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Quietly Making History

John Haworth and Burnley Football Club
Part Four: 1921-22

After the magnificent campaign of 1920-21, the players and management of the club, like all successful sportsmen, became aware that immensely high standards bring their fair share of problems. Burnley were now the team to beat, and as such had to expect each and every opponent to desire the scalp of the Clarets like never before. Expectations among the townsfolk, too, were great, and though another record-breaking run was not an issue, it was the case that other clubs had made successful defences of the League title. It was certainly the case that Burnley fans, as well as the more objective football pundits of the national press, were looking to Burnley to challenge again for the title.

Off the field, the decision by the Burnley board to increase admission prices for the 1921-22 season provoked a fierce reaction from the townsfolk. The first few years after the end of the First World War were relatively prosperous ones in Burnley as the town's mills met the eager demand for cotton goods, made scarce during the conflict. However, the mills carried on producing and soon had warehouses full of cotton for which there was no market. Competition from overseas saw prices for cotton begin to fall, and Burnley's workers started to suffer wage reductions.

In the midst of such difficult social and economic circumstances, it is not surprising that the club's decision to raise admission prices was seen to be both inconsiderate and greedy, threatening as it did to price many working men and women out of the game. Even the well-heeled townspeople who watched their football from the Brunshaw Road stand were expected to pay 50 shillings for a season ticket. One letter in the pages of the Burnley Express couldn't have made the point any clearer:

I should just like the directors of Burnley Football Club to hear some of the bitter remarks that are being used at the various mill doors and workshops in regard to their prices of football tickets this year. What can the directors think about themselves putting prices up when wages are all coming down and the prices of other things too? I say that the football ticket ought also to be coming a bit cheaper as well.

The pre-season period went through its time-honoured motions, with the club's young pros and a host of triallists given the chance to shine against the first team players in a series of friendly games. Reserve team striker George Richardson underlined his potential with some strong performances, whilst triallist Joseph Fairclough also caught the eye and was rewarded with a contract. On August 21, a week before the start of the season, the club made one last gesture to the previous season with a celebratory day trip to Lancaster and the surrounding area, but on their return it was down to the hard task of defending the League Championship title.

On August 27^th, the Clarets travelled to Birmingham for the opening game of the season. To no one's surprise, the management saw little need to tamper with the core of the team that had brought the club such honour, and the only change from the established line-up of the previous season was the re-establishment in the left wing position of Eddie Mosscrop over Walt Weaver.

Birmingham City were reigning Second Division champions. Whilst the Midlands club could hardly have been given a tougher test on their return to the top flight, neither did Burnley view the fixture as an easy opener. The match aroused huge interest in Birmingham and, with the help of 'football special' train services, running for the first time since the War, over 50,000 made their way to St. Andrew's. In the event, Burnley turned in an imperious performance. An early Boyle goal silenced the throng, and though Birmingham equalised, goals from Mosscrop and Anderson sealed the game before a late Birmingham consolation.

However, if Burnley had been handed what was arguably an easy opener, the North-East double-headers that followed against Sunderland and Newcastle would be sure to fully test the Clarets. Neither Sunderland or Newcastle had managed to sustain a challenge for the Championship since the post-war resumption, but both remained formidable opponents, especially on home turf. As if to emphasise that Burnley could expect no favours from any host, the Clarets lost at both Roker Park and St. James' Park, on each occasion by the odd goal. However, Burnley defeated both the Tynesiders and the Geordies 2-0 in the return games at Turf Moor, and a 3-1 victory at home to Birmingham, a game that witnessed a rare Willie Watson goal, seemed to indicate that the Claret bandwagon was still rolling merrily along. Cause for further optimism was provided by a convincing 3-0 defeat of Celtic in another midweek friendly between the clubs.

On September 24, Bradford City were easily dispatched 4-0 at Turf Moor, but the return at Bradford the following Saturday saw the Clarets without either Dawson or Watson, who were both representing the English League in a Belfast encounter with the Irish League. Valley Parade was not a fruitful venue for Burnley even in those days, but on this occasion the Clarets demonstrated why they remained the team to beat. Goals from Anderson and Kelly, plus a brace from Benny Cross, saw Burnley register another 4-0 victory in what was a brilliant team display. Kelly's goal was the result of a set piece that involved two dummy runs and culminated in the England international volleying in a Mosscrop cross at the back post. The media struggled to find the superlatives to describe Burnley's performance. The Athletics News thought that:

This amazing result had no flaw in it. If the game itself will not live long in the memory because of its one-sided nature, nothing ought to eradicate the beauty, the brilliance, the artistry and the craft individually, and above all collectively, revealed by Burnley. One fell to wondering how Burnley can fail to retain the championship title if they continue to play such glorious football.

