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The
Year of the Phoenix
The 1991-92 season game by
game - part eight
February
February was the month of late goals and comebacks. It was seat of pants stuff at times, but we came through the month unbeaten. And we finished it with yet another goalkeeper!
1 February
Walsall 2 Burnley 2
One of the main attributes of this team was determination. They showed it here. With the country struck by frost, this was one of only three games played in the Fourth Division. The Clarets following must have been wishing it hadn't, when Cecere and O'Hara put Walsall 2-0 up. But with defeat looming, we struck back to take an unlikely point. Roger Eli and, of course, Mike Conroy, scored, to keep us at the top. The equaliser showed off some of the other things we had as well as fight: the skill of Steve Davis and the instincts of Conroy. With everyone pushing up, Davis produced a fine, dipping shot from long range. Their goalie got to it, but couldn't hold it. Conroy accelerated and pounced on the rebound, blasting it into the corner.
Team: Pearce, Measham, Jakub, Davis, Pender, Farrell (Harper), Randall, Deary, Francis, Conroy, Eli (Lancashire).
Burnley scorers: Eli (69), Conroy (85).
Attendance: 5,287.
4 February
Burnley 3 Scarborough 1, Autoglass Trophy first round (again)
So we played Scarborough again, the first attempt at this match having been abandoned after 90 freezing minutes, and finally got them out of the way. 3-1 was probably fair enough over the 180 minutes of play. Must have gone to this, but can't remember anything about it. The records say that Conroy, John Deary and Eli did the required.
Team: Pearce, Measham, Jakub, Davis, Pender, Farrell, Harper, Deary, Francis, Conroy, Eli. Subs not used: Lancashire and Yates.
Burnley scorers: Conroy (56), Deary (63), Eli (87).
Attendance: 2,956.
8 February
Burnley 1 Lincoln 0
Not all games can be spectacular. When you go up, it's as much down to games like this as the great matches. Sometimes, when you're obviously better than the opposition, you turn up, do the job, take the points and move on the next game. Fair enough; we had two games a week most weeks. And this is the second game in a row that I must have been to, but I can remember nothing about. Just before half time Conroy scored, and that was that.
Apparently it was a bit of a scrappy struggle and there was some crowd discontent. Jimmy Mullen felt obliged to point out, "Burnley fans have had seven years of pretty, pretty football, and got nowhere."
Team: Pearce, Measham, Jakub, Davis, Pender, Farrell, Harper, Deary, Francis, Conroy, Eli (Lancashire). Sub not used: Randall.
Burnley scorer: Conroy (45).
Attendance: 9,748.
11 February
Burnley 5 Northampton 0
Oh, so you want spectacular, do you? Okay, how about this? Because, much though we accept the routine wins, this is the sort of stuff supporters want to see. This was one of the great nights. We were absolutely brilliant, and we took Northampton - who came into the game on a ten match unbeaten run - apart. In the second half, we simply showboated.
Our five goals were scored by five different players: one each for numbers 7 to 11. Each of them was a little masterclass, showcasing a different aspect of our talents. For the first, we made this goalscoring business look ridiculously easy. Conroy, in midfield, flick headed Chris Pearce's long ball on. Eli instantly flicked it with the outside of his heel to John Francis, who figured that anything Eli could do, he could too, and flicked it to his left for Deary to run on to. It was Harlem Globetrotters stuff. In the clear, Deary ran on, ignored Trevor Quow's attempt to pull him back, waited for the goalie to come out and rolled it in. Lovely. When you get skilled players playing with confidence, anything can happen.
But we'd seen nothing yet. In the second half we were extraordinary. Our second came when John Pender tussled for the ball in midfield, and it broke to Joe Jakub. He played a long ball forward to Francis, stood with his back to goal. Francis turned and played the simple pass in front of Eli, who beat his defender for sheer pace before unleashing a shot, which although it hit the goalkeeper, still went in. It was a goal made from Francis' perception and Eli's speed and aggression in equal measure.
The third was hilarious. It came from their attack. Davis launched a long clearance. As the ball sailed over their heads in the middle, the frankly fat Trevor Quow was miles ahead of the nearest Burnley player, Conroy. But Conroy set off in pursuit and just stormed past him, straight through the middle, and charged on goal, where he walked it past the stranded keeper. Quow, having a hilariously wretched night at the hands of our speedy attack, didn't quite get back to attempt a clearance off the line. Conroy's constant eye for an opportunity has never been better illustrated. The only thing you could criticise him for was not actually waving at Quow as he tore past.
