Yorkshire Street and Turf Moor
The street that takes you to Turf Moor is
Yorkshire Street, off the roundabout outside the former Sainsbury’s (now discount clothing shop TK Maxx)
and under the
aqueduct. When you get to the junction with Belvedere Road and Todmorden Road, the street
changes its name to Harry Potts Way. This is a recent innovation, and if you have a map it will probably still call
this Brunshaw Road. In October 2000 it was
announced that the stretch of Brunshaw Road on which Turf Moor stands would be renamed in honour of the
greatest ever Burnley manager. The street signs were unveiled in February 2001, and very nice they are too.
Brunshaw
Road now begins once you're past Turf Moor. From the start of Harry Potts Way,
it’s straight on for the Bob Lord and Jimmy McIlroy (Bee Hole) stands for home
fans and the Cricket Field Stand for away fans, which is the first part you’ll come
to. It’s quicker to get to the North / Longside / Harry Potts / James Hargreaves
Stand (we’re still arguing about that one) by going left up Belvedere Road and down
the side of the cricket ground.
Two things you need to know as an away supporter. Pubs close to Turf
Moor are not recommended for away fans. While some have doubtless had a good time
here in the past, and most Burnley supporters are not hostile towards away supporters,
there is a Burnley hooligan element, and consequently, there’s a
risk. It isn’t recommended to wear away colours, but there's a chance that those without colours might
also be looked on with suspicion, as most Clarets like to wear their Burnley shirts. For
high profile games, streets to Turf Moor are heavily policed. Pubs may be closed on police orders,
or adopt door policies. It’s also not uncommon to see groups of blokes hanging around
the doors taking a close interest in the passing crowd.
Secondly, as far as I’m aware (and I’d
be happy to be corrected if wrong) none of the pubs on this stretch sells good beer. A few
years back you could get a pint or two in these parts, but recent years have seen them all opting for the
bland convenience of smooth.
Given this, discerning drinkers may want to sup
further from the ground, perhaps in the Church Street or Manchester Road areas. Nevertheless, if you’re determined,
careful and not particularly fussy, this street has watering holes on both sides, including
pubs and clubs, plus a good selection of variable quality fast food places. Clubs have always had a loyal
following around Burnley. These tend to let non-members in on the day, although you
generally have to be signed in for a small payment. Some away supporters apparently enjoy
the Cricket Club, which is at least handy for the away end, as it’s right behind it.
There were once plans to move the cricket club and redevelop the cricket ground, but in these financially
straightened times that looks unlikely.
At Turf Moor itself, you have the Centre Spot / Clarets Foundation Bar (now for members only) on Harry Potts Way and the
Café Claret behind the
North (etc) Stand, or, for the truly undiscerning bars inside the ground.
Approaching the ground from the centre, on your
left you have Balti King, King’s Taxis, Yorkshire Street Newsagents (which sells
programmes), Carolina Chicken, the Brickmakers, KSC 110 Club, Sun
Ying Chinese takeaway and Thorpey's Red Rose Club. On your
right you’ve got the Clog and Spindle, the Turf
and a branch of Ladbrooke’s, and off down Plumbe Street, Ritz Pizza and Burnley
Miners’ Club (where more Benedictine is sold than anywhere else on earth),
then on the corner of Todmorden Road the Wellington,
with the Golden Fishbar down Todmorden Road. At the other end of the ground is the Park View on your right, with a newsagents and another bookies on your
left.
Stuck onto this guide, even though it doesn't
particularly belong here (but one of our readers was nice enough to write in about it) is
the Kettledrum, out of town on Red Lees Road. (Another pub on Red
Lees Road that forms part of some folks' pre-match routine is the Fighting Cocks.)
Click here for a map of Burnley centring on the area covered by this crawl.
