I would wish to make acquaintance of Burnley's visit to Mauritius in 1954 i.e some 64 years ago . May be the fans mostly from the younger generation are not aware of it .Burnley pioneered English football in the Indian Ocean islands .Previously nobody was aware of English clubs .
They played six matches from 13 May to 30 May ,1954 and won all of them . They scored 36 goals and only 2 against .All matches were played at King George V Stadium which is located in the town of Curepipe . Prior to their landing to Mauritius the stadium was enlarged to accommodate 22,000 spectators . Needless to say all the six matches were played before a packed stadium .Some spectators took the precaution to come at least three hours before the time the match was scheduled .
Mauritians were taken aback as they had never watched such games of such high intensity .The club became very popular and the names of players were a household word . Up to now names of some players are still remembered namely Jimmy Adamson who was the Captain ,,Cummings Tommy,Mc Ilroy jimmy ,Bill Holden ,Leslie Shannon , Colin Madonald (who became an international keeper for England which beat Russia by 5-0 in Wembley).and others .
The President of the club was N.Grimshaw ,Chairman W.Hopkinson ,and members Clegg ,kay ,Baron ,Lord ,Pickard ,and Kay .The manager was Frank Hill ,Secretary Henry Smith and trainer Doogall .
The names of accompanying players were : Desmond Thompson ,Jock Aird ,Jock Winton ,Bennion jack ,Billy Gray .David Cargill ,Bill Souther ,Bobby Seith ,Jimmy Appleby ,roy Stevenson and some others whom I have mentioned above .
the name of Burnley is immortal and their visit to our small island memorable .

I did not know that at all. Perhaps we should return worth our new heroes.

Thanks Davemanu. Best wishes to you and your fellows.

I say we should have early season tour of Mauritius next year, whose with me?

Some five years ago with the consent of an important official ,i had started negotiations in all secrecy the intended visit of Burnley to MAURITIUS . THE MAURITIUS FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION HAD ALREADY GIVEN ITS CONSENT .i had contacted Air Mauritius for a rebate tariff . Further I had contacted the Long Beach Hotel for their stay .
UNFORTUNATELY there was no follow up and the matter fizzled .Should I receive a positive response from officials of Burnley ,I may start negotiations with Mauritian parties .

Following the Mauritius games a number of young ladies came to Burnley to be hospital nurses. I wonder if any of them stayed!

Jimmy McIlroy is on record as saying that trip to Mauritius and Madagascar was the most enjoyable of all the football tours he made throughout his career.

In fact I believe he wrote a personal letter at the time to Bhurdwaz Mungur thanking him for the hospitality to himself and all the players and staff.

Perhaps davemanu can confirm that letter remains one of his most treasured possessions.

I am lead to believe my Grandad on my father's side played in the Mauritius side, that played Burnley. And also he played against an England touring side of that decade..

Truly a memorable tour for all. Rare moments.

I did not receive any letter from MacIlroy .He is a legend and his name is very popular in our island . I would love to receive him here and present him to the media for a press conference . He should be appointed as an ambassador of legendary and prestigious one and only BURNLEY .
i failed to mention the result of their match against Madagascar :
Madagascar 1- 13 Burnley .Burnley remains the club which brought English football to the Indian Ocean islands .

Message to Davemanu200

I'm visiting the lovely island of Mauritius next Thursday for a 2 week holiday - my son and I will be proudly wearing the claret and blue colours!

I was wondering what are the top 5 'must do' things on the island? It would be great to hear from a local from the island rather than a touristy packaged trip!

It would be good to hear from you - email me at to keep the chat off the message board

Cheers

MOD: Email address has been removed due to security issues.

The programme for the series of games

Antonybfc # 10

Just sent some info to you

Royboyclaret wrote:I believe he wrote a personal letter at the time to Bhurdwaz Mungur thanking him for the hospitality to himself and all the players and staff.

Perhaps davemanu can confirm that letter remains one of his most treasured possessions.

That's a bit naughty Royboy

HunterST_BFC wrote:Antonybfc # 10

Just sent some info to you

ColburnClaret and I are on Mauritius, for a family wedding, next year. As email links are down currently any chance you could pop the info up on here? Cheers, either way.

piston broke wrote:ColburnClaret and I are on Mauritius, for a family wedding, next year. As email links are down currently any chance you could pop the info up on here? Cheers, either way.

Sorry I can't post details on here without first seeking consent.
Is there a way I can contact you?
This is an open forum (and not secure) so I hope you understand.

HunterST_BFC wrote:Sorry I can't post details on here without first seeking consent.
Is there a way I can contact you?
This is an open forum (and not secure) so I hope you understand.

No problem but other than email, no. We’ll be sound. I’ll google it but would prefer personal advice.

Just watching Burnley on motd and it got me thinking about when they played in Mauritius my uncle played against them and he still has some type of paper cutting with it on. I ll see if I can get hold of it and I ll post it on this thread.