The Daily Dispatch also focused on Burnley's bewildering team play:

The most striking feature of Burnley's great team was that although there was a wealth of brilliant play there was no outstanding player; the eleven men blended harmoniously into one exquisite whole.

Offering much the same observation, the Sporting Chronicle described Burnley's team as: "just one wonderful piece of intellectual mechanism."

With Watson and Dawson back in the side after Football League duty, the Clarets scored another home and away double, this time taking maximum points from Sheffield United. When, on October 22, Burnley crushed mid-table Chelsea 5-0 at Turf Moor to record their fifth consecutive victory, it seemed as if the Clarets were putting together another formidable run of League form. The Chelsea victory had even been accomplished without Jerry Dawson. After 15 seasons of League football at Turf Moor, Dawson (left) had finally been chosen for the full England side.

Delight at Dawson's honour, which was seen to be well overdue, was tempered with the news that Bob Kelly had been dropped from the national side. This decision was the subject of much criticism both from the Burnley public and the national press, though John Haworth may well have been quietly happy that he, rather than the national team, was the one calling upon Kelly's outstanding talents. It was Kelly himself who scored Burnley's fifth to round off another excellent team performance.

First Division, 1921-22
22 October 1921
	P	W	D	L	Pts
Burnley	11	9	0	2	18
Liverpool	11	6	4	1	16
Sunderland	11	7	1	3	15
Middlesbrough	11	5	4	2	14
Newcastle	11	6	2	3	14

With eleven games gone, the Clarets were top having dropped only four points. Liverpool looked to be strong challengers also, though they didn't cross swords with the Clarets until April. But despite the seemingly healthy position of the club at this point, there were some indications that not all was well. Following the 5-0 demolition of Chelsea, the Burnley Express criticised a section of the crowd for haranguing winger Eddie Mosscrop, apparently on the basis of poor form.

Perhaps of more concern for the club in general was a sudden and dramatic decline in the number of attendees at Turf Moor. From 35,000 for the visit of Bradford City, the gate had slipped first to 25,000 for the fixture against Sheffield United, and then to just 10,000 for the Chelsea game. That other First Division clubs had also suffered a drop in custom pointed to the fact that the cause lay in a wider social factor. In reply to a query from the Daily Dispatch, John Haworth argued that Burnley's falling gates were due to the increasingly poor economic conditions in the town:

 I am repeatedly appealed to from what I consider respectable supporters for consideration, as they say to do justice to home they cannot afford to come, and there must be hundreds or thousands in that plight. I can't bring myself to think that there is any failing interest in the game. If trade could be restored to its pre-war condition, I feel certain there would be no feeling of a slump, but that instead there would be greater attendances to record all round.

Worries about the economic health of the town were not without foundation. Over 40,000 cotton looms lay idle, with 5,000 workers unemployed and a further 5,000 on short time. Peaceful demonstrations were held against unemployment, but the Borough itself was £1.3 million in debt and could do little to help. On October 29, Burnley travelled to Stamford Bridge for the return League encounter with Chelsea. Dawson resumed in goal, but the Clarets were without the injured Willie Watson (left), who missed his first game since February 1920. Reserve left half-back Billy Morgan deputised in what was otherwise a full-strength Burnley team, but the Clarets suffered a heavy defeat in what was their worst performance for over a year.

It is sometimes impossible and is always speculative to isolate the factors that cause such inexplicable losses of form, and it is undoubtedly one of the great virtues of football that unexpected results crop up with what might be described as random regularity. Burnley had, after all, been sensationally hustled out of the Cup at lowly Hull City the previous season. But this result at Chelsea was different. The Hull game had been one-off Cup football. This was a mauling in the bread and butter of the League at a time when the fixture list still disappeared into the far distance of a winter and New Year.

