Geordies beaten as we close the gap at the top
After the replay win against Swansea Town it was back to league action for the Burnley team in 1960 and it brought a repeat of the 2-1 cup scoreline as we took both points from Newcastle United to complete the double over them.
There was real excitement in town with the Mayor, Councillor Miss Edith Utley, giving townsfolk instructions on how to celebrate the forthcoming birth of a Royal baby. “Perhaps not everyone has realised that this is the first time for more than a century that a child has been born to a reigning Queen of England,” said the Mayor. She said the event, which was due during February, must be celebrated by the town and asked all works, clubs and other organisations with flagpoles to prepare to fly the British flag when the announcement of the birth was made.
The town would also hold a carnival celebration dance at the Mecca Dansette to mark the birth. It was made absolutely clear when the dance would be. If the birth was before 6 p.m. the dance would be held on the same evening but if that was a Sunday it would be the next evening. However, if it clashed with a pre-booked private function it would be held the following Saturday. And, if it happened to be old time dancing night, the old time dancers would be invited to join in. Confused? It would be very interesting to see how many did turn up once the birth was announced. And all this came from the Mayor on 6th February 1960, the eighth anniversary of the death of King George VI.
Maybe Miss Utley should have been concerning herself more with the ongoing cotton concerns in the town as another weaving shed went. This time it was Queensgate Mill in Shuttleworth Street, and as you can see from the picture, the demolition of the mill left people with a view of Burnley General Hospital from Colne Road. She was also met with criticism in the council chamber when she revealed that water charges in Burnley were to go up to pay for a programme of works required following the 1959 drought. It was met with derision and criticism in the chamber.
The Mayor of Colne, Alderman H. Craddock, had been speaking at the Saving Workers’ 20th annual social. I bet that was a cracking event and Alderman Craddock’s speech made a plea for the young folk to start saving and said: “£3 million per day – that’s what Britain’s 750,000 teenagers have to spend. Every endeavour should be made to persuade them to save a proportion for worthwhile projects.” I struggled to get my head round this. That works out at £4 per day each, or £28 per week. Now I’m not sure how much the rich teenagers were getting in 1960 but in the second half of that decade I moved into my teens and I can confirm that my pocket money came nothing close to that and I seriously doubt whether my dad was earning that amount, never mind what I had to spend. All I can say is that Alderman Craddock must have known some very rich kids if he thought those figures were anything like correct.
We’d brought you a suggestion a few months ago that there might be an attempt to move Burnley’s half day closing from Tuesday to Wednesday. For those younger people reading, half day closing meant just that, and on a Tuesday afternoon all shops in Burnley closed. But there were plans to change it. A super shopping and market day in Burnley every Tuesday – drawing shoppers from a dozen towns in the surrounding district – was envisaged by Burnley Chamber of Trade and close on 2,000 shopkeepers were to be asked to ballot to make the dream come true.
The Chamber was recommending all the town’s traders to vote to change early closing day from Tuesday to Wednesday, and they had decided to press the Corporation to alter market day from Monday to Tuesday in conjunction with any change made to early closing. This would make Tuesday shopping in Burnley an attraction from Barnoldswick to Padiham, and from Todmorden to Bury as the only town in that wide area whose shops would be open all day Tuesday. The result of the ballot and the decision from the Corporation regarding the market day was eagerly awaited.
Once again there had been disturbances in town meaning more court cases. PC George Gregson had arrested one 21-year-old man for being drunk and disorderly but they both ended up falling through a window in Gannow Lane. The young man had apparently been using obscene language and the PC, in trying to arrest him, dragged him along. The man dropped his raincoat and bent down to pick it up. The PC fell over him and his helmet flew off and went straight through the window.
That was the story of the accused who also told the court that he was not drunk at all, that he’d only had five pints which was not a lot for him. He also confirmed that he was doing no more than having a friendly discussion with a lady friend. Did the court believe him? No, is the answer. He was fined £2 for being drunk and disorderly and it turned out it was his third similar offence.
