13th July
It hasn’t been much of a summer, has it? Leaden skies, grimy puddles and chilly winds have been its watermark. Despite the upturn in growth, the city slickers are reporting gloomy news, too. Share values are nose-diving quicker than those stricken aircraft. They reckon that the property and consumer booms are about to end, too. As for us crinklies we’re left to worry about our pensions. The rash of industrial disputes prompted the tabloids into announcing a ‘Summer of Discontent’ and now New Labour reveals that it is £6m in debt. As for the football, the World Cup provided a genuinely uplifting interlude. Our lads did OK. Mick McCarthy’s lads did even better despite failing to reach our final hurdle. And they managed to silence that arrogant, petulant prawnist as well. But I guess what many of us will cherish is the ‘Woodstock’ spirit inspired by our hugely welcoming and excitable hosts. I saw very little of the football but the crowds were the real winners. Remember the English fans dancing joyfully with the Nigerians? Remember their shambolic congas, with bobbing, grinning Japanese kids sitting astride their shoulders? The local kids seemed oblivious to the perils of over-challenged co-ordination. It was a rout for xenophobia, providing a satisfying riposte to those smug BNP victors. Their fifteen seconds of TV glory sullied Turf Moor. After Burnley supporters’ abysmal showing in the national IQ test did we need further humiliation?
But despite the peace and love of the World Cup of 2002 come Portugal in 2004 and Germany in 2006, will it be snarling bulldog business as usual? Some think that the peace process won’t make it through next season. The Police have made their minds up about that and so have Millwall. Along with the fans of several other clubs we’re banned from the Den. Talk about preposterous pots and slandered kettles. Anyway, at least the oriental holiday interrupted our rueful ruminations on the ruinous ITV Digital saga.
However, come today’s AGM that sorry discourse was resumed as well. For some of our esteemed members the resumption came earlier. Alas, the Football League demonstrated the same ineptitude in organising this week’s protest as it had done in negotiating the original TV contract. If this limp campaign achieved anything at all, it only emphasised to Carlton and Granada that they could walk away from their moral obligations without public vilification. For it seems clear now that their obligations are moral rather than legal. Both Barry Kilby and Peter Pike appeared to take this view, though Barry is still hopeful but not expectant of some kind of settlement (£90m would be acceptable, apparently). Peter said that the Government see this as a commercial matter, but as Barry pointed out the Government could apply more pressure given that they both license and grant aid ITV.
The impact upon Burnley is considerable. The recently negotiated Sky TV deal will net us £500 - 750k this season (Barry quoted the lower figure) but we need around £2.8m to meet our various commitments this year. What’s more, the NTL deal has gone down the pan, too, meaning we will lose out on a further £200k. Barry reckoned we could be around £4.5m out of pocket. Last year, we broke even for the first time in many years with a turnover of around £11m. We might have secured a small profit but that was blown on the ill fated but well-intentioned Gazza deal and on David Johnson’s extended loan. With the cessation of a number of contracts including those with Kevin Ball, Mitchell Thomas, Lenny Johnrose etc. (all of whom we thank for their efforts) the annual wage bill has been reduced from over £5m to around £4.5m but it is clear that our first team squad has to be smaller this year – around 21 rather than the previous figure of 28. For the time being, Gordon Armstrong is our reserve ‘keeper. Stan renegotiated his inexpensive contract on this understanding with some coaching duties thrown his way as well. As for Fred West, most supporters' choice as ‘Player of the Season’, things are not looking good. He is currently out of contract and it appears that Wigan may be able to offer him a better deal, which is probably not hard since Burnley can’t offer him anything long term. Football’s gravy train has dried up leaving us with just the brown stuff.
Nothing was said about the sale of Glen Little. Although we turned down a £3m offer for him last season, Barry would not name the bidder. Obviously, we can’t afford to turn down a bid like this now. But as Barry pointed out, there is little money out there and therefore little movement. Even most of the Premiership clubs appear to be economising in the knowledge that the TV revenue has almost certainly peaked.
