Double swoop brings in reinforcements from Bury
Having basically sacked four players five days earlier, Burnley manager Stan Ternent had returned to his old club Bury to sign the experienced pair of Peter Swan and Gordon Armstrong.
Swan had been at Bury for just about a year having left Burnley to join them, so it was a return for him along with Armstrong who had been a big player at Sunderland over the years before moving to Gigg Lane.
A delighted Ternent said: “I’m pleased to get both players. They will both give us strength and they are men. They are both players I know well and are not risk signings. Both are top class players. Now, with Swanny and Gordon added to Ronnie Jepson and Steve Morgan, it is the beginning of rebuilding here.”
Stan added: “Swanny is familiar with the place, and was popular with the fans in his time here, while I signed Gordon from Sunderland and he did ever so well for me. Swanny can play at the back or up front, while Gordon can play anywhere.”
Both players were 31 and had great experience. Swan had started at Leeds before moving to Hull where he first played for Ternent. Transfers to Port Vale and Plymouth followed before Jimmy Mullen brought him to Burnley in the summer of 1995 after Steve Davis had moved to Luton.
He left Burnley for Bury in August 1998 and had now returned after a year that had seen him make 37 league appearances for the Shakers, the last of which had come in a 1-0 win at QPR in May with Armstrong scoring the goal.
Armstrong had been a big favourite at Sunderland for whom he played almost 350 league games in which he scored fifty goals. His last season there was spent away from Roker Park on loan at Bristol City and Northampton before Ternent snapped him up for Bury in August 1996. Although Swan hadn’t featured for Bury in the early weeks of the 1998/99 season, Armstrong had, making four substitute appearances and scoring one goal against Burnley in the League Cup.
Getting the pair was considered to be a real coup with Ternent confirming: “Swan has signed for a year with Armstrong signing for a bit longer.”
Both were expected to go straight into the team to face Walsall at the Bescot Stadium two days later.
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