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The
Year of the Phoenix
The 1991-92 season game by
game - part five
November
People say there are too many games these days, but we had eight matches in November. The games just kept on coming. Happily, so did the wins.
2 November
Halifax 0 Burnley 2
But I’ve remembered this one wrong. Funny how the memory lets you down. I was convinced I’d seen this, but this season was one of the few in which I kept a record of the games I went to, and the record says not. I could have sworn I’d remembered it. It must have been some other wintry trip to the strange but evocative world of the Shay that I recall.
It was an eventful game. Halifax had two players sent off! Both Tommy Graham and Chris Lucketti were dismissed for professional fouls on Lancashire. Even though, finally, Lancashire didn’t score in this League game, ending a run of five, it seemed he was too hot to handle. Of course, pundits would have it that the two sendings off ruined the game. Huh. Sendings off are enjoyable and people like to see them. They can make a game. Sometimes if the opposition have players sent off, it means you’re doing something right. If you put the other side under pressure, that’s what can happen.
In the absence of a Lancashire goal, the two central midfielders got the due their hard work deserved, Deary and Farrell scoring one each.
The win took us up to third. This was now, apparently, officially the best start by a Burnley manager ever. It was six wins in a row.
Team: Marriott, France, Jakub, Davis, Pender, Farrell, Harper, Deary, Francis, Conroy, Eli (Lancashire). Sub not used: Yates.
Burnley scorers: Deary (55), Farrell (87).
Attendance: 4,491.
5 November
Burnley 3 York 1
Make that seven, and cue predictable Bonfire Night clichés. Not that this was as easy as it may look. For much of the game we led by one. Early goals from Conroy, getting straight back into the scoring groove, and Deary, appeared to set us up for another romp. John Deary was having the season of his life. But they got one back about ten minutes later. Salvation came from a likely source. Lancashire, starting a game again in the absence of Eli, got a late header to make sure the points went where they should. The only other thing I can remember is that Robert Maxwell died that day. Oxford United supporters apparently celebrate annually with a bonfire.
This win set us up nicely for Saturday’s game against top of the table Mansfield.
Team: Marriott, France, Jakub, Davis, Pender, Farrell, Harper, Deary, Francis, Conroy (Sonner), Lancashire. Sub not used: Yates.
Burnley scorers: Conroy (10), Deary (16), Lancashire (82).
Attendance: 7,389.
9 November
Burnley 3 Mansfield 2
Yes! This was, simply, a brilliant game. The cognoscenti had it down as the best Fourth Division game ever. I don’t know about that, but this was one of the most stirring Burnley wins I had ever seen. In front of a crowd huge by the standards of the division, we took on the leaders and beat them. Our win, Jimmy’s straight eighth, said much about the never say die spirit that had galvanised the team. Every time they got into it, we struck back at them.
We opened the scoring with a deserved early penalty. Harper’s interception was followed by a great long cross-field pass from Deary to Francis. He ran with in into the box, where Jason Pearcey scythed him down, tackling clumsily with his feet. It was a clear penalty, and Pearcey ought to have been sent off. The fact that Francis got back on his feet and tried to keep going probably swayed the referee. But Conroy made no mistake with the penalty, sending the keeper the wrong way and firing it into the top right hand corner.
One of the reasons it was such a good game is that Mansfield could play a bit, too. Their first equaliser was that rare thing, a good opposition goal. That’s never something I find easy to say, but at ten years’ remove, I think I can acknowledge it. The build up was precise, the defence blameless. Steve Wilkinson played a neat pass to Phil Stant, ran, and Stant returned the favour. From the edge of the box, put through by this quick interchange, Wilkinson produced a fine finish into the left-hand corner. It was 1-1 at half time.
In the second half, we took the lead back from a fine Jakub corner. Davis rose above everyone else to head powerfully home. But five minutes later, they were level again. It came from that rarest of things, a mix up between our two central defensive colossi. Davis and Pender banged into each other going for the same ball aimlessly looped into the box, and in the confusion it fell nicely for Wilkinson to blast in his second goal.
Mansfield could have won it after that. This was a keenly contested, close game. Mansfield were no Wrexham. They had chances, none better than the shot headed off the line by Joe Jakub. It summed up a heroic performance by the little 5’6" Scot. I think this was the moment the crowd finally warmed to him. He hadn’t been popular before, and had laboured under the less than flattering nickname of ‘Cabbage’. But at left back, and once Mullen was in charge, this 35 year-old produced a string of terrier like performances. Before long, the ‘Cabbage’ taunts were shelved, and the crowd was singing, tongue in cheek but affectionately, ‘Scotland’s number three’.
And it was from another Jakub corner that Pender scored our winner. It was a long and high corner, met by the captain lurking close to goal. The video shows Conroy characteristically whooping it up at the Cricket Field End in celebration.
It was a barnstorming game, and our win a hard thought and valiant one, in which we showed our qualities of relentless attack and unflinching determination. This was one to send you home very happy indeed. We were on our way, here, you know.
Mullen was quick to dampen down expectation after the match, saying, "I’m not making any promises to anyone. This game has a knack of kicking you in the teeth." Not this season, Jimmy.