One can point to mitigating circumstances: Joe Anderson, typically bustling and aggressive, claimed an early shot had gone over the line but saw his protestations waved away by the referee. With the score at 1-1, Boyle missed a penalty and was then injured so badly that he was reduced to a passenger, limping ineffectually in the outside-right position. In addition, Chelsea's second goal was allowed to stand in the face of a linesman's raised offside flag. Whether or not Burnley were hard done by in this opening phase of the game, what followed turned out in retrospect to represent the first, fatal fracture in the Claret armoury that had been virtually unbreachable since the post-war resumption. In front of 50,000 baying Chelsea fans, the Clarets suffered a decisive 1-4 defeat.

At Stamford Bridge that day, Burnley lost just not the game but their sense of superiority. That self-assurance and swagger, characteristic of every great football team, was punctured by the experience. From this point on, Burnley were feared less. Their First Division rivals sensed that the power of the mighty Claret machine had been dealt a significant blow.

This was certainly true in one material sense - Boyle's injury meant the Clarets were facing most of November without their inspirational captain. But there were other undeniable factors creeping into contention. The great half-back triumvirate - Halley, Boyle and Watson - were all in their thirties, as was keeper Jerry Dawson and full-back Cliff Jones. The exertions of the previous season had been heroic, and now, perhaps, the team was beginning to pay the price. A series of niggling injuries disrupted the plans of the Turf Moor management team, who found that they were rarely able to call upon the same personnel from one week to the next. The contrast from the previous season, where Burnley had played the same team uninterrupted for over two months, could not have been more pronounced.

As if to add to the worrying sense of an era coming to an inevitable end, reserve team players like defender Billy Morgan, expected to deputise if Halley, Boyle or Watson were absent, were generally regarded as not being able to meet the demands of top level First Division football. Strong rumours circulated that Burnley were actively seeking a half-back and a full-back. As two Scots triallists returned North of the border, the club announced the signing of utility forward John Greenhalgh from Lancashire Combination side Leyland for the sum of £500.

In the absence of Boyle the Clarets remained vulnerable in defence. Alf Bassnet was one of the few reserve team players to have established his pedigree, but for the first time since January 1920 Burnley struggled to get a result in the First Division. A very average Preston side visited the Turf and three times managed to cancel out Burnley goals, the final equaliser coming in the 87^th minute. It was the kind of defensive display that the Turf Moor faithful were most certainly not used to witnessing. A 1-2 defeat at Deepdale the following week, November 12, was compounded by injuries to full-back Cliff Jones and inside-forward Benny Cross. As Burnley prepared for their next game, a daunting trip to Spurs, the wife of Willie Watson fell gravely ill, ruling him out of an appearance for the English League.

At White Hart Lane, Joe Anderson rescued the Clarets with a predatory strike in a 1-1 draw, seen as a good result for a weakened Burnley team that had recalled 1914 FA Cup finalists David Taylor and John Lindsay. However, the good result in North London was tempered with the news that Willie Watson's wife had died over the weekend.

Although Burnley scraped their first win in five attempts with a 1-0 defeat of Spurs at Turf Moor, they again went down to defeat in their next game at Huddersfield. This left them hanging on to their leadership of the First Division on goal average ahead of a number of teams all threatening to mount serious challenges.

First Division, 1921-22
3 December 1921
	P	W	D	L	Pts
Burnley	17	10	2	5	22
Huddersfield	17	9	4	4	22
Liverpool	17	7	8	2	22
Sunderland	17	9	3	5	21
Middlesbrough	17	8	5	4	21
Newcastle	11	6	2	3	14

In the Sports Echo, Ivan Sharpe had little empathy for the Clarets. As League Champions and creators of a new League record for unbeaten games in a season, Burnley, he argued, must expect:

...especial attention from both public and players when appearing on opposition grounds. So it was at Leeds Road. The Town team treated it all as a Cup-tie and put forth an extra effort. The 23,000 spectators, for their part, expected great things and, incidentally, they appeared to expect the League Champions to be saints. Burnley were beaten for the fifth time this season and cannot cavil at the result. Their sting near goal was extracted. Their defence also appears to have deteriorated.

Before hosting Huddersfield in the return, the Burnley Express concurred with the pessimistic diagnosis of Sharpe, albeit in a more sympathetic vein. The local paper argued that the Burnley management and directors had to be more ruthless in disposing of the highly regarded but ageing men who had taken the club to the pinnacle of English Football:

Burnley's position, all things considered, is a satisfactory one. Teams are stronger as a rule than last season, and the opposition is fiercer. The Burnley team is wearing remarkably well, but of late there have been signs that in places the coat, so to speak, was getting a bit worn. Latterly, the forwards have fallen off, and the consequence of their shortcomings is that more work has been thrown on the half-back line, and it is not to be expected that the clever trio can withstand heavy pressure like they used to. The directors, who are loyal to a fault to old members, are evidently finding that changes are necessary if the club's status is to be maintained.