Time for Steve Harper to get in on the act. A throw in found Francis close to the by-line. He produced a great deep cross to the far post, and his opposite winger charged in to head home. You see, we were good in the air as well as on the ground. We could go down the middle, or we could use the wings.
Francis had played a starring role in a brilliant team performance, and it was only just that he got the fifth goal. Northampton never cleared a ball on the edge of the box, and Deary played it to Francis. He wriggled himself into a bit of room, before passing it to Conroy and running into the space in front of goal. Conroy read his mind and played the ball straight back into the path of Francis' run. With the defence bypassed, Francis unleashed a clean and true strike into the corner.
Truly, this was a night of nights. Apparently Northampton had Christian McClean sent off for foul language at some point, and I can understand why he might have felt moved to utter an oath. All our goals were brilliant, and they all illustrated different ways in which we could make the art of scoring look simple. This was one to send us home happy. We knew what we were capable of, and this was one of those nights when it all just clicked.
Critics answered emphatically, Mullen's comment afterwards was, simply, "What can I say?"
Team: Pearce, Measham, Jakub, Davis, Pender, Farrell (Randall), Harper, Deary, Francis, Conroy, Eli (Lancashire).
Burnley scorers: Deary (35), Eli (50), Conroy (56), Harper (68), Francis (78).
Attendance: 8,825.
15 February
Scunthorpe 2 Burnley 2
And after the showing off, it was time to re-state our fighting qualities. This was almost becoming a matter of routine. Once again, from two goals down, we clawed back a point. You simply could not write us off.
Still, we left it late, and not before exhibiting the poor defending which had started to creep into our game. Perhaps the customary 11 o'clock start at Glandford Park had something to do with our slow start? Their first was scored by Ian Helliwell, who four years on in unhappier times would become Jimmy Mullen’s final signing. A long ball in towards the far post saw Helliwell leap above Davis to win the header. There were a lot of people between him and goal, but none of them got in the way of it.
Their second underlined why Mullen was looking for another keeper. After some messy play by the touchline they launched another ball into the box. Pearce flapped at it, and his weak punch fell straight to an opposition player. He mis-hit the rebound, but it broke off Harper and bounced across the box. It just eluded Deary, and with the defence awry, Jason White had an umissable chance. An unlucky goal that owed much to a ricochet, perhaps, but also much to naff keeping.
Eli began the fightback at the start of the second half. Harper ran and played a decent cross on the ground. Eli was in the box with his back to goal, and one of their defenders was close behind him. He attempted a tackle and that was all Eli needed. The defender certainly made contact - indeed, technically speaking, it was a tackle from behind - but ten years on I think we can admit that Roger made the most of the opportunity offered by the defender’s clumsiness. He was down like a sack of spuds. Conroy obliged with the resulting penalty, striking it into the corner of the net and then running in to pick up the ball so he could get on with seeking a second.
Of course, a stirring comeback for us is points chucked away for the opposition. There's always another side to the story. For Chris Marples in particular, it was a game to forget. He was the home goalkeeper, on loan to Scunthorpe from York, and this was his debut. He would have been keen to impress. And at half time, it wasn't going too badly for him. They were 2-0 up. Sure, early into the second half Conroy pulled one back, but he could hardly be expected to stop a penalty, could he? No, all in all, it was going alright for Chris. Then Andy Farrell played a long ball forward. Conroy saw every half chance as a chance, and set off in pursuit of a ball he was never likely to win, while their defender tried to shepherd it back to the keeper. As Marples tried to collect it, Conroy charged in and clattered him. Marples' head fell back and hit the advertising hoardings. It was a bad foul, albeit one stemming from a determination to get the ball, overzealous in this instance. But Marples' reaction was to punch Conroy. Conroy went down, perhaps more than he needed to, but we're not about to start saying it's okay to hit people, are we? Marples was rightly sent off, while Conroy, equally rightly, collected a yellow for the initial foul.
These days you just take off some poor outfield sap and bring your reserve goalkeeper on. But what a simple pleasure was taken from us with the innovation of the sub goalie! Thankfully, this was in the days before that, so instead we had the ever enjoyable sight of a non-keeper donning the gloves. It was always great to see someone else having to go in goal. Their impromptu keeper fulfilled his brief admirably, producing the last ditch, skin of teeth reaction saves that football rules dictated. It was deep, deep into injury time that we finally beat him. 95 minutes had gone, according to reports. Jakub took a corner, and there at the far post was Davis to head it in. Celebrations were as wild as you might expect, both from the players and a packed away end. Would we ever give in?