Team: Marriott, France, Jakub, Davis, Pender, Farrell, Harper, Deary, Francis (Eli), Conroy, Lancashire. Sub not used: Yates.
Burnley scorers: Conroy (7 pen), Davis (55), Pender (83).
Attendance: 11,848.
16 November
Burnley 1 Doncaster 1 (FA Cup First Round)
This match was tinged with quite a bit of after the lord mayor’s show. It was the first game Jimmy Mullen didn’t actually win, at the tenth attempt! Chris Pearce made a return in goal. Forest were not prepared to see Marriott cup tied. They hadn’t minded him playing in the Autoglass Trophy, mind. Note also how recent arrival Mark Yates was already making the ‘sub not used’ berth his own.
Mike Conroy missed a penalty, and then they actually took the lead. As soon as they had, Davis popped down the other end and scored. Heads didn’t drop in this side. Set backs just made them want to respond. So it went to a replay.
Team: Pearce, France, Jakub, Davis, Pender, Farrell, Harper, Deary, Francis, Conroy, Lancashire (Eli). Sub not used: Yates.
Burnley scorer: Davis (66).
Attendance: 7,976.
19 November
Burnley 2 Doncaster 0 (Autoglass Trophy group stage)
But surely there had to be some kind of limit to the number of times we could play Doncaster in one season? At least we did the job this time, in a match I clearly went to but have no knowledge of. Look at the side that played, though. From one to eleven, this was the first team. Mullen didn’t really believe in putting out weakened sides. I guess he wanted to keep the momentum going and keep building confidence. I suppose Yates’ rare run out could be seen as a concession to not taking the game too seriously. The win meant we finished top of our group, so we’d get a home game in the next round of this competition. Thankfully, at least that would be a knockout match. And it wouldn’t be against Doncaster.
Team: Marriott, Measham, Jakub, Davis, Pender, Farrell, Harper, Deary, Francis (Yates), Conroy (Lancashire), Eli.
Burnley scorers: Francis (28), Eli (44).
Attendance: 2,590.
23 November
Maidstone 0 Burnley 1
Looking back from ten years, this appears not so much a mismatch as a misprint. But we were in the same division as Maidstone, and points were therefore at stake. And in case this sounds too easy, we’d lost there the previous year. Naturally the trip to Dartford wasn’t the sort of thing I’d do from Nelson, although there would have been a large London Clarets contingent there that day, people who’d be friends of mine a couple of years later.
A tight game was decided by Conroy’s penalty. Another penalty! People think penalties are lucky, but of course they come as a result of attacking pressure. Sides that attack a lot get a lot of penalties, and we got plenty of penalties. This was probably one of the more fortunate ones, though. Eli’s run towards the by-line was in danger of petering out. A defender dived in and Eli made the most of it. The keeper went the right way, but Conroy slipped the ball past him all the same. The win made it a post-war record of eight League wins.
The one cloud on the horizon was that it looked like Marriott would soon return to Forest. His three-month loan spell would soon be up, and although we wanted, were perhaps desperate, to sign him, Forest were reluctant to sell. Brian Clough, it seemed, rated the lad highly, and that was that. Astonishingly, we were rumoured to have offered £150,000. This was huge money for us, way out of our normal league. We really wanted him, and were prepared to pay our highest fee in years for it. Bear in mind that our transfer record was still the £165,000 we had paid QPR to get Leighton James back in 1978. Marriott had become a real crowd favourite. He had his own chant, ‘Swing Low, Sweet Marriott’. He was an important part of the team, and our large offer was worth it, if it would mean keeping what had become a promotion challenge on the rails.
Team: Marriott, Measham, Jakub, Davis, Pender, Farrell, Harper, Deary, Francis, Conroy, Eli. Subs not used: Lancashire and Yates.
Burnley scorer: Conroy (28 pen).
Attendance: 2,375.
27 November
Doncaster 1 Burnley 3 (FA Cup First Round replay)
No mistake this time. Steve Harper clearly liked playing at Belle Vue, adding his two goals bookending half time to the one he’d scored in the League back in August. Eli gave the scoreline a flourish with a late third. Pender went off with an injury, replaced by Yates.
So, we were through, and we were drawn in the second round to face… Rotherham. Yes, another team from our division! Ah, the magic of the FA Cup.
Team: Pearce, Measham, Jakub, Davis, Pender (Yates), Farrell, Harper, Deary, Francis, Conroy, Eli. Sub not used: Lancashire.
Burnley scorers: Harper (38, 50), Eli (86).
Team: 4,207.
30 November
Northampton 1 Burnley 2
I never went to Northampton’s famously shambolic County Ground, though I’ve done pokey Sixfields a couple of times now. This is one of the games I will insist upon going to once they’ve got round to inventing time travel. Those who were there remember it, and still talk about it.
Pender’s absence through injury would have meant Farrell dropping back and Yates coming in for a rare start in midfield. We were wearing our unpleasant yellow strip. Yet still we took another away lead. John Francis played a long pass, dropping the ball in front of Conroy. He took it into the box before lashing an unstoppable diagonal shot into the far corner. It was another great goal.
