Firstly, just in case the Queen hasn't sent
a telegram, 'Congratulations' to past and present editors, and all concerned in the
production of the last 100 newsletters for Burnley FC London Supporters Club.
I would like to offer my version on the formation of the club in
reply to your question of how it got started.
When I was a lad (cue Hovis tune), it cost me fourteen shillings to
get a return from Stoke to Burnley, today's equivalent of about 70 pence, for a half fare
ticket on British Rail. By 1969, I had to forfeit this under 14 years old concession as an
off duty ticket clerk from my local station saw me supping pints of Guinness in a nearby
ale house. Now, he never used to like me anyway, mainly because I had always maintained I
was under fourteen to qualify for my half price ticket, as my income from my two paper
rounds barely got me to the matches anyway. 'Drinking pints of Guinness at thirteen, eh?'
he would say. 'Now you're either breaking the law through under age drinking or you're
robbing the railway!' He followed this up with his usual pathetically corny joke of,
'Toucan play at that game… get it, toucan, like in the Guinness advert,' he would
laugh out loudly. For the uninitiated his quip referred to the long billed exotic bird
from the parrot family that always appeared with the slogan 'Guinness is good for you' in
the sixties. Well, it hadn't done me much good now had it, I thought. Partly because of
his veiled threats, but mainly due to his infantile jokes I had to change my departure
point, and at last this is where the story obtains some relevance.
I had been forced to travel from Crewe station to avoid the 'Syd
Little' of the railway world. Because of this I was noticing that there were a few more
individuals of the Claret order on the Inter City line from London to Preston, whereas
none were taking the Manchester route I had been using. After frequently chatting to these
devotees, mostly in the buffet bar at Preston, it was decided that we regulate our travel
plans so we journeyed to and from the Turf together to discuss our common bond, Burnley
Football Club. Now the only problems we had in regard to the trains to and from Burnley
were caused by away supporters of the bigger city clubs who would sometimes run amok on
the first cattle truck out of town. The Police always seemed to be conspicuous by their
absence in the early seventies, so it was either run the gauntlet or change train
departure times. The casting vote was made by Arsenal fans on one of these return trips
who claimed to have a double barrelled shotgun tucked away in a coat! I kid you not, a
former editor of the London Supporters Club, Mick Bullen, was my white faced travelling
companion that day. Because of this early day version of the Terminator a decision was
made to catch more user friendly trains before and after the game, and so the early stages
of organised travel were formed.
With Burnley struggling in the First Division in 1970 and home
attendances averaging 16,000 approximately, our small but dedicated band decided to try
and get more of the Burnley town folk interested in the club. From memory, the nucleus of
our party were myself, Henry Lumley, Simon Pettit, Danny West, Mick Bullen, Charlie
Atkinson, Peter Benjamen, Nigel Blackburn, Jeff Bottwood, Les the ex-QPR fan and Neil
Horsfall. And so it was that on a cold winter's morning we were plodding round Burnley
with 'The Clarets Need You' message emblazoned upon a thousand plus leaflets. The main
bulletin on these announced, 'We are Burnley FC supporters who travel up from London (this
represented the majority), a 500 mile round trip to follow our team.' This was followed by
the fact that Burnley had 22 consecutive years in the First Division, the third best
record of the then current teams, and yet we still had to sell to survive with the big
city clubs. Our final plea was to ask everyone that supported Burnley to bring a friend to
double the gate. After a couple of hours posting our requests through letter boxes we were
encouraged by the interest shown. The next home game's attendance was up a couple of
thousand and we kidded ourselves our efforts had worked; well it was good for morale
anyway.
At the end of that season we were cruelly relegated to Division 2
after finishing 21st. A further blow was to come that season when we won at Chelsea 1-0,
the second last game. There had been speculation that Ralphy Coates, Mr Perpetual Motion,
and still my all time favourite Claret, was going to be transferred. Because of my
admiration for Ralphy I had been tagged with this nickname from my schooldays, so I had to
find out the truth. It had been Chelsea's last match so myself and Eddie Simmons (another
previous newsletter editor) went on the pitch with their crowd. 'Stay with us Ralphy,' I
pleaded, my arm around his shoulder. 'I will,' he responded, surprised to see Burnley fans
on the pitch at Chelsea, of all places. Soon after he went to Tottenham for £200,000!
That was your only blemish Ralphy, after 200 plus appearances in a Claret shirt you told
me a 'porky pie'.
Anyway, with promotion back to the First Division in 1973, more
interest was rekindled from southern based Clarets. The 1973-74 season saw Burnley miss
out on a UEFA Cup pace by one position when they finished 6th, behind, of all teams,
Stoke! The following increased further with an FA Cup semi final against Newcastle at
Hillsborough, and as this stimulation reached its peak a decision was made to form an
official Burnley FC London Supporters Club and become a member of APFSCIL. From being
almost a one man show in the form of an editor, it progressed through the years by having
a full committee of representatives to its present healthy position of 200 plus members.
Out of all the original founder members only one has fallen by the wayside (Les, the
ex-QPR fan), and so I offer the maxim 'Once a Claret, always a Claret!' Finally, I wonder
where Burnley FC will be when issue 200 is produced? One thing's for sure, I'm glad we
made the first century!
Keep the faith.