The
Clog and Spindle
Yorkshire Street
AKA the Princess Royal, or for short the Prinny
Royal, as many rightly still call it. Quite why someone saw the need for such witless
rebranding escapes me. The name they dumped on this pub a few years ago remains a continuing embarrassment that
causes a cringe each time I pass, a soft own goal in the favour of away fans who seek to
uphold the stereotype of Burnley as a cloth cap and whippet town. Clog and Spindle my
arse. As well as being a naff name, it’s historically inaccurate. Spindles are
associated with spinning, whereas Burnley always was a weaving town, and indeed the
world centre of cotton weaving in its day. Clog and Shuttle would at least have had some
validity. It once sold a decent pint of Boddington’s, but I’m not going in until
they change the name back so I don’t know what they stock now.
The 'Clog and Spindle', 45-47 Yorkshire Street, Burnley BB11 3BW.
Click here for a map.
The Turf
Yorkshire Street
Next door is the Turf, a Thwaites
pub, but one typical of Burnley in that it only sells
smooth. The Turf hotel has a reputation for attracting a roughish crowd. Still, it has a nice
pub sign featuring a Claret clad footballer from olden days. Don’t know what
it’s like as I don't think I've ever been in. This place is seemingly always
'under new management'.
The Turf, 49 Yorkshire Street, Burnley BB11 3BW.
Tel 01282 426425.
Click here for a map.
The
Brickmakers
Yorkshire Street
I have walked past this pub more times than I care
to remember, but am always in a hurry having dallied too long in the
Sparrow and struggling
to make kick off. As such, I’ve never been tempted, and therefore have
only the faintest idea what this might be like.
The Brickmakers Arms, 60 Yorkshire Street, Burnley BB11 3BT.
Click here for a map.
The
Wellington
Corner of Harry Potts Way and Todmorden Road
A big and lively corner pub that has its
exponents. Back in the days of the real ale boom they used to sell a reasonable pint of
Worthington’s, but nothing doing these days. Always had a good atmosphere going when
I went in, although it's been a while. Was boarded up for a while, but recently re-opened.
The Wellington, 2 Todmorden Road, Burnley BB10 4AE.
Click here for a map.
The
Centre Spot / Clarets Foundation Bar
Turf Moor, Harry Potts Way
Apparently this was briefly renamed the Jimmy
Adamson Lounge, in tribute to Burnley’s dawn of the Seventies manager, and is now called the
Clarets Foundation Bar. The Clarets Foundation is a money raising scheme whereby members
give Burnley cash each week. One of the ways in which they've tried to turn this group
into a club is by giving special offers and freebies. So it was announced that from the
start of the 2001/2002 season, this bar, once open to anyone, would be set aside for the
use of Clarets Foundation members. They will get in for free, while anyone else will be
charged a 'nominal' sum. Apparently they are enforcing this in the 2002/2003 season, which will presumably
make if out of bounds for away supporters.
So is it worth it? Well no, because it doesn't sell beer.
It's a big, basic, 1970s hole, built in front
of the Bob Lord Stand, and an unremarkable place, with potential that has never been
adequately realised. We used to drink once a season in the old Bournemouth’s supporters’ club at Dean
Court, and enjoy the good beer, cheap basic food, pool tables, tvs and the friendly mix of home and
away fans, and wonder why we couldn't have this at Turf Moor. We don't, and it doesn't look likely. Shame, because
the club would get more of my money if they offered somewhere worth drinking before the match. There was actually a
time when it sold real beer, and we got into the habit of calling in for the last pre-match pint,
but that went and now the far pleasanter surroundings of the Sparrow get a
bit more of my money
instead.
In the evenings it’s been known to host race nights, cabaret and other grim
fare. All in all, something of a relic, and I reckon the Clarets Foundation members are welcome to it.
No loss to the rest of us, then, but it would be nice if there was somewhere decent to drink next to Turf Moor
one of
these days.
The Clarets Foundation Bar, Turf Moor, Harry Potts Way, Burnley BB10 4BX.
Click here for a map.
The
Café Claret
Close to the 'James Hargreaves' Stand, Turf Moor
The Café Claret is a relatively new development that came at the same
time as the two new stands. It serves as the cafe for the redeveloped leisure centre, and sits across the car park
in the shadow of the big stand with the controversial name. The Café Claret seems to be a popular meeting place for
some Burnley supporters, so at least I suppose the club gets their brass. From tales I've heard, service seems to
be variable, but it certainly has its adherents. It doesn't sell real beer either, so I've never done more than stick
my head round the door.