Near the end, though, Northampton thought they’d got their point. The defending was perhaps a little slack, but it was a training ground move from them. A ball in the air was headed down to a player in space. He ran in and blasted it over Marriott, who didn’t stand a chance.
Northampton clearly then fancied their chances of all three. They didn’t take account of our attitude. As they pushed up we immediately punished their impudence. Farrell cleared their long ball forward to Conroy, who expertly controlled it and laid it off to Harper, wide. Harper took it down the wing as Conroy charged through the middle. Conroy stormed into the box, Harper played the ball in front of him and he controlled it on his thigh and absolutely buried it. It was a brilliant, superbly executed counter-attacking goal that summed up so much of what was good about our play. We were never beaten, always looking to attack, fast, skilful, imaginative and willing to use the wings. When Harper had brought that ball forward, we had three men against one going into the box. The goal also emphasised Conroy’s all round contribution to the team. He wasn’t just a goalscorer. As well as finishing, he played no small part in the build up to many of our goals. Here, he did both. His second goal was his tenth of the season, putting him on slightly better than a goal every two games. He was now our top scorer.
As the commentator on the 1991/92 promotion video says, "that was the sucker punch." Another huge Burnley following erupted as Conroy danced along the front of the away end. On the video, you can clearly see someone waving a crutch in celebration.
The scenes of celebration didn’t stop there. This was Andy Marriott’s last game. Forest wouldn’t sell him. So our latest hero charged down to the away end to celebrate and say his goodbyes. The supporters spilled onto the pitch and chaired Marriott off on their shoulders. In 15 games, he’d become a star.
Funny, but I always thought Marriott would come back and play for us one day. He’s been back to Turf Moor since – in opposition, when playing for Wrexham. He will always get a good reception. As if he wasn’t loved already, when he left he made the astonishing statement that, "I think of Burnley as my first club and Nottingham Forest as just somewhere I train." Think about that. What an extraordinary thing to say! What Brian Clough made of this comment is not recorded. We got a chance to see Marriott in action on TV later in the season. He broke into Forest’s first team and ended up keeping goal at Wembley, twice, in the finals of the League Cup, which they lost, and the ZDS Trophy, a short-lived and failed equivalent of the Autoglass Trophy for the top two divisions, which Forest won. All Clarets enjoyed watching him in those games, while aware that the more successful he was with Forest, the less chance there was of him eventually signing for us.
With Marriott gone, there was a hell of a gap to fill. That would be a test for Mullen. But what the hell. Jimmy would sort it. After this game, we were up to second. Watch out everyone – we’re coming through!
Team: Marriott, Measham, Jakub, Davis, Yates, Farrell, Harper, Deary, Francis, Conroy, Eli (Lancashire). Sub not used: Monington.
Burnley scorer: Conroy (20, 86).
Attendance: 4,020.
This time there could be no doubt, and Jimmy Mullen was rightly awarded the Manager of the Month prize that he ought to have had a month earlier. Seven wins and a draw, including five straight League wins, spoke for themselves. The statistics were beginning to get hard to keep up with. We had won all nine of Mullen’s League matches! Mullen was quick to put his award in context. He said, "It’s the first time in my managerial career that I have won the award, but it is only one step on the ladder. The immediate objective is promotion." He tried to be modest about it all, but the crowd knew who we had to thank. The chant of ‘Jimmy Mullen’s Claret and Blue Army’ was sung loud and long on many a ground.
For a new manager taking over a club which was in a bit of a mess, perhaps the most notable thing was that Mullen still hadn’t signed his first player. Surely the first thing you’d expect a new appointment to do would be to bring players in, but Mullen hadn’t. He’d stuck by his squad, changed the tactics, motivated them, and given them a chance. They were repaying him amply.
If I have one reservation, looking back, it is in Mullen’s management of Graham Lancashire. In October he’d looked a prodigy, a natural goalscorer and a major talent. But in November, though we did not know it, his best days were already behind him. Mullen had reinstated Conroy as soon as he came back from injury, dropping Lancashire to the bench. Once a sub, the goals started to dry up for Lancashire, and towards the end of the month we see him being sub not used a couple of times. I am not convinced that Mullen managed Lancashire’s talent as best as he could. After this incredibly bright start, Lancashire never produced anything like that again. He slid down the familiar North West slope (Preston, Wigan, Rochdale) into the non-league. (Bizarrely, Danny Sonner, the other young striker who was always behind Lancashire in the pecking order, meanwhile made it to the first division, albeit as a midfielder. If you’d asked me which one would be playing in the first division in ten years’ time, I’d have put money on being wrong.) Could a different manager have nurtured that talent? Or was Lancashire never going to live up to those early headlines? And how could Mullen have not have brought Conroy back anyway?
Those are questions I don’t know the answer to, and these are qualms that only came in hindsight. At the time, Mullen was simply beyond reproach. He’d taken us from nowhere to an automatic promotion place, and we were doing it by playing positive, attacking football. You can’t argue with that.
Firmo
November 2001
Part six - December 1991
The 1991/1992 season
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