Given the budget shortfall, Barry said that there were three options. The first was to obtain a loan to enable the club to meet its immediate commitments and time to organise a revised business plan. With the prospect of interest rates increasing that doesn’t sound too appealing. The second option was to increase the club’s capital by drawing in further investment and the third involved the sale of assets – players and the ground (e.g. sale of Turf Moor on a lease back arrangement). It seems as if the final ‘solution’ will involve some combination of all three options. Barry is hoping to add a bit more financial muscle to the Board but don’t expect a sugar daddy. Barry seemed to discount any renegotiation of the players’ existing contracts but with Vieri, Ronaldo and Recoba demonstrating their willingness to consider pay cuts at Inter Milan in light of the Serie A financial difficulties, why shouldn’t the Nationwide club players follow suit. God knows, there’s need for greater financial sense here.
So the nub of all this is that we must expect further economies (including smaller travelling parties and fewer overnight stays on away trips) and any incoming move will have to be financed by more lucrative sales. Obviously, this is the year when the likes of Blake and Papa have to deliver. Barry said of Blake that the medical examination did not reveal the extent of his injury. Apparently, it is not uncommon for hernias to be undetected in medical examinations. However, Barry was obviously embarrassed by the fiasco. As for Papa his Under-21 days are over so he can concentrate upon his football at Turf Moor. Last year, he was hauled off to the Greek training camps for around a month at a time, which was highly disruptive to his club career. Now there is no hiding place for either player.
Although the ITV Digital collapse has resulted in around 600 professional footballers without work and restricted transfer activity, the rumourmongers are still hard at it. It is doubtful whether even a nuclear holocaust could halt this industry. At various times we have been linked with United ‘keeper Van Der Gouw, the Dons’ Neal Ardley and Gareth Ainsworth, Barnsley’s Darren Barnard and countless others. It is all rubbish and although ex Blackburn youth star, Marlon Broomes and ex Scottish Under 21 international, Paul Dalglish (Kenny’s son), are said to be training with Burnley, it is very probable that this will be as far as it goes.
But no matter how depressed we might feel about our plight, this is small beer when compared with the fate of Wimbledon’s supporters. A couple of their WISA lads attended our AGM to request our support in applying the financial squeeze on arch villain Charles Koppel, who has turned their club into a faceless franchise to be foisted on Milton Keynes. It’s like selling the Catholic Church to the Islamic Fundamentalists, not that I expect much revolutionary zeal in the Midlands’ capital of anonymity. Quite rightly, most London Clarets gave the WISA lads strong support. Some of us had reservations about boycotting the Wimbledon – Burnley game, though. We wish AFC Wimbledon well, too, in the United Counties League. It is worth remembering what the Aldershot and Newport fans achieved after their clubs went belly up ten or more years ago. Afterwards, the WISA lads sent us a very appreciative letter. Well said, lads. Again, thanks are due to Barry and Peter for sharing the details of the Club’s situation so openly and for dealing so candidly with the searching questions that followed.
16th July
Burnley drew 0-0 with Oldham in a behind-closed-doors game at Gawthorpe today. The Latics included ex-Clarets David Eyres and David Reeves in their line-up. The match was played in three 30-minute periods. Our closest effort came from Gareth Taylor who hit the post with a third-period penalty. Sounds like a rousing start. Roll on the Manx titans. For the benefit of shameless completists, both clubs' reserve sides played out a 1-1 draw.
17th July
Stan announced his Manx squad today. It included an unlikely pair of Marlons, Broomes and Beresford but don’t read too much into this. Stan has said that he would like to sign Beresford but as things stand his hands are tied. Both players seem content to join the party in order to keep fit and to put themselves in the shop window. The trouble is that the shop is in Bacup and the window belongs to Sue Ryder. Dean West is going on the Manx jolly too. There’s talk of a week-by-week contract until something better can be offered. Stay with it, Fred. You’re needed here.
Although Broomes has not yet signed for Burnley, it will be interesting to see what sort of reception he is given by the Clarets travelling to the Isle of Man. Last season, he was booed at Turf Moor when appearing for Grimsby and the Owls. Shamefully, he was given the bird whilst being carried off in the latter game. Former Blackburn connections are sometimes forgiven, though. Take Lenny Johnrose, for example. So perhaps our local conflict hasn’t yet reached the levels plumbed by North Belfast sectarianism. There, it seems the violence is worsening. It’s a sure sign of Loyalist desperation, just as the IRA’s unprecedented apology seems to be a sure sign that they believe they are winning.
