ARTICLE: The Orient Game – the day we must never forget

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Tue May 09, 2017 10:10 am

My thoughts on 30 years ago

See link
http://www.uptheclarets.com/the-orient- ... ver-forget

Lord Beamish · Post by **Lord Beamish** » Tue May 09, 2017 10:23 am

I never will. I was 14 at the time. I remember the nervousness in Pa Beamish as we walked from the car at Towneley. The game itself was a blur; I genuinely can't remember Grewcock's goal going in, I just remember Pa Beamish screaming at him to cut inside and shoot; after that, pandemonium!
Britton' goal I will never forget. We were stood on the Bee Hole and it seemed to go in right in line with where we were stood. Grown men around me were screaming themselves hoarse. We had breathing space!
After they got the goal back I can still remember the tension and then it's release as the final whistle shrilled through the air.
I wanted to climb over the fence but Pa Beamish said we should leave; he'd seen enough and wanted to go home. He'd not been a regular visitor for about 2 years and was saddened at just how bad his team had become. He's had a ST ever since.
Walking back to the car I felt like I had just seen Burnley win the FA Cup. The elation I felt was so strong that I can still summon it to me.
It's an elation that Burnley have given me since; in '92, '94, '00, '09, '14(twice - promotion and finally beating Bl*ckburn), and then last year, winning the Championship. Though the Orient Feeling is still the strongest one I have had in Football, good or bad.

Paulclaret · Post by **Paulclaret** » Tue May 09, 2017 10:24 am

Brilliant piece Tony. I remember when everybody was celebrating at the final whistle, My brother and I just sat down on the Longside terracing and, I don't mind admitting, I cried my eyes out!

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Tue May 09, 2017 10:26 am

I cried at Wembley in 1962 and the Orient game was the next time. I'd sat on the terracing too. Like Lord Beamish I wanted to get over the fence, but I wasn't good at climbing so I had to wait until they opened the gate at the front. I remember someone going for the beer to the Park View and bringing it onto the pitch for us. We just didn't want to go home.

CleggHall · Post by **CleggHall** » Tue May 09, 2017 10:27 am

Did anybody not cry that day?
An impossibility to my mind but, there again, I am an emotional guy.

RalphCoatesComb · Post by **RalphCoatesComb** » Tue May 09, 2017 10:32 am

Don't remember crying but had a numbness throughout my body. Been running on adrenaline and emotion for too long that day.

Didn't even get onto the pitch.

Oh what small margins Phewwwwww !

boiledclaret · Post by **boiledclaret** » Tue May 09, 2017 10:35 am

My clearest memory is seeing rough looking blokes on the pitch crying. I wanted to emulate them to prove my loyalty, but couldn't.

I was 18 at the time though, probably going through my 'well ard' stage, or pretending at least.

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Tue May 09, 2017 10:36 am

boiledclaret wrote:My clearest memory is seeing rough looking blokes on the pitch crying. I wanted to emulate them to prove my loyalty, but couldn't.

I was 18 at the time though, probably going through my 'well ard' stage, or pretending at least.

I wouldn't describe paulclaret and myself as rough

boiledclaret · Post by **boiledclaret** » Tue May 09, 2017 10:42 am

ClaretTony wrote:I wouldn't describe paulclaret and myself as rough

Think I overdid that one, CT.

Lets just say that as a teen they were 'bigger boys'

NottsClaret · Post by **NottsClaret** » Tue May 09, 2017 10:50 am

As with Beamish, I was a youngster at the time. I'd only started going that season, so didn't feel the enormity of it as much as some although the general feeling of panic in the last 15 minutes rubbed off on me. After only seeing us in an empty, echoing Turf up to that point the crowd that day felt bigger than Wembley.

Suratclaret · Post by **Suratclaret** » Tue May 09, 2017 10:59 am

To this day My blood pressure increases when I think about that day and what it would have meant if we hadn't got the right result. Now seeing where the club is now, seems proof that miracles can happen.

RalphCoatesComb · Post by **RalphCoatesComb** » Tue May 09, 2017 11:04 am

I believe that some of this may have been posted elsewhere re that day. No apologies though.

What it does show is the Iron Man like jaw that little ole Burnley has.