Drink really was causing a problem, and the departed Chief Constable R. A. Noble said he was convinced that every day, after permitted drinking hours had ceased, there were on the roads many persons driving motor vehicles who were a menace to all other road users due to the influence of drink in varying degrees. He confirmed that he had directed his officers to give this matter strict attention, and it all came in the Chief Constable’s report for 1959 to the Licensing Justice. In his absence, as the town awaited the appointment of a new Chief Constable, it was read out by Deputy Chief Constable Superintendent T. K. Robinson.
There was more too, with serious concerns about a 100% increase in drunkenness which shocked the Justices. This came as a result of the extension of hours to 10:30 p.m. Mrs B. Hindley (presiding) added her personal shock and said: “Whilst the Justices appreciate the difficulties experienced by licensees, we would urge them to exercise more care in serving young people. We are very concerned with this aspect of the report.” The Justices adjourned at that point. Whether it was to go to the Turf for the home game against Newcastle, or whether it was for a liquid lunch, we will never know.
There were real concerns at Turf Moor when news came through of the ticket allocation for the FA Cup fifth round tie against Bradford City at Valley Parade. A Turf Moor official said: “The allocation will be very small indeed with principal consideration given to season ticket holders.”
The supporters were concerned, yet they were also excited about the Newcastle game although the Burnley Express at the time described it as a breather from the current excitement of the FA Cup competition. “From ‘Land of My Fathers’ to ‘Blaydon Races’ , for the United always bring a considerable Tyneside following to watch their Durham and Northumberland exports in action at Turf Moor”, wrote Sportsman in the Burnley Express. Five of those exports lined up in the Burnley team including Ian Lawson who was deputy for the still injured Jimmy McIlroy.
Burnley’s harassed supporters were able to find temporary relief from the FA Cup ticket troubles at Turf Moor, when they lingered to applaud both teams off the field after a first class ninety minutes of entertainment. They saw the home side beat Newcastle, and so record their second ‘double’ of the season, Everton being the previous victims. The Tynesiders always provide a worthwhile game, and the presence of just short of 27,000, over 10,000 less than saw the cup tie against Swansea Town, was a tribute to the traditions of St. James’ Park and the ultimate display and fulfilment of expectations as far as football was concerned.
Those ardent followers and keen critics of anything to do with the game, the Geordies, who made themselves heard amid the home roars, probably felt that a division of points would have been a commendable reward for their journey.
Burnley scored early. Jimmy Adamson sent Jimmy Robson away for the opening goal, and what a spectacular effort this proved to be. ROBSON is usually regarded as a ‘poacher’ on the six yard line. However he raced through from near half way and unleashed a drive which hit the top corner of the net, and the crowd roared their approval.
It was 1-0 at half time but then two players linked to draw Newcastle level. Ivor Allchurch and George Eastham are ball players of exceptional merit. Eastham in particular is a supreme artist. His dribbling, control and the way he can check ‘on a sixpence’ are quite fascinating facets of his play and caused Burnley considerable anxiety. His long runs had the home side on retreat and when they were half expecting him to shoot, he surprised them by presenting ALLCHURCH with the honour, and Newcastle were on terms.
However, the winning goal duly came and it was fitting that Ray Pointer and Lawson should combine in the honour. POINTER received the pass on the right, veered in towards goal, and as Bryan Harvey came out, the centre forward paused, judged his distance and lifted the ball over the keeper into the net.
The final whistle, and Burnley winning 2-1, brought handshakes all round with Jimmy Scoular embracing all in the immediate vicinity.
The teams were;
Burnley: Adam Blacklaw, John Angus, Alex Elder, Bobby Seith, Brian Miller, Jimmy Adamson, John Connelly, Ian Lawson, Ray Pointer, Jimmy Robson, Brian Pilkington.