Team: Pearce, Measham, Jakub, Davis, Pender, Farrell (Randall), Harper, Deary, Francis, Conroy, Eli. Sub not used: Lancashire.
Burnley scorers: Conroy (46 pen), Davis (90).
Attendance: 5,303.
18 February
Rotherham 1 Burnley 1, Autoglass Trophy, Northern Quarter Final
(Burnley won 4-2 on penalties after extra time)
My, but what a competition this was. No sooner had we won our 'first round proper' match against Scarborough than we were in something called the 'Northern Quarter Final'. It was a tricky tie, though. Rotherham had already beaten us home and away in the league, and were rivals for promotion. Francis' early goal was equalised in the second half, and there being no further goals even when extra time had been played, it was down to a penalty shout out.
But here, Pearce came good. I suppose this was the sort of thing he was good at.
Sure enough, he saved two of theirs, and we went through 4-2 on penalties. Francis
missed our first, but then Measham (unexpectedly), Davis, Deary and Conroy all put theirs in.
And now we were in the Northern Semi Final!
Odd, but Pearce saved some of his best games up for this minor competition. Many will say that his finest hour was the season before in this contest, when on a lively night at Valley Parade he'd kept out everything Bradford could throw at him. Perhaps this was the flip side of his evident nervousness in big games; he could really turn it on when it didn't matter.
Team: Pearce, Measham, Jakub, Davis, Pender, Farrell, Harper, Deary, Francis, Conroy, Eli (Lancashire). Sub not used: Yates.
Burnley scorer: Francis (10).
Attendance: 2,578.
Penalty heroics or not, Mullen brought in another keeper shortly after this game. Nicky Walker became our third loan keeper of the season when he arrived from Hearts. We knew little about him, except that he used to play for Rangers (where, apparently, he'd lost his first team place to future Burnley keeper Chris Woods). He was reported to be a biscuit millionaire, heir to a shortbread fortune. Apparently he didn't need to play for a living. Oh, and his first name was really Joseph, so you can add him to the list of Burnley players who didn't use their proper first names, such as Eric White, Yanek Jakub, Kevin McMinn and Francis Ternent.
Pearce must have been furious at being dropped again. Indeed, I read somewhere recently that Pearce had never forgiven Mullen for the way he treated him. But Mullen had a point, surely? We couldn't be complacent. Pearce was a weak link in an improved team, and therefore, without sentiment, he needed to be replaced. This wasn't the old Burnley, of well-intentioned failure. Mullen didn't have a duty to be popular with his players. His responsibility was to bring success. If this meant upsetting a few people along the way, then that's how it had to be.
22 February
Burnley 1 Blackpool 1
As for Walker, he would make his debut in the weekend's big game. Burnley v Blackpool was first v second, with the top of the division the prize. Further, in those threadbare years, this passed for a local derby. Well, we didn't have anyone better to call our rivals. As it turned out, in front of a crowd massive by the standards of the division, it was a bit of an anticlimax for us. Blackpool had the better of the game, and we emerged content with a point.
They started brightly, while we, apparently beset by nerves, for once didn't compete in midfield, creating gaps at the back. Paul Groves had the ball in the next early on, from Dave Bamber's lay off, but it was disallowed for offside. Then Bamber hilariously mis-hit Groves' shot, proving what a donkey he was. He was absolutely central to Blackpool's play, though. Their main tactic seemed to be the long ball to Bamber followed by the flick off. It nearly worked when he did exactly that for their player Garner, but his attempt to trap the ball on his chest was poor, and by the time he got the ball back he was too wide for an accurate shot.
This pressure endured, Eli scored a mad goal. He picked it up in midfield and held off men at either side of him. Despite the tangerine sandwich, he was too fast and strong for the pair of them. He tried a shot from quite far out, but the Blackpool players were diving in to block, and it came of them, fortunately straight back to him. His second shot expertly found the gap between the defender trying to get in the way again and the keeper. It was a sweet goal. Some would say it was lucky, but I'd say it was down to persistence and willingness to shoot.
Unfortunately we didn't have much time to savour the celebration, or taunt the opposition, as within a minute they'd gone down the other end and scored. Blackpool had a couple of decent wide players, not least Trevor Sinclair, who went on to better things. We never picked up Pender's clearance, and they fed Sinclair, who produced a great cross to the near post to Bamber, stealing in just ahead of Davis. His header left Walker with no chance.