No silly figures re investment; no half-baked foreign (I don't give a sh!t) owners; no selling of the ranch (or even the stables); no administration to avoid your liabilities... just good old Northern Hard Work and determination.

Who do we have to thank for our rise since that "horrible, horrible" day, (as CT puts it) ?

It would be wrong to single out anyone, there are far too many candidates for "Who dun it?"

So, I'd like to thank...

"EVERYONE" connected to BFC, from ball-boys to Chairman, the backroom staff, groundsmen (and women), the programme sellers, from Tom Heaton to Rocket Ron, from me to you, to you to me, to Rocky and back to you again (On me 'ead son!

)

And, a Special mention to those who are no longer with us, who didn't get to see where we are today.

Simply put...

"We are Burnley, Super Burnley, we are Burnley from the Norf"

Firthy · Post by **Firthy** » Tue May 09, 2017 11:05 am

I sat in my car for 2 hours and listened to every minute on Radio Lancs. None of the radios in the house could pick it up. I shed a tear at the end even though I was a mere overseas supporter.

RocketLawnChair · Post by **RocketLawnChair** » Tue May 09, 2017 11:10 am

You do this to me about every 3 months CT. You go and mention that bloody Rochdale game. As a result the 6-0 drubbing by Hereford is the worst ever, but those of us unfortunate to witness the Rochdale game at Turf Moor probably saw the worst ever performance by a Burnley Team,

The Orient game will remain the most important game ever played by Burnley Football Club. And we managed to win it. Emotional wonderful and depressing all rolled into one.

RammyClaret61 · Post by **RammyClaret61** » Tue May 09, 2017 11:14 am

I main memory of that day is anger. I was angry at all those who'd turned up just for the novelty of Burnley's last ever game. I was angry at the packed longside that had been empty all season. Angry at a group stood where I'd stood all season. Angry that we had come to be in this position. When the final whistle went it was all released, yes a flood of tears while also sat on the longside, before eventually entering the field. It was a long long day.

Silkyskills1 · Post by **Silkyskills1** » Tue May 09, 2017 12:07 pm

As you say,CT, that journey home from Crewe was soul-destroying. The wait for the Saturday to arrive was excruciatingly long. It couldn't come quick enough, results just went against us like the 'coffin kid's being screwed down even tighter. Put into the equation that Orient were 'up for it' where a win for them saw them in the play-offs. Before our first goal I can remember a scuffed clearance from Ray Deakin that went over Neenan's head and brushed the crossbar. The period of time after they got one back remains fo me indescribable. And then they had a goal kick, it was 4.57 and I just remember thinking that if George Courtenay had a heart of any kind he had to blow for full time when the ball was in the air. He did have a heart. Just turned to my brother at the side of me,roared in relief and defiance and then can't recall much after that.

Steve-Harpers-perm · Post by **Steve-Harpers-perm** » Tue May 09, 2017 12:33 pm

I wasn't allowed to go I'd been on a few games as a 7 year old that season but remember listening to the end with my mum at home on the radio. Didn't really understand the importance of it at the time and couldn't understand the relief my mum showed at full time!

'Celebrated like winning the world cup' my father in law always says!

Wokingclaret · Post by **Wokingclaret** » Tue May 09, 2017 1:17 pm

I remember the radio 2 commentators in the press area of the Bob Lord (back), Peter Jones and Jimmy Armfield

9thMay1987 · Post by **9thMay1987** » Tue May 09, 2017 1:25 pm

I remember leaving the ground at quarter to six and waking past the old Sainsbury store.

A women who had been shopping was just blasting the horn of her car with her daughter stood on the passenger seat, her head out of the sunroof, waving a stick of bread and simply jumping for joy.

bfcjg · Post by **bfcjg** » Tue May 09, 2017 1:25 pm

Packed pubs from 10am (could have been our last ever all dayer with breakfast so had to make it a good one)I was very angry with a bloke buying a load of programmes to sell outside for a fiver, I had to be calmed down. I remember as has been alluded to above wondering where all these "supporters" were when we struggled to get 2000 on with their cry's of we'll support you evermore. I remember it went quiet outside the turnstiles as it does when you are waiting to go into the crematorium. I remember starting smoking having packed it in for 18months. The elation of the goals, the tension at the end, the sheer relief and vowing that no matter what you ever did as a Claret you would always do your bit to ensure we never got in this mess again. When all this was over I was to drained to go out for a post match beer I just wanted to go home to be with my family and look at my baby daughter knowing that there would be a club for her to support. If you never witnessed it you are lucky in the sense that you are a relatively young person, however those of us who did witnessed something that will always stay with us. UTC enjoy the glory days we really don't know we are born.