Newcastle United: Bryan Harvey, Dick Keith, Alf McMichael, Jimmy Scoular, Bob Stokoe, Jackie Bell, Gordon Hughes, George Eastham, Malcolm Scott, Ivor Allchurch, George Luke.
Referee: Mr J. H. Hemmingway (Pontefract).
Attendance: 26,998.
Burnley stayed second in the league and had reduced Tottenham’s lead to three points after Preston did us a favour by holding them to a draw at Deepdale. Wolves were next, two points behind us, and again thanks to Lancashire neighbours. This time it was Blackpool who drew with them at Molineux.
Birmingham and Luton remained in the relegation places although Birmingham had pulled away from Luton with a win at Leicester.
Meanwhile the reserves couldn’t make it a double and went down 3-2 to Newcastle at St. James’ Park. Burnley twice equalised through Andy Lochhead and Trevor Meredith but the home side won it with a goal a minute from time. The good news was that Colin McDonald got another game in as he continued his comeback from a broken leg.
First Division Results
6th February 1960
Arsenal 5 Blackburn 2
Burnley 2 Newcastle 1
Fulham 1 Bolton 1
Leeds 1 West Brom 4
Leicester 1 Birmingham 3
Manchester United 0 Manchester City 0
Nottingham Forest 2 Luton 0
Preston 1 Tottenham 1
Sheffield Wednesday 2 Everton 2
West Ham 4 Chelsea 2
Wolves 1 Blackpool 1
League Table
| Pos | Team | pld | w | d | l | f | a | ga | pts |
| 1 | Tottenham | 28 | 15 | 9 | 4 | 60 | 32 | 1.88 | 39 |
| 2 | Burnley | 28 | 16 | 4 | 8 | 64 | 44 | 1.45 | 36 |
| 3 | Wolves | 28 | 15 | 4 | 9 | 69 | 52 | 1.33 | 34 |
| 4 | Sheffield Wed | 28 | 13 | 6 | 9 | 53 | 33 | 1.61 | 32 |
| 5 | Preston | 28 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 52 | 48 | 1.08 | 32 |
| 6 | West Brom | 28 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 54 | 40 | 1.35 | 31 |
| 7 | Bolton | 27 | 13 | 5 | 9 | 36 | 31 | 1.16 | 31 |
| 8 | West Ham | 28 | 14 | 3 | 11 | 54 | 54 | 1.00 | 31 |
| 9 | Fulham | 28 | 13 | 5 | 10 | 51 | 54 | 0.94 | 31 |
| 10 | Blackburn | 28 | 13 | 3 | 12 | 47 | 46 | 1.02 | 29 |
| 11 | Manchester United | 28 | 11 | 6 | 11 | 65 | 57 | 1.14 | 28 |
| 12 | Newcastle | 28 | 11 | 5 | 12 | 57 | 57 | 1.00 | 27 |
| 13 | Arsenal | 28 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 49 | 59 | 0.83 | 26 |
| 14 | Manchester City | 28 | 11 | 3 | 14 | 59 | 59 | 1.00 | 25 |
| 15 | Blackpool | 28 | 9 | 7 | 12 | 38 | 41 | 0.93 | 25 |
| 16 | Chelsea | 28 | 9 | 6 | 13 | 52 | 64 | 0.81 | 24 |
| 17 | Nottingham Forest | 28 | 10 | 4 | 14 | 34 | 53 | 0.64 | 24 |
| 18 | Everton | 28 | 8 | 7 | 13 | 45 | 52 | 0.87 | 23 |
| 19 | Leicester | 28 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 43 | 58 | 0.74 | 23 |
| 20 | Leeds | 28 | 8 | 7 | 13 | 47 | 64 | 0.73 | 23 |
| 21 | Birmingham | 28 | 8 | 5 | 15 | 38 | 52 | 0.73 | 21 |
| 22 | Luton | 27 | 6 | 7 | 14 | 32 | 49 | 0.65 | 19 |
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