"If things had gone differently, it could be the Dynamoes where Burnley are now," says Colne FC chairman Ryan Haigh.

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is that John Francis in the picture?

The photo in that article shows the Wembley final of 1988 and SJF on the ball for Emley. And as for replacing Burnley - it was a case of ambition far exceeded finance and capability. White funded excessive wages, company cars etc for a short time, but found out very quickly you need pockets a lot deeper than he had to continue it.

Nice article. I knew a couple of guys who played for them in the very early times when the luxury was free football boots. I don't seriously think they would have replaced Burnley unless we had literally gone out of business (which was always a possibility at that time I suppose). Usually success comes with a firm infrastructure and I'm not sure White had that at Dynamos. And Colne as a town probably would have had difficulty sustaining it (unless again Burnley had gone bust then they may have got the support).

Whatever happened though it was a real fairy story and one worth recounting now and then in a 'what-might-have-been' kind of way.

Papabendi wrote:is that John Francis in the picture?

yep

Papabendi wrote:is that John Francis in the picture?

Yes

The Colne team photo has Marshal Burke and Billy Rodaway on it. Both on the front row.

If Maradona, Pele, Messi, Ronaldo, Van Basten, had have been brothers from Burnley and only wanted to play for Burnley then we’d have won the European Cup 74 seasons in a row.

The European Cup hasn’t been going 74 seasons so that’s impossible.

Bfc wrote:The Colne team photo has Marshal Burke and Billy Rodaway on it. Both on the front row.

Must have been splashing some cash as Billy had a house and car paid for while he was at Colne!

I went to a friendly they played once at Rolls Royce, they had Billy Hamilton playing. All the staff drove up in their big Mercs including, I think, Derek Scott & Billy Rod. They had Harry Potts as chief scout and Paul Fletcher was commercial manager.

What you can do with one man's money until it runs out.

I had a spell with Dynamos. Chalky was ruthless unless you were one of the clique.
Some were undroppable, others discarded on a whim.
However, the atmosphere was good, support growing and of course, the club was consistently successful.
I have the history of CD somewhere and I will check how many players they used each season. I'm confident it will be way above an average similar level team.

Dyched wrote:If Maradona, Pele, Messi, Ronaldo, Van Basten, had have been brothers from Burnley and only wanted to play for Burnley then we’d have won the European Cup 74 seasons in a row.

The weakness in your argument lies the players ages.

"The Football League? It may be a step too far for us at the moment," Haigh says.

Given that the side sit 16th in the 8th tier of English Football, I would say Mr Haigh is the master of the understatement.....

Papabendi wrote:is that John Francis in the picture?

Yes.

John played for Emley against Dynamoes in the FA Vase final of 1988.
I travelled there in a bus full of Franny supporters from Wakefield.

Dynamoes won 1 nil

Herts Clarets wrote:"The Football League? It may be a step too far for us at the moment," Haigh says.

Given that the side sit 16th in the 8th tier of English Football, I would say Mr Haigh is the master of the understatement.....

To be fair, if they win the 6 games in hand, they'll be top!

Herts Clarets wrote:"The Football League? It may be a step too far for us at the moment," Haigh says.

Given that the side sit 16th in the 8th tier of English Football, I would say Mr Haigh is the master of the understatement.....

Tbf because of their progress in the cups they're behind with their league fixtures.

dsr wrote:To be fair, if they win the 6 games in hand, they'll be top!

Winning 6 games in hand will be no mean achievement. Regardless of this they are still 4 levels below the bottom division of the Football League and I doubt they have the infrastructure or finance to step up 4 levels. They certainly don't have a ground that would allow such progression.

I always found it a bit strange as to why Colne Dynamos were shut down so easily by Graham White with little or no effort to keep it going.

Spijed wrote:I always found it a bit strange as to why Colne Dynamos were shut down so easily by Graham White with little or no effort to keep it going.

Costing a quarter of a million a year and no-one else would stump up that sort of cash. So I believe.

Incidentally, the club was spelt "Dynamoes". The name came from Moscow Dynamo, but the spelling was all their own!

ClaretTony wrote:I went to a friendly they played once at Rolls Royce, they had Billy Hamilton playing. All the staff drove up in their big Mercs including, I think, Derek Scott & Billy Rod. They had Harry Potts as chief scout and Paul Fletcher was commercial manager.

What you can do with one man's money until it runs out.

Easy come, easy go, as ever.

I'm from Colne and started watching Dynamoes in the early 70's when they played in blue and there was no stadium at Holt House, just a fence (rope ?) found the pitch. sed to run on at half time and kick the ball around and into the nets. Chalky White was well known to my dad , who was a joiner in Colne, as he was something to do with Riddioughs wood-yard in the town. Some players I remember from those early days, when Dynamoes seems to constantly win games in great style , were :
- Alistair McDonald...free -scoring CF
- Peter Thackeray ...wizard of the dribble out on the wing
- Peter French .... midfield engine alongside Billy Gaskell
- Ken Riley...massive and excellent GK
Chalky White himself was a Denis Law style inside forward and a good, elegant player

I went away to Uni in 1979 and didn't return to live in Colne but obviously followed their progress closely as they climbed the pyramid and the stadium took shape. I was incredulous, from a distance, and attended Wembley with my dad on that glorious day in 1988 when all the town seems to be there.

The collapse when it came was a shock and all the moreso because Chalky just seems to go to ground (he had a big house on the road between Colne and Fouridge I remember).

Good to see Colne doing well again now and I've been to a few games over the past couple of years. Importantly the road sign at the bottom of Harrison Drive as you arrive in COlne of the M65 still points the way to "Colne Dynamos FC" and I still have my red yellow and white Colne Dynamos towel !

I went to that 1988 final. Not so far to travel from Muswell Hill

Still remember the helicopter landing at the Fence Gaye after their Wembley Game.
It’s a great story and I hope they get through tomorrow.

I went to the vase final v Emley .I remember it as being 1987,a year before our Wembley final v wolves.

ClaretTony wrote:I went to a friendly they played once at Rolls Royce, they had Billy Hamilton playing. All the staff drove up in their big Mercs including, I think, Derek Scott & Billy Rod. They had Harry Potts as chief scout and Paul Fletcher was commercial manager.

What you can do with one man's money until it runs out.

I had a trial with them at the time, and Billy Rodaway was there. Really nice bloke and had loads of time for us young kids. After the trial he gave a lift home to me and a few of the other lads from Burnley. The car had Colne Dynamoes written on the side but it wasn’t a merc, I’m fairly certain it was a Vauxhall Cavalier.