Cajun · Post by **Cajun** » Tue May 09, 2017 1:30 pm

An emotional and raw event that must never be forgotten, helps define who we are, and makes our recent achievements all the sweeter. Don't think my voice has ever fully recovered. Must admit to being a little sorry to see Orient now lose their league status. Have re-read the collection or articles in Dave T's "No Nay Never - A Burnley FC Anthology" which really does help bring the game vividly to life. --

Sausage · Post by **Sausage** » Tue May 09, 2017 1:48 pm

It brings a tear to my eye reading CT's article and the responses on here. I was eleven years old and it was my second season as a season ticket holder with my brother. My Dad - a lapsed Claret following our 1976 relegation - made a rare appearance on the Turf. There's no doubt he was there to witness the last ever Burnley game and I remember his words on the eve of the match with crystal clarity: "Boys, I don't want to see any tears tomorrow when Burnley get relegated." I knew there and then it was a promise I couldn't keep. A couple of years ago I saw the iconic photograph of Ray Deakin leading out the Clarets. I've seen it hundreds of times before but I never spotted that me, Dad and my brother are all in it.

How good was Neil Grewcock's goal that afternoon? And if we ever have a statue at Turf Moor, I'd vote for it being Ian Britton celebrating his goal - singularly THE most important goal in the club's history.

Noble Peter · Post by **Noble Peter** » Tue May 09, 2017 1:57 pm

I was 25 at the time watching the clarets since I was 4, I went on with my girlfriend at the time, at the final whistle I was over the fence and on to the pitch I left her on the long side ,I too was in tears when we met up later,I got married in the June of 87 the second best thing that happened to me that year .30 years on still married to the same lass and loving my best years as a claret ,still love the clarets more, loved them longer .The younger supporters who weren't around then don't know the meaning of watching other teams results it was heartbreaking

Pete76 · Post by **Pete76** » Tue May 09, 2017 1:58 pm

I guess you could say that today marks 30 years of me being a Burnley fan!

My first game on the turf was actually the week before as a 10 year old against Southend which we won 2-1. My mum & dad took me down and we sat in the cricket field stand. After trying 10 years previously with my sister (but not succeeding - she still hates football) and seeing that I had enjoyed it so much they took me back the week after.

At the final whistle, seeing so many people (especially grown men!) crying i realilsed that this was so much bigger than just 'we've won a game of football.'

I've been addicted ever since!!

We went to most home matches the following season and all got season tickets the season following that. I've had one ever since, apart from when i was a skint student during which I worked on the turnstiles to get on the match.

I may have been to the game before, but without doubt, this is the one, 'The Orient Game', that made me a Claret!

UTC

iluva64 · Post by **iluva64** » Tue May 09, 2017 2:34 pm

30years. Clarets of a certain age can never forget that day.

I'm having an extra large 'malt' tonight

boiledclaret · Post by **boiledclaret** » Tue May 09, 2017 2:43 pm

Pete76 wrote:My first game on the turf was actually the week before as a 10 year old against Southend which we won 2-1.

That's a game that's been massively understated over the years due to the magnitude of the Orient game. There were 3,800 on for that match which saw the clarets go a goal down early on. Superb fight back, the 2nd half was the best they played all season and Southend went up that year.

Similar scenario against Northampton at the Turf who finished as champions.

edlass · Post by **edlass** » Tue May 09, 2017 3:11 pm

Born in 1988 I missed the orient game but I can safely say that because of it that I am now a fan of Burnley, and have been since my first game which if my research is correct was only the 2nd home game since the longside was demolished (at home to Wycombe in 1995 and I still haven't forgiven my Dad). My Dad had been a fan since his own childhood when Burnley were in the top flight. A Mixture of being a teenager and being interested in other things like pubs and my Mum, meant he had lost interest in the football until he read about the up coming orient game in the paper. He knew we were in the 4th division but hadn't realised the severity.

