The Pride and Glory
By Phil Whalley and Edward Lee
An official Burnley FC production
Cards on the table. If you're a London Clarets member (and if not, why not?) you'll know that Phil Whalley, one of the writers of this new book, happens to be the co-editor of our magazine. He has chief responsibility for producing the huge, high-quality publication Something to Write Home About, which our members receive every two months. Phil is also an excellent writer on Claret matters, particularly on Burnley's history. It's important to acknowledge that Phil is 'one of us', and be above board about it right at the start. Obviously he's played no part in this review.
The Pride and Glory, an official publication of Burnley FC, is being offered as a history of 120 years of the club, prompting the immediate question of what, apart from a marketing opportunity, an anniversary of 120 years represents. Phil wrote the early part of the book, taking us from Burnley's formation to the outbreak of the Second World War. At that point, he hands over to Edward Lee, a name familiar to anyone who reads the Burnley Express, who brings us up to the present day.
There's a second confession I must make now, which is this: I haven't read the whole of this book. I've read most of it. I've read pages 9 to 82, which cover the 120 years of Burnley FC. I carried on through pages 83 to 90, which re-hash some bits and pieces from the Burnley Express. I even dutifully ploughed through pages 91 to 94, which re-cap last season's events. I couldn't, though, make myself read pages 95 to 140 - obviously a significant section of the book - which consist of a re-print of every single Burnley Express match report from the 2001/02 season.
There's the problem with this book. It's an odd, and ultimately unsatisfying, hotchpotch. It doesn't manage to be a definitive 120-year history, and it isn't the last word on last season, either. It's neither one thing nor the other. It's a collection of disparate parts (including some amount of stuff which has already appeared elsewhere), and I can't understand why these things belong together. True, it's good in parts, and by far the most satisfying part is the history, but that comes to an abrupt halt on page 82, when there's more than 100 pages left to go.
What it lacks is the very quality I have previously suggested is needed in new books about Burnley: focus. Our history is rich, and contains more heights and depths than most. There is a growing number of Burnley books - compared to a decade or so ago when our literature was painfully thin - but a lot of them cover the same ground. Is anyone else fed up of the 50s, 60s and 70s? I'd like to see books focussing on particular seasons and particular events, going more into depth, doing more research, and bringing to light things that are unknown or forgotten.
The first three chapters of the book, which cover the period from the 1870s to 1939, were therefore the most interesting for me. This was where I learned things I didn't already know. The story of Burnley's emergence to pre-eminence from among any number of competing clubs in the town is an interesting tale well told. Phil also describes Burnley's pivotal role in the professionalisation of football, which was a crucial part of the transformation of the game into a mass, working class sport. All this is set against the backdrop of rapid change in the town and society.
The truth is that the early years were pretty unremarkable, however. John Haworth changed that. London Clarets members will already be familiar with the story of John Haworth's tenure as Manager, brilliantly set out in detail by Phil in his Quietly Making History series for our magazine. If for some reason you missed that, chapter two provides a condensed, compelling account. This is a period of our history every Burnley supporter should know about, because this is when Burnley were made into a great club. This was when Burnley's tradition was manufactured. From this point, even when we were struggling, we knew that Burnley was no ordinary club. If we are to speak of Pride and Glory (and I quibble with that title, by the way, because in 120 years there have been lots of times when we've experienced neither), then this is where it started. That makes this part of the book essential reading for all Clarets.
Of course, it ended in tragedy, and things petered out somewhat after Haworth's early death. Chapter three was an education for me, covering the 'dark ages' of Burnley's history. So undistinguished were the teams Burnley put out during this period that there are whole line-ups of wholly unfamiliar names.
The transition from the pre- to post-War period is one that brings a crunching change of gears. Phil hands over to Edward Lee, and the join shows. Suddenly the pace speeds up, and the years begin to pass at breakneck speed. There is something lost in this handover, too: the town of Burnley disappears. The earlier chapters have charted its development alongside that of the Football Club, and the changing social and political context, but that thread is left dangling. It has the feel of a tantalisingly unfinished story.
