get on with the game.
Fifty six minutes gone and Armstrong picks up the ball just
inside his own half and knocks the ball out (lucky he didn't get sent off for that) to
Hamilton on the right. I recognise the footage and I'm up off my seat as Hamilton ambles
forward then instead of going straight down the line heads towards the left back who has
to stop to prevent Billy cutting inside. Billy now puts the ball down the line; he's
already after it as the defender tries to chase, but Billy holds him off. He's away!
'Go on! Go on!' I murmur under my breath having sobered up
somewhat. A smile spreads across my face as Billy curls a teasing cross between defenders
and goalkeeper across the six yard line. It would have passed harmlessly out to the far
side as Whiteside was late in arriving (bit like one of his tackles) and Armstrong was
only just entering the box. Thankfully Arcanada intervenes by diving out from his goal and
getting an outstretched hand to the ball, but he only succeeds in pushing the ball to
Armstrong who steadies himself before crashing the ball home. The Irish are in front!
Four minutes later and the referee has decided that enough is
enough and he needs to start having an effect on the game, so he sends Mal Donaghy off
for, well, nothing at all really, but then why should he have a reason? He is in charge
after all. Northern Ireland reshuffle with McCreery dropping in at left back and Armstrong
in midfield.
There's still half an hour to go so they'll be lucky to
survive but Spain are surprisingly lacklustre and the Irish are resolute in defence.
Jennings is rarely called upon but makes two or three good saves when required and the
Spaniards squander the best chance by blasting the ball high over the bar. The referee is
getting fed with the Spaniards' profligacy and turns down a penalty appeal. Never in a
million years a penalty, but how many times have we seen those given against us?
Obviously, Senor Ortiz feels he has done enough already.
McIlroy, unable to recover from the earlier assault, is
replaced by the imposing, barrel-chested figure of Tommy Cassidy, later to become a
Burnley player. The very young Norman Whiteside is replaced by the Arsenal left back Sammy
Nelson but Bingham resists changing his defence and puts Nelson at left midfield.
The final whistle goes and the Northern Irishmen are through.
A famous victory and, for many of the players, the pinnacle of their careers. Victory
against Austria (including a goal from Billy) in the second round group gave them hope
before a thumping defeat at the hands of the French put them out of the competition at the
same stage as England.
Curiously enough England did not lose a game in that
competition as they drew both their second round games. Needing a 2 goal victory over the
Spaniards they could only draw 0-0. During the second half Brooking and Keegan came on as
substitutes and combined well but Keegan put the far post header wide when a goal would
have given a glimmer of hope, but it was not to be.
At the end of the previous season Burnley had won promotion
as Champions of Division Three, Billy playing a major part. The
following season was a disaster as the Clarets were relegated once more despite playing
some good football and progressing well in both cups. They reached the semi-final of the
League Cup with Billy playing his best game for the Clarets in a 4-1 away win at Tottenham
in the Quarter Final. Perhaps some of the members who went to the game have memories they
might like to share? Unfortunately, I was a poor student in the midst of mock 'A' levels
and had to listen to Radio Blackburn's live second half commentary whilst supposedly
revising. If I remember correctly, all the goals came in the second half. Tottenham scored
first, Billy scored two and Graham Roberts scored two own goals. I just remember the
commentator, David Jones I think it was, being completely drowned out by the noise every
time Burnley scored. O Joyous Day!
Billy Hamilton was a great servant to the club and several of
the local hostelries, and it was a shame when his career was shortened by a serious knee
injury. During his recuperation he apparently invented a football board game, but I'm not
sure whether a manufacturer was found and if it ever saw the light of day. After a brief
spell with Colne Dynamos (the place where all ex-Clarets went at that time) Billy went
back to his native Northern Ireland to manage Glentoran. The last that was heard of him he
was running a leisure centre in Belfast.
One incident that will always stick in my mind with reference
to Billy occurred at the Nelson and Colne College Christmas bash at the Cat's Whiskers in
1982, only a few weeks before the Tottenham game in fact. Several drinks into the evening
we noticed a bloke being escorted to the bar by a bouncer. Somebody said it was Billy, but
in the dim light it was difficult to tell, so, it being time for another drink I was
nominated to go to the bar and find out if it was him. Standing next to him, there was no
doubt that this swaying drunk who needed the bar to keep him upright and seemed incapable
of interaction was indeed my footballing hero. Discretion being the better part of valour,
I returned to the group without speaking to him.
A short while later Billy was asked to leave on account of
his state of inebriation: no small feat when you consider that most of the people in the
nightclub were under 18 and able to get drunk by smelling a bitter shandy. He was escorted
out, well, that's not strictly true, as he had to be virtually carried out. However, for
some reason the last image of Billy from my clouded memory of that night is of him running
down Centenary Way and vaulting over the railings in the middle. What a guy! I think he
may even have had a game next day but I couldn't swear to that.
Billy left Turf Moor in 1984 to play for Oxford United under
Jim Smith in a deal which netted Burnley £95,000 plus the prolific Neil Whatmore (8 games
1 goal). Billy's record for Burnley reads:
Played: 252
Goals: 77 in 5 seasons from 1979 to 1984
Steve Corrigan
April-May 1996
Links -
The 1981/82 season of triumph