He followed the game that day on the radio and it turned him back into an attending fan from the next season.

If we had ceased to exist or carried on falling I would just be another Man Utd fan. I wouldn't change it either. so far so good 22 years on the up!

Sausage · Post by **Sausage** » Tue May 09, 2017 3:35 pm

boiledclaret wrote:That's a game that's been massively understated over the years due to the magnitude of the Orient game. There were 3,800 on for that match which saw the clarets go a goal down early on. Superb fight back, the 2nd half was the best they played all season and Southend went up that year.

Similar scenario against Northampton at the Turf who finished as champions.

If I recall the Southend game correctly, Taffy scored a belting free kick into the bottom corner at the Cricket Field End past 'Fat Jim' Stannard.

The home game victory against Northampton was remarkable as the Cobblers were far and away the best team in the division.

Vegas Claret · Post by **Vegas Claret** » Tue May 09, 2017 3:51 pm

I was in the junior Clarets section at the bottom of the Cricket Field. As soon as the ball left Grewcocks boot I knew it was in

Amazing day that could have turned out so different.

Ashingtonclaret46 · Post by **Ashingtonclaret46** » Tue May 09, 2017 4:09 pm

Amongst the most miserable times to be supporting the Clarets. I used to do a 460 mile round trip when I was stationed at RAF Uxbridge between 1978 and 1988 and saw the Clarets relegated 3 times and promoted once.
I shall never forget those seasons from 1984/5 when we were relegated with crowds around 6500 which then halved over the following seasons until that fateful game which saw us survive against all the odds.
I was 40 at the time and I have to admit to shedding a tear when the final whistle went.

joey13 · Post by **joey13** » Tue May 09, 2017 4:19 pm

Couldn't get over for the game and was in Jersey listening on the radio , Jimmy Armfield , I said to my now wife that I would run into the sea shouting BURNLEY if we stayed up , true to my word I did exactly that , and yes she thought I was mad and yes she is still with me and even attends games occasionally now .

randomclaret2 · Post by **randomclaret2** » Tue May 09, 2017 4:31 pm

The whole day was just an absolute blur, particularly the match itself. Having been on virtually every game that season, to see the place packed, after the pitiful gates most weeks, was just incredible. The absolute sense of relief at the end was combined with the knowledge that despite everything , the club still had that amazing support desperate for them to succeed again. I did go on the pitch afterwards and remember looking back up at the Longside which still seemed to be packed even though there were thousands on the pitch !

IanMcL · Post by **IanMcL** » Tue May 09, 2017 4:35 pm

I woke up early (in Salisbury) and said to my wife - I have to go to Turf Moor. It was a calling.
I drove up and parked ok. When I walked into Brunshaw Road - never have I witnessed such a vision. Where there had previously been a few making their way to Turf Moor, the whole road was full of people in Claret and Blue, making their way up from town, thousands and all at the same moment.

I took my place on the Longside and have never heard such a volume from the Burnley crowd, throughout the match. the team, which had been horrendous all season, fought for their lives. Blocks went in from players who started yards away and yet somehow manged to get between ball and goal. We scored two and yet Orient put in shot after shot. Somehow the keeper saved, the blocks worked or, most mysteriously, it was as though the crowd controlled the ball with a common thought and made sure our heroes made it or the mind power took the shot wide. I felt the power of one. One crowd with one purpose.

I have never known such a presence before. I stayed on the pitch for a long, long time before making my way home, knowing we were safe.

Sarum · Post by **Sarum** » Tue May 09, 2017 4:35 pm

Prior to that season I'd lived abroad for a number of years and could only follow our demise from afar. I returned to GB at the beginning of that fateful season and was shocked at the reality of where we now were and the pitiful attendances (the the last time I'd been to Turf Moor had been v West Ham in what was then Division 2).

On the day of the Orient match I was unable to take time off work as I had to drive a group of people with disabilities for an event near Bournemouth seafront. But it was agreed that I would remain in the bus for the duration of the event so that I could listen to the commentary. God almighty that match seemed to last for hours. Sat on the step with my Burnley scarf on a warm day in May and every once in a while yelling "CORNER!" or "SHOOT!" I did get a few strange looks from slightly perturbed passers by. And when that final whistle came? Well I just went completely nuts!