21st July
Not that we’re ever sure that Burnley are winning. Today they blew an early 3-1 lead in their opening Steam Packet Festival contest before finally squeezing past Wrexham on penalties. Arthur Gnohere, Gareth Taylor and Steve Davis were our scorers in normal time. Sam Ellis was generally content with the Clarets’ showing, though. Little laid on the first two goals before limping off. However, it is not thought to be a serious injury. The same applies to Alan Moore who also made an early departure. Bizarrely, NTG swapped sides at half time after Wrexham’s Andy Dibble became injured. Maintaining his reputation as the Penalty King, Marlon stopped two of Wrexham’s efforts in the final shoot out, whereas NTG demonstrated his proper loyalties allowing all four Clarets’ shots to whiz past him unhindered.
23rd July
So much for the Steam Packet championship! Today we were beaten 3-1 by Second Division Luton. Stan was not too pleased with our ragged first half showing. Luton took a 4th minute lead and generally outplayed us for the rest of the half. Remember Tony Thorpe? Stan was supposedly very interested in him two or three years ago. Thorpe even trained with us for a week. Well, today the pocket striker did what all failed BFC targets do and gave our defence a really rough time (Mental note: Stop David Johnson turning out against us next year). We could have been three or four down before a Robbie Blake penalty tied things up before the break. After the interval, we did better with Little treating the tourists to some right wing magic. It was not enough, though and Luton scored twice more to go through to Saturday’s final. True to his mantra, Stan insisted it is about fitness at this stage and quipped, ‘I’ll be worried if we ever win the tournament’. Cox and Armstrong are out with knocks, Ian Moore isn’t yet ready for the fray and Weller’s right foot is in plaster following a training ground accident. The good news is that none of these calamities are too serious. Weller sustained bruising to his right foot and his protective cast is due to be removed this week. With the exception of these four, all other squad members played some part in the first two games. We’re left to contest the also ran places on Friday.
25th July
With the ITV Digital Court case starting today, Stan announced that the whole Burnley squad are up for sale. Stan said, ‘I will have to sell to balance things up because it is not just a case of getting a fee for a player, it is the savings of the wages that you can make. The loss of money has affected us very badly because we have budgeted for a two-year period and with the sort of shortfall we have got the easiest way to raise funds is to sell players. We have done well over the last two years and in an ideal world we would be running at a profit. We could really have cracked on if the funds we were expecting were forthcoming. But we don't ever want to go back to the days of the Orient game and we don't want to be in a position like Bradford City (They could fold this week if Carbone insists on receiving what he’s owed). The most important thing is to budget the books as best we can.’ It sounds very gloomy but most Nationwide clubs are in exactly the same position. There are not many of them who could afford to refuse a decent bid for any of their players.
26th July
The week ended on a brighter note. Burnley thrashed the Isle of Man 5-0 in their final game. Before you scoff, these part-timers beat us a year or so ago and have generally provided good opposition in this tournament. Apparently, Stan was delighted. The stars were Papa, Robbie Blake, Marlon Broomes and Paul Cook. Alan Moore and Little did well on the flanks and Mark McGregor had a solid game at left back. Blakey (Mark Two) scored twice and Papa once. Payton picked up a tap in too after Broomes’ raking pass had put Branchy in. Davis completed the rout in injury time. Papa played a blinder, pulling the hosts’ defence all over the place with his lightning pace and swift turns. We all know about the swallow – summer equation but that sounds really encouraging. Mind you, he spurned several other good chances. We cannot afford such profligacy when the real business starts. Interestingly, Steve Davis was given a holding midfield role after coming on later in the game. Is Stan looking to him to fill the gap left by Bally? We will watch the line up against Bury and Bolton with interest. As for Broomes, Stan seems genuinely interested in adding him to the squad but for the time being that doesn’t seem possible unless they can negotiate a week-by-week arrangement. The same may apply to Beresford but with the wage bill posing such problems, it is difficult to see how either outcome is affordable.
The other bit of good news this week concerned the reserves' 6-2 win at Nantwich. With most of the experienced squad on the Isle of Man, this was a triumph for our youthful players. Stan had already remarked on how well our youth policy was working. However, the proof of that has to be on the First Division team sheets, Stan. If Burnley do offload some of their stars, Stan may be forced to put his belief to the test. Not before time, many of us might say.
Tim Quelch
July 2002
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views expressed in this section are those of the individual contributor, and do not
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The following sources of information are kindly acknowledged:
Lancashire Evening Telegraph,
Burnleyfootballclub.com,
Team Talk, Clubcall, Sky Sports, BBC Sports, Radio Lancashire, the Independent, the Observer.
