Was it true that when we signed Peter Hampton in 1984 we could only afford to pay players £150 per week?

iconic live album though in 76

One for the kids there Wile !

Wile E Coyote wrote:iconic live album though in 76

god how boring are you?

Based on Hampton's performances we overpaid

If he was on that it was £149.50 more then he was actually worth.

I recall Brian Miller telling me that non league players wouldn't sign for us as they were on more money working then getting appearance money when they played.
Desperate times.

Wile E Coyote wrote:iconic live album though in 76

Best live album ever

I blame Jimmy Hill

karatekid wrote:I blame Jimmy Hill

Remember the old days of the Home Internationals when we used to chant

"We hate Jimmy Hill, he's a p**f"

Obviously before the politically correct days.

Thats £450 per week in todays money for a league two footballer.

Doesnt seem that bad, especially when football paid nowhere near what it does today. Never mind that level.

150 a week was about average wage back then.

We were in the 3rd Division when he signed werent we ?

Andy Wharton was up in court around that time, motoring offences I believe. His salary came out and was a shock to many as it was so low.

piston broke wrote:Andy Wharton was up in court around that time, motoring offences I believe. His salary came out and was a shock to many as it was so low.

Why did we let it get so bad as a football club?

Spijed wrote:Why did we let it get so bad as a football club?

I’ll never know but it was the speed it got so bad that shocked me.

A young lad who has just left the school I used to teach at has just spent his first two weeks at Derby as a young pro. He's one of the best prospects they've seen apparently, played for the England kids, always in the age group above his and United are said to be sniffing around.
He's on £500 a week - not bad at 16 years of age, that.

Andy Wharton eh ?.... Now thats a real blast from the past

piston broke wrote:I’ll never know but it was the speed it got so bad that shocked me.

How quickly it all seemed to happen has always had me scratching my head.
It was very depressing standing on deserted terraces, watching us getting stuffed by all those traditionally lower league clubs.

£150 quid a week wouldn't have been over the top back then, either.

I played with "the Hammer " we were good but he was in a totally different league. Maybe he had made his money at Leeds and was just going through the motions?

Seem to remember it coming out in court that George Oghani was on £140/week, at the time of the ironing board incident. And he was our "star" player!!

I was told that Jim Heggarty left Burnley and went to work in his family's hotel in Brighton as it paid more. He lodged with family of a bloke I worked with so could be a reliable source.

I worked for the TSB bank in 1988 and saw the payslips of the players of that time. The highest earners were players like Grewcock and Deakin who were on around £170 p/w, and lowest earners in the first team squad were on around £130 p/w.

Kurt Nogan was on £600 pw and lived in Barnoldswick when he was in court for something (no doubt drink related).

Hampton often trained at the Thompson Centre gym and once refused to get off the leg machine to allow others to use it so my dad threw him out. Think it was Brian Miller who rang and asked for him to be let back in.

hoskinsgoalatswansea wrote:I worked for the TSB bank in 1988 and saw the payslips of the players of that time. The highest earners were players like Grewcock and Deakin who were on around £170 p/w, and lowest earners in the first team squad were on around £130 p/w.

Hampton arrived in the same summer as Grewcock (1984) - among John Bond's final signings for us.

ants_g wrote:Kurt Nogan was on £600 pw and lived in Barnoldswick when he was in court for something (no doubt drink related).

I remember him ringing up the football phone in on radio lancs one Saturday evening, said with bonuses he was on £750 max and that it was a disgrace, he was worth at least double. Probably drunk then as well.

Top Don wrote:Best live album ever

Does Pushpin feel....................like we do ?!

ants_g wrote:Kurt Nogan was on £600 pw and lived in Barnoldswick when he was in court for something (no doubt drink related).

We might be entering slanderous territory here, but I think he did a runner from a taxi without paying.

ClaretTony wrote:Hampton arrived in the same summer as Grewcock (1984) - among John Bond's final signings for us.

A full back pairing of Geoff Palmer and Peter Hampton in 1984/5. Any surprise we ended up in the 4th division.

Joe,the cripple ,Gallager was on £800 a week. thanks to Bond

Tonka Wharton put flying Oxford winger Lawrence into the crowd at the old Manor ground.

Herts Clarets wrote:A full back pairing of Geoff Palmer and Peter Hampton in 1984/5. Any surprise we ended up in the 4th division.

Hampton had been a good full back at Leeds & Stoke and, at the time, looked a very good signing. It certainly didn't work out that way.

Spike wrote:Joe,the cripple ,Gallager was on £800 a week. thanks to Bond

Good statement other than Bond was on hol when we signed him and we were stitched up by West Ham, who broke the rules by withholding medical information and Dr Iven who somewhere passed him on his medical. I can also confirm that the figure of £800 a week you quote is nothing other than sheer fantasy.