Half an hour later the group I was driving returned from their event to the bus, oblivious of course to all the huge excitement and relief I'd experienced whilst they were at the do. "Didn't you get bored sitting here all on your own all that time?" someone asked sympathetically.

Healeywoodclaret · Post by **Healeywoodclaret** » Tue May 09, 2017 5:54 pm

Noble Peter wrote:I was 25 at the time watching the clarets since I was 4, I went on with my girlfriend at the time, at the final whistle I was over the fence and on to the pitch I left her on the long side ,I too was in tears when we met up later,I got married in the June of 87 the second best thing that happened to me that year .30 years on still married to the same lass and loving my best years as a claret ,still love the clarets more, loved them longer .The younger supporters who weren't around then don't know the meaning of watching other teams results it was heartbreaking

I was also on the game that day. It was indeed like winning the World Cup. My memories of the TV cameras / press like vultures waiting to watch our famous old club slide into oblivion. I also got married in 1987. So two great things to happen that year too. We had our Wedding Reception at the Sparrow Hawk. I married a military man and I've never lived iny home town since. Still married planning a big Pearl Wedding Anniversary party in beautiful Northumberland where we have lived for almost 10 years. I'm astonished by what our little club have achieved in recent years and thank god for Social Media and Sky so I can keep in touch with my beloved club when I can't get down to the Turf.

Our friends down the M65 should read this thread. They are looking down the barrel of a gun and this could be them in as little as 2 years time.

UTC

DCWat · Post by **DCWat** » Tue May 09, 2017 6:53 pm

I was only a youngster at the time and don't really recall the severity of the situation in the weeks leading up to the big day.

I do remember wondering where the hell all the people had come from, having started watching in around 85, seeing a crowd at The Turf was most unusual. To this day I don't believe that it was under 16,000.

I knew it was a big day because there wasn't a single "whoosh" when Deakin was kicking the ball

although that could be my memory playing tricks on me.

Bin Ont Turf · Post by **Bin Ont Turf** » Tue May 09, 2017 7:54 pm

The day we must never forget

Copy and pasted from a previous thread.......

Bin Ont Turf wrote:The only time I've been teary over football was when leaving Crewe that night, that's how bad it was. Like Braindead has said, we were done, gone, finished.

And that's why I got so p1ssed for the supposed funeral against Orient and hardly remember any of it. Although I do have flashbacks of the Longside concrete, Britton's header and being on the pitch.

A grand day though, so I'm told.

ClaretLoup · Post by **ClaretLoup** » Tue May 09, 2017 8:06 pm

A very peculiar season. I went to the reverse fixture in December when we were actually a point above Orient and were 13 points clear of bottom place Stockport, however they were really bad that day, and Burnley won only one of their next 13 fixtures & it was not difficult to see why. I went also to a night match at Peterborough in March and saw a minor miracle as Posh were fourth in the table and had just won their last four matches. They absolutely battered Burnley, went one up but missed a hatful of easy chances including a penalty. However Grewcock had a rare breakaway cut inside and had a fairly tame shot which was going well wide but hit a Peterborough player and went in and they picked up a completely improbable point.

I debated with myself long and hard whether to make the 500 mile round trip from Ipswich to Burnley for the last match, and only finally committed on the morning of the game to go up, as this could be my last chance ever to watch Burnley play in the league again. My main memory was that the crowd was massively positive throughout and gave the team tremendous support throughout the game.

A real turning point for the club, and at the time I was just really relieved & glad to still have a league team to support.

Dazzler · Post by **Dazzler** » Tue May 09, 2017 8:16 pm

Was sat at home a few hours before kick seriously contemplating not going on.
Wondering whether I could take the ultimate pain and ignomy of seeing my beloved clarets fall into oblivion.

About 2pm my dad arrived and said my pals had called round,I told him I don't think I can stand anymore of this,I can't do it,I can't suffer this anymore...I won't be watching burnley with my son...blah blah blah.
My dad just spoke of those good times we had watching Burnley together when I was a kid..The Preston game and that season..that win at Leeds..so on so on...whatever the outcome you should be there...we have to be there...

It would probably have been the biggest regret of my life if I had decided not go on the most important game ever in the history of Burnley Football Club.

