Page 1 of 1

Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 3:10 pm
by wembley94
Back in 1987 crowds of just over 3000 in the 4th Division.How many would have remained loyal.going to grounds at the back of pubs.or in farmers fields.and if it happened now how many would stay loyal ... Hope Bury survive

Re: Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 3:12 pm
by gandhisflipflop
If it happened now we would survive. We have a good loyal fan base bigger than those who would be around us.

Re: Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 3:14 pm
by gtclaret
I think most of the 3000 would have stayed loyal. When Aldershot were relegated to the lowest tie
tier, they still kept their 2000 followers

Re: Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 3:18 pm
by wembley94
gandhisflipflops...Means nothing Salford Fylde and a lot more

Re: Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 3:22 pm
by ClaretTony
wembley94 wrote:Back in 1987 crowds of just over 3000 in the 4th Division.How many would have remained loyal.going to grounds at the back of pubs.or in farmers fields.and if it happened now how many would stay loyal ... Hope Bury survive
Only 7 attendances over 3,000 and that included the final three games. Who knows what would have happened? We'd have at least got rid of Teasdale and his cronies a bit quicker, they wouldn't have been able to turn people away then.

Re: Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 3:27 pm
by TheFamilyCat
Not with our current wage bill.

I'd like to think we'd comfortably win the Conference though.

Re: Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 3:30 pm
by gawthorpe_view
It depends on how long and slow a decline comes first.
Oddly enough, I think a sharp drop, 3 or so seasons, would be less harmful than the death of a thousand cuts we endured '76 to '87.

Re: Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 3:31 pm
by Quickenthetempo
Crowds would pick up if the team was winning and new grounds to visit.

Whether or not they brought in enough cash to pay for the massive ground for that level and playing budget remains to be seen.

Re: Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 3:45 pm
by gandhisflipflop
wembley94 wrote:gandhisflipflops...Means nothing Salford Fylde and a lot more

But those clubs are relatively new with little or no history so no emotional attachment our fans would have, besides both of those clubs are on an upward curve. A good example would be Hereford, they keep a good core of fans and are on their way back slowly but surely. It would be fun for the novelty value of new grounds.

Re: Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 4:26 pm
by CleggHall
.......only if Defour is fit! :D

Re: Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 4:48 pm
by Goalposts
when we got promoted from div 4 under Mullen i remember a few of the home gates had in excess of 22k , if im not mistaken

Re: Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 4:49 pm
by houseboy
I'm pretty certain I read a statement/article some years ago where the club stated quite openly that they couldn't have sustained non-league football because of debts and overheads. After reading that I always assumed that had it all gone pear-shaped on 'Orient day' we would now not have a club to support.

Re: Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 4:55 pm
by dr dre
Burnley dynamos
chalkie white was already circling and would have moved onto the ground once we went bust. Whether that project would have been a success remains to be seen. But looking at what happened at Darlington and Chester a club of some sort would have risen from the ashes .

Re: Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 4:57 pm
by gawthorpe_view
CleggHall wrote:.......only if Defour is fit! :D
He might be by then!

Re: Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 5:10 pm
by FCBurnley
Now we have DD I think we would be ok

Re: Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 5:55 pm
by Hipper
houseboy wrote:I'm pretty certain I read a statement/article some years ago where the club stated quite openly that they couldn't have sustained non-league football because of debts and overheads. After reading that I always assumed that had it all gone pear-shaped on 'Orient day' we would now not have a club to support.
I got that impression at the time.

However the whole promotion/relegation to the Conference was new and so no one knew if a club could get out as quickly as it went in. Lincoln got promoted back immediately so perhaps if the debtors could be held off and we'd kept some quality players maybe we could have done the same.

https://www.wsc.co.uk/the-archive/101-N ... es-debacle" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'd lost interest after the Orient game but it seems White's interest in Burnley came a couple of years after that as we were on the long road to recovery.

Re: Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 6:44 pm
by claretburns
I may be wrong, but sure I read an article on here, that the club were looking into buying Cardiff if we were relegated to keep the football league share and moving Cardiff to Burnley in essence what would have made us a franchise club.

Re: Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 8:03 pm
by Somethingfishy
With all the dry powder we have stored up for a rainy day we would p*** it. Isn't that the plan? :roll: :lol:

Re: Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 8:31 pm
by Cirrus_Minor
I don't believe we would have been able to keep the ground for too long and that would set us back on any long term rebuilding of the club. I have always believed it would have eventually been the end of the club in terms of becoming a professional football club again as we had known it.

The situation was dire and a million light years away from where we are know and I still find it hard to believe the amazing progress we have made since those dark days.

Re: Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 9:07 pm
by Top Claret
I don't think we would have folded if we had lost the Orient game. I honestly thought it might have been a good think. ,

We would have got shut off Teasdale and his cronies, who always gave me the impression that they used BFC as a social club to entertain their mates.