What we're left with is a conventional telling of events on the pitch, albeit of extraordinary events. I do have some sympathy for Edward Lee here, as in the main he's forced to re-tell us what we already know. There are only so many times the golden era can be re-packaged, and I feel we've reached saturation point now. Apart from the story of how Genoa tried to sign Jimmy McIlroy, there was nothing new to learn here. It feels rushed, too. Jimmy McIlroy joins on page 61 and leaves on page 67 - and two of the pages in between are entirely of photographs. Whole seasons pass in a blur. The 1959/60 League Championship takes up a couple of paragraphs, which can't be right, particularly when the season just gone gets more. On page 65 I'm looking at photos of us bringing the League trophy home, but ten pages on it's Ray Deakin leading out the team for the Orient Game.
Once the history concludes, the book mutates, via reprints of Burnley Express articles about Jimmy McIlroy, Brian Miller and the 1992 Fourth Division Championship winning team, into a playback of last season. This occupies pages 91 to 147, and is therefore almost as long as the entire history of the club that precedes it. Odd, that when the post-War history is told with too much economy, we get all this padding. I didn't know what this was doing here. Perhaps in years to come this will make a valuable archive about last season, but it still begs the question of why that season should be singled out for special attention, and why it should form such a significant part of a book that purports to cover the 120 years of our existence. Because it's handy? Because for a while it looked like we might get promoted?
Following the match reports, we have pen pictures of the 'squad that almost won promotion' (almost got into the play-offs, surely?). Of course, this is an official club publication and most of the players are still with Burnley, so criticism is not allowed. But does anyone remember Nik the Greek producing 'another string of outstanding displays'? Is Alan Moore really a 'key player'? Did Ian Moore really enjoy 'an excellent season'?
Following that we have the Turf Moor story, which I enjoyed as respite from last season. Turf Moor is an old ground with some tales to tell, but unfortunately this section is rather brief, and turns halfway through into what sounds suspiciously like an advert for the club's attractive banqueting facilities. It's followed by a reprint of some reports on famous matches from the Burnley Express - nothing wrong with that, although by now you might be getting a little tired of the continual mentions of the Burnley Express - before finishing with a photos section.
This, too, does not satisfy. Some are excellent - Alan Blacklaw in trouble in Napoli, for instance, and a grinning, unusually smart Ralph Coates outside Turf Moor - but it's a real mishmash. I understand that older photos are harder to get hold of, but there's too much of the present day. Do Ronnie Jepson, Peter Swan and Ian Moore really merit their place alongside Frank Casper, Martin Dobson and John Connelly? Then there's a page which features portrait photos of Jimmy Adamson, John Angus and Reg Atwell beside an action photo of Kevin Ball and some QPR player. It looks like nothing so much as a very easy odd one out competition. Some of the modern photos are of incredibly poor quality, too. Surely they could have got hold of snaps of Paul Barnes and John Francis that were in focus? Still, it is nice to see Chris Brass' dog.
The photos, for me, sum up the book. They're haphazard, compiled with no logic except alphabetical order, and don't really hang together with the other parts of the book. They could have been so much better. And they're poorly laid out.
The look of the book as a whole is disappointing. It would have benefited from some design. Even the size of it is wrong. Text and photographs are laid out unimaginatively, while odd white gaps appear between lines here and there. If you want a real visual horror show, look at the player pics pages. No attempt has been made to set this out in a coherent way. None of this should matter, perhaps, but in an entirely black and white production, visual flair is needed. This book gives the impression of having been produced in a hurry, with scant care paid to the way it looks.
These may seem trivial complaints, but you are being asked to fork out twenty quid for this book, and that's still a lot of money. You can even get into Turf Moor for less. For £20, you have a right to expect excellence, or at least a book that has been produced with thought, care and attention to detail.
In the end, this book would have benefited from being smaller, more focussed and sharper. It should have decided whether it wanted to be a history book, or whether it wanted to be about last season. If, as it surely should have been, it aimed to be a history book, it could have gone into more detail. There is a good book trying to get out of these pages. As it is, only the early chapters feel definitive and authoritative. What a shame the rest of the book doesn't do them justice. Given the undoubted talents of the people involved, it represents a missed opportunity.
On the other hand, most of the money for this book will go to Burnley FC, and indeed its primary purpose must be to raise money for the club. Lord knows, they need the cashflow right now. Perhaps it shouldn't be a factor, but of course we're supporters, so it is. If you can afford it, then think about buying it, and enjoy Phil's contribution. You might want to give the stuff about last season a miss, though.
Firmo
October 2002
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As with all articles on the site, the views expressed are those of the individual contributor, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Burnley FC London Supporters' Club.