The paper went on to argue that the demands of a 42-game season necessitated a large squad, including the retention of three goalkeepers, and that to keep them all in form required the running of three teams, with the third eleven used as a means of playing triallists and promising juniors. But if the diagnosis was easy, the prescription was an altogether more difficult proposition. The call for younger and fresher blood was perhaps an obvious one, but players of the quality of Tommy Boyle didn't come along every day. A new, younger line-up would almost certainly mean a period of mid-table consolidation. Would the Burnley public take the long-term view and support such a policy? Faced with such a conundrum, John Haworth and the board decided to remain loyal to the senior players, hoping that the considerable collective experience of Boyle and his men would maintain the Clarets' title challenge through the long winter months.

The Clarets next travelled to championship rivals Middlesbrough on December 17 and were soundly defeated 1-4, but a Bob Kelly hat-trick in the return saw Burnley prevail 3-1 and produce an excellent team display that was something close to their best. Home and away victories over a weak Manchester United, followed by a close 2-1 New Year's Eve home victory over Aston Villa, represented a record-breaking Christmas of four straight wins for the Clarets. But despite this sudden purple patch of form, Burnley had been overtaken in the title race by an insurgent Liverpool side who were proving almost impossible to defeat. As the season entered the New Year, Burnley trailed Liverpool by a point, despite having won four more games than the Merseyside club.

First Division, 1921-22
1 January 1922
	P	W	D	L	Pts
Liverpool	24	11	11	2	33
Burnley	23	15	2	6	32
Aston Villa	24	13	2	9	28
Bolton	23	11	6	6	28
Man City	23	11	4	8	26

Before resuming with the League campaign, Burnley's attention next turned to the FA Cup, where they had been given an attractive home tie to fellow title contenders Huddersfield. On the day of the tie, January 7, the Burnley Express noted with worry that injuries were playing havoc with the plans of the management, but in the event it was an uncharacteristic attack of defensive jitters from established members of the team that was the undoing of the Clarets. Leading 2-0 with just ten minutes remaining, Burnley allowed Huddersfield to snatch two late goals and take the tie into a replay. Burnley should have sealed the game well before this dramatic finale, and Joe Anderson, although scoring Burnley's opener, was also guilty of wasting some guilt-edged chances.

Anderson had indeed suffered a loss of form after an impressive start to the season. Prior to the Huddersfield Cup tie, he had failed to score in the previous eight League games, easily his longest barren spell since his arrival at Turf Moor in March 1920. A letter in the Burnley Express of January 4 1922 suggested that 'Joe Andy' be rested and a suitable deputy found - an idea that would have been unthinkable just a few months previously. However, on January 11 the Burnley Express once more weighed into the debate with a considered and radical editorial:

We hope that the club will be able to keep in the first flight, but there have been signs during the past month or so that things are in the balance and that the directors will have to be again showing some of that foresight which has put the club on its present high pinnacle. Burnley's progress has, in a great measure, been due to the brilliance and cleverness of the famous trio of half-backs, but it is a common belief that next season will find one or more of Burnley's clever players unable to constantly carry on the heavy work which maintaining Burnley's position entails.

It is not that we want to make any allusion to any possible and natural decadence among members of the first team, but to express the public feeling that the directors should be making efforts to get some good men to fill any possible vacancies. The directors have been running the teams on a remarkably short list of players - 29, we believe - and when, as has been the case during this last month, illness and injuries come along they have, on their own admission, had difficulty in fulfilling the double fixture.

Given Burnley's healthy position in the League table, the message was remarkably candid: forget about retaining the Championship and prepare for the following campaign.

Despite - or perhaps because of - the very poor economic conditions in the town at this time, the Huddersfield Cup-tie had generated enormous enthusiasm, with just short of 40,000 attending the first tie at Turf Moor. The midweek replay attracted a crowd in excess of 35,000, and they witnessed a 2-3 defeat for the Clarets, a bitter disappointment and Burnley's fourth consecutive failure to advance beyond the third round.