Thanks dad.

Just sorry my dad is not here to see the good times come back.

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Tue May 09, 2017 9:04 pm

Thanks everyone - some fantastic posts on this thread

mdd2 · Post by **mdd2** » Tue May 09, 2017 9:21 pm

I didn't cry. I took my 12 and 14 year old sons to the game. We had been to a few games that season along with my 11year old but he was on holiday with the school. Crowds had been paltry all season and when we hit the massive traffic jam at Gannow top and was asked why so much traffic I just thought there must be some shopping spectacle on never thought we would be full to the brim with a delayed KO. What a nervous afternoon but the joy at the end. Had a ST in the same seat ever since.
Shed a tear or two tonight however as my 12year old is no longer with us and this anniversary has brought memories gushing back. He would have been over the moon with this seasons performances.

Burnleyareback2 · Post by **Burnleyareback2** » Tue May 09, 2017 9:26 pm

Great article Tony.

I will never forget, it was my first game shortly after we moved to England.

How apt that on Saturday I celebrated my 40th Birthday knowing we would be safe in the premier league for another year.

After 5 years at an Accrington school It will also help me remember May 7th as well....

Cirrus_Minor · Post by **Cirrus_Minor** » Tue May 09, 2017 9:56 pm

Excellent article.

People had turned up from all sorts of places expecting this to be the last ever game that Burnley football club will ever play.

I remember that the build up and the game was horrible, until we won and found out that we had survived. The last twenty minutes were the worst, just wanted it to end the stakes were too high.

I was on the pitch like many others and saw many people walking around with tears streaming down their face and realised that so had I.

We came so close to the club actually ending. Hard to believe that less than twelve months later I would be walking into Wembley stadium to see half the place decked out in claret and blue.

LlandennyClaret · Post by **LlandennyClaret** » Wed May 10, 2017 2:21 pm

I was in my final year at University in Liverpool and even though I was an avid Claret, I’m ashamed to say I had probably seen more of Liverpool and Everton than I had of Burnley in those three years.

I’d gone down for the Crewe game midweek (?) and the feeling I had travelling back was probably the worst I’ve ever had as a Burnley fan. I thought we were gone. Nothing positive to keep hold of at all.

It didn’t help when I listened to local radio commentary of Tranmere’s game (I think on the Friday) which also pulled them away from trouble.

I very nearly didn’t go to the match. I just couldn’t stomach the thought of seeing my club go out of the League, but a Bolton Wanderers friend of mine told me (in no uncertain terms!) that I should be there, whatever may happen. He even came with me, as did a Bradford and a Coventry fan. All Clarets for the day.
Match programmes had long been sold out and the Longside was packed when we arrived, so we took up a position high up between the Longside and Beehole and moved our way further in as the game progressed.
The atmosphere under that Longside roof was electric. A combination of nerves, tension, frustration, anger and encouragement all coming out. I can remember little of the game itself, but I was right behind Grewcock’s curler and the explosion of noise was unbelievable. Ian Britton’s goal early in second half calmed the nerves a little but only temporarily, as when Orient pulled one back the rest of the game was tense beyond words and a bit of a blur. I do remember getting unreliable updates on the other matches being played where we needed a result to go in our favour.

As the whistle went I was almost shaking with relief, although I don’t remember crying but maybe I did. It’s certainly the first time I’d ever hugged complete strangers as we went on the pitch afterwards.

By the time I got back to Uni I couldn’t even think of drinking to celebrate- I was simply exhausted, physically and mentally.
I just hope we never get to that stage again.