The Cafe Claret, Turf Moor, Harry Potts Way, Burnley BB10 4BX.
Click here for a map.
Inside the
ground
You know the drill. Bars in football grounds:
awful. Fizzy beer, plastic glasses, appalling service, ridiculous prices. So why the long queues? I suppose
there’s no accounting for taste. There used to be a time when beer in football
grounds was something of a novelty. I recall seeing the bar at the New Den when we first visited and thinking,
here’s an idea. However, the time when one felt obliged to use them on principle out of rarity value has
long gone, as you find them everywhere these days, and for some of us the football match
acts as a necessary break in the day’s drinking.
That said, on the away end you will face no such dilemma, as the Cricket Field Stand apparently remains a beer-free zone.
It is the oldest part of the ground (aren't away ends always?), having been built at the end of the Sixties. It's
comfortable and roomy enough, if a little shabby these days. For home purposes, bars were only introduced to
Turf Moor with the construction of the two new stands in the Nineties, and would appear not to have been extended
to the older parts.
If you're an away fan, please don't feel you're missing out. In the home stands it’s Foster’s and
John Smith’s
Smooth, I’m told. Whoopee. Quite how anyone manages to get served in the over-crowded concourse
is beyond me too,
unless it's connected to the fact that many people leave their seats a couple of minutes before half time.
Half time’s for pies and a piss, if you ask me. But you should be okay for the pies at least. They're
Holland's, of nearby Accrington, and they're excellent. The
meat and potato are very good, and if you're extremely lucky you might just get a non-sold-out chicken balti pie,
developed by Holland's at the special request of Burnley FC. Very nice, if overpriced.
Charmingly, one of the first acts of the new
regime that swept into Turf Moor at the end of the 90s was to name all the food and drink
bars after legendary Clarets of the past. The Billy Hamilton bar, indeed.
In the interests of research, I’ve also
visited the matchday hospitality areas in the North (etc) Stand. All jolly nice,
although as a way of watching football it will never catch on. Should you ever find
yourself being dragged in here as some kind of corporate guest, be warned that it’s
only Thwaites
Smooth, although I did seem to manage to swallow my principles and a few
pints. The food was rather mediocre, but that aside the whole thing was run with a credible lack of old
Burnley style inefficiency. Best of all, you can go outside and watch the match from a seat in the stand. Try it
once, and then decide you’d rather go to the pub.
I've also been in the Director's Box at Turf
Moor! Thwaites Smooth again, unfortunately.
Turf Moor, Harry Potts Way, Burnley BB10 4BX.
Click here for a map.
The Park
View
Corner of Harry Potts Way and Higgin Street
The closest pub to Turf Moor, at the corner of
the Bob Lord Stand and the Jimmy McIlroy Stand. Pubs close to football grounds are, of
course, generally no good, so why should this be different? It’s a basic boozer full
of home fans and it doesn’t sell beer. It isn’t a pub I’ve ever used much,
but many Clarets have an emotional attachment to it, and like the Wellington, it has its
fans. There is usually a chip van parked outside, although I understand that the
attached café was recently converted into, of all things, a dolls’ house shop!
The Park View, 3 Higgin Street, Burnley BB10 4DZ.
Tel 01282 717669.
Click here for a map.
The
Kettledrum
302 Red Lees Road
'Finchy' writes: "As a Burnley fan now
living in Fleetwood, we tend to make a long day of it and usually end up going to the
Kettledrum for beer and lunch. It's a 'country' style pub on the way towards Cliviger. I
remember once being egged on to make a snide comment about the Nolans only to find that
there was some family landlord link. Je ne regrette rien. Changed hands since, thank fcuk.
Good guest beers and rumoured to be Stan's local! Useful food. Go past ticket office and
keep going uphill for about two miles. It's on your left. Fills up nicely with C&B
from about 12.30 on!"
Click here for a map.
Last updated November 2002
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