Just days after the club's elimination from the Cup, the management team announced the signing of striker Harold Dobinson from Third Division (North) Durham City. Dobinson went straight into the first team for the trip to Villa Park on January 14 at the expense of Joe Anderson. It was an ignominious start to the New Year for Anderson, who just a few months earlier had been one of the most feared strikers in the First Division. Also out of the game was George Halley who had fallen victim to another injury. Alf Bassnett joined Boyle and Watson in the Burnley half-back line, but the Clarets fell to a 0-2 defeat, and fired blanks in the next game also, a goalless draw at Arsenal.

First Division, 1921-22
15 February 1922
	P	W	D	L	Pts
Liverpool	28	15	11	2	41
Aston Villa	29	17	2	10	36
Bolton	28	14	6	8	34
Cardiff	29	14	6	9	34
Burnley	27	15	3	9	33

Having failed to impress in the first team during the games at Villa Park and Highbury, Dobinson made way for the return of Joe Anderson for the East Lancashire derbies against a Blackburn Rovers team in the bottom half of the table. The Clarets travelled to Ewood Park on February 4 and although 'Joe Andy' heralded his comeback with two goals, Burnley went down 2-3. But worse was to come the following Saturday when, in front of 40,919 spectators, Blackburn ended Burnley's proud record of 34 undefeated home games, a run that went back to August 1920 when Bradford City had ambushed the Clarets on the opening day of the 1920-21 season. Blackburn's 2-1 win, taken with the relentless form of Burnley's main challengers at the top of the division, was seen to end any realistic hope of retaining the League title. Liverpool, in much the same manner as Burnley the season before, were striding confidently away, having tasted defeat on only two occasions.

With the Clarets down to fifth and eight points behind the leaders, the Daily Sketch opined that a great team had come to a natural end:

The time has probably come when the Turf Moor club will have seriously to think about reorganising their forces. It comes to every team sooner or later. Dawson, Boyle, Halley, Watson and Mosscrop have had splendid innings, and it was plain in Burnley's match at Blackburn that there was not the same sprightliness among some of them as one had been accustomed to seeing. If it is 'anna domini' that is troubling Burnley, their directors are sufficiently enterprising to make big efforts to stop the disease.

But if the general opinion in the football world was that Burnley had had their day, the team continued to scrap for every point. It did not go unnoticed that Bolton, Cardiff and Liverpool all had to face the Clarets home and away. Even if Burnley couldn't catch Liverpool, they could still have a significant impact on the final outcome. The Clarets travelled to Burnden Park for their next fixture on February 18 without either Watson or full-back Dave Taylor, both of whom were injured. Alf Bassnet came in for Watson, whilst young John Astin, a native of Hapton, deputised in the full-back position. Despite this unfamiliar defensive line-up, the Clarets hung on grimly to a 1-0 lead given to them by Joe Anderson, the Scotsman's third consecutive scoring appearance.

With two points gained at the expense of Bolton, the Clarets jumped to third and consolidated their position with a narrow but deserved 1-0 victory at home to Arsenal. However, injuries to right winger Willie Nesbitt (left), Tommy Boyle and Benny Cross again threatened to derail the Clarets' determined efforts to successfully defend their title. Nesbitt had not missed a game all season, whilst Boyle had been absent just three times. With Watson and both recognised left full-backs - Cliff Jones and Dave Taylor - also on the treatment table, Burnley took to the field for the home game against Bolton with such unfamiliar names as John Astin, Billy Morgan and George Douglas. Roared on by a near 30,000 crowd, the reservists acquitted themselves well, and a very rare George Halley goal helped the Clarets to a 2-0 victory.

The same team then pulled off a victory at lowly Oldham Athletic on March 4. The Latics missed an early penalty and the game was heading for a goalless draw before a glorious long-range Kelly drive in the 85th minute gave Burnley the points.  

First Division, 1921-22
4 March 1922
	P	W	D	L	Pts
Liverpool	30	16	12	2	44
Burnley	31	19	3	9	41
Aston Villa	30	18	2	10	38
Bolton	31	15	6	10	36

Against the odds, Burnley had closed the gap on leaders Liverpool from eight to three points, this at a time when the Clarets had yet to face the Anfield team. However, John Haworth was down to the bare bones of his relatively small squad, and a few more unfortunate injuries could have seen the Clarets struggling to field a team. With the transfer deadline day looming, the manager invested around £2,000 in a clutch of new signings. Most certainly with an eye to the future, the club crossed the Irish Sea and secured the signature of Irish international half-back William Emerson from Glentoran. Two less prominent signings were those of striker Robert Chambers from Lincoln City and right winger John Fisher from Chesterfield.