We had a chance to get back from a defensive mistake. Davis played a long ball in and their defender missed his header. Conroy was straight in there with a snap shot, but unfortunately it lacked power, and as it rolled towards an empty goal a defender managed to get a foot in to divert it.
Another player who went on to much better things, future Claret David Eyres, seized on a mistake from us in the second half. It produced an awful scramble. Their free kick was headed out by Pender, played back in to the box, then headed out by Davis, duly headed back in, and Deary, not having a great game against his old club, missed it. Eyres seized on it and, showing the skill we would later enjoy, sharply turned and played in the inevitable Bamber. Walker was out quickly to block it, Garner had a shot from the rebound, Davis got his body in front of it, Bamber, still on the floor, poked his foot out at it as it came back to him and Davis, equally prone, blocked it again, before Jakub put an end to the silliness by calmly shepherding it back to Walker.
Bamber had yet another chance, running onto a long through ball into the box just ahead of Davis, but Pender produced a perfectly timed tackle to take the ball from his feet without a suspicion of a penalty, and played it back to Walker.
So, they had the better of the chances, and I was happy with a draw. After the 5-2 defeat at their place, I was just glad not to get beat again. And we stayed top, above Blackpool. Nicky Walker, meanwhile, had a fine game, and looked a class keeper.
Finally, what about that crowd? Over 18,000 in the Fourth Division! How many times has that happened?
Team: Walker, Measham, Jakub, Davis, Pender, Farrell (Randall), Harper (Lancashire), Deary, Francis, Conroy Eli.
Burnley scorer: Eli (30).
Attendance: 18,183.
28 February
England Schoolboys 2 Wales Schoolboys 2
Not by any stretch of the imagination a Burnley match, but it was played at Turf Moor and so, with nothing much else to do on a Friday evening, we duly went. It wouldn’t have seemed right not to go to a match at Turf Moor. 5,698 others evidently agreed. It felt strange to watch two non-Burnley teams running around this familiar field and – here was something we hadn’t done for a while – follow a match where the outcome didn’t matter. We sat in the Cricket Field Stand, to increase the novelty, and somehow found a patch of Welsh supporters. A school trip, presumably. It offered a tiny warm-up to the nationalistic hostilities that would follow on the Saturday, and the scoreline of two apiece suggests the game was a reasonable one. I wonder if we accidentally saw some future stars?
What we weren’t to know is that this innocuous evening sowed the seed of a personal tragedy in March.
Attendance: 5,700.
29 February
Cardiff 0 Burnley 2
At the time of writing, Cardiff have been in the news, following events during their FA Cup win against Leeds. Some people in football seemed to be shocked by the fact that trouble occurred at this match. I can’t think why. No Clarets supporter who has ever ventured there can be in the slightest surprised. Against high profile opposition, in big games, trouble isn’t a rare occurrence. It’s a matter routine. Sure, Cardiff is one of a number of clubs – in recent years, think Millwall, Stoke or, of course, Burnley – that are unsavoury places for away fans to go to. But the extra ugly ingredient you get at Cardiff is nationalism. On top of everything else, matches there are England v Wales, with Cardiff regarding themselves as the standard bearers of Welsh nationalism and the opposition cast as somehow representatives of England. It’s an unpleasant mix.
I wasn’t at this match, although I’ve been to Cardiff since, once, to do the ground, and now I don’t have to go back. Those who were there will long remember it. Cardiff were flying at the time, making a late push up the table. They were the only side that could get near us in terms of support, as the gate, huge for this level except when compared to some of ours, showed. The kick off was delayed by fifteen minutes to get everyone in.
And we weren't supposed to do this. We weren't supposed to score two late goals to grab the points and halt their run. With the clock ticking, Burnley supporters would have been hoping to hold out for the good result of a draw, but then Adrian Randall and Conroy won it for us in the last five minutes. This was, apparently, after Walker had stopped everything they could offer.
The reaction of the Cardiff supporters to this defeat was less than magnanimous, if predictable. People who were there speak of coins and stones raining onto the away end from over the back wall, a pitch invasion for the sake of safety, and coach windows smashed. Still, we emerged from there with the three points.
Team: Walker, Measham, Jakub, Davis, Farrell, Randall, Harper, Deary, Francis, Conroy, Eli (Lancashire). Sub not used: Bray.
Burnley scorers: Randall (85), Conroy (89).
Attendance: 16,030.
So ended another month, when a settled side had proved its resilience. It was getting increasingly hard not to believe.
Firmo
February 2002
Part nine - March 1992
The 1991/1992 season
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