ClaretTony wrote:Good statement other than Bond was on hol when we signed him and we were stitched up by West Ham, who broke the rules by withholding medical information and Dr Iven who somewhere passed him on his medical. I can also confirm that the figure of £800 a week you quote is nothing other than sheer fantasy.

How do you know?

Murger wrote:How do you know?

Most of that info was well documented. Bond was raging when he couldn't get the transfer cancelled because Joe clearly wasn't fit. That transfer helped force some rule changes in English football regarding the withholding of medical information.

And if anyone really believes any of our players, in the third division in 1983, were earning over £40,000 a year I think they probably need certifying.

ClaretTony wrote:Most of that info was well documented. Bond was raging when he couldn't get the transfer cancelled because Joe clearly wasn't fit. That transfer helped force some rule changes in English football regarding the withholding of medical information.

And if anyone really believes any of our players, in the third division in 1983, were earning over £40,000 a year I think they probably need certifying.

Thing is on here, if you repeat a lie often enough idiots start to believe things

ClaretTony wrote:Dr Iven who somewhere passed him on his medical.

I used to speak to Doc Iven quite a lot mid 90s when I worked at the Turf. He was always the first director in on match days and was always good for a chat when it was quiet. As for passing a footballer for a medical, nice guy though he was, I would have thought the only thing he could pass back then was water. And he certainly couldn't pass the drinks cabinet in the Director's Lounge

ClaretTony wrote:Most of that info was well documented. Bond was raging when he couldn't get the transfer cancelled because Joe clearly wasn't fit. That transfer helped force some rule changes in English football regarding the withholding of medical information.

And if anyone really believes any of our players, in the third division in 1983, were earning over £40,000 a year I think they probably need certifying.

Perhaps as my memory must be playing tricks I might need certifying

Hi Pimlico Claret

"I remember him ringing up the football phone in on radio lancs one Saturday evening, said with bonuses he was on £750 max and that it was a disgrace, he was worth at least double. Probably drunk then as well."

I don't know for sure if it was the same night when I heard him on Radio Rovers but he started talking about percentages and he showed himself up. I thought my Maths was crap but that cheered me up.

Dark Cloud wrote:We might be entering slanderous territory here, but I think he did a runner from a taxi without paying.

He was done for Drink Driving. At the time he wasn’t living with his girlfriend and baby daughter, and decided, in the middle of the night, to visit them. He was pulled up on Vivary Way in Colne.

Lord Beamish wrote:He was done for Drink Driving. At the time he wasn’t living with his girlfriend and baby daughter, and decided, in the middle of the night, to visit them. He was pulled up on Vivary Way in Colne.

I lived in Barlick at the time, he was always in the pubs there, he certainly liked a drink did Kurt.

I recently found my Dads (David Holt) P60 from the year we won the Third Dividion Title (81/83) and was amazed that his gross income for the year, from Burnley was £11,300. This included all bonuses etc...

How times have changed and shows why a lot of players back then started businesses, had second jobs whilst being pro footballers or had considerable financial concerns when they finish playing.

UTC

Ray Deakin (rip) passed his bus drivers licence when he was with us and often used to drive the players coach to away games to earn a few quid.

I’d forgotten Ray did that, he was a lovely bloke and definitely a pioneer of the long ball game WHOOSH!

Holtyclaret wrote:I recently found my Dads (David Holt) P60 from the year we won the Third Dividion Title (81/83) and was amazed that his gross income for the year, from Burnley was £11,300. This included all bonuses etc...

How times have changed and shows why a lot of players back then started businesses, had second jobs whilst being pro footballers or had considerable financial concerns when they finish playing.

UTC

Disregarding the huge exponential increase in footballers earnings since then, surely that figure at the time wasn't too bad,you could buy a decent house for that price. Jobs in tonights paper advertised with salaries £18-20k,this was 35 years ago.

Pimlico_Claret wrote:Disregarding the huge exponential increase in footballers earnings since then, surely that figure at the time wasn't too bad,you could buy a decent house for that price.

..Or a street in some areas

True it does equate to more nowadays but that was before tax/ni/pfa/pension etc deductions and in a one off year of ‘huge’ promotion and win bonuses. A year fighting relegation would have brought a much worse income.
Outside Division One in those days wages, if being sensible, barely covered the perceived lifestyle associated with a pro footballer. Ie. Slightly nicer house/car. Those that liked a drink or ten would obviously struggle more.
Nowadays they literally earn more than they should be able to spend and get set for life and a very early retirement.

Didn't your father run a business at the time?

I always liked his steady play. He was a big part of our success using the sweeper system in a good side.

He started a recycling business, going door to door with a hand cart whilst at bury collecting cardboard until he had enough to weigh in at bibbys or swinnies in Bury. When he switched to recycling plastic things really took off. It was the early days of recycling and he was the largest recycler in Europe at one stage. Things went pear shaped after he quit playing but finally found peace when he moved to nz with my mum. Sadly died when he was 53, just as him and mum were finding their feet again.

Terribly sad to read about your Dad Holty. 53 is no age.