The newcomers were most welcome additions to what was a squad decimated by injuries, but the Clarets' run-in was tough to say the least, including home and away double-headers against Liverpool, Cardiff and Manchester City. But before any of these, Burnley had to negotiate what appeared to be a relatively straightforward task on March 11 against Oldham at Turf Moor, and the management kept faith with the team that had hauled itself back into the championship race. Unfortunately, a fifth consecutive victory proved beyond this makeshift Clarets line-up, and they went down to a disappointing 0-1 defeat against very ordinary opposition.

With the Clarets' winning streak ended and Championship hopes dented, the management team went for wholesale changes in the following game at home to Cardiff City, who were enjoying an inspirational maiden season in the First Division. New signings Emerson and Fisher made their debuts for the Clarets, and inside-forward Benny Cross returned from injury. Despite a more solid look to the team, Burnley could only manage a 1-1 draw at the Turf and lost the return 2-4 thanks to two late goals from Cardiff's Welsh international forward Len Davies. Burnley's poor away form continued with a 0-2 defeat at West Brom on April 1, a game which saw the blooding of pre-season triallist George Richardson.

Richardson's home debut the following week turned into an occasion to remember as the youngster scored a hat-trick in a 4-2 victory, but the sparse 12,000 crowd told its own story, both of the continuing economic hardship in the town and of the Clarets' dwindling hopes of retaining the title. Champions-elect Liverpool finally arrived at the Turf on April 14, a Friday afternoon, and 30,000 spectators turned up to see the team who were to inherit Burnley's crown. In a pulsating first-half, Burnley tore into Liverpool and were unlucky to go in at half-time just 1-0 to the good, but Liverpool dominated the second-half and grabbed the all-important equaliser. With the season running out of days, Burnley faced Manchester City the following day at Turf Moor and routed their opponents 5-2. A Monday afternoon fixture at Anfield in front of 50,000 fans was Burnley's third game in four days. Despite their tired limbs, Burnley shook Anfield with an equaliser on the hour after a Liverpool opener that had been handled into the net. Needing a win to secure the Championship, Liverpool went in search of the winner and with just 15 minutes remaining scored the goal that brought the title to Anfield.

It was perhaps fitting that the Clarets were there to be the first to congratulate them on their achievement, but all that remained for Burnley was a tussle with Spurs for the runners-up position. As is often the case with driven and successful sportsmen, the silver medal held little appeal for the battle-hardened campaigners at Turf Moor. It was the team on the rise who proved the hungrier for the consolation prize, as lacklustre 0-2 defeats at Man City and on the final day at Everton pushed the Clarets into a final position of third, two points behind eventual runners-up Spurs.

First Division, 1921-22
	P	W	D	L	Pts
Liverpool	42	22	13	7	57
Spurs	42	21	9	12	51
Burnley	42	22	5	15	49
Cardiff	42	19	10	13	48
Aston Villa	42	22	3	17	47

In any other context, proving your team to be one of the top three in the land would have been something to be proud of, but the achievements of the 1921-22 team seemed to be barely appreciated. It said something for the standards established at the club that no one was truly satisfied with the outcome of the 1921-22 season. In the light of the previous season's Championship triumph and the runners-up position achieved prior to that, Burnley's third consecutive top-three finish appeared a pale imitation of what had preceded it.

Yet, statistically, it was another very solid season. The fact remained that no team had won more games than the Clarets during the campaign, and early season results indicated that, free from injuries to his squad, John Haworth could field a team as good, if not better, than any club in the land. What Burnley became vulnerable to was the odd-goal defeat in the closely fought game. Where in the past that famous half-back line had been able to absorb relentless pressure and emerge with a point or two, the 1921-22 season heralded the effective end of Burnley's defensive mastery of their First Division contemporaries. Compared to the miserly six defeats of the previous campaign, the fifteen losses and fifty-four goals conceded during 1921-22 underlined the fact that Burnley had allowed their parsimonious defensive habits to wander.