Teasdale was an awful chairman and it was a great day in the history of BFC when he stood down and Kilby took over

Re: Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 9:11 pm
by AfloatinClaret
Cirrus_Minor wrote:...The situation was dire and a million light years away from where we are know and I still find it hard to believe the amazing progress we have made since those dark days.
Yes, it's certainly a lot more fun watching BFC at this end of the football spectrum; yet amazingly a substantial number of posters tell me what a lousy job everyone associated with the club - players, manager and most especially the directors are doing?
I'm just hoping that all at BFC continue to make the same hash of things over the next thirty years, as at this rate of progress we'll by then be bigger and better than Barcelona.

Re: Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 9:29 pm
by bartons baggage
wembley94 wrote:Back in 1987 crowds of just over 3000 in the 4th Division.How many would have remained loyal.going to grounds at the back of pubs.or in farmers fields.and if it happened now how many would stay loyal ... Hope Bury survive
Burnley would survive a nuclear holocaust.

Re: Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 9:34 pm
by Jeffbfc
It was a nightmare then, do we have to live it through speculation now. :(

Re: Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 9:43 pm
by Clarets4me
Goalposts wrote:when we got promoted from div 4 under Mullen i remember a few of the home gates had in excess of 22k , if im not mistaken
The years do funny things to our memories ....

For a 4th tier Club at that time, we had a fantastic support, with an average home gate of 10,160. However, only two league attendances were over 15,000 .. Blackpool on 2/2/92 ( 18,183 ), and the final home game against Wrexham when the trophy was presented on 2/5/92, ( 21,216 ).

The lowest home gate was 6,157, for a 2-0 win against Carlisle, Jimmy Mullen's 1st game. It was the away support that really turned heads though, 7,500 went to Carlisle, 5,100 to Rochdale, and an estimated 5,000 to York,on the night the title was clinched. It was also the season of the two FA Cup replays at the Baseball Ground, which will never be forgotten by those of us present !!

UTC !!

Re: Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 10:38 pm
by Herts Clarets
Top Claret wrote:
We would have got shut off Teasdale and his cronies, who always gave me the impression that they used BFC as a social club to entertain their mates.

I very much felt it was a gentleman's club when I worked at the club mid 90s.

Re: Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 10:39 pm
by Herts Clarets
Top Claret wrote:
We would have got shut off Teasdale and his cronies, who always gave me the impression that they used BFC as a social club to entertain their mates.

I very much felt it was a gentleman's club when I worked at the club mid 90s.

Re: Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 10:55 pm
by Claretforever
Different time as the whole of Europe, and England in particular, was going through the worst period since WW2 with average crowds.

Our average attendance meant we were placed 63rd out of 92 for our average. So a whole division and more were below us, despite ours being low.

Last season that same average would have seen us placed 85th out of 92.

Crowds in general have risen, regardless of the whole tickets sold v actual attendance thing. We’d probably be averaging 6-7,000 in the same position nowadays, so that’s the kind of crowd we’d get in non-league, which would be top end.

Re: Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2019 2:40 am
by COYC73
wembley94 wrote:Back in 1987 crowds of just over 3000 in the 4th Division.How many would have remained loyal.going to grounds at the back of pubs.or in farmers fields.and if it happened now how many would stay loyal ... Hope Bury survive
Don’t know about you but I was born in Burnley and grew up in Burnley.....I’ve always supported Burnley and it wouldn’t matter at all what league or non league we were in as i’ll Support them whatever league we are in. I don’t really understand the sort of person who would support a team....then go off and choose to support a different team because they were in a higher league :?

Re: Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2019 7:41 am
by fatboy47
Clarets4me wrote:The years do funny things to our memories ....

For a 4th tier Club at that time, we had a fantastic support, with an average home gate of 10,160. However, only two league attendances were over 15,000 .. Blackpool on 2/2/92 ( 18,183 ), and the final home game against Wrexham when the trophy was presented on 2/5/92, ( 21,216 ).

The lowest home gate was 6,157, for a 2-0 win against Carlisle, Jimmy Mullen's 1st game. It was the away support that really turned heads though, 7,500 went to Carlisle, 5,100 to Rochdale, and an estimated 5,000 to York,on the night the title was clinched. It was also the season of the two FA Cup replays at the Baseball Ground, which will never be forgotten by those of us present !!

UTC !!

Fatboy laughs out loud :lol: :lol: 8-) :lol: ......21k for the Wrexham game :lol: :lol: there must have been nearly that in the open end!!

Re: Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2019 8:17 am
by CnBtruntru
CleggHall wrote:.......only if Defour is fit! :D
If it took 6 years to get relegated, he still wouldn't be fit.

Re: Would Burnley Survive Non League Football

Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2019 11:41 am
by tiger76
If we'd have gone down to the Conference in 1987,i would have feared for the future of the club in it's current form,yes we had a loyal fan base,but even their patience was being stretched by the ineptitude both on and off the pitch,the vultures were circling over TM and if rumours were to be believed the bulldozers were on standby.

It's certainly not out of the realms of possibility that we would have been forced to rebuild as a phoenix club,and work our way back up the leagues.

That perilous escape was thankfully a wake up call,and the start of our long and winding road to our current success,not without some serious bumps in the road,but in the main we've been on an upward curve over the last 3 decades.