Woody9229 · Post by **Woody9229** » Wed May 10, 2017 7:31 pm

I am ashamed to say I didn't go. I was living in Yeovil at the time and had been thoroughly depressed about the team and the town after watching us get beat at Cardiff 4 games from the end. I decided I would go for the match if Tranmere lost the night before. My flawed logic telling me I could not face going up and see us win but still go down and if Tranmere lost a win would definitely keep us up. I could not get Tranmeres result on TV or radio and so rang Tranmere up. A very bemused member of staff delightedly told me they had won and were safe. I explained why I was glum and she wished us all the best as she said it shouldn't happen to a club like Burnley. That just about finished me off but I decided I couldn't go. I knew that was a huge mistake when i watched the 1.00pm news on BBC on Saturday and our predicament was the leading story but it was too late. To my eternal shame I misjudged everything about that day. I was consigned to listening on the radio. It was THE main match on Radio 2. Imagine a Div 2 match now being the Saturday commentary game and yes Jim Arfield was genuinely distraught for us. I had Radio Wales on for Swansea v Lincoln and Radio Devon for Torquays game. To say I was a mess is an understatement. I pretty much wept all day but of course after what seemed like an eternity (Torquays game had huge amount of injury time after a dog bit an opposing player!!)but they were tears of unconfined joy for the whole of Saturday evening. I calmed down a bit and then watched the 9.00 o'clock news and again we were headlines and that bloody woman set me off again and does every time she is shown. It was the climax of a truly horrendous period following the Clarets. Its why the night we beat Preston in the 2nd leg of the Sherpa Van Trophy (I wasnt missing another one!!) was for me THE most magical Clarets game. To sit there on the terraces at Deepdale at the end of the match contemplating seeing MY team at Wembley 12 months after the Orient game was surreal beyond belief but brilliant at the same time.

ontario claret · Post by **ontario claret** » Wed May 10, 2017 9:07 pm

That famous shot of the woman crying in the Bob Lord at the end of the game said it all. The game got absolutely no coverage over here. But when I met Paul Slater of the Burnley Express two years later, it was the first thing I asked about.

Steve-Harpers-perm · Post by **Steve-Harpers-perm** » Wed May 10, 2017 9:31 pm

Where there ever any photos of outside the ground/town centre before the game?

brigante · Post by **brigante** » Wed May 10, 2017 10:04 pm

Does anybody else remember folk being stood at the side of the pitch towards the end of the game and somebody making out they were going to trip one of orients players up as he went speeding down the right wing? Not sure if my memory created that one in the meantime.

Bin Ont Turf · Post by **Bin Ont Turf** » Wed May 10, 2017 10:06 pm

brigante wrote:Does anybody else remember folk being stood at the side of the pitch towards the end of the game and somebody making out they were going to trip one of orients players up as he went speeding down the right wing? Not sure if my memory created that one in the meantime.

You're thinking of Wrexham at home for the 4th division party.

hoskinsgoalatswansea · Post by **hoskinsgoalatswansea** » Thu May 11, 2017 4:57 am

I was 14 at the time, and it was my first season where I didn't have to attend games with my dad on the Bob Lord stand. I was now allowed to go on with my mates on the Longside. It was so exciting, I loved it, and even though I'd been attending with my dad for a good few years, I guess this was the year that I really caught the bug, which is strange when you consider how awful it was. I didn't miss a home game, and I even took in some dreadful away trips, including Telford in the cup and a Freight Rover trophy game at Bolton which was called off at half time due to fog. I went to the Bolton game on the supporters bus (just one was required) and I remember we got pelted with bricks out of the darkness when we arrived from Bolton's delightful welcoming party. We all got back on the bus for cover, but the driver got off to try and protect his bus somehow.
My usual claret mate was in hospital that week of the Orient game, so I attended the game with another friend who was a Rovers fan. His dad had moved to Burnley due to work reasons, so he sometimes attended games with me. Whenever the 'No Nay Never' chant went up he used to say 'What've you guys got against Bristol Rovers anyway?'. A good lad and he said he wanted us to win that day, I think he meant it. For some reason, that I can't now remember, we were in the Cricket field stand that day. I can still find myself on the video when Grewcock scores, as we were on the front row just off centre from the goal. The thing I remember the most was thinking 'here we go again' after Comfort pulled one back. There'd been so many games that year that we'd squandered two goal leads in, and there seemed to be so long left, I just couldn't see us hanging on, but thankfully we did. I'm glad other people have mentioned the Southend game, they were a good side, and that was probably a better performance from us, and ultimately just as important. I remember not long after the season had finished, I was playing football on the park with some friends, and I suggested to my team mates that 'we be Burnley' but they weren't having any of it, and wanted to be Coventry City, who'd just won the FA cup in an exciting final. I'd guess there wouldn't be many kids in the parks of Burnley nowadays that would choose to be Coventry City over their hometown team. Let's keep it that way.