Another factor was the decline in the form of Joe Anderson. Signed in March 1920, his six goals in the final eight games of the 1919-20 season had helped the Clarets to the runners-up position and earmarked him as a striker to watch. But it is doubtful that anyone at Turf Moor expected the explosive form that he produced in the middle of the 1920-21 season. In the space of 17 League and Cup games between December and March, Anderson scored 22 goals, including three hat-tricks, and set the Clarets on their way to the League title. Anderson's own robust style meant that he was rarely short of vengeful opponents looking to settle a few scores, but he commanded respect, and the fear he instilled in opposition defences was a valuable commodity. Anderson's scoring exploits continued for a while in the 1921-22 season, his 13 goals in the opening 15 games maintaining the Clarets' lead at the top of the division. But then the goals dried up, possibly as a result of injuries to those he relied upon to create chances, such as inside-forward Benny Cross. Anderson's difficulties began to mirror those of the team. Not only were both Anderson and the side itself trying manfully to defend their pre-eminence in the face of determined opponents, but their very struggles communicated to others that the Burnley machine was no longer the slick and ruthlessly efficient unit it once was. Despite another 21 League and Cup goals in the 1921-22 season, Anderson no longer had the presence to instil nervous fear in the hearts and minds of opposition defenders. Towards the end of the campaign, Anderson found himself playing second fiddle to the emergence of George Richardson, whose five goals in the last eight games appeared to mark him out as a particularly promising striking talent.

But the melancholy atmosphere around the club and among the fans was not solely the result of a season of lost form and fruitless struggle. It was the break-up of the Halley-Boyle-Watson half-back line at the end of the season that convinced many Turf Moor followers that they had witnessed the end of a short but glorious era. Burnley's great captain Tommy Boyle, out of the side since February with a knee injury, renewed his contract at Turf Moor, but it was as a coach, not a player. Though he expressed hopes that he would recover to play again, Boyle's many years of fearless service at the heart of both defence and attack had softened even his resilient bones. Local lad Willie Nesbitt, who had made his Burnley debut as a skinny youth in 1912, had also received a career-threatening injury. To add to those players incapacitated by injury were those who felt the time had come to move on. These included such well-established veterans as Cliff Jones and George Halley, both of whom had won Championship medals the previous season. They refused the terms offered to them by the management, and were placed on the transfer list.

So it was that the adventures of that most renowned Turf Moor triumvirate - Halley, Boyle and Watson - came to an end. The Clarets faced a period of re-organisation and rebuilding, frustrating procedures that are not easily abided by supporters used to seeing a winning side. But the club had once already fashioned a success out of the basic ingredients of the Turf Moor system: a modest scouting network, some canny acquisitions and the careful introduction of younger players. Furthermore, the Clarets could call on the services of some proven players in their prime, including Bob Kelly, by now a star performer in the England team and rated as a player of unquestioned international pedigree. But the formidable task that faced the Haworth-Windle partnership was to construct a sturdy enough framework around the huge attacking talent of Kelly, as well as the none-too-easy matter of replacing the inestimable presence of the likes of Boyle and Halley at the heart of the Burnley defence. The Burnley Express were under no illusions about the task ahead, and the paper cautioned the Burnley public that patience and goodwill would be a currency in demand at Turf Moor in the future months:

It is a bitter pill for local sportsmen to swallow, but they have had their share of triumphs in the past, and it is the alternative of defeat which makes victory so sweet. Having slipped from the pinnacle of fame, the ascent will not be an easy one, but it is up to the football-loving public to show that true sportsmanship and loyalty which the club's record deserves.

In early June, Burnley embarked on a post-season tour to Italy. Their itinerary included a showcase fixture against Liverpool in Turin. This was, of course, billed as an exhibition from England's premier teams, the last two clubs to raise the League Championship. In front of a large and curious crowd, Burnley defeated Liverpool 1-0 before embarking on a series of friendlies around the Northern cities. In a series of dispatches for the Burnley Express, John Haworth gave his impressions of Italian football, which were not very favourable. After a 1-2 defeat in the second match of the tour at the hands of Piedmont, he wrote:

For the second game of the series we again appeared in black and gold, as against Liverpool, and Piedmont appeared in white with green collars. Both teams were photographed, and then the teams called out three cheers for each other. Having lost the toss, Richardson set the ball in motion which brought from the Italian spectators a great shout for their team, which was different from our game with Liverpool. Every good kick or movement made by our opponents being greeted vociferously. The Italians were playing fast and determined football, and caused our defenders no end of trouble.

We had several incursions in our opponent's territory but they lacked sustenance, but in one of these Kelly accepted a pass from the left wing and succeeded in scoring the first goal after 25 minutes play. We did not retain our lead for long, as eight minutes later the Whites equalised, which brought frantic yells from their supporters. Half time arrived with the score one goal each.

After an interval of twenty minutes, the game was restarted. Considering the heat, the game continued fast. Towards the close, Smelt missed the ball and left the inside-forward with only Dawson to beat, and as the keeper advanced he lifted the ball over the keeper's head into the goal. This proved to be the last goal, although we went very near on two or three occasions.

The style of play of the Italians was near to that of a Third Division team, but much faster. The players are very enthusiastic and go banging in in real cup-tie fashion, pushing and elbowing and kicking as high as one's head. Our players had to be most careful. There would have been scores of fouls given by an English referee. The ground was too narrow (around 60 yards) to allow us to work with the same freedom as in England, and also very hard and uneven, the second goal being a concrete case when Smelt, meeting a bouncing ball, clean missed it as it shot away from him off a lump.

The spectators, who are used to their own style, did not appear to appreciate our play, and any mistakes were jeered. Once Kelly tried a long-range drive which was off the target, and he fairly got the bird. The referee was simply awful. As an example, we won a corner; he went and consulted a spectator and then gave a goal kick. We missed several chances early in the game, and ought to have won comfortably.

This opening fixture in Piedmont seems to have acted as something of a wake-up call for the tourists, as Burnley went on to defeat a Venetian XI 3-1, Novara 2-1 and, in perhaps the most impressive result of the tour, an Italian National XI 3-1.

As satisfactory and pleasant as such a continental tour was sure to have been, it provided only momentary distraction from the most pressing matters for the management at Turf Moor. As pre-season training loomed, there was no further progress on the situation involving first team players Cliff Jones and George Halley, both of whom were refusing to sign new contracts. In effect, they were withdrawing their services from the club, and this meant the manager had to resolve not just the loss of Boyle, but of two other long-serving defensive stalwarts.

Stephen Sims, a half-back with Third Division (South) outfit Bristol Rovers, was signed to fill the centre half-back role vacated by Tommy Boyle. Though Boyle was an almost impossible act to succeed, Sims performed competently in the pre-season run-outs, and his form seemed to auger well for the campaign ahead. William Emerson got the nod in the left half-back position, whilst the indomitable Willie Watson maintained his grip on the No.6 shirt. Alf Bassnet once more had to be contented with his role as reserve half-back. In the full-back positions, Len Smelt's metronomic consistency made him an automatic choice at right-back, whilst the Cliff Jones saga saw Cup Final veteran David Taylor once more the undisputed possessor of the No.3 shirt. Jerry Dawson, fast assuming legendary status, began his twelfth season in goal.

Whilst these men appeared to constitute a reasonable defensive line-up, perhaps there was something a little injudicious about the optimism of the Turf Moor faithful on the eve of the new season. The revered components of this line-up - Dawson, Taylor and Watson - could not be expected to sustain the intense levels of competitive performance that they had managed in their younger days, and the less experienced players - Astin, Sims and Bassnet - were not of the international calibre of Boyle or Halley.

In the attacking half of the side, the club had suffered a setback when Willie Nesbitt, coming back from a long term knee injury, broke down in pre-season training. His replacement, John Fisher, was at least a specialist right winger, but one whose First Division pedigree had yet to be established. The remainder of the team bore a familiar look - Bob Kelly, Joe Anderson, Benny Cross and Eddie Mosscrop were all members of the 1920-21 side. The inclusion of Anderson was possibly the most contentious decision, since young George Richardson had made a compelling case for his inclusion, and the prolific nature of Anderson's goal scoring had long since ebbed away.

The reality for Burnley of life after Boyle was that a defence ageing and untried in equal measure had to try and repel the best attacking players in the land, whilst the forwards had to reassert themselves in the face of a decline in form and a subsequent loss of confidence. Perhaps most crucially of all, this had to be done without the on-field leadership of Tommy Boyle, imperiously orchestrating affairs from the half-back line. For John Haworth and his chairman Harry Windle, the attempt to construct a new winning team from half of an old one would prove the biggest challenge yet of their Turf Moor partnership.

Phil Whalley
January 2002